Data Sampling and Collection

The ethnographic approach to documents is based on the principles of qualitative data gathering and analysis. It was noted earlier that its main focus is on grasping meanings, definitions and context. This requires thorough investigation, understanding and interpretation of a document. Altheide (1996) suggests that a researcher must construct a research protocol that will guide the coding and categorising procedures. Constructing a research protocol facilitates the process of data sampling, data collection and analysis. It is a way to take as much information as possible from a document by listing questions, items, categories or variables that guide data collection from documents. If the protocol is well thought through, then the researcher can acquire more information from the selected documents. The following steps, as suggested by Altheide (1996), have been followed for the purposes of the present study (Figure 4.2).

Figure 4.2. The process of Qualitative Document Analysis (Adapted from Altheide 1996:13)

Altheide (1996) suggests that a research protocol can help the researcher develop a reflexive movement between concept development, sampling, coding and analysis.

The construction of the protocol in the cause of the research for this thesis was based both on inductive and deductive categories and was flexible in adding more categories throughout the process of analysis (Figure 4.2). First, research questions and themes deduced from the literature review guided the selection of a small number of relevant documents. Then, based on these categories, a draft protocol was constructed. After the primary analysis of the small selected sample, further inductive categories emerged. The total sample selected was based upon both the

1. topic

initial themes from the literature and the themes that emerged from the primary analysis (thus a mixture of inductive and deductive categories). This sampling technique, based primarily on the construction of a research protocol, is called theoretical sampling (Altheide 1996).

For the purpose of the study, documentary sources, largely reports, correspondence, articles and speeches written by key actors of the Movement were investigated. The selection of key agents was based on the following criteria: a) their role in the modern Olympic Movement and contribution to the development and promotion of Olympism, b) their act in different successive chronological periods, c) the availability of their sources, d) relatedness of sources with the focus of the study, and e) accessibility to their writings. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, Carl Diem and visiting lecturers of the International Olympic Academy were chosen as appropriate agents for examining the expression of values associated with the Olympic ideology over time. The central role of Baron Pierre de Coubertin in the initiation and development of Olympism is widely acknowledged in the literature (examples from the broad literature are: Segrave and Chu 1981; Lucas 1981;MacAloon 1981; Guttmann 1992;

Hill 1992; Loland 1994; Toohey and Veal 2000). Moreover, in the Olympic Charter (2004: 7) it is stated that “Modern Olympism was conceived by Pierre de Coubertin, on whose initiative the International Athletic Congress of Paris was held in June 1894”. Carl Diem has also been a central figure in the Olympic Movement as a close collaborator of Coubertin, initiator of Olympic innovations (e.g. the torch relay, youth camps, the Olympic village), editor of the Olympic Review during the war years and leading person in the establishment of Berlin Olympic Institute and the International Olympic Academy.

As for the choice of the IOA as a source of data, it is known that ever since its formal inauguration in 1961, it has played a central role in the promotion of Olympism and the dissemination of its ideals by organising regular sessions for students, athletes, sport administrators, sport journalists, and scholars from around the world. The Academy, being the host for so many sessions, seminars and congresses for over four decades (from 1962 to 1998 the total number of participants at the annual sessions for young participants was 5,222), has established itself as a key centre for the exchange of ideas and discussions about major issues in relation to Olympism, the Olympic Movement and the international sport in general. Thus, by examining

the views and ideas of a number of Olympic scholars and administrators coming from different geopolitical, social and cultural backgrounds, the author would be able to identify the range of views on Olympism expressed over time in this central vehicle for the discussion and dissemination of Olympic values.

As said before, Pierre de Coubertin’s numerous publications amount to around 15,000 printed pages having written 30 books, 50 pamphlets, 1,300 articles and around thirty leaflets and posters (Müller 2000). Thus, it was difficult for the researcher to read and have access to all Coubertin’s documents. However, for the purpose of the present study the book Pierre de Coubertin 1863-1937. Olympism:

Selected Writings, consisting of 201 texts written by Coubertin, was analysed. This book, published by the IOC (2000), is the first comprehensive edition (in English) of Coubertin’ writings centred on Olympism and the Olympic values. According to the editor of the book, Norbert Müller (2000), the texts were selected on the basis of the following criteria (p. 20): a) originality of the text, b) relationship to Olympism, c) variation in order to show the dimensions of Olympism, and d) density of information concerning Olympism. Thus, based upon the above criteria, 3,200 pages were considered to be strongly linked to Olympism for the purposes of the book and were carefully analysed in order to avoid repetitions. A total of 46 documents are grouped together in part I ‘Revelation’ under the headings ‘The Search for a New Education’,

‘Permanency of the Educational Battle’ and the ‘String of Events’. The Second part of the book ‘Olympic Dimensions’, consists of 145 writings under the headings

‘Historical Perspectives on Olympism’, ‘The Philosophical and Educational Dimension of Olympism’, and ‘The Olympic Movement’. A pilot study of six writings provided sufficient evidence that the book was a valuable source of information for the purposes of the study. The preliminary concerns of the researcher to use a pre-selected sample by the IOC were thus allayed.

