Katie Woodworth
December 12, 2011
Research Project Final Draft
Wearing clothes is obviously a basic necessity for people every day. We may wear certain brands of clothes from our favorite clothing store/designer, what school we attend or used to attend, or clothes designed by our favorite actor/actress. A lot of people also might wear clothing of their favorite sports team(s). No matter what clothing we wear, it gives each of us an identity of the kind of person that we are and how we are viewed by other people. In fact, according to researcher Laura P. Naumann from the University of Texas at Austin, “physical appearance is one domain that people frequently use to formulate impressions of others.” (Naumann, 2)
My paper will be specifically focusing on how wearing baseball and football team clothing can characterize the type of behavior we may have while wearing these clothes. Researcher Robert J. Fisher from the University of Southern California did a study on this and reported that “self-defining relationships may be found between fans and their favorite sports teams.” (Fisher, 285) This can include more friendly interactions between people wearing the favorite team’s clothing. In contrast, this research will also be looking at how people interact with one another when they see someone else wearing disliked or non-favorite team clothing. This will include the not as friendly and even aggressive and inappropriate interactions/behavior toward people wearing the disliked team clothing. For this project, I will have two subjects, myself as well as my mom’s best friend. I will be a subject when I introduce the method of autobiography. I will also be interviewing my mom’s best friend for this project. The four methods I feel are most useful for this type of research that will be discussed in this paper are autobiography, ethnography, interview, and discourse analysis.
I am a die-hard New York Mets fan, so I like to wear Mets clothing frequently, especially during baseball season. Researcher Robert Fisher perfectly states what myself and fans of certain sports teams are likely to do, “wear team-licensed products, watch and attend games, read the sports page frequently, and talk about the team whenever they get the chance.” (Fisher, 284) For example, when I wear Mets apparel, I identify myself as part of a group of people who are also wearing this baseball team’s clothes. This is basically what Fisher is saying when he says “Identification leads the individual to view the group as an extension of the self such that he or she experiences vicariously the successes and failures of the group.” (Fisher, 284) There have also been fans who “may even participate in acts of vandalism because they believe that it is an appropriate response to a playoff loss (or win).” (Fisher, 284) Because of these actions, other fans may make assumptions on the identity of these other individuals. I have been a fan of “the orange and blue” for my whole life, so over the years I dislike certain teams (e.g. Philadelphia Phillies) and some of their fans because of the rivalry between the two teams. I have also been a New York Giants fan my whole life and will often wear Giants clothing during football season. Both my mom and dad were fans of these two teams growing up, so that is how I became a fan of the Mets and Giants. Just as the case was with strongly disliking certain baseball teams and some of their fans, I have also realized that I dislike certain football teams (Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys) because of the division rivalry that exists between my favorite team and these other two teams. My project is going to be looking at this part of my identity when I wear Mets/Giants apparel and how I look at people wearing clothing of rival teams.
I have probably been to approximately 50 Mets games in my life time, both in New York and when the Mets are on the road. For the purpose of this paper, I would attend a Mets and Phillies game in Philadelphia to observe the behavior of Phillies fans when they are wearing clothing apparel of their favorite team. Although Philadelphia has always been known as “The City of Brotherly Love”, certain actions of their fans over the years may make some people question this nickname. According to an April 2011 article in GQ Magazine, the Philadelphia Phillies were named the number one worst fans in America. Although there have been numerous incidents of inappropriate fan behavior by Phillies fans, the one that in my opinion is the most disgusting is when a twenty-one year-old fan intentionally vomited on an 11-year-old girl and her father. (http://www.gq.com/sports/lists/201104/worst-sports-fans-in-america#slide=14) Photos of Phillies fans depicting this type of behavior have certainly contributed to my identifying them as a group of people that are rude and inappropriate even though they may not be as individuals.
One of my mom’s best friends happens to be a die-hard New York Giants fan, so I might conduct an active interview her for my research project. I would ask her some questions such as the following: How long have you been a fan?, How often will you wear Giants apparel?, How many games per season will you attend?, Do you act differently when you wear Giants clothing?, What do you do when you see someone else wearing Giants clothing?, and How do you respond when you see someone wearing Eagles or Cowboys clothing? I would then use discourse analysis after interviewing her and carefully examine certain parts of the interview. I might look to see there was a certain tone in the interviewee’s voice and what could have possibly led to this. I am not sure if this would be something to look for, but maybe I could look at her body language too when I ask certain questions, such as the one that includes “Cowboys” and “Eagles”.
I felt that each of the four research methods I chose for this project were the appropriate ones for many different reasons. The first method I chose was autobiography and I felt this was a good one because I thought it was important to introduce myself as a sports fan so everyone would know what made me choose this topic. I also found it necessary to state why I am focusing on certain baseball and football teams in this project. If nobody knew why I disliked certain teams, they could think I am being biased against those teams when in reality, I am not. I have a boxful of Mets clothes, ranging from jackets, sweatpants, sweatshirts, tank tops, t-shirts, hats, jerseys, socks, scarves, flip-flops, and even sneakers. I have bought many of these clothes because I collect anything Mets related and some of them I have received as gifts from people who know how passionate I am about the team. In addition to the Mets clothes that I own, I have some Giants apparel as well.
