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CHAPTER 2
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is an investigation of finding solutions to scientific and
social problems through objective and systematic analysis (Kothari, 1985).
There is a difference between research methodology and research methods.
Research methods are the various procedures or methods used by a researcher during a
research study and these help in collecting data and finding solution to a problem. Not
only are the research methods necessary for the research undertaken but also the
methodology. It depends upon the research problem under investigation and
accordingly suitable methods are chosen to arrive at the conclusions. What is the order
of accuracy of the result of a method? What is the efficiency of the method and so on?
Consideration of these aspects constitutes research methodology.
The descriptive methodology has been adopted because the purpose of the
present study is to describe the state of affairs as it exists. Moreover, it is quite often
used in social science research. Descriptive research describes the present status of
people, attitudes and progress. “It involves gathering of data that describe events and
then organizes tabulates, depicts and describes the data collection” (Glass & Hopkins,
1984). The methods of research utilized in descriptive research are survey methods of
all kinds.
SELECTION OF CITY
Punjab is located in North-Western India, and has an area of 50,362 km2. It is
bounded on the West by Pakistan, on the North by Jammu and Kashmir, on the North-
East by Himachal Pradesh and on the South by Haryana and Rajasthan. According to
the 2001 Census of India, the population of Punjab is 2,43,58,999 persons consisting of
1,29,85,045 males and 1,13,73,954 females. The growth of urban areas in the various
size categories shows an interesting trend. Larger cities and towns (Class I) have been
increasing at a faster pace, whereas percentage growth of other category of towns is
showing a decreasing trend. The growth of urban population in different size-categories
of cities and towns in Punjab from 1981-2001 is depicted in the following table.
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TABLE 2.1
Trends in Urban Population in Different Size Categories of Cities and Towns
Years Class I
(1 Lakh and
Above)
Class II
(50,000-
99,999)
Class III
(20,000-
49,999)
Class IV
(10,000-
19,999)
Class V
(5,000-
9,999)
Class VI
(Below
5000)
All Classes
1981 7
(46.38)
(2,155,714)
10
(14.39)
(668,780)
27
(20.24)
(940,482)
36
(11.28)
(524,505)
40
(6.50)
(301,905)
14
(1.21)
(56,371)
134
(100.00)
(4,647,757)
1991 10
(54.16)
(3,246,224)
18
(19.91)
(1,193,171)
25
(12.92)
(774,453)
46
(10.82)
(648,230)
14
(1.72)
(102,945)
7
(0.47)
(28,202)
120
(100.00)
(5,993,225)
2001 14
(58.38)
(4,814,405)
19
(16.45)
(1,356,386)
35
(12.50)
(1,030,623)
54
(9.82)
(809,366)
28
(2.52)
(207,891)
7
(0.33)
(26,895)
157
(100.00)
(8,245,566)
Source: Census of India, 1981, 1991, 2001.
From the above table it is evident that the number of towns in all the categories
has increased between 1981 to 2001 except class V and VI category where the number
has decreased from 40 to 28 and 14 to 7 urban areas respectively. On the other hand, the
number of Class I urban areas has increased from 7 to 14 during this period. The
proportionate increase in the percentage of number of urban areas in Class I category is
very high (46.38 to 58.38) as compared to other Class categories where the case is
reverse.
Further each urban area performs a number of functions besides a dominant or
specialized function. Indian towns can be broadly classified as administrative,
industrial, commercial, market, mining, institutional, cantonment, educational, religious
and cultural and tourist towns (Bhatia, 2008). Keeping this functional classification in
mind, the urban areas having higher growth rate are classified and described in the
following table.
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TABLE 2.2
Population and Function of Class I Towns in Punjab
S. No. Name of Town Population Function
1. Ludhiana 13,98,467 Industrial
2. Amritsar 10,03,917 Religious, Historic & Cultural
2. Jalandhar 7,14,077 Industrial
4. Patiala 3,23,884 Historic & Cultural
5. Bathinda 2,17,256 Industrial
6. Pathankot 1,68,485 Transit
7. Hoshiarpur 1,49,668 Administrative
8. Batala 1,47,872 Industrial
9. Moga 1,35,279 Administrative
10. Abohar 1, 24,339 Market
11. S.A.S Nagar 1,23,484 Industrial
12 Malerkotla 1,07,009 Historic
13. Khanna 1,03,099 Market
14. Phagwara 1,02,253 Industrial
Source: Census of India, 2001.
