Concepciones y formas de conocimiento

As part of the community study approach, contact was made with key stakeholders at the local level, beginning with Environment Agency and local council contacts. A snowballing approach (Arber, 1993) was used to access various stakeholders who could provide information on the potential research areas (Table 3.01). The individuals who were interviewed were asked if they could identify further members within their network who could provide information. This continued until no further individuals could be identified. It is recognised that there are biases relating to snowball sampling. Although it is advantageous as it reveals a network of contacts that can provide information, this may also be seen as a negative as it may only reveal those individuals who are connected to that network (Sturgis, 2008). This may result in biased data as individuals outside the network are not interviewed. Furthermore, through asking interviewees to identify other individuals who may be spoken to, it is acknowledged that they are in control in terms of who they recommend and this may reflect their personal views. This may result in a biased sample consisting of a certain group of people who hold similar views (Sturgis, 2008).

In this research, the stakeholders were able to provide invaluable information on the feasibility of conducting the research in the area. Contacts were asked about the specific areas that flooded, the location and diversity of migrant groups in the flood risk area, whether there were newly arrived or established communities, as well as details of the recent flood history of the area and management approaches.

The key stakeholders included individuals within the same network; those involved at the Environment Agency and local council, but these individuals varied in their disciplines and

involvement within the local community. This was beneficial as it allowed different individuals to be spoken to who could each provide information about the study locations within the context of their department. This reduced the bias in the sampling as individuals were not recommended for interviewing on the basis of similar viewpoints but in their capability to provide relevant information on the study location which the original stakeholder may not have had access to. The snowballing approach may not have been a representative sample of all stakeholders who could provide information on the study locations, but the different stakeholders provided a multifaceted, wide ranging overview of the study locations, allowing information from each to be compared and contrasted. The researcher was subsequently able to make an informed decision on the feasibility of conducting the research in the study locations on the basis of the information from key stakeholders.

Table 3.01 Key stakeholders used to gain information about potential research areas.

It was important that there were diverse migrant groups in the study locations as the research was focused on general migrants, not a specific group. The key stakeholders provided information on the diversity of ethnic groups in the areas. Through their local knowledge, unsuitable locations that had low ethnic diversity were excluded: Leeds, Bedford, Barnsley, Doncaster, Stratford on Avon, Sheffield. York was highlighted as being over researched, and

Key stakeholders Information provided Ward

councillors/Ward support officers

The councillors for each flood risk area were identified through the council website, allowing telephone and email contact to be made with them. They were able to provide information on the feasibility of conducting the research in the area, the ethnic diversity of the flood risk area, spoken languages and access points into the community.

‘Community Faiths Co-ordinator’/

gatekeepers

‘Community faiths co-coordinators’ were also employed by the local council and were contacted through the ward councillors. They provided contact details for community gatekeepers such as leaders of the local Mosques and Community centres. The gatekeepers were contacted whilst researching in the areas.

The Planning Department (local

council)

The ‘Planning Department’ and specifically the ‘Emergency Planning Officers’ at the local councils provided information on local flood resilience strategies in each flood risk area and contact details of Flood Action Groups and local constituency contacts. The ‘Principal Demographer’ also provided specific ward maps and ethnicity data.

Flood Incident Management Team

Leaders/ Local EA contacts

Contact was also made with Flood Incident Management Team Leaders in each study area for details of local EA contacts. These contacts included ‘Engagement officers’ who were subsequently able to provide details about the flood history of the area, previous EA access into the community as well as flood maps and historical flood outlines for the study areas. This facilitated in identifying the specific streets that were at flood risk in each study area.

Flood wardens/ Flood Action

Groups

Flood wardens were contacted by telephone to enquire about their activities in the area, accessing different migrant groups in the community, most suitable times to conduct the research and general background information about the area. It must be noted that flood wardens do not exist in every flood risk area. They are only present in certain areas where the community is more engaged about flooding.

Furthermore, whilst key stakeholders advised against researching in certain locations, their local knowledge allowed them to suggest other flood prone locations in the local area that did have ethnic diversity and established communities.

In Birmingham, the Perry Barr area was suggested instead of Aston as the area had greater ethnic diversity, established communities and a history of flooding. Leeds was excluded, but local Environment Agency contacts suggested nearby Ravensthorpe in Dewsbury as a potential location as it has established minority ethnic group communities and had recently flooded. The flood history of the Perry Barr and Ravensthorpe areas was researched further (Sections 3.3, 3.4).