Niall McCaffrey

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To What Extent Do The Stakeholders Of Cerebral

Palsy Sport Benefit From Setting Of Sport Policy

By

Niall McCaffrey

Supervisor: Dr. Joe Piggin

Statement of Originality

I declare that this, the report, and the research on which it is based are my own original work.

Signed: Date: 30/04/2015

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A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the

Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in

Sport Science with Management

School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY

April 2015

© Loughborough University

Word Count: 9888

Abstract

The marginal interest of disability sport on the government agenda has historically led to scarce

opportunities for cerebral palsy (CP) athletes to participate in sport. Additionally, understandings of

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disability have changed from being viewed as just a functional limitation, to being viewed as a

multidimensional limitation which encompasses personal, environmental and social constraints.

This research project is an analysis of the current CP stakeholder network, with a focus on the

impact of the setting of sport policy, and the roles of individuals and organisations who are the

stakeholders of CP Sport. Therefore, the project aims to dissect the current policy processes by

conducting research with stakeholders such as the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS),

Cerebral Palsy Sport (CP Sport), Boccia England, and Project Ability.

Non-departmental government bodies such as the English Sports Council (Sport England) are shown

to be ubiquitous in policy processes involving the distribution of sport in England. The study

subsequently indicates that non-tangible resources such as expertise, knowledge and access are

essential mediators to the benefits associated with CP stakeholders deriving from the setting of

sport policy.

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Acknowledgements

I thank the representatives from the English Federation of Disability Sport, Cerebral Palsy Sport,

Boccia England, and Project Ability for their time and effort in providing me with the valuable

information required to complete this research project. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Joe

Piggin for his supervision in overseeing this project.

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Table of ContentsPage

Chapter One: IntroductionDisability Sport, Cerebral Palsy and the Policy Community 6Research Questions 7Research Objectives 7

Chapter Two: Literature ReviewIntroduction 8A Stakeholder Approach 8Agenda Setting 11Lobbying 12Policy Formulation 14Decision-making and Implementation 15Policy Evaluation 17

Chapter Three: MethodologyIntroduction 18Research Philosophy 18Research Design 20Data Collection 21Data Analysis 24Trustworthiness Criteria 24Research Limitations 25Ethical Considerations 26

Chapter Four: ResultsIntroduction 27English Federation of Disability Sport 27Cerebral Palsy Sport 28Boccia England 29Project Ability 30

Chapter Five: DiscussionIntroduction 32Resource Distribution 32Sustainability 33Performance Pathways 34Policy Analysis 36

Chapter Six: ConclusionIntroduction 38Research Objective Review 38Future Research 40

Reference List 42

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Appendices 49

Chapter One- Introduction

Disability Sport, Cerebral Palsy and the Policy Community

Sport has traditionally been defined as a structured, goal-oriented, competitive form of play

(Guttman, 2004), which has modernised to include notions of respect and fair play (Malcolm, 2008).

However, in a world whereby groups are defined by their differences (Sheldon, 2005), the isolation

and oppression of the disabled population from participating in sport reaches far beyond the

individualisation and medicalisation of disability (Barnes and Sheldon, 2010).

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neurological condition characterised by muscle spasticity, impaired

movement and learning difficulties. It is the most common motor deficiency that causes disability

(Van Eck et al., 2008), with its severity ranging from subtle motor impairment to whole body

involvement. A diverse variation of spasticity in CP subtypes (Cans et al., 2002) means that engaging

in physical activity or competitive sport can be challenging, with the subsequent lack of physical

adeptness and success often resulting in sedentary behaviour (Rimmer and Marques, 2012).

Therefore, the implication for alleviating the personal and environmental barriers that constrain the

disabled from participating is to design strategies and policies on a governmental level, which can be

organised and implemented by National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and National Disability Sport

Organisations (NDSOs) to emancipate disability groups. Effectively, the growing prominence of

disability and sport policy on the government agenda (Thomas, 2004) is representative of a shift in

understanding that challenges oppression in all its forms (Barnes, 1996).

This project seeks to understand the nature of the attitudes, environments and organisations that

either restrict or benefit the stakeholders within the policy community. In Marsh and Rhodes (1992)

policy network model, the policy community was deemed to be concerned with the relationship

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between organisations and the policy outcomes that they contribute to. Thus, in the government's

reach for organisational neatness and equity within sport, the characteristics of the disability sport

policy process are likely to reflect the significance of the social and environmental restrictions placed

upon disabled people (Thomas, 2004).

Research Questions

Using the stakeholder approach (Freeman, 1984) as a framework, this project will seek to access

answers from different aspects of the policy community, and answer the following research

questions:

1) Who are the stakeholders that impact government policy-making?

2) How do stakeholder groups integrate in the CP sport policy community?

3) What determines the relative success of policy implementation?

4) How does the distribution of power in the policy community affect stakeholder relations?

5) Is a top-down or a bottom-up approach to policy implementation more suitable for CP

stakeholders?

Research Objectives

The research objectives are therefore as follows:

1) To identify the key stakeholders in the CP sport policy network.

2) To understand stakeholder relations in a sport policy context.

3) To identify stakeholder incentives to adhering to sport policy.

4) To establish a suitable future direction for the CP sport stakeholder community.

5) To identify and explain the stakeholder benefits derived from sport policy.

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Chapter Two- Literature Review

Introduction

The literature in this research project seeks to aid the division of the research question into

theoretical and conceptual categories which can be operationalised. The research question ''To what

extent do the stakeholders of cerebral palsy sport benefit from the setting of sport policy?'' identifies

with the concepts of ''the stakeholder'', ''cerebral palsy/disability sport'' and ''the policy process'';

therefore the theoretical and conceptual frameworks for this project, through the research process

and the data collection process, address the areas of agenda setting, policy formulation, decision-

making, policy implementation and policy evaluation, in the context of the cerebral palsy sport

paradigm.

A Stakeholder Approach

An understanding of the salience of a changing managerial environment is essential to the

accomplishment of organisational objectives, as explained using ''the stakeholder approach''

(Freeman, 1984). The philanthropic nature of disability organisations and the egalitarianism of

disability sport policy (DCMS, 2010) is incongruous with the traditional corporate objectives of

shareholder returns in the form of dividends, and is more closely aligned with the view of an

organisation as a ''social institution'' (Freeman, 1984).

The stakeholder is defined as ''any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the

achievement of the firm's objectives'' (Freeman, 1984); this can be related to stakeholder legitimacy

and stakeholder management capability. Stakeholder legitimacy refers to a group or individual's

claims to the resources of an organisation, which in the disability sport context includes modes of

funding, networking, training, and facilitating.

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Pertinently, Laver (1986) affirmed that the perception of resource scarcity is a distinct cause of

social conflict which subsequently justifies the requirement for public policy to stimulate or regulate

the distribution of resources to various stakeholders. Resource distribution conceptually resonates

with Sheldon's (2005) view of the world as an inequitable entity, whilst Laver (1986) also suggests

that whilst an increase in social welfare (i.e. a gross increase in resources) may reduce both resource

scarcity and social conflict, the consequential distribution of resources may be uneven. The literature

therefore links effectively with the resource requirements in the cerebral palsy sport network and

focuses on the processes of distribution between the stakeholder groups.

Additionally, any attempts at the social redistribution of resources (Laver, 1986), are potentially

compromised by the qualitative valuation of welfare, which refers to people's changing valuations of

particular resources, depending on how much they have of it. As a result, the decision of public

bodies such as Sport England to distribute National Lottery and Exchequer funding to NGBs, NDSOs,

and inclusivity programmes, is a coordination and a conflict issue with the implication of systematic

disharmony and differing marginal utilities.

Stakeholder management capability must also be considered as a moderating variable in the

distribution of resources to stakeholder groups. This refers to the extent to which an organisation's

ability to organise relationships with its stakeholders yields concrete actions with specific

stakeholder groups and individuals (Freeman, 1984).

