RESEARCH DESIGN: MATERIAL AND METHODS
STEPS OF THE QCA RESEARCH PROCESS
This section explains more clearly and pedagogically how this research project applies the research method of QCA. The following five steps outline the research process:
117 Budd, Richard W., Thorp, Robert K., and Donohew, Lewis. Content analysis of communications. New York:Macmillan, 1967. (Budd et al. 1967); See also: Lindkvist, Kent. Approaches to textual analysis. In: Rosengren, Karl. E. (ed.), Advances in content analysis, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1981: 23-24. (Lindkvist 1981).; McTavish, Donald G. and Pirro, Ellen B. Contextual content analysis. Quality and Quantity, 1990, 24:
245-265. (McTavish. & Pirro 1990); Tesch, Renata. Qualitative research: Analysis types and software tools. Bristol, PA: Falmer. 1990. (Tesch)..
118 Palmquist, Michael. Content analysis. 1990. Available at:
https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~palmquis/courses/content.html Accessed: 15th November, 2013. (Palmquist 1990).
119 Bullet points 2-10: Adopted and modified from Anderson, Rosemary. Intuitive inquiry: A transpersonal approach. In W. Braud & R. Anderson, Transpersonal research methods for the social sciences: Honoring human experience (pp. 69-94). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998. (Anderson 1998).
120 See also: Salehijam, Maryam. The Value of Systematic Content Analysis in Legal Research Tilburg International Law Review. 2018, 23(1):3. ( Salehijam 2014:3 - 5).
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1. Determination of the research problem: The initial step of data collection and analysis involved identification of research problems and development of the research question to serve as the focus of the research.
2. Identification and collection of extensive literature survey for analysis:
Considering the inductive nature of the analysis, themes were generated from series of compiled literature/documents.
Systematic identification based on multiple electronic databases employed for literature search included: DagDok, ECOLEX (information service on environmental law jointly managed by FAO, IUCN and IUCN), Electronic Information System for International Law (EISIL/American Society of International Law (ASIL), FAOLEX Legislative Database of FAO legal Office, Flare Index to Treaties, EBSCO, The League of European Research Universities (LERU) Law Portal, Max Planck Encyclopedias of International Law, ProQuest Databases, Scopus, Social Science Research Network, Springer Link, United Nations Treaty Collection, Web of Science and Westlaw International. In addition, on-going projects reported in national forest programmes, conference proceedings, theses, books and university publications were investigated.
All information that was considered to be relevant to the research topic were highlighted from the literature collected. A thorough reading of the data helped the investigator to become familiar with the collected data.
Data collection
In the course of the study and compilation of literature/documents, two approaches were used, namely primary and secondary data collection methods.
Primary data for the current study were derived from the sources of International Environmental Law,121 documents, and articles. Content of sources of International Environmental Law was derived from four main sources of law:
General principles of law and rules of international environmental law: This study reviewed aspects of relevant rules that have emerged from treaties,
121 “Sources” of law as defined by Shaw refer to “provisions operating within the legal system on a technical level, and such ultimate source as reason or morality are excluded,” as are spelled out in Article 38(1) of the International Court of Justice (Shaw, Malcolm N. International Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 5th edition, 2003:66). (Shaw 2003).
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agreements and customs to general principles of law as spelled out in article 38(I)(c) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice or to logical propositions resulting from judicial reasoning.122 Documents were derived from the major governing bodies concerned with protection of the environment such as the Environmental Protection Council of the Sudan, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and related organizations;
National laws: The review involved the use of national environmental laws and regulations.
National laws are important as they can point to the acceptance of such custom-based law in the absence of a treaty or other binding international agreement. The Constitution of the Sudan123 was assessed to provide relevant information regarding the law on the environment;
Judicial decisions and juristic works or in other words, “Writing of Eminent Jurists” acted as a means of recognizing the law established in other sources.
According to Article 38(1)(d) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is also to apply: “Subject to the provisions of Article 59, judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law.”124 Other new sources (e.g. court decisions (case law), resolutions produced by states or general assembly resolutions, declarations, doctrine, soft law recommendations and standards given by world organizations) (in the way they were used for interpreting the law in the Sudan).
Secondary sources of data were derived from other published and unpublished grey literature in the study area, the Sudan. Dictionaries, reference books, legal textbooks, legal journals and legal encyclopaedias were invaluable in this regard.
In this investigation, the process of data collection started via a cautious perusal of both primary and secondary data, to become familiar with the information and then to use a highlighter to mark all descriptions that were of significant value to the research subject. All the most relevant information was highlighted as coded data (see Appendix I, Figure 3).
122 Statute of the International Court of Justice, 1945 I.C.J. Acts & Docs. art. 38(1).
123 Government of the Sudan. The Interim National Constitution of the Republic of the Sudan, Government of the Sudan. 2005, Chapter II, paragraph 11(3). (Government of the Sudan 2005).
