Adam B. Evans

University of Copenhagen · Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports

Studies of governance rarely examine how specific institutional configurations are designed to target specific ‘problem’ groups, including older adults via ‘active ageing’ policies. In Denmark, active ageing policy has been contoured by the Structural Reform of 2007, which drove changes in institutional landscapes at both national and local levels....

From 19th to 22nd November 2018, 26 researchers representing nine countries and a variety of academic disciplines met in Snekkersten, Denmark, to reach evidence-based consensus about physical activity and older adults. It was recognised that the term ‘older adults’ represents a highly heterogeneous population. It encompasses those that remain highl...

Recent years have seen a burgeoning in phenomenological research on sport, physical cultures and exercise. As editors and reviewers, however, we frequently and consistently see social science articles that claim to be ‘phenomenological’ or to use phenomenology, but the reasons for such claims are not always evident. Indeed, on closer reading, many...

The National Health Service (NHS) cardiac rehabilitation patient care pathway has remained largely unchanged for many years despite, on average, half of all eligible patients declining to engage. To investigate reasons for non-engagement, we explored the experiences of ten cardiac patients who participated in cardiac rehabilitation, dropped out, or...

Exercise-based rehabilitation forms a key part of the UK National Health Service patient-care pathway for cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Only around half of all eligible patients attend core CR, however, with social inequalities affecting participation. Few qualitative studies have explored in-depth the key factors influencing engagement with CR, spe...

As has recently been highlighted, despite the prevalence of methodological “confessional tales” in ethnography generally, the challenges of undertaking ethnographic research specifically in institutional sports settings remain underexplored. Drawing on data from a 3-year ethnographic study of competitive swimming in the United Kingdom (UK), here we...

Background Cardiac events can be serious and life-changing. Whilst the physical or bodily (corporeal) effects of a cardiac event are well-researched, little research investigates psychosocial impacts, especially when the two recovery trajectories differ. Aim Using findings from a study of socio-cultural influences on exercise and health along the...

Purpose The workplace is often highlighted as a potential location for promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyles. However, embedding physical activity in the workplace seems less obvious. Due to the unique culture and structure of companies, differences in interpersonal relationships and in personal motivation, as well as local/national di...

In the UK coronary heart disease is one of the biggest causes of morbidity and mortality. Despite this, there are inequalities in health care provision and access, particularly related to women, people from black, Asian, or minority ethnic backgrounds, and people with low socio-economic status. For example, women are likely to be diagnosed much lat...

There are many complex and varied impacts of changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic on ‘afflicted bodies’ during attempts to rehabilitate following a serious health event, such as a cardiac event. This chapter draws on ethnographic research, which overlapped with the first wave of the pandemic, to investigate socio-cultural influences on embo...

Peer-to-peer approaches engage groups of people considered to share one or more characteristics that identify them as peers and draw on rationales of credibility, identification and role modelling in peer-to-peer interactions. Despite the popularity of the approach, the ways in which the peer leadership component specifically contributes to health...

Background Since youth's participation rates in sport drop throughout adolescence, approaches to engage and retain this age group in physical activities are needed. Peers are highly influential on youth's behaviour, and peer education is widely used for youth health promotion purposes to harness this peer influence. Peer education builds on the rat...

Politicisation of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) has increased in many European countries. In Denmark, for example, the relationship between ‘Muslim culture’ and a majority ‘Danish’ culture in LTPA has been debated, leading to the introduction of progressively more restrictive policies. Such debates are presented in binary terms, where const...

This chapter utilizes sociological phenomenology to investigate intercorporeality, intersubjectivity, and sensoriality in leisure swimming, as experienced by mothers with their pre-school aged children. Data from two research studies highlighted salient elements of such experiences, including a shift in women’s intentionality from the self to their...

In recent years, a growing corpus of sociological work has developed, drawing influence from existential phenomenology, and seeking to challenge taken-for-granted assumptions regarding the often underexplored, and ‘mundane’ elements of sporting experience. Pain is, all-too-often, one of those mundane elements of sports and ‘serious’ exercise partic...