On one hand, the capability of an organisation to effectively manage its stakeholders exists in

Donaldson and Preston's (1995) evaluation of the stakeholder approach, whereby the stakeholder

theory is used as a descriptive, instrumental and normative tool for justifying the recognition of

stakeholder interdependence as significant in achieving organisational objectives.

Another perspective is documented by Freeman (1984), who presents three levels of stakeholder

analysis: the rational, process and transactional levels. These levels provide an analytical framework

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which involves the identification of a stakeholder network, the achievement of an environmental fit

and the study of both latent and explicit organisational interactions.

Potential flaws in this theoretical grounding exist in the form of the top-down organisational

structure implied by the implementation of the stakeholder approach to strategic management

(Freeman, 1984). This approach has been criticised for being over-simplistic and inflexible to

accommodating the needs of stakeholder groups which show specific cultural and behavioural

characteristics (O'Gorman, 2011).

Conversely, Sheldon's (2005) idealist social model views disability as a symptom of the prejudices

that are implicit in the cultural representations and socialisations that exist in stakeholder groups.

Therefore, studying the effects of social oppression implies taking a bottom-up organisational

approach (O'Gorman, 2011) which considers the continual impingement of ''street level'' policy

implementation on stakeholders. Suitably, Freeman's (1984) stakeholder approach does consider

the multidimensionality of the policy network by acknowledging the need to deal with multiple

stakeholders on multiple issues, thus providing a theoretical framework that addresses social conflict

directly.

Moreover, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's (2010) utilisation of an alternative social

model of disability in its ''Creating a fairer and more equal society'' policy, infers that disability is

created by barriers in society in the form of the environment, people's attitudes and organisations.

Thus, the combination of the stakeholder approach and the social model of disability give credence

to the policy process and its impact on multiple levels of the disability sport policy network, and

provides a rationale for opposing a parochial approach to oppressed disability groups, whilst

stimulating the investigation of stakeholders' interests, responsibilities, and subsequent solutions to

social conflict.

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With this said, potential downfalls may exist in the stakeholder approach's initial application to the

private sector, whereby corporate establishments may have different infrastructures and values to

the paternalistic ideological constructs inherent in the disability sport network. Therefore, caution

should be taken when linking stakeholder incentives with a tool formed in a corporate context.

Agenda Setting

Before addressing an issue which may have an impact on cerebral palsy stakeholders, policy

problems must appear on the policy agenda, which involves looking at how a disability ''issue''

arises. The literature recognises that disability is a concept that comes from Western-influenced

economic and cultural development (Barnes and Sheldon, 2010), as the product of Marxist principles

and the increasing disparity between the ''rich'' and the ''poor'' (who are unequivocally linked to

disability).

The notion that disability is enabled by class politics is furthered by Coleridge (2006) whom

identifies impoverished populations as experiencing social exclusion that encompasses employment,

education, leisure and social relationships. Thus, disability is perceived as a social enablement

process rather than a medical diagnosis, as is delineated in the DCMS' (2010) social model of

disability, Sheldon's (2005) materialist social model of oppression, and in the concept that cerebral

palsy sufferers' ''rights'' to play sport are insufficient without a systematic solution to the

marginalisation and powerlessness of disability groups.

This can be related to political ideologies, which through the literature demonstrate that changes in

political ideas may in fact reflect long-term demographic, social and economic developments (Leach,

2009). Further studies by Parekh (2008) indicate that changing political attitudes and behaviours are

creating opportunities to reach out beyond parties' traditional class bases, and to the formation of a

new political consensus that accepts increased diversity among voters. Therefore, political parties

are showing increased pragmatism in their approach to tackling disability issues, invariably favouring

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short-term ''quick win'' situations (Houlihan and Lindsey, 2013), that treat minority cases of disability

as unfortunate exceptions rather than an indication that attitudes towards disability are more deeply

rooted in society.

For example, the Conservative party's tentative encouragement of community sport (DCSM, 2012)

may show consistency with traditional Conservative values such as collective social reform and the

creation of an ''organic society'' (Leach, 2009), however the establishment of a sustainable network

of community sport stakeholders who are willing to cooperate with centrally determined policy

initiatives from the DCMS and Sport England is a more complex and enduring objective towards the

emancipation of disability groups (King, 2009).

In terms of the research question, policy agenda literature raises the questions of which variables

moderate the creation of disability sport policy. Despite their much broader application to political

consensus and the essential role of government power, this literature still provides an insight into

the social significance and relevance of policy issues.

Lobbying

Thomas (2000) and Charlton (1998) believe that the alleviation of cultural oppression lies with

disabled people's capability to make links with other oppressed people, thus becoming their own

trustees and enabling themselves to solve their problems how they see fit. This literature links to the

political philosophy of pluralism, which states that the definition of problems and the setting of

policy agendas is the outcome of the process of competition between different groups (Parsons,

1995). In the context of agenda control, the extent of activity in which interest and lobby groups

engage with each other may be an important factor to provide a link between agenda setting and

policy formulation.

Existing literature examines how policy issues are communicated through ''metanarratives'' (Piggin

and Bairner, 2014), which are the dominant stories used to address a social problem, as well as

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referring to the implicit assumptions made by policymakers. In a physical inactivity context, physical

activity action agendas such as Nike's (2012) ''Designed To Move'' document illustrates the

economic, human and environmental consequences of the global physical inactivity pandemic.

Piggin (2015) seeks to examine the claims made by the document, and indicates that Nike actively

constructs values of what role sport should play in individuals' lifestyles.

Furthermore, Fullagar (2002) makes reference to the underrepresentation of ''hard to reach''

populations in Designed To Move, such as those with a disability; therefore the implication for this

research project is how disability sport issues can penetrate the systematic and institutional agenda

(Cobb and Elder, 1972) when they are initially deficient in the widespread and shared concern

between public officials and physical activity lobbyists.

A consideration can be made regarding the impact of issue dynamics on their access into the

systematic agenda; these determinants are the specificity, social significance, temporal relevance,

complexity and categorical precedence of the issue (Parsons, 1995). In the context of an analysis of

the globally distinguished medical journal The Lancet, which has published research regarding the

global inactivity pandemic, Piggin and Bairner (2014) make reference to the disparate meanings

assigned to the concept of physical activity. Additionally, in The Lancet's article for physical activity

for people with disabilities (Rimmer and Marques, 2012), there is a lack of guidance regarding what

constitutes sufficient physical activity in disabled populations, despite the acknowledgment that

stakeholders involved in physical inactivity prevention efforts don't adequately address these needs.

Therefore, in line with Piggin and Bairner's (2014) argument that the article does not reflect the

range of disabilities which may impact on people's lives in different ways, there appears to be a

complexity and specificity problem with the issue (Parsons, 1995), which reduces the likelihood of it

reaching the expanded public.

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With specific regard to cerebral palsy populations, manifestations of the condition affect the

magnitude, extent and location of the cerebral insult (Van Eck et al., 2008), therefore a large range

of physical and mental attributes can be negatively affected. In the context of the research question

in this project, the literature can therefore be used to understand barriers to communicating and

understanding cerebral palsy sport issues, considering who the cerebral palsy sport stakeholders are,

and acknowledging how disability sport policy creation can be moderated.

Policy Formulation

Literature that describes and explains the identification of policy problems and policy solutions is

valuable to this research, and falls into categories of problem types, the policy approach, power

relations, and policy instruments. Laver (1986) made the argument that the requirement of public

policy-making comes in the form of the need for social cooperation, the existence of social conflict

and a combination of the two. Hence, the theme of conflict is apparent in its derivation from socially

''imagined'' scarcity of resources and social incompatibility. Accordingly, in Hill's (1997) theories of

the state, the pluralist existence of different interest groups is noted, which is relevant to the notion

of cooperation in a society whereby diversity of interest is emphasised and saluted.

