1. Introduction
1.4 Research methods
1.4.2 Data collection
32
Table 1-6 Place of residence composition of international participants (2016–2017) 2016 Tohoku Food Marathon 2017 Tohoku Food Marathon
Residence Number of participants Residence Number of participants
Hong Kong 38 Hong Kong 29
Taiwan 10 Taiwan 20
U.S.A. 5 China 15
France 4 U.S.A. 3
China 3 Australia 2
Canada 2 Czech 2
U.K. 2 Poland 2
Australia 1 Bosnia 1
Brazil 1 Egypt 1
Germany 1 India 1
Ireland 1 Portugal 1
Singapore 1 Singapore 1
Thailand 1 Unidentified 54
Unidentified 32
Total 102 Total 132
Source: Organized from annual reports of Tohoku Food Marathon.
visited the promotion booth of Tohoku Food Marathon at the venue of Medoc Marathon.
Though the number of participants from Europe is relatively small, the presence of European runners broadened the participant base of Tohoku Food Marathon globally. While Japanese runners were not included as one of the main actors in this study and might appear underrepresented, participant observations carried out during the marathon and its side events allowed the author to interact informally with a large number of Japanese runners.
33 Table 1-7 Summary of data collection procedures
Time \ Actors Event organizers Event stakeholders International participants First stage
(January to February 2016)
⚫ Initial contact ⚫ Initial contact with participants
Second stage (March to June 2016)
⚫ Identified key
informants ⚫ Identified key
informants ⚫ Participant
observation as a full marathon runner
⚫ Interviews Third stage
(October 2016 to February 2017)
⚫ Participant observation as a supporting member of event organizers
⚫ Interviews
⚫ Participant observation at an overseas promotion event
⚫ Interviews
⚫ Initial contact with participants
Fourth stage (March to June 2017)
⚫ Interviews ⚫ Interviews ⚫ Participant
observation as a half marathon runner
⚫ Interviews
participants. After explaining my initial research plan and purposes, the author was introduced to informant T and secured his assistance for further data collection. Media coverages about Tohoku Food Marathon were studied to gain a basic understanding of the event. At the same time, the author started searching for international participants who had run in the previous editions of the Tohoku Food Marathon and who will participate in the 2016 edition. The search was carried out on marathon running forums and social media on the Internet with the help of fellow marathon runners.
Second stage (from March to June 2016): this stage corresponds to the period shortly before, during, and after the 2016 edition of Tohoku Food Marathon. Participant observations were carried out by running the full marathon and participating in side events including the optional tour, the pre-race party, the Food Festival, and the Sake Festival. International participants identified at the venue and in the first stage were the main observation and interview subjects.
In-depth individual interviews were done in person or by emails with six international participants (three from Taiwan and three from Hong Kong). Moreover, informal conversations with other international participants from the U.S.A., U.K., Australia, Brazil, and France provided additional information. Data collection focused on international participants’ behavior and their interactions with other actors. The investigation also served to identify key informants belonging to the groups of event organizers and event stakeholders, who were the main research subjects in the next stage.
34
Third stage (from October 2016 to February 2017): this stage corresponds to the planning period of the 2017 edition of Tohoku Food Marathon. To investigate value cocreation from the perspective of the host-side, data collection was focused on the actions and interactions of event organizers and event stakeholders, with a particular attention paid to their thoughts on international participants. The investigation was facilitated by the author’s role as a supporting member of the event organizers to assist with overseas marketing and promotion of Tohoku Food Marathon. The author attended official and unofficial meetings and events related to the planning and decision-making process associated with Tohoku Food Marathon. Participant observations were carried out during these meetings and at the venue of Taipei Marathon Expo during which Tohoku Food Marathon was one of the exhibitors from Japan to promote their marathons to potential Taiwanese participants. In the role of a supporting member of the event organizers, the author conducted in-depth interviews with a number of key informants belonging to the groups of event organizers and stakeholders. Investigations conducted in this stage helped to identify other key informants to be interviewed in the next stage.
Fourth stage (from March to June 2017): this stage corresponds to the period shortly before, during, and after the 2017 edition of Tohoku Food Marathon. Similar to the second stage, participant observations were carried out by running the half marathon and participating in side events including the optional tour, the pre-race party, the Food Festival, and the Sake Festival. By choosing to run the half marathon instead of the full marathon, the author was able to compare the results found in both cases of the full and half marathon. It also allowed the author more time to observe and interview those key informants from the groups of event organizers and stakeholders, who were identified in the previous stage. Moreover, in-depth individual and group interviews were done in person or by emails with seven international participants (five from Taiwan, one from Hong Kong, and one from Macau). Informal conversations with other international participants from Taiwan and Australia provided additional information.
