Me, Myself, and I-Phone: Fitness apps and body surveillance among college women

Sadie Ridgeway, Gonzaga University

Research Project Abstract

My research question is how college women are using and experiencing mobile fitness applications and wearable fitness technology, and how women’s use of these applications effects their conceptions of their self and bodies.

I am using semi-structured, in-depth interviews to gather my data. I am asking questions relating to the use of mobile fitness applications, conceptualization of the body and self, and the participant’s experiences in relation to these topics. I am using volunteer and snowball sampling methods to recruit my participants. I am interviewing approximately twenty college-aged women who use or have used a mobile fitness application in the past year.

Following the interviews, I will analyze the data by thematically coding it to reveal the reoccurring trends. I have almost completed my data collection and am currently beginning analysis.

 
Apr 23rd, 1:30 PM Apr 23rd, 3:00 PM

Me, Myself, and I-Phone: Fitness apps and body surveillance among college women

Robinson 210

My research question is how college women are using and experiencing mobile fitness applications and wearable fitness technology, and how women’s use of these applications effects their conceptions of their self and bodies.

I am using semi-structured, in-depth interviews to gather my data. I am asking questions relating to the use of mobile fitness applications, conceptualization of the body and self, and the participant’s experiences in relation to these topics. I am using volunteer and snowball sampling methods to recruit my participants. I am interviewing approximately twenty college-aged women who use or have used a mobile fitness application in the past year.

Following the interviews, I will analyze the data by thematically coding it to reveal the reoccurring trends. I have almost completed my data collection and am currently beginning analysis.