1. Western International University
Applied Thesis Cover Sheet
Exploring the potential conflict between enhanced security/safety and personal privacy in
air travel after 9/11
This Applied Thesis was completed in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Degree
Masters in Business Administration in Information technology
Presented by:
_______Jasdeep Singh Joga______
______________________________________
(Signature of Student)
This student warrants that he has conducted this Applied Thesis with ethical and research
integrity and has not plagiarized or misrepresented any facts, figures, or other
documentation. This student further warrants that he has not violated the propriety of any
organizational information/documents contained in this research.
____________________________________
Chief Academic Officer Signature
____________________________________
Chief Academic Officer Printed Name
____________________________________
Date

2. Executive Summary
This study is about safety in the airline industry and changes in security features
since the 9/11 incident in United States. It seems that travelers were afraid of traveling
via airlines airways after 9/11 and do not have confidence in the homeland security. The
researcher himself is a frequent air traveler and has faced international security measures
in many different continents. The Researcher has seen people feeling uncomfortable with
new technologies such as backscatter scanning. The past experiences of the researcher in
airport waiting areas led to the research in this topic. This is the reason why the study
became important and gave rise to many questions; for example, what are the security
technologies after the 9/11? What level of security is provided by newly implemented
information technology-based equipment? What issues are related to this new
information equipment? What impact do these changes in technology have on travelers
and is there any effect of change in security equipment or information technology on the
airline business?
This thesis reviews these factors in depth and seeks to answer the thesis question,
“Do commercial airline passengers believe the more advanced computer-based security
systems, which may raise questions about violating personal privacy, provide greater
levels of security and, therefore, more safety for travelers compared to the standard,
traditional security measures?”
The study includes both primary and secondary research methods, which allowed
the researcher to answer the thesis question. In the primary research, a questionnaire was
designed specifically for air travelers; answers to the questionnaire also served the

3. purpose of a quantitative study method; whereas, for a qualitative study, the researcher
gathered data from various journals, online books, news websites and online articles.
The secondary research provided knowledge about how to form each question for
the primary research. Conclusions made at the end of the research were based on primary
and secondary research information. The major conclusion was, in the post 9/11 era, air
travelers have demanded more safety in air journeys in exchange for which most of the
educated air passengers are now ready to sacrifice their personal privacy. This gave rise
to emerging technologies like backscatter, used in the personal body scanner. This
technology is also a major recommendation for airport safety.
Some of the major conclusions showed that, after 9/11, most of the air travelers
are ready to sacrifice their personal privacy for their security. The second conclusion was
based on the threat to the airline industry, which showed that in the case of another
happening like 9/11, the air travelers would opt for alternate means of transportation such
as the car. This proves that cars are the best alternate and competitor to airlines.
Conclusion three found that scanners are a better option than the wand. Conclusion four
found that extensive and unique types of security checks can indirectly harm the airline
business,
Recommendations for airports and security equipment companies are based on
findings from the primary research. The major recommendations for airports as well as
security equipment manufacturing companies, are to use scanning technologies and
integrate the surveillance systems in the airport for a centralized information flow. An
option can be provided to travelers to go through the scanner or get wanded for a security
check. Biometric technologies can be used for frequent flyers, which will provide them

4. fast access to the airport building. Better communication devices for information transfer
can be used, and the use of high technology equipment allows better and faster decision-
making, therefore airports must optimize the use of information technology, which will
provide better communication and security.

5. i
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………………………2
Background…………………………………………………………………...3
Overview to the Problem……………………………………………………...5
Research Question…………………………………………………………….7
Research Objective……………………………………………………………8
Benefits of Study……………………………………………………………...9
Scope of Study………………………………………………………………...10
Competencies of Major……………………………………………………......11
Glossary of Terms Used……………………………………………………....12
Chapter Two: Review of Related Literature………………………………………….15
Industry Background and Perspectives ………………………………………15
Importance of airport security………………………………………...15
Common means of airport security ………………………………..…17
Changes with the help of information technology……………………18
Related Studies……………………………………………………………….26
Air travel safety statistics ……………….……………………………26
The challenges for airline security…………………….…………...…31
The threats associated with the information technology infrastructure.33
The advantages of information technology in airport security………..34
The disadvantages of information technology in airport security…….36
Chapter Three: Research Design and Methods………………………………………..38
Research design ………………………………………………………………38

6. ii
Data collection methods …………………………………………………….38
Limitations of research ……………………………………………………...44
Chapter Four: Data analysis and Presentation ……………………………………….46
Chapter Five: Conclusion and Recommendation ……………………………………83
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………….83
Recommendations …………………………………………………………..84
References…………………………………………………………………………....90
Appendix A…………………………………………………………………………..95

7. iii
List of Figures
Figure 1 Air travelers stripped bare with X-ray machine……………………………….5
Figure 2. Photo of backscatter technology in use……………………………………….8
Figure 3. Pre computerization Air travel industry structure……………………………21
Figure 4. The air travel industry structure after GDS (Global Distribution System)…..24
Figure 5. Structure of Air travel booking industry after the expansion of internet……25
Figure 6. Chart Regional Accident Rates……………………………………………...28
Figure 7. Rate of improvement in safety………………………………………………30
Figure 8: Response count of people traveled through airways…………………………47
Figure 9. Response count of participants travel habits…………………………………48
Figure 10. Question 3, Gender………………………………………………………….49
Figure 11. Question 4, Age………………………………………………………….….50
Figure 12. Awareness about emerging technologies………………………………….51
Figure 13. Do you agree with the statement in Question 6?...........................................52
Figure 14. More security features lead to more delays in travel………………………53
Figure 15. Do you believe more security features allow safer air travel?......................54
Figure 16. Do security features slow down travel time?.................................................55
Figure 17. Alternatives to air travel……………………………………………….……56
Figure 18. Less security checks…………………………………………………..……..57
Figure 19. More privacy……………………………………………………….………..58
Figure 20. Better service………………………………………………………….…….59
Figure 21. Cost………………………………………………………………………….60
Figure 22. Last security check…………………………………………………………61

