Section One: Identification of research area (10% 250 words) In this section you will be expected to identify an area of research. You must justify it as an area of research in your academic field; explain why it is topic of importance, why it is of interest and how it will help for the industry your subject area is located in.
Research question: Did the venues built for the Olympic Games in Beijing have a positive effect for china?
This research topic exemplifies an excellent business model for growth and change and an opportunity to exact best practice for a city in need of renovation, inspired by the International presence of the Olympic Games. It seeks to demonstrate the cause and effect of long-term change and sustainable development that can occur and the value placed upon often risk-taking investment by way of national necessity.
From a business perspective the research will focus on determining what the economic, social, political and technological implications have been for China in the light of their internationally profiled focus on making the city of Beijing a more environmentally stable location, having been rated one of the most predominantly polluted and energy and resource hungry cities in the world.
The Olympic Village itself contained a number of innovative technologies including a heat pump system, solar collectors, water saving devices, and rainwater collection.
Introducing the use of sewage water is likely to save tons of coal each year
The Olympic Village also contains a vacuum glass tube solar collection system installed on the buildings’ roofs which heats tap water. There are water collection tubes installed as part of the roof gardens on the buildings. The 2008 Headquarters Office has estimated that this solar heating system will save nearly 2,400 tons of coal per year. This building will now function as a kindergarten following the Games and the Olympic Village will serve as a residential area. The architecture was designed to save as much energy as possible, through, for instance, orienting the building to take in sunlight in winter, and an exterior sun shading system to cool the inner spaces in summer time.[1]
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Overall the environmental design and construction of these buildings and surrounding carbon neutral woods, parks and greenbelt areas paved the way for the implementation of new systems that impacted on air quality, energy use, transportation, water, forests and toxics and waste across the city which has influenced the way in which China as one of the most rapidly developing nations in the World is now appreciating its responsibilities to exact environmental standards universally. Beijing now provides an example of China’s commitment to expand in an environmentally cautious way.
Section Two: Setting your research aim(s) and objectives (15%) State your research questions, develop a research aim and set your objectives.
The hypotheses for this research will aim to answer the question as to whether the building and environmental measures adopted that took place in Beijing for the benefit of the Olympic Games has impacted at all significantly on the wider future appreciation by China to adapt its buildings, resource usage and the subsequent way in which it will continue to conduct its business.
This will need to be achieved by presenting the changes that occurred in Beijing, prior, during and following the Olympic Games, to assess the environmental objectives that were woven into the design and implementation of all its new venues and landscapes. A comprehensive summary of the types of buildings and venues that were constructed for the benefit of the Olympic Games in Beijing will need to be provided. Once this has been established, the ways in which these environmental additions proved successful can be measured alongside their sustainability and productivity from a business and environmental perspective. An historical evaluation of the city before it became the chosen host of the games will need to take place in terms of investigating its original economic, political, environmental and technological situation and how this was viewed globally by other nations, as well as in relation to China itself. This will then build an understanding of the way in which the city functioned in comparison to how it now functions in 2008; whether any significant changes have occurred in its growth and fiscal situation. Consequently evidence to support how China has responded to the success of these buildings in relation to the way in which they have increased Beijing’s political, economic and social standing will need to be ascertained with regard to whether this has raised the profile of China generally around the world. Evidence of influence and genuine impact will need to be provided.
Section Three: Literature Review (25% 1000 words)
Identify the areas of secondary literature you need to be looking (The subject areas which will assist you (Think theoretical areas) Then you will need to give a précis of the main issues, indicating their relevance to your subject. Literature reviews should also raise issues and develop an argument in the literature if possible.
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the fundamental rationale for determining the best way in which to build a framework to take forward a research paper tackling the subject of the effects of Leisure Tourism on a whole nation. Examples of literature will be illustrated through a variety of texts, journals and internet references in order to demonstrate the numerous academic theories and examples that can help shape a contextualised argument exploring a number of hypotheses.
