Social study: data collection methods

I collected data during two periods of field research, in 2012 and 2013, using the following methodology: (1) semi-structured interviews with key informants, (2) a structured

questionnaire administered to tourists, (3) focus group discussions, (4) role playing games, and (5) observations made in various areas of Koh Tao.

2.3.1 Semi-structured interviews

The semi-structured interviews covered issues related to the general social-economic

characteristics of communities, status of coral reefs, environmental awareness, knowledge of activities of NGOs, and tourist preferences such as type of accommodation, the presence of environmentally friendly dive schools, and the availability of different kinds of dive facilities on Koh Tao. Appendix 1 provides the list of the questions used; an informal semi-structured approach was adopted that allowed interviewees to diverge from the topic to provide other relevant information. In total, 20 key informants were interviewed. These included coral-ecologists (3), dive school and snorkelling tour company owners and managers (4), NGO leaders and coordinators (3), and tourists (10). They were selected to give a perspective on local communities in the area, on issues related to coral reefs and marine environment, and on current diving activities on the island and related supporting services.

2.3.2 Structured questionnaires

To procure quantitative data for the ABM, 246 tourists were interviewed. Respondents were selected randomly while they were waiting for a ferry to leave Koh Tao. Interviews using a survey questionnaire (Fig. 2.3, Appendix 2) were carried out during the day and in the

evening. During daytime, when there were usually two benches in the waiting area at the ferry pier, every third tourist starting from the end of the pier side of the benches was approached and interviewed. During evening time—when no waiting bench was available and passengers could directly board the ferry—every fifth tourist on each row of benches on the ferry was asked for an interview. Data were collected on social-economic characteristics of tourists including gender, age and nationality, travel information and general satisfaction with tourism services offered on the island. Divers were asked for their opinions on the dive schools, services offered and the diving experience, as well as questions intended to assess their environmental awareness, satisfaction with the health of coral reefs and willingness to pay for marine conservation. There was great cooperation and no one refused to respond.

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Figure 2.3: Tourist filling out the questionnaire in the ferry waiting area before departure from Koh Tao.

2.3.3 Focus group discussions

Two separate rounds of focus group discussions, each with four participants, were conducted to provide information complementary to and comparable with the empirical data from interviews. Each round consisted of two focus group meetings: one with instructors, dive masters, owners and managers from eco-labelled dive schools and the other one with similar participants from non-eco-labelled dive schools (Fig. 2.4). For the first round, the aim was to focus on important differences between eco- and non-eco-labelled schools regarding the definition, scope and appropriateness of dive operations and education of divers and tourists.

Discussions addressed the eco-labelling process, and factors influencing the choice of preferred dive sites for different activities. The second round of focus group meetings took place a year later after the basic simulation of Koh Tao dive tourism had been developed.

These discussion groups where used for validation of the model in a way that is functionally equivalent to ground truthing. This constitutes one of several methods to ensure correctness of a model and its functionality (Kubicek et al. 2015). The discussions in the focus group were noted down (in English language) by the researcher for further analysis.

Figure 2.4: Focus group discussions with dive school owners and staff.

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2.3.4 Role playing game

The purpose of role playing games in the research was to confirm the reliability of model behaviour and to parameterize factors relating to the dive schools (e.g. cost and profit per SCUBA dive) and the GO/NGO (e.g. the minimum donation required from a dive school to the NGO in return for eco-labelling). The first role playing game was conducted individually with three key informants from the GO/NGO (Fig. 2.5); the second game was played with instructors, dive masters, managers and owners from dive schools during the second round of focus group meetings. At the beginning of each role playing session, participants were

informed about the principal features of the KohTao simulation model. Participants discussed the model with the researcher and agreed on the parameters relevant to the group they

belonged to (e.g. dive school or GO/NGO). Participants were asked to estimate values for these parameters (e.g. the parameters for the dive school group included profit per dive, cost of a dive certification course, and number of divers per group). These were saved into a configuration file for later analysis, as well as to provide inputs for running the model.

Participants observed the simulation through the user interface of the model, and were asked to comment on the extent to which the model satisfied their expectations. All participants in these role playing games were willing to share their knowledge and freely offered their opinions on initial values in the model.

Figure 2.5: Role play with KohTaoSim during the key Informant interview with the local coral ecologist (right).

2.3.5 Participant observation

Participant observation was undertaken during numerous exploratory walks on Koh Tao and sessions in both eco- and non-eco dive schools and as a participant in SCUBA diving courses.

During the walks, price lists for services offered by both eco- and non-eco-labelled schools were collected and differences between eco- and non-eco schools highlighted during focus group discussions (e.g. group size, price, the extent to which schools offered marine conservation education) were further explored. Additional information for this study was

19 collected in telephone interviews with all 55 dive schools on Koh Tao to collect information about prices and usage of dive site locations.