Explaining the Living Experience of Citizens' Sports Activities in the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study

With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world is facing a new crisis in which the security, social, and economic well-being of human society, including the lived experience of sports activities, is threatened and vulnerable. The purpose of this study was to explain the lived experience of citizens' sports activities during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. 

The method of the present study was qualitative and performed with an interpretive phenomenological approach. The statistical population includes citizens with a history of sports activity who were selected using purposive sampling of 21 citizens to the extent of information saturation. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. To evaluate the reliability and objectivity of the information, the opinions of researchers outside the research were used and the credibility of the data was used with peer review and confirmability. Phenomenological analysis method of Smith & Shinebourne. was used to analyze the data. 

A total of 74 themes, 7 sub-themes and 3 main themes were extracted and classified. Sub-themes included psychological factors, physical factors, socio-economic factors, changes in personal life, environmental constraints, indoor and outdoor sports, and sports through cyberspace. The main themes included changes in quality of life, changes in lifestyle and changes in sports style. 

The lived experience of citizens' sports activities during the Covid-19 pandemic was a change in quality of life, a change in lifestyle, and a change in lifestyle. It is suggested that in case of epidemics, in order to prevent the problems caused by the disease, the lived experience of the sports activities of the citizens should be used.