Report:

“Methodology for designing surveys, focus groups

and in-depth interviews"

“REGIONAL LEVEL MARKET ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR AND PILOT PROJECT

BASED ON A PUBLIC POLICY PORTFOLIO IN ORDER TO REDUCE SLCP OF TRADITIONAL

BRICKYARDS IN MEXICO"

Presented to:

Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático

Periférico Sur 5000 Col. Insurgentes Cuicuilco,

Delegación Coyoacán, D.F.

01-55-5424-6400

CC Miguel Gerardo Breceda Lapeyre General Coordinator of Green Growth

August the 26th of 2015

1

First Report

Methodology for designing surveys, focus groups and in-depth interviews

LIST OF CONTENTS

Abstract 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 3

2. Background ................................................................................................................................................ 4

3. Objectives of this report ............................................................................................................................. 4

4. Methodology for designing surveys ............................................................................................................ 5

4.1 Computation of the samples to analyze.................................................................................................... 5

4.2 Survey ............................................................................................................................................. 12

5. Methodology for designing focus group work ........................................................................................... 13

6. Methodology for designing in-depth interviews. ....................................................................................... 16

6.1 Sample size for semi-structured interviews. ........................................................................................... 16

6.2 Model support guide for semi-structured interview .......................................................................... 18

7. Follow up and documentation .................................................................................................................. 20

8. Used bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………………..21

LIST OF TABLES

Tabla 1. Artisanal Brickyards numbers registered, shown by State (source: Kato and Bárcenas, 2013). .......... 5

Tabla 2. Proportional distribution of the sample of surveys to artisanal brick makers, shown by State .............. 6

Tabla 3. Brickyard distribution by municipality (source: Kato and Bárcenas 2013). ............................................ 7

Tabla 4. Proportional distribution of the sample of surveys to artisanal brick makers by municipality. ............... 8

Tabla 5. Sampling brick artisanal brick makers schedule. ................................................................................ 12

Tabla 6. Transversal and interdisciplinary approaches ..................................................................................... 13

Tabla 7. Selected Economic Units manufacturing concrete blocks. ................................................................. 17

Tabla 8. Semi-structured interviews distribution for concrete blocks economic units. ...................................... 18

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 1. Geographical distribution of surveys in the Megalopolis .......................................................................... 9

Fig. 2. Geographical distribution of surveys in the State of Jalisco. .................................................................. 10

Fig. 3. Geographical distribution of surveys in the State of Guanajuato. .......................................................... 11

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Abstract

This first report describes the methodological design that is going to be used to guide surveys, work with focus

groups and in-depth interviews, as part of the execution of the project named “REGIONAL LEVEL MARKET

ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR AND PILOT PROJECT BASED ON A PUBLIC POLICY

PORTFOLIO IN ORDER TO REDUCE SLCP OF TRADITIONAL BRICKYARDS IN MEXICO” (agreement

INECC/RPA1-001/2015).

The survey design applicable to producers of artisan cooked red bricks, adjusted to the unique socio-economic

conditions prevailing in the sector, is presented. The sample size is calculated with the appropriate statistical

method for finite populations, which indicates the result of an estimated size between 989 surveys. Municipal

maps of the known distribution data for the number of brickyards existent in the states of Hidalgo, Tlaxcala,

Puebla, Morelos, Mexico, Jalisco and Guanajuato are included. Under the principle of proportional

representation geographically related regions, the numbers of surveys to recover from each of these regions are

defined.

To work with focus groups, we describe the methodology based on two strategies: homogeneous groups for

deepening bounded topics and heterogeneous groups for analysis market and business drivers. For both

strategies, the following methodological steps are defined: 1) identification of focal interest groups; 2) the

definition of the objectives of the focus groups; 3) mechanical choosing between one of the following two options:

questions-project exposure-feedback, or a combination of quick brainstorming, prioritization and SWOT analysis.

Finally, the methodology for conducting in-depth interviews, which will be semi-structured, conducted by high-

profile personnel experienced in handling the issue of brickyards.

For all cases, mechanism of documentation that allows demonstration and provide traceability is described.

