Dispositivos de potencia

This study is partially based on secondary sources in order that it is able to provide a solid information base and to relate ideas and findings to academic

studies of other researchers. It can be considered an important part of any research project to collect secondary data in order to avoid the repetition of time consuming information collection processes.

3.3.2.1 Advantages and disadvantages

Secondary data refers to “existing data that has been collected by someone else for some other purpose” (Veal, 2005, p. 28). Often large amounts of information (e.g. statistics, company reports, academic articles, etc.) are stored by various sources, such as organisations, libraries, and government agencies, and these are, in many cases, available through particular online search engines.

Advantages of the use of secondary data include decreased cost and time investments and often a high-quality of information. Sources provide access to a wide variety of data for a relatively small fraction of the resources required when conducting primary research in person (Bryman, 2008). Hence, by using secondary sources it was possible to gain extensive data and analyse it in a shorter period of time. The information gathered from these sources was often based on highly representative samples, covering a wide variety of regions and social groups, and the studies were conducted by experienced researchers or research organisations, who mostly applied structured processes for the collection and control of information.

Secondary literature provided a basic understanding of the topic researched, including concepts and theories, research methods and strategies, controversies, and inconsistencies in findings, as well as an overview of the authors who are of particular importance to the investigated topic.

3.3.2.2 Systematic review process

The research process for secondary literature was based on a systematic review process which is explained in the following paragraph.

First, key aspects of the main topic area were brainstormed in order to determine keywords for the literature research in several journal databases. This process was chosen as a method of sampling the available literature, rather than conducting a content analysis, due to the fact that only a few journals existed that

were directly dedicated to humanitarian aid and disaster relief logistics, and the range of academic articles in this area was very limited. Additional keywords were added during the research process: derived from reviewed articles and the suggested keywords provided from databases.

The following is a list of some of the keywords deployed for the secondary literature research:

 “disaster relief” AND “logistics”

 “disaster relief logistics” AND “logistics company”  “humanitarian aid” AND “logistics”

 “cross-sector collaboration*”

 “corporate-humanitarian partnership*”

Keywords were connected with specific link terms in order to enlarge or limit the search results.

The primary search process was based on an online article search using various meta-search engines and business databases provided by Massey University library subscriptions and computer search resources. Furthermore, the inter-library loans system provided a further option for accessing rare material, as well as books held by other libraries.

After having gained an overview of the most recent information and of the important researchers on the topic, the reference lists of articles and books were browsed in order to broaden the information base with regard to journal articles, authors, and research keywords.

Web pages provided the fastest access to widespread information on the research area which, on one hand, complicated the analysis and reliability evaluation of the data; while on the other hand, multiple linked pages increased the range of sources of possibly suitable material and provided new ideas and subjects that have been recently discussed in the topic area. Web pages supplying reliable information were recorded by bookmarking them in the web browser, so that they could be accessed again at a later point in time.

In the next step, retrieved journal articles were reviewed and distinguished according to their reliability, content, the topicality of information, and the

suitability of data with regard to the investigated topic. The literature research was completed based on the fact that additional research resulted in prevailing literature that had already been retrieved

.

For the purpose of evaluating the content of the articles, literature was grouped into three categories:

“Category A”: Articles of every description that included data of great relevance to the topic, i.e. explicit information on corporate-humanitarian partnerships (including case studies), disaster relief logistics with a focus on cooperation between companies and aid organisations, and commercial versus relief supply chains.

“Category B”: Articles of every description that included information relevant to the research question, i.e. information on corporate-humanitarian partnerships (more generalised) and humanitarian aid logistics with a focus on man-made catastrophes.

“Category C”: Articles of every description that included information less relevant to the chosen subject, i.e. general information about humanitarian aid and disaster relief logistics, and private-NGO partnerships in general.

Emerging challenges, especially in the beginning of the review process, were related to the process of rating the articles as to whether reliable data was provided. This was due to the fact that the author‟s opinion was not always clearly articulated so that the objectivity of the information was difficult to evaluate. Nevertheless, through the gaining of an overview of the most popular researchers and main points in the field, information reliability could be assessed. Additional data about specific sources was obtained through web searches when necessary.

The literature research resulted in the identification and classification of articles published in peer-reviewed journals, magazine and newspaper articles, company presentations and reports, and studies reported in books and on web pages.