The Reason for Choosing Quantitative Research Methodology - Essay Example

?Research Methodology This section discusses the research methodology used to conduct the research. The thesis incorporates quantitative research methodology, which is precise as well as conclusive. This chapter discusses the methods used to conduct the research and defines the variables that affect people’s perception about sports tourism in UAE and how the role of women participation affects this type of tourism. This methodology is used to analyze the acceptance of UAE society to female participation in sports. The main aim of the research conducted is to identify the relation between female sports participation and sports tourism in the UAE as well as providing an overview of how cultural and religious boundaries increased the gap. The reason for choosing Quantitative Research methodology is because of the valuable statistical analysis it provides using survey questionnaire. This method thus provides easy access to valuable information supporting the study, one that may have not been touched by documented book and previous studies. The questionnaires will provide views and opinions from the general population within the UAE as to how there come to be a link between the sports tourism goals of the UAE and the aims to increase sports participation by female population in the UAE. A social survey has been conducted on a large scale to collect the data for statistical analysis. According to McNeill and Chapman (2005), a social survey is a tool to get large amounts of data from a large number of people in a small amount of time. Suitability of Quantitative Methodology for this Research Quantitative research methodology has been selected for this research because of its precision and less time consumption. The thesis needs a solid conclusion and that is why the statistics of Quantitative research method have been incorporated. In the later section of ‘data analysis’, the findings from the questionnaire can be analyzed to be used in the conclusions sections. Another advantage for using this method is because it is conducted in the standard form and since the thesis discusses social dynamics of UAE (regarding female participation in sports) the study must continue. Later other people will be able to repeat the experiment and add useful contribution. Society and its culture are always in motion, they keep on changing. No study or conclusion is definite for infinite period of time. Other researchers will be able to learn from this research and cite it in their thesis later on when UAE culture will be slightly different from today. Another reason as to why Quantitative methodology has been used here is because it gives a predetermined format to the matter this is being researched. In comparatively very less time, the only method that can measure social behaviors is quantitative research. Sports tourism is booming in UAE and probably the most suitable way to capture and analyze people’s thoughts, perceptions and reflections about UAE women shining in the sports field is quantitative research method. The assumption that social world can be observed, reflected and measured gives a predetermined procedure or set-up in which data findings can be produced (Henn, Weinstein & Foard, 2009). As described earlier, it will be an ongoing research, having a predetermined format for producing the data will be helpful for all users of this research. Quantitative research allowed to comprehensively incorporate the indicators which measured the social values of UAE. An indicator is an entity which is used to infer attribute regarding the subject (Singh, 2007). For this research, the active participation in sports by women is an indicator of open beliefs about religion and culture, conversely if there is no tangible obstacle for females that forbids them to take part in sports then this behavior has been used as an indicator for religious and social constraints. Population and Sampling The questionnaire was designed to target two different populations, the general public- 200 participants including both genders across age groups starting with 15 years of age plus the females involved in different sports within the UAE- 100 participants including sports coordinators, trainers, team management, and female sportswomen, including school and college girls since the research was interested in highlighting factors like what these girls have to go through inside their homes when they raise issues concerning sports. In summary, the sample target for the questionnaires totaled 300 participants across different emirates. The aim was to collect detailed opinions from both targeted types of population to obtain a clear view of the current perception of female sports participation. It has been debated previously in the literature review that the UAE has a very closely knitted family system and takes cultural acceptance into consideration widely. Social values originate from the religious views of Islam, which emphasizes on the modesty of females but it is the view of the writer that these religious views have been blown out of proportion with time. For this reason, it is important to tap into the minds of people and understand their take on religious and social values about female sports activity in UAE. One of the aims of this research included knowing ways in which society overcame the religious