Throughout the data collection process, a number of qualitative data sources were collected, including interviews, SNS and blog posts, participant observations, and archival data.
(1) Interviews
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants. The purpose of the interview is to investigate how actors cocreate value with each other through their interactions, with a specific focus on the aspects related to international sports tourism. All Interviews were conducted after the participant observation phase in 2016 and 2017, which helped to add
35
depth to the interview discussions. Interviews were conducted in the interviewee’s preferred language (Japanese, Chinese, or English) and was recorded and transcribed.
(2) SNS and blog posts
Social media has become a common platform for communication today. From blogs to social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook and Instagram, advance of the Internet has created new channels for people to constantly update and share their experiences with their friends or general public. Event organizers also use social networking sites to deliver information and engage with past and potential participants.
(3) Participant observations
Several rounds of participant observations were carried out at various situations throughout the data collection period. The author’s role as both a marathon runner (Photo 1-4) and a supporting member of the event organizers (Photo 1-5) allowed up-close observations of actions and interactions as happened in a natural setting from both the perspectives of host-side (event organizers and event stakeholders) and guest-host-side (international participants).
Descriptive statements and the author’s impressions, thoughts, and comments on the observed actions and interactions were recorded in the field notes.
Photo 1-4 Participant observation as a marathon runner (Photograph by the author. April 24, 2016)
36
Photo 1-5 Participant observation as a supporting member of the event organizers (Photograph by the author. December 9, 2016)
(4) Archival data
The last source of data came from media coverage, press releases, leaflets, email newsletters, and reports generated by the event organizers and stakeholders about their activities related to Tohoku Food Marathon. Archival data served to provide a deeper and richer understanding of the setting being studied.
All sources of data were integrated and triangulated to provide a holistic and reliable representation of the value cocreation process as occurred in the research setting. Data were organized by types of actors at an individual basis and maintained in separate files for each of them. Table 1-8 summarizes the composition of the main informants. Regarding the event organizers, key informants from both the founding partners group and the local tourism association were included to shed light on how they may collaborate. Regarding the event stakeholders, both local and non-local informants were covered to reflect the multiplicity of voices across stakeholder roles. Regarding the international participants, the two largest place of residence groups (Taiwan and Hong Kong, Table 1-6 on p. 32) formed the main informants.
In addition, two international ambassadors, who were invited by the event organizers, provided additional insight into the interactions between international participants and event organizers.
The basic information of the interviewed international participants is provided in Appendix 1.
37 Table 1-8 Composition of the main informants
Actor types Informant Role Remark
Event
organizers T Vice chairman From the founding partners group Y Race director
D Event director N Food and supplies M Creative director
A Chairman From Tome Association of Tourism and Local Products
K General affairs Event
stakeholders S Corporate
sponsors Corporation A, largest sponsor
M Corporation O, 2nd largest sponsor
I Vendors Food producer in Tome T
F Fishery in Minami Sanriku
A Tourism Association of Mogami
K Sake dealer in Tome
H Volunteers English interpreter R
U
Y Sake sommelier
X Group of foreign volunteers
N General volunteer (local resident)
E General volunteer (non-local)
International
participants F Participants in
2017 From Taiwan, being invited as international ambassadors of Tohoku Food Marathon V
A From Taiwan
J Y
M From Macau
B From Hong Kong
N Participants in
2016 From Hong Kong
C L
D From Taiwan
S W
H Participants in 2015
From Hong Kong E
Note: Informant IDs were assigned so that the same ID is not repeated within the same actor type.
Table 1-9 summarizes the data volume by actor type and language composition. Data volume is measured approximately by A4 pages (font size 11pt, single spaced). Rather than giving a precise measurement of data volume, the purpose here is to present an overview of data structure. Given the international focus of this research, data gathered from international participants occupied the most share. Regarding language compositions, since almost all the event organizers and stakeholders were Japanese, data gathered from them were mostly based in Japanese language. Regarding event organizers, the 18% of English data came from
38
Table 1-9 Data volume by actor type and language composition Actor type Data volume
(pages)
Language composition (%) Chinese Japanese English
Event organizers 68 0 82 18
Event stakeholders 47 10 89 1
International participants 142 99 0 1
Total 257 56 38 6
Note: Fata volume is measured approximately by A4 pages (font size 11pt, single spaced).
the English information distributed by event organizers. As for event stakeholders, the 10% of Chinese data came from a travel agency operating in Taiwan, and the 1% English data came from English-speaking volunteers. Since almost all the international participants covered in the research sample were from Taiwan and Hong Kong, data gathered from them were mostly based in Chinese, with a small percentage of English data came from an Australian participant.