CHAPTER 3: Research Methodology

CHAPTER 3: Research Methodology

3.1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter outlines a quantitative methodology that will be developed and tested in this
dissertation. In particular, this methodology will be used to answer the sub-research and key
research questions. To achieve this goal, the research structure is planned to clarify the information
gained from the literature review on the three areas of sustainability, ecotourism and its architecture
and their interaction with each other, the knowledge gap, and the research questions. The structure
also shows how these steps relate to the case studies in (Chapter 4 & 5), and the general conclusion,
which include discussion of the research shortcomings and limitations (Chapters 6).

3.2. RESEARCH STRUCTURE

The research framework is shown in Figure 3.1 and summarized as follows:

The research begins with a literature review that introduces sustainability, ecotourism as a
sustainable type of tourism, and sustainable architecture as one of ecotourism’s products. The
literature explains the main principles that dominate sustainability and how these might be used as
objectives to make a framework for the development of ecotourism and its related architecture.

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The strategy for this work is to determine the main characteristics of ecotourism and architecture
through determining their environmental, cultural and economic outcomes and related priorities,
productive activities and indicators.

This research identifies the lack of a comprehensive strategy that has the ability to set all the
environmental, cultural and economic characteristics of ecotourism and its related activities and
products, such as architecture, in a holistic framework to evaluate these characteristics as being
sustainable. This is the identified knowledge gap in this thesis. This gap is then expressed as a
research question:

“What are the main characteristics of an architecture that can contribute to sustainable
development through ecotourism?”

To answer the research question, a quantitative method is used. The quantitative approach involves
evaluation and measurement of the environmental, cultural and economic footprints of ecotourism
and its architecture and their interaction with each other. This would allow researchers to measure
how far apart the beliefs of people are about a given subject when compared with their acts. The
results of this research are summarized and conclusions drawn, research limitations revealed, and
aspects requiring further development are discussed.

3.3. JUSTIFICATION OF THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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The research methodology is intended to answer the primary research question about the
main characteristics of an architecture that can contribute to sustainable development through
ecotourism. The methodology requires a quantitative approach. This research is explorative and is
setting out to see if it is possible to design a method that links together assessment of the
cultural/economic/environmental aspects of sustainability. It is also explorative in testing the
method through using selected case studies and reflecting on the results of the investigation through
a comparative approach. The proposed methodology is faced with ten problems explained in the
next section that must be solved.

3.3.1. Methodological Problems

The problems that the quantitative methodology faces can be represented by the following
questions:
1. What are the main elements of a comprehensive framework that comprises the
environmental, cultural and economic characteristics of ecotourism and its architecture
within an integrated approach?
2. What are the main environmental, cultural and economic outcomes for the sustainable
development of ecotourism and its architecture?
3. What are the priorities for achieving the anticipated outcomes of the sustainable
development of ecotourism and its architecture?
4. What indicators can be used to evaluate ecotourism and its architecture as being
sustainable?
5. How can the environmental, cultural and economic influences of ecotourism and its
products and activities (including architecture) on a given host destination be measured and
evaluated?
6. How can the differences between the existing circumstances of an ecotourism project and
its architecture and the goal of being sustainable be measured?
7. How can the ecological, cultural and economic indicators used for the evaluation of
ecotourism and its architecture be linked to each other in a holistic method?
8. What data is required?
9. How can the required data be collected?
10. How can the collected data be analysed?

3.3.2. Research Case Studies

The case studies of Maldives (Regional scale), Lakshadweep (Site scale) have been chosen
for evaluation through using the proposed framework, model and indicators. The main reasons for
choosing these three case studies are explained in the following sections.