8. iv
Figure 23. Mandatory procedure of no use…………………………………….………..62
Figure 24. Consider it important………………………………………………………..63
Figure 25. Airport security issue……………………………………………………….64
Figure 26. Embarrassing in front of others………………………………………………65
Figure 27. Mandatory safety procedure………………………………………….……..66
Figure 28. Will consider it for own safety………………………………………………67
Figure 29. No issues going through X-ray machine……………………………………68
Figure 30. Do not want to reveal myself………………………………………………..69
Figure 31: Which would you choose?…………………………………….……………..70
Figure 32: Because it’s easier………………………………………………….………..71
Figure 33. Don’t feel embarrassed………………………………………………………72
Figure 34: Better security for airlines………………………………………...…………73
Figure 35. Better for personal safety………………………………………………….74
Figure 36. Personal security check…………………………………………………….75
Figure 37: How did you felt?………………………………………….………………..76
Figure 38. Using same airlines…………………………………………………………..77
Figure 39. Better safety…………………………………………………..……………..78
Figure 40. Alternatives are cheaper and safe…………………………………………..79
Figure 41. Provides neither of the security or better cost……….………………………80
Figure 42. Provides both security and better cost…………………..…………………..81
Figure 43. Centralized information flow…………………………….…………………..86

9. v
List of Tables
Table 1: Impact on the airline industry after September 11…………………………….16
Table 2: History of the SABRE system………………………………………………….23
Table 3: Number of questions ………………………………………………...…………41

10. 2
Chapter One: Introduction
The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States were an eye-opening
event for every airline security authority throughout the world. One of the major reasons behind
why the incident happened was the lack of effective security at airports.
Security in the airline industry is one of the most important tasks performed by
commercial air transport personnel. For complete security, the authorities have to check each
person and the baggage possessed by every single passenger. However, even after such tight
security, passengers, and others, sometimes attempt to breach security measures or try to take
restricted items on flights. ABC15 News captured a recent event on tape, the report shows that
even after 9/11, airport security is not improved. The reason behind the comment was that the
security system was shutdown at night, which means no checking at all. The news reported that,
for four and a half hours before 4:30 am, the TSA staff gets off duty and all other security
equipment, including metal detector and X-ray scanning machines, are shut down. The report
says that the news cameras captured days of footage in which they found that, within the specific
period virtually anything could be brought into the airport and other safe areas. The security staff
available does not check any baggage or wand and scan any person, which brings in greater risk
(Fletcher, 2007).
Information technology plays a vital role in security checks at airports. With information
technology-enabled security systems, someone who might wish to harm others, to highjack an
airplane, or to commit some other act of terrorism, has few places left to hide. These advanced
systems have been developed and installed in major airports in the United States and around the
world. The tragic terrorist attacks against targets in New York City and Washington D.C. have
taught a valuable lesson to use information technology as the hidden weapon again any terrorism

11. 3
act (Schneier, 2006, p. 1). Implementing information technology is an effort to thwart the plans
of those who wish to use commercial air transportation as a means of committing terrorist attacks
and to reassure the public that air travel is once again safe. Additionally, these security measures
protect the economic vitality of the worldwide airline industry, including the airlines themselves,
and the many related industries that supply goods and services related to air travel (Schneier,
2006, p. 1).
Background
Security checks in airports no longer consist merely of a waiting area. The researcher
himself is a frequent flier and has seen passengers feeling embarrassed by having to be “wanded”
with a metal detector, to be patted down, or to submit their baggage to an on-the-spot search in
the presence of other flyers. Computer-based technology has made the security check faster and
much more time efficient. For people who try to breach security, technology has become a threat
and a new deterrent. According to the TSA (Transport Security Administration), new technology
provides a new feeling of security, and passengers see a new, improved face of airline security
making today’s commercial airlines the fastest and most secure means of transportation
throughout the world. (Jackson, 2009)
However, on the other hand, the new technology is also becoming a controversy for
privacy issues; technology like backscatter scanning has issues related to both privacy and
radiation (Wolff, 2007). After the 9/11 attacks in the U.S., research into advanced security
systems increased, resulting in the emergence of new, more powerful scanning technology.
However, in addition to the technological advances, this new scanning equipment brought with it
new social issues as well. (Jackson, 2009)

12. 4
Before the advent of this new technology, few social issues, other than mild
embarrassment seen by researcher himself, faced commercial airline passengers. The entire
security check process was manual, done by a security officer patting the body or using hand-
held metal detectors. This job was tiring and dangerous for security personnel because there was
direct contact with the passengers. Now, the new high-technology equipment is making the work
easier, faster, and more secure then it used to be. New security measures do not rely only on
metal detectors and physical searches, because the advanced technology has provided the power
to see through the baggage and the clothes of passengers providing better security for airports
and air passengers. An effect of new technology was seen very soon after the 9/11 incident at
DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) airport in November 19, 2001 DFW report, which showed that better
use of technology was bringing airline business back into business. DFW installed new security
equipment based on information technology and then conducted a survey of its own passengers
asking them about the time consumed in security clearance. Their study found that 69 percent of
their survey respondents agreed that, with the help of information technology, the time consumed
in security clearance is 0 to 5 minutes. The airport was not using backscatter technology; rather,
new 30 magnetometers were introduced, which helped airport authorities to minimize the wit
time on security checks (DFW Airport [DFW], 2001).
A new technology, called backscatter scanning, works on the principle of a low intensity
X-ray beam, which is much more revealing than the former methods. It can detect non-metallic
objects hidden under clothes, and with the emergence of this technology, social issues come into
play (Electronic Privacy Information Center [EPIC], n.d., p. 1). This technology allows the
security personnel to see through clothes, which means there is no privacy left. It has become a
big issue for the passengers who do not want to reveal body parts. The people who opposed this