For this reason, the policy-orientated approach must be considered as noteworthy in its impact on

which policy responses are deemed significant and which are not. John (1998) identifies two sets of

policy phenomena in the form of policy variation and policy change, which can be seen as important

in the ways that they frame this research project. In terms of policy variation, disunities can occur

between different policy sectors and within different environmental contexts, so policy formulation

can be seen as a process which is sensitive to contextual variables such as underlying political

systems. This point engages the part of the research question that examines who the cerebral palsy

sport stakeholders are and what the implicit relationship is between sport policy and the stakeholder

groups.

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For example, Piggin et al. (2009) examines the relationship between power and knowledge in New

Zealand, figuring that policy-makers' understandings of policy success can be contradictory and

abstruse, whilst Stones (2002) refers to the usage of symbolic devices that frame part of a problem

as representative of the whole, regardless of whether they encompass the whole issue. Therefore,

with relevance to John's (1998) reference to policy change, the policy process is inherently

accounted for with assumptions that exist constitutionally, yet may still be applied universally.

Piggin et al. (2009) and Hill (1997) both identify the significant power of state institutions and seek

to analyse the role of actors within institutions of government. Thus, this literature adequately

references social conflict and cooperation of interests as a ''cause'' in the policy process, considering

how a policy issue is perceived, and acknowledging those who are responsible for being the

''perceivers'' of the issue.

Decision-making and Implementation

In a publication on the examination of the disability sport policy network by Thomas (2004), the

transitional organisational infrastructure of disability sport suggests that the basis of policy selection

has a role to play in the empowerment of disability sport organisations.

On a governmental level, the lack of clarity in the government and Sport England's objectives in

relation to disability sport has historically resulted in a weak policy community (Thomas, 2004).

Subsequent attempts to challenge and change disability sport has led to the government ring-

fencing £10.2 million for improving sporting opportunities for disabled people (Sport England, 2014);

however Thomas (2004) makes a strong consideration of the disparate range of organisations that

operate within the sport policy process, and also the peripheral interest of central government.

Therefore, the process of decision-making and policy implementation appears to be a coordination

issue which extends beyond a financial solution.

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Sport England's policy and financial directions (DCMS, 2007; DCMS, 2004) supply stakeholders of

the English Sports Council with guidelines for ensuring community integration, widespread equality

of opportunity, and mechanisms of internal control, although Thomas (2004) notes a confused

relationship between DSOs and NGBs which emphasises the role of Sport England and the EFDS as

influential in coordinating, providing and developing opportunities for disabled people. The policy

document for sports participation (DCMS, 2014) puts forward three actions for increasing sporting

opportunities; these include the funding of Sport England, the expansion of the School Games, and

the £450 million investment in primary schools.

Significantly, in the DCMS's (2012) sport strategy document ''Creating a sporting habit for life'', the

only reference to ''disability'' exists in a brief explanation and justification of the School Games. In

combination with the DCMS's categorisation of the document as a ''youth sport strategy'', targeting

14-25 year olds, the implication exists that there is an indubitable focus on the delivery of youth

sport to mainstream and disability populations.

Relevant to the pertinence of the application of sport policy to cerebral palsy persons, the literature

considers mediating factors relating directly to cerebral palsy sport participants. The low fitness level

associated with cerebral palsy sufferers, inclusive of low aerobic capacity, muscular strength and

muscular endurance (Van Eck et al., 2008), is contributory towards the assumption that all sufferers

are at ''high risk'' of sedentary behaviour (Lollar and Crews, 2003). However, Spivock and Gauvin

(2006) consider that a population-based intervention must develop an approach that extends

beyond the functional limitations of participants, and studies their interactions with the

environment which are inevitably responsible for facilitating their participation, implying that

disability is no longer a personal characteristic. Furthermore, Verschuren et al. (2012) identifies

cerebral palsy children and adolescents' interactions with personal and environmental factors as

being either facilitating or hindering towards engaging in physical activity, stating that attempts to

increase activity levels should reach beyond the individual.

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This literature is agreeable with the theoretical premise of this project that a disability is a restraint

mediated in the social environment (Laver, 1986), which is effective in its application to this project

in its investigation into the relationship between sport policy setting, sport policy implementation

and the resultant stakeholder benefits. However, this analysis is weakened by its application to the

limited demographic of the youth population in selected geographical areas (e.g. the Netherlands),

which may not be relevant in other societies.

Policy Evaluation

The evaluation of actions is a subjective phenomenon consistent with the interpretivist

epistemological philosophy of this project. Laver (1986) referred to the fact that all actions have

''spillover'' effects, therefore the evaluations used in this project should consider the causal

sequence of actions within the stakeholder network. Additionally, in the context of the sports

participation of disabled children, Murphy and Carbone (2008) explain that the combined advocacy

efforts of several stakeholders such as parents and educators are needed to ensure participation in

sports. Thus, the relative success of a policy implementation may not exist singularly, but may come

in the form of several public and private evaluations, from which interactions can stimulate further

conflict and the need for further regulation (Laver, 1986).

The research being conducted in this project addresses the vacant need for an analysis of the policy

''issue'' of disability in the form of cerebral palsy sport, whilst considering the scale of the policy

problem from its conception in society through to its impact on non-departmental organisational

bodies. The usage of the stakeholder approach advocates a multidimensional perspective of the

incentives that stakeholders hold to act and react to sports policy. Thus, the research question can

be extended to include a review of cerebral palsy sport stakeholders' integration into the policy

community and the implications of their experiences and responses to the policy environment.

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Chapter 3- Methodology

Introduction

Gratton and Jones (2010) clarify that research in the sporting discipline is substantial due to the

social, economical and political significance of sport; whilst Wann (1997) claims that quality research

is the ''lifeblood'' of any scientific discipline. Therefore, the complexity of approaching a

multidisciplinary and multifaceted research question which has different social, contextual and

methodological dimensions (in areas of stakeholder theory, disability sport and the policy process)

should be carefully considered in order to extract the relevant information from the research.

In doing so, the enablement will take place of the formulation of an analysis and conclusion that is

congruent and coherent with the philosophical and ideological approach, and the initially outlined

research objectives.

Research Philosophy

Research epistemology and ontology are guiding concepts for conducting research. Epistemology is

the study of knowledge acquaintance and examines the relationship between the inquirer and the

object of knowledge (Gratton and Jones, 2010). In the case of a qualitative research project which

studies the impact of sport policy on disability sport, the epistemology is based upon interpretivist

principles which suggest that there is an interdependent relationship between the researcher and

what is being researched. Lasswell (1970) claimed in his policy sciences conception that the policy

scientist perceives themselves as the integrator of knowledge and action, in a contextual, multi-

method and problem-orientated setting. The absence of separation in this relationship advocates

the subjective meanings of actions as key to defining our social reality, or more specifically, our

perceptions of a ''disability''.

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Epistemologically, the interpretivist approach is complimentary to the social model of disability;

one of the major conceptual frameworks used in this project, claiming that disability is created by

barriers in society, comprising of the environment, people's attitudes, and organisational practices

(DCMS, 2010). An idealist would claim that disability is ''the irrational product of deep-rooted

cultural beliefs, attitudes and prejudices'' (Sheldon, 2005) which are self-constructed and result in

our perception of the disabled population as isolated and oppressed. As a researcher, it is therefore

of paramount importance in a qualitative study to understand the impact of us, the ''inquirers'', and

our subjects, on beliefs and behaviours directed towards and within the disability sport policy

network.

An ontological approach refers to the nature of reality as either a realist view or a relativist view

(Gratton and Jones, 2010). The realist approach is objective in nature and is therefore not relevant to

this research project because the qualitative nature of the research leaves the results open to a

humanly constructed interpretation of its salience and distinctiveness. Therefore, in a project being

conducted for the decipherment of the processes of sport policy and their impact on stakeholder

groups, a relativist philosophy is more appropriate to account for the humanly constructed nature of

reality as a subjective phenomenon.

