Qualitative And Critical Analysis Of The Great Barrier Reef

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The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the world’s largest coral reef system, located along the northeast coast of Queensland in Australia. GBR stretches from the most northern part in the country – Torres Strait and all the way down to Fraser Island – the southeast part of Queensland. The distance from north to southeast is close to 2575 kilometres and the whole GBR area is covering around 344 400 square kilometres – which might be why you can see the reef all the way from space. GBR contains approximately 2900 individual reefs and not only is it the world’s largest reef but also the earth 's largest formation shaped by living organisms (Zimmermann, 2012). In addition to the many reefs, there are also hundred of beautiful islands in varying shapes …show more content…

12). These are the most common methods that are being used. The difference between qualitative and quantitative methods concerns how the data are collected, where basically qualitative data focus on words while quantitative focus on numbers (Denscombe, 1998, p. 173-174). Qualitative research aims to gather information from data collection methods and transform it into written words. Such as transcribing recorded interviews, taking field notes from observations, using words to outline images (Denscombe, 1998, p. 174). On the other hand, quantitative research aims to gather information from data collection methods and transform it into numbers. Such as analysing conducted surveys and pulling numbers to transform it into statistics, tables and graphs (Denscombe, 1998, p.174-177). According to Denscombe: “Qualitative research tends to be associated with holistic perspective” (Denscombe, 1998, p. 175). A holistic perspective can contribute to keep an open mind to all obtained research. Choosing a qualitative study has proven useful in order to gain more insight on backstage perspectives in the GBR. Qualitative methods facilitate in-depth research by examining different aspects of a phenomenon (Repstad, 1998, p. …show more content…

also point out that: “Literature reviews helps to develop and expand your research ideas, and although you may have some knowledge of your research topic, the literature review ensures you are familiar with recent developments and have a complete understanding of the relevant topics” (Hair et al, 2007, p.94). Even though we already have some knowledge about GBR, a literature review has helped us with expanding our ideas about what areas we needed to focus on, and what to include in the thesis. And in addition we also discovered a great deal of significant material that became crucial for the research. Search terms included was: Great Barrier Reef, sustainability, sustainable tourism, tourism, ecotourism, climate change, global warming, agriculture, interpretation, tourism impacts and human impacts. Other than that Government, tourism, Great Barrier Reef websites were used to gather additional information. According to Neuman, there are three main research purposes: “Explore a new topic, describe a social phenomenon, or explain why something occurs. Studies may have multiple purposes, but one purpose is usually dominant” (Neuman, 2011, p. 38). These three types of research purposes are also known as; exploratory research, descriptive research and explanatory research (Neuman, 2011, p.

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