Research Strategy

An in-depth study of an exemplar case requires the use of an appropriate approach from amongst the range of options available in social science research. This section makes the case for the use of an interpretative approach to the study of a cap and trade regime. It then considers the issues in choosing the case to be studied. Finally, it describes in the methods used to obtain and analyse the data.

4.2.1

An interpretive approach

In this study, farms, communities and watersheds are viewed as nested socioecological systems. Thus they are complex systems with both biophysical and social components. Data relating to this complex world is likely to be multifaceted. Thus there is a case for using an interpretive strategy to understand the consequences of a cap and trade implementation. An interpretive strategy is one

process (Deming & Swaffield, 2011) to distil the significance and sense of collected material. Interpretation is an active process in which meaning (information) is constructed from data, and, as

Deming & Swaffield explain (2011:152), this is achieved through the researcher moving “…reflexively

between the observed data and the theoretical concepts” that underlie the study. The conceptual

framework outlined in Chapter Three, based on a review of the literature, provides the theoretical basis for the interpretation task. While it is acknowledged that in this approach the interpretation of data can never be completely impartial (Denscombe, 2010), it is incumbent on the researcher to reduce the level of subjectivity as much as possible. To this end, in addition to using the conceptual frame as an interpretation medium, and reflection on the meaning and context of gathered material, sector experts were used informally to challenge the validity of the developing narrative.

One of the strengths of using an interpretive approach is that it is compatible with the landscape biography method, which, as explained in Chapter Three, is particularly relevant to investigating cap and trade applied to land management. In both of these approaches, the active involvement of the researcher is fundamental to making sense of social relations, and in the construction of a coherent account of the issue being studied (Deming and Swaffield, 2011). In addition, the landscape

biography method uses data from many disciplines and sources and thus an interpretive process is essential for integrating the divergent material. This integration process is discussed in more detail later in this chapter.

4.2.2

Research Design: The Lake Taupo case study

In addition to contributing to the choice of research strategy, the complexity involved in a study of socioecological systems indicated that a case study approach was appropriate for the research design.

A study of a socio-ecological system requires an understanding of the interactions between social and biophysical factors operating within the system. But this knowledge is mediated by spatially and temporally dependent factors and interactions with the world outside the boundary of the SES, i.e. the context within which the SES is operating. As Flyvberg (2006) explains, it is the understanding of

this real life situation and how it deviates from the ‘normal’ or ‘expected’ situation that builds expert

knowledge. Thus, for a policy regime, an in-depth case study assists in broadening the understanding of its operation in the real world and of the situations for which it is the ideal choice.

Hammersley & Gomm (2000) suggest that case studies are particularly suitable for smaller numbers of respondents, and Blaikie (2010) suggests that case studies may have sub-cases within the overall case. Sub-cases may be differentiated on the basis of location, farm system type, and cultural identification etc., and enable in-depth investigations of like groupings. The case study approach,

with sub-cases, is therefore a suitable design for the study of socioecological systems, and

consequently is the method used in this study. Case studies are most often criticized for being too place and time specific and therefore the results of case-studies are not generalizable (Blaikie, 2010). In this case the aim is to increase expert knowledge rather than to determine rules regarding

implementation (Flyvbjerg, 2006) and an exemplar case has been chosen which will increase the understanding of which types of situations are suitable for the implementation of a cap and trade policy setting to control water quality.

The selected case of the Lake Taupo Catchment, in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand is

the only cap and trade, known to the research community29_{, where agricultural pollution is}

controlled at the farm level, and thus is an exemplar of a policy setting aimed at the control of

nitrogen in waterways. Shortle (2013, 64) describes the Taupo implementation as “…exceptional” in

that “…it is designed as a true cap-and-trade program” and meets the performance criteria that he considers essential for a water quality programme, including an aggregate environmental cap imposed in a defined area, non-point discharges of nitrogen from regulated farms being calculated and monitored, and a facility for trading allowances between agents being set up (Shortle, 2012:30). Other cap and trade water quality programmes do not place limits on (non-point) discharges from agriculture and neither do they calculate or monitor discharge changes. Instead, they limit discharges to point sources only, and/or allow point source polluters to off-set their discharges by implementing input/output rules on (contracted) farms (see Chapter Two).

