From the content analysis of the unstructured interviews the following main reasons or barriers to taking action were identified:
| Reasons and Barriers Identified | Number of respondents identifying |
| Lack of awareness about declining biodiversity | |
| Lack of education and guidance about action | |
| Too little to make a difference | |
| Unavailability of environmentally friendly goods and services | |
| The cost of environmentally friendly goods and services | |
2.2 Report 1 – Commentary and suggestions for improvement
In the commentary below, strong points of the report are shown by a tick (ü), weak points where improvement is possible are shown by a (x), and suggestions for improvement are shown by (v).
| Section of the Report | Commentary |
| Title | The title should briefly and accurately describe the main focus or aim of the research. ü The title in this case is clear, concise and accurately describes the focus of the research ü One of the main problems of research by learners is that the focus is too wide and not specific – this research is clearly targeted in a defined way which is manageable and not too ambitious |
| Introduction | In this section learners should explain the reasons for their choice of topic. ü The learner gives several legitimate reasons for choosing biodiversity by relating the topic to personal experience and the influence of the media, issues studied in the Global Perspectives Course Programme, and personal interests. The choice is also justified through relevance to issues in Kazakhstan, government concerns and personal values. ü Footnotes are used effectively to develop or justify arguments and keep the overall word count within the 3,500 limit. ü The reasons are described fully and concisely. ü There are sufficient sources cited as evidence in this section, however additional sources may have added further depth, for example to justify the personal values stated in the final paragraph. v The implications of personal values for bias could have been discussed briefly and more explicitly. |
| Context | In this section learners should describe the background to their chosen topic and the context for the research which suggest the aims of the Research Project. ü The learner places the topic within the broader context of environmental concerns about climate change and fully justifies the intention of the research through clear ‘progressive focussing’. ü A wide range of relevant sources are used as evidence to support the argument. ü Overall, the variety and breadth of material is excellent and described accurately and concisely. ü The organisation of the material and the line of argument are very clear and well structured. v Additional sources on biodiversity in Kazakhstan might have been included to give this element of the discussion greater depth. ü All sources are accurately referenced and listed in the bibliography. |
| Aims | In this section the learner should describe the purpose and rationale for the research. ü In the Report the purpose and aims of the research are clearly stated and broken down into four research questions. The report is just within the word limits. v It may have been possible to reduce the research questions to three to make the overall task more manageable. v The focus upon local issues in Kazakhstan could be more fully justified, for example in relation to the scope of the research and time available. ü Overall this section is clear, well-structured and concise. |
| Method | In this section the learner should describe and explain the reasons for the choice and design of the research methods. ü The learner justifies the research design and use of several mixed methods very well. ü Each method is described and the type of information that will be gathered by each method is described v However more justification for the use of questionnaires in terms of practical issues and reaching a wide sample easily might have been included. The justification for the sample and the use of unstructured interviews is stronger. ü Using research concepts in the justification for the methods, for example bias, reliability, generalise and representative, reveals very good knowledge and understanding. ü Awareness of ethical issues and discussion of potential difficulties in the use of methods and how these were overcome has added depth; for example about the potential bias and lack of accuracy in some internet sources. ü The inclusion of the blank questionnaire and unstructured interview checklist in the appendices is helpful v A little more detail on the design of the questions for the questionnaire may have been valuable. |
| Results | In this section the learner should describe the data gathered by each method and show how it relates to the original research questions. ü In this report, the learner fully describes the main data gathered using each of the methods in a clear and structured way. ü The use of the Appendices to provide the numerical data from the analysis is an appropriate strategy keeps the report concise and ensures word limits are maintained. ü The use of tables and bullet points to summarise data is helpful. v Some alternative forms of presentation could have been used, for example pie charts or graphs. |
| Conclusion | In this section the learner should describe the conclusions or answers found to the questions. ü The learner summarises the main findings for each of the research questions in the conclusion – this is clear, structured and concise. ü The learner qualifies the conclusions and discusses the extent of generalisation and confidence levels that can be assumed – excellent. For example due to the narrow age range of the sample. ü The implications of the conclusions for the original motivation and purpose of the research are discussed convincingly v More detail may have added depth of analysis. |
| Evaluation | In this section the learner should discuss the degree to which the aims of the research have been met and the strengths and weaknesses of the research in practice. ü In this report, the learner identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses of the research design and methods, using concepts relating to research quality to evaluate, for example ‘reliability’, ‘validity’, ‘representative’ and ‘generalise’. This is very good. ü Some suggestions of how to improve the methods and research design are included v One or two more suggestions would have been helpful. |
| Further Research | In this section the learner should make suggestions about further research that could be undertaken following the original research and reflect upon their own learning. ü Several suggestions for further research were described and related to the outcomes and limitations of the research. The discussion was clear and concise. ü The impact of the research on personal perspectives was sensitively described and convincing – clearly arising out of the research results and conclusions. ü The significance of further research for the original research questions and new issues was discussed. v Relating the outcomes and further research to the intention to start a school environmental club might have finished this section well. |
| Bibliography | In this section the learner should provide a full bibliography. ü An appropriate bibliography was included, revealing the use of a wide range of resources. |
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