Topic outline

  • Example 5: How effective are the current policies in place at ensuring that South Australia meets zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050?

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    What is the question asking?

    This question seeks to understand how effective current policies are at ensuring that South Australia meets zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This question is specific in several ways.

    Firstly, it is seeking to understand how effective the current policies are at meeting the goal for net greenhouse gas emissions. This means that after conducting our research, we should have an opinion about how likely it is that the policies will be effective to a a high extent, a medium extent, or a low extent.

    Secondly, the question is asking about a concrete location: South Australia. This means that all of our research should be focused on this state only.

    Then, the question is asking after a specific thing: policies that seek to meet zero net greenhouse gas emissions. We are limited to researching the policies and infrastructure that South Australia has in place.

    Which leads to the timeframe, we are only interested in current policies. This means that we limit our research to action and planning that is already in place, and don’t worry about things that once were in place or will be implemented in the future. 

    Currently, the University of South Australia is conducting varied research around this topic through work in the Research Node for Low Carbon Living. This research ranges from studying low carbon households and transport to creating Lochiel Park, Australia’s most sustainable residential estate.  


    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?


    Literature Review

    Some ideas for how we could do this are:

    • Reading journal articles
    • Watching documentaries or presentations by experts
    • Reading government reports
    • Reading books


    Interviews

    Some ideas for sources we could contact are:

    • Researcher
    • Electrical engineer
    • Environmental expert


    Case Study

    Some ideas for how you could do this:

    • Use the current documents that you can find as a resource to map out how they will roll out


    Data analysis

    We've collected some data, what next? As the data that we have collected is qualitative in nature, so mostly words, it's ideal that we use qualitative 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 intending to research the impact of different treatment on adolescents suffering from depression, but your questions only relate to medication, you are not measuring the full impact of different treatment options. This research has low validity.

    Questions to ask of your sources:

    • Does this source measure what we need it to measure?
    • Is it appropriate for the research question?
    • Where is this source from?
    • Is it too old? 
    • Do either of these matter for the content that we are using?

    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 renewable energy, you can't limit your research to interviewing mining companies about what they perceive to be the benefits. You have only conducted research with a biased source. 

    Questions to ask of your sources:

    • Where did we find this source?
    • Is the source an expert?
    • Has it been peer reviewed?
    • Does it agree with other sources?
    • Is the source biased towards someone's opinion? 


    Sample resources 

    Here are some sample resources that we used for our research:


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