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1. Introduction The supply of cooked clay brick in the country, correspond in one of two big categories: industrialized production

and artisan traditional production. Industrialized production is based on the intensive use of machinery, gas

(natural or from liquefied petroleum) and standardized processes quality selection and clay mixtures, and whose

product is either a solid or extruded hollow brick with high resistance to compression. Moreover, there is a large

segment of artisan brick makers that do not have intensive machinery, lack mechanisms for standardizations

and whose products differ regionally in terms of size and characteristics of appearance and probably in their

mechanical properties. An additional feature of this last segment is the use of different fuels including biomass

and special handling waste or even hazardous waste. As a result, the artisan activity is source of emissions of

pollutants that affect air quality and of emissions of greenhouse gases, including the short-lived climate

pollutants.

What is the future of the production of artisan cooked clay brick in Mexico? What alternative products are

competing with it in the market? What is the best strategy to modernize the sector? With market analysis in mind

this project seeks to answer these questions. The presented report covers the methodological design of surveys,

focus group work and in-depth interviews.

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2. Background On August the 1st of 2015, the agreement INECC/RPA1-001/2015 was signed between the Instituto Nacional

de Ecología y Cambio Climático (Ecology and Climate Change National Institute) and CIATEC, Centro de

Innovación Avanzada en Tecnologías Competitivas (Center of Advance Innovation and Competitive

Technologies), in order to execute the project entitled “REGIONAL LEVEL MARKET ANALYSIS OF THE

CONSTRUCTION SECTOR AND PILOT PROJECT BASED ON A PUBLIC POLICY PORTFOLIO IN ORDER TO

REDUCE SLCP OF TRADITIONAL BRICKYARDS IN MEXICO”.

The work schedule established in the agreement, determines as the first deliverable a report containing the

methodological design of surveys, work with focus groups and in-depth interviews to be applied as part of the

first stage referred from August to November 2015, and during the second stage referred from January to August

2016.

3. Objectives of this report Describe the design of the methodology to be used in the surveys that are going to be applied to the artisan

brick makers of the Megalopolis (Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Morelos, Mexico State, Mexico City Federal District),

along with the states of Jalisco and Guanajuato.

Describe the design of the methodology to be applied for consultation work with focus groups made up of

suppliers and purchasers of clay brick, concrete block and other alternative materials.

Describe the design of the methodology to be used for the implementation of in-depth interviews.

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4. Methodology for designing surveys 4.1 Computation of the samples to analyze.

The study sample was drawn from artisanal brick production segment units in the Megalopolis and the states of

Jalisco and Guanajuato, which represent 58.64% of the country's 17,054 artisanal brickyards1, distributed as

shown in the following table :

Tabla 1. Artisanal Brickyards numbers registered, shown by State (source: Kato and Bárcenas, 2013).

Estado Ladrilleras registradas

Guanajuato 2,366

Hidalgo 285

Jalisco 1994

Estado de México 803

Morelos 24

Puebla 4,500

Tlaxcala 29

Total 10,001

To obtain the sample size the following equation to calculate sample sizes for finite populations was used:2:

Where: N = population size z = z value for a standard normal distribution with a given confidence level e = maximum allowed standard error of the estimate p = proportion of the population of interest n = sample size

1 Kato y Bárcenas. 1913. Opportunities for reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) from brick making in Mexico and Brazil. Final Report. Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio

Climático y Comisión de Clima y Aire Limpio. Annex Mexico Statistics. 2 Stevenson, 1981. Estadística para Administración y Economía, 1981, p. 259, table 8.7 Resumen de fórmulas

6

Given that the artisanal brickyards reported in the states included in this study sum up 10,001 of 17,054 at

national level (table 1), a value of 58.64 % was assigned to the calculation of the sample. It was decided to adopt

a significant percentage of 95%, which corresponds to two standard deviations and being the most frequently

used value. At that level of significance, Z corresponds to a value equal to 1.645. Finally, although the standard

error of the sample to be determined is unknown, a value to be included conventionally in the range between

1% (0.01) and 9% (0.09) was used. With the criteria described before, the values for determining the sample

size were:

N = 10,001 artisanal brickyards z = 1.645 (z value at an expected confidence level of 95%) e = 2.5% p = 58.64%

Substituting these values, the result obtained was: n = 989 artisanal brickyards so it was decided to set the

number of surveys to 1000.

