Recording of presentation introducing narrative analysis, outlining what it is, why it can be a useful approach, how to do it and where to find out more. Presentation given at methods@manchester seminar at University of Manchester on 4 March 2010.

What is Narrative Analysis

What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Creativity in Context: Update to "The Social Psychology of Creativity"

What is Sociology

Dying to Win: Doping in Sport and the Development of Anti-Doping Policy

Aim This study aims to examine the circumstances which athletes say affect their (hypothetical) considerations of whether to dope or not and explore the differences between athletes of different gender, age and sport type. Methods 645 elite athletes (mean age: 22.12; response rate: 43%) representing 40 sports completed a web-based questionnaire. Participants were asked to imagine themselves in a situation in which they had to decide whether to dope or not to dope and then evaluate how different circumstances would affect their decisions. Results Multiple circumstances had an effect on athletes’ hypothetical decisions. The most effective deterrents were related to legal and social sanctions, side-effects and moral considerations. Female athletes and younger athletes evaluated more reasons as deterrents than older, male athletes. When confronted with incentives to dope, the type of sport was often a more decisive factor. Top incentives were related to qualified medical assistance, improved health or faster recovery from injury, the low risk of being caught and the threat posed to an elite career. Conclusions Our results reveal that numerous circumstances affect athletes’ thoughts on doping and athletes of different gender, age and sport type reacted differently to a variety of circumstances that may potentially deter or trigger doping. Particularly notable findings were the potential role of doctors in athletes’ doping and that the current punitive anti-doping approach seems to deter athletes, although the fear of social sanctions was almost as great a deterrent. Implications Anti-doping prevention strategies should be diversified to target specific groups of athletes.

To dope or not to dope: Elite athletes’ perceptions of doping deterrents and incentives

Between medical treatment and performance enhancement: an investigation of how elite athletes experience Therapeutic Use Exemptions.

The duty of elite athletes to report whereabouts is a controversial and debated element of the World Anti-Doping Code. Though the obligation to provide whereabouts information has a real impact on athletes’ daily lives, knowledge about athletes’ perception of and trust in the system after the Code was revised in 2009 is still scarce. This study contributes to the discussion on the legitimacy and institutionalization of the whereabouts system by integrating the points of view of Danish elite athletes (with/without whereabouts obligations). In total, 645 athletes completed a web-based questionnaire about their perceptions of the whereabouts system. The results showed that elite athletes’ perceptions were ambivalent: a majority of athletes seemed to accept the system as a necessity, a duty or a compliment to their sporting level. On the other hand, the system did, to a greater or lesser degree, interfere negatively in everyday life: three quarters of the athletes felt reporting whereabouts was too time-consu...

Experiences, attitudes and trust: an inquiry into elite athletes' perception of the whereabouts reporting system

Doping control in sport: An investigation of how elite athletes perceive and trust the functioning of the doping testing system in their sport

https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/30675/1/1-s2.0-S2095254619301498-main.pdf

Marie Birch Overbye

Papers

To dope or not to dope: Elite athletes’ perceptions of doping deterrents and incentives

Between medical treatment and performance enhancement: an investigation of how elite athletes experience Therapeutic Use Exemptions.

Experiences, attitudes and trust: an inquiry into elite athletes' perception of the whereabouts reporting system

Doping control in sport: An investigation of how elite athletes perceive and trust the functioning of the doping testing system in their sport

An evaluation of prevention initiatives by 53 National Anti-Doping Organizations: Achievements and Limitations