Policy Analysis and Utilization Process: The Interplay between Sport Policy and Applied Sociology of Sport

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to outline a case study approach that deals with a central problem of applied sociology of sport, i.e. how to relate the different worlds of science and practice (in this case: sport policy) to one another. In the first part, the conceptual perspectives of the case study are presented. These perspectives emphasize a specific understanding of objectivity. First of all, policy analysis has to deal adequately with the structural patterns and rules of the "policy game". This means that phenomena like the bounded rationality and the incrementalism of policymaking or the conceptual utilization of scientific knowledge by policymakers have to be observed. Typical strategic orientations and networks of different actors in the field of public policy as well as potential roles of applied social scientists have to be analyzed according to the rules of the policy-game. With regard to the scientists, however, their close relationship to the rules of the "scientific game" must not be neglected. In this context a pragmatic orientation of applied social science is best suited to integrate the different scientific and professional interests.