3.3.2.1. Lakshadweep
This section introduces the main characteristics of the Lakshadweep as an appropriate case
study for this dissertation.

a. Lakshadweep as a Community Based Soft Ecotourism

The Lakshadweep is a community based soft ecotourism project that is managed and
monitored by the —. This characteristic gives the opportunity for local people to participate

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in its development. The Lakshadweep and its community are linked to related organisations
such as the — and the —, which also have an interest in its sustainable development.

b. Rural and Urban Destinations along the Lakshadweep

The Lakshadweep makes a linkage between many rural and urban destinations and their
adjacent areas. This characteristic contributes to its visitor experience of various host
destinations with different environmental, cultural and economic particularities. Through
using the Lakshadweep as a case study, the proposed framework and model can be used to
investigate how soft ecotourism influences its host societies and how far its cultural
footprint is from an ideal sustainable model for ecotourism.

c. The Lakshadweep as a Successful Tourism Project

The OCRT has been claimed as a successful tourism project by the —- government. This makes it
an ideal case study to explore the proposed framework, the model and the indicators.

3.3.2.2. Second Case Study: Maldives

Naseby and Cromwell are two of the host destinations for OCRT visitors according to the O
CRT trust, which describes them as attractive places for their visitors. In Naseby 6 of 26 ac
commodation buildings (excluding 72 camping sites) are refurbished buildings and 20 are n
ew buildings. Conservation of the cultural heritage of Naseby in terms of its historical buildin
gs used as accommodation services makes it distinctive in the ORCT.

In 2011, 4,350 of the total 11,788 OCRT visitors played curling at Naseby, making this activ
ity another reason for using Naseby as one of the most important host destinations for OCR
T visitors. The variety and frequency of other activities, products and services offered by Na
seby accommodation services is another reason to choose it as a case study (see appendi
x 28).

3.3.2.3. Third Case Study: Andaman & Nicobar

Unlike Naseby and as shown in Table 6.79 all accommodation services in Cromwell are ne
wly constructed buildings. Comparison between the cultural footprints of Naseby and Crom
well related to their accommodation services through using the framework, the model and t
he indicators, will determine how using refurbished building as cultural heritage contributes
to ecotourism and its architecture having a more sustainable cultural footprint.

As shown in Table 5.48, in 2011, 22.5% of all OCRT visitors came to old Cromwell town. A
ppendix 34 determines the variety of social and cultural products and activities offered by C
romwell’s accommodation services to OCRT visitors. This is another reason to choose this
host destination as a case study. Comparison between the cultural footprint (CF) of product
s and activities produced/ consumed and conducted by Naseby and Cromwell visitors will d
emonstrate how the framework, model and indicators can be used to compare two host des
tinations in terms of delivering sustainable tourism. Using the three case studies of the OC
RT, Naseby and Cromwell to test the framework will also determine its strengths and limitati
ons.

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3.4. The Structure of Methodology

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This shows the structure of the methodology used in this thesis included three main sections of: th
e comprehensive framework for ecotourism and its architecture; data collection and data analysing.
In this methodology, the comprehensive framework is the core of the methodology the influences t
he other sections of data collection and data analysis. The main sections of the methodology are e
xplained below and the relationship between these sections is determined.

3.4.1. A Comprehensive framework for Sustainable Development of Ecotourism and its Arch
itecture

The comprehensive framework proposed in this dissertation is divided into two frameworks; the firs
t for the sustainable development of ecotourism and the second for its architecture. One of the mai
n aims of the proposed framework is answering the issues explained as methodological problems i
n section 3.3.1.

3.4.1.1. Framework for Sustainable Development of Ecotourism

As shown in Figure 3.2, the proposed framework for the sustainable development of ecotourism co
ntains three subsectors: the environmental, cultural and economic frame-works. Each of these fra
meworks aims to determine the main outcomes for the sustain-able development of ecotourism; pr
oductive activities that can contribute to achieving these outcomes; indicators that can be used to e
valuate ecotourism products and activi-ties as being sustainable; and the required data that can be
used for this evaluation.
The following sections introduce the main components of the comprehensive frame-work for ecoto
urism.

a. Environmental Framework for Sustainable Development of Ecotourism

The environmental framework for ecotourism determines the main ecological outcomes for its deve
lopment (such as conservation of environmental resources), the activities that can contribute to red
ucing the ecological impacts of ecotourism through its develop-ment, and environmental indicators
(such as ecological footprint) that can be used to measure and monitor these impacts. In the frame
work and the model, the EF is the main environmental indicator used for evaluation of ecotourism a
nd its architecture as being environmentally sustainable.

