Topic outline

  • Example 6: To what extent will climate change impact the future of festivals in South Australia?

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    What is the question asking?

    This question seeks to understand how climate change will impact the future operations of South Australian festivals – SA is known as the “Festival State”, after all. This question is specific in several ways.

    Firstly, it is asking about the effects pertaining to a particular location: South Australia. This question is geographically specific and as such, research on this topic must be relevant to this area.

    Secondly, it is asking you to research South Australian festivals. To determine how they will be affected, you must first look at how they currently operate, and identify areas that are specifically susceptible to climate change factors.

    Thirdly, it is asking you to identify the climate change factors that could impact South Australian festivals.

    Finally, it is asking you to measure the extent of the future impact. This means outlining specific climate change factors and showing how they can impact SA festivals moving forward.

    Currently, the University of South Australia is conducting research around this topic through work in the Business School. While there may not be research that directly aligns with our question, there are likely to be people who already know about this topic. 

    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?

    Interview

    Some ideas for sources we could contact are:

    • Someone who works at a South Australian festival (e.g.: Adelaide Fringe Festival)
    • A researcher specialising in climate change


    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. 



    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 climate change on SA festivals, but your questions only relate to global warming, you are not measuring the full impact of different climate change factors. This research has low validity.

    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?

    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 impacts of climate change, you can't limit your research to only interviewing those who deny climate change exists. You have only conducted research with a biased source.

    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? 


    Sample resources

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


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