How to Hasten up the Search and Rescue of the Lost Trekkers

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the respondent can answer more freely [1, p26] and hence questionnaires could definitely be used to conduct this study. Many advise against using open-ended questions and advocate using closed questions. However, open questions can also be useful [4, p8].

The best way to conduct data collection for this is via Questionnaires. A list of questions will be sent to a group of 10 experienced trekkers, asking how he had analyzed the situation when he/she got lost and what actions they took in order to survive and retrace back to civilization.

2.1.3 Interviews

An interview is a communication session between a researcher and a respondent, where the researcher controls the agenda by asking questions of the respondent. The interview could be structured, semi-structured and unstructured [1, p26]. Interviews are ideal for collecting deep knowledge over a limited area [2, p78]. Apart from Questionnaires, interview can also be used to the information in more detail. Interview (through internet or face to face) gives added advantage by using structured, semi-structured or unstructured questions and also by deciding to what grain level will the question dwell to.

2.1.3 Choice of data collection method

In the research study, questionnaire is the best approach. The questionnaire are the most efficient way of collecting the required information and it can be done in a very fast way too regardless if the respondent is in the same city, country, time zones etc.

Advantage of questionnaire over interview in this case is that the researcher doesn’t have to wait for the interviewee to meet face to face or online. The questionnaire will be sent on an email and the completed questionnaire will be collected on email.

Disadvantage of questionnaire might be some times there are answers which might not be complete and it becomes difficult to come to a correct conclusion.

The questionnaire will contain questions of both open and closed type. Some questions might require detailed answers where as some will have options/choices to choose from.

2.2 Participants and Sampling

The basic principle of sampling is that it is possible to produce accurate findings without the need to collect data from each and every member of a survey ’population’ [3, p23]. Representative samples tend to be associated with larger surveys and with the use of quantitative data [3, p23]. There are two kinds of samples: representative samples and exploratory samples. This study is going to use representative samples because Representative samples tend to be associated with larger surveys and with the use of quantitative data. [3, p24] In this case the target respondents will be trekkers, who have witnessed the scenario of being lost in the wilderness.

The sampling strategy selected here will be Probability sampling, as it relies on the use of random selection. It is known as probability sampling because it is based on statistical theory relating to

the ’normal distribution’ of events [3, p24]. The trekker who has already faced situations of being lost will be the respondents. The research here deals with understanding what goes on in the mind of lost trekker and how can we use his information to form some kind of a start point for the search and rescue teams to locate any lost trekker by knowing what food and water supplies his or she is carrying, their last known location and so on. The study will try to extract information from a group of trekkers who have 10+ years of trekking experience and have trekked in various kinds of the regions like tropical forests particularly in the Nilgiri Mountains in the Western Ghats.

Data collection strategy:

The most suited method for this research will be questionnaire. The questionnaires will be emailed to the respondents and the respondent will reply with the filled questionnaire. The research will also be completed within 8 weeks and there will no budget constraints as the questionnaire will be emailed to the respondents. A questionnaire can include questions with predefined answers, as well as open questions where the respondent can answer more freely. [1, p26] and hence questionnaires could definitely be used to conduct this study. Many advise against using open-ended questions and advocate using closed questions. However, open questions can be useful too in questionnaire based studies. [8, p8]

Data Collection Protocol:

The purpose of this study is to assist search and rescue teams in locating lost trekkers. The information in this questionnaire will try to provide them some starting point to start their search.

For the data collection for this research, the respondents will first receive an email about their consent in participation and the send mail will send the questionnaire once the respondent is available to take part in it. The respondent will then write the filled questionnaire via email once he is completed.

Entire process can be completed within 30 minutes. I would like you to submit the filled questionnaire within 3 days of this mail. For questionnaire, see appendix 2.

2.3 Data Analysis Methods

This section will explain the data preparation plan, initial exploration plan, analysis plan, presentation plan and the tools used will be presented.

2.3.1 Data preparation plan

Quantitative data take the form of numbers. They are associated primarily with strategies of research such as surveys and experiments, and with research methods such as questionnaires and observation [3, p242]. Once the data from respondents were received, they were backed up and any unwanted data was removed.

2.3.2 Initial exploration plan

Numbers can represent different types of things, and social researchers who want to use quantitative data need to be absolutely clear about the type of numerical data they are using. [3, p242]. In the initial exploration plan, the raw data was checked and the data was organized to make them more understandable.

2.3.3 Analysis plan

As Randolph mentions in [2, p83], there are many approaches of data analysis and the most suited for this research study was quantitative analysis of quantitative data. The quantitative analysis of quantitative data is complex and has a subfield of mathematics devoted to it - statistics [2, p84].

The data retrieved was entered into SPSS tool to form bar graphs. Microsoft Excel was also used to represent the data collected into bar graph.

2.3.4 Presentation