Another philosophical consideration is that by conducting research designed to elicit the

effectiveness of an existing system, the subjected population and network are made aware of the

distortions of their social practices to the point that they are inspired to change (Sparkes and Smith,

2013). This phenomenon is central to the concept of critical inquiry, whereby the research has the

power to emancipate disability groups, as they will be made aware of the conditions and

constraining factors which act on the perceptions of their own agency.

In accordance with the objectives of this research project, although emancipation may be a broader

goal of disability research, a materialist/radical social model of disability implies that disability is the

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systematic outcome of a dominant political ideology (Sheldon, 2005). Therefore, the establishment

of organisational or social change in the disability sector is not necessarily guaranteed from the

simple identification of the symptoms of effective disability sport policy, but may exist at the sources

of policy creation whereby the concept of ''change'' exists as a cause. This research will explore both

of these possibilities.

Research Design

One of the reasons cited for undertaking research is to investigate an existing situation and/or its

problems (Hussey and Hussey, 1997). In the context of this research project, potential flaws in the

cerebral palsy/disability sport policy network may be understood as moderating variables (Gratton

and Jones, 2010) which contribute to the heterogeneity of the stakeholder groups and their

experiences, which are being assessed in this study.

Traditionally, the experimental approach to conducting research is associated with the positivist

paradigm of investigating the spuriousness of the relationship between the independent and

dependent variables. Although the relationships between the inputs and the outputs of the disability

sport policy process, and their relative outcomes, are important concepts, the enduring complexity

of policy networks makes a wholly experimental approach unsuitable for this project.

Contrarily, a descriptive and explanatory research design may be more appropriate for this study

because the collection and analysis of data which explains the oppressions and gains of cerebral

palsy sport stakeholder groups, using a theoretical and conceptual framework, may more

substantially facilitate an understanding of the covariation and causality of the relationship between

sport policy and the aforementioned stakeholders.

The two types of research that are commonly used in the sport policy paradigm are pure and

applied research (Gratton and Jones, 2010). Pure research takes place to ameliorate an

understanding of a concept without regard for a specific problem. This project utilises pure research

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as there is no initially apparent problem with the existing disability sport policy network. Applied

research is often conducted consequentially after the empirical research has been completed

(Gratton and Jones, 2010), although the abductive nature of this study means that any evidence of a

''solution'' can only be conjectured, rather than conclusively proven, due to the restricted

generalisability of focused samples, and the equivocal nature of an interpretivist epistemological

approach.

Data Collection

The nature of this research project means that the data collection will largely involve primary

research in order to obtain data that is specific and relevant to this research project. Moreover, the

collection of in-depth data can effectively contribute to answering the research question, and is

vitally important to supporting the empirical strand of research from which idea generation and

conclusions can be made in the form of emergent narratives.

The method for collecting the empirical data will be the utilisation of semi-structured phone

interviews on a selection of case studies. Case study research is a suitable method for this research

due to the fact that it allows the intensive study of particular instances (Gratton and Jones, 2010),

thus allowing the analysis of chosen cases, which focus on both the ''process'' and the ''product'' of

the inquiry (Sparkes and Smith, 2013). Therefore, the research will allow the obtainment of different

perspectives of practice from different organisations in the cerebral palsy sport policy network.

In this qualitative study, a non-random sample was deemed the most appropriate to meet the

research objectives. In this instance, quota sampling- a non-probability sampling technique- is most

suitable. This mode of sampling involves identifying specific sub-groups and selecting samples from

within these sub-groups who meet the participation criteria, which was pre-determined before the

sampling process. The criteria for participant selection was provided in an initial email containing an

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explanation of the research and interview procedure; a template of this email is provided in

Appendix 1.

In this case, the aim was to target key informants- individuals chosen on the basis of specific

knowledge they possess (Gratton and Jones, 2010)- who can purposively illustrate a particular

situation and improve our understanding of the disability sport paradigm. Therefore, this project has

targeted different areas of the cerebral palsy sport policy network, from which specific organisations

have been selected and made aware of the study, before selecting a suitable candidate to

participate in the recorded interviews.

The participatory bodies are:

1. The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) (National Charity and Disability Sport

Umbrella Organisation)

2. Cerebral Palsy Sport (CP Sport) (National Disability Sport Organisation)

3. Boccia England (Boccia's National Governing Body)

4. Project Ability (School Games inclusivity initiative)

One downfall of this method is that non-random sampling may undermine the external validity of

the data, and thus the extent to which the findings can be generalised to a larger population.

However, this study is specialised in the research area of disability and cerebral palsy sport policy, as

well as the carefully selected stakeholder groups which form the focus of the analyses. Therefore,

the four interviews are only intended to produce a representation of stakeholder experiences within

this specific network and not outside of it.

The usage of semi-structured interviews is a strategic choice to effectively elicit a range of

information from the interview subjects. The ''semi-structured'' element, comprising largely of open-

ended questions, allows the participants a greater flexibility to describe and explain their

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experiences as well as their knowledge of the disability sport policy network (Sparkes and Smith,

2013). A template of the interview structure is provided in Appendix 2. The application of probing,

such as the use of clarification probes, is to be useful in reducing response ambiguity, and solidifying

the interviewer's role as an ''active listener'', whilst building rapport with the subject and

establishing an antagonistic relationship.

This project will also embark on significant data collection from secondary sources. Secondary data

is useful in establishing and evaluating different forms of data in support of fundamental arguments.

This project will use quantitative secondary data in the form of variables such as participation

volume and financial investment in the disability sport sector, whilst remaining relevant to the

relationship between different stakeholder groups.

In addition, this project aims to interpret the data by aggregating the analyses in order to counter

the biases associated with utilising a singular analytical method (Sparkes and Smith, 2013). This

multiple means of data collection refers to the triangulation of data, which is accounted for by the

combined use of different types of data including the empirically collected interview data, which will

undergo a thematic analysis, and the secondary quantitative data used to support the arguments

formed in the primary means.

Building upon the triangulation of research sources, this project also seeks to use multiple

theoretical viewpoints to frame its analyses. For example, the utilisation of Freeman's (1984)

stakeholder perspective, the Department for Media, Culture and Sport's (2010) social model of

disability, and Sheldon's (2005) materialist and idealist perspectives of the social model of

oppressive forces in society. These components form the theoretical framework of the study, and

will contribute to the ''meaning-making'' process when concluding the research findings.

24

Data Analysis

The data collected will be organised and assessed using a thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is a

systematic method of analysing qualitative data into key themes through the process of coding

(Sparkes et al., 2012). Subsequently, similarities and differences between the experiences of cerebral

palsy sport stakeholder groups can be made using semantic comparisons of the data, although some

data may be contextually abductive when analysed in conjunction with the theoretical framework.

Essentially, the primary interview data will be thematically dissected and reviewed with

consideration of the theoretical dataset and prior knowledge of the disability sport policy sector.

Trustworthiness Criteria

Qualitative research sample selection requires an informed assessment of bias; in this case,

research is limited by the relative success of applying a ''trustworthiness criteria'', which is used to

judge the quality of the research (Sparkes and Smith, 2013). Firstly, as opposed to the traditionally

quantitative criterion of reliability, this project will aim to produce a high level of dependability. This

will be achieved by retaining interview recordings, communication documentations, and a paper trail

of the logistical processes used to obtain the relevant data. The traceability of the research process

holds individualistic characteristics because the data collection is based on individual, non-replicable

case studies. Therefore, the commitment to adhering to and recording a logistical research process

may be potentially limiting to the research quality.

Consistent with the interpretivist epistemological approach of qualitative research, complete

objectivity can never truly be obtained. Thus, the quality of this research can be enhanced by

executing strategic, informed and principled methodological decisions in order to ensure that the

outcomes of inquiries are rooted in the contexts and persons apart from the researcher (Sparkes and

Smith, 2013). This principle is known as confirmability and will be controlled through researcher

reflexivity and self-assessment.

