METHODOLOGY

The focus of this chapter is to highlight the types of research methods employed in this project.
Experimental methods, surveys, observations and other data gathering techniques are exploited in
this chapter. This implies that this section covers the research framework, research design, the
sampling and techniques used. Information about how the data was collected, materials and tools
used is also Inco-operated.

In our project we managed to conduct some qualitative and quantitative researches using
interviews, surveys and observations. we also used books, articles and internet sources such as
journals to gather data.

When we conducted our research we took into consideration various number of questions as our
guide. These included:

PUT THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS I DONT HAVE THE DOCUMENT RINAWO

Interviews

We managed to carry out one on one interviews and group interviews too. The interviews were
open ended as people had no knowledge about the composite brick making machine. People asked
many questions about how the machine works and this made the session more fruitful as people
saw this machine as a eco- friendly one as it solved pollution problems in the country.

Internet

The internet was our main source of information as it provided us with various resourceful sites,
articles, documents and videos. We also managed to retrieve a few journals for back up from the
internet. These showed us how other organisations are conducting the brick making process and we
saw that they performed the task manually, this gave us the idea to optimise an automated brick
making machine.

Observations

We visited a brick making company to observe the process of making the brick. The movements of
workers in terms of how they carry the the bags of plastics from one place to another and how they
mixed the composites manually was observed. We also observed how the plastics and sand were
mixed in their required proportions .We also observed the safety aspects of the process and noted
that the employees were affected by the fumes of the burning plastics in the drum as the process
was quite long.Therefore a time study was conducted.