Dr. Robert VanWynsberghe
Department of Educational Studies
Abstract: Our objective is to present a novel approach and supplement to indicator-based impact assessment through the use of embedded case study. We will build a hybridized, methodological approach in order to extend the capacity, potential, and utility of the Olympic Games impact (OGI) study as an evaluation framework and mechanism for attribution. Assessing the impact of a sport mega-event on its host through an existing framework such as the OGI study is a complex undertaking spanning multiple indicators, variables, and scales. Yet, despite the many challenges in assessing Olympic-induced changes in host cities, we believe it is possible to use indicator-based impact assessment to aid in the formation of not only impact assessment and policy attribution, but to develop a more contextualized approach to legacy creation, monitoring, and evaluation. To test this potential, we will explore the empirical data generated through the OGI study on Vancouver 2010’s social housing legacy on Southeast False Creek. Reconciling the quantitative information compiled by the OGI study with a more rigorous approach to qualitative, embedded case study will ideally allow for the more accurate and effective assessment of Olympic legacies and policy-making. It is our expectation that such an evaluation will prove sensitive to the political, economic, and social climate and context surrounding the hosting of the Olympic Games, and in so doing, provide added insight into the nature and formation of policy development and urban transformation in the context of an Olympic host city.
Pentifallo & R. VanWynsberghe. (Printed online ahead of print January 2015). Mega-event impact assessment and policy attribution: Embedded case study, social housing, and the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events. DOI: 10.1080/19407963.2014.990236
