The Assignment on Aviation Research Methods

Running head: AVIATION RESEARCH METHODS
Aviation Research Methods
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1AVIATION RESEARCH METHODS
Critical Review of Two Research Papers that is aiming to discuss a brief
regarding Airline Safety
In this paper two papers will be reviewed critically that is focused on safety of the airline
services. The two articles which will be discussed in this paper are the “Cabin safety and
emergency evacuation: Passenger experience of flight CI-120 accident” and “Survivability of
occupants in commercial passenger aircraft accidents”. The authors of first article are the Yu-
Hern Changa and Hui-Hua Yang and the authors of second article are Simo K. Ekmana and
Michel Debacker. The first article selected for the comparison is mainly focused on the safety of
the cabin and the emergency evacuation process. As a reference, the authors have used
experiences of the passenger of the flight CI-120. The second selected article is focused on the
survivability of the passengers during the aircraft accidents.
Here, the authors Chang and Yang (2011), have utilized the constructivist research paradigm. A
constructivist research paradigm is a specific type of research that is performed for investigating
a topic in question which has been done in this context. This type of research also includes a
conclusive outcome. The current research is not dependent on any pre-existing concept and
instead of that, the current researchers are relied on participants of the investigation which
justifies the constructivist research paradigm for this research (Chandra & Shang, 2017). Also,
current research does not have any type of research hypothesis that is intended for testing, this
again justifies that the current research is a constructivist research paradigm (Robinson, David &
Hill, 2016). The current aim of this study is exploring the cabin safety perception of the
passengers from the evacuation experience during evacuation of flight CI-120 accident (Chang &
Yang, 2011). The authors have stated that “The survey included both qualitative and quantitative
questionnaires”, which is a clear indication of constructivist research paradigm. From the
conclusion of the study it has been assessed that more information needs to be conveyed to the
airline passengers regarding use of emergency equipment. Also, it has been assessed that the
emergency procedures and the crew assistance are the most important factor.
According to the authors Ekman and DeBacker (2018), have utilized the positivist research
paradigm. A positivist research philosophy is only associated with the factual knowledge that is
gathered through the observation (Park, Konge & Artino Jr, 2019). This type of observation can

2AVIATION RESEARCH METHODS
include measurement and generally these are trustworthy. In this aspect, the research
methodology itself justifies the stated research philosophy. In the research methodology an
observational statistical analysis has been done of the commercial passenger services during the
time span of 1990 to 2014 (Ekman & DeBacker, 2018). Thus, in this context, the data has been
gathered through appropriate observation which justifies the current research philosophy. Also,
the current study has clearly mentioned the aim of it. The authors have said that “Aim of the
study was to examine the impact of MTOW, phases of flight and aircraft damage on the
survivability of aircraft occupants in commercial passenger aircraft accidents”. This part again
justifies the positivism research philosophy of the study (Davies & Fisher, 2018). Also, a set of
research hypothesis has been included in this study which is justifying the positivist research
paradigm nature of this study.
For conducting the research, the authors Chang and Yang (2011), has utilized both of the
qualitative and quantitative research of method. In this case, first the authors have designed the
questionaries and the population to whom the research question will be asked. For this research,
the population was passengers of the China Airlines flight CI-120. The questionaries were both
types of quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative questionaries utilized the Likert-scale with
the range of 1 to 5. The quantitative questionaries were used for getting the perception of the
passengers on the safety of the cabin. The qualitative questionaries were used for taking an in-
depth interview (McGuirk & O'Neill, 2016) of the flight passengers for investigating the process
of emergency evacuation (Chang & Yang, 2011). Four types of categories have been used in this
case which were the biobehavioral, procedure, environment and configuration. For the analysis
of gathered data factor analysis has been used by the authors. The factor analysis has been used
for the data analysis for discovering the meaningful pattern (Bandalos & Finney, 2018) within
cabin related safety issues and for summarization of important information. Also, principle
component analysis has been also done for this research.
Authors Ekman and DeBacker (2018), have utilized observational statistical analysis for
conducting this research. Here, for performing this research the authors have used specific
timespan which is 1990 to 2014. For collection of the data secondary research method has been
utilized by the authors where they have collected the data from ICAO accident database
(Walliman, 2017). Some specific criteria have been also followed for collection of the data

3AVIATION RESEARCH METHODS
which included commercial passenger flights, ICAO definition and data availability for the
calculation purpose. For the analysis of the gathered data, the authors have used the JMP 12.1.0
Statistical Discovery™ software for performing the statistical analysis (Ekman & DeBacker,
2018). Initially, Excel Spreadsheet has been used for exporting the accidental data to the
statistical analysis software. Both of the dependent and independent variables have been used for
executing this research.
The research performed by authors Chang and Yang (2011), was having the main purpose of
investigating perception of the passengers regarding the safety of cabin where for performing the
research the authors focused on emergency evacuation experiences of the passengers during the
actual accident. Through this, the authors have examined deficiencies that the passengers are
having regarding cabin crew training and safety education (Huang, 2018). From the previous
section it has been already identified that both of the quantitative and qualitative methods has
been utilized for performing this research. Questionaries has been prepared for collecting the
data from the passengers who were involved with the airline accident incident of flight CI-120
(Chang & Yang, 2011). Here, the authors wanted to evaluate the safety in airline cabin and the
emergency evacuation process and for this they collected primary data from the passengers. As
in this way, the authors gathered some high-quality data, the current research methodology is
appropriate for the study.
Authors Ekman and DeBacker (2018), have performed the current research with having the
purpose of examining the impact of maximum take-off weight, flight phases and damage of
aircraft on the aircraft occupant’s survivability regarding the accidents happened with
commercial passenger vehicles. An additional purpose of this research is contributing towards
optimization of response and preparedness of the emergency medical related services during any
type of aircraft accidents. For performing this research, the authors have selected a large amount
of time span which is from 1990 to 2014 where secondary data collection methods have been
used (Ekman & DeBacker, 2018). Collecting primary data is always good compared with the
secondary data, but in this case the authors have selected a large time span (Dreyer, Macedo &
Velentgas, 2019). Collecting primary data from each of the individual accidents is not possible in
the present scenario. So, the secondary type of research procedure is appropriate for this study.