As recently highlighted, despite a burgeoning field of sensory ethnography, the practices, production and accountability of the senses in specific social interactional contexts remain sociologically under-explored. To contribute original insights to a literature on the sensuous body in physical-cultural contexts, here we adopt an ethnomethodologica...

Despite a burgeoning corpus of qualitative studies of sport and physical cultures, in-depth and embodied investigations of those requiring sustained engagement with ‘endurance work’ remain relatively under-developed. These physical cultures are sociologically interesting as they often demand of practitioners intense commitment in terms of time, ene...

Despite a burgeoning corpus of qualitative studies of sport and physical cultures, in-depth and embodied investigations of those requiring sustained engagement with ‘endurance work’ remain relatively under-developed. These physical cultures are sociologically interesting as they often demand of practitioners intense commitment in terms of time, ene...

In this presentation, we delineate key elements of the sociological phenomenological approach. Using examples drawn from studies of physical-cultural embodiment, we consider bracketing approaches we ourselves utilised in research on: 1) performance swimming and; 2) distance running. Drawing on our experience, we offer some practical ways for appr...

Purpose: The symposium explores the breadth of research which has been conducted in relation to parental physical activity and the importance of conducting research on this topic. We will present a scoping review of the relevant literature and results from both a quantitative and a qualitative study examining parental physical activity. Rationale:...

This article scrutinises the highly contested, yet largely unexplored space of gender-segregated swimming that caters for Muslim women. Combining participant observation of weekly women-only swimming sessions with interviews of regular participants, the aim of this paper was to shed light on the 'non-White' space of women-only swimming and explore...

Despite a developing literature on various facets of sporting embodiment, there is currently a research lacuna with regard to in-depth analyses of actually ‘doing’ sporting activities within specific physical cultures. In this article, we address that gap by drawing on a developing theoretical literature in sociological phenomenology to investigate...

The full text is open access and available at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16138171.2021.1899969

In this article, we address an existing lacuna in the sociology of the senses, by employing sociological phenomenology to illuminate the under-researched sense of temperature, as lived by a social group for whom water temperature is particularly salient: competitive pool swimmers. The research contributes to a developing ‘sensory sociology’ that hi...

The female Muslim body has come under close political and public scrutiny in many Western societies. Within sport, too, Muslim women's dress and practices have become topics of discussion. For example, gender-segregated swimming sessions catering for Muslim women have caused disputes in several European countries, including Denmark. Nevertheless, t...

Pain has long been associated with sports participation, being analyzed variously as a physical phenomenon, as well as a sociocultural construct in sport sociological literature. In this article, the authors employ a sociological–phenomenological approach to generate novel insights into the underresearched domain of “lived” pain in competitive swim...

Pain has long been associated with sports participation, being analyzed variously as a physical phenomenon, as well as a socio-cultural construct in sport sociological literature. In this article, we employ a sociological-phenomenological approach to generate novel insights into the under-researched domain of ‘lived’ pain in competitive swimming. A...

Active Ageing' is a dominant discourse in the promotion of active lifestyles for older adults. Its emphasis upon adoption of a positive mind-set and 'good' lifestyle choices has resulted in active ageing policies becoming associated with 'neoliberal' tendencies. Conversely, we suggest the tendency to equate active ageing policy with a totalising co...

This article presents selected results from the most comprehensive mapping of diversity in Danish grassroots football ever conducted. Results reflect quantitative measures of diversity amongst 8053 respondents, including club members (players), club boards, educated licensed coaches, educated licensed referees and the Danish Football Association’s...

This article contributes empirical findings and sociological theoretical perspectives to discussions of the role of community lay health workers, including in improving the health of individuals and communities. We focus on the role of the Health Trainer (HT), at its inception described as one of the most innovative developments in UK Public Health...

There has been a growing trend of elite athletes being fast-tracked into post-athletic high-performance coaching roles in association football and rugby union in England and Wales. This has been facilitated by an increase in bespoke and condensed formal coach education courses that are designed to accelerate current and/or former elite athletes in...