13. 5
technology are mainly business people who are on the move throughout the world (Frank, 2005,
p. 1).
Overview to the Problem
The security administration uses backscatter scanning technology to check any possible
threat hidden under garments (Frank, 2005, p. 1), (Jackson, 2009). Figure 1 shows how clearly a
security officer can view a passenger.
Figure 1. Air travelers stripped bare with X-ray machine. Frank, T. (2005, May 15). Air travelers
stripped bare with X-ray machine. USA TODAY. Retrieved from
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-05-15-airport-xray-bottomstrip_x.htm
Figure 1 shows how easy it becomes with the help of backscatter scanning technology to
detect any possible threat hidden under clothes. Not every passenger is hiding something in their

14. 6
clothes, and that is the reason why this technology has become a problem with passengers. The
American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that advocates for human rights, raised the issue
of backscatter technology because of the technology’s body revealing properties. The matter was
then taken to the companies, which manufacture this security equipment and were asked to
provide some solution to the privacy issue. There are three major companies manufacturing this
equipment: and providing backscatter technology services OSI Rapiscan, American Science &
Engineering and Spectrum San Diego manufacturing (Wolff, 2007). The involvement of the
ACLU became a reason for testing backscatter technology. Backscatter was tested from 2003 to
2007 and has now been approved for launch resulting in the installation of this technology at
many airports in United States. The last test improved the technology and allowed it to blur the
sexual areas of a body so that no one can see them (Frank, 2005, p. 1).
Looking at human psychology, no one wants to reveal the sexual parts of his or her body,
especially when the person knows that he or she is not concealing anything. This type of
technology has become a problem to passengers and this thesis considers this issue as an
important area to examine in relation to the airline industry (Jackson, 2009).
Even though equipment-manufacturing companies were able to blur the sexual part of
human body while scanning, the reason that backscatter scanning technology still has problem is
its early publicity, about its near naked exposure, which has not been overcome by the blurring
of private parts. In addition, most travelers still are ignorant about it. An analysis done on the
issues related to backscatter revealed that, even though the ACLU has been able to get some of
its features changed, the technology still has issues related radiation and privacy and there are the
argue still persists. The analysis says that in United States people are concerned about privacy,

15. 7
whereas in United Kingdom, privacy is not the matter and radiation is a major concern (Wolff,
2007).
Backscatter technology is being tested at 12 airports in United States, such as Phoenix
Sky Harbor Airport, and internationally at London’s Heathrow Airport. This technology took
four years to pass the security and privacy tests and emerged from these controversies before
being used in the final test (Frank, 2005, p. 1). This machine itself is about the size of a
household refrigerator as shown in Figure 2. There are various technologies that are under
development, in the testing phase or recently implemented; for example, the wristband scanner,
fingerprint reader and iris scanner. Among these technologies, there are privacy issues also; for
example, in case of the wristband scanner, people are afraid of its use because it can give a
shock. People are afraid of using such technology (Press, 2008).
Research Question
This thesis will answer the following research question: Do commercial airline
passengers believe the more advanced computer-based security systems, which may raise
questions about violating personal privacy, provide greater levels of security and, therefore, more
safety for travelers compared to the traditional security measures. Exploring the potential
conflict between enhanced security/safety and personal privacy is a question of vital importance
in our post 9/11 world.

16. 8
Figure 2. Photo of backscatter body scanner in use. Transport Security Administration. (n.d.). X-
Ray Backscatter Technology and Your Personal Privacy [Press release]. Retrieved from
http://www.tsa.gov/research/privacy/backscatter.shtm
Research Objectives
The research will consider two case studies examining how technology is helping
security staff and how e-commerce is helping the airline industry. These case studies will
answer, what is the use of information technology, how does it provide better safety? One of the

17. 9
case studies will also explore the effect of information technology on the airline industry
covering the role of SABRE in airline services and safety. These two case studies will show the
change occurring in the airline industry business with the use of new information technology, but
do not focus on privacy issue. The privacy issue will be considered in the secondary research
effort, which will review news articles and related journals to understand the impact of these
changes. These secondary research efforts will be coupled with a primary research questionnaire
to assess the responses of airline travelers to heightened security measures. In the end, this
research will conclude how information technology is changing safety measures and affecting
business in air travel. The research objective is to understand the required changes to be made in
airport security and find out how secure air travelers feel about the new technologies. Meanwhile
they know that any mistake made by the TSA can lead to a greater threat to their own lives. The
goal of this study is to find out how secure commercial airline passengers, of different age
groups and from different regions of the world, feel about information technology security
systems. To find out how technology helps business this study will also determine at what level
passengers of commercial airlines would take a different means of transport considering security
and privacy.
Benefits of the Study
The airline industry may benefit from guidance based on the survey of passengers. They
will see the reaction of passengers to the situations and how to maximize their position with
them. The government security organizations may learn additional information useful to their
interaction with travelers.
Any company, which launches a new information technology enabled service in the
airline industry, can use this study and the survey results as a measuring tool to understand the

18. 10
effects of its service on the passengers. This research effort will also highlight the change
required at any level of security or service, which airports can work on, to improve customer
service or security. This study is to find out how secure commercial airline passengers, of
different age groups and from different regions of the world, feel about information technology
security systems.
This study will also help to find out to what level passengers of commercial airlines
would take a different means of transport considering their security and privacy. The primary
research analysis can also help the government to find out how secure travelers feel with the help
of new information technology resources and if there is any need to change certain policies,
which could affect the public trust on government. This study can be used by any airport to see
the effect of implementing new IT related services in an airport. A case study of Long Beach
Airport in secondary research shows how implementing IT based infrastructure provides greater
level of security to passengers as well as the airport. Based on the answers obtained from the
survey, companies can use the data to study and work on what customers want from new
emerging technologies.
Scope of the Study
The area of this research is largely on the companies, which manufacture airport security
equipments, to find out what are the issues related to new technologies such as backscatter and
do travelers accept technologies, which leaves no privacy to the customer. Also to find out the
suitable best equipment option available in market for airports, which is suitable for both better
security as well as privacy?
This project requires secondary research as well as a survey of people who travel on
airlines a significant amount. The survey conducted on different passengers from different

