Blog: Active Lives - Context is everything. Understanding trends and events

Sport England's senior research and insight manager Rosie Sadler,  presents the State of the Nation report, providing context for the 2023-24 Active Lives Adult Survey results that will be published later this week:

The other day I came across a quote that I thought it was perfect to add to this blog. 

It’s by the American sociologist Alvin Gouldner and it says: “Human action can be rendered meaningful only by relating it to the contexts in which it takes place. Context is everything.” 

As we approach the release of our Active Lives Adult Survey data on 24 April 2025, which covers the period from November 2023 to November 2024, it’s important to take a step back and reflect on the wider context we live in.

This is because what we think and do can be better understood when considered not in isolation, but against other circumstances that surround them. 

So what was happening during this time that may have influenced participation levels, attitudes and volunteering in sport and physical activity?

Read the full blog and download the report