Learning Lessons From The Volunteers That Dropped Out At The Rio De Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games; What Can Future OCOGS Do To Make Sure Olympic Volunteers Do Not Drop Out?

Abstract

The thesis examines the connection between the volunteers’ initial motivations to apply for a volunteer position at the Rio 2016 Games, and their decision to drop out. The literature reviewed mainly suggests two types of motivations and two types of reasons for dropping out however most studies examined long-term volunteering. This research looks at short-term volunteering. After finishing the literature review, interviews were conducted with seven volunteers using a qualitative methodology on both their motivations and reasons to drop out. The results concluded that there is no direct connection between the initial motivations to apply for a volunteer position at the Rio 2016 Games and drop out. Instead, most of the reasons that made volunteers decide to drop out were related to communication issues with the Rio de Janeiro Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (ROCOG). These issues are found in different stages of the application process, namely, between the application process and the start of the Olympic Games, and then during the Olympic Games. However, even resolving these issues could not have prevented every volunteer from dropping out because some of their reasons could not be influenced by the ROCOG. Because each of the interviewees had a different reason for dropping out, one of the recommendations for future research is doing quantitative research to see if the reasons of dropping out mentioned in this thesis occur more often, so they can be targeted directly