25

Additionally, this research aims to apply the trustworthiness principle of transferability, which is

achievable through the provision of thick descriptions of the selected case studies, thus improving

the generativity of the disability sport policy phenomena even though the research is only

representative of the selected studies (Sparkes and Smith, 2013). Whilst the generalisation of these

case studies to larger populations is unreasonable in this mode of research, the findings may still

retain generalisability in their application to the theoretical frameworks and their recognisability in

the disability sport paradigm.

The credibility of the research hold significance to the question ''Do research findings capture what

really happened?'' (Sparkes and Smith, 2013). The ontologically relativist approach claims the

existence of multiple ''truths'', whilst epistemologically there is no separation between the

researcher and what is being researched (Gratton and Jones, 2010), therefore corresponding the

research findings with ''reality'' in a qualitative research project is often unobtainable, although this

research will strive to maintain a ''parallel perspective'' (Sparkes and Smith, 2013) of credibility

practices by applying techniques such as triangulation, data checking, and progressive subjectivity.

Research Limitations

Potential flaws in the research design are susceptible to fall into four categories: complexity, access,

facilities/resources and expertise (Clarke et al., 1998). Fundamentally, as a sole researcher

conducting empirical research, access to data collection is a significant limitation. During the

sampling process, initial attempts to organise data collection resulted in limited success due to the

non-responsiveness and non-communication of target bodies. In this research, the decision to

conduct phone interviews was strategic to alleviate the possibility of temporal and geographical

limiting factors. However, this project may still be limited in its scope of accessing the most suitable

bodies, and selecting the ''correct'' persons with which to conduct the research.

26

Further limitations come in the form of facilities and resource demands. These may be in the form

of the secondary data collection which placed a heavy reliance on internet databases due to their

low cost, ease of accessibility and general convenience (Sparkes and Smith, 2013); although the

depth of research that can be conducted in this manner is limited, it should be considered when

forming evaluations.

Finally, the relationship between the complexity of the research and the relative expertise of the

researcher is a constraint on the application of research procedures, analyses and examinations. The

prior knowledge of the researcher could have an impact on the research direction, understanding,

and also the types of questions asked during the semi-structured interview process. These

interpretations are difficult to measure, but should be understood and considered to improve the

confirmability of the data collection and analyses.

Ethical Considerations

Before each interview, participants were reminded of the ethical implications of participating in the

research, which was granted ethical clearance by the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Department at Loughborough University in November 2014. For example, participants were

reminded of their right to interviewee anonymity, their explicit role in the research process and

access to the data, and their right to withdrawal from the study. The consent form template used in

this study is shown in Appendix 4.

One potential limitation of disclosing a large volume of information to the participant is subject

deception (Gratton and Jones, 2010), whereby the participant is aware enough of the nature of the

study to provide invalid answers and thus distort the data collection and subsequent analysis.

However, this factor is difficult to control in a study whereby participation is voluntary and data

derivation is subjectively elicited.

27

Results

Introduction

The theoretical thematic analyses of the data are based upon a hypothetico-deductive approach to

analysing the dataset (Willig, 2008). This is to say that the combination of open, axial and selective

coding is designed to elicit deeper understandings of the stakeholder mentality and the social

models of disability. In addition, metanarratives may emerge from the data in the form of latent

themes that materialise inductively (Braun and Clarke, 2006), thereby justifying the wholly abductive

approach to the research process and analyses of results.

There are results and analyses for each of the four case studies- the EFDS, CP Sport, Boccia England,

and Project Ability- which will initially aim to describe semantic themes, before being cross-

examined in the discussion to appraise existing relations within the CP sport stakeholder network.

English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS)

The English Federation of Disability Sport, an organisation with national charity status, strives

towards an equal society through increased opportunity and choice for all disabled people. Core

themes derived through the interview with its Research Insight Manager indicated the significance

of resource distribution in various formats, thus highlighting the EFDS's key role as a facilitator of

sport and physical activity opportunities. Sub-themes indicated that the distribution of resources has

a relationship with the demand for disability sport, by both NGBs as providers and the disability

population as receivers. Additionally, the EFDS's supervision of the sustainability of inclusivity

programmes administered by NGBs and NDSOs was shown to be consistent with the EFDS's purpose

as a ''strategic organisation'', prioritising long-term solutions over immediate improvements.

Responsibility and power in the context of organisational interests also emerged as a key theme in

the form of the two-way process between the EFDS and disabled people, thus embodying the

28

stakeholder definition, and also the impact of non-departmental government bodies such as Sport

England, who cooperate with the EFDS and NGBs to ''ensure that realistic targets are set based on

what is known about disabled people taking part''.

Finally, the impact of sport policy was found to be moderated by the theme of how disability

stakeholders are accessed, in terms of how organisations increase the awareness of disability sport

and also create opportunities for the disabled population. On one hand. ''working with local

authorities on a provider and face-to-face level'' to localise the delivery of sport and physical activity

was found to be an important process in improving local provision, whilst the EFDS was also shown

to support the government ''buy-in'' by highlighting the ongoing benefits of participation to NDSOs,

as often ''disabled people's needs are above and beyond physical activity''. Thus, with the

encouragement of disability sport and physical activity from a governmental perspective comes an

understanding of the non-sporting requirements and incentives for disabled people to participate.

Cerebral Palsy Sport (CP Sport)

From a research perspective, CP Sport is superficially crucial to the translation of sport policy into

cerebral palsy stakeholder benefits. Through the interview process, stakeholder engagement

emerged as a core theme, by encouraging NGBs to ''engage with NDSOs in developing their products

and programmes in ways they can be more inclusive and land in different communities''.

The National Sport Development Manager for CP Sport continued to elicit the importance of

matching cerebral palsy athletes with the right sports, claiming that there are ''a lot of athletes that

are not in the right sports'', when referring to the Youth Sport Trust's role in organising and

delivering the School Games. Similarly, the theme of putting athletes onto a performance pathway

was identified as an issue, whereby NGBs' understandings of the severity of different types of

disability are not the same. This theme raises the query of the relevance of sport policy in

encouraging inclusivity when those responsible for delivering sport do not have the sufficient

29

knowledge or expertise. However, the interviewee did elude to ''just being about to write a cerebral

palsy awareness course'' with the purpose of teaching different cerebral palsy sports, in order to

overcome this problem.

The final theme of resource distribution and redistribution resonated with the DCMS's social model

of disability (DCMS, 2010), encompassing the organisational responsibility of social enablement. The

dataset highlighted that Sport England's reporting mechanism involved '' just having a number of

minimum outcomes per year'', rather than key performance indicators which may have been more

appropriate. Additionally, despite the Inclusive Sport Fund's association with targeting the 14-25 age

group, CP Sport identified the inclusivity process as encompassing all age groups, whilst also

expressing concern that ''the people that should be supplying sport at a younger age are not being

made accountable''.

Boccia England

The predominant theme identified in the Boccia England interview data was the importance of

stakeholder incentive. This is to say that their Chief Executive indicated that Boccia England's policy

focus was aligned to ''operating as a governing body of sport as opposed to looking and catering for

a specific disability group'', which suggests the strategic direction of the organisation is

developmental. In addition, from a resource perspective, the interview data indicated that due to

boccia being a relatively new sport, Boccia England are a young governing body who are still

developing and growing, therefore in the context of the disability and cerebral palsy sport policy

network, awareness and access to the policy agenda may be limited.

From an attitudinal perspective, the interviewee explained that ''the role of CP Sport and the EFDS

in introducing knowledge of disability has more relevance to providing an 'in' as a mechanism for

better and more continued participation''. Thus, the stakeholders are reliant on each other to

succeed in terms of providing exposure and opportunities to increase participation. Another feature

30

of the dataset was the numerous existing partnerships in place that have financial and practical

ramifications, such as The Lord's Taverners support of school boccia competitions and the Youth

Sport Trust's coordination of disability sport programmes, which enables pan-disability participation

for young people.