Accordingly Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Bathinda, Batala, S.A.S. Nagar and Phagwara
are industrial cities. Class I Cities having religious, cultural and historic functions are
Amritsar, Patiala and Malerkotla. These are the urban areas having predominance of
historically and culturally important buildings and areas which have suffered over the
years’ negligence with regard to conservation and preservation of historically and
architecturally important buildings. Five class I cities are having industrial function
whereas as two (Abohar and Khanna) are market cities and two (Hoshiarpur and Moga)
are administrative one.
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Among these religious, historic and cultural cities, Amritsar is the only urban
area which has religious, historic as well as cultural function where as Patiala and
Malerkotla have either cultural and historic or only historic function. Moreover,
Amritsar is not only a seat of religious importance but emerging as a major tourist
destination. Therefore, Amritsar city is selected for the present study.
SELECTION OF THE UNIVERSE
Amritsar city has population of 10,03,917 persons which is spread over 60
wards (as per Municipal Corporation, Amritsar-2010). The population of Amritsar can
be divided into two sections, one inhabiting walled area (termed as walled city) and
another outside the walled area (Map 2.1).“The population of the walled city is 2,00,377
persons in 2001, covering 12 wards (Municipal Corporation, Amritsar-2010 cited in
Draft Master Plan, Amritsar,2010-31). The walled city having total area of 3.47 sq. kms
(347 hectares) as per the Draft Master Plan, Amritsar (2010-31) and has a gross density
of 577 persons per hectare as against 52 persons per hectare for the city as a whole. The
nucleus of the walled city is Golden Temple around which the population has
concentrated. The population and number of households in different wards have been
shown in the following table:
TABLE 2.3
Ward Wise Population, Walled City- Amritsar
S. No. Ward No. Population
1. 23 23751
2. 24 19243
3. 25 16663
4. 26 16881
5. 40 13571
6. 41 14688
7. 42 16311
8. 43 18843
9. 44 15026
10. 45 12979
11. 46 11952
12. 47 20469
Source: Draft Master Plan, Amritsar (2010-31)
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Among the different wards of the walled city, ward 23 has the largest
concentration of population followed by ward 47, 24 and 43 in descending orders. Ward
46 has the lowest population. Using fish bowl method, four wards have been selected
from which respondents will be selected randomly after selecting specific areas (again
randomly) falling under each ward. Accordingly ward number 24, 26, 42 and 43 have
been selected randomly, out of twelve wards from the walled city, keeping in mind the
objectives of the study (Map 2.2). The different areas which fall under these wards are
depicted in Table number 2.4.
TABLE 2.4
Description of Areas in Different Wards
Sr. No. Ward
Number
Number of different areas Selected area
1. 24 Katra Baggian, Bazaar Jaimal Singh
Area , Karmo Deori Area, Partap
Bazar Area, Bazaar Mai Sewan
Area, Shastri Market Area, Chowk
Passian Area, Golden Temple
Complex Area and Choursty Attari
Area
Chowk Passian Area
2. 26 Cheel Mandi Area, Katra Dabgara
Area and part of Katra Mahan Singh
Cheel Mandi Area
3. 42 Katra Garba Area, Bazar Kamboan
Area, Ramgarhia Bazaar Area.
Katra Garba Area
4. 43 Katra Karam Singh Area, Katra
Hakima Area.
Katra Hakima Area
Ward number 24 has the maximum number of areas namely Katra Baggian,
Katra Jaimal Singh, Karmo Deori Area, Shastri Market Area, Partap Bazaar, Mai Sewan
Bazaar, Chowk Passian Area, Golden temple Complex area and Choursty Attari Area,
where as other wards have few areas especially ward number 26 and 43. From the areas
falling under the randomly selected wards, one each area has been selected randomly
for the collection of primary data.
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SELECTION OF A SAMPLE
Since wards in the walled city have different size in terms of areas as well as
population and the number of families is too large to cover for complete surveys due to
the time and resources. Therefore, random sampling technique has been applied to
select one area each from the four selected wards i.e. ward number 24, 26, 42 and 43.
TABLE No. 2.5
Selected Areas with Ward No’s, Total Buildings and Residential Buildings
Sr.
No.
Name of
Area
Ward
Number
Number of
Buildings
Number of Residential
Buildings
Selected
Buildings
1. Chowk Passian
Area 24 423 253 43
2. Cheel Mandi
Area 26 356 307 53
3. Katra Garba
Area 42 576 562 96
4. Katra Hakima
Area 43 667 631 108
2022 1753 300
Source: Field Survey, October 2010
These areas have been visited and the selected areas have been identified in
depth by reconnaissance survey.
