Answer

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Recreation and nature-based tourism is now a popular and constantly growing phenomenon in the world. In the Australian context, nature-base tourism is an integral aspect of the tourism sector and is arguably largely dependent on national parks and other protected areas like marine parks and World Heritage areas.  In as much as recreation and tourism are of benefit to the protected areas, visitation exerts pressure on some of them, elevating the need to control visitors as one way of protecting these places. In this respect, marketing gains relevance as an effective tool of managing visitor demand with the ultimate aim of protecting these areas. A number of authors/researchers have put forth many strategies of attaining this objective.  For instance, demarketing has been presented as one successful strategy in this regard. Its proponents present that it can help address the issue of excess visitor demand, which imperatively aids in reducing the pressure on these areas, thus boosting protection/conservation efforts.  However, there has been limited research on the subject of demarketing as a management strategy in this regard. The case is not any different with other strategies and options available to managers of these protected sites. In consideration of the existence of this gap, need arises for a comprehensive research that could explore these strategies and their effectiveness in efforts of protecting national parks and other protected areas in Australia.

1.1 Background Information

Taking into consideration the management of protected areas everywhere, including Australia, the dual purpose of conserving and protecting the natural environment, while creating opportunities for recreation and nature-based tourism is significant. This dual objective is manifest in several management objectives as laid down by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). As it were, balancing the various functions of national parks presents a recreation/conservation conflict for managers of protected areas (Burtchat et al., 2012). On one side, and as justified in economic terms, recreation and tourism are considered one raison d’être in the context of national parks. On the other hand, these national parks are under ever-increasing pressure from recreation and tourism.  In the Australian stage, Pickering and Hill (2007) present that national parks and other protected areas are grappling with carrying capacity and crowding problems, and the pressure calls for more effective conservation/protection strategies.  However, it is not all national parks in Australia that experience this pressure partly due to low visitor awareness and other factors (Pickering and Hill, 2007) They assert that ‘icon parks’ face pressure in terms of over-crowding besides environmental impacts, but smaller parks do not experience these problems.  Considering that conservation is a cardinal objective of recreation and tourism, which also depend on the condition/quality of the cultural and natural resources in this context, it is particularly imperative that effective strategies be employed to check visitor demand, a development that could make it possible to proactively manage and prevent the negative impacts of tourism in national parks and other protected areas.

As one of the leading countries in the world in terms of ancient origins and biodiversity, Australia is indeed a favorite destination for local and international tourists who yearn for recreation and nature-based tourism. The country’s national parks and protected areas are not only home to stunning flora, iconic landscape as well as other natural attractions loved by tourist, but they are also significant in the protection of wildlife, natural vegetation, and a wide range of aboriginal heritage. The Australian tourism sector is experiencing pressure in terms of the high number of tourists visiting national parks and other protected sites. In as much as the high visitation numbers and rates is a positive phenomenon in terms of income besides other economic gains, little research has been conducted to uncover the pressure and damage this trend is causing to the parks and other protected areas. It is not disputable that a wide range of tourism activities cause damage to indigenous flora, yet these impacts are oftentimes overlooked yet they are usually severe, long lasting, and sometimes irreplaceable, covering vast areas. This scenario calls for effective strategies for sustainable tourism, more specifically those that would help check or prevent the damage caused on national parks and other protected areas by tourist activities. It is against this background that this research seeks to explore the strategies that can be adopted so as to protect Australia’s most valuable flora in the protected areas including parks, from suffering from increased pressure of tourists into these stunning yet fragile destinations.

1.2 Research aim Statement

The research shall be seeking to investigate the strategies that can be employed in achieving sustainable tourism by protecting Australia’s national parks and other protected areas while still highlighting the value and contribution of these sites. From empirical analyses and theoretical discussions, the protected areas face excess visitor demand and subsequent visitation, which if checked could help protect these places (Pickering, 2010). To manage various aspects of visitor demand calls for a deeper understanding of visitor type, use levels, behavior, as well as expectations.  To achieve the aim stated here, the research shall focus on the objectives outlined in the following sub-section.

