Studenters fritids- och motionsvanor i Umeå och Madison Ett bidrag till förståelsen av Pierre Bourdieus vetenskapliga metodologi

Sammanfattning: This study analyses differences between student groups at Umeå University, Sweden, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. It analyses student study situations, students’ experience of the university environment, students’ exercise and sports activities, and connections between study and leisure-time activities. The study owes much to Bourdieu’s Homo Academicus (English edition 1988), and his theories of cultural reproduction, social structures and habitus, and focuses on students from the subject areas teacher education, natural sciences, humanities and sports. Attention is also given to family backgrounds and female/male variance. The data were collected in 1994-1995, with the aid of 782 questionnaires and 64 interviews. The results show differences between students at the two universities in terms of study time, parents’ education and leisure activities and part-time jobs. Students in the studied groups, differ in many respects. The groups have distinct characteristics in terms of, for example, age and sex ratios. The students’ family backgrounds are also divergent, depending on which discipline the student belongs to. These variations between disciplines are found at both universities. Physical activities (action sports) are popular activities, at both universities. Women and men exercise in different ways, although they might have a similar social situation. The scientific methodology of Bourdieu is also discussed in the study. In sum, the results indicate that there are sub-fields within the university. Individuals with different conditions and habitus, to use Bourdieu’s terminology, inhabit these sub-fields.