Thus the Lake Taupo Nitrogen Trading Programme is unique amongst cap and trade programmes aimed at controlling non-point source agricultural discharges, and appropriate for study as an exemplar case in cap and trade theory. While the best policy instrument for a particular situation, as Stavins (2003) points out, will depend on the environmental problem and the social, political and economic context, this does not negate the usefulness of case-studies of a single exemplar case in informing policy.

Early in the interviewing process it became clear that the experiences and responses of farmers varied, particularly by location, within the Catchment. This finding confirmed the proposed research design of multiple sub-cases, with each case located in a specific part of the Catchment. The sub- Catchment cases that were identified from initial farmer and key informant interviews are described below and map locations are shown at the start of each result chapter (Chapters Six, Seven and Eight).

29 _{See Greenhalgh & Selman (2012) for a list of programs world-wide that are operating, are under}

The north of the Catchment is characterised by small to medium-sized farms, a mixture of land-uses (dairy support and sheep/beef), and significant subdivision of rural land into lifestyle blocks. The west of the Catchment is remote from townships and there are limited numbers of lifestyle blocks. Farms here range from small to large and most run sheep and beef with some plantation forest. In the south, farms are large or very large and predominantly sheep and beef although there is some plantation forest land. In the eastern sector forestry is the predominant land-use but it is also the location of the largest pastoral farm, a state-run prison farm. This latter, eastern, sector was not included in this study because plantation forest is not included in the cap and trade regulations and the prison farm is not a commercial enterprise. The owners of forested land are permitted to continue with their current land-use but they are not able to trade nitrogen. Thus with in the case study of the Taupo Catchment, three sub-Catchment case studies were distinguished, located in the northern, western and southern sectors.

4.2.3

Use of quantitative and qualitative methods

A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was chosen because of their ability to provide rich descriptions of the experiences of farmers and others associated with the implementation. Taken together, they provided depth and explanatory power to the landscape biographies

particularly since they allowed the participants to interact with the interviewer “…in their own language on their own terms” (Kirk & Miller, 1986:9). Interaction with the interviewer is considered to be essential in this study since the stories of interviewees must by well understood and

ambiguities avoided where possible in order to build landscape biographies during the analysis phase.

Morse, Barrett, Mayan, Olson, & Spiers (2002) argue that rigour in qualitative studies should be established by the researcher adopting a number of verification strategies (such as iterative evaluation of data during data collection). In contrast, Sandelowski (1993) suggests that trustworthiness should be established by the reader themselves on the basis of the information provided by the researcher about the processes followed, claiming that rigour in qualitative studies is an attribute of an individual study and not something that can be established in a blanket fashion for

all studies. Further, it is an attribute of the report of the study, since this is likely to be the only

material on which the reader can judge the study (Sandelowski & Barroso, 2002). In this study a combination of these two approaches was adopted. In line with the views of Sandelowski, full details of sampling methods and data analysis are included so that the reader may judge the rigour and repeatability of the study. In addition, extensive use of quotations from interviews is used in the results sections to justify the conclusions that are drawn. In line with the views of Morse, Barrett, Mayan, Olson, & Spiers (2002) trustworthiness of the study was established through purposeful

sampling (see section 4.3) and triangulation of data. Triangulation is described as ‘crucially’

important in qualitative studies (Lincoln & Guba, 1985:283) to mitigate against bias that could arise from reliance on an individual source. An example of this is Busck (2002) who studied the

relationship between farmers' values and their landscape practices, and used data gathered from farmer interviews, aerial photography and from maps. In this thesis, qualitative and quantitative information is gathered from a variety of sources including farmers, sector experts, media reports, and numeric data from the consents to farm as well as from the nitrogen trades that have been undertaken.

Given that the analysis of interviews and development of landscape biographies is an interpretive process, another researcher may not develop exactly the same biography out of the base material. Van Londen (2006) for example, in a study of heritage management in the Netherlands, draws attention to how the same base material could be used to produce a story of academic value, or alternatively, a story of tourist value, depending on which elements are highlighted. Trahar (2008) suggests that when developing stories (such as landscape biographies) the mediating factors involved

should be made explicit so that the audience can read the resulting narrative with these ‘lenses’ in

mind. Prime amongst the mediating factors is the reason for the interest in the topic and a summary of the analytic attention given to different elements of a story as it was being assembled. The decision about what to include and the process followed is explained in the Data analysis section below, with reference to the topic of interest explained in Chapter One.