Ethnography Proposal

Being an Exercise Physiology student, I consider myself in the discourse community of exercise physiologists.  While I am only just scratching the surface of what this community entails, I still have the knowledge to understand much of what goes on and is studied in this field.  While following the criteria of John Swales’ conceptualization of discourse community, the six characteristics can be used to define this discourse community.  First, common goals of exercise physiologists include understanding the human body and how the stress of exercise affects it, planning and conducting specific exercise programs, and recognizing risk factors of an individual.  Second, there are many ways to communicate throughout the community to other members.  These may include newsletters, emailing one another, message boards on varies organizational web sites, and having an organization dedicated to the community to keep members up to date and informed (American Society of Exercise Physiologists).  Third, teachings at different universities and having the ASEP provide ongoing means of education in the sciences involved in exercise physiology and new teachings along the way.  Fourth, exercise physiology is always involved in the world of sports medicine.  Although exercise physiology is not solely dedicated to sports, such a large part of the community coincides that the genres are often used interchangeably.  Fifth, a specific lexis is used in this discourse community.  Lexis is basically an adapted form of language that only those inside the discourse community would fully understand and be able to interpret correctly.  In exercise physiology, many scientific terms are used due to the amount of biology, chemistry, and physiology involved.  Sixth, there are multiple levels of membership inside the community.  I am an example of a novice inside the community being an undergraduate student still in school.  After this, members go on to more school or becoming a professional in their field.  Those who teach inside the community could be considered some of the top tier members of exercise physiology, preparing the novice members for their futures.

                My interest in this discourse community mainly comes from me being a part of the major here at Ohio University.  Not only am I surrounded by fellow members of this community every day, but I always participate and learn about it as well.  Along with being in the major, the ideas and practices of exercise physiology have been in my life since I was a teenager.  Playing sports in high school, exercise became an important part of my life and has since become a regular activity in my life.  Not only is exercise physiology something that I must study for in school, but I also consider it a hobby.  Being part of the major, there are many sources that I have access to in order to interview them for this paper.  My advisor is someone that I am close to and have a good relationship with and would be a good person to interview because he also teaches the subjects associated with exercise physiology.