1.3 Research Objectives

The objectives of the research shall be to:

1. Review as well as discuss existing literature relating to how visitor demand/visitation can be managed, influenced, distributed or reduced in order to minimize or reduce pressure on national parks and other protected sites
2. Investigate the extent to which increased number of tourists in the protected sites and parks damage the sites’ flora.
3. Identify how tourism endangers and threatens the nature in the natural parks and other protected areas.
4. Identify factors contributing to high visitor demand in Australia’s national parks
5. Come up with a set of inferences and recommendations as regards the strategies for protecting national parks and other protected areas.

1.4 Significance of the Research

It is appreciated that little research has been conducted concerning the effects of tourist activities on national parks and other protected areas, and the strategies that can be employed in this regard to ultimately attain sustainable tourism. Therefore, there is a knowledge gap that calls for a comprehensive study that would fill it. This research is particularly important as it will help managers of these sites and other stakeholders in the tourism industry with insight on how to protect these areas and make strides towards sustainable tourism.

1.5 Delimitations

This research shall employ a single case study of a protected site, more precisely an Australian national park to investigate various strategies of minimizing negative impacts of tourist activities on the site. The decision to focus only on a single case study shall ensure that the project is manageable temporally, financially, and practically. It shall also ensure that in opposition to examining many cases superficially, only one case shall be examined in depth.  Notably, if multiple case studies are to be examined, this will present an opportunity to contrast and compare findings emanating from several parks, a scenario that might generate further issues that must be interpreted, hence complicating the study.  In as much as various stakeholders take part in the management and protection of the areas under focus (national parks and other protected areas), this research shall focus only on players in park management and tourists. By so doing, an obvious limitation shall be that other stakeholders shall be locked out, while it is still appreciated that their participation would give further insights concerning the phenomenon under investigation.

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

It is imperative to have the research be informed by a good literature base which shall gain relevance when it comes to checking whether or not the findings emanating from the study are in agreement with the presentations of other researchers. This is particularly important in light of the positivist approach adopted in this study. This literature review kicks off by examining the concepts widely applied in the tourism sector and then moves to examine the importance of conserved areas. The negative effects of tourism on protected areas are examined as well as strategies that can be employed to achieve sustainable tourism by protecting these areas/sites.

2.1 The Tourism Industry

In as much as the tourism industry stands out as one of the fastest growing on the global stage, and remains a strategic factor in the context of regional and local development, it has not been possible to come up with a unanimous definition for it.  The very notion of tourism is very difficult to accurately formulate and clearly describe especially because its definition largely implies the tourism industry. Consequently, the broader its definition, the more sectors have to be included in the industry. For this reason, academic research has attempted to define the concept of tourism through various interpretive approaches namely: the economic, the holistic, the technical one and many more. An economic approach defines tourism as the art, business, and science of attracting and transporting interested visitors while graciously accommodating them and attending to their wants and needs. From a holistic perspective, it is said to be the study of man when he is away from his regular habitat, and the (study of) industry taking care of his needs, as well as the effects that both he and the said industry have on the physical, economic, and social-cultural environments. A supply perspective defines it (tourism) as the aggregate of retail businesses promoting commodities and services for the traveller irrespective of his motivation or personal characteristics.

In spite of the appreciation given for all the above perspectives, it is imperative to have a general description of the concept of tourism as can be applied to both domestic and international contexts, so that it is eventually easier to measure its impact and size. To this effect, the World Trade Organization has adopted a standard definition of tourism which is said to be the activities of people travelling and staying away from their usual environments for purposes of business, leisure and others, and their stay does not exceed a period of one year (WTO, 2006). Relying on this definition, Buckley (2009) argues that tourism involves the interaction of two main factors. On one hand there are tourists out to seek new experiences and in the process there must be support services and facilities (for their satisfaction). On the other hand is a pool of resources that provide these experiences, services, and facilities. It goes without saying that supply and demand in the context of tourism are dictated by these two factors. The demand aspect is sensitive to personality, lifestyle, as well as motivational framework. This is what has led to the emergence of different forms of tourism such as rural tourism, sports tourism, and business tourism. According to Choi and Sirakaya (2006), the differentiated forms of tourism are meant to satisfy the varied needs of tourists.