The investigative approach for determining the question Did the venues built for the Olympic Games in Beijing have a positive effect for china? can be measured and rationalised by way of several hypothesis; What is the political, economic, technological and social background of Beijing prior to it being awarded host city to the 2008 Olympic Games? How does China function currently as one of the World’s most developing countries economically, what type and level of resources does it use in order to sustain its growth? What was the nature, design remit and approach to building in Beijing in relation to preparing for the Olympic Games and how was it influenced to apply an environmental approach – what physically was constructed and for what purposes? Has the city’s reconstruction made an impact on its environmental situation at all? How has this been communicated to the rest of the world and consequently raised the profile of China?
A number of sources relating to these questions can be utilised from journals, texts, reports and online material that will form the fundamental framework to this study and the dissertation will flow in accordance with these lines of reasoning.
In order to demonstrate the history of Beijing and its context within China there are a number of sources of material Growth Without Miracles: Readings on the Chinese Economy in the Era of Reform illustrates China’s economic reform during the second half of the twentieth century. How not just the living conditions of the Chinese population but through its economic transition from central planning to a market economy. The book is complied of thirty widely-cited articles by well known economists in the field of China studies.[2] The Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China by Colin Mackerras and Amanda Yorke emphasizes China’s openness to Western technology as well as its rejection of Western democratic ideals. This volume offers up-to-date information on all aspects of Chinese life since 1949, with particular emphasis on the 1980s. Maps and tabled statistics accompany the text relating to all areas of Chinese life. China in the Global Economy Environment, Water Resources and Agricultural Policies: Lessons from China and OECD Countries, by Nong ye bu informs the reader about China’s water resources which are extremely low, poorly distributed, and increasingly polluted and how China’s future development depends on initiatives that will raise the efficiency of how water is used.
More specific to Beijing many studies have been conducted over the years into the environmental affects of this busy expanding city. One example can be found in
Air pollution and daily mortality in residential areas of Beijing, China. Is a research paper which documents the relationship between air pollution and daily mortality in 1989 two residential areas in Beijing, China. ‘A highly significant association was found between [sulfur dioxide] and daily mortality….The association of [total suspended particulates] with total daily mortality was positive but not significant….In the cause-specific analysis, the strongest effects on mortality were consistently seen for respiratory diseases in both [summer and winter].’ [3]
The most modern analysis of the processes undertaken by Beijing in the run-up to the ensuing Olympic objectives for the city are highlighted in The Concrete Dragon: China‘s Urban Thomas J. Campanella discusses China’s great building boom that there were fewer than 200 cities in China in the late 1970s compared to the 700 odd today. The scale of China’s urban revolution is detailed, alongside its roaring economy and rapid urbanization elsewhere compared to the rest of the world. In relation to articles and journal citations this area of understanding is well documented. Most useful examples can be gained from examining Spectacular Beijing: The Conspicuous Construction of an Olympic Metropolis which presents a critical review of Beijing’s Olympic redevelopment, and of the social, economic, and political impacts of hosting ‘mega events’ as a means of urban image construction. How Beijing’s restructure played an important role in China’s transition to capitalism as the Olympics have helped concentrate economic and political power in the hands of a coalition of government leaders and private investors. [4]
(Broudehoux, 2007) With similar information to be accessed from New Beijing, Great Olympics: Beijing and its Unfolding Olympic Legacy by Ryan Ong and Olympiad Dreams of Urban Renaissance by Rob Imrie.
In terms of the most recent analysis carried out in relation to the impact of the games physically and financially, this is a well documented area of dialogue in the media and with scholars.
Estimating the Cost and Benefit of Hosting Olympic Games: What Can Beijing Expect from Its 2008 Games? Represents a forecast of what will ensue as a result of the impact on Beijing whilst anticipating ‘The potential for long term economic benefits from the Beijing Games will depend critically on how well Olympics related investments in venues and infrastructure can be incorporated into the overall economy in the years following the Games.’[5](Owen, 2005)
For a more generic approach to this argument James Higham’s Sport as an Avenue of
Tourism Development: An Analysis of the Positive and Negative Impacts of
Sport Tourism looks at the positive economic repercussions for cities who host the Olympic Games.
As this is still quite a modern debate it is difficult to source a great deal of scholarly information that determines the subsequent impact to be had on China as a whole. Evidence for this is still emerging and it is suggested that news archives, economic reports and environmental reviews be explored in greater detail in order to address the outcomes of the question under discussion. Many have prophesized or forecast this debate but for factual information a most up to date study of observations being reported from China will be required to substantiate the debate.