Finally, when referring to the generally inverse relationship between age and disabled people's

participation in sport (Sport England, 2015), the nature of boccia as a sport was highlighted as a

reason for the population-based approach being unsuitable. It was explained that ''conditions are

often degenerative and the period that athletes can play is also limited'', therefore it is more

important to understand the needs of the athletes in order to create opportunities for them, rather

than treating them as one target group.

Project Ability

Project Ability is a School Games initiative designed to promote and deliver sport participation and

competition in an inclusive format in schools. An interview with one of the Project Ability county

leaders emphasised the critical role of school sport in breaking the barriers to participation, as

''physical education and sport are a little bit more accessible to young people with cerebral palsy in

general''.

The important factor of accessibility in school sport was continually highlighted in the dataset as a

key theme, with the Youth Sport Trust playing a pivotal role in providing the infrastructure for NGBs

to develop inclusive formats of their sport. However, the logistical difficulties of implementing

inclusive school sport were also identified in the form of the sparseness of Project Ability schools,

and the need for performance pathways leading from school sport to elite competition, summarised

by the declaration that ''we need pathways because young people always want to participate in

competitions''.

31

Leading from this, the sustainability of providing inclusive opportunities was revealed as a core

theme, making reference to the fact that there were ''not enough young people with specific

cerebral palsy'' to deliver a tailored programme for impairment-specific sport. However, the running

of ''multisport days/sessions'' to encourage participation which can then be fed into performance

pathways within specific NGBs was apparent, once again working through the Youth Sport Trust to

provide grass-roots opportunities.

32

Discussion

Introduction

In response to the results, the thematic distinctions from all four case studies have conveyed three

key areas of influence in the way that sport policy is mediated and delivered. These are: the

distribution of resources; the sustainability of disability sport; and the allocation of performance

pathways.

Resource Distribution

The issue being presented is that resource distribution and redistribution tends to exhibit high

levels of conflict, with some stakeholders ''worse-off'' than others (Laver, 1986). Across the four

interviews, non-tangible resources were found to be prominent, in the form of the expertise and

advice offered by the EFDS and CP Sport to NGBs and DSOs, with a strong view to developing

''popular sports'' with a high public demand. Therefore, the need for public policy appears to suggest

its value as an educational tool, backed up by Project Ability's claim that guidelines could be used to

access school sport stakeholders, and identify individuals who can then be initiated onto a

performance pathway.

Interestingly, although the government has an equality policy in place (DCMS, 2010), its proposed

actions only appear to ''protect the rights'' of disabled people, which using Sheldon's (2005) idealist

social model, suggests that rights alone are insufficient to eradicate inequality, as it is an over-

simplistic solution to overturning the deep-rooted, traditional beliefs of society. Thus, in line with CP

Sport's claim that ''education is a major problem with the inclusion of children in mainstream PE '',

public policy would be well-informed to address resource distribution as a stimulatory exercise to

increase awareness of disability groups in both special needs and mainstream populations.

Additionally, despite the data indicating the distribution of National Lottery and exchequer funding

by Sport England as the ''first step'' towards increasing participation, the argument was raised in the

33

Project Ability data that it was ''time-consuming'' sorting out funding streams, thus highlighting the

impracticalities associated with interacting with multiple stakeholders, regardless of the superficial

positive impact of increased funding.

From the perspective of the stakeholder approach, Freeman (1984) identifies the importance of the

willingness of stakeholder groups to expand their resources; therefore the integration of special

education needs/disabled groups and mainstream non-disabled groups, as demonstrated by Boccia

England and Project Ability, suggests strong stakeholder coordination in approaching policy issues

and implementing a systematic solution. The EFDS, CP Sport and Project Ability all address the need

to access stakeholders who can deliver disability sport. This may be achieved for example by '' giving

young people the responsibility to be leading sport leadership events and workshops '' and the

implementation of the ''CP awareness programme'', which provides a progressive solution to

addressing the gap in experience of organisations and people working with CP athletes.

Sustainability

The literature review for this project has already referred to the difference between a pragmatic

short-term solution and a strategic long-term solution to policy issues. In the government policy for

increasing sport participation (DCMS, 2014), explicit attention is paid to the Youth Sport Strategy,

giving young people the opportunity to take part in sport, with a view to alleviating the participation

''drop-off'' which is evident as age increases (Sport England, 2015). In support of this policy direction,

the EFDS claimed that early exposure to physical activity and sport reduces the lifetime cost of

getting people physically active, thus justifying the heavy government investment in organisations

such as the Youth Sport Trust who focus on getting young people playing sport.

However, in a disability context, the argument can be made that the specialisation of disability and

CP populations can make the organisation and delivery of sport unsustainable. For example, the CP

Sport dataset indicated that an important stakeholder relationship resides in the collaboration of

34

impairment-specific bodies and NGBs. This implies that although NGBs may show interest in

becoming more inclusive, the specialist nature of conditions such as CP creates an issue for

delivering the right format of inclusive sport with the right participants (for example the

development of CP football and frame football with the Football Association).

Potentially, this argument could be localised to the reporting of disability sport and physical activity

in the UK, as demonstrated by ''Start Active, Stay Active'' (Department of Health, 2011); a report on

physical activity which presents guidelines for participation. In this document, it is proclaimed that

''the guidelines in this report would be broadly applicable to disability'', which implies an

acknowledgement of the broad beneficial impact of physical activity on disabled populations, but

does not provide an insight or education for organisations or governments as to how to adapt their

policies to cater for specific disability athletes. This responsibility lies with organisations such as the

EFDS and CP Sport who adhere to their own independent aims and objectives.

Thus, as expressed by the EFDS, the challenge of coordinating a sustainable disability sport

programme requires ''buy-in at all levels from the sectors involved'' to increase awareness and

guidance for disability sport. In accordance with Kohl et al.'s (2012) ''systems approach'', the

acknowledgement of health behaviours should consider the complexity of actions, interactions,

adaptations and adoptions within that system, which from a stakeholder perspective denotes an

understanding of the ''rational level'' of the stakeholder map (Freeman, 1984), which fosters an

inter-organisational expertise that appears to be crucial to the success of the CP sport policy

community.

Performance Pathways

In the context of organisational structure in disability sport, there exists the implication of accessing

the potential athletes on a grass roots level in order to allocate them into the right sports and to

progress them to an elite competition level. Research obtained from the EFDS indicated that the

35

representation of disabled people is high on their agenda, thus aiming to communicate positive

attitudes towards disabled people in the sports they participate in. However, the dataset also

revealed attempts at ''moving away from a sport focus'' and more towards a focus on ''physical

activities... whether that be running or walking'', demonstrating a perspective of inclusivity as

obtainable and sustainable from a grass roots level upwards. Boccia England have labelled the EFDS

and CP Sport's roles in the sport policy network as ''introducers'' of knowledge.

Furthermore, Boccia England have claimed that they place a large focus on developing boccia as a

sport, as opposed to catering for a specific disability group. Therefore, disability interests and

sporting interests appear to be distinct concepts that may cause conflict, consequently impacting the

identification and development of athletes moving onto performance pathways.

This multidimensional approach can be furthered by Barnes and Sheldon's (2010) argument that

disability is an exclusion that encompasses access to education, employment, leisure and social

relationships. Similarly, the DCMS's (2010) social model of disability portrays barriers to participation

as coming in the form of attitudes, the environment and organisations. Therefore, the policy

implication for change-makers is to access the disabled population through a bottom-up

organisational approach to understand their requirements on a disability level, before introducing

the progression of sport.

Through the analysis of Sport England's policy directions (Sport England, 2007) in conjunction with

Freeman's (1984) stakeholder approach, it can be stated that a need exists to foster local community

initiatives which bring legitimate stakeholders together to deliver inclusive sport. The EFDS explained

how its physical activity sector ''helps to engage physical activity at a local level'', whilst Project

Ability demonstrated that access to competitions restrains young athletes from being exposed to a

suitable pathway to develop. In summary, policy networks should not be seen as threats containing

36

entities that protect their own interests, but should play a crucial role in overcoming adversity and

reducing conflict on an attitudinal, societal and organisational level.

