ABSTRACT
The boys' visual representations, together with their descriptions and interpretations of these in the focus groups and individual interviews, provided thick and rich accounts of boys' performances of gender in physical education (PE) and generated an array of meanings. This chapter introduces the research setting and the participants and explains the key methods employed. It addresses the practicalities of conducting ethnographic research and the process of data generation through observations, video recordings, focus groups and individual interviews. The chapter explores the visual representations and interpretations to hopefully challenge stereotypes and generalisations of boys' behaviour and experiences. The observations were of the 'naturalistic' kind, in the sense that they took place in the boys' natural setting during normal physical education classes. Video recordings were used instead of other visual imagery, such as still photography, in order to more fully capture the movements and (inter)actions of the boys during PE.
