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Ethnographic
Evaluation of Tobacco Policies in Bars
Principal
Investigator: Roland S. Moore, Ph.D.
This
study is designed to investigate beliefs and behavior surrounding
tobacco smoking within diverse Alameda County, California
bars in which smoking has been banned. Building upon pilot
research conducted by the research team in San Francisco bars,
the proposed study will explicate the range of enforcement
practices and patrons', bartenders', and managers' normative
understandings of tobacco use, second-hand smoke, and state
tobacco control policies. The overall goal of the proposed
study is to understand how and why many stand-alone bars are
out of compliance with California AB 13, the Smoke-Free Workplace
act. The proposed research design consists of a three-year
ethnographic study using 110 semi-structured interviews with
patrons, bar managers, bartenders and AB 13 enforcement specialists,
as well as four waves of structured observations to collect
both qualitative and quantitative data in a random sample
of 120 bars. This research also includes a case study component
that will more closely examine the role of the bartender and
interactions among bar patrons and between patrons and bartenders.
Following four sets of observations, twelve bars from the
sample will be purposively selected which appear from the
observation narratives to best characterize, in terms of staff-patron
dynamics, three types of bars in the study sample: those with
endemic smoking, transitional towards compliance, and fully
compliant. Field staff will conduct extended observations
totaling ten hours in each establishment and will record their
observations of bartenders’ interactions with patrons
and patrons' responses, particularly in terms of bartenders'
group management and leadership styles and patrons' responses
to these styles. The sample bars are drawn from alcohol outlets
throughout Alameda County, which includes urban low-income
ethnic minority communities and affluent white suburbs as
well as rural areas. Because the Alameda County Department
of Public Health recently found only 53% of stand-alone bars
to be in compliance with AB13, the final sample of 120 stand-alone
bars is expected to include roughly equal numbers of noncompliant
bars and compliant bars. Due to entrenched norms related to
smoking in these enclosed, often small, spaces, the stand-alone
bar is the public setting in which the population of patrons
and employees is at greatest risk for exposure to environmental
tobacco smoke. This study's findings will produce understandings
of the range of bar patron and employee smoking norms and
specific rationales for not complying with the ban. It will
also analyze varying AB 13 enforcement strategies within the
county's communities and their relative success in restricting
smoking in bars. These findings constitute a necessary precursor
for large-scale preventive efforts with relevance to employees
and patrons at risk for exposure to environmental tobacco
smoke, including in communities of color.
Proceed
to PRC CD Presentation featuring Dr. Roland Moore
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