I tend to wear New York Mets clothing anytime following a big win or if I happen to be going to a game. If I am wearing Mets apparel at a game, I feel like I am part of a mutual identity with other Mets fans and can have a special bond between other fans wearing Mets clothes. In addition to wearing a hat or shirt with the team logo, some fans, myself included feel like we can identify and have positive conversations with other fans when we wear a certain player’s jersey. A particular instance of this occurred when I happened to be wearing my favorite player’s (David Wright) jersey to a game and someone acknowledged I was wearing Wright’s jersey. My dad told him a story of when I met David Wright and even got my picture with him. Because this person was also wearing a Wright jersey at the time, he thought it was so cool and said how David Wright seems like such a nice guy.
The second method I chose was ethnography. This was an important method to me because most people wear their favorite sports team clothing when they attend an actual game. Therefore, it made sense for me to actually attend and observe either a football or baseball game. If this research study were to have ethnography, it would show how different races, genders, and sexual orientations behave when they are wearing a certain sports team’s apparel. For instance, they might start up a conversation with someone else who happens to be wearing the same team’s clothing or a rival’s apparel. An example of this is an NFL crosstown rivalry game between the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers, that “included two shootings in the parking lot, and one severe beating in a restroom.” (http://www.usatoday.com) This is just one instance when people wearing sports team apparel have acted in inappropriate ways.
Interviewing was the third method that I chose for my research project. I would ask my subject some questions such as the following: How long have you been a fan?, How often will you wear Giants apparel?, How many games per season do you attend?, Do you act differently when you wear Giants clothing?, What do you do when you see someone else wearing Giants clothing?, and How do you respond when you see someone wearing Eagles or Cowboys clothing? I thought it would be useful and interesting to hear another sports fan’s perspective on this issue and find out whether or not she had the same opinion as me. I might find out some new information about this person that I may not have previously known. This would not necessarily be a female oriented study; I mainly picked my mom’s best friend because I know she happens to be a huge Giants fan. I could also interview her husband who is also a big Giants fan so that I can get both a female and male perspective.
I would then use discourse analysis as my fourth and final method after interviewing my subject and carefully examine certain parts of the interview. I might look to see there was a certain tone in the interviewee’s voice and what could have possibly led to this. I could also look at her body language when I ask certain questions, such as the one that includes “Cowboys” and “Eagles”. (Cowboys and Eagles = division rivals of Giants)
There could be some possible difficulties I may face while conducting this research project. For instance, going to a baseball game is expensive and I may not be able to afford to attend one to observe fan behavior when they wear their team’s apparel. Not only is it expensive, baseball season is over now, so I could not attend a game at this point in the semester. However, I could possibly attend a football game between the Giants and one of their division rivals on the road and observe the opposing team’s fans since it is currently football season. Another difficulty I might face with this project is trying to find a date and time when I could interview my subject. Although I live relatively close to her, we are both busy with school and work, so it might be hard to make time for us to arrange an interview. If I am unable to conduct an interview with my intended subject, I would obviously not be able to use discourse analysis.
My data will show researchers that when people wear certain sports team clothing, they might behave differently than when not wearing team apparel. I do not think that this would apply to just me; it could apply to anyone else who happens to wear certain sports team apparel. They could look to see if certain genders, races, and sexual orientations of people tend to do this more than another classification of people. They could also use interview and discourse analysis to get information from a sports fan’s perspective and look for a certain tone and/or body language when certain questions are asked.
This project would certainly take a lot of time and effort to complete. I feel that I definitely have the resources/access to do this project. I am not sure exactly how long it would take to actually complete this project. My guess would be that this project would take approximately five or six months to finish, possibly even longer than that.
Works Cited
Fisher, Robert J. ed. Joseph W. Alba and J. Wesley Hutchinson “Group-Derived Consumption:
The Role of Similarity and Attractiveness in Identification With a Favorite Sports Team
Advances in Consumer Research 25 (1998): 283-288
<http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/display.asp?id=8171>.
Lopresti, Mike. "Violence At American Sports Stadiums Becoming All Too Common."
USA Today. 4 Dec. 2011. <http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/lopresti/
2011-08-22-stadium-violence-shooting-raiders-49ers-game_n.htm>.
USA Today. 4 Dec. 2011. <http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/lopresti/
2011-08-22-stadium-violence-shooting-raiders-49ers-game_n.htm>.
Naumann, Laura P. Express Yourself: Manifestations of Personality in Clothing and
Appearance. <homepage.psy.utexas.edu/HomePage/Class/Psy379H/…/proposal.doc>.
Winer, Adam. "The Worst Sports Fans in America." GQ Magazine
< http://www.gq.com/sports/lists/201104/worst-sports-fans-in-america#slide=14>.