Since the number of buildings in general and residential buildings in particular is
too large, therefore, 300 households have been taken using the proportionate sample
technique for conducting various surveys such as socio-economic, family structure, life
style and role of community, and community opinion in the conservation process. The
interview schedule has been administered to the randomly selected respondents (nearly
300), from four areas, using the systematic random sample technique. “In this method,
every nth
element from the list is selected as the sample, starting with a sample element
‘n’ randomly selected from the first k elements “(Westfall, 2009). The total number of
households in all the areas surveyed is 43 in Chowk Passian Area, 53 in Cheel Mandi
Area, 96 in Katra Garba Area and 108 in Katra Hakima Area.
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DATA COLLECTION
For collection of data four Structured Interview Schedules have been prepared.
Structured interview schedule is a data collection technique in which an interviewer
physically meets the respondents to interview with pre-added questions to produce
quick and easy quantitative data. The same set of questions in a pre-determined order
put forth to each respondent to record the response. The methods of collecting
information through personal interviews are usually carried out in a structured way. The
Interview schedules have been prepared keeping the objectives of the research in
consideration.
In all, four interview schedules have been prepared. Schedule one deals with
socio-economic aspects concerning the house in which the respondents inhabit (Plot
Size, year of construction, year of repair, materials used in repair, covered area, number
of storey’s), Personal characteristics (age, sex, caste, marital status, religion, present and
past occupation, income, years of stay in the locality) personal gadgets, water supply,
garbage collection and expenditure on electricity, mobile, landline telephone, water
supply and sewerage. The second interview schedule relates to family structure. This
covers different aspects related to the house-hold characteristics (age of family
members, sex, marital status, education, occupation, distance from home and mode of
travel to education and work place). Whereas, third one covers life styles and role of
community. In this, social relations, interaction amongst the residents, available
facilities (playing, social functions, satisfaction with neighbour’s), crime and its nature,
disturbance in the area, satisfied in the area, problems such as traffic, pollution, choked
drains), general satisfaction about facilities and services, buildings of historical or
architectural importance have been elucidated. Last interview schedule emphasizes on
the community opinion in the conservation process. In this, the perception or opinion
about historical, religious and architectural importance of the buildings/areas in terms of
their number, present condition, efforts made by the community, by government to
protect them, repair of the residential buildings if any by traditional or new materials
and finally whether the residents feel proud of their area or not, has been covered so as
to understand the level of awareness among the residents about conservation of the
tangible heritage.
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To check the reliability and validity of the interview schedule, it has been pre-
tested on 10 per cent of the total sample taken from wards/areas other than the selected
one. As warranted by the pre-test necessary changes have been made before finalization
of the interview schedule (Photo 1).
Photo 1: Pre-Testing of the Interview Schedule
The data have been collected during the months of September to December,
2010. Each interview took between thirty to forty minutes. The response to the
schedules has been good. That is why it was possible to interview all the respondents in
the sample except a few houses which were locked. People were very cooperative and
social.
The base maps of these localities have been prepared by taking images from
Google Earth by using the auto-cad technique. To remove errors, many field visits were
made. In this way, an effort has been made to prepare the maps of all the four areas with
maximum accuracy which took more than 25 days. Further, land use surveys were
carried out to know the use of land in all the four areas. Land use maps of all the four
selected areas are based on reconnaissance surveys.
In addition to the above, reconnaissance surveys were undertaken to identify the
buildings of architectural, heritage importance and areas that have intangible heritage.
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In other words, typical streets, their nomenclature, surprising open spaces have also
been shown on the maps. The buildings of historical and architectural importance and
streets have also been captured through visuals to strengthen the authenticity. They
depict the character of the area in terms of life style.
DATA ANALYSIS
After collecting the data, each interview schedule was edited to ensure
completion of the responses to each question. Before under taking the field study
specific codes were marked on the interview schedules which have been helpful in
transferring the data into excel and thereby for applying the relevant software. Coding
has been done in all the interview schedules.
The data collected was transferred into excel form in computer for managing in
an efficient manner. To handle with huge data in systematic way Statistical Package in
Social Sciences (SPSS) Software has been used. This helped in analyzing the data
efficiently. For making comparisons of different variables of all the four areas, bar
diagrams were drawn as they absorbed a great deal of information and helped in
understanding the comparative picture of different areas. Maps of all the four area were
prepared to show the land use, street patterns, nomenclature of streets, heritage zones
and buildings with traditional elements.
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