Carl Diem also wrote and edited many works and, especially during the period 1920-1935, produced a substantial amount of literature. As indicated before, the most important publications were according to Haag (1982: 28): a) Handbuch der Leibesübungen, 14 volumes (1923-1930), b) Beiträtge zur Rurn-und Sportwissenschaft (1922-1929), c) Taschenbuch der Leibesübungen (1925-1930), and d) Jahrbuch der Leibesübungen, 30 volumes (1924-1932).However, the majority of his works, available only in German, are not related to Olympism but addressing

general issues concerning sport, and in particular German sport. However, a selection of writings translated into English and related to the Olympic idea had been published by the Carl-Diem-Institut (1970). The institute was founded in 1964 in order to “promote a deeper understanding of the Olympic idea among German youth and to preserve the intellectual legacy of Carl Diem” (Carl-Diem-Institut 1970: vi).

Within this scope a selection of writings from more than 2000 works written by Diem about Olympism was published, including also most of his articles in the Olympic Review. This collection, consisting of 59 texts, was analysed for the purpose of the study, and was considered a good source of data because: a) it included a major part of his written work in relation to Olympism, b) it included most of his published articles in Olympic Review, c) it included texts written by Diem from the beginning of his career as sports administrator up to the last years of his life, and d) it is the only available source of Diem’s documents centred on Olympism in English.

For the selection of the sample from the IOA, the book The International Olympic Academy IOA: through its lectures, 1961-1998, edited by Norbert Müller and published by the IOC, was used. This book is a collection of abstracts of all 630 official presentations made during the 38 International Sessions for young participants of the IOA from 1961 to 1998. The abstracts had been given keywords, facilitating the researcher’s task to identify and evaluate the relevance of each speech to the aims of the study. Each abstract was rated as having ‘high’, ‘medium’,

‘low’ and ‘no’ relevance to the major categories of the protocol according to the descriptions outlined in Table 4.2. The documents, which were assessed as having high relevance to Olympism and high relevance to Olympic values, were to be selected as the IOA sample. However, most of the speeches delivered by the Presidents and the Deans of the IOA were finally excluded, as it was found that in many cases same speech was repeated in different sessions, thus not serving the aim of the study to evaluate the expression of values associated with the Olympic ideology over time. The final sample of the IOA consisted of 56 speeches (see Appendix I).

Overall, all documents used in the study were reviewed in terms of the criteria of evaluation and interpretation of a document (authenticity, credibility, representativeness and meaning) (Scott 1990). The final selection of writings included 306 documents, largely correspondence, speeches, minutes from IOC

sessions, minutes from the German Olympic Committee and official announcements.

Coubertin’s and Diem’s documents were scanned, while the full texts of the IOA speeches were downloaded from the web (http://www-regional.iacm.forth.gr/IOA/).

All texts were imported for analysis in the QSR NUD*IST computer software.

167 Table 4.4. Assessment of relevance of documents with the research protocol.

(Relevance) HIGH MEDIUM LOW NO

Olympism • Definition/ meaning of Olympism

• Origins - Influences

• Olympism – Olympic

Movement; their relation and relatedness

• Impact of geo-political and historical events on Olympism and the Olympic Movement

• Historical accounts that provide information about the development or decline of the Ancient Olympic Games

• References to the modern Olympic Games or the structure of Olympic commissions without providing much analytical insight about their impact on Olympism

• References to issues of modern sport without mentioning Olympism or the Olympic Movement (e.g. sport competitions and internationalism)

• Description of personal sports career while making some reflections on Olympism or the Olympic Movement

• References to certain Olympic Games in a form of a report (organisational details)

• Historical references to ancient Greece that are not related to Olympism or ancient Olympic Games

• Content related to the Olympic Movement but it has a descriptive character (e.g. description of the Museum of the History of the Modern Games in Olympia)

• Material that could be related to Olympism indirectly (e.g. ‘Man in sport: aesthetics of form and movement’ or Coubertin describing the setting of Olympia)

• References to technical topics of sports training (e.g. presentation on ‘Laws of mechanics’)

• Description of personal sports career without any reflections on Olympism or the Olympic Movement (‘My experiences in training’)

• Description of techniques of documentation that do not contribute to our knowledge of Olympism (‘Scientific documentation and its significance for research work and the theory of physical education’, ‘Questions and problems of literature on physical education’)

Olympic values

• References to the Olympic values – principles – ideals

• Discrepancies in the Olympic values and the reality of the Olympic Movement (e.g.

nationalism, commercialism)

• References to Hellenistic ideals as part of the Olympic values

• References to individual and societal values with references to sport issues

• References to Olympic athlete’s qualities

• The content overall is not relevant to the Olympic values but a few references may be made

• References to technical topics of sport and sports training (’The athlete and the rescue services’, ‘the optimum age for learning techniques in sport’

• Description of personal sports career without any reflections on Olympic values, personal values or any other set of values (‘’The athlete and the rescue services’)

• Descriptive accounts referring to the Olympic Movement or Olympic Games that do not provide any information about Olympic values or values associated with the Olympic ideology.