book

Social Observations at Sky High Sports

21 Pages 1392 Words 1557 Views

For my ethnography project, I chose to study the life at a unique trampoline center facility in Burlingame. For the purposes of this paper I will refer to this facility as “Sky High Sports,” and I will also call the people in this report by other names. The main focus of this ethnography is to compare the norms of the workers when the head supervisor is present at Sky High Sports and when she is absent. As defined in You May Ask Yourself - An introduction to thinking like a sociologist, by Dalton Conley, “norms are how values are put into play.” How does the standard of behavior change when the supervisor is there keeping an eye on everything compared to when they assistant managers are in charge? Although the norms of the workers are the main focus of the ethnography, hierarchy and gender roles also play very important roles at Sky High Sports. Sky High Sports is a unique trampoline fun center designed and created for people of all ages to have fun while bouncing in all organized activities: Foam Pit, Dodgeball, Main Court, Main Court, Kid’s Court, and Sky High Hoops. This facility doesn’t only have courts they have an arcade, snack bar, and host birthday parties. As you enter Sky High Sports, there is a “Front Desk” in which workers greet incoming people that enter the facility and help them register to jump at the courts or check in to parties. Right next to it, there is the office where everything is consulted with workers and head supervisors. As you move past Front Desk, on the left you'll see two orange tables set for birthday parties, couches for parents to relax; watch television and monitor their kids on the tv, Dodgeball and Foam Pit courts are clearly visible. As you move past the Front Desk on the right there is a snack bar. The snack bar has a kitchen that provides the food and drinks for parties and for customers. This room also houses a “dining room” for people to eat with family or friends and watch television. The snack bar contains glass window which looks out to the courts, giving anyone a clear view of what’s going on. This is the main area where the observations were performed. My observations for this report spanned over a three day period over the weekend. Two of these days I observed the workers when there was no head supervisor and the final day being with the superv

Read Full Essay