Environmental issues include questions regarding human use of natural resources and human practices which change natural conditions. This definition is both broad and limited in how it affects the case selections. It is broad because it is an umbrella term covering many areas; it is limited because of the need for both of these elements to be clearly and potently evident in the case.
The data base is built by a team of investigators trained in this particular methodology. These investigators were mostly graduate students in the School of International Service (SIS) at the American University. The investigators had previously taken a general research methods course and received specific instructions for this methodology in a follow-up course.
Many of these graduate students worked in Washington, D.C. on a professional basis and many regularly dealt with issues of trade and/or environment in that capacity. These include a wide variety of organizations. Other students had geographic specialties and language training that assisted in the research. The disciplinary backgrounds of the researchers is also varied, including lawyers, economists, area specialists, political scientists and many others. Students were instructed on how documents from abroad might be obtained through a wide variety of electronic media, such as INTERNET. The investigators prepared drafts of these case studies, but since then there have been extensive changes to most of them. Cases were updated, re-written, re-researched, edited, and sometimes corrected for coding reliability. Also, some categories were added as the project developed, and therefore it was necessary to not only update cases, but also to expand the analysis.
There were several attempts to assure reliability between the coders. Coded answers were compared to other cases on the basis of similarities and differences and discussed in group sessions among the coders. Throughout the process, all completed and in-progress reports were available to the researchers/coders. In the end, each case study was re-assessed to ensure proper coding reliability and consistency among the reports.
Cases were chosen through an informal scanning method. From an initial list of cases, some preliminary work was undertaken to determine if the case was appropriate and if sufficient information existed from which to do a case study. These primary case sources included newspapers (Washington Post, Financial Times, or Japan Times), periodicals (National Geographic, BNA International Trade Reporter, BNA International Environment Reporter, or Garbage), electronic sources (Lexis-Nexis, or ECO-NET), and government and multilateral agencies.
The mnemonic for each case is a short, literal abbreviation of a key facet of the case, no longer than eight letters in length. These mnemonics are then used for key word searches in the book index and in the software. To get the maximum use out of this book and software, spend a little time familiarizing yourself with the mnemonics and the cases and categories they represent.
There are generally three types of mnemonics used. The first type specifies a creature such as the Siberian Tiger Trade case (TIGER) or a country such as the Malaysian Raw Log Export Ban (MALAY). The second type combines two short mnemonics which signify a country and a species or product. For example, the Dutch Wood case ruling is represented by DUTCHWD, which combines the elements of a Netherlands tropical timber import case into a single mnemonic. The third type of mnemonic abbreviates a longer identifier, such as DEFORestation, where "DEFOR" is a key word.