Friday, December 6, 2013

Methodology

The project seeks to establish the extent to which the human factor element affects air safety. In designing the methodology therefore, it is important that the participants chosen be those people and organizations that are familiar with aircraft safety.

Research design
There will be no primary data collection activities such as interviews and questionnaires, involved in the research. The research will be a secondary one with a focus on data available on the subject. This is justified by the fact that there is a lot of data available on the subject matter the challenge will be to find the appropriate statistics, and align the data analyses with the research objectives. The research design will be a non-experimental type.

Population 
The research will draw its data from available research from National Transport and Safety Board (NTSB).  The idea of getting data from reputable airline companies websites is also being explored. However, the use of the second type of data will only be possible if consistent data from at least 4 airlines can be found. Worth noting, is that the NTSB data is sufficient and any extra sources will provide the diversity needed to increase the depth of the research.

Procedure
NTSB, our main source of data, is a statutory body in charge of safety on transportation issues. Most of its reports are publicly available for use by any member of the public. The board does not require anyone to seek special permission to use its reports if the intended use falls within the realms of non profit making. Given that the research is not intended to generate any profits, the only compliance procedure needed in using the NTSB data will be giving full acknowledgement for the use of the reports.

Sample size and distribution   
The criteria for selecting the reports will be as follows The research will use 20 NTSB reports.
The year the report was made. The research will focus on reports that have been made within the last ten years. This is informed by the need to keep the sampling within controllable limits. Reports made in the last ten years are likely to be more easily accessible.
The investigative reports chosen will be those reports whose conclusions blame human error for the crash.
Plane model, airline involved, investigators and any other factors not related to, or mentioned in the research will not be considered in the sample selection.

Data analysis
Data analysis will be done using available quantitative data analytical methods as may be appropriate. The methods will be chosen so as to complement the descriptive presentation of findings as well test the validity and consistency of the results.

Limitations
The most glaring limitation of the research is the inability to conduct primary research. The potential participants for such a population would be pilots, co-pilots, air traffic controllers and aircraft safety experts. Accessing a representative population for these participants would be a challenge and take a lot of time and resources. For that reason, the research is unable to carry out a credible primary research approach.

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