19. 11
demographics, different age groups would help finding out the role of information technology as
a security feature. This will allow the study to examine every aspect and level of change in
requirement of information technology enabled services in the airline industry. This will also
determine how much information technology is accepted by air travelers and how is an
information technology helping airlines.
Competencies from Major
The degree this researcher seeks is the Masters in Business Administration with a major
in information technology (MBA IT). This major refers to information technology and its effect
on business; this course study has allowed the analysis of the growth of technology in various
business markets in the world. In addition, how that growth in information technology is
affecting business.
The major course in the degree was Information Technology (IT 630), which taught how
to handle IT projects and the reason behind why IT projects fail. One very important exercise in
this course was working on a Gantt chart timeline. The researcher designed a Gantt chart in the
middle of thesis to help complete thesis.
Another major course in the degree was Issues, Trends in Information Technology (IT
699). This course showed how fast technology is changing and the problems related to
information technology. This course became the inspiration for this thesis and thesis topic.
Another similar course related to IT was Internet Business Strategy (IT 645). This course
showed how the internet is helping create new market space for every product and service in the
world. The project work in this course taught how to use Internet strategically in any business.
Case studies of the secondary research work were obtained in this course.

20. 12
A course dedicated to strategic studies named Strategic Management (MGT 625) taught
the researcher how strategic business development has an advantage over traditional business
methods and how use of technology enhances the business strategies. This course helped the
researcher to understand the role of technology at airports and how technology is being used for
security and as a strategic tool by airline companies.
The Graduate Research Methods (RES 600) was designed for the student to understand
the thesis writing style. Reviewed articles and project work done in this course-trained students
to use the APA format writing style, which helped the researcher to complete the thesis.
Applied Research Development (RES 603) was also a research-based course would target
the thesis topic. The intense research work on the thesis topic allowed the researcher to narrow
down the research topic. This course also provided some of the secondary research articles found
in the thesis, which helped the researcher to complete the thesis in RES 785.
The most important course, which helped researcher complete the thesis, was Applied
Thesis Seminar (RES 785). This course was specifically designed to guide the work to complete
the thesis.
Glossary of Terms Used in the Study
1. ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union: an organization working for human rights.
2. ACO: Access Control Office: a branch at airports where AIM is processed.
3. ARINC: Aeronautical Radio incorporated an organization working on aeronautical
designs and safety.
4. AIM: Advanced Information Management: a computer operated software system.

21. 13
5. Biometrics: This is the technology, which reads the body tissue precise through different
body parts. This technology allows a personal identification of a person.
6. Backscatter: The name of a new technology used for scanning human bodies to detect
any possible threat hidden under the garments of a person.
7. CIS: Commonwealth of Independent States.
8. DFW: abbreviation for Dallas Fort Worth airport
9. GDS: Global Distribution System.
10. Homeland Security: department of US dealing with states security and freedom.
11. IATA: International Air Transportation Association: an organization working globally to
control air transportation.
12. ICAO: International Civil Aviation Organization.
13. NEC: National Electrical Code.
14. OSAP: Operational Safety Audit Program.
15. PDA: Personal Digital Assistance: equipment used for data sharing and information.
16. RDU: Raleigh-Durham: abbreviation for Raleigh-Durham international airport.
17. RFID: Radio Frequency Identification.
18. Retina: the eye ball tissue, which senses light.
19. SABRE: Semi Automatic Business Research Environment: a research division in airport
safety equipments.

22. 14
20. SOO: Safety and Operation Office: a branch at airports where security problems are
taken care of.
21. SAO: System Administrator Office: a branch in airport office where cameras installed in
airport stores the images and has display units to watch those areas on a screen.
22. SIDA: Secured Identification Display Area: a video surveillance system using digital
cameras.
23. Static electric shock: form of stored electricity.
24. TSA: Transport Security Administration: a major security organization in the airline
industry in the U.S.
25. Vein: Blood caring tubular vessel in human body.

23. 15
Chapter Two: Review of Related Literature
Industry Background and Perspectives
The techniques and practices used to protect commercial aircraft and their passengers and
crews from crime and terrorism are central to airport security. Airport security is a network of
checkpoints, which secure the premises of an airport. Airport security has the authority to check
the baggage and travelers, which allow them to wand or scan every traveler. This electronic and
physical network covers all means of entrance into and exit from an airport. The electronic
network uses electronic keys and cards to control access to the an airport’s secured areas.
Security staff and other airport ground staff use these keys and cards, while physical security
personnel are inspecting the passengers entering the airport physically. Security staff deals
directly with the passengers moving around the airport areas (Dan, 2002, p. 47).
Importance of airport security. After the tragedy of September 11, the whole world was
shocked by the inadequate security measures of airports. However, this was not the first terror
attack on airlines; there have been many other security breaches in history. For example, Libya
is being sued for $10 billion over September 5, 1986, hijacking. This hijacking was done in Pan
Am flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan, in which at least 20 people were killed (Times, 2006).
Airplane hijacking for ransom has been one of the biggest problems faced by airport security
(Holden, n.d.).
History shows that before the 9/11, the main motive of terrorists was hijacking airplanes
to obtain ransom money for the return of the aircraft and the passengers. In order to stop those
incidents, airport security played a vital role (Holden, n.d.). Many old techniques, such as metal
detectors, pat search were used for checking baggage and scanning people to discover any
possible threat to the plane during flight.