Another helpful source can be utilized from documents associated with the Beijing Municipal Government and United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). The most relevant of these being the UNEP report Beijing 2008 Olympic Games – An Environmental Review and the official Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games paper Beijing 2008: Environmental Protection, Innovation and Improvement, 2001-2006, Update Report.
Section Four: Research Methodology and Design (10% 500 words) Here you will need to focus on the types of methods you intend to use and why. Why for instance will you use one research method over another or why do you need to use more than one method? As a rule of thumb, think about
The problem being addressed in this dissertation is to attempt to demonstrate evidence that is both economic and environmental, not only to Beijing but in the broader context of China and how this has essentially been strengthened by the influences of leisure and tourism. It is necessary to conduct considerable research across a number of areas in order to reach the conclusions that will effectively answer the question.
Many dissertations of this nature require a definitive method of research in order to build a framework to take forward the means to answering the hypothesis.
For the purposes of this essay the way in which the methodology for developing this framework came about is primarily informed by the Literature Review. This type of secondary analysis helps clarify both the type of information available as well as the limitations of that material.
Burns’s An Introduction to Tourism and Anthropology demonstrates the fast-growing field of tourism studies. How anthropology is the window through which tourism dynamics should be analyzed and evaluated. [6] In terms of assessing the impact of tourism and how in the case of Beijing it acted as a catalyst for change as well as changing the world’s opinion of the region; this volume suggests an anthropological approach to research, in other words statistical data to explain the phenomena under discussion. Appreciating that this may be the best way of assessing an outcome with which to measure impact, Tourism and leisure research methods: data collection, analysis and interpretation provides the tools to recognise and produce good research through qualitative and quantitative research techniques focusing on reliability, validity and representativeness of data using SPSS for Windows and an SPSS data file to undertake statistical analysis, data management and data documentation. In terms of the business studies approach to solving this question, carrying out quantitative research which in the context of Social Sciences includes a wide range of examples and activities offers a solid foundation in research design, measurement, and statistics.’ [7]
Applying quantitative research to this study should help develop and create a model for the hypotheses and measure the connection between the data received from the Government and UN reports cited in the Literature Review alongside the empirical results fielded from any contrasting qualitative research that emerges from subsequent interviews, surveys or observations collated from relevant citizens of Beijing, China, officials connected with the construction programmes and the Construction and Environment department of the Beijing Organising Committee as well as analysing relevant documents and material.
With the emphasis on quantitative research methods this will largely involve planning, sampling, designing measurement instruments, choosing statistical tests, and interpreting the results [8]
In order to effectively analyse leisure and tourism within the business, management and environmental disciplines a number of factors will need to be taken into consideration including anthropology, the economics of China, the history of its growth exemplified by Beijing, human geography, the philosophy and sociology of the environment.
Fieldwork will need to be planned and conducted according to ethnographic methods including participant observation, interviewing, focus groups, and video/photographic work to capture and appreciate the changes occurring in China and the move towards an environmentally more astute philosophy. [9]
Section Five: Your reflection on the overall process (15% 200 words) Sum up your reflections on the whole research methods process, how you coped with it and how you will approach final year study. This can be in the first person (i.e. ‘I think this I think that.’).
This is a fairly challenging area of study which requires the collation of a number of different areas of research to be processed and analysed. In order to quantify and qualify data such as this from a fundamentally empirical approach it is imperative to categorize the subjects or ‘instruments’ in much greater detail. For example should the data be gathered from specific areas in order to provide a holistic approach to determining the question, if so should these reflect economic, social, political and technological affects and form the categories that make up the focus of the discussion points?
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The need to establish a well thought out framework is crucial. It seems very clear from all of the complexities involved with assessing the impact of construction and technology for the purposes of staging the Olympic Games and how it can best be implemented requires further attention in terms of what is achievable and justifiable in this study. Primary research needs to be completed in order to establish the exact nature and challenges of existing opinions, observations and comparisons relating to the city of Beijing; compared to official government documentation, measured in relation to the overall accepted international objectives of China as a nation in its own right.
The different actors, cultures, structures and goals will vary, sometimes considerably between communities under scrutiny. A common vision relating to the objectives of Beijing and its country needs to be legitimised in order to argue whether this has directly influenced China in a beneficial way.