obstacles abstaining them from sending their daughters, sisters and wives to participate in sporting events, through several exclusive ways to the UAE, ones that served both purposes, inclusive of religious views in terms of female sport participation as well as empowering the female participation in the development plan of the country. To achieve this, stratified sampling has been used to obtain accurate results. Stratified sampling in this particular research has an edge over random sampling in accordance to Saunders et al. (2009) who stated that; “Stratified random sampling is a modification of random sampling in which you divide the population into two or more relevant and significant strata based on one or a number of attributes”. According to this method of sampling, this research study focused on dividing the targeted population into two strata, the first to be the general opinion of the UAE population spread across different emirates to provide a conclusive result. The second strata targeted, one that proved to be of high importance, was the females involved directly in sporting activities. Again, this second targeted population contributed highly to the findings of the study seeing as to how they came into contact directly with sports within the UAE whether it was through performance and participation, management or as sport activity attendee’s. A questionnaire is a list of questions asked by the researcher (McNeill & Chapman, 2005). When it comes to the research methodology, the nature of questions is very important. According to Dawson (2002), questionnaires can be of three types; open ended, close ended or a combination of both. The bigger question is what type of questions should be asked to get the appropriate results? In the research questionnaire both open and closed ended questions have been included. Closed ended questions will help in getting accurate results whereas the open ended questions will give the opportunity to the respondent to give a more subjective answer based on his/her feelings and emotions. For this research not only UAE specific cultural and religious factors have been targeted but the research and the questionnaire has been designed in such way as to know why girls generally girls do not participate in sports as much as men do. For this reason empirical statements have been used where no pre-conceived conclusions have been incorporated or portrayed. There is no margin given here for what things ‘ought’ to be but only real social dynamics have been integrated where what things ‘are’ in the real world matter. That is why the research also considers the factors that influence the female participation in sports in other regions of the world. Focusing on what things ‘are’ in the real world is the essence of quantitative research where empirical methods are used to conclude the research with empirical statements (Cohen, 1980). One major factor that will influence this research is the changing trend in the lifestyles. People are becoming more aware and concerned with their body fitness. Especially the females want to look good. Women all over the world are paying more attention to their physical fitness than ever before and women of UAE are not different from the rest of the world. They too want to look fabulous and without playing sports, it gets very tough to maintain fitness, especially for women who have been through the process of child birth. Questions relating to physical fitness and health consciousness have also been included in the questionnaire to account for the international trends towards fitness. Some important points to note about the questionnaire and the overall research methodology are; sensitivity of its nature, religious values and family values. It was made sure that the respondents would leave a question if they don’t feel like answering it. Some of those questions are about religion and the social culture of UAE. Respondents were not put in any pressure or stress regarding the research process. Some questions regarding the nature of sports and games were also asked. It has been observed that there are many sports played at the international level and in the Olympics that ‘require’ the participants to wear clothes of such nature that the Muslim women are not comfortable with. They don’t feel secure after wearing them. Swimming and gymnastics are among the top sports where females usually wear uniform which the Arab women find inappropriate. That is why questions about the nature of sporting uniform have been included. Furthermore, the open ended questions have also asked the participants to give opinions and suggestions on how to improve the inappropriate dress hurdles, if wearing appropriate clothes would motivate UAE women to take part in swimming competition or not. Research participants were also asked if they think that media needs to play a more active role in covering and promoting women sports. These participants were asked such questions if they were satisfied with the role of both print and electronic media in covering female sports. Despite the fact that the research is about the women of UAE and their participation in sports, there are certain factors that are needed to be considered generally when it comes to female sports. The proportion of women participating in sports or physical activity in comparison with men is highest for the age group of 18-24 (NSW Sports, 