b. Cultural Framework for the Sustainable Development of Ecotourism

This thesis aims to present a theory-based cultural framework for the sustainable devel-opment of
ecotourism that directs it and its products and activities in a way that makes it culturally appropriate
and sustainable. This thesis attempts to conceptualise the main characteristics of a culture and its
meaning through the use of an ecological perspective to make a link between the main social struc
ture of the host societies of ecotourism and the surrounding environment. It can contribute to the a
nticipation of the cultural outcomes for ecotourism in a way that not only is compatible with the cult
ural system of the host so-cieties, but is also harmonised with the surrounding environment. The cu
ltural framework proposes a range of cultural productive activities that aim to change and direct the
socio-cultural behaviours of the host societies in a way that supports achievement of the anticipate
d outcomes for the sustainable development of ecotourism.

This thesis presents a new definition of the cultural footprint of an activity such as ecot-ourism, and,
for the first time in this area of research, proposes a new method to calcu-late it quantitatively (Ch

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 CHAPTER 3: Research Methodology

apter 4). In this thesis, the cultural footprint of ecotourism is used as one of the main cultural indicat
ors to evaluate it as being culturally sustainable. Likewise, this indicator is considered a main factor
that can be used to explore the link-age between different environmental, social and economic cha
racteristics of an activity or product through a sustainable strategy for its development.

c. Economic Framework for the Sustainable Development of Ecotourism

The economic framework for the sustainable development of ecotourism determines the main econ
omic outcomes of this development process. However these anticipated out-comes (such as equal
distribution of capitals among all participants who are engaged in the process) are not merely econ
omic goals but can also be viewed as social outcomes. In addition, the economic framework for the
sustainable development of ecotourism proposes productive activities (such as employment of loca
l people through the process of development) which have both economic and social profiles.

The economic framework for the sustainable development of ecotourism introduces re-lated econo
mic indicators that can be used as tools to evaluate ecotourism development as being economicall
y sustainable. Based on the inability of efficient economic indicators and weakness of some metho
ds (cited in Chapter 2) to offer such tools, this thesis pro-poses a new method to calculate the sust
ainable portion of GDP which is here called “GDPs” (see Chapter 4). This can then be used as an
economic indicator for evaluation of activities and products such as ecotourism and architecture as
being economically sustainable.

3.4.1.2. Framework for the Sustainable Development of Architecture

3.5. Importance and Limitations

This section discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed methodology.

3.5.1. Importance of the Methodology

3.5.1.1. Comprehensive Approach: The methodology aims at a comprehensive approach

to the sustainable development of ecotourism and its architecture. For the first time this the
sis presents an original methodology that can make a linkage between the surrounding envi
ronment, culture and economic system in a given host destination for ecotourism (and its ar
chitecture) in order to measure its level of sustainability. This also relies on the comprehens
ive framework included as the main part of this methodology. The comprehensive framewor
k, its importance and limitations will be discussed in detail in the next chapter (Chapter 4).

3.5.1.2. The Integration of Environmental, Social and Economic Indicators: Integration

of ecological, social and economic indicators in a quantitative method makes an opportunity
for this thesis to explore the environmental, social-cultural and economic influences exerted
by ecotourism and its architecture on a given host society. Likewise this relies on using the
proposed holistic framework and model.

3.5.1.3. Compatibility with Quantitative Methodologies: The quantitative methodology c

an be used as a complementary method to any qualitative methodology for assessment of t
he sustainable development of ecotourism and its architecture.

3.5.1.4. Using Existing Information Systems and Available Technologies: This method
ology uses existing information systems, and available research results to show how these
can be used for this research. The reason for doing this is to explore the limitations of the e

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xisting information systems, data and available research. The study was made without site
visits; so as to ascertain if it were possible to draw meaningful conclusions from publicly- av
ailable data. If this could be shown to be the case it would increase the value of the method
ology, as it would be carried out remotely, and at lower cost, increasing its applicability.