Another concept of interest in this study is that of sustainable tourism. Emerging in the 1980s, it has gained elevation and is now of great interest to scholars and societies the world over. Eagles et al. (2002) present that for success in the sustainable development agenda, there is need to adapt to dynamics in in the tourism industry in terms of interaction among tourists, host communities and the environment.

2.2.0 National Parks and other Protected Areas

2.2.1 Importance and Threats

National parks (and other protected areas) have been central features of landscapes utilization patterns for a long time, although particular purpose may differ from one region to another. Oftentimes, the management of these places differs depending on the kind of the emphasis placed upon conservation or the provision of recreational facilities. National parks are of great natural beauty and are considered national icons representing a nation’s cultural and natural assets. Besides this ‘representative purpose’, the driving forces behind the establishment of national parks aimed to make them places where people can go and enjoy themselves while carrying out an array of recreational activities (Eagles et al., 2002). Naughton-Treves and colleagues (2005) present that for some people these places may not be of much value due to factors like dispossession of traditional rights and expulsion from their land for the object of establishing the national parks or protected areas. In conservation strategies it is important to consider the participation of all stakeholders, such people included.

A continuum of management priorities and objects arises in this context, with particular emphasis on recreational activities in a largely dynamic environment, at least in the socio-economic perspective (McLeeny, 2005). Management objectives include the protection of natural, cultural, and scenic areas besides the maintenance of ecological functioning, minimize natural resource exploitation, take into account the needs of local communities, and allow visitor access while still minimizing the effects of activities in this breath.

According to Wyman and colleagues (2011), the multiplicity of management oftentimes leads to conflicts among user/interested groups, where extremes tend to lean towards preservationist philosophies as opposed to utilitarian ones. There is a general agreement that national parks are indeed crucial to the continued efforts aimed at preserving global diversity (Watson et al, 2010).  In the same context, an argument is put forth by Butchart at al. (2012) that just conserving these areas is not enough to check the worrying decline of natural resources. With growing human population, the parks face more and more threats with time. The result is a scenario where there is political pressure on national parks to justify their very existence, more so in developing countries where issues like education, health, and the provision of other essential services have more weight than conservation. The case is not any different in developed nations where conservation efforts have lesser allocations of the total national budget as compared to education, defense, and health. For instance, in the Australian 2012 national budget, only 1.1 % of the total budget was allocated to environmental conservation.  On a global scale, the benefits derived from protected areas far outweigh the budgetary allocations for the protection of the same areas (Buckley, 2009). Protected areas face restricted budgetary allocations and arguments that they should be self-sufficient. Here lies both threat and opportunity, since such areas can support a wide range of land uses besides biodiversity conservation.  A significant option of land use is tourism in its many forms like ecotourism, mass tourism, and nature-based tourism.

As an industry, tourism supports the global economy and is one of the crucial activities taking place within nation parks. The ecotourism sub-sector is indeed increasing demand in a majority of destinations in the world. In as much as the recreational value of national parks and other protected areas continues to go up, their relative contribution to conservation of biodiversity have continued to escalade as a result of degradation and loss of surrounding landscapes. Arguably, tourism could have greater impacts on these areas, more today than the case was in the past.

The threats of tourism on national parks and other protected areas have been the subject of much public scrutiny and scientific research.  A greater portion of this work explored the impacts of tourists/visitors and the wider tourism on the natural environment (Monz et al., 2010). Besides this, there is work investigating various aspects including user conflicts, overcrowding, enjoyment, and others. Coghlan (2012) argue that in the assessment of the impacts of tourism, factors like global trends of tourism, values, and changing politics should be considered. It is also argued that park management agencies more often than not lack control over user group value and park value as a result of these protected places being directed by higher decision-making levels (for example the government).