4AVIATION RESEARCH METHODS
The research performed by the Chang and Yang (2011), is having an important limitation. Here,
the limitation is that the current study is based on only a single aircraft accident. It means, that
the area of data collection is quite small for any type of conclusion (Stieglitz et al., 2018).
Though, primary data has been collected for the research (Chang & Yang, 2011) there can be
different outcome from similar type of research depending on the type of accident. This is the
only limitation for this research but this is not articulated and justified within the research.
The main limitation of the research that is performed by the authors Ekman and DeBacker
(2018), is the generalizability of the research. This fact has been acknowledged by authors and it
is articulated in the research paper. The reason behind this limitation is also justified by the
authors. Here, for the research important data has been collected from ICAO accident/incident
data reports database which are absolutely correct (Ekman & DeBacker, 2018). This is the main
reason that generalizability of the results is limited in this case.
Considering the personal impression regarding the study performed by the Chang and Yang
(2011), is quite good. This study has played an important role for evaluating the safety of cabin
and the process of emergency evacuation. The main advantage of this study is that it is
completely based on the primary data which gives this research a strong position (Johnston,
2017). Also, this study might help to reduce the injuries of the passengers and will be increasing
the survivability chances of the passengers. These are the main advantages of the current
research but the main issue with this research is that it is totally based on a single case which
does not justifies the accuracy of the research though primary data has been collected in this case
(Krosnick, 2018). Considering the presentation of the research, it has been done properly by
authors. All the data and the sources of collected data has been represented perfectly in this
research. For a single case evaluation, this study has been conducted perfectly but this kind of
research is not perfect for making a broad conclusion.
For the research performed by the Ekman and DeBacker (2018), the personal impression is
overall positive. Here, the author has performed the research based on the secondary data which
does not make this research as rich as the primary research methods (Johnston, 2017) still, the
secondary data source used by the authors is very much genuine which can be considered as an
advantage of this research. This research will also help to reduce the overall number of aircrafts
accidents which is another positive side for this research. This research has been also presented

5AVIATION RESEARCH METHODS
well by the authors to their audiences. Finally, this research has conducted that approximately
two-thirds of the total accidents occurs at the airport or at the immediate vicinity. Also, this study
will contribute for optimising the emergency medical services response at the area of accident
(Reuter et al., 2016). Thus, in an overall perspective this study performed by the authors is quite
valuable.

6AVIATION RESEARCH METHODS
References:
Bandalos, D. L., & Finney, S. J. (2018). Factor analysis: Exploratory and confirmatory. In The
reviewer’s guide to quantitative methods in the social sciences (pp. 98-122). Routledge.
Chandra, Y., & Shang, L. (2017). An RQDA-based constructivist methodology for qualitative
research. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal.
Chang, Y. H., & Yang, H. H. (2011). Cabin safety and emergency evacuation: Passenger
experience of flight CI-120 accident. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 43(3), 1049-1055.
Davies, C., & Fisher, M. (2018). Understanding research paradigms. Journal of the Australasian
Rehabilitation Nurses Association, 21(3), 21.
Dreyer, N. A., Macedo, A. F., & Velentgas, P. (2019). Primary Data Collection for
Pharmacoepidemiology. Pharmacoepidemiology, 342-354.
Ekman, S. K., & DeBacker, M. (2018). Survivability of occupants in commercial passenger
aircraft accidents. Safety science, 104, 91-98.
Huang, Z. (2018, July). Safety and Management of Building Survey Training Room in Higher
Vocational Colleges. In 2018 3rd International Conference on Education, Sports, Arts
and Management Engineering (ICESAME 2018). Atlantis Press.
Johnston, M. P. (2017). Secondary data analysis: A method of which the time has
come. Qualitative and quantitative methods in libraries, 3(3), 619-626.
Krosnick, J. A. (2018). Assessing the Accuracy of Survey Research. In The Palgrave Handbook
of Survey Research (pp. 3-5). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
McGuirk, P. M., & O'Neill, P. (2016). Using questionnaires in qualitative human geography.
Park, Y. S., Konge, L., & Artino Jr, A. R. (2019). The Positivism Paradigm of
Research. Academic Medicine.
Reuter, C., Ludwig, T., Kaufhold, M. A., & Spielhofer, T. (2016). Emergency services׳ attitudes
towards social media: A quantitative and qualitative survey across Europe. International
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Robinson, R. V., David, E. J. R., & Hill, M. (2016). Participatory mixed methods research across
cultures. Handbook of methodological approaches to community-based research:
Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods, 273-282.
Stieglitz, S., Mirbabaie, M., Ross, B., & Neuberger, C. (2018). Social media analytics–
Challenges in topic discovery, data collection, and data preparation. International journal
of information management, 39, 156-168.
Walliman, N. (2017). Research methods: The basics. Routledge.