124 Article 38(1)(d) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
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3. Coding and categorization of data:
From the highlighted materials, each distinct element of importance was marked, dissimilar units were classified, comparable and distinct units were grouped and re-grouped, and categories were then re-labelled and similar units were put together in a pile (see Appendix I, Figure 3). Each of these piles of units were then marked and classified as an initial category by means of key words derived and replicated from highlighted text.
The key words copied from highlighted text were used in labelling each initial category. Own categories were used carefully:
Re-reading the compiled series if literature all over again or afresh, classifying dissimilar units, grouping and regrouping comparable and distinct units, and re-labelling categories (see Chapter 3, Table 1; Chapter 4, Table 13 and Chapter 4 (sub-Section 4.2), Table 14):
The final tables (see Chapter 3, Table 1; Chapter 4, Table 13 and Chapter 4 (sub-Section 4.2), Table 14) were revised by going through all meaning units for each category and redistributed units, accordingly, relabelled categories as fitting.
The role of coding in the analysis
Coding played a crucial role in the analyses of current research data to organize and make sense of them. Coding allowed this investigator to communicate and connect with the data to facilitate the comprehension of the emerging phenomena grounded in the data. Researchers have discussed the subject of coding at length, especially in the “context of data reduction, condensation, distillation, grouping and classification”. 125
4. Determination of themes cutting across data sets:
Perusing all the information and categories, perusing every single important unit per classification enabled easy redistribution of units as suitable and
125 See Basit, Tehmina. Manual or electronic? The role of coding in qualitative data analysis. Educational research 45, no. 2 (2003):152 (Basit 2003).
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relabelling categories as suitable. The whole process at last created clear definitions and names for each theme. Themes are patterns cutting across data sets that are important to the description of a phenomenon and are linked to a certain research question.
In this method, I attempted to pinpoint, examine, and record themes in textual data. In effect, the themes are patterns across data sets that form the “main headings” of individual chapters in the dissertation manuscript. Each defined theme is linked to a certain research question and helps in describing a phenomenon (see Appendix I, Figure 3 and Appendix II, Table 15). The categories across the data sets make up the “sub-themes” or “subheadings” for analysis (see Appendix II, Table 15).
I employed QCA in this study because of its strength in describing the thematic content of series of literature compiled by identifying common themes in the text provided for analysis.
The whole exercise eventually generated clear categories and themes. See Chapter 3, Table 1; Chapter 4, Table 13 and Chapter 4 (sub-Section 4.2), Table 14). Data is then carefully examined by content and level126 of data obtained via the process of thematic documentation.
126 Dhir, Tekjart Aaron A. Challenging Boardroom Homogeneity: Corporate Law, Governance and Diversity. Cambridge University Press: NY. 2015: 177 (Dhir 2015:177);
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5. Reporting of findings e.g. to the legal community and drawing of conclusions127
QCA in this project relates to a conventional doctrinal analysis of “applicable law”
Qualitative content analysis plays a major role in conventional doctrinal analysis and may theoretically be a significant influence in fields of jurisprudence (p. 24 item 6): In this study, the sets of text include a variety of items from (1) primary source of law (mainly international treaties, legislative texts), and (2) secondary sources of law (official documents and legal literature), which are complemented by other published and unpublished documents. These materials were analysed by undertaking content analysis. In employing qualitative content analysis (QCA), texts were coded into categories and themes (see Appendix I and II), and then studied either by conceptual analysis or relational analysis. This approach was employed to ensure that the reliability and the validity of the data is authentic.128
In the course of study and compilation of literature/data analysis, two approaches were used: First, the materials, past and present were included in the analysis to indicate the evolution and current status of the legal regime regulating forest resources in the Sudan. In this study, legal dogmatics was used in the rest of the legal part. The legal part of this research involved the interplay between both primary and secondary sources of law. The literature data were examined using QCA, with particular reference to forest laws and policies in the Sudan.
Chapter 3, Table 1; Chapter 4, Table 13 and Chapter 4 (sub-Section 4.2), Table 14, show the analysis of the content of text data through coding and categorizing of the data and recording patterns or themes within data are linked to a certain
127 Salehijam, Maryam. The Value of Systematic Content Analysis in Legal Research.
Tilburg International Law Review, 2018:3, 23(1) (Salehijam 2018:5).
128 Best, W., & Kahn, J. V. Research in education (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
1998. (Best & Khahn 1998). See also: Creswell, J. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 2009.
(Cresswell 2009).
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research question and important to the description of the phenomenon and issue at stake.
Findings
Following data analysis, three themes were derived from the whole process.
These themes are:
1. Environmental law enforcement mechanisms
2. Pre-colonial and colonial conservation practices in the Sudan and their legacy today
3. Analysis and recommendation: The path towards more sustainable forest management.
2.2 Conclusion
In this chapter, the theoretical framework that guided the research was examined. In addition, the research method used to collect data was presented and the research design selected for this particular study together with the data gathering procedures were discussed.
The next chapter presents a review of legal elements and key concepts associated with the subject matter: Environmental law enforcement mechanisms.
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