EVALUATION OF THE METHODOLOGY ADOPTED

This section evaluates the methodology, the methods and procedures adopted in terms of their adequacy to meet the aim and objectives of the current research.

First, the section evaluates the positivist perspective and the adoption of a quantitative research approach. Second, an evaluation of the questionnaire is provided. Third, data collection process, the sample size and sampling procedures are evaluated. This evaluation is done based on the assumption that reliability and validity criteria are met, about which a brief explanation is provided.

4.10.1. Reliability and validity

Reliability is about consistency of the results obtained from a measuring instrument (Finn et al. 2000) and whether they can be interpreted consistently across different situations (Field 2009). Consistency, in turn, can be assessed in terms of internal consistency, that is the “extent to which the items are consistent with each other, or all working in the same direction” (Punch 2005; p. 95). In other words, it is concerned with the question whether the measures that are devised for the concepts to be measured are consistent (Bryman 2004). Validity, in turn, is whether a measuring instrument measures what it is supposed to measure (Finn et al. 2000; Punch 2005). Content validity was measured through content (Punch 2005) and external validity (Finn et al. 2000; Bryman 2004). Whereas content validity focuses on whether the full content of a conceptual definition is represented in the measure (Punch 2005) and the extent a specific set of items reflects a content domain (DeVellis 2003) external validity refers to the extent to

which the results can be generalised beyond the specific research context (Finn et al. 2000, Bryman 2004).

4.10.2. The research approach adopted

This study could have adopted a quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods approach. A quantitative approach would provide objective descriptive estimates of the extent of cooperative behaviour in the past, present and future, of the influences on cooperation behaviour, and of the nature and outcomes of decisions on cooperation. A quantitative approach would also provide for inferential statistical analyses of whether there was an association/difference, or not, between wine and tourism respondents and the influences on cooperative behaviour and the behaviour itself. Importantly a quantitative approach also allows for statistical testing to provide information on the extent to which the results recorded are reliable and therefore were not by chance.

A qualitative approach would have enabled an in depth understanding of the influences on cooperative behaviour as it focuses on the meaning of words, rather than quantification (Bryman 2004), and on the texture, feeling and issues of richness of raw data (Neuman, 2006). However, a qualitative approach, while it could have provided more depth in terms of understanding motivations and attitudes, would not have provided any quantification of the extent of cooperative behaviour nor any objective measurement of the relative importance of the influences on cooperative behaviour.

A mixed method approach, that combined quantitative and qualitative research, would provide the outcomes in terms of findings of both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. However, it would have considerably increased the workload and therefore, considering that a quantitative approach on its own would provide valid and new answers that substantially increased comprehensive understanding of cooperation in the Douro Valley, undertaking a mixed methods approach was not considered as being required to meet the aim and objectives of this study.

Thus, given the aims and objectives of the study, a quantitative approach was adopted. It provided an efficient and effective way of meeting the aim and objectives of the study as they required an objective quantification of the nature and extent of cooperation between the tourism and wine industries in the Douro Valley and of the relative importance of the motivations/attitudes behind that cooperation. In addition, there was also a requirement to establish whether there were differences between the tourism and wine industry decision makers in terms of their attitudes towards cooperation and whether any results indicating the presence, or not, of such differences were reliable. Thus, overall adopting a positivist quantitative approach was selected because it would meet the aim and objectives of the research while also providing an objective evidence-based set of new findings for academics, the industry and policymakers.

In further research though, that builds on the foundations of this study, qualitative or mixed-methods strategies are likely to be considered.

A detailed explanation of what has been done as been given in above and its evaluation in terms of adequacy to meet the objectives of the study and the validity and reliability criteria will be evaluated in the next sections.

This research used a survey as the research design based on a structured questionnaire and data was collected through face-to-face interviews, which enhanced the response rate. Given the length of the questionnaire, the presence of the interviewer also contributed to improve the level of validity of data by explaining what was required when necessary (Saunders et al., 2007). In addition, this approach allowed the collection of information in great detail from a large number of units (owner/managers of wine and tourism businesses in the Douro Valley), allowing statistical comparison of the data. Consequently, the general research hypothesis of this research was tested and explanations provided. In common to Lackey’s et al. (2002) research design, the survey was designed to be anonymous to help ensure that respondents did not have to worry about their answers affecting relationships, not only with other businesses, but also with public and sectorial organisations in the region.

4.10.3. The questionnaire

The questionnaire was piloted. The piloting of the questionnaire had an impact on the research because it enabled to check whether the expected pattern of answering was being provided, if questions were clear to respondents and which aspects needed to be improved or readjusted. A clear questionnaire allowed a smooth flow during the interviews. This was critical considering the questionnaire length (fourteen pages), the time needed to answer all the questions and the fact that the respondents were Portuguese owners/managers of SMEs that sometimes show reluctance to participate in this kind of study, which has also been referred in Sub-section 4.8.3.

