Questionnaire-based household survey

Quantitative data were derived from a questionnaire-based household survey, which sought to measure social capital, community and individual participation in tourism and perceived tourism impacts in each community. The starting point for the design of the questionnaire was a survey designed by Jones (2005) and used in a study of an ecotourism venture in the Gambia, which itself was based on a significant World Bank research initiative on social capital (Jones, 2005). This tool seemed appropriate for measuring social capital at a community level because the questionnaire contained structured questions to capture both structural and cognitive social capital, and

included Likert-type scale attitudinal questions. The World Bank questionnaire was designed based on lessons learned from many studies about social capital in

developing countries such as Tanzania, Bolivia, Indonesia, Ghana and Uganda (Grootaert, Narayan, Jones, & Woolcock, 2004). Therefore, it was argued that this questionnaire can be applied to the case studies in Thailand because it has been pre- tested in many developing countries. However, it was necessary to make in-context adjustments and modifications to this survey instrument in order to meet the Thai social and cultural context.

The indicators from the literature provide the practical idea of how social capital can be measured (Table 3.1). Although the concept of social capital originates in Western countries, the main concepts about networks, trust, and reciprocity appear to be relevant in every society, including Eastern countries, but are found in different forms and styles depending on the different cultural and/or political environment. For example, labour exchange in agricultural tasks or house building may reflect the

social bonds of reciprocity in Thai society better than the number of memberships of organisations. However, some indicators may be applied in developing countries‟ context, such as collective action, social interaction and interpersonal trust, but some may not. Therefore, it is essential to develop a new set of indicators which could be suitable and workable in the eastern developing countries‟ context (See details in Chapter 7).

The household survey questionnaire contained three sections (See Appendix B). The first section measured social capital and had questions asking respondents about their social networks, norms and trust among community members. The second section measured community participation in tourism development and had questions asking to what extent the respondents participated in tourism operation, planning and decision making as well as their attitudes about tourism‟s positive and negative economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts in their community. In addition, the respondents were asked to rate to what extent they agreed with two statements, „There is a fair and equitable distribution of benefits from tourism‟ and „Overall, I am satisfied with tourism development‟. These two questions were significant as they considered the consequences of effective community participation in tourism

development. Three types of question - yes-no, open-ended, and Likert-type scales - were employed in these two sections. The last section contained questions asking for demographic data from the respondents, such as age, gender, occupation and annual household income. The household questionnaire was translated into the Thai language by the researcher and was verified by a qualified English specialist from the English Department of the Faculty of Humanities, Chiang Mai University. The survey was conducted by the researcher between September and November 2008.

According to the household population in each case study, the sample size for participants can be calculated using a freeware-Raosoft sample size calculator (http://www.ezsurvey.com/samplesize.html). The total number of samples of 130 households comprised 70 from Koh Samet and 60 from Mae Kam Pong, based on their population sizes. This sample size was large enough to enable statistical parameters to be estimated (sample for 10% precision level where the confidence level was 95% and the degree of variability, P = 0.5).

A cluster sampling technique was employed to ensure that the samples were drawn from the entire area. The population in each community was divided geographically into clusters. Each cluster contained approximately 10-20 households. The sample households were selected proportionally from every cluster. Convenience sampling was employed at this stage with a random starting point per cluster. The researcher started randomly in each cluster by knocking door-to-door and moving clockwise within that cluster until the target number of samples for that cluster was achieved. At each household, a simple random sampling method was employed by date of birth method. The household member who had a birthday that was closest to January 1st was selected as the participant if that person is not available the second closest

birthday person was selected. The potential respondent was informed about the nature and purpose of the research and asked whether s/he would be willing to participate. If they said no, then the researcher would move to the next household and start the process again until the sample size in that cluster was reached. Then, the researcher moved to the next cluster and continued the process of data collection. The response rate of respondents participating in this research was 96 percent. All respondents had to be aged 18 years or over as guided by the Lincoln University Human Ethics Committee.