A Framework for the Management of Oil Spillage Risks in Oil Exploration Programmes - Dissertation Example

?Research Methodology Table of Contents Research Methodology Brief Overview of Research Methodology 3 Introduction about Angola 4 Brief Overview: 4Exploration activities of Angola 5 Process of Research Methodology 7 Nature of Research 10 Types of Research Format 10 Sampling of Data 12 Overview 12 Design Process 12 Designing the Questionnaire 13 Data Collection Process 14 Data Analysis 14 Data Validity and Reliability 15 Limitations of Research 15 Reference 17 Brief Overview of Research Methodology Research methodology is a process to determine the way to scientifically undertake a project and systematic solution to the problems involved in the project. In this process a researcher adopts various steps to study the research problem, and analyze the various steps to the solution of such problems. A researcher needs to understand the various assumptions underlying the different techniques and must have an idea to differentiate procedures as per the problem in the research study. Thus, choice of research methods based on the research problem forms a significant part of research methodology. The experimentation done to test hypothesis and discover new relationships must be based on a scientific method. The results drawn are then criticized. So a researcher must pay proper attention while developing the design of the research work and at the end must state probable inferences as a part of the study undertaken. The basic postulates on which the scientific method to be used is based on are- • The method relies on empirical evidence. • The method utilizes relevant concepts • The study is committed to objective consideration only. • The method of study aims at making adequate and correct statements about the population objects. • The methods results into probabilistic predictions. • The method is concerned for critical scrutiny for testing the conclusions derived. • The method aims at formulating the general axioms or the scientific theories. Research Methodology can be conducted on the basis of three types of research format, such as, exploratory research, descriptive research and casual research. Introduction about Angola While discussing about research methodology, it is utterly relevant to state that the entire process was conducted using primary research. For the purpose of conducting the primary research, the researcher had to make a physical visit the location of Angola. For the purpose of better understanding of the criticality and relevant importance of the research methodology of the project, considerable amount of information about the nation of Angola and its various economic activities has to be discussed. Brief Overview: While giving a brief overview of Angola, it has to be mentioned that the country is located in the South African west coast. The nation is comprised of around 18 provinces and the capital of Angola is Luanda. The nation is bordered by the South Atlantic Ocean for a coast area of around 1,650 km (Angola.org -1, n.d.). Talking about the geographical expanse of the region, the total size of the region is around twice the size of Texas. Discussing about the population strength of the nation, it has to be highlighted that as of the year 2013, the population count stood at over 18, 500,000. It is to be noted that the amount of population in the year 2011 in the urban areas of the nation comprised of around over 59% of the entire population (Cia.gov, 2013). The nation of Angola has a bitter political history, which comprised mostly of the 27 year old civil war. The civil war of the nation drew to a close around the year 2002. As of the current times, the nation is ruled by the multiparty presidential regime. The current government of the nation is Republic in nature (Cia.gov, 2013). While talking about the nation, it is crucially important to focus on the economy of the nation. The main driving factor of the economy of this nation is oil. The oil sector comprises of around 90% of the total of the country’s exports. With the gaining of independence in the year 1975, the nation became the third largest oil producing companies in the African belt, ranking just after Nigeria and Gabon. The trade of diamond export also had a significant influence on the economy of the nation. In regards to the potential of growth of the economy as well as prospects of business, it can be highlighted that the nation can grow in a tremendous way because of favourable agricultural condition as well as huge mineral deposits, comprising of oil, diamonds, iron ore and gold (Angola.org -2, n.d.). Exploration activities of Angola While discussing about the economic activities of the nation, it came to light that the oil exporting activities of the nation generates around a significantly large amount of revenue. The impressive performance of the economy of the nation is largely linked to the factor of high production of oil. Talking in regards to the amount of capital generated, it is important to state that the financial returns from the exports related to petroleum amounts to around 64.43 billion USD (OPEC, 2012). Since oil exporting is a prime revenue generating factor for the economy, it is extremely important to understand the nation’s oil exploration activities. The exploration of oil happens in both the shallow and deep water regions. Talking in a very specific manner, the large majority of oil exploration activities for the nation is concentrated on the deep water area of the Lower Congo Basin. Over the years, especially from the period of 1996, the region has become a highly favourable hydrocarbon province. It can be stated in this particular note that with the discovery of blocks 14, 15, 17 and 18 along with several large fields, this particular region has the maximum amount of oil reserves. The exploration activities of the deepwater regions of Angola are mostly conducted by ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, TotalFinaElf as well as some other private sector companies. While significant amount of discoveries of new blocks and oil fields in the deep water regions of the Lower Congo Basin has been made, there still exist a large number of pockets that needs to be explored. Also, it has to be highlighted that new possibilities of exploration might arise in the block regions where exploration activities of oil have previously concluded by the players of the oil industry of Angola. It is important to state that various factors like constraints of capital as well as shorter time for activities of exploration has significantly hampered the full exploitation of the possibilities that lies in these previously explored regions (Center For Energy Economics, n.d., p. 4). Talking in regards to the current trends of oil production that are emerging from the nation of Angola, the export of oil for the March of this year have been the highest since the year 2010. Discussing specifically, the oil exports of Angola rose to the capacity of around 1.74 billion of barrel per day (macauhub.com.mo -2, 2013). In predicting future trends associated with oil production of the region of Angola, it has been forecasted that the nation of Angola may become the top oil producer in the belt of Africa by the year 2014. Additionally, it has been predicted that Nigeria’s growing internal problems will lead to the process of growth of Angola as the leading producer in the African belt. While Nigeria’s oil production capabilities is increasingly getting disrupted because of theft of oil as well as disruption in the supply side, the growth of oil production of Angola can be attributed to rise of new operations (macauhub.com.mo -1, 2013). Process of Research Methodology The process involved in Research Methodology is as follows- 1. Formulating the Research Problem- At the first step a researcher must try to find out the problem that he wants to study and any ambiguities relating to the problem must be resolved. Then the feasibility of a particular solution is to be considered before setting up a working formulation of the problem. Two steps are involved in the formulation of the research problem, i.e., thorough understanding of the problem and rephrasing the problems into meaningful terms from an analytical point of view. 2. Extensive literature survey- Once the problem is formulated, a brief summary is to be developed which would help the researcher in to undertake widespread literature review connected with the problem. A superior library would help the researcher at this point of time. 3. Development of working hypothesis- After conducting the literature survey, the researcher needs to clearly specify the working hypothesis. Working hypothesis refers to the tentative assumptions made to draw and test its logical or empirical consequences. Since the hypothesis provides a focal point for research, so the manner of conducting the hypothesis is important. The hypothesis also determines the test that is to be conducted and the data that is relevant to be considered for the analysis. 4. Preparing the research design- After formulating the research problem, a research design is to be developed which shall dictate the structure in which the research is to be conducted with minimal expenditure of time, money and effort. A research design is considered appropriate if it provides opportunity for considering the different aspects relevant to the problem of the research study. 5. Determining sample design- All the objects to be considered in the field of study for the analysis is termed to be the population. The population must be completely enumerated. The inquiry performed with the help of the population or items is presumed as census when all the items are covered with no chance of left over and highest accuracy is obtained. The items selected are referred to as the sample. The researcher must decide the way to select the sample and develop the sample design. Samples can be either probabilistic samples or non-probabilistic samples. The 5 different sample designs which a researcher may refer to are Simple Random sampling, Deliberate sampling, Stratified sampling, Systematic sampling, Quota sampling, Area sampling and Cluster sampling, Sequential sampling and Multi-stage sampling. 6. Collection of Data- While dealing with real life problem it is often found that data in hand is insufficient to conduct the study. So it is required to collect appropriate data from different relevant sources based on the time, money and cost. Primary data can be collected through survey or experiment. 7. Execution of the project- Execution of the project must precede as per the laid design and plan, otherwise the data collected would become inadequate and irrelevant. The project must be executed in a systematic and timely manner. A careful check must be ensured at the time of execution so that any effect by the unanticipated factors can be recognized. 8. Analysis of data- After collection of data the researcher needs to analyze them. The analysis of data requires a number of operations, such as, establishment of categories, application of categories to raw data obtained through coding and tabulation, and then drawing statistical inferences. The categories used for the classification must be useful and met the purpose. 9. Hypothesis-testing- After analyzing the data, the researcher needs to test the hypothesis formulated earlier. The test shall result in either acceptance or rejection of the formulated hypothesis. 10. Generalizations and interpretations- A researcher arrives at generalizations after hypothesis-testing. This is the point at which the real value of a research lies. The interpretation process may lead to the birth of several new questions which may further lead to several other researches. 