ABSTRACT
To determine whether skateboarding was an alternative sport I needed to document the norms and values and then compare them with the prevalent norms and values of mainstream sport. My first task was to contact participants who were willing to be interviewed about the values they held and the reasons why they skateboarded. For each interview I covered four main areas: the participants’ background; their interest in skateboarding; their perception about similarities and differences that skateboarding had with mainstream sport; and their perception about what characterized a “cool” or “uncool” skateboarder. I also allowed the skateboarder to direct the conversation around any other pertinent information or special interests.