Policy Analysis

Kingdon's policy streams approach to policy analysis (John, 1998) assumes continual policy change

through a flow of policy processes: problems, policies and politics. In the context of the CP sport

policy network, the problem stream can be identified as the recognition of unequal opportunity on a

societal and sporting level.

In the policy stream, the salient matter is understanding how CP sport issues can penetrate the

systematic and institutional agenda (Cobb and Elder, 1972); one solution suggested by this model is

the mobilisation of ideas and attitudes by policy entrepreneurs, who have a lobbying role to

proposing solutions to policy problems. In the Project Ability dataset, reference was made to the

work of Baroness Sue Campbell in instigating the Youth Sport Trust's role as an influential provider of

youth sport. Therefore, a policy entrepreneur with a commitment to disability and/or CP sport could

capitalise on a disability issue residing in the problem stream.

Finally, in the political stream, there is a strong relationship between political processes and

influences on people's perceptions of disabled populations. This notion relates strongly to Sheldon's

(2005) materialist social model, which implies that society systematically oppresses disabled people,

and also Spivock and Gauvin's (2006) view of a population as an artificial creation.

Alternatively, Sabatier's policy advocacy coalition framework (John, 1998) could be used to analyse

the CP sport policy network. This framework takes a pluralist approach with regard to its

acknowledgement of relationships within policy sectors in the form of different coalitions competing

for dominance.

37

In the context of CP sport, the explicit government focus of targeting youth sport means that

coalitions have formed around organisations such as the Youth Sport Trust, as has been

demonstrated in this research. The development of disability sport actors in young organisations, for

example Boccia England, is likely to be influential in furthering disability and CP sport in its

development, as the implicit assumption is made that environmental factors will remain stable, thus

enabling reform in the disability sport sector.

The advocacy coalition framework brings relevance to the stakeholder approach (Freeman, 1984) in

terms of its replication of the ''transactional'' level of interaction with stakeholders. However, in

reality, a downfall of taking these perspectives together is that policy activity can stagnate by being

''paralysed'' by the over-analysis of transactions from the government, through to Sport England,

DSOs, NGBs, NDSOs and CP athletes.

38

Conclusion

Introduction

This research was administered to fulfil the purpose of understanding the extent to which the

stakeholders of cerebral palsy sport benefit from the setting of sport policy, through an analysis of

the CP sport and disability policy network. Thus, the research objectives have been adhered to in the

following ways.

Research Objective Review

1. To identify the key stakeholders in the CP sport policy network

Overall, NGBs were shown to be crucial in their decision-making to provide inclusive, adaptive and

sustainable opportunities to play sport. Sport England do have a role to play in selecting the policy

and funding criteria for organisations to adhere to, although the factors of access and awareness

with regard to CP sport opportunities are largely in the control of organisations such as the EFDS and

CP Sport who can provide expertise and knowledge to bodies that can deliver inclusive sport to the

parts of society that require it.

The stakeholders who hold the greatest potential to benefit from the setting of sport policy are CP

athletes, who ordinarily experience oppression in the form of embedded attitudes, the social

environment and organisational marginalisation. However, the research revealed the critical role of

school sport stakeholders in providing inclusive opportunities to both disabled and non-disabled

populations, under the premise that CP athletes are provided with a subsequently suitable

performance pathway.

2. To understand stakeholder relations in a sport policy context

In accordance with the stakeholder definition, ''any group or individual who can affect or is affected

by the achievement of the firm's objectives'' (Freeman, 1984), the interdependent relationship

39

between CP stakeholders is understood as a two-way process. The literature indicated that disability

can be liberated through a social enablement process, therefore sport policy should do more to

influence disability sport on a structural level by making it sustainable, rather than taking a ''rights''

approach which doesn't actively stimulate increased disability sport participation.

Although CP sport stakeholders indicated different levels of cooperation with various partners, the

literature and data indicate that the integration of mainstream and disability stakeholders into the

policy community will be beneficial towards achieving a consensus for the delivery of inclusive

opportunities. In this instance, school sport is the ideal instrument to utilise, for example through

the ''getting more people playing sport'' policy and the School Games. However, for this to happen,

appropriate support is needed from organisations such as the Youth Sport Trust in locating and

providing schools with the correct tools to foster inclusive participation.

3. To identify stakeholder incentives to adhering to sport policy

Stakeholder incentives have been found to revolve around the obtainment of both tangible and

non-tangible resources. Theoretically, the scarcity of resources is a fundamental cause of social

conflict, although in a CP sport stakeholder context, one member's resource, for example expertise,

may proliferate into another's benefit. In the case of disability sport, there is a tendency to deliver

sports that are either practical to deliver, or sports that are perceived to carry a high demand.

Unwillingness to change the current balance of resources may alleviate conflict between

stakeholder groups, but the nature of the policy community is dynamic, therefore changing political

and financial balances are subject to alter stakeholder behaviours.

40

4. To identify and explain the stakeholder benefits derived from sport policy

Stakeholder benefits are contingent on the public policy issue of disability sport marginalisation

reaching the systematic and institutional policy agenda. This is to say that in disability sport there is a

strong requirement to have prominent policy actors in the sector. These actors must have lobbying

capabilities which can address the relevant metanarratives to influence government policy

formulation.

On the level of CP athletes, the impact of inclusive sport opportunities derived from sport policy is

multifaceted. Evidenced by public physical activity articles such as Designed To Move, The Lancet

and Start Active Stay Active, the health outcome of opportunities to play sport has a tendency to

develop into a long-term behavioural trend, whilst the social, physical and psychological benefits of

inclusion are predominant.

Organisationally, whilst sport policy has a guiding role in educating people about disability sport

and physical activity, organisations still retain a high degree of agency in pursuing their own agendas

and objectives. In these terms, the usage of the stakeholder approach to frame this project is

potentially problematic, as it makes the assumption that organisations actively want to surface

difficult issues, which may not necessarily be beneficial or solvable.

Future Research

5. To establish a suitable future direction for the CP sport stakeholder community

This research addresses the need for a cross-dimensional analysis of the current disability sport

policy community. Therefore, future research that could build on this work may come in the form of

a longitudinal study which emphasises policy change and policy variation. Additionally, a large

proportion of theoretical perspectives in this project are derived from international infrastructures,

which may not necessarily be directly applicable to the locus of this project. Therefore, the need

41

exists to perform a comparative study across different political and economic conditions, which may

offer a better understanding of causality from policy creation to policy implementation in different

social environments.

42

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Appendices

Appendix 1- Research Information Sheet Template

50

Hi,

I'm writing to you with regard to the research I am conducting which was briefly discussed on the phone today. So the salient information is as follows:

With your permission, I am looking to conduct a phone interview next week with someone in your organisation to provide me with some insight into the disability sport network. The title of my independent research project is ''To what extent do the stakeholders of cerebral palsy sport benefit from the setting of sport policy?'' Therefore, I will be hoping to ask you about the following areas of disability sport:

-your role as a national disability sport organisation for the disabled (and non-disabled population-your relationship with your partners, such as national governing bodies, disability sport organisations, and government organisations such as the English Sports Council-your reliance on funding and the funding distribution process-your role in meeting physical activity guidelines for the disabled population-your commitment to meeting government policy -your commitment to providing a pathway from grassroots to elite sport-attitudes towards integration and mainstreaming of disability sports-the major beneficiaries of your work and the initiatives you are working on to achieve your objectives

The interview will ideally last no more than 40 minutes, although it is completely in your control whether you participate and how long you are willing to participate for. I will run through all the relevant details about the work I am doing and the procedure once again before the interview. I will clarify information such as my responsibility in the procedure, as well as the destination of the data which will be recorded using a voice recorder. All in all, the process is essentially so I can find out a bit more about your work and the disability sport network as I am keen to learn and expand my knowledge of the topic. There is no pressure to provide a ''model'' answer to anything, as all I am looking for is a participant with a sufficient level of insight into the disability/cerebral palsy sport network who can give me some information for my research.

