Researching leisure and physical activity with women of color: Issues and emerging questions

The roles of women in the United States are changing, along with the idea t hat being female is mitigated by a number of constructions such as race, cl ass, age, income, (dis) ability, culture, and sexual orientation. Interest in understanding physical activity as leisure embodied in movement, exercis e, fitness, recreation, and sports has increased because moderate to vigoro us physical activity is associated with a lower risk for premature death, s ome chronic diseases, and being overweight. Research from the Centers for D isease Control, however, has shown that fewer than 30% of minority women in the United States obtain sufficient amounts of moderate activity to derive physical and mental health benefits. The Cross Cultural Activity Participa tion Study was designed to measure physical activity habits in African Amer ican and American Indian women and to develop and validate a set of surveys to measure moderate physical activity. A qualitative component was include d as part of the larger study to obtain additional information about the ps ychosocial context and sociocultural meanings of physical activity and perc eptions of leisure. The process of data collection, analyses, and reporting the qualitative findings, as well as developing and validating quantitativ e measurement instruments, resulted in raising methodological issues about studying race and culture and theoretical concerns for future research. The purpose of this article is to retrospectively describe our research proces s and what we learned in undertaking it. If behavior changes, health improv ement, and an enhanced quality of life are to be achieved, then researchers must continue to determine the best ways to examine the meanings that indi viduals attach to activities.