24. 16
Now, after 9/11, information technology has become prominent there were many public
government meetings and changes in security measures (Lehrer, 2001, p. 1). Table 1 shows the
impact on the industry after September 11, 2001 (Lehrer, 2001, p. 1).
Table 1
Impact on the airline industry after September 11
No. Date Type of work done
1. September 12, 2001 Discussion about the incident, set new guidelines and
new methods of airport security training
2. September 13, 2001 The airports reopened
3. September 16, 2001 News discussions about state of airline travel, financial
impact on airlines
4. September 25, 2001 Reforming immigration laws, proposal for electronic
surveillance, discussions on privacy, security and
vulnerability in current laws
5. September 26, 2001 Debate of reopening national airports
6. September 26, 2001 Debate on racial profiling
7. October 2, 2001 How airlines reacted to new security measures
8. October 11, 2001 Senate debate on airline security package
9. November 1, 2001 Senate discussion about federal involvement in
recruiting baggage handlers
10. November 14, 2001 Congressional debate on airport security
11. November 15, 2001 Changes in flight attendant training programs for
better security
Source : Lehrer, 2001, p. 1, SECURITY BREACH. PBS.org. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/july-dec01/breach_12-28.html
The effect of the above changes become evident when a British citizen, Richard Reid,
attempted to detonate some explosive material concealed in one of his shoes during a flight on
December 12, 2001 from Paris to Miami. As a result of the new security measures and
information systems, he was captured before he could damage the aircraft or harm any of the
passengers or crew (Lehrer, 2001, p. 1). Importance of airport security shows the never lasting

25. 17
need of greater and advanced security and how traveling can become safe with change in
technology.
Common means of airport security. The old techniques of airport security used metal
detectors or body frisking to screen passengers, as well as x-raying passenger luggage and carry-
ons to identify potential security threats. These methods for searching passengers were not
foolproof and could miss many articles that might be hidden or concealed by any number of
novel methods. Metal detectors were effective for finding metal objects that might be used as
weapons, but criminals and terrorists soon turned to non-metallic types of weapons, flammable
liquids, acids, explosives, and other substitute weapons, such as a simple box cutter, to carry out
their harmful purposes. These “innovative” threats required more frisking of passengers and
more intense inspections of luggage (Phillips, Miletich, & Armstrong, 2004). Some items were
banned altogether from being carried on to aircraft (e.g., pocket knives, scissors, box cutters,
etc.), and some personal care and hygiene products were limited to specified amounts that could
accompany a passenger aboard a flight.
On the other hand, with the help of information technology, the latest scanners are
powerful enough to penetrate clothing to discover suspicious items hidden under clothes, or
anywhere in the body, without even touching the person. Initially this technology caused concern
about privacy issues, but the Transport Security Administration ( TSA ) indicates that most
people prefer to be scanned rather than frisked (TSA, p. 1).
Common means of airport security helped thesis to find the type of loop holes people try
to make in airport security for example making fake bombs or plastic bombs and hiding
unauthorized articles underclothes. This study also found the traditional means of security check

26. 18
wand and frisking also latest means of security check, the ability to see through cloths and sight
the issue regarding privacy about the latest technology.
Changes with the help of information technology. The first case study, based on the Long
Beach Airport in California, shows the change came in security measures, after implementing
new information technology based system in the airport. It was a benefit for travelers because
they were educated about the airport access areas as well as was a benefit to airport staff because
of better surveillance equipment and better decision making capabilities. This case study was
done to understand how implementing high-tech information technology system can affect any
business process and how information technology benefits airport security.
This case study begans with a typical airport scene, in which an officer is watching
airport cameras monitors and making sure nothing wrong happens in the airport. This officer is
the only one on duty and hears the sound produced by an intruder alarm. The officer had heard
that noise many times before caused by innocent errors, such as employees’ cards not working to
activate entry doors. Still, this officer ignores the camera TV and looks toward the sound.
Meanwhile, a radio call comes in about a rowdy man disturbing people in the airport several feet
away from a TSA officer. No TSA officer or any other official person was able to identify the
problem until a passenger reported the incident, and by that time, the man was lost in a mass of
other passengers (Broadware, n.d., p. 1). This incident showed airport authorities that there is
lack of communication and information system.
The problem showed the need for changes in airport security, and research soon began on
this very issue. The authorities were able to identify many problems related to infrastructure and
the ability to access information by the security staff. Some of the most important issues
discovered were the age of the airport’s infrastructure and the inability to upgrade the existing

27. 19
technology. TSA officials, and other security team members, also found that there was no
surveillance on many outlying areas of the airport, including the general aviation security ramps,
the airport perimeter, and the pass under runways (Broadware, n.d.,). However, a complete
renovation of the security infrastructure was a multi-million dollar project. The airport
authorities decided to call a contractor, ARINC (Aeronautical Radio Incorporated), to install the
AIM (Advanced Information Management) software system. This system allows the distribution
of data and video on shared and remote viewing. This system also featured an ACO (Access
Control Office), an SAO (System Administrator Office) and an SOO (Safety and Operation
Office) for total control of the safety and security-related data (Broadware, n.d.,).
One hundred SIDA (Secured Identification Display Area) cameras were installed to
check every movement travelers make; every place where there were no cameras earlier, new
cameras were installed. These cameras were digital, with zoom capabilities, and allowed many
advantages over the old analog cameras, such as a clearer picture and a greater viewing distance
(Broadware, n.d.,). The new setup brought nine new advantages to the airport security system
(Broadware, n.d.,):
1. Intrusion detection
2. Emergency telephone
3. Notification system
4. Alarm and event notification
5. Expanded video surveillance
6. Digital video storage
7. Intelligent video analytics
8. Improved gate control

