Business Strategy
The success of a business depends on the efficiency of the company’s business decision making process. Business decisions making will be effective if pertinent data are considered during decision making. Data collection refers to process involved in collecting and assessing evidence related to unpredictable areas of research interest in an organised method of assisting students create answers to research problems, evaluate the research results, and test hypotheses (Olsen 63). The current data collection plan is aimed to assist the Dubai Municipality to conduct a survey on the impact of excessive vehicle use on traffic congestion and environmental safety in Dubai. The grounded theory is used for the design of the data collection plan owing to its ability to prioritise the data collection process (Olsen 64). The grounded theory is also sufficient for the current case since it places emphasis on the data collection process unlike other traditional methods. The grounded theory considers data collection accuracy to be the major determinant ensuring the validity of any research activity (Olsen 65). The grounded theory also allows researchers to integrate deductive and inductive reasoning.
Primary Data Acquisition
Results from secondary data indicate that traffic congestion has a negative impact on environmental safety. The primary data will focus on identifying the impact of vehicle use on traffic congestion within Dubai’s municipality. A survey method will be used to collect data that informs the relationship between vehicle use, traffic congestion and environmental safety.
Survey
A survey will be necessary for the current project because it offers researchers the opportunity to collect important data from a sample population in a methodical manner (Harvard Business Essentials 46). This agrees with the grounded principle, which suggests that research validity is dependent on the systematic nature of the data collection process (Olsen 49). To assist the Dubai Municipality in the survey, the data collection process must consider the use of Internet based and mobile surveys. The use of mobile and Internet based surveys will ensure that the municipal reachesa wide sample simultaneously, which will facilitate speedy responses (Harvard Business Essentials 50).
Survey methodology and sampling frame
The success of any survey is dependent on the clarity of the applied methodology (Olsen 66). In order to assist the Dubai Municipality with the current survey, it is important to structure and define the methodological process. Also, a clear methodology would help the researchers assess the feasibility of the questionnaires and other methods necessary to improve the number of respondents and response accuracy (Olsen 68). Considering that the aim of the survey is to investigate the impact of excessive vehicle use on traffic congestion and environmental safety in Dubai, it is important to begin with a statistical examination. These investigations will assist in the development of inferences from the statistics pertaining to the impact of excessive vehicle use on traffic congestion and environmental safety. For the current study, the use of questionnaires offers the ideal opportunity since questionnaires enable effective analysis of specific problems.
Sampling frame refers to a group of information required for identifying the ideal sample population for a statistical analysis (Olsen 68). For the current study, the sampleselected for investigating the impact of excessive vehicle use on traffic congestion and environmental safety in Dubai needs to reflect some of the issues. The participants, the participants’ characteristics, and the participants’ responses, must be coded using numerical identifiers (Harvard Business Essentials 72). To successfully collect the required information, it will be necessary to develop a list of questions. After the required questions are developed, the participants will be randomly selected to represent the entire population, and respond to the questions.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire below will be used to collect primary data from the randomly selected population. The participants will be asked to choose from a Likert scale with three options namely: “Agree”, “Indifferent”, and “Disagree”.
Developing varied methodologies
This current research, particularly chosen methodology, greatly depends on primary data. This means the research depends mainly on new data, analysed using valid scientific methods.
Validity of the Methodology
The selected method is ideal for the current research since the objective of the research is to focus on the areas that are yet to be investigated. The topic of discussion can be effectively investigated by using the past practices to link with the current research. The current can integrate (but cannot fully depend) secondary data. Secondary data are data collected from already existing sources by other researchers. It is always important to consider secondary data when conducting research studies since the findings from secondary data can influence the pattern of a related research study. For the current study, secondary sources will comprise of previous research studies that have investigated the impact of vehicle use on traffic congestion and environmental safety within and outside Dubai Municipality. This data will be obtained majorly from online sources. Secondary data are usually used to determine the importance of conducting research.
The only problem with depending on the secondary data is that it is possible to obtain results that conflict with each other. The current research seeks to investigate an issue that is experienced in real time. Secondary sources offer information regarding events that have already occurred and using such data for a case study may produce results that are dated results. Also, secondary data may have been manipulated by the previous researchers as a means of producing positive research results.
Report on ‘Car Free Day, Traffic Congestion and Environmental Safety
Dubai Municipality in partnership with 61 organisations from the public and private sector organised the 5th Car Free Day 2014 on Wednesday, 19 February 2014 with the aim to encourageDubai residents to their vehicles at home and use public transportation in order to reduce traffic congestion and environmental pollution. During the course of the conference, the following factors were noted as the difficulties with persuading Dubai residents to leave their vehicles at home.
- Most residents will try to take advantage of reduced traffic and this would simplyeliminate the impact of other people leaving their vehicles at home because people will go back home to get their cars.
- Many public officers will not comply due to their status and obligational responsibilities.
- The management of private transport companies may take advantage and increase transport rates, which will make forthcoming vehicle-free days unsuccessful.
- The public is already used to traffic congestion and is likely to be reluctant in leaving their vehicles at home.
- With the increasing population, more large vehicles on the road will increase traffic and this will result in a waste of working hours, which in turn affects the economic performance of the country.
The event also generated some recommendations for reducing traffic congestion in Dubai, which include the following:
- The responsible authorities must ensure strict adherence to rules governing road-worthy vehicles.
- There is need to improve major highways giving emphasis to major outlets and inlets.
- The government should encourage the construction of new bypass to provide ample room for large and heavy duty vehicles.
During the event, a few guidelines emerged in an attempt to cater for environmental safety. New guidelines should be designed to target the following:
- Seeking new alternatives to fuel use by motor vehicles.
- The use of technology in enhancing the fuel refining process.
- Ensuring that vehicles emitting fumes above the normal level are banned from using roads in Dubai.
- Only vehicles that are certified by the department of transport should be allowed to operate on main highways.
- Fuels that are loaded with high emission contents, such as lead, should be highly discouraged.
- Vehicles that emit excess smoke should be discouraged.
- Vehicles that produce sounds in excess of sixty decibels should be prohibited.
Works Cited
Harvard Business Essentials: Decision Making: 5 Steps to Better Results. Boston: Harvard Business School, 2013. Print.
Olsen, Wendy. Data Collection: Key Debates and Methods in Social Research, London: SAGE, 2012. Print.