2.2.2 Issues and Strategies

A crucial factor affecting the extent to which tourism may affect upon the natural fabric of national parks and other protected areas is the type/nature of tourism activity taking place. Visitor use distribution as well as management and monitoring of visitor impacts also gain relevance (Castley et al., 2009). A series of draft principles meant to guide tourism in protected areas have been previously presented by Buckley (2002). It emerges tourism activities need to be taken into consideration in the context of park management and conservation objectives. Equally important in the same regard is the relative significance of aspects like biodiversity values, and the intrinsic value of the wilderness and landscape.

For many parks, extensive infrastructure networks and nodes of tourism infrastructure as well as zonation and prohibition of high impact activities can help minimize the negative impacts of tourism. For instance, in the USA, 95% of the Yosemite National Park has been zoned as the wilderness and a greater percentage of all tourism activities take place in the central valley. It must be noted that irrespective of the attraction in focus, one it has decided that visitors will be allowed in there will always be visitor impacts.

Development of tourism infrastructure is directly related to the threats posed by tourism activities. This is an issue that should be considered in park management. It is sufficiently appreciated within Australian tourism networks where it is a central area of concern. However, it is uncommon in other parts of the world like the United States and South Africa.

Wyman et al. (2011) inform that park management agencies have sought strategies like awarding concession contracts to entrepreneurs who offer an array of tourism services. Such range from hospitality services (like souvenir shops, restaurants) to alternative accommodation. Imperatively, the impacts linked to such concession developments can be easily mitigated and managed through strict contractual agreements where concession operators have to adhere to strict standards. In opposition to focusing only on the aspect of financial returns, the standards should also address social development, social impact, and most importantly in this context environmental impacts (Pfueller at al., 2011). Any developments arising in that regard should not be in conflict with the fundamental objectives and values of park management.  Since it is very likely that contractual agreements can be different in both context and detail, each should be evaluated independently to ensure the said standards (environmental and socio-economic) are adhered to.

In as much as the contribution of tourism to the economy at the national and global stages is big, budgetary allocation toward their protection is insufficient. There is a greater dependence on tourism by developing nations than developed nations. This scenario also makes these nations highly vulnerable to fluctuations (in the global tourism arena). Most of the funds generated by national parks is directed to the local or central government, which do not re-channel back enough of same for conservation related activities within the parks .Such activities include habitat rehabilitation, expansion of protected area, and anti-poaching among others. Greater success could be achieved if effective strategies focused on these.

In conclusion, this literature review gives a glimpse of the importance of national parks and other protected areas as well as the opportunities and threats presented by tourism.  A point of greatest interest is that irrespective of the nature of tourist activity, there will always be impacts of tourism. The role of tourism in sustaining conservation is also clear. As regards the strategies that cab be employed in protecting conserved areas with the objective of achieving sustainable tourism, it is important to note they may not be clear cut. It is important that detailed assessment of such effects be carried out to determine the best strategy that can apply to each. 

3.0 RESEARCH PARADIGM AND ROLE OF THEORY

3.1 Research paradigm

A positivist paradigm shall be adopted in this research. It is pegged upon the beliefs put forth by Descarte, and as can be traced back to Galileo. They are concerned with the nature of reality and knowing. A realist ontology assumption of this paradigm is that apart from the human knower, real world objects exist. This is to say that there exists an objective reality. From a representational epistemology point of view, an assumption is made that the objective reality can be accurately described by human beings through symbols. In this study, the researcher shall embark on positing a reality different/separate from available/known knowledge (separation of object and subject), making it possible to compare various presentations with the reality to be uncovered. That way, the truth shall be easily ascertained. Though the literature available on the negative effects of tourism on conserved/protected sites, as well as the strategies that can be employed in the same context to protect such sites and ultimately achieve sustainable tourism, the researcher shall compare that which shall be uncovered with that which is already known. However, the positivist paradigm dictates that a clear demarcation be enforced here to avoid the risk of bias since the researcher may be tempted to seek only selected information, as opposed to anticipating and incorporating all aspects of what might be uncovered.  In a word, this methodological shall be strictly followed, making it possible to achieve the research objectives.

