Research design

In this section, the argument for the logical steps which will be taken to link the research questions and issues to data collection, analysis and interpretation will be accounted for in a coherent way.

17 3.4.1 Literature review

Determining the questions that are most significant for a topic and gaining some precision in

formulating these questions requires some preparation. According to Yin (2003:9) a literature review is considered to be a means to an end, while it ultimately determines the answers about what is known on a topic which leads the researcher to develop further insightful questions. The first step in the making of this project started therefore with a review of the secondary literature available on the topic.

Thereafter followed the methodological literature, including Jacobsen (2011) and Yin (2003), in order to develop the structure of the research project and determine which methods would be applied to collect data. The conceptual framework presented in this thesis was retrieved from the book Fish for life. Interactive Governance for Fisheries edited by Kooiman et.al (2005). In order to get an insight as to how to apply the conceptual framework, the articles by Jentoft (2007), and Jentoft and Chuenpagdee (2009) provided useful guidance.

The factual data about the RACs is based on official EU documents sourced out from the web page of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Maritime Affairs (DG MARE, 2013).

Additionally, the DG MARE web page offered general information about the SWW RAC and the area it observes. In order to prepare for conducting the interviews, and to get a deeper understanding of the case of the SWWRAC, an assessment report by Baelde (2011) was reviewed, together with the 2011-2012 activity report prepared by the SWWRAC (2011-2012a). The background information on the history of the Common Fisheries Policy was mainly sourced out from Holden (1994), as well as Lequesne

(2004), while the article written by Long (2010) provided insights on the legal aspects of the governance structure in which the RACs are nested. In relation to the characteristics of the natural system of the SWWRAC, the MEFEPO (Making the European Fisheries Ecosystem Plan Operational) technical reports prepared by Borges et al., (2011), Goikoetxea et al., (2009), and Velasco et al., (2009) offered the necessary biological – as well as socio-economic – information to complement the

governability assessment. However, it should be noted that the current RAC literature available is in general limited and furthermore concerns mostly the “northern” RACs, namely the North Sea RAC, Baltic RAC, and the Pelagic RAC, and hence it proved difficult to search and obtain specific

information regarding the SWWRAC.

3.4.2 Collecting primary data

Primary data was collected by conducting in all 9 in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews with relevant informants. In order to get the necessary and trustworthy information it was important to

18 include representatives for the Portuguese fishing industry, as well as from different civil society institutions, and official representatives. The reasons for this selection are explained later on. The interviews were conducted in Portugal from 3^rd. December 2012 to 3^rd. January 2013, at the offices of the different representatives. All informants are stakeholders or observers in the SWW Regional Advisory Council:

Informant A Representative for Shipowners association Informant B Representative for Producers Organisation Informant C Representative for Producers Organisation Informant D Representative for Environmental NGO

Informant E Representative for national scientific institute (observer) Informant F Representative for Producers Organisation

Informant G Representative for NGO

Informant H Representative for fishing Association Informant I Representative for Producers Organisation

Informant J Representative for national fisheries directorate (observer) Table 1: Informants participating in the SWWRAC

The first step involved outlining a project protocol as is recommended by Yin (2003), as part of the research design. The protocol proved to be very useful, providing an overview of the project regarding the procedure, the instruments and the objectives. Most important was the series of critical questions that were directed at the researcher as a reminder regarding the data that needed to be collected. The procedure resulted in the development of an interview guide (included in the appendix) covering both questions asked of specific interviewees, and of the individual case that required answers. Given the explorative nature of this study, one important purpose was to allow the participants to fully express their viewpoints and experiences (Jacobsen, 2011:143). Open-ended questions granted the participants to contribute with as much detailed information as they desired, and at the same time allowing the researcher to ask probing questions as a means of follow-up. Some of the themes covered by the interview guide were relatively more exhaustive then others, and the knowledge and background of the interviewees determined to some extent which cluster of questions was to be given more relevance.

19 Therefore, the interview guide was also gradually adapted; provided that an interesting subject came up, it could be followed-up in the course of the next interview. According to Yin (2003:61) rigor rather than rigidity was thus required in order to address the interviewee’s different viewpoints.

Furthermore, the information collected from the interviews can supply each other while converging data show both different viewpoints, and cross-validates the obtained information. The interviews were prepared well in advance, and most of the participants had available time and opportunity to go beyond the pre-established duration of the interview. General questions about the informants’ positions and the background of the organisation they represented were asked at the beginning of the interview, before open-ended questions related to the topic gave new insight and lead to more detailed follow-up questions. Nearly all interviews were recorded, making it possible to maintain a flow in the

conversation without stopping up to take notes. Each interview lasted approximately one hour, and the informants were generally interested and devoted to discuss the topic of the interview. The recordings were later transcribed in order to make it easier to analyse and apply the collected data.