11. Preparation of the report or the thesis- Finally the researcher needs to prepare a report of the whole work done by him. It can be said that for the purpose of successful conduction of the research based assignment, conduction of significant research is very important. The reason behind that importance can be associated with the fact that the research provides some of the highly relevant data, which can be processed and analyzed using various tools and techniques, so that it empowers the researcher with the highly desired hidden knowledge that is available in the hidden and highly complicating data (Kolb, 2008, p. 12) While discussing on the same note, it can also be brought into attention that the conduction of the research exercise helps to bring into focus the insights, views and opinions that are provided by a wide range of sources, which essentially comprises of collaborators, consumers, associated suppliers, etc (McDaniel & Gates, 1998, p. 5). It can be said that while proceeding with the concept of market research, a proper format is expected to be followed by the researcher. Nature of Research While discussing about research methodology, it is important to state that both primary and secondary in nature. From a bird eye view, it can be said that primary data is being collected by company sources or hired third parties who engage in the process of interacting with consumers, suppliers, buyers etc. On the other hand, data that can be collected from various pre-existing data sources like company reports or data collected by various non profit organizations or business organizations are identified as secondary data. (Stephenson & Thurman, 2007, p. 5 - 6). A proper market research strategy is to first explore the various data that is being present in the secondary sources, and then evaluate and opt for the primary data sources. It is important to mention that in some cases, it has been noticed that the secondary data is collected during the process of conduction of the literature review. Types of Research Format It is of high relevance to state that the research methodology can be conducted on the basis of following any of the three types of the research format. The first one is the exploratory research. Talking in a detailed manner about the exploratory research, it can be said that this kind of research is mostly undertaken in the cases where the researchers focuses on trying to gather and uncover information is relatively unknown areas, that is being covered by the research question. It can be said that this kind of research are open and highly flexible in nature. It provides significant amount of scope in regards to the researcher to look for finding new insights in an already existing trends or pattern of behaviour of various variables and factors (Krishnaswamy and et.al, 2009, p. 161). Another nature of research is the descriptive kind of research which focuses specifically on the process of elaboration of specific phenomena or problem issues. It can be said that in case of descriptive kinds of research, the researcher in most cases focuses on the process of conduction broad interview of in depth nature with the respondents, so as to find out the root cause of the problems and even the probable solutions and ways of tackling it (Malhotra and Dash, 2008, p. 81). There is another nature of research that exists in the arena of market research. It is called causal research, and is also sometimes represented as explanatory research. It can be said that while working on causal or explanatory research, the main motive and intended objective of the researcher is to focus on the process of providing causal based explanation of the research topic (Blanche and et.al, 1999, p. 44). It can be said that this kind of a primary research becomes highly effective when the researcher is trying to identify the probable and cause effect relation that exists within his research question. However, it is relevant to state that in the course of determining the kind of research format that needed to be followed; a lot of focus has to be given on the nature of the research topic, which is the centre of importation for the research assignment. Sampling of Data Overview In statistics, sampling refers to the selection of subset of individuals from within a population so as to estimate the unique features of the whole population. Sampling provides 2 advantages, i.e., data collection is faster as compared to measuring the entire population, and the cost is lower. In business, sampling is used for gathering information about a population. The stages of sampling process are- • Defining the target population • Specifying the sampling frame • Identifying the sampling technique to be used for selecting items from the frame • Determining the sample size • Execution of the sampling process Design Process Preparation of sampling design is an important process for conducting a successful market research. The sampling design process consists of the following- Defining the Target population- While identifying the target population for the purpose of getting relevant inputs from the respondents in regards to the primary research, it can be said that the respondents will mainly comprise of “white collar” employees (i.e., employees belonging to the middle level or top level segment) who form a part of the company’s management, including the general manager. Specifying the sampling frame- The sampling frame would comprise of the two companies, i.e., BP Plc and FMC. The respondents of the target population from whom data for the primary research is to be collected will belong to the companies. It is important to state here that, while taking the responses from the associated business personnel (i.e., “white collar” employees who form a part of the company’s management, and the general manager); the focus will be solely on Africa. Identifying the Sampling Technique- For the purpose of data collection from the respondents, it can be said that the most appropriate sampling method will be the usage of simple random sampling. Determining the sample size- It can be said that for the purpose of