3.2 Theoretical underpinning

The research shall to a great extent link the notion of corporate social responsibility to the sustainability agenda. It shall explore the strategic base of tourism enterprises in protecting conserved/protected places. In this regard, theoretical underpinnings present that hospitality and tourism industries are constantly witnessing changing/shifting attitudes in consumer and enterprise attitudes. Such cannot be ignored in the sustainability agenda, especially as regards the protection of national parks and other protected places. It is believed that shared value and synaptic approaches that are uncomplicated and relatively straightforward are imperative in the same respect. It goes without saying that such notions are quite easily taken up by tourism and hospitality players as well as academicians. The existence of continuous discourse in many fora and colloquia regarding sustainable tourism and other related subjects like responsible behavior is acknowledge here. Concepts that emerge in theories discussing active participation in the tourism industry are important. Some of them are defined below:

Tourism: Refers to the movement of people to places/destinations located outside their usual places of residence or work, the activities they undertake during such visits, as well as the facilities created for their use.

Attractions: These are excursion destinations that have been permanently established with the primary purpose of facilitating/allowing public access for self –interest, entertainment, and education as opposed to just serve principally as retail outlets or venues for theatrical/film performances and sporting. Such destinations have to be open to the public all the time without need for prior booking (for published periods every year) and should be appealing to tourists/day visitors and local residents.

4.0 RESEARCH DESIGN

Research design refers to the means by which a researcher plans the collection of data with the primary aim of attaining the research objectives. One can choose between causal, explanatory, and descriptive designs (Zikmund, 2003). Descriptive design is employed in describing the characteristics of a given phenomenon or population, and is most commonly utilized in quantitative studies .As for causal design, it is concerned with the manner in which a given variable affects another variable, or is responsible for it. Considering that the aim of this study was to get a deeper understanding of the phenomenon under investigation by focusing on one case study, this design shall not be the best. On the other hand, an explorative research design explores an area and sheds more light on a subject that the researcher has little or no knowledge about in the beginning. It is mostly employed in qualitative studies (Creswell, 2003).  In this research, a mixture of qualitative and explorative research designs shall be used to procure information that will be imperative in understanding how sustainable tourism can be achieved in Australia by protecting national parks and other protected areas through suitable strategies.

4.1 Methodology

Jacobsen (2002) presents that a qualitative approach provides an opportunity to explore a given phenomenon in details and get a deeper understanding and general picture of the situation. This approach is characterized by a greater degree of flexibility as well as closeness to the object under examination. An opposite to this method is the quantitative approach whose fundamental starting point is the notion that it is possible to measure the society through methods that yield information in terms of numbers. Considering that the study shall require a deeper insight on the strategies that can be employed in protecting national parks and other protected areas, a qualitative approach shall be most suitable as it shall also yield several probable nuances on the matter being investigated.

4.2 Nature of Research

Having acknowledged the knowledge gap on the matter under investigation, it is imperative to emphasize that indeed there is need to employ the best approach to uncover as much information as possible. Therefore, besides being descriptive (refer previous sub-heading), it shall also be explorative in nature. It shall be exploring the strategies that can be employed in protecting parks and other protected places with the cardinal aim of achieving sustainable tourism in Australia.

4.3 Research Strategy

The strategy in this study shall be to move from theory to empiricism. Through a deductive navigation, the researcher shall first collect all relevant theory (from secondary sources) on the matter under investigation. By collecting relevant empirical information on protected areas and what can be done to conserve/protect them, the researcher shall be able to get the views of interview objects on already cleared defined and understood theories. In consideration of the fact that this has the risk of giving only information that may seem to support the researcher’s expectations and thus lead to relevant and important information being ignored, the study shall be conducted in a more exploratory nature. An adductive strategy shall give room for new information to be compared with what is presented in written material.

