Variables e instrumentos.

A sample is a subgroup of the population that a researcher interested in especially in terms of the research area (Kumar, 2014). This research focuses on the population in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and Emirate of Fujairah which are the selected case study for this research. However, through the process of sampling an estimate of the total number of people to interview was made using the available information of the situation in the total study population. The context for the population sampling unit from study population is shown in Figure 4-5.

First draft of the questions from a literature review

Modifying questions based on feedback from pilot study Pilot study Analysis of collected data Translate the transcript to English Write the transcript in Arabic Conduct the interviews

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Figure 4- 5: The concept of sampling (Kumar, 2014)

In this research, the most reliable data are derived from sets of people who have the responsibility as stated in the federal plan for disaster management in the UAE especially in the two case studies. Therefore, through the interview protocol which uses EWS concept reviewed and analysed in the literature review, the interviewees were engaged to provide answers to some set of questions. Using the requirements and standard practice in emergency/disaster management, the interviewees for this research include:

1) Emergency practitioners from Emirate of Fujairah and Emirate of Abu Dhabi who are expected to be informed about Early Warning to natural Disaster.

2) Senior staffs in the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS). 3) Senior management at the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments. 4) Middle management in the Educational Council.

5) Staffs in Water and Electricity Authority. 6) Staffs in Municipality.

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7) Senior officials in National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA).

8) Staffs in National Media Council. 9) Senior officials in Civil Defence.

10)Middle management in the Ministry of environment and water.

It was determined to include all of these different sectors in order to gain in-depth information and clear perceptions about different aspects of EWS, these are the potential people who are expected to be involved in administering, coordinating and facilitating EWS in communities at risks of natural disasters in the UAE. These were the prerequisites for selecting the interviewees for this research so that the current practices of EWS in the UAE can be verified, examined and their suitability can be examined in view of their ability to increase disaster resilience. Also engaging the senior and strategic level people among case studies enhances the validity of the study by getting different points of view from people who are experienced in the organisation. The majority of the interviewees in the case study were general directors, who have sufficient knowledge of the emirate, future plans etc., to be able to provide an insight into current practices in the emirate.

Kvale (1996) affirms that there is no fixed number of interview subjects; it all depends on availability of participants, willingness to participate and level of knowledge about the area being research. In this respect, Taylor and Bogdan, (1984) describe qualitative interviewing as flexible and it is not necessary to fix the number of participants before starting the research. Based on this, the researcher developed the interview protocol without knowing how many participants will respond positively to be interviewed and provide satisfactory information sufficient for achieving the research aim and objectives. Furthermore, Yin, (2009) argued that in order to reduce the problems that are associated with the interview, such as bias amongst other factors, the researcher used triangulation to strengthened the information from interviews. The interviewee‟s information was triangulated with other sources such as questionnaire, literatures and documents.

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A total of 12 interviewees (8 interviewees from Abu Dhabi and 4 interviewees from Fujairah) were interviewed. The decision to interview 12 people were based on the numbers of available participants who are informed, experienced and have legal responsibility to perform duties relating to emergency management in Fujairah and Abu Dhabi. While it is possible to interview more people, unfortunately, their responses will not provide quality answers because these senior level officers are usually the most informed and usually more aware of the correct situation of affairs in their organisation and in the public sector. This decision relates to the argument by Kumar (2014), which emphasizes the importance of identifying sample size that are experienced in the research area. Getting quality response from experienced and informed participants for interview is important to get a true and accurate reflection and understanding of the situation and problems experienced.

Furthermore, experience from past interactions with staffs in the public sector show that middle level or junior officers are usually unwilling to say much or participate in research for fear of being queried for their comments. Therefore, researchers who have been successful in conducting interview research, are ones who recruited the participation of directors and managers who are the bosses and willing to participate in addition to having the more detailed information about the operations of their organization.

With this is mind, the full details and overview of the interviewees in Abu Dhabi are outlined in Table 4-6.

Table 4- 6: Interviewees of Emirates of Abu Dhabi: Case Study (1)

The Government bodies The interviewees positions Number of Interviewees

National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS)

General Director 1 Water & Electricity Authority -

ADWEA

Senior staff 1

Abu Dhabi City Municipality General Director 1 National Emergency Crisis and

Disasters Management

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Authority

National Media Council Executive Director 1 Abu Dhabi Civil Defence General Director 1 Ministry of environment and

water

General Director 1 Ministry of Education Head of Emergency and

Safety

1

As explained earlier, Table 4.6, shows the level and description of the participants indicating their level of experience and status in their various organisations. It also indicate the quality of response provided to questions asked during the interview sessions. For example, directors in the organisations that take a lead on emergency and disaster management were interviewed which helped to provide answers to the gaps identified in the literature review. This was also replicated for the second case study; Fujairah.

Table 4-7 presents the details of the 4 interviewees interviewed for the second case study in Fujairah. In compliance with the ethical approval for this research which is included in Appendix.

Table 4- 7: Interviewees of Emirates of Fujairah: Case Study (2)

The Government bodies The interviewees

positions

Number of Interviewees

Civil Defence / Fujairah General Director 1 Fujairah Municipality Senior staff 1 Federal Electricity and water

Authority

Senior staff 1

Ministry of Education Head of Emergency and Safety

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Table 4-7 confirms that senior staffs and officers were interviewed in Fujairah so that quality data are collected for this research. Furthermore, to encourage participation and maintain privacy, all interviewees were interviewed with the option of being anonymous. Further details about the methods of data collection such as questionnaire is provided in section 4.6.6 and explanations of other methods are also explained further in this chapter.