This chapter discussed the qualitative research paradigm in relation to semi-structured interviews that are often conducted in sport management research studies. It also outlined the data collection, coding, and data analysis processes, and highlighted the sample group selected for this particular study. The study selected 12 key industry stakeholders to participate in this research. The study identified a list of stakeholders involved in sports and city branding and added those involved in academia that, through their academic influence, also needed to be considered. The unique sample group selected was purposed to provide a more insightful view on the study area. In addition, this chapter detailed the interview design
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and interview procedure used in the preparation and the implementation of stakeholder interviews by mapping out the semi-structured interview schedule and execution process.
The data was prepared and coded according to the three procedures identified by Miles and Hurberman (1994), namely: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. During this phase the interviews were transcribed verbatim in MS Word and, thereafter, the transcribed interviews were coded using the Atlas-ti software programme. The codes represented the themes significant for the analysis of this study.
The final part of the chapter outlined the validity and reliability of the data and also assessed the ethical considerations within the research process. It stated the importance of promoting confidentiality of participants when conducting qualitative research and indicated the ethical procedure which this study underwent which was to obtain letters of consent, important for the compliance of this study. It concluded with the reflexivity of the researcher within the data collection process. The following chapter sets out the findings from this qualitative study, before discussing the findings in comparison with the theory from the literature review in order to answer the research questions.
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CHAPTER FOUR FINDINGS 4.1 Introduction
Having considered the qualitative methodological approach to data collection and to analysis procedures in Chapter Three, the researcher completed the task of conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews with 12 key industry stakeholders. The researcher obtained rich data that is presented in this chapter. This chapter provides a comprehensive outline of the sport brands and city stakeholders‟ perceptions, opinions, and experiences of related questions regarding the strategic value of sport to the Cape Town city‟s brand.
Note that all questions were based on stakeholder perceptions hence all responses were based on their opinions, insights and experiences during their involvement in the sport and city brand industry. In order to maintain a degree of confidentiality of stakeholders, respondents are identified by their job titles and respective organisations. The first section highlights the development of codes and is followed by keywords that appeared significant across responses. This chapter outlines the similarities, contradictions and significant findings that emerged from the data.
4.1.1 Development of codes
During the data analysis, individual codes were assigned to the relevant passages of the transcripts. Individual codes with a similar theme were then clustered under a family code, as presented in Table 4.1. The code names were developed according to significant themes which are presented as headings within this chapter.
57 Table 4.1 Codes and code families
Code family: Individual codes:
General place/city branding Global city
Place branding
City branding The Cape Town city brand Brand identity
Brand image
Brand personality
Key elements of the CT brand Importance of sport to the Cape Town
city brand
Sport mega events
Sport facilities
Sport teams & personalities
Commercial sport brands & sponsors
Sport tourists The Cape Town sport brand in
comparison to other cities
National comparisons
International comparisons
Competitive advantage
Limitations The Cape Town city brand stakeholders Main stakeholders
Contribution of stakeholders
Involvement of stakeholders
Strategic development Future plans
4.1.2 Keywords used by stakeholders when describing the significance of sport to the Cape Town city brand
An analysis was done using the Atlas-ti “word cruncher” to identify the most frequently used keywords across stakeholder responses when describing the significance of sport to the Cape Town city brand. These keywords were clustered and are shown in Table 4.2 according to the total number of times each was mentioned. Although there were more keywords mentioned, the table represents the most important words, i.e. those used fifty times and more.
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Table 4.2 Keywords identified throughout all respondents
Words: Total times mentioned:
Cape Town 804
City/ cities 598
Event/s 448
Brand/ ing 434
Sport 253
International/ly 138
World 177
Stadium 123
Rugby 109
Sporting 106
South Africa 96
Destination 85
Facilities 84
Cricket 80
Place 79
World Cup 77
Newlands 66
Western Province 61
Host 54
Durban 53
Soccer 52
Ajax 50
It was not surprising to see the words „Cape Town‟ emerging as frequently as it did. It showed the most mentions by respondents. It was, however, interesting to note that the words „tourists‟ and „tourism‟ were mentioned less than 50 times (49 and 42 times respectively). These were also keywords significant to this study. In addition, from the list of keywords it was interesting to note that the sporting codes relating to „rugby‟ and „cricket‟
feature prominently: rugby was mentioned 109 times and cricket 80 times. This therefore, indicated the significance of these two sporting codes to the development of Cape Town city‟s brand compared to other sports, such as soccer, which was mentioned 52 times.
Notably, the word „Newlands‟ was also mentioned prominently and showed the significance of the suburb in Cape Town for sporting opportunities.
Throughout this chapter direct quotations were used to illustrate and explain the phenomenon of a theme or subject. The quotations were selected based on the respondents‟
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degree of representation of a common response among stakeholders. The first section starts by reporting on the findings from an emerging theme i.e., Cape Town as a “global city”.