In order to have a proportionate representation of surveys in each of the States mentioned above, the distribution

was made based on the registered number of brick by State, as shown in Table 2:

Tabla 2. Proportional distribution of the sample of surveys to artisanal brick makers, shown by State

State Registered brickyards Percentage Sample

Guanajuato 2,366 23.66 237

Hidalgo 285 2.85 29

Jalisco 1,994 19.94 199

Estado de México 803 8.03 80

Morelos 24 0.24 2

Puebla 4,500 45.00 450

Tlaxcala 29 2.90 3

Total 10,001 1000

Applying the proportionality principle, table 4 shows the proposed distribution of surveys of artisanal brickyards

by municipality, which is based on the information available at the 2013 INECC study3 (table 3). It is worth noting

that on the information available, some data is labeled under the name "other" without reference to a particular

3 Kato y Bárcenas, 2013. Op cit

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Municipality, particularly: 980 in the State of Jalisco, 178 in the State of Puebla, 24 in the State of Morelos and

24 more on the State of Tlaxcala that are in the same condition.

Tabla 3. Brickyard distribution by municipality (source: Kato and Bárcenas 2013).

Municipio Ladrilleras Municipio Ladrilleras

Abasolo 367 Actopan 37

Acámbaro 82 Ajacuba 8 Municipio Ladrilleras

Apaseo el Alto 44 Atitalaquia 6 Chalco 289

Apaseo el Grande 4 Cuautepec de Hinojosa 1 Chicoloapan 27

Celaya 92 El Arenal 29 Coyotepec 69

Comonfort 50 Huichapan 27 Metepec 159

Coroneo 3 Mineral de la Reforma 33 Teoloyucan 22

Cortazar 23 Santiago Tulantepec 72 Toluca 34

Cuerámaro 48 Singuilucan 2 Zinacantepec 4

Doctor Mora 8 Tepejí del río de Ocampo 13 Almoloya de Juárez 17

Dolores Hidalgo 38 Tizayuca 19 Temascalcingo 175

Guanajuato 195 Tolcayuca 1 Xonacatlán 7

Huanímaro 3 Tulancingo de Bravo 29 Total 803

Irapuato 24 Almoloya 7

Jaral del Progreso 6 Zacualtipan de Angeles 1

León 274 Total 285

Manuel Doblado 33

Ocampo 28

Pénjamo 10 Municipio Ladrilleras

Purísima del Rincón 34 Municipio Ladrilleras San Pedro Cholula 2086

Romita 23 Guadalajara 34 Coronango 1125

Salamanca 59 Zapopan 23 Juan C. Bonilla 571

Salvatierra 3 Tlaquepaque 0 San andres Calpan 121

San Diego de la Unión 16 Tonalá 3 Huejotzingo 186

San Felipe 70 Tlajomulco de Zúñiga 16 San Martín Texmelucan 227

Sn. Fco. del Rincón 44 El Salto 70 Cuautlancingo 5

San José Iturbide 150 Ixtlahuacán del Río 0 San Andrés Cholula 1

San Luis de la Paz 16 Juanacatlán 0 Otros (N/D) 178

San Miguel de Allende 102 Zaplotlanejo Total 4500

S. C. Juventino Rosas 26 Tala 0

Silao 229 Otros (N/D) 980

Tarandacuao 5 Total 1994

Tarimoro 100

Uriangato 5 Municipio Ladrilleras

Valle de Santiago 37 Estado (N/D) 29

Villagrán 3 Municipio Ladrilleras Total 29

Yuriria 112 Estado (N/D) 24

Total 2366 Total 24

ESTADO: GUANAJUATO ESTADO: HIDALGO

ESTADO: JALISCO

ESTADO: MORELOS

ESTADO: MÉXICO

ESTADO: PUEBLA

ESTADO: TLAXCALA

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With this data, we proceeded to represent on a map the amount of brickyards to be sampled by Municipality. In

Figure 1, the geographic distribution for the Megalopolis is illustrated.

