Victorian Government, Random-Digital Telephone Dialing - Research Proposal Example

Name: Course: Lecturer: Institution: Date: Introduction Victorian government targets to increase recreational angler by one million. One of the strategies to be put in place to achieve this is to ban commercial fishing in Port Philip and Coray bays. However, the government acknowledges the hard work and the contribution of businessmen and women to the state through the commercial fishing. It is also aware of how this will impact people's livelihood. Thus, the Victorian government plans to do the ban in the most respectful way. The research has to be conducted in the area to gather adequate and accurate information that would help in coming up with the most desired decision. Sampling techniques such as random digital telephone dialing, systematic sampling and simple random sampling will help gather relevant data. The agency will also need to investigate the impact of the ban on commercial fishing license holders. Research methods such as questionnaires, interviews and case studies will be relevant to collecting this information (Hartill et al., 2012). Random –Digit Telephone Dialing Random digital telephone dialing is a sampling technique that includes selecting people to be involved in telephone statistical survey through random generation of phone numbers. This method has an advantage over phone book selection of numbers because it will include people who are not listed in the phone book. The method is a cost efficient way of complete coverage in an area where the population has a high rate of telephone ownership as Senyard et al., (2009) explains. A primary concern in random-digital telephone dialing survey is bias due to non-responders. Non- response bias is a problem due to different measurement variables between responders and non-responders. To reduce non-response rate, various techniques such as advance letters, multiple calls, leaving messages on answering machines and monitoring incentives should be put in place (Lee et al., 2010). On the other hand, the agency could use records from the recreational fishing department in the government. However, this would pose a challenge because some people may not have the consent of sharing the records thus withholding contact details. It will make it difficult than for the agency to rely on data from recreation fishing department. Random- digital telephone dialing will be more efficient because of the high rate of telephone ownership in the area that will ensure complete geographical coverage. It is also cost efficient, and if measures are put in place to counter non-response, then it would be the most efficiency and effective method that the agency should bring in place. Criteria in Sampling Decisions Population Size In determining the sample choice, the size of the population involved is crucial. Population size refers to the totality of the observations with which a researcher is concerned. To achieve accuracy, it should be selected from a specified group of people; they should be readily available and eligible to meet the desired outcome. The agency should ensure that the recreational angler and the commercial fishing business men and women are accessible and can give the required response (Uprichard 2013). Eligibility Criteria This is a description chosen by a researcher, determining which elements should be included in a sample. It includes parameters such as age, level of education, marital status and sex of an individual. These factors are important in determining how effective communication would take place between the researcher and the respondents. Consequently, this would help get desired responses from the sample selected (Uprichard 2013). Budget Concerns The costs involved in the sampling procedures should be cost effective. The selected sampling decision should be able to meet the desired decisions within the stipulated budget. The agency should not ensure that the money set aside for the sampling process will be able to meet all the expenses during the sampling process as Morgan et al., (2011) asserts. Time Factor The sampling decision made should be able to cover the selected sampling area within the stipulated time. This would reduce bias of respondents and judgments of the researcher thus providing accurate and timely data. It will also ensure that the researcher gets adequate time to analyze the collected information (Uprichard 2013). Sampling Techniques Sampling Technique Advantages Simple random sampling Each element has an equal opportunity to be selected Accurate and effective in a small population Easy to carry out. Systematic sampling Sample is evenly distributed over the entire reference population. Easy to identify suitable sampling frame. Each element has an equal opportunity to be selected. Stratified sampling Effective in a large population Each element in every stratum is selected proportionally. Easy to administer in a large population. In the case of the agency involved in research on the ban of commercial fishing on the Victorian port and bay, simple random sampling would be the best to be used. This is because a small population is involved and it would be easy to calculate the estimates from the collected data. The simple random sampling is more effective in a smaller population (Morse 2010). Research Methods Questionnaires Questionnaires are an effective way of data collection from a large number of people. They enable people to think about it, take their time and then answer the questions. Robinson & Pollard (2009) adds that the participants can express their views and feelings privately without the interference of the researcher's reactions. They contain attitude scales, multiple choices, open-ended and closed questions. Questionnaires can be administered through mail, send by post and the internet or personal delivery by the researcher. One major challenge with this method is the fairly low rate of responses. In some cases people may not answer all the questions or and fail to answer them correctly (Taylor 2015). Interviews Interviews can be done personally, on