CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
5.2 The collection of data
This section provides an overview of the data collection process for this thesis. The use of secondary data is described first, as this was the starting point for the research and helped to frame the way in which the primary data were collected.
Secondary data
Literature reviews formed the basis of the secondary data used in the thesis and focused primarily on the emerging body of literature on transformation and transformative adaptation in the environmental governance and climate change fields respectively. The literature review on transformation and transformative adaptation was used to identify characteristics relating to the nature of transformation and transformative adaptation, the factors that catalyse and sustain
transformation, and the outcomes from transformation. These characteristics were summarised in a heuristic framework that was used to assess the changes that have taken place in the eThekwini Municipality case study, the extent to which this can be considered transformative adaptation, how the case study experience reflects, differs from or adds to the existing body of related literature, and what this experience can contribute in terms of understanding transformation processes more broadly in the arena of environmental governance. The literature review and the development of the heuristic framework were undertaken before the interviews commenced. This was important in order to guide the development of the interview questions in a way that aligned with the characteristics of transformation and transformative adaptation that appear in the literature. Municipal reports, strategies and local government planning documents were also used to help contextualise the case study and the final outcomes from this thesis.
Primary data
Primary data comprised of twenty-three interviews conducted between September 2014 and June 2015 and purposive sampling was used to decide who would be interviewed. Purposive sampling is synonymous with qualitative research and implies that sampling is undertaken based on a set of strategic choices related to the objectives of the research, and that interview respondents are selected based on who they are and what perspective they might bring to the issue being researched (Palys, 2008). In this thesis, “maximum variation” purposive sampling was used in order to ensure that the selected interview respondents covered a spectrum of positions in relation to eThekwini Municipality’s climate change adaptation work (Palys, 2008). Given the predominant focus of the case study on changes that are emerging in the local government of eThekwini Municipality and the need to fully understand the extent to which climate change adaptation has been integrated into municipal planning and implementation, it was important to hear perspectives and insights from a range of respondents as follows:
Local government officials
Respondents ranged from those who were closely involved in leading the city’s climate change adaptation work to those who were either indirectly linked to the work or who did not have in-depth knowledge of how this agenda has developed in eThekwini Municipality.
External respondents
Individuals from outside the Municipality were also interviewed if they had been directly involved in at least one significant element of eThekwini Municipality’s climate adaptation work.
On the above basis, respondents were allocated to categories, as summarised in Table 5.1. A list of the individuals who were interviewed is provided in Table 5.2. Interviews were recorded (with permission from each of the respondents) and later transcribed.
Table 5.1: A summary of the respondent categories and the rationale for this categorisation.
Respondent Category
Category description Rationale 1. Leaders and coordinators of
the climate change
adaptation work in eThekwini Municipality. These municipal officials have generally adopted a strong scientific approach to the work.
These individuals understand the context and reasons for initiating the climate adaptation work in eThekwini Municipality. They currently hold (or have held) the vision for the climate adaptation agenda at both a local and global scale. They have also been directly responsible for testing various projects and approaches in relation to the adaptation work, and have a particular perspective to offer with regard to the changes that have taken place in initiating and sustaining the climate change adaptation work in eThekwini Municipality.
2. The climate change
adaptation “implementers”.
Municipal officials and consultants involved in driving the implementation of the climate adaptation work within eThekwini Municipality.
These individuals have been directly involved in climate adaptation projects and programmes within eThekwini Municipality and provide important perspectives on their roles in this work, what motivated them to be part of it, the changes that have taken place with regard to the integration of climate adaptation into municipal planning and the extent of change within their respective sectors or spheres of influence.
3. Municipal departments or individuals not directly involved in the climate adaptation work.
These individuals provide a municipal perspective on the extent to which climate adaptation ideas and principles have been integrated into sectors that have not been directly involved in the climate adaptation work, but which will be affected by it. This provides an important
perspective on the extent of integration of adaptation into sectors across the municipal institution.
4. Municipal officials who hold strategic planning and decision-making positions within the Municipality.
Given that these individuals should have a strategic, high level and more holistic perspective across municipal sectors and municipal planning, they provide a perspective on the extent to which climate change adaptation is being considered in strategic planning and decision-making in eThekwini Municipality
5. Stakeholders external to the municipal institution.
These individuals had all been directly involved in at least one element of Durban’s climate adaptation work. They provide an important perspective on external perceptions of the Municipality’s climate adaptation work and its implementation.
Table 5.2: A summary of the interview respondents and their positions within or external to the Municipality Category
number23
Department/Unit Position of respondent Date of
interview 1 Environmental Planning and Climate
Protection Department (EPCPD)
Former Deputy Head 25.05.2015
EPCPD Former Climate Protection Scientist 27.09.2014
EPCPD Manager: Climate Protection Branch 31.10.2014
2 Coastal Stormwater and Catchment Management Department (CSCM)
Senior Manager 11.09.2014
Engineering Unit (EU) Project Executive 12.12.2014
Futureworks Consulting Company (FW)
Consultant to EPCPD 06.11.2014
Disaster Management and Emergency Control Unit (DMU)
Deputy Head 26.09.2014
EPCPD Manager: Restoration Ecology Branch 31.03.2015
EThekwini Water and Sanitation Unit (EWS)
Professional technologist 15.09.2014
3 EPCPD Specialist ecologist: Biodiversity Planning
Branch
09.03.2015 Economic Development and
Investment Promotions Unit (EDU)
Project Manager, Investment Promotion Department
23.05.2015
EDU Former Researcher 10.09.2014
EThekwini Transport Authority (ETA) Senior Manager: Strategic Transport Planning 12.06.2015 Human Settlements Unit (HSU) Manager: Research and Policy 06.11.2014
EWS Former Head 03.03.2015
EWS Consultant Professional Engineer 07.10.2014
Strategic Spatial Planning Branch (SSPB), Planning Unit
Senior Planner 22.04.2015
4 Economic Development and Planning Cluster
Acting Deputy City Manager 17.06.2015 Strategy Office, Office of the City
Manager (OCM)
Chief Strategy Officer 23.04.2015
Corporate Policy Department (CPD) Senior Manager: Programmes 03.10.2014 5 Wildlands Conservation Trust (WCT) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) 08.05.2015
Inter-religious Council (IRC) Convenor 15.05.2015
Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI)
Former Chief Executive Officer 05.05.2015
23 See Table 5.1 for category descriptions
In addition to the interviews, primary documentary sources such as strategic planning documents for eThekwini Municipality, policy context information and meeting minutes were also used.
