Te Uku - wind farm project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Te Uku - wind farm project - Assignment Example t which is the first of its kind in New Zealand was commissioned in 2010 and successfully built by a joint alliance between a giant electricity generating and retailer company known as Meridian Energy and WEL Networks which is a lines company (WEL Networks, 2010). At its full capacity, the Te Uku - wind farm project is estimated to have a potential of generating up to 65MW of electricity which is currently enough to power more than 30, 000 local New Zealand homes. This is critically important not only to the local populations but also to the government of New Zealand (NZWEA, 2010). For example, apart from the local benefits, the project not only adds to New Zealand’s growing portfolio of renewable energy sources but is also set to contribute towards the country’s energy self sufficiency goals. This report provides a critical overview of Te Uku - wind farm project, reasons for its success as well as its potential outcomes to the region. The planning as well as the successful management of the Te Uku Wind farm project was primarily carried out and supervised by a team consisting of members from five different companies. For example, the principal project engineers who were largely responsible for overseeing the civil engineering design and delivery of construction materials were from Bloxam Burnett & Olliver Company. On the other hand, Coffey Geotechnics provided geotechnical consultancy for the project including inspections and certification of earthworks and construction of turbine foundations. The other companies that were involved in the planning and management of the project included Hick Spartan Joint Venture which was the main contractor for roading and earthworks including the construction of turbine foundations, Coffey Information which provided field and laboratory testing and Siemens New Zealand which was responsible for the construction of the wind turbines (WEL Networks, 2009). With support from a number of sub-contractors and sub-consultants, the

Why Do Students with Disabilities Drop Out of High School Essay

Why Do Students with Disabilities Drop Out of High School - Essay Example The study is focused in finding out the reasons why the special education students drop out, hence putting emphasis on the students’ experiences. The method to use in this type of study is the phenomenological approach which asserts that the meaning of phenomena can be understood through the experiences of those who are involved (Wiggan, 2008, p. 322). Research Questions Given this objective, the key question that will be answered in this proposed study is â€Å"Why do students with disabilities drop out of high school?† This chapter discusses how this question will be answered. Because it is a â€Å"why† question, the qualitative methodology was selected as it is more appropriate when contending with such abstract human behaviors, such as the act of dropping out of school. This proposed study requires a flexible research design because it addresses a human phenomenon that should also make space for behavioral factors. Hence, the qualitative method’s objec tives of describing and explaining variations, relationships, individual experiences and group norms make it the most suitable for this study. For instance, when observing and interviewing participants, the set of interview questions determined beforehand should allow enough room for follow-up questions. This is by using a nonstructured format (Morocco, et al, 2006). Likewise, analyzing the data to be gathered will involve flexibility as categories that are not expected will arise and factors that seem inconsequential may became significant. The study may need to be adjusted in the coding and analysis of the data as these previously insignificant factors and categories may become more important in order to be able to present more accurate and comprehensive results. Design Qualitative research can â€Å"see precisely which events led to which consequences and derive fruitful explanations† (Miles and Huberman, 1994, p. 1). Moreover, it has a higher chance of being able to arriv e at unanticipated findings and new combinations and reationships (Miles and Huberman, 1994). These reasons are why the qualitative research design has been selected for this study as it can provide a clear view of why students with disabilities drop out of high school. It must be clarified that although quantitative data, such as statistics and percentages, will be used in the study, it only serves as supportive numbers that will lay the groundwork for this study. Furthermore, it is intended for this qualitative research to act as a precursive study for more accurate and extensive quantitative study on the same topic. Active Observation The study will employ a qualitative research design that will be based on active observation with â€Å"a nonstructured format to allow for maximum flexibility† (Morocco, et al, 2006, p. 140). The qualitative research design has been criticized by many for its supposed inexactness due to its â€Å"interpretative, subjective, impressionistic and diagnostic† nature as it has been claimed that there are no unbiased observers (Thomson, 2007). However, when contending with abstract data, like â€Å"the often contradictory behaviors, beliefs, opinions, emotions, and relationships of individuals† and in this case, the reasons why certain people act a particular way, active observation is best employed as its strength lies in its capability to be able to provide a textual characterization of complex events such as human experience (Mack, et al., 2005). Intensive Interview Data will be collected through intensive interviews of special education high school student dropouts through personal (face-to-face) meetings and via electronic mail (e-mail). An iterative questionnaire would follow the interview in order to elicit the