Municipio Muestra Municipio Muestra

Abasolo 37 Santiago Tulantepec 8 Municipio Muestra

León 28 Actopan 4 Chalco 29

Silao 24 Mineral de la Reforma 3 Temascalcingo 17

Guanajuato 20 El Arenal 3 Metepec 16

San José Iturbide 15 Tulancingo de Bravo 3 Coyotepec 7

Yuriria 11 Huichapan 3 Toluca 3

San Miguel de Allende 10 Tizayuca 2 Chicoloapan 3

Tarimoro 10 Tepejí del río de Ocampo 1 Teoloyucan 2

Celaya 9 Ajacuba 1 Almoloya de Juárez 2

Acámbaro 8 Almoloya 1 Xonacatlán 1

San Felipe 7 Atitalaquia 1 Total 80

Salamanca 6 Total 29

Comonfort 5

Cuerámaro 5

Apaseo el Alto 4

Sn. Fco. del Rincón 4 Municipio Muestra Municipio Muestra

Dolores Hidalgo 4 Otros (N/D) 98 San Pedro Cholula 209

Valle de Santiago 4 Tonalá 29 Coronango 113

Purísima del Rincón 3 El Salto 20 Juan C. Bonilla 57

Manuel Doblado 3 Zapopan 14 San Martín Texmelucan 23

Ocampo 3 Tlaquepaque 14 Huejotzingo 19

S. C. Juventino Rosas 3 Tlajomulco de Zúñiga 13 Otros 18

Irapuato 2 Tala 7 San andres Calpan 12

Cortazar 2 Ixtlahuacán del Río 2 Cuautlancingo 1

Romita 2 Guadalajara 2 Total 450

San Diego de la Unión 2 Juanacatlán 1

San Luis de la Paz 2 Total 199

Pénjamo 1

Doctor Mora 1

Jaral del Progreso 1 Municipio Muestra

Tarandacuao 1 Municipio Muestra Estado (N/D) 3

Uriangato 1 Estado (N/D) 2 Total 3

Total 237 Total 2

ESTADO: GUANAJUATO ESTADO: HIDALGO

ESTADO: JALISCO

ESTADO: MORELOS

ESTADO: MÉXICO

ESTADO: PUEBLA

ESTADO: TLAXCALA

Tabla 4. Proportional distribution of the sample of surveys to artisanal brick makers by municipality.

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Fig. 1. Geographical distribution of surveys in the Megalopolis

To ensure that we met the statistical assumptions used to calculate the sample size, a scheme in which seven

regions identified arises:

Megalópolis

Hidalgo South and Mexico North Region: Huichapan, Tepeji del Río, Atitalaquia, Ajacuba, El Arenal, Actopan, Mineral de la Reforma, Tizayuca, Teoloyucan y Coyotepec.

Hidalgo East Region: Tulancingo de Bravo, Santiago Tulantepec y Almoloya.

Mexico Northeast Region: Temascalcingo

México Center Region: Almoloya de Juárez, Xonacatlán y Metepec.

Mexico East Region: Chcicoloapan y Chalco.

Puebla-Tlaxcala Region: San Martín Texmelucan, Huejotzingo, San Pedro Cholula, Coronango, Cuautlacingo y Tlaxcala.

Morelos Region: Cuernavaca

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For the State of Jalisco we identified 4 regions of interest, suggested by the Ministry of Environment and

Territorial Development of Jalisco (SEMADET)4:

Jalisco Altos North Region: to be defined along with SEMADET.

Jalisco Altos South Region: to be defined along with SEMADET.

Jalisco South Region: to be defined along with SEMADET.

Jalisco Cenetr Region: Ixtlahuacán del Río, Guadalajara, Tonalá, El Salto, Juanacatlán, Tlajomulco de

Zúñiga, Tlaquepaque, Tala y Zapopan.

Under the same proportional principle, in figure 2 is shown the geographical distribution for Guadalajara

Metropolitan Area in Jalisco State.

Fig. 2. Geographical distribution of surveys in the State of Jalisco.

We will apply the remaining 98 surveys in the other regions.

4 Mónica Díaz and Adriana Rivapalacio, Pers com, August the 20th of 2015.

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For Guanajuato, it is taken as reference the diagnosis of the brick industry elaborated by CIATEC5 for the Ministry

of Ecology of the State and some of the municipalities with the highest number of brickyards in the territory:

Guanajuato West Region: León, San Francisco, Purísima, Silao, Romita and Guanajuato.

Guanajuato North Region: San Felipe and San Luis de la Paz.

Guanajuato East Region: San Miguel de allende, Celaya, Apaseo el Alto, Apaseo el Grande, Tarimoro

and Acámbaro.

Guanajuato South Region: Irapuato, Salamanca, Abasolo, Pénjamo, Yuriria y Valle de Santiago.

Fig. 3. Geographical distribution of surveys in the State of Guanajuato.

5Rivera et al. 2014. Diagnóstico de la Industria Ladrillera del Estado de Guanajuato. Informe final. Instituto de Ecología del Estado de Guanajuato. León, Guanajuato.