2002). The number of male participants in almost all sports played at the international level is more than the females. Moreover there are some common reasons all over the world (not only in Muslim countries) that keep females away from active participation in sports. This is important to mention because, during the analysis of research methodology, everything cannot be blamed or tagged with religious or cultural values of UAE. Those factors have been considered while designing the survey and some highlighting factors of why females don’t take active participation in sports like men do are; a) Time constraints (women generally have less time to spend at physical and recreational activities because they are tied down by family responsibilities) b) Social Stereotyping c) Limited access to safe and female friendly environment to play sports d) Lack of childcare (for females with children) e) Due to personal safety f) Lack of sport skills (NSW Sports and Recreation, 2002) For teenage girls, following perceptions were considered while designing the survey; Teenage girls take part in sports and physical activity to; a) Socializing and having fun b) To stay fit and in shape c) To learn new skills d) Stress relieving e) Having a team to play in (NSW Sports and Recreation, 2002) Some questions have also been included to highlight the stereotyping about sports. Generally sports and games are associated with boys and not with girls (despite the fact that there is hardly any sport where females do not participate in developed countries). That is why questions were asked to probe about stereotypical ideology rather than stereotypical threat that sports are for men and not women. In the questionnaire, open ended questions also asked for suggestions as to how girls in their teenage years can find communities and clubs only for females so that they might not feel less of themselves than the male participants. It is a common observation that children (boys and girls) start playing together and when they play competitive sports like football or hockey, they lose against boys and therefore loose heart. This is probably where the stereotypical seed is sown that boys are better suited for sports and games while girls are better spectators. In the literature review it has been heavily emphasized that there are social constraints that prohibit females to take an active role in sports in UAE and most probably in all Islamic countries, which indicates that females feel social and cultural pressure which pushes them back from seeking an active role in sports. Regardless of what the research methodology (questionnaire and its analysis indicate) there are some general facts need to be considered. Muslim women immigrants living in European countries Germany, Britain and USA hardly take an active role in sports to begin with. However researches conducted in Islamic countries such as Iran indicate that women don’t reject the idea of sports in the first place, instead they have progressive ideology regarding sports (Pfister, 2001). For this particular reason, open ended questions have been included to ask for suggestions as to what might transform these ideas and inspirations into actions and field performances. Limitations of Quantitative Research Limitations of Quantitative methods used within this research include the possibility that the collected survey results may not be as accurate as reviewed studies previously presented within the literature review. As mentioned prior, the link between female participation in sports and the increase in sports tourism rate within the UAE has not been of intellectual interest before. Having noticed this, it is safe to say that the number of targeted people for the survey may not be covering all perceptions, thus comes the second limitation of this method which is the possibility that targeted population sample may not be representative of the general overview and opinions of the population as a whole. Works Cited Dawson, C. (2002) Practical Methods a user-friendly guide to mastering research. 1st ed. How To Book LTD Henn, M., Weinstein, M., & Foard, N. (2009). A critical introduction to social research. SAGE Publications, Inc. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=qEQ2b-ip8DMC&pg=PA217&dq=benefits of quantitative research&hl=en&ei=mgzlTpiaBaHE4gTEgsiYBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDUQ6AEwATgK Mcneill, P. And Chapman, S. (2005) Research Methods. 3rd ed. Taylor and Francis Group NSW Sport and Recreation. (2002). Female participation in sport, recreation and physical activity in New South Wales. Retrieved from website: http://www.dsr.nsw.gov.au/assets/pubs/industry/info_fempartic.pdf Pfister, G., Hartmann, I. (2003) Sport and women: social issues in international perspective, Routledge, Retrieved from; http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=1WBwZQBKM0EC&pg=PA207&dq=Muslim+Women,+Sports&hl=en&ei=Vu_kToX_BpH14QTh5KT-BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Muslim%20Women%2C%20Sports&f=false Saunders, M., Lewis, P. And Thornhill, A. (2009) Research methods for business students. 5th ed. Prentice Hall Singh, K. (2007). Quantitative social research methods. SAGE. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=6kDPz9F9ds0C&pg=PA28&dq=benefits of quantitative research&hl=en&ei=mgzlTpiaBaHE4gTEgsiYBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwADgK Read More