Contemporary policy on ageing overwhelmingly focuses on active ageing and achieving a sustainable increase in disability-free years, leading to an agenda that promotes interventions that often focus on deficits of older persons with little consideration of their perspectives on physical activity. As the integration of technology to support physical...

Gender inequity in sport organisation boards, particularly in decision-making positions, remains a significant issue. Considerable research exists on the topic yet attempts to integrate non-academic perspectives on this literature are relatively limited. We present a systematic narrative review, constructed in conjunction with the work of a ‘reflec...

In this article, we address an existing lacuna in the sociology of the senses, by employing sociological phenomenology to illuminate the under-researched sense of temperature, as lived by a social group for whom water temperature is particularly salient: competitive pool swimmers. The research contributes to a developing ‘sensory sociology’ that hi...

Transitions from military into civilian life can be problematic, particularly when caused by service-related injury. Studies suggest the management of psychological and physical injury requires care and management beyond initial rehabilitation. Narrative studies with predominantly British and American veterans have highlighted the role sport and ex...

On Youtube at: https://youtu.be/X5eoaqMVLwA The introduction of community-based Health Trainers (HTs) in the United Kingdom (UK) has been described as one of the most innovative developments in recent Public Health policy. HTs are tasked with reducing health inequalities in disadvantaged local communities by encouraging clients to develop healthie...

In recent years sporting embodiment has attracted an increasing level of academic attention, including a burgeoning sociological corpus that draws influence from the existential phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. This combination of phenomenology and sociology provides a novel framework from which to examine sporting embodiment, and challenges...

In this article, following on from earlier debates in the journal regarding the ‘thorny issue’ of epochē and bracketing in sociological phenomenological research, we consider more generally the challenges of engaging in reflexivity and bracketing when undertaking ethnographic ‘insider’ research, or research in familiar settings. We ground our discu...

This study sought to analyse the lived experiences of so-called “fast-tracked” coaches from men’s association football and rugby union by seeking to understand how these individuals prepared for and then transitioned into a post-athletic coaching career. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 male coaches. All participants were former el...

Exercise Referral Schemes (ERS) are programmes commonly implemented in the United Kingdom to increase physical activity levels and ‘treat’ ‘sedentary’ individuals and those diagnosed with non-communicable chronic disease. The views and interpretations of stakeholders are currently under-researched, however. This paper addresses sociologically this...

Promoting positive transition to retirement and cultural adaption for ex-service personnel has been identified as a priority for both social-science research and for public health policy in the UK. The Royal British Legion aims to provide support to service and retired service personnel, but to date the transition to retirement experiences of older...

Abstract: Promoting positive transition to retirement and cultural adaption for ex-service personnel has been identified as a priority for both social-science research and for public health policy in the UK. The Royal British Legion aims to provide support to service and retired service personnel, but to date the transition to retirement experience...

In recent years there has been a burgeoning interest in sporting embodiment, including a growing corpus of phenomenological inspired sociological analyses that draw influence from Merleau-Ponty’s existential phenomenology. This combination of phenomenology and sociology provides a novel framework in the examination of sporting embodiment, and chall...

Abstract The subjective, lived elements of old age in physical activity promotion are central in defining how older people ascribe meaning to experiences of being active. Many such meanings are developed throughout the life course. From a longitudinal perspective, although continuity theory can be helpful in understanding older people’s sense of se...

The subjective, lived elements of old age in physical activity promotion are central in defining how older people ascribe meaning to experiences of being active. Many such meanings are developed throughout the life course. From a longitudinal perspective, although continuity theory can be helpful in understanding older people’s sense of self and pe...

Currently, there is scant research that investigates in-depth retired servicemen’s perceptions and experiences of ageing and being physically active, particularly in relation to retirement experiences. In this article, we employ a novel theoretical combination of figurational sociology and symbolic interactionism to explore a topical life-history o...