12

One of the advantages of visualizing the sampling by regions, is to have a flexible survey intake, by allowing

remote sites with one or few scattered brickyards, can eventually be replaced by samples taken in another

municipality within the same region, where there is sufficient justification related to remoteness, difficult access

or inability to find the producer of the bricks.

The sampling schedule (Table 5) shows that surveys will be applied in a four-week period extending from late

September to late October. Logistics include formation of the working teams needed to advance at a rate of 250

surveys per week.

Tabla 5. Sampling brick artisanal brick makers schedule.

State 5 to 10 Oct 12 to 17 Oct 19 to 24 Oct 26 to 31 Oct

Hidalgo

Tlaxcala

Puebla

Morelos

Estado de México

Jalisco

Guanajuato

4.2 Survey

The aim of the survey to artisanal producers of cooked bricks, is to obtain statistical information on socio-economic profile,

production numbers, technology used, final product and marketing conditions of the product: it is directed to the owner or

responsible for the operation of each production unit, and to identify the barriers that they face to adopt new technologies.

The survey was designed primarily with closed questions as far as possible, and with instructions for the interviewer to

facilitate the proper contact between interviewer and interviewee. Location data will be taken with a phone GPS as

geographical coordinates for subsequent location in the Basic Geostatistical Areas delimited by INEGI (AGEB). The survey

is shown in the appendix to this report.

In the design precautionary steps were taken to establish the information to be obtained without recurring to direct questions.

Data on the size and types of kilns, will be obtained directly by the interviewer, while the dimensions of the bricks are

obtained by sub-sampling in each community at least 10% of the surveyed brickyards; bricks are to be tagged and

transferred to the operations base for measuring dimensions and weight.

On September, a pilot focus group will be conducted with 5 to 8 artisanal brickmakers; the objective will be to obtain

feedback on survey design that will be used to improve its efficacy in the definitive survey. Focus group results will be fully

documented.

13

It is important to mention that this is the first draft of the interview, and that it will be modified on the base of pilot exercise

and the technical opinion of INECC. The final version will be included in the final report.

5. Methodology for designing focus group work The second phase of the project covers the activities of demand analysis and forecasting of alternative materials

to artisanal cooked clay bricks. It is pretended to interview various groups that have something to do with different

aspects (transversal) and with different groups of actors (interdisciplinary). The relationship between them is

described in Table 6:

Tabla 6. Transversal and interdisciplinary approaches

Stakeholders Regulations Market Institutional demand

Innovation

Architects and engineers

Constructors

Public Works officials

Environmental officials

Industrials

Artisans

Academics

Given the two approaches, two methodological strategies are defined: homogeneous groups for deepening

bounded topics and heterogeneous groups for dimensional analysis of drivers of the market and business.

For both strategies the following methodological steps are defined:

a. Identification of the focus groups of interest according to the matrix arrangement of Table 6.

b. Definition of the objectives of the focus groups;

c. Mechanical choice between one of the following two options:

For homogeneous groups, a dynamic based on a bounded set of five questions, followed by an

exposition of the scope of the project and finally, getting feedback from participants.

14

For interdisciplinary groups a methodology that seeks to delve into the drivers of the market and

business will be adopted, by combining quick brainstorming, prioritization and SWOT analysis, as

is done in the market layer of a technologic roadmap6.

For transversal groups, questions will focus on the following topics:

Incidence of regulations for bricks in the market.

Factors of their professional / industrial activities affecting the brick market.

Trends in the use of building materials.

Trends in technology innovation.

Aspects that determine the purchase and use decisions or alternative materials.

Influence of the environmental aspects involved in the artisanal activities on their purchasing

decisions.

For interdisciplinary groups, the questions will be on the following topics:

Drivers of the market.

Physical characteristics of the product that can be a driver of the market.

Quality or price as a market driver.

Availability and accessibility of the product.

Role of environmental regulations.

Business Drivers.

Alternative products competing with artisanal brick.

Transport and transaction costs (retailers, transportation and commercialization).

Product differentiation.

Market opportunities.

Market growth.

6 Phaal,. Farrukh and Probert. 2001. T-Plan. The phast start to Technology Roadmapping. Planning your route to success. Institute for manufacturing. University of Cambridge.Cambridge, UK. 124 pp.

15

Government support.

Technological innovations.

Business opportunities.

Regulatory frame.

Absence of support policies and programs.

Intermediary factor.

Price levels.

Business weakness.

Technological obsolescence.

Training.