28. 20
These features proved to be powerful capabilities to security personnel, because the AIM
system automated many alarm systems and notification methods. The entire system used many
different ways of distributing data. For example, the cameras farther than 6,000 feet from the
airport, were connected through a wireless data transfer medium, which reduced the cost of
wiring, as well as provided better surveillance. Many security personnel were provided with
PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistant) to send and receive information and data transfers between
crew members on duty. The intelligent cameras and software have capabilities to trigger alarms
by detecting any possible change in the security network. For example, if a vehicle stops under
the runway overpass, the camera triggers an alarm by itself. All cameras can assess archived
files on computers to identify any person the camera’s face recognition system chooses. The
whole network of new equipment provided the airport security staff with a better platform for
identifying potential threats and problems in the airport, and for staying in touch with each other
in a very cohesive way. This allowed better decision-making and a faster response to security
threats (Broadware, n.d.,).
This case study showed the benefits of assessing the airport information with the help of
information technology. This change allowed every security staff member a way to receive the
appropriate information and find the problem. Information technology gave them the power to
find anyone, anywhere, and stop him or her from doing harm.
The second case study examined how information technology, or E-commerce, has
helped the airline industry. This case study described how information technology provides a
competitive advantage over old surveillance systems and how information technology has
changed the role of travel agents (Gasson, 2003).

29. 21
This study stated that, after 1960, primarily travel agents performed airline booking and
ticketing for individual travelers. They monopolized the means of booking travel and their only
competition was other travel agents. Figure 3 shows how passengers previously obtained their
tickets from travel agency providers, before information technology become prominent.
Figure 3. Pre-computerization Air Travel industry structure. Source: Retrieved from
http://www.igi-pub.com/articles/details.asp?id=5157
With the growing popularity of air travel, American Airlines joined hands with IBM and
began work on the SABRE (Semi Automatic Business Research Environment) system. This
system introduced computers to the air travel booking practice in the early 1960’s and provided
speed in the booking and reservation process. Table 2 shows the events that took place in the
history of the SABRE system.
Travel provider
reservation & ticket
offices
Other services
provider for example
Hotels or Motels
Travel
agencies
Corporate
consumers
Individual
consumers

30. 22
In the mid 1990s, after the launch of Travelocity.com, SABRE changed the whole
structure of air travel booking. Figure 4 identifies the newly formed market structure of air travel
booking with the introduction of information technology.

31. 23
Table 2
History of the SABRE system
No Date of event What happened
1. 1960 SABRE system started serving reservations to
American Airlines.
2. 1964 SABRE network became private and largest real time
data processing system.
3. 1976 130 travel agent locations were offered access for
directly booking air tickets.
4. 1983 SABRE establishes its first Canadian presence.
5 1985 SABRE becomes the first system, which allowed
passenger to access the airline, hotels and car rental
reservation through IBM PC.
6. 1986 SABRE system was implemented in United Kingdom
giving way to a global expansion.
7. 1987 SABRE became the world’s first and largest real time
data processing system, serving 10,000 travel agents
throughout the world.
8. 1988 SABRE system expands to 36 million fares and further
expansion created more than one billion fare options.
9. 1990 SABRE system controls 40 percent of the air travel
booking market.
10. 1993 Joint venture with Aero Mexico and Mexicana.
11 1995 SABRE business travel solutions merged with
Getthere.
12. 1996 SABRE introduced Travelocity.com, which exploited
the whole market allowing passengers to buy direct
from the business and become a large business to
consumer seller in the market.
13. 2001 SABRE connected more than 59,000 travel agents
around the world and provided them data related to
450 airlines, 53,000 hotels, 54 car rental companies, 8
cruise lines, 33 rail roads and 228 tour operators. After
doing this SABRE become largest GDS (Global
Distribution System).
Source: Retrieved from http://www.igi-pub.com/articles/details.asp?id=5157

32. 24
Figure 4. The air travel industry structure after GDS (Global Distribution System). Source:
Retrieved from http://www.igi-pub.com/articles/details.asp?id=5157
Looking forward into time figure 4 shows that the new air travel booking industry
emerged , which changed the assumptions of air travel by providing better information
technology-enabled services. Information technology changed the use of data and led to a
completely new market for companies and individual passengers alike.
When the Internet became a part of everyday life, a large number of Internet users caused
yet another change in the air travel booking and ticketing structure. This most recent structure is
shown in Figure 5.
Travel and
service providers
Travel provider
and ticket office
Travel packages
cruises, tour
operators
GDS (Global
distribution
System)
Consolidators
Travel
agencies
Corporate
consumers
Individual
Consumers

33. 25
Figure 5. Structure of Air travel booking industry after the expansion of internet. Source:
Retrieved from http://www.igi-pub.com/articles/details.asp?id=5157
In Figure 5, the effect of information technology can be seen. This figure shows how information
technology has changed the access to business processes in the airline industry (Gasson, 2003).
This case study provides a very important recommendation for companies managing database
structure. The SABRE database has provided an opportunity for airports to track travelers from
the very beginning to the end, which can be used to gather data about the travelers past records
and warn airport authorities before the arrival of a specific traveler (Gasson, 2003).
Travel
providers
Travel
providers and
ticket office
Travel provider
website
Face to face
and online
Consolidation
Travel
packagers
cruise, tour
operator
GDS
(Global
Distribution
System)
Internet travel
agencies
Brick and
mortar
travel
Individual
consumers
Corporate
consumers

34. 26
SABRE has been able to develop a new biometric approach for scanning passengers
through a self-service kiosk. The prototype uses fingerprinting as the technology to affirm
identity and allow the right passenger to access the right area of the airport. This type of
equipment is enhancing both security and passenger service experiences. It saves passenger’s
time and allows security personnel to identify only those who try to breach security. This
technology gives more time to security officials to find the threats to the airport or airlines but
because this technology is still under test and is a prototype travelers may not see this technology
in airports yet (Serafin, 2002).
Both case studies demonstrate the importance, and effect of information technology on
the airline industry. The first case study showed how important it is to use information
technology and the second case study shows how information technology effects airline business
and services related to it. The question that remains is: How do airline passengers feel about their
own safety and security, based on the increased use information technology, to upgrade airport
security systems?
Related Studies
Air travel safety statistics. After 9/11 most of the software developing companies have
been working on constructing software useful in airport security or in flight. These companies
have created virtual flight control systems or Artificial Intelligence for airplanes.
Information technology is not only providing services to ground level services for
example baggage claim process in airports, but also is providing air travel security. The new
computer systems in flights are intelligent enough to fly an aircraft by itself. These newly
developed systems implemented worldwide have improved the accident rates of flights by

