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The paper analyzes the role-making of an orchestral conductor. It is framed by the symbolic interactionist perspective and focuses on Ralph Turner's role-making theory and the works of Alfred Schütz and Howard S. Becker and associates. The research project is based on grounded theory methodology. The applied techniques include semi-structured interviews, video-elicited interviews, observations of teaching conducting and opera rehearsals, video analysis, and secondary data analysis. The results reveal how the process of role-making is shaped during secondary socialization and indicate the social features of the role, such as high social prestige, awareness of the body, an exclusive social group, and teamwork. The role-making process is based on permanent interactions and negotiations with social actors: the composer and the musical score, the orchestra, soloists, ballet, and the audience. Additionally, it is influenced by cultural factors, such as the conductor's gender, age, nationality and international experience, competencies, as well as the type of professional contract. At the same time, conductors need to actively maintain the image of determined and resolute individualists, as expected by the social actors they interact with.

The article aims at presenting the symbolic interactionism as a useful and flexible theoretical perspective in research on the human body. It shows the assumptions of symbolic interactionism in their relation to the human body, as well as explains how basic notions of this theoretical perspective are embodied—the self, social role, identity, acting, interacting. I depict the unobvious presence of the body in the classical works of George H. Mead, Anselm Strauss, Howard Becker, Erving Goffman, and in more recent ones, such as Bryan Turner, Ken Plummer, and Loïc Wacquant. I also describe the Polish contribution to the field, including research on disability, hand transplant, the identity of a disabled person, together with the influence of sport, prostitution as work, yoga, climbing, relationships between animals and humans based on gestures and bodily conduct, the socialization of young actors and actresses, non-heteronormative motherhood, and the socialization of children in sport and dance. In a case study based on the research on ballroom dancers, I show how to relate the theoretical requirements of symbolic interactionism with real human "flesh and bones." I depict three ways of perceiving own bodies by dancers: a material, a tool, a partner; and, two processes their bodies are subjected to: sharpening and polishing a tool. I draw the link between the processual character of the body, of the symbolic interactionist theoretical perspective, and process-focused grounded theory methodology.

This article presents examples of the relationship between culture, dance, and the body in the fields of communication (with oneself, the community, God/deity), the social hierarchy, social values, relations between the individual and the group, and relations between genders, from the perspective of the sociology of the dance. The sociological perspective also indicates the various historical, ritual, control, and regulatory roles that traditional and modern dances play in the communities in which they arise and are performed. The second part of the text contains a case study of the Japanese ankoku butoh dance. The author presents the philosophical roots of the dance (e.g., Japanese mythology, Zen Buddhist philosophy) and the creator's personal experiences (childhood trauma and post-war social situation) as factors that influenced the dance's development. The example of ankoku butoh illustrates the interrelation between cultural meanings and dance movements.

The purpose of this article is to look into the problem of grounded theory methodology (GTM) application in social research on the human body. First, the theoretical roots of GTM in symbolic interactionism are enumerated and their consequences for applying the research strategy are described. The author presents examples of her research as an illustration of how GTM procedures enable the researcher to ingrain the body in social processes, and explains what it actually means to embed physical body in social phenomena and processes. The conclusions concerning the practice of GTM research are based on a series of empirical studies conducted by the author in the fields of dance, physical therapy, and medical work. The author argues that GTM expounds on specific procedures, which offer both methodological discipline and flexibility that is necessary for studying as challenging phenomenon as that of the human body.

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W artykule zaprezentowane zostały zagadnienia związane ze zjawiskiem społecznych uwarunkowań doświadczania choroby, niesprawności i bólu. Tekst skierowany jest do socjologów, antropologów, pedagogów, a także przedstawicieli nauk medycznych zajmujących się wymienionymi wyżej zagadnieniami. W artykule prezentuję metodę autoetnografii, wskazuję różnice pomiędzy autoetnografią analityczną i sugestywną. Skupiam się jednak głównie na praktyce badawczej oraz wskazówkach i wątpliwościach dotyczących tego rodzaju badań. W tekście prezentuję dwa badania autoetnograficzne, których autorzy doświadczali poważnej, zagrażającej życiu choroby. Na ich podstawie wskazuję najważniejsze cechy, jakie powinno posiadać badanie autoetnograficzne. Są wśród nich: teoretyczna i metodologiczna dyscyplina, wgląd we własne doświadczenia, przeżycia oraz szczerość i otwartość. Odnoszę się także do rozróżnienia autoetnografii jako techniki i metody badawczej. W ostatniej części tekstu prezentuję niektóre wątki wykorzystane w moich własnych badaniach autoetnograficznych oraz wskazuję zalety i zagrożenia, a także praktyczne wskazówki związane ze stosowaniem autoetnografii jako metody i techniki badawczej.

The article at hand presents and discusses the issue of gender stereotypization strategies during the socialization process of children practicing atypical gender sports, which is perceived as inappropriate to their gender. The outcomes of two qualitative studies among girls playing football and boys practicing ballroom dancing focus on various types of social influence of their families, coaches, and peers. The importance of parents' role in reproducing or challenging stereotypical gender roles is outlined in the text. The strategies to which the children participating in atypical gender sports are subjected to include: stereotypization, destereotypization, apparent destereotyping, and hidden stereotyping. The benefits of participating in atypical gender sports are also discussed, particularly in terms of social and psychological profits.

The article presents and discusses the way of teaching sociology of the body whose aim is to allow students to become familiar with embodied methodology and make them methodologically sensitive. The research tasks given to the students are based on analytic autoethnography which influences the students' methodological development. Examples of the students' works are presented and discussed, particularly in terms of the advantages they might bring in the educational proces and difficulties that they may cause to both the student and the teacher. As the most valuable benefits deriving from this way of teaching the authors indicate: raising methodological sensitivity, the ability to link embodied experience and knowledge with theoretical concepts, self-understanding in terms of social processes, but also putting into practice the perspective of embodiment in the social sciences. The courses of the sociology of the body in Poland and their status at Polish universities are presented as the context. The authors claim that the skills learnt during this course are crucial for students of sociology and for their methodological competencies, not only in the field of sociology of the body.

Individuals who partake in video games are often regarded with prejudice. It is an activity that is perceived to be mainly related to senseless leisure and teenage entertainment. However, many diverse people make video games such an important part of their lives that they become passionately engaged in it. Video games and online video gaming offer the player immersive experiences unlike any other forms of media. A phenomenological and interpretive exploration is undertaken in order to gain a deeper understanding of the narratives of online gamers and their experiences of a sense of belonging to the associated online communities. Through the use of in-depth interviews, the article explores various aspects of the life stories of a group of eight South African university students. It attempts to show how online gaming has become a part of their lifeworlds. The aim of this article is to present the narratives of online gamers as rich and descriptive accounts that maintain the voices of the participants. Various aspects of the lifeworlds of online gamers are explored. Firstly, an exploration is undertaken to gain an understanding of what it means to be a gamer. It focuses on how a person can become involved with gaming and how it can evolve into something that a person is engaged with on a daily basis. Secondly, it explores how video games influence the perception of reality of gamers. Immersion in video games can transfer a player into an alternative reality and can take the focus away from the real world. This can lead to feelings of joy and excitement, but can also lead to escapism. Lastly, the article shifts attention towards how online video gamers experience online communities. Players can have positive experiences with random strangers online, but because of the anonymous nature of the online environment, it can also lead to negative and isolating experiences.