Breach of environmental obligations.

Costs and prices structure.

Market threats.

Alternative ecological products.

Regulatory frame.

Market prices.

Business threats.

Technology.

Geographical location.

Market and business differentiation is determined on the base of producers quantity involved on each level. We

refer to business with respect to individual producers, and to market when we refer to a group of producers

and/or buyers.

Each 5 to 8 people focus groups will work in a two hours session and directed by a guide. For the interdisciplinary

strategy, the number of persons can be bigger depending on the logistic conditions and number of assistants.

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6. Methodology for designing in-depth interviews. For the industrial production sector of brick, block and similar materials, research will be done on the basis of

semi-structured interviews, defined like that because they will be conducted with the guidance of a series of

questions for the interviewer, but during the development of each of them, to be allowing as to the interviewer to

explore other unforeseen questions.

Open interviews will be applied to the actors related to demand and with the topic of innovation of construction

materials that could become an alternative to traditional bricks and blocks.

6.1 Sample size for semi-structured interviews.

With regards to industrial clay bricks and concrete blocks, the universe to be sampled will be estimated on the

basis of the Statistic National Register of Economic Units (DENUE)7 published by Instituto Nacional de

Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI). This document includes economic units registered in 2014 census:

they are classified in accordance with the North American Industrial Classification System (SCIAN), and their

geographical location annotated in reference to Mexican Basic Geographical Area (AGEB).

Economic units selection was made on the base of 3273 and 3279 classifications, corresponding to concrete

blocks and other nonmetallic minerals products, with 6,892 and 3,827 units each, giving a total of 10,719

economic units. Other classification taken into account, was the 327121 corresponding to non-refractory clay

bricks.

The information of each and every one of the economic units under 3273 and 3279 classifications were analyzed;

producers of pipes, poles, pre manufactured products and others with non compatible names, were excluded.

We only take information from economic units with names reflecting manufacturing of bricks and blocks. We

included economic units with names including “tabiquera” and “bloquera sin nombre”. The result is shown in

table 7:

7 INEGI, 2015. www3.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/mapa/denue. Consulted on August 13th, 2015.

17

Tabla 7. Selected Economic Units manufacturing concrete blocks.

Concrete products

Distrito Federal

Guanajuato Hidalgo Jalisco Estado de

México Morelos Puebla Tlaxcala National

Tabique 34 29 1 7 151 49 579

Tabicón 17 12 35 2 2 155

Block 8 38 184 81 207 39 428 143 3,300

Subtotal 59 79 185 88 393 41 479 143 4,034

Sample size for semi-structured interviews was calculated with finite population equation8:

Where: N = population size z = z value for a standard normal distribution with a given confidence level e = maximum allowed standard error of the estimate p = proportion of the population of interest n = sample size

Given the fact that proportion of sample size is unknown, a value of p = 0.5 was used. It was decided to adopt

a significant percentage of 95%, which corresponds to two standard deviations and being the most frequently

used value. At that level of significance, Z corresponds to a value equal to 1.645. Finally, although the standard

error of the sample to be determined is unknown, a value to be included conventionally in the range between

1% (0.01) and 9% (0.09) was used. Substituting these values, the result obtained was: n = 117 economic units.

National geographic distribution of semi-structured interviews will be made under proportionality principle, based

on the economic units number registered in DENUE by INEGI as shown in table 8:

8 Stevenson, 1981. op cit.

18

Tabla 8. Semi-structured interviews distribution for concrete blocks economic units.

State Economic

units Percentage Interviews

Hidalgo 185 5% 5

Tlaxcala 143 4% 4

Puebla 479 12% 14

Morelos 41 1% 1

Estado de México 393 10% 11

Distrito Federal 59 1% 2

Jalisco 88 2% 3

Guanajuato 79 2% 2

Rest of country 2567 64% 74

Total: 4034 100% 117

With respect to economic units under classification 327121, named manufacturing of non refractory clay bricks

for construction, 9364 economic units are registered, but nevertheless it was detected that many of them are

information of artisanal producers or retailers. A screening based on the size of economic unit was made: the

criteria used was those economic units with 50 or more employees (medium or big units as classified by

Secretaria de Economía (Economy Ministry)9. As a result of that, 11 economic units appeared, so every one of

them will be subjected to semi-structured interviews.