35. 27
reducing the risk of human error, as well as providing a greater level of security to flights it can
be found in the Figure 6. The auto pilot system allowed pilot in the cockpit to leave controls for
some time in air to maintain constant speed and altitude where as IT allowed ground based staff
to operate airplane and land it safely on ground (Compart, 2007).
The following research data describes how the use of information technology has
improved commercial air transportation capabilities worldwide. Compart (2007), suggests that
airline travel is safer after 2006. Based on a statistical analysis obtained from IATA
(International Air Transportation Association), a reduced number of airplane security issues were
identified. Analysis of this research shows that, according to IATA records, use of information
technology reduced airplane accidents to one in 1.5 million flights on Western manufactured
airplanes, which includes cargo flights.
However, IATA records also showed that the rate of accidents in the CIS
(Commonwealth of Independent States), comprising Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and
Africa, has increased. The research showed that the rate of accidents is 13 times more than the
global average. The use of better information technology equipment and communication tools
brought many changes in traditional flight mechanism for example ground based flight system.
Figure 6 shows in which region the technology has improved the rate of accidents (Compart,
2007).

36. 28
Figure 6. Regional Accident Rates. Source: Retrieved from
http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ips/retrieve.do?subjectParam=Locale
%252528en%25252C%25252C%252529%25253AFQE%25253D%252528sv%25252CNone
%25252C10%252529air%252Btravel%252524%257E%2529_3&contentSet=IAC-
Documents&sort=DateDescend&tabID=T003&sgCurrentPosition=0&subjectAction=VIEW_TO
PIC_TREE&prodId=IPS&searchId=R14&currentPosition=18&userGroupName=apollo&resultL
istType=RESULT_LIST&sgHitCountType=None&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C
%29%3AFQE%3D%28SV%2CNone%2C41%29%22air+travel_safety+and+security+measures
%22%24&inPS=true&searchType=BasicSearchForm&displaySubject=&docId=A163065852&d
ocType=IAC&contentSet=IAC-Documents
Latin America has 1.8 percent accidents out of one million flights. On the other hand,
regions of the world, using more information technology enabled services have lower accident
rates: Asia Pacific has 0.67 percent accidents per one million flights, North America has 0.49

37. 29
percent accidents per one million flights and European Union has 0.32 percent accidents per one
million flights. As found by the author (Compart, 2007) these figures show that more
information technology-enabled services provide better safety.
The IATA records indicated that the CIS has 8.6 percent accidents per one million
flights, considering only North American manufactured jets. The IATA records show that the
global average is only 0.65 percent per one million (Compart, 2007). IATA places Africa
number two on the rate of accidents per one million at 4.31 percent per million (Compart, 2007).
Figure 6 also shows the regions of the world where technology needs to be improved (Compart,
2007).
Also the above Figure 6 illustrates world airline problems. IATA’s records show that
there has been a 14 percent improvement in handling problems and accident rate after 2005 and
also IATA was looking to reduce these problems by 25 percent by the end of 2007 (Compart,
2007, p. 1).
With changes into security check process and information systems IATA achieved 30
percent more control on numbers of accidents by the end of year 2006 and the ratio of airport and
mid air accidents came down from 111 to 77 accidents in a year 2007 world wide. The following
Figure 7 shows the improvement in airport and air travel safety (Compart, 2007).

38. 30
Figure 7. Rate of improvement in safety. Source: Retrieved from
http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ips/retrieve.do?subjectParam=Locale
%252528en%25252C%25252C%252529%25253AFQE%25253D%252528sv%25252CNone
%25252C10%252529air%252Btravel%252524%257E%2529_3&contentSet=IAC-
Documents&sort=DateDescend&tabID=T003&sgCurrentPosition=0&subjectAction=VIEW_TO
PIC_TREE&prodId=IPS&searchId=R14&currentPosition=18&userGroupName=apollo&resultL
istType=RESULT_LIST&sgHitCountType=None&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C
%29%3AFQE%3D%28SV%2CNone%2C41%29%22air+travel_safety+and+security+measures
%22%24&inPS=true&searchType=BasicSearchForm&displaySubject=&docId=A163065852&d
ocType=IAC&contentSet=IAC-Documents

39. 31
The challenges for airline security. For airlines, customer service is one of the major
concerns and can never be compromised by any safety equipment. Any safety equipment with
which a passenger feels uncomfortable becomes a business issue to airlines. Airlines have to
provide passengers with convenience, maximum security and time-efficiency (Serafin , 2002).
In the case of airline security, the safety and security of passengers is a constantly
evolving issue. The recent developments in biometric fingerprint scanners have reduced the
incidents in air travel. Biometrics serves both airport security and passenger processing, one of
the airport, which have started using biometrics on exit points is Detroit Metropolitan Airport
(Serafin, 2002). Biometric can be used as a tool or technique to indentify a person and can be
used for providing authentication to specific protected areas of an office or building. Biometrics
has the capability for recognizing employees and can act like a time card by tracking their
activities (Schneier, 2001).
There are different types of biometric systems, such as finger print scanning, which can
be used for comparing and identifying a person , which means to identifying one person among
numerous people. Finger print reader is used as a live tool and can be used to provide unique and
authorities to a person. This tool is widely under use at all major airports where all international
passengers land to capture their fingerprints and also for airport exit such as in case of Detroit
Metropolitan Airport (Aware, 2009, p. 4).
Iris scanning is another way of biometric scanning in which Eye’s retina is being scanned
by the computer for identifying one person among numerous persons. Iris scanning also works as
a live tool and provides similar capabilities as a finger print scanner provides. The biggest
difference in both is the accuracy iris scanner provides greater level of security then a finger print
reader (Daugman, 2001, p. 2). Another scanner similar to these is vain scanner, which can read