3.5.1.5. Indicating Required Data through Related Indicators: The methodology indicate
s the required data needed from the proposed environmental, cultural and economic indicat
ors. This allows determination of the data linked to the sustainable development of ecotouri
sm and its architecture, thus avoiding collecting irrelevant data.

3.5.1.6. Integrated Analysis: The methodology proposes a method in which the ecological,
social and economic data are analysed in a way that indicates the interaction between the
m. It allows the thesis to cover all dimensions of sustainability related to the development of
ecotourism and its related products and activities.

3.5.2. Limitations

3.5.2.1. Shortcoming of Available Information Systems: One of the main problems of th

e approach is relying on other peoples’ data and results, with no means of checking their ac
curacy. However, development of the method and testing it will be done by attempting to co
llect data from the same type of sources, in this case information published on official OCR
T accommodation websites, and research in the public domain related to the OCRT.

3.5.2.2. Accuracy: Since the methodology relies on using existing information systems with
their shortcomings, the quantitative results cannot be completely accurate, although compa
risons between results produced by the research will still be relevant. However the intention
of the thesis is not to come out with accurate results but rather to make people aware of the
problem and hence improve data collection for more accurate results.

3.6. Chapter 3: Summary

This chapter describes the quantitative methodology used in this thesis for answering the research
questions in Chapter 2. From the literature review, the three areas of sustainability, ecotourism and
architecture and their relationship with each emerged as the point of focus for the research. Sustai
nability and its policies and principles are the factors that link ecotourism and its architecture to eac
h other as being sustainable. This thesis aims to propose a methodological framework for sustaina
ble development of both ecotourism and architecture.

The comprehensive framework for ecotourism and its architecture needs to be able to:
● Comprise all environmental, social and economic characteristics of ecotourism and its arch
itecture such that these dimensions can be linked to each other.
● Measure the ecological, cultural and economic influences exerted by ecotourism and its arc
hitecture on a given host society.
● Use efficient indicators for evaluation of ecotourism and its architecture through a holistic a
pproach to sustainable development.
● Be used as a comprehensive tool for evaluating ecotourism and its architecture through the
whole process of sustainable development.

Figure 3. 1. shows the research structure. The research is explorative and aims to design a metho
d that links together assessment of the environmental/ cultural/ economic aspects of ecotourism an

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d its architecture through sustainability. The method will be tested on selected case studies throug
h taking a comparative approach.

Problems with this process are lack of first hand data will mean relying on secondary data sources.
However, this is also an opportunity to test such sources and make recommendations about data c
ollection improvements.

In this thesis the EF is the main ecological indicator for evaluation of ecotourism and architecture.
To solve shortcomings identified with this indicator earlier, the thesis proposes a comparative meth
od to use the EF and other indicators for evaluation of ecotourism and its products and activities as
being sustainable. As shown in Figure 3.2, the comprehensive framework uses the quantity of the
social products and activities (for example the quantity of food consumed by visitors, or the number
of visitors who play golf) (also see Chapter 4). These quantities are then converted to EFs. GDPs f
orms the main ecological-social economic indicator for evaluation of ecotourism and its architectur
e as being economically sustainable.

The methodology proposes an original method for analysing the data related to each of the environ
mental, social and economic indicators through use of an holistic model that is called the Cultural F
ootprint model (CF model) (Figure 3.3). Using this model allows exploration of the ecological, socia
l and economic influences exerted by development of ecotourism and its architecture on a given ho
st society. Furthermore the CF model has the ability to be used as a tool to compare the ecological,
social and economic influences of ecotourism and its products and activities on different host desti
nations.

One of the strengths of the methodology is its comprehensive approach to the sustainable develop
ment of ecotourism and its architecture. Using the CF model allows the thesis to analyse the ecolo
gical, social and economic footprint of ecotourism and its architecture in relation to each other thro
ugh a holistic approach to sustainable development. The main limitation of the methodology is havi
ng to rely on existing information systems which will affect the accuracy of the results. However, us
ing the comparative methodology will help to reduce the negative impacts of this shortcoming on th
e results.

As discussed above, proposing the comprehensive framework is one key goal of this thesis. Chapt
er 4 introduces the framework in detail.

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