The questionnaire used in this research included not only closed-ended questions, but also a series of open-ended questions. These two types of questions were used with two main purposes. First, to test the general underlying hypothesis that cooperation is influenced by a set of factors (context, business and individual-related objectives, and characteristics of participant businesses, of decision maker and of partners). The information was drawn from the literature and informed the closed-ended questions. Second, and with regard to open-ended questions, they were also used in this study to ensure that respondents had the the opportunity express their opinions (Fuller-Love and Thomas 2004), providing a greater understanding of the perceptions of owners/managers in relation to the subjects aimed to be studied, namely, their past decisions behavior, the influences on their decisions and the perceived outcomes of cooperation, when the decision was to cooperate. Moreover, this type of question also allowed the understanding of their intentions on whether to cooperate, or not, in the future, and the characteristics of potential cooperation in the future. The themes identified when coding open-ended questions were based on the literature review, namely in the terms and sentences that were previously identified in the literature. Therefore, it has been demonstrated that the anticipated factors influencing their decisions and outcomes are consistent with the close-ended questions, demonstrating the content validity of this study.

In addition and also with the concern to guarantee the reliability and validity issues, questions and their content were submitted to academics (supervisors) who have already conducted research in several areas, including cooperation. In addition, and given that all the measures used were drawn from publications in English (no versions in Portuguese were used as the available ones were also based on English publications), an accurate translation into Portuguese was considered of most importance. Thus, after the translation of questions (of the questionnaire) by the researcher, Portuguese questions were later checked by bilingual academics with national and international experience in several areas of investigation, including cooperation. A pilot study was undertaken to ensure translation precision and accuracy. This pilot study was conducted using face-to-face interaction and this allowed the assessment of the length of the questionnaire, and its readability, as well as the clarification of questions and highlighted issues with the wording of questions.

4.10.4. Sampling procedures and data collection

Sampling and data collection is of major importance in guaranteeing the quality of the research, allowing for replication and generalizability of the results. Details of the sampling procedures and data collection have already been described in Chapter 4 (Section 4.8). Some of the implications of the methods selected are explained next.

The sample of this study includes two types of businesses, wine and tourism, as indicated in Chapter 4 (Section 4.8.1). For the purposes of this research, a category of wine businesses was selected to be part of the sampling frame of wine businesses. This category was wine producers and bottlers and it was chosen because apart from being producers, they have sole responsibility of the bottled wine and they sell it on the market. In turn, in the case of tourism businesses, four types of tourism businesses were selected from the sampling frame to be part of this study, namely accommodation (hotels and rural tourism establishments), restaurants and leisure businesses. The target population did not include those tourism-related businesses for which their business activity is based on

intermediation. Given the existence of different categories, in the case of tourism a stratified sample, selected on a random basis was adopted, which provides good conditions for generalizability of the results (Sekaran 2003, Neuman 2006). As referred to above, external validity refers to the extent to which the results can be generalised beyond the specific research context (Finn et al. 2000, Bryman 2004).

Thus, a random sampling procedure was used to guarantee representativeness and generalizability of the results to the population from which the sample was drawn (Sekaran 2003; Bryman 2004; Neuman 2006). The procedures used are described in more detail in the Methodology chapter (Chapter 4, Section 4.8.2).

The respondents were interviewed without the researcher knowing their participation in past cooperation initiatives. Although it might be considered a limitation because one of the objectives of the study was to understand their past experience to characterise the overall situation in the Douro Valley and to test whether their consideration in terms of being a successful or unsuccessful cooperation would have, or not, an influence in the decision and on cooperation, it is not considered as such by the researcher. The reason is because one of the objectives was to understand if cooperation occurs in the Douro or not, obtaining data about the non-occurrence of cooperation in the Douro Valley would still be in accordance with the research’s objectives. Also, by interviewing all the selected respondents, it allowed the examination of the perceptions not only of those who had cooperated already, but also of those who had not and the understanding of the reasons for such behavior. By doing this, another objective of the research was met: the identification of the factors that influence the decision to not cooperate. In addition, by interviewing all the respondents, even those respondents who had not cooperated in the past, it was possible to establish the intention to cooperate in the future and the potential characteristics of cooperation (in the future). Moreover, as the sample of this study is a representative sample of tourism and wine businesses operating in the Douro Valley in terms of their typology/categories, enhanced the ability to infer to the population of wine and tourism businesses in the region.

Further, obtaining information from all the respondents facilitates the generalization of the findings to other businesses operation in similar contexts, specifically in wine and tourism industries operating is rural areas.

The final sample was of 200 businesses. Being a sample of 100 of tourism businesses, it represents 51% of the population. In the case of wine businesses, 100 businesses represent 39% of the population. Although it can be argued that 200 businesses is a small sample, it allowed the collection of a sufficient amount of comparable data from each respondent and was a sufficiently large sample to do the relevant statistical analysis to meet the aim and objectives of this research. It is also in accordance to what has been suggested by Neuman (2006) that for small populations (under 1000) a sampling proportion of about 30% is acceptable.

The data collection process was rather difficult and time consuming because of the reluctance/unwillingness of the owners/managers to participate in the study.

However it can be assured that only the decision makers were interviewed. Thus, and given that owners/managers were considered to be the right respondents for this research, several contacts were made with most of the sampled businesses to guarantee that only owners/managers were the respondents. Being able to interview the decision makers of the wine and tourism industries, that is, owners/managers, guarantees that the findings do reflect the perceptions of those who are/will be responsible for making cooperation decisions, which ensures that the data reflects the views and experiences of the target population, contributing to this research’s reliability and validity. Nevertheless, in this study only the perspective of the interviewee is being taken into account. In this study, respondents were only asked to indicate their business partner. Thus, for future research, and being able to identify the partners also involved in the examined cooperation, their perspective should also be considered and examined.