This data has been collected from 5 international research locations. Data was also collected from European Stakeholders. Data includes anonymised transcribed formal interviews, informal interviews and field notes. A project documentation file includes information on the projects methods, participant information sheet, a blank consent form and fieldwork schedules. In addition to data collected within the research locations, a transcription of the projects final dissemination event is provided.The Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) sector features hundreds of programmes and organizations across the world which use sport as a tool of social intervention to promote non-sport goals such as development, peace, human rights and social justice. Key SDP stakeholders - in facilitating, delivering or receiving this work - include national governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, private corporations, campaign groups, and SDP user groups. Despite its rapid growth, we have limited knowledge of: how the SDP sector is structured socially and organizationally; and how different kinds of SDP work are planned, implemented, and experienced in diverse cultural contexts. This knowledge is essential if robust policies and practices for the future development of SDP are to be identified. The broad aims of this project are to fill that knowledge gap by providing the first substantial comparative social scientific investigation of SDP, and to have long-term impact on the sector's development. The project will build on our significant prior research on SDP and be facilitated through our excellent links with key SDP stakeholders. Our project aims are underpinned by five specific project objectives: 1: To examine how the SDP sector is constructed in social and organizational terms. Research will examine the different policies and ideologies of SDP stakeholders; the networking, collaboration, and power relations across stakeholders; how particular stakeholders are included or excluded from different networks and activities; how the sector may become more effective through new types of partnership; and how the SDP sector's social and organizational features change over time. 2: To examine SDP comparatively with regard to three major fields of activity: empowering people with disabilities; peacebuilding and conflict resolution; and advancing human rights. Each field of activity will be studied in five selected research locations. Research will explore how SDP stakeholders understand each field; the particular types of SDP work in each field; the difficulties and problems encountered, and how these are responded to; the philosophies and reflective practices of SDP officials on their work; and, how these issues and questions develop over time. 3: To examine SDP programmes with regard to their organization, implementation and user-group experiences. Thus, we shall investigate the 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' aspects of SDP programmes. Research will examine the different influences of SDP stakeholders in identifying local needs and shaping SDP work, relative to context; how user groups are engaged and empowered in planning and implementing SDP work; how wider community groups understand SDP work; and, how these and other aspects of the SDP sector develop over time. 4: To examine comparatively SDP work in five selected national settings. These locations will enable us to examine: key contextual issues that impact on SDP interventions and whether SDP work is adapted to these conditions; how SDP organizations engage (or otherwise) with other local actors; and, the actual and potential roles of national and local government in facilitating SDP work. 5: To produce research findings that deliver major academic impacts, and which influence as well as understand the SDP sector. We shall identify practical ways in which the SDP sector should move forward, for example through: better policy, planning and partnerships; engaging a wider pool of stakeholders; more contextualised implementation of 'best practices'; and enhanced ethics in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of SDP work. Findings will be disseminated through leading academic journals, books and conferences; a project symposium; policy briefings and other reports to user groups; and online forums and wider media. Work with non-academic users will be guided by our impact plans.

To meet the project’s aims and objectives, we used purposive sampling and a combination of cluster and snowball sampling to guide qualitative data collection. Purposive sampling was used in data collection with key informants who are leading decision-makers and practitioners within the SDP sector. Snowball sampling will guide data collection in our five selected research locations and at three SDP events, as well as through further primary research (e.g. telephone interviews). These samples will began from a very strong research base, featuring both our many existing contacts in the SDP sector, and the many contacts facilitated by our research gatekeepers. Forms of cluster sampling will also guide data collection with key informants, in research locations, at SDP events, and in broader primary research. Cluster sampling will ensure that sufficient data is gathered from each type of SDP stakeholder. Each cluster will represent a particular type of SDP stakeholder; from our substantial prior research, these types are identified as local and national NGOs, international NGOs, local and national governments, international governmental organizations, private donors, sport bodies, campaign groups, SDP user groups, and wider communities where SDP work is conducted. We have an established ‘audit trail’ of research participants, to monitor continuously our progress in engaging with each cluster and to guarantee the social diversity of research participants (e.g. along gender and ethnicity lines). The trail will be independently overseen by Professor X, an expert in international sport organization with research experience in SDP. We have employed purposive, cluster and snowball sample methods extensively in our prior qualitative research. Our data collection methods, focused directly on our research objectives and questions, will be primarily qualitative, and will feature: 1) Semi-Structured Interviews: A minimum 180 semi-structured interviews will be undertaken in two main contexts. First, most interviews will be conducted in the five research locations (n=30, total 150). All types or clusters of SDP stakeholders were engaged, notably officials with governmental organizations, NGOs, sport governing bodies, and campaign groups; private sponsors; and also SDP user groups and wider community members. Second, further interviews (n=30) were held: in settings where key stakeholders are based (e.g. NGOs and governmental organizations in Switzerland); at three major SDP events attended by diverse SDP organizations; and remotely via telephone/Skype. All 180 interviews were tape-recorded, professionally transcribed then verified by the research assistant. Further semi-structured and unstructured interviews were undertaken during fieldwork with SDP stakeholders, and written up through the routine taking of field-notes. 2) Qualitative Fieldwork: A minimum of four full weeks of qualitative fieldwork was undertaken in each of five research locations. Each location was visited twice over the project’s duration, enabling us to examine the processual aspects of SDP work, revealing continuities and changes in each setting. Fieldwork consisted primarily of observation and interviews, at SDP programmes and events in the five research locations, and at three international SDP conferences, where the interaction of SDP officials was of particular interest. 3) Documentary Research: This will feature the compilation and analysis of public documents, such as reports by different SDP agencies on their activities; and, compilation of background SDP-related materials from the mass media, and the websites of sport federations, NGOs, and local social movements. 4) Quantitative Data Compilation: This featured secondary data, such as ‘monitoring and evaluation’ statistical data that has been generated hitherto by SDP programmes. Overall, these methods have proved to be effective and productive in our prior work on SDP. Data Analysis and Broad Analytical Framework Our data analysis and broad analytical framework has engaged fully with all research aims, objectives and questions. Data analysis occurred in two stages, using three analytical techniques in particular. In Stage 1, the raw data undergo ‘thematic analysis’ to draw out distinctive and/or consistent themes, differentiated by their prevalence and significance. Raw data from interviews also undergo ‘narrative analysis’, to draw out the reflexivity of interviewees, notably on how SDP work and the SDP sector are understood. In Stage 2, particularly through the process of ‘analytical induction’, the initial and emerging findings from Stage 1 were examined with referenced to our ‘broad analytical framework’. The broad analytical framework drew together three theoretical perspectives which we have developed separately in prior work, and also our continuing critical engagement with wider relevant literatures. The framework’s diverse components was subjected to systematic testing and critical examination during the project.