The pathway between elite athlete and high-performance coach is common within English men’s rugby union and association football. To help develop as coaches, many elite athletes gain coaching experiences within male high-performance youth academies. The purpose of this article sought to gain an insight into the socialisation processes of current an...

There has been something of a ‘reflexive shift’ in sociological research. Sociological researchers are increasingly encouraged to be ‘present’ within their work, and to recognize their own role in structuring the entire research process. One way to achieve this is through engagement in reflexive practice; that is, to reflect on our own values, beli...

Swimming and aquatic activity are fields in which gendered, embodied identities are brought to the fore, and the co-presence of other bodies can have a significant impact upon lived experiences. To date, however, there has been little research on sport and physical cultures that investigates how meanings associated with space impact upon women’s em...

Currently, there is scant research that investigates in-depth retired servicemen’s perceptions and experiences of ageing and being physically active, particularly in relation to retirement experiences. In this article, we employ a novel theoretical combination of figurational sociology and symbolic interactionism to explore a topical life history o...

The subjective, lived experiences of people with severe and enduring mental ill health during leisure remain a relatively under-researched area. Research suggests, however, that such participants value the empowering nature of tailored leisure activities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five individuals, or ‘clients,’ diagnosed with...

This paper, based on a qualitative research project in the UK, explores the ‘personal troubles’ encountered in the lived experience of asthma, drawing on an approach currently under-utilised in studies of asthma: vignettes. These were used as an elicitation technique in in-depth research with 19 frequent exercisers and sports participants with asth...

There is currently a distinct dearth of research into how sports students’ career aspirations are formed during their post-compulsory education. This article, based on an ethnographic study of sport students in tertiary education, draws on data collected from two first-year cohorts (n = 34) on two different courses at a further education college in...

På trods af at Michel Foucault (1926-1984) ikke har beskaeftiget sig med idraet eller sport, er hans optik til inspiration for mange med kropsso-ciologiske problemstillinger i en sports-og idraetssammenhaeng. Fou-cault kom ud af en laegefamilie og endte selv med en universitetsgrad i både filosofi og psykologi. Han udgav i sin levetid adskillige ho...

Copenhagen municipal senior services have undergone significant changes recently. Activity centres (ACs) now promote social and physical activity (PA) for Copenhageners aged 65+ and offer members shared ownership of provided services. It remains unclear, however, whether i) AC staff consider PA delivery a key element of their role, and ii) how stak...

County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) epitomise the growing reliance upon networks within sports delivery in the UK. This study investigated how social networks were influenced by a CSP-led programme, the ‘Workplace Challenge’ (WPC). The WPC used a web-platform to encourage workplace-based teams to engage in physical activity. Employees self-recorded t...

A reflexive '5 minute challenge' presentation delivered with a focus upon language as a vehicle of power within qualitative research.

The theme of the conference is Sport in the City: Mobility, Urbanity and Social Change. Copenhagen is a city of cities when it comes to exercise and movement. The urban way of life is spreading in the entire western world and to a great extent influences the social interactions for better or worse. Late modern lifestyles full of physical activity f...

Young people using powered wheelchairs have limited access to engaging leisure activities. We address this issue through a two-stage project; 1) the participatory development of a set of wheelchair-controlled, movement-based games (with 9 participants at a school that provides education for young people who have special needs) and 2) three case stu...

Despite initiatives designed to increase women’s participation in golf, there remains almost 5 times more regular male golfers in England. This trend is compounded by a dearth of younger female golfers entering the sport. This paper presents data from a study which investigated this pronounced gender imbalance from the perspective of women players...

Despite growth in ER schemes there remains limited evidence of ER’s impact and service provision is inconsistent. Importantly, there is a need to develop a greater understanding of how the meanings associated with ER are produced, reproduced and resisted amongst stakeholders. This paper presents data from interviews conducted with 27 participants i...

Copenhagen municipal senior services have undergone considerable changes over recent years. Activity centres (ACs) offer social and physical activities for Copenhageners 65+ with the unique characteristic that the seniors have shared ownership. ACs therefore represent a unique setting for the promotion of active lifestyles. Physical activity in old...