I hope this information clears up any questions you may have had about my research, although please let me know if you have any further queries. My number is 07792584959, although I am happy to be contacted through this email address as well.

As I said on the phone, I'd ideally like to talk to someone by Friday, although I am very flexible on the timing. Hope to hear back from you soon so we can arrange a date.

Kind regards,

Niall McCaffrey

Loughborough University

Appendix 2- Interview Structure Template

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1. As an organisation, what are your primary aims?

2. Who do you consider to be your clients?

3. To what extent would you say that you have a responsibility to integrate disability sports

with mainstream populations?

4. How is you funding organised and distributed within the disability sport network?

5. Do you have a working relationship with _________?

6. How do you ensure that all your stakeholders are aware of the same aims and

objectives?

7. How do you decide which sports hold precedence for funding and resources?

8. Would you say that you have a direct working relationship with disability/CP athletes?

9. To what extent do you focus on grass roots participation over elite competition?

10. How do you prepare your workforce to deliver inclusive opportunities?

11. To what extent do you cooperate with government organisations?

12. How do you measure the success of the strategies that you implement?

13. Do you advocate the government's encouragement of youth sport (14-25)?

14. Which stakeholder groups have the greatest responsibility to break down the barriers

that prevent CP persons and disability groups from participating in sport and integrating

in society?

Appendix 3- Sample Interview Transcript Extract (CP Sport)

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Researcher: The government has recently placed quite an explicit amount of attention on addressing the needs of youth sport, particularly those aged 14 to 25. Is this something that you advocate?

Participant: Well, our inclusive sport money is 14 to 25 because we don't just get Sport England money, we work across.... we would say we work cradle to grave, so we work younger than that. If you look at some of our kick start football... we have five year olds at our football... and under, you know we take them at three. The same with swimming, we take them younger. I appreciate that Sport England has to start somewhere, but you can't try to say to a child at seven ''no, no... you can't come'', it doesn't work like that. The concern is that the people that should be supplying the sporting opportunities at a younger age are not doing that, they're not being made accountable I don't believe.

Appendix 4- Consent Form

53

To what extent do stakeholders of cerebral palsy sport benefit from the setting of sport policy?

INFORMED CONSENT FORM

The purpose and details of this study have been explained. I understand that this study is designed to further scientific knowledge and that all procedures have been approved by the Loughborough University Ethics Approvals (Human Participants) Sub-Committee.

Yes No

I have read and understood the information provided and have been informed of this consent form.

Yes No

I have had an opportunity to ask questions about my participation. Yes No

I understand that I am under no obligation to take part in the study. Yes No

I understand that I have the right to withdraw from this study at any stage for any reason, and that I will not be required to explain my reasons for withdrawing.

Yes No

I understand that all the information I provide will be treated in strict confidence and will be kept anonymous and confidential to the researchers unless (under the statutory obligations of the agencies which the researchers are working with), it is judged that confidentiality will have to be breached for the safety of the participant or others.

Yes No

I agree to participate in this study. Yes No

Appendix 5- Research Progress Report

The progress report for this project (dated 06/11/14) was written as an initial research proposal,

detailing the intended research direction of the project, and incorporating a concise plan of action.

54

Research question: initially my first research topic which I decided to focus on was team cohesion. However, my focus has since changed to the topic of sport policy, and more specifically its implications on cerebral palsy sport in the UK. This change was motivated by my search for a purposeful topic which contained opportunities to conduct a combination of pure and applied research. With the growing media attention and equal rights support of physical and mental disability sport, a focus on a disability such as cerebral palsy in the context of sport policy holds great significance for a research project. Cerebral palsy is a term used to describe the neurological condition which affects someone’s movement and coordination (NHS, website). Therefore, a person who experiences the effects of cerebral palsy may be less inclined to adopt a physically active lifestyle. According to Verschuren et al’s (2012) work on facilitators and barriers to physical activity in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy, individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) are less physically active and have poor fitness levels which can compromise daily functioning. Therefore, the creation of a long-term strategy through the setting of national policy holds a great importance in maintaining the welfare of people with CP. Thus, the research question which I have decided to use is ‘’to what extent do stakeholders of cerebral palsy sport benefit from the setting of sport policy?’’.

Literature search: this research project will be grounded by the theoretical basis of stakeholder theory, initially proposed by Freeman (1984) and then analysed by Donaldson and Preston (1995) in terms of its concepts and implications on corporations. Stakeholder theory implies that corporations should move away from the traditional shareholder view of prioritising owners’ returns, and move towards appeasing the needs of various stakeholders with an interest in the company, such as customers, suppliers, communities, governments, or trade associations. This theory holds relevance to my project by attempting to explain the behaviour of the government who sets policies and distributes resources, and organisations (e.g. National Governing Bodies) who implement certain policies on their chosen segment. Additional literature which has been investigated includes Verschuren et al’s (2012) work on facilitators and barriers to children with cerebral palsy in Holland. Although this paper highlights the environmental and personal factors which influence the experiences of children and adolescents in physical activity, the study is confined to a geographical area which is not relevant to my study; therefore I am investigating an area which may have different social and contextual implications for setting policies. Also, my research will aim to make a link between sport policy (input) and the impact on stakeholders (output) which is not a common theme in current literature in a disability sport context. This is with the exception of Thomas’ (2004) study on the disability sport policy network in England, which highlighted seven particular sports and looked at disability in a more general sense. However, my research will look specifically at cerebral palsy sport and also the wider causes and effects for the various stakeholder groups. Another theoretical base from which I may conduct my research is that of the Multiple Constituency Approach (Terry, Conlon and Deutsch, 1980), although the suitability of this grounding is yet to be confirmed. Research into policy setting will begin with The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and subsequently the Governing Bodies and private organisations who offer physical activity and sport to those with cerebral palsy, from a grass roots to an elite perspective; for example, Sport England, UK Sport, CP Sport, and the English Federation of Disability Sport.

55

Research design: for this project, I will be conducting a combination of descriptive and explanatory research, with a theoretical grounding (stakeholder theory). The methods which will be employed are mainly qualitative and empirical in nature, in the forms of primary data collection from both interviews and questionnaires. Semi-structured Interviews will be conducted with purposeful samples of individuals who represent the policy setters in the UK with the objective of understanding the goals of the policies being set, whilst questionnaires will be used to understand trends which exist in other stakeholder groups (e.g. a random sample of the general public). The quantitative aspect of this research will be evident from the obtainment of secondary statistical data with regard to participation figures in the disabled community, which will enable me to understand the impact of sport policy on CP athletes. Therefore, the analysis of my research will be largely deductive in nature, and will take both theoretical and empirical stances to form a coherent conclusion. One of the aims of this project is to identify the extent to which sport policy objectives have reached their targets in the form of stakeholders. A further point which must be explored is therefore which pathways of sport and physical activity exist currently for CP individuals, and how these pathways can be improved in the future to achieve the policy objectives. As part of the conceptual thread of the project, I will also be conducting an exploration into how policy is set in the UK to understand and appreciate the processes involved. As part of the research process, the theme of disabled sport is one which must be treated with much sensitivity and caution. Whilst not planning to interact directly with the participants of CP sport, the notion of researching and understanding a sector of the sport market with such moral sensitivity should not be underestimated. For this reason, the correct steps have been taken to ensure that the correct code of practice is followed whilst using human participants, for example ethical clearance and a risk assessment. The timescale that I will follow is on a month-by-month basis, for example by the end of next month I hope to have completed my literature review and formulated my interview and questionnaire structure, although this is yet to be agreed with my supervisor in our next meeting. The anticipated outcome of this research is to produce a research report on the relative strength between sport policy setting for CP individuals in the UK and the benefits experiences by the stakeholder groups associated with CP sport. Therefore, the structure of the project will incorporate the process of policy setting, the role of government and private organisations in delivering sport to those with CP, and the impact on society in the form of the stakeholder groups that the policy affects.