a phone or using more advanced computer technologies such as Skype. It is always important for the researcher to find out the most comfortable way that the interviewee wants the interview to be carried out. The interviewer should allow the interviewee to speak freely or use specific questions depending on the decided best approach to get desired results (Taylor et al., 2015). Another advantage of using interviews is that it will allow the interviewer to get first-hand information. This is paramount as there are factors that the interviewee understands better than anyone else. This is because they are involved every day with the environment. Robinson & Pollard (2009) indicates that these factors make interviews be one of the most important techniques to use; they are inevitable as far as this research is concerned. Case Studies The aforementioned involves a detailed study of a particular group or people. It includes observations, consulting other persons with public records and interviews. It is mostly used where a researcher has an interest in a particular phenomenon. It provides a narrow focus which gives detailed descriptive information that is unique to that specific case study (Taylor et al., 2015). In collecting data concerning the recreational anglers in Victorian government, it would be appropriate for the agency to administer questionnaires as well as carry out interviews. A combination of these two methods would yield the desired results. This is because the questionnaires will be able to reach out to people who may not be interviewed, they will give the respondents the freedom to express their views and expressions, and they will enable them to answer the questions within their preferred time frame (McDonald & Wells 2010). Accordingly, the interviews will be appropriate to reach out to those people who cannot read and write, help the research to get more information by reading physical body expressions and create an environment for the researchers to interact with the respondents (Booth et al., 2009). Interview Protocol Interview question Relevance of the data obtained Briefly, highlight how you spend the income you earn from commercial fishing This would help identify the economic impact of the ban to individual business men and women, their dependants and the government What measures should the government put in place before implementing the ban? This would generate data that will help the government to implement the ban in the most respectful way. How will the ban on commercial fishing affect your livelihood? Data captured here will help to determine the rate of unemployment that would rise from the ban What are the advantages of the commercial fishery over recreational fishing? This information would help to know the emotional effect that the ban will have on the commercial fishermen/women. It will also contribute to knowing whether the commercial fishermen/women would shift to recreational fishing if given the chance. Which other skills do you have that can be translated into income generating activity? This will help identity how the many people will be rendered obsolete by the ban. The interview protocol would generate ideas from the commercial fishing license holders that will express their views concerning the prohibition. This will help the government to gather data on the economic and social impact of the ban. The data will indicate an economic effect of the prohibition on the business women and men, their dependants and the government. It would also help to identify how many people will be rendered jobless and obsolete in the economy (Jacob & Furgerson 2012). Reference Booth, D., Edgar, G.J., Figueira, W., Jenkins, G., Kingsford, M., Lenanton, R, & Thresher, R, 2009, Temperate coastal fish; A marine climate change impacts and adaptation report card for Australia. Hartill B. W. Cryer, M., Lyle, J. M., Rees, E.B., Ryan, K.L., Steffe, A.S., Taylor, S.M., West, L. & Wise, B.S., 2012 Scale-and context-dependent selection of recreational harvest estimation methods: the Australasian experience North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 32(1), pp.109-123. Jacob S. A., & Furgerson S.P, 2012, Writing interview protocols and conducting interviews: Tips for students new to the field of qualitative research The Qualitative Report, 17(42), pp.1-10. Lee S, Brick, J. M, Brown, E.R. & Grant, D., 2010, Growing Cell‐Phone Population and No coverage Bias in Traditional Random Digit Dial Telephone Health Surveys. Health services research, 45(4), pp.1121-1139. McDonald, J.I. and Wells, F.E., 2010, FISHERIES RESEARCH REPORT; Actions to implement and complement the National System for the Prevention and Management of Introduced Marine Pests in Western Australia, p.131. Morgan, D.L., Whitty, J.M., Phillips, N.M., Thorburn, D.C., Chaplin, J.A. and McAuley, R., 2011, North-western Australia as a hotspot for endangered elasmobranchs with particular reference to sawfishes and the Northern River Shark, Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 94(2), pp.345-358. Morse, J. M., 2010, Sampling in grounded theory the sage handbook of grounded theory; pp.229-244. Robinson, K.I.M. and Pollard, D.A., 2009, Marine and estuarine reserves in Australia with particular reference to New South Wales; Wetlands (Australia),2(1), pp.pp-17. Saunders, M. N., 2011 research methods for business students, 5/e. Pearson Education India. Senyard, J.M., Davidsson, P., Gordon, S.R. and Steffens, P.R., 2009, The comprehensive Australian Study of entrepreneurial emergence (CAUSEE) high potential nascent entrepreneurs: some preliminary findings, Proceedings of the 6th International AGSE Entrepreneurship Research Exchange, Feb 3-6, 2009, ECIC, University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, pp.1-15. Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R. & DeVault, M., 2015, Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource John Wiley and Sons. Uprichard E., 2013, Sampling: bridging probability and non-probability designs International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 16(1), pp.1-11. Read More