Despite high general participation rates in golf in England and a raft of initiatives to encourage more women and younger players into golf, fewer than one in five amateur golfers in England is female and there is a real dearth of young women entering the sport. Sexist policies and practices have been posited as possible barriers to women’s and gir...

Swimming and aquatic activity are fields in which gendered, embodied identities are brought to the fore, and the co-presence of other bodies can have a significant impact upon lived experiences. To date, however, there has been little research on sport and physical cultures that investigates how meanings associated with space impact upon women’s em...

County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) epitomise the growing reliance upon building networks and partnerships in sports delivery. This study investigated how social networks were created and contested in a CSP-led programme entitled the ‘Workplace Challenge’ (WPC). The WPC used a web-platform to encourage workplace-based teams to engage in physical acti...

Increased academic attention on the gendering of leisure pastimes in recent years has highlighted the centrality of the gendered body in influencing how leisure is accessed, experienced and transformed. To date, however, little attention has been paid to how women experience aquatic leisure activity, the second most popular form of leisure activity...

Although participatory design (PD) is currently the most acceptable and respectful process we have for designing technology, recent discussions suggest that there may be two barriers to the successful application of PD to the design of digital games: First, the involvement of audiences with special needs can introduce new practical and ethical chal...

At the beginning of the 2013/2014 season in England and Wales, 90 head coaches of the 92 men's national professional football league clubs and 20 of the 22 men's professional rugby union clubs had tenure as a professional elite player in their respective sports. Moreover, Rynne [(2014). ‘Fast track’ and ‘traditional path’ coaches: Affordances, agen...

The developmental pathways of elite sports coaches have received considerable amounts of enquiry within the field of coach education. These studies, however, have principally been situated within psychological disciplines focusing on cognitive development. In so doing, it has been identified that tacit knowledge acquired at the subconscious level c...

nvolving young people with complex needs in game design can be a challenging research endeavor, particularly when working within a school context. In this paper, we discuss findings from two case studies where we worked with young adults with visual impairment, and young people with mobility disabilities. We focus on ethical challenges that emerged...

The accession of the ‘A8 states’ into the European Union initiated considerable migration into Western Europe. The impact upon local communities has seen significant attention, yet little research exists that focuses upon migrant experiences and identity specifically in sport. This study utilized a figurational framework to investigate the lived ex...

In recent years large community-based obesity prevention programmes have been developed in a number of Western countries in an attempt to reduce the growing epidemic of obesity in children and adults. The construction of community-based programmes revolves around the concept of capacity building. Often described as the 'invisible work' in health pr...

This article investigates the embodied experiences of a group of professional sports labour migrants whose experiences have largely been ignored by sociological literature: southern hemisphere rugby players playing professional rugby league in the United Kingdom. The migrant pathway from Australasia to the UK is well established. Moreover, rugby le...

Aquatic physical activity offers considerable potential to engage groups such as women and pre-school aged children in active lifestyles. Evidence demonstrates, however, that swimming participation is declining. Despite these trends, few studies have investigated women’s embodied experiences of participating in aquatic activity - as an individual o...

This report presents an evaluation of the Workplace Challenge, a County Sport Partnership led physical activity programme which utilises a website designed to engage people from workplaces in physical activity. The Workplace Challenge operated within the geographical boundary of Lincolnshire and thus targeted workplaces within this region. The over...

Aquatic physical activity has considerable benefits for older adults. However, participation rates remain low in the United Kingdom (UK). Recognition of the importance of embodied and narrative elements of ageing has increased in recent times. Old age is considered a life stage interdependent with other, earlier life stages, rather than as a distin...

There is a dearth of research on how the physically active body is experienced during rehabilitation from serious illness. This paper presents data obtained through fourteen interviews completed with participants in a cardiac rehabilitation scheme. A figurational approach was utilised which emphasised the need for participants to delineate their ow...