Social Costs of Ethanol Production Research Proposal

Social Costs of Ethanol Production - Research Proposal Example Experiments prove that ethanol results in lesser pollution risk to potable water. (Ethanol As A transportation Fuel, n.d.) However, in spite of so many advantages, ethanol production has some global implications, too. The shift towards biofuels is a threat to forests and biodiversity, the increase in food prices, along with the competition for water resources as a negative impact of the use of biofuels. Therefore, a research can be designed that can assess the consumer awareness in USA and the people's attitude towards the social cost of ethanol production. In order to do any research, one needs to develop research methods. It comprises a variety of planned and scientific techniques that are value neutral. It is designed to maximise the accuracy of results. First and foremost thing required for an effective research is a proper representative of the researched population through effective sampling, in order to ensure that it is the proper representation of the population under study. (What Are Research Methods, April 2008) Methodology also involves what type of information and data to gather, and the choice of information along with other methodological choices. The proposed research is an inductive one, where generalisation can be made based on the response of the sample. It is also going to be a cross sectional survey, where the response of population would be made on a single time frame. (What is Methodology, n.d.) The proposed research is based on questionnaire and interview that will help in the proper response. The research is intended to measure awareness amongst a group of people from varying educational background, age, income, household location, gender, etc. Before commencing on the final research, a pilot study is intended to eradicate any flaws in the questionnaire, interview techniques or variable selection. Sampling The population being Unites States of America, sample should be designed such that there is proper representation from all regions. So, it is better to stratify the population so that every region is represented through the sample. However, it is not feasible to represent each and every state in the sampling frame, therefore, it is better to choose thousand people from the most populated states of USA. The respondents will be chosen from the registered voters, according to the variables used in the research. The type of sampling that will be effective is area random sampling or cluster sampling. First the population will be divided into clusters representing each geographical boundary. Then, the randomly clusters will be selected accordingly, in order to measure all the units within the sampled clusters. Once this is selected, the sample will be interviewed on the basis of the questionnaire, and if it is not possible to interview, they will me mailed the questionnaire, which they will fill up and data will be analysed quantitatively and qualitatively, based on the answers. (Probability Sampling, October 2006) Variables For sample selection, a number of variables will be used. The first variable for data analysis is the gender, whether male or female, age and travel patterns. Age will categorised as 18-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80 and above 80 years of age. The traveling pattern