The interviews
In order to arrange the interviews, interview respondents were emailed or telephoned and provided with background information on the research project, before being asked to participate in the process.
Wherever possible, interviews were held in municipal boardrooms to facilitate clear sound quality on the interview recording. The duration of these interviews varied between one and three hours, but most lasted for approximately one and a half hours each. Each interview was recorded and later transcribed by an external service provider. The researcher checked and edited all transcripts against the original recording. Three categories of interview questions were developed as follows:
Understanding of climate change and adaptation
The first interview questions probed respondents’ understanding of climate change and climate change adaptation and the extent of their involvement in eThekwini Municipality’s climate adaptation work. The responses were used to help confirm the interview categories to which respondents had initially been assigned.
Municipal context
These questions were designed to provide perspective on the municipal institution and its responsiveness to change. Responses provided important insights into the very specific local government institutional context in which changes have emerged in the case study, and the likely ease or difficulty with which transformation happens in such contexts. This served as a reference point against which to evaluate the extent of change that has taken place in eThekwini Municipality’s climate adaptation work.
Changes24 that have emerged in the eThekwini Municipality climate adaptation case study
Questions were developed to explore the characteristics of transformation and transformative adaptation identified in the literature, within the case study context. For example, in order to better understand the “nature of transformation and transformative adaptation”, questions were framed to probe the type and extent of the changes that have happened in the climate adaptation work in eThekwini Municipality, in order to assess whether these demonstrate the system shifts that characterise transformative adaptation. Similarly, to understand how transformation and transformative adaptation are catalysed and sustained, specific questions were framed around the factors that have either catalysed or acted as barriers to transformative adaptation in the climate adaptation context in eThekwini Municipality. In instances where respondents had been involved in the climate adaptation work at both a strategic and an implementation level, they were asked to reflect on these questions from both a policy and a sectoral perspective in the municipal context.
24 As indicated in Chapter 1, the word ‘change’ is used to describe the shifts that are being observed in the local adaptation work, until the point where an assessment has been undertaken of whether these changes constitute transformative adaptation. The word ‘transformation’ was not used in the interview questions as this may have influenced responses. This assessment is described in Chapter 6.
Abbreviated versions of the questions in each of the above categories are provided in Table 5.3 for illustrative purposes only. The complete questionnaire can be found in Appendix 1. Although the categories for the interview questions were the same throughout, the interview questions themselves were adapted slightly for some respondent groups and two questionnaires were ultimately developed that could be used as needed. The second questionnaire framed the questions in a more generic manner than the first and was more useful for respondents whose experience of eThekwini Municipality’s climate adaptation work was less direct (Appendix 2). Generally, the questions from both versions of the questionnaire were used interchangeably during the interview, depending on the detail with which the respondent was able to answer the questions posed. In some cases, this had to be adjudicated during the interview. The interviews were semi-structured and an attempt was made to ensure that all questions were covered, whilst at the same time providing space for respondents to speak about issues that went beyond these, where they felt these to be relevant.
Table 5.3: A summary of the interview questions (abbreviated) for each category of questions (Complete questionnaire can be found in Appendix 1)
Category of
interview questions
Summary of questions asked Understanding of
climate change and adaptation
What do you understand of the term (a) climate change and (b) climate change adaptation?
To what extent have you been involved in Durban’s climate change adaptation work?
Municipal context How would you describe the Municipality in terms of its ability to change when it needs to?
What factors in the Municipality do you think make it easy or difficult to change?
Changes that have occurred in the Durban case study (divided into the focus areas of the transformation and transformative adaptation literature)
Understanding the nature of transformation and transformative adaptation
How have you seen the climate change adaptation agenda emerging in the Municipality? Do you see these changes as significant?
Which projects have had the most impact and why?
Have there been any gaps and missed opportunities in eThekwini Municipality’s climate adaptation work?
How have your own ideas about climate change adaptation shifted (or not) over time?
Catalysing and sustaining transformation and transformative adaptation
What factors were important in getting the climate change adaptation work started? And in keeping it going?
What factors have been a constraint to change in the eThekwini Municipality case study?
What role does knowledge and experience sharing play in mainstreaming the climate change adaptation agenda?
Who have been the key actors involved in the climate adaptation work in eThekwini Municipality and what role have they played?
The outcomes of transformation and transformative adaptation
Who/ what will benefit most from eThekwini Municipality’s climate change adaptation work?
Have there been any negative outcomes from the work?
The responses to these questions provided important insights into the receptiveness of local government institutions to new ideas and transformation, the way in which transformation and transformative adaptation might unfold in such a context and the factors that facilitate or undermine these processes.
At the outset, the questions were tested on the researcher by her supervisor to ensure that the questions were framed in a way that generated the responses that were needed. Ten interviews were then conducted and analysed, again to assess whether appropriate responses were being generated.
Minor modifications to the questionnaires were made at this point to ensure that the questions were clear. These changes were not substantial enough to make the subsequent interviews significantly different from those that had been conducted up to that point.