getting appropriate information from the respondents, a sample size of 6 (i.e., 3 employees from BP Plc and 3 employees from FMC), will be quite appropriate. Execution of the Sampling process- At the time of execution of the sampling process, simple random sampling technique will be used to collect data from respondents through the use of the interview process. The researcher will go to each of the two companies (i.e., BP Plc and FMC), so as to collect the data from the respondents in regards to the primary research. The interview process shall end with a feedback stage in which the researcher will ask the respondents (i.e. the interviewee) about the effectiveness of the framework made by the researcher, and would the framework be able to help the petrol companies or not. Designing the Questionnaire It is of considerable importance to state that designing the questionnaire is an important step in the conduction of an entire primary natured market research. It is important and of utmost relevance to say that the questionnaire acts as a very useful and powerful tool in the process of collection of primary data from the respondents. While focusing on the process of designing the questionnaire, it can be said that the researchers needs to keep in mind the sole purpose of conducting the primary natured research methodology (McBurney and White, 2009, p. 246). While thinking on these lines, the researcher needs to focus on gathering information, which has a high degree of relevance to the research topic. Since the category of research that has been chosen to be used is exploratory, so the researcher needs to design the questionnaire by placing questions that are open ended in nature. The reason for opting for a close ended questionnaire is because it will help the respondents to provide their views in a very elaborate manner. Data Collection Process The process of data collection is a very significant step in the course of conduction of the research methodology. In this particular case, the entire research methodology of primary nature has been designed while trying to focus on the exploratory kind of research that has to be conducted. Talking in regards to this particular issue, it has to be mentioned that the exploratory type of research has been chosen mainly because the topic of dissertation is quite broad in nature. The questionnaire that has been designed in this case for the purpose of collection of responses from the respondents for the primary research is open ended in nature. Hence, it can be said that for the purpose of proper collection of the responses of the open ended questionnaire, the researcher has to engage in taking interview of one to one type. Furthermore, it will be highly effective to mention that the interviews will be conducted in a very official setup in both the companies of British Petroleum Plc and FMC. Data Analysis After the process of data collection, the next step that follows is the process of data collection. While proceeding with the analysis of the data, it is very important to consider the nature of the data that has been collected. Given the exploratory theme of the research as well as the open ended questionnaire design, it is utterly relevant to state that the data that has been collected in this case is qualitative in nature. Hence, a question specific approach has to be used to analyse the qualitative kind of data that has been collected. Data Validity and Reliability Data collected for the purpose of research must ensure validity and reliability. Data validity refers to the degree to which the collected data truly measures that, which was intended to measure with the help of the data. There are three basic approaches that help to test the validity of data. The approaches were shown by Mason and Bramble (1989). The approaches are content validity, criterion-related validity, and construct validity (Lafaille and Wildeboer, 1995, p.18). The reliability of the collected data ensures the degree to which the developed model yields the same result on repeated and multiple trials on several circumstances. The tendency towards consistency found in repeated measurements using the same model is termed as reliability. The different methods by which reliability of data is measured are Reset Method, Alternative form method and split-halves method (Lafaille and Wildeboer, 1995, p.18). Limitations of Research Although the research was done carefully, yet there are some limitations in the research which has been observed. Firstly, the time allotted to the researcher for the conduction of the research was limited, so the researcher could not conduct the research on an extensive scale. Secondly, due to the time limitation, the population (i.e., respondents) considered for the research is small. Therefore, so as to generalize the result obtained, the study should have involved more participants or respondents (Miranda, No date, p.19). Thirdly, since the research is conducted by the researcher in total, it may include some degree of subjectivity. Fourthly, the research faces a constraint from the side of finance, which leads to the consideration of small population, because conducting primary research on an extensive scale requires more investment from the side of the researcher (Miranda, No date, p.19). Fifthly, the process of interview limits the information available, as because the persons to be interviewed do not always have the required time as demanded by the researcher, so the interview process becomes short and limits the information received. Reference McDaniel, C.D and Gates, R.H., 1998. Marketing Research Essentials. USA: South – Western College Publishing. Kolb, B., 2008. Marketing Research: A Practical Approach. California: Sage Publications Inc. 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USA: Cengage Learning. OPEC, 2012. Angola Facts and Figures. [Online] Available at: http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/147.htm [Accessed 16 July 2013] Read More