Topic outline

  • Example 3: How effective is greening streets at reducing the average temperature in the Adelaide CBD?

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    What is the question asking?

    This question seeks to understand how effective the maintaining and increasing of green spaces within Adelaide CBD is at reducing the average temperature within that environment. This question is specific in several ways.

    Firstly, it is asking about the effects pertaining to a particular location: the Central Business District of Adelaide, South Australia. This question is geographically specific and as such, research on this exact topic may be limited. While you must prioritise Adelaide-specific research and data first, you may also utilise information and research conducted in other urban environments to come to your conclusion, but all of your research should be relevant to Adelaide.

    Secondly, the question is asking you to investigate what greening is, the theories behind it, why cities are taking this practice up, and whether there is evidence on the effectiveness of this practice.

    Finally, it is asking you to measure the effectiveness in greening the Adelaide CBD in relation to the reduction of temperature. While there may be more benefits or detractors of this practice, your results should focus on temperature fluctuations, if any.

    Currently, UniSA is carrying out research in the China-Australia Centre for Sustainable Development to better understand issues like this one. Perhaps there is someone there that is researching a similar question to you?


    Ethical considerations

    There are several ethical considerations to keep in mind while completing this research:

    • Ensure that participants are voluntarily participating in the research and know that they have the right to withdraw. 
    • Utilise the data you collect with respect and integrity, this means paraphrasing and quoting honestly. 
    • Ensure that you are storing all research data securely, in particular participant questions and responses which may be sensitive and should be kept confidentially.

    Research Methods

    What research methods should we use to answer this question?

    Interviews

    Some sources we could contact are:

    • City of Adelaide council members
    • A member of the Green Adelaide board
    • Climate change researchers

    Literature Review

    Some ideas for how we could do this are:

    • Reading journal articles
    • Watching documentaries or presentations by experts
    • Listening to podcasts
    • Reading books

    Data analysis

    We've collected some data, what next? 

    As the data that we have collected is varied, there are multiple methods of analysis that we will need to do. With the qualitative data, that which is non-numerical, it's ideal that we use qualitative analysis for this. 

    For any numerical data that we have collected, it's ideal that we use quantitative analysis for this.

    What else should we be considering? Two important criteria in the Research Project are validity and reliability. You can ask these questions of each of your sources. 


    Validity

    In research, validity relates to how well the research measures what it is supposed to measure. Validity can be divided into two groups: internal validity and external validity. Internal validity determines if the research findings match reality, while external validity determines whether the research can be replicated in another environment.

    For example, if you are completing literature reviews that only tackle the greening of cities in the USA, and not including any research on the effects of greening on temperature in the Adelaide CBD, your research will have low validity.

    Questions to ask of your sources:

    • Where did we find this source?
    • Who conducted the study / research?
    • Who funded the study / research?
    • Is it an expert source?
    • Has it been peer reviewed?
    • Is the source biased towards someone's opinion? 


    Reliability

    In research, reliability refers to the degree to which research produces consistent results. There are three sorts of reliability in research: test-retest reliability (does the research produce the same or similar results every time?), internal consistency (is the research measuring what it is supposed to measure?), and inter-rater reliability (do all researchers get the same or similar results?). 

    For example, if research is biased towards an opinion it can be considered unreliable. If you are seeking to understand the benefits of greening in Adelaide’s CBD, you can't limit your research to interviewing those who have a vested interest in the practice, such as landscaping companies. This would mean you’ve only conducted research with a biased source; therefore, your research has low reliability.

    Questions to ask of your sources:

    • Does the research measure what it claims to measure?
    • Can the findings be applied to my research question?
    • Who conducted the study / research?
    • Can these results be reproduced?
    • Is the sample size / response rate sufficient? 


    Sample resources

    Here are some sample resources we can use for our research:


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