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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.

******