6.2 Model support guide for semi-structured interview

The main objective of semi-structured interview, in to characterize concrete block production and clay non

refractory brick production (usually extruded), both at country level. An additional intention of interviews, is to

gain information from the producers vision, about products demand and competition against artisanal brick

products.

9 Secretaría de Economía, 2009. ACUERDO por el que se establece la estratificación de las micro, pequeñas y medianas empresas.

http://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle_popup.php?codigo=5096849. Consultado el 15 de agosto de 2015.

19

The elements forming part of semi-structured interviews, are shown below but without limiting other topics that

can and should arise during interviews. The question in depth about production, will be constrained to structural

brick and block products, and do not will have focus in other kind of non-structural products.

Semi-structured interviews will be conducted beginning with a brief introduction explaining to the person to be

interviewed the kind of research being conducted and the objective pursued; the interviewer will thank in advance

for the collaboration from the person to be interviewed.

A) PRODUCTION AND SALES ASPECTS.

a. Pieces produced per month or year (kind of product, quantity of pieces, value of production, sales).

b. Installed and realized capacity.

c. Technological and mechanization aspects. Kiln type and capacity, as well as global fuel

consumption, for clay burned bricks. Machinery utilized for concrete blocks.

d. Raw material inputs. Type, origin and quantity of raw material.

e. Description of the process and characteristics (manual, mechanized or mixed).

f. Final disposition of losses and wastes.

g. Quality certifications.

h. Physical characteristics and dimensions of the three main products of the company.

i. Product and process innovation plans. Main motivations for changing products and/or processes.

j. Production growth perspectives.

B) MARKET ASPECTS

a. Installed versus realized production capacity.

b. Targeted market: export, national, regional or local.

c. Identification of main markets for their products (Regions, cities and states).

d. Market barriers.

e. Buyer: home developer, contractors of public resources construction, self-construction people, etc.

f. Competing products in the market (artisanal bricks, extrude bricks, concrete blocks, alternative

bricks, etc.).

g. New materials/products potentially competing.

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C) GENERAL INFORMATION: Identification data from the facility and interviewed people will be

collected when approved by people being interviewed.

a. Location (city, address of facility, telephone number, e-mail, web site and geographic location data

(or AGEB where the facility is located)

b. Tipo de organización (nombre empresa. Asociación especializada, persona física,

comercializadora, etc.)

c. Antigüedad del negocio.

d. Tamaño de la empresa (número de trabajadores; obreros, administrativos, fijos y eventuales,

número de empleadas y empleados).

7. Follow up and documentation

Surveys will be monitored and subjected to a quality review in the space of two days after they are taken, this is

done in order to replace those that are discarded by any of the following problems: inconsistency of the detected

numbers, illegible entries, incomplete data and lack of observations of the interviewer.

In the application on the documents mentioned above, the results will be documented by transcription of audio

files; video and photo libraries of the activities; annexes with the original interviews and surveys; progress reports

of work with focus groups, including attendance records.

21

8. Used bibliography.

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Comunicación personal, 20 de agosto de 2015.

INEGI. 2015). Directorio Estadístico Nacional de Unidades Económicas (DENUE). Instituto Nacional de

Geografía, Estadística e Informática. Consultado en agosto 13 de 2015 en:

http://www3.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/mapa/denue/default.aspx

Kato, E. y C. Bárcenas. 2013. Opportunities for reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs)

from brick making in Mexico and Brazil. Final Report. Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático y

Comisión de Clima y Aire Limpio. México, D.F. 18pp. Annex Mexico Statistics.

Phaal R., C.J.P. Farrukh y D.R. Probert, 2001. T-Plan. The phast start to Technology Roadmapping. Planning

your route to success. Institute for manufacturing. University of Cambridge. Cambridge, UK. 124 pp.

Rivera et al, 2014. Diagnóstico de la Industria Ladrillera del Estado de Guanajuato. Informe final. Instituto de

Ecología del Estado de Guanajuato. CIATEC. León, Guanajuato. 197 pp.

SE. 2009. ACUERDO por el que se establece la estratificación de las micro, pequeñas y medianas empresas.

Secretaría de Economía. Diario Oficial de la Federación, 25 de junio de 2009. Consultado el 16 de agosto de

2015 en: http://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle_popup.php?codigo=5096849.

Stevenson, W.J. 1981. Estadística para Administración y Economía: conceptos y aplicaciones. Ed. Alfaomega

Grupo. México, D.F. p. 259, tabla 8.7 Resumen de fórmulas.