By settling on a single case study (more specifically Kakandu National Park), it is believed information shall be obtained whose generalizability shall apply across Australia and even beyond. By obtaining information from individuals who have been exposed to and witnessed the negative impacts of tourism on national parks and other protected areas, it is believed insight shall be gained as regards the overall picture of what is being investigated. The park’s management team as well as visiting tourists shall be interviewed

5.0 DATA COLLECTION

5.1 Data Required

For this study, qualitative data shall be needed. By interviewing the management team of Kakandu National Park besides the tourists who shall be present at the time of the research, information shall be obtained on the negative impacts of tourism on the park, as well as the strategies that can be employed to prevent or manage these effects. Based on its generalizability and applicability to the broader Australian context and beyond, this data will be imperative in informing on how to achieve sustainable tourism by protecting conserved areas (from the effects of excessive tourism activity).

5.2 Data Sources

As already implied above, the data shall be sought from the tourists and managers at Kakandu National Park. In addition, data from secondary sources such as books, journal articles, publications, and other web sources. Data from these sources shall be combined and/or compared/contrasted with primary data to compliment the study.

5.3 Data Collection Methods and Instrumentation

Imperatively, the research shall consist of both primary and secondary data. As implied earlier, a first step shall be to review secondary data with the aim of gaining deeper comprehension of the subject under investigation and as such have a good foundation upon which to build when collecting primary data.

As for the use of secondary sources, researchers are more often than not forced to establish a valuation on the extent to which the sources are believable. A point of interest in this context is to answer the question whether or not the source’s author might have had personal interest when writing the piece. If the answer to this is in the affirmative, then caution should be taken when interpreting such a source (Jacobsen, 2002).

In the course of examining and fetching secondary data, the researcher’s aim shall be to use information that is relevant and updated as possible. Nevertheless, some sources on the subject might not be as recent as one would wish, having been written during the early years of this century. For this reason, it shall be important to scrutinize them thoroughly so as to assess the content and confirm that it is indeed relevant even today (Salkind, 2000). Consequently, it shall be paramount throughout the process of collecting primary data to find out if or not such an assessment is correct. It is also to be noted that web sources may not necessarily hold the same degree of accuracy or credibility as journal articles and books. For this reason, the use of the former shall be minimized. Arguably, more neutral institutions are usually more reliable due to their lack of subjective interest in bringing out a certain picture of the phenomenon under study. Such shall be used more.

Kotler at al. (2005) define primary data as that consisting of information collected primarily and specifically for a given purpose at hand. It is information being collected by the researcher for the first time. Emanating from the primary source, it is tailored for the particular issue at hand. It can be collected through observations, surveys, or interviews (Zikmund, 2003). For this research, primary data shall be collected through self-administered questionnaires which shall be very pivotal in the entire aspect of data collection.  These instruments of data shall consist of both close and open-ended questions to ensure that respondents express themselves exhaustively on the subject under investigation. So that more insight might be gained, face to face interviews with top management shall also be used. This shall ensure there is a deeper comprehension on what the negative effects of tourism on the conserved areas are as well as the strategies that can be employed to manage or prevent them, ultimately attaining sustainable tourism.

The Likert format shall be used in structuring the questions on the questionnaires to be presented to respondents (see Appendix II).  As it were, they shall be open and close-ended. Notably, the design of the questionnaires shall be in such a way as to enable the researcher to easily get a glimpse of how tourism negatively affects conserved sites/protected places and the strategies that can be employed in protecting them. The design shall also make it possible to cover a bigger sample in shorter period of time with no extra manpower. Besides, it is the researcher’s opinion that this instrument of data collection will avoid bias since in the stated design as that is what characterizes most research interviews.

6.0 SAMPLING

As it were, sampling is the final process is research just before data collection. It is concerned with suitably identifying the objects for the collection of primary data. In this research, non-probability sampling shall be employed. In this, units are chosen based on personal convenience and judgment in the manner such may be suitable for the study.

