Water Usage Methodology Section

Operation and Data Management at the Water-Authority: will there be a sustainable water supply for the next century. A case study of Water Infrastructure Management in the Caribbean. As the research problem implies, I intend to conduct a case study examining water infrastructure management in the Caribbean with the goal of determining whether existing water infrastructure management will provide sustainable water usage for the next century. The nature of the research problem requires a comparison of the currently available water resources, the renewable water resources, current water usage, and projected water demand over the coming century to determine if the water resources are adequate and will continue to be adequate for the foreseeable time period. Although the question could be approached from a quantitative perspective or a mixed-methods perspective, I believe that water usage and water management are as much about perceptions and beliefs as they are about quantitative analysis of the amount of water used. As a result, I will take a qualitative approach to the research.

"Qualitative research is characterised by its aims, which relate to understanding some aspect of social life, and its methods which (in general) generate words, rather than numbers, as data for analysis" (Brikci & Green 2007). I will use survey research to explore current attitudes towards water management and how those attitudes reflect and shape current water management policies with an eye towards how changes in those attitudes might help create changes in water usage. In addition, I will examine water usage numbers that are currently available from the water management offices to examine, not only the average amount of water used, per person, but also factors such as the availability of clean water to people, the cost of water, and the source of fresh water.

I want to examine a wide variety of participants. For example, my current understanding is that the average Caribbean citizens' freshwater usage is lower than what you would find in a country like the United States. In fact, water usage tends to be higher in developed countries while water prices tend to be lower, which can inhibit access to clean water for the poor but also probably helps to drive down demand for luxury uses of clean water, such as watering lawns, filling swimming pools, and even cleaning clothing or taking frequent freshwater showers (Shah 2010). However, it cannot be ignored that tourism is a huge component of the economy in most Caribbean nations and tourist resorts utilize disproportionately large amounts of fresh water because of washing linens, operating swimming pools, and maintaining lush grounds, which often include golf courses. Therefore, I would like my survey respondents to include: citizens who are not employed in hospitality, citizens who are employed in hospitality, wealth expatriates, citizens in various economic brackets, and the management at resorts. I will look at the answers to see if attitudes towards water usage depend on resources and the way that a person makes a living. If the research appears to suggest that as a possible trend, then I would suggest further quantitative research to test that hypothesis, and then a targeted campaign aimed at changing attitudes towards water usage.