Methodology of the study

Three different methods are utilized in this study in order to have a wider understanding of the
concept of capacity building and to gain a useful picture of research capacity building needs within
trade research institutions in countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
- Desk research/ Internet research: is largely designed to review existing literatures on concept of
capacity building. Publications on capacity development and strengthening research capacity
from international development organizations such as UNDP, OECD and bilateral
development agencies such as, CIDA, RAWOO and KFPE are widely reviewed and cited.
Several other documents from relevant sites especially from www.capacity.org are also
included in the review.
- Survey: The survey has been designed to test the following hypothesis: research and policy
institutes in developing and least developed countries have specific capacity development
needs if they are to conduct policy relevant research on trade and WTO issues in effective
and collaborative partnerships with government policy makers and other stakeholders such as
the private sector and civil society organization. The questionnaire will be used in this survey
to collect primary data on capacity building needs of research institutions. The questionnaire,
which consists of four sections including general information, strengths and weaknesses,
partnership and networking, and trade research capacity building needs will be circulated to
directors or research directors of research institutions via e-mail. Numbers of follow-up
techniques are planned and prepared to assure that questionnaires reach the right persons.
First, follow-up emails are sent a couple of days following questionnaire circulation to check
whether or not directors of all research institutions already receive the questionnaire. Second,
if confirmation still cannot get within few days, phone call follow- up are being made.
However, in case that any institution cannot be contacted by email, set of documents need to
be sent via airmail followed by phone call follow-up.
- Case Study: Lao PDR, a Least Developed Country, is being selected as a case study. Two
leading independent research institutions including XXX and XXXX represent research
institutions in the country. We also plan to organize a consultation workshop with Ministry of
Commerce and private sector representatives in order to seek their perceptions on the needs
of trade policy research, and on linkage between trade research institutions, policy makers
and private sector. The combination of information from these stakeholders will enable us to
summarize the existing linkage between research institutions and policy makers as well as
their respective needs on trade policy matters.
SURVEY DESIGN EXERCISE AND CASE STUDY – ANNEX II
Sample selection
The survey considers representative sample of research institutions drawn from countries in Asia-
pacific region which fall into criteria as following:
- Geographic criteria: four sub-regions in Asia-pacific namely South-east Asia, South Asia, East
Asia and South Pacific are set as umbrella criteria against which countries of sample research
institutes are chosen.
- Income Status criteria: as clearly stated in Term of Reference, the study targets research
institutes in Least Developed Countries and low-income developing countries. Thus, middle
and high-income developing countries and developed countries in Asia-pacific region are
excluded.
- WTO membership status: country’s WTO membership is also set as selection criteria. It is
whether country is already the WTO member or it is on the process of WTO accession.

Country’s income status and WTO membership are set as important elements of matrix which can
depict status of particular country in the four sub-region in Asia-pacific. From these criteria, the
samples have an appropriate mix of countries from 1). South-east Asia, south Asia, east Asia and
south Pacific; 2). Least developed countries and low-income developing countries; and 3). WTO
member, and on the process of WTO accession. The table below show country’s selection matrix.
South-east Asia South Asia East Asia South Pacific
Low
LDC Incom LDC Low Income Low income LDC Low Income
e
.
Camb . Indonesia . Bangladesh . Sri Lanka . Mongolia . Fiji
odia
.
M
ya .
WTO Member
n Philippines . Nepal . Papua
m
ar

. Thailand New Guinea

On process of . Laos . Vietnam . Samoa Island

WTO
accession

Data Gathering Procedure

There are many ways for a researcher to gather data for his analysis goals. That is why it is
important that you know some data gathering procedures to help you solve the hypothesis that
you have expressed in your essay research paper. So what are the different types of data
acquisition techniques that I can use?

First of all you should understand that data gathering is not required for all types of research
papers. For example, if you are going to write a narrative essay, you would not mind going
through the process of data gathering because you will merely tell a story. But for a more
developed research parameter, it is important that you know whether to use data gathering
procedures or not. In any narrative essay topic for example, you are not required to gather data
in numerical forms because there is nothing that you need to prove in the story other than to
simply tell a story.

One of the most common techniques in data gathering procedures is surveying. This is done by
creating a set of questions and then distributes them to the target respondents. The questions
should be dealing only with the topic interest of the research.

Another good data gathering procedure that you can consider is interviewing. This process
may take a lot of time and effort but at least you can immediately capture the true feelings and
opinions of your respondents.

Data mining is another type of a data gathering procedure that is much easier than the previous
two sets of techniques. You simply need to go t a library or a research institution in order to
gather data from already tabulated sources. From tables to graphs, you can simply recode these
data into your computer to serve as your numerical analysis resource. Most history research
paper topics will use this kind of data gathering procedure.

One last data gathering procedure that I like to suggest is laboratory experimentation. This is
the technique where you can control the environment and setup a benchmark for all the results. It
may not be too easy to complete an experiment but you can be assured that your results are
reliable and credible.