40. 32
finger vain patterns for identification of a peson and can be used as biometric authentication tool
like a finger print reader or iris scanner (Willis, 2008)
All these scanners were capable enough to identify a person but there has been no
technology, which could be used by TSA or airline staff to neutralize a terrorist who is in flight.
According to Department of Homeland Security, internal report TSA screeners miss
unauthorized objects going through checkpoints. TSA’s are also not prepared to take control of a
gun from any hostile passenger (Trento & Trento, 2006, p. 183). A new technology in airports,
which is under test, is wristband; it is capable enough to give a static electric shock to a person
and makes him or her unconscious for a while by giving a paralyses attack with that electricity.
This tool is also known as last line of defiance on airplane but like every technology, this
technology also has public privacy issues with it (Press, 2008).
To enhance passenger service, the airlines are now planning to pinpoint frequent flyers
and allow those frequent flyers to move through security faster, thus allowing staff members to
devote more time to higher risk passengers. This is possible with the help of biometric entry and
exit, which will provide both better passenger service as well as better security (Serafin , 2002).
To ensure the appropriate use of technology, governments must train the security staff in
the most efficient use of the information technology equipment. There are about 28,000 airport
security personnel in the U.S. If every airport security employee is trained to such a level where
they know how to use various means of communications available, information flow will
become very fast, which will allow airport security authorities to make quicker and better
decisions. This will allow travelers to have more confidence in security personnel and feel safer
traveling through the air (Serafin, 2002).

41. 33
One technology cannot change the air travel environment, but generations of
technologies can solve the problems related to airport security and air travel. Airlines are most
concerned about making passengers happy, safe, and comfortable throughout the flight. For
security companies, the biggest concern is making security equipment invisible and non-
threatening to passengers (Serafin, 2002).
The threats to information technology infrastructure. The first threat to information
technology is a physical attack on the hardware, such as computers or other equipment used for
security purposes. If the equipment malfunctions, a security breach could occur, resulting in
unauthorized people gaining access to flights or sensitive, restricted airport areas. Any
infrastructure based on information technology, is threatened from any source, which can hamper
the database, or interrupt the information flow of the airport security network for example a
network disconnection due to physical damage to network wires (Hennessy & John, 2003).
The second threat to the information technology infrastructure is the Internet because it
allows anyone to connect to the cyber world anywhere in the world. Hackers use this ability; and
in the wrong hands, the internet can cause a problem for airport and airline security, especially
when vital data or information regarding flight details or passengers bank account or social
security numbers or other vital information is jumbled with others accounts or extracted for
unfair use, which could be money (Hennessy & John, 2003).
The third threat is based on a public network; this network is the communication link
including phone, media, or radio. In airports, protecting the database related to communication
is a very important task for airport authorities because any threat to communication hardware can
lead to a miss use of communication and a security breach . If the communication network get a

42. 34
problem the internet can lead to poor or lost communication, which is a big threat to vital flight
data used by pilot during flight (Hennessy & John, 2003).
The fourth threat concerns financial data, which can be attacked by both physical harm to
the hardware computer system by damaging the hardware of a system or through the internet by
hackers. Such attacks can cause serious damage to the passenger’s bank account and other
personal details like passport information, which is held in the airport computer database
(Hennessy & John, 2003).
The advantages of information technology in airport security. Serafin (2002) discusses
the benefits of information technology associated with the installation of a new security (?)
system at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Serafin (2002) suggests three major
advantages of information technology for airport security:
Operational efficiency: Advantages to operational efficiency follow the installation of
new information technology-enabled services, such as interconnected phone networks for all
airlines via a Cisco infrastructure, which allowed intercommunication between airport fast and
more reliable. Another important example was to help five airlines. To board people when all
those five airlines use the same 19 terminal gates. With the help of information technology,
better communication allowed all five airlines to use same terminal facilities. Management
proved to airlines that using the airport information technology-enabled services reduced
communication costs. Raleigh-Durham airport was able to show airlines that the airport is
capable of better service and allows flexibility in every operation. Airlines felt a part of every
process and operation in the airport and they could reduce staff because the airport was handling
IT. In addition, the airport staff was on the job around the clock to take care of the airline needs.

43. 35
Airlines share the cost of communication with the airport at about half the cost that any other
service provider or government entity could give them (Serafin , 2002).
Content management: Information technology was able to change the static signs to
graphic, animation, video and text wherever required (Serafin , 2002). Digital display monitors
were chosen to act as an airport information desk. NEC displays provide vital data to passengers
in airports (Serafin , 2002). Another system named MUFIDS (multiple user fight display
system) was introduced so that airlines can communicate with passengers about destination
information such as, weather, baggage claim and ticket information on their radio headsets or
video monitor in flight (Serafin , 2002). With better electronic information system hardware,
management was centralized on one console system. This console allowed better airport security
and better integrity in information flow between passengers, airlines, and the TSA (Serafin ,
2002).
Common use: RDU (Raleigh-Durham International Airport) wants airlines to use the same
gate function, ticketing, check-in kiosks and curbside activities; the airport purchased some
kiosks and the airlines provided the software. The new passenger baggage system allowed
passengers to use the same facilities and find baggage faster and more easily (Serafin , 2002).
The airports retail shops started utilizing the airport’s phone network and Wi-Fi internet
communication, which lowered communication costs. Other capabilities implemented by the
airport, and shared by the airlines, allowed better storing and tracking of baggage with RFID
(Radio frequency identification) (Serafin , 2002). These advantages show how real world
conditions can change in an airport with the help of information technology affecting both the
business and