Depending on how this research is developed and taken forward in the future will influence the way in which data is recorded and the evidence presented.
References
Black, T.R. (1999). Doing Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences. London. Sage.
Blaxter, L et al. (1996). How to Research. Buckingham. OU Press.
Broudehoux, A Spectacular Beijing: The Conspicuous Construction Of An Olympic Metropolis, Journal of Urban Affairs, Volume 29 Issue 4
Brunt, P. (1997) Market Research in Travel and Tourism. Oxford. Butterworth – Heinemann.
Bryman, A and D. Cramer. (1997). Quantitative Data Analysis with SPSS for Windows. London. Routledge.
Burns, P.M. (1999). An Introduction to Tourism and Anthropology. London. Routledge.
Campanella, T.J (2008) The Concrete Dragon: China’s Urban Revolution and What It Means for the World: Princeton Architectural Press
Clarke, M, M. Riley, et al. (1999) Research methods in hospitality, tourism and leisure. Thompson International.
Cook I and Crang M. (1996) Doing Ethnography. CATMOG. Norwich.
Garnaut, R, Huang, Y (2001)
Growth Without Miracles: Readings on the Chinese Economy in the Era of Reform: Oxford University Press
Higham, J (1999) Commentary — Sport as an Avenue of Tourism Development: An Analysis of the Positive and Negative Impacts of Sport Tourism, Current Issues in Tourism Vol. 2, No. 1
Imrie, R (2007) Olympiad Dreams of Urban Renaissance, Modern Language Assoc, Volume 122, Number 1
Mackerras, C, Yorke, A (1991)
The Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China: Cambridge University Press
Nong ye bu (2006) China in the Global Economy Environment, Water Resources and Agricultural Policies: Lessons from China and OECD Countries: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Ong,R (2004) New Beijing, Great Olympics: Beijing and its Unfolding Olympic Legacy, Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs, Vol 4, no.2
Owen, J.G (2008) Estimating the Cost and Benefit of Hosting Olympic Games: What Can Beijing Expect from Its 2008 Games? The Industrial Geographer, vol 3, issue 1
Saunders, M.K. Lewis, P. Thornhill, A. (2006) Research Methods for Business Students, (4th ed), Harlow, Prentice Hall Publications.
UNEP (2008) Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: An Environmental Review
By United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Environment Programme
Published by UNEP/Earthprint, 2008. Available from http://www.unep.org/publications/eBooks/beijing-report/Default.aspx?bid=ID0EWBBG
Wu, F, Webber, K (2004) the rise of “foreign gated communities” in Beijing: between economic globalization and local institutions: Elsevier Ltd.
Xu, X, Gao, J, Dockery, D.W, Chen Y (1997) Air pollution and daily mortality in residential areas of Beijing, China. In: Research papers on interrelationship between population growth in developing countries and global environment, Volume II. Tokyo, Japan, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, 1997 Mar 3. : 321-
1
[2] Garnaut, R, Huang, Y (2001)
Growth Without Miracles: Readings on the Chinese Economy in the Era of Reform
[3] Xu, X, Gao, J, Dockery, D.W, Chen Y (1997) Air pollution and daily mortality in residential areas of Beijing, China. In: Research papers on interrelationship between population growth in developing countries and global environment, Volume II. Tokyo, Japan, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, 1997 Mar 3. : 321-
[4] Broudehoux, A Spectacular Beijing: The Conspicuous Construction Of An Olympic Metropolis, Journal of Urban Affairs, Volume 29 Issue 4
[5] Owen, J.G (2008) Estimating the Cost and Benefit of Hosting Olympic Games: What Can Beijing Expect from Its 2008 Games? The Industrial Geographer, vol 3, issue 1
[6] Burns, P.M. (1999). An Introduction to Tourism and Anthropology. London. Routledge.
[7] Saunders, M.K. Lewis, P. Thornhill, A. (2006) Research Methods for Business Students, (4th ed), Harlow, Prentice Hall Publications.
[8] Black, T.R. (1999). Doing Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences. London. Sage.
[9] Cook I and Crang M. (1996) Doing Ethnography. CATMOG. Norwich.
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