Considering that respondents shall include the park management team and tourists, the success of the study shall greatly depend on the sampling strategy. An assumption shall be made that there will be no homogeneity across persons as regards the effects of tourism activities on national parks and other protected areas, as well as the strategies that can be employed to check the same. Imperatively, stratified random sampling will be utilized, more especially because it combines aspects of random and purposive sampling (Sarantakos, 2008). The process of stratification shall simply entail grouping the population into two categories/strata. The strata shall be management stratum and tourist stratum.

Due to resource and time limitations, the study shall use a sample of 200 management personnel and tourists in total. It is the researcher’s view that such a sample size will be manageable.

7.0 DATA ANALYSIS METHODS

Data analysis shall begin with checking collected data to ensure it is accurate and complete. It must be admitted that owing to the methods to be used in data collection, data to be generated will most likely take both qualitative and quantitative forms. For this reason, descriptive statistics shall be convenient for analyzing and evaluating data. In addition, other techniques of analyzing variables like bivariate, univariate, and multivariate analyses shall be taken into consideration at this stage of the study. Whereas univariate analysis is used to evaluate a single variable, bivariate analysis focuses on analyzing the relationship between variables (Sarantakos, 2008). Quite different from these two, multivariate analysis assesses the relationship among various variables. Since it shall be imperative to know how various negative effects of tourism can be checked (reduced or countered) and by what strategies, multivariate analysis shall be used in this study (to explore how they relate).

It is the researcher’s belief that this kind of research is convenient for employment of discourse analysis. This is mainly because this kind of analysis yields a ‘strong social constructivist view of the world’. It will aid understand how the negative effects of tourism (on conserved areas) have been received by the wider society, much the same way how probable strategies can be developed, received, and used to protect the sites under focus. The analysis shall give a precise interpretation of the respondents’ and interviewees’ contexts while taking into account factors like manner of conversation and other aspects of communication.

Where senior managers shall be interviewed, an effective qualitative strategy shall be to carry out detailed interview transcripts since wordings, phrases, and technical terminologies emerge as being very crucial in a study of this kind. After drafting transcripts following every interview, they shall be thoroughly read and re-reread to ensure that whatever the researcher writes down correlates with the participants’ views/opinions/presentations.

8.0 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Since the study shall be pegged on the participation of human participants, it shall be noble to makes sure that relevant ethics are adhered to. In appreciation of possible ethical issues arising, various aspects of the same shall be considered by the researcher. For instance, the privacy and confidentiality of participants shall be upheld. In that breath, they shall be given an assurance (prior to their participation) that any information they might give will be kept confidential. Miles and Huberman (2004) present that the very act of informing a participant on their right of confidentiality is ethical. For optimal outcomes as regards ethics, the researcher shall be deeply involved in the process of making relevant/suitable explanation to potential respondents before the fill the questionnaires or answer any of the questions presented to them. Details of the research such as its aim and significance shall be clearly laid out to the participants. Explaining such details might be hectic but it shall be a crucial milestone in ensuring an explicit comprehension of the significance of their participation.

Participation is the study shall be by informed consent. In this respect, participants shall remain at liberty to withdraw their participation anytime without having to give reasons. The researcher shall promise them that the information they give shall not be given to any third party and shall as such be used for academic purposes only. For confidentiality, they shall not be required to write their names anywhere on the research instruments, neither would they be required to mention any private information in the course of the research.

9.0 METHODOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS

Considering the scope and context of this research, it should be noted that some factors might come into play, which nevertheless will out of the researcher’s control. For instance, embarking on questioning respondents (either through interviews or questionnaires), it is assumed that they shall be knowledgeable on the information being sought. However, it may be possible that a respondent who has consented to participate is not in a position to provide the information being sought. In the same breath, the random sampling technique employed may leave out people who are very well-informed on the matter being investigated. Hope to counter this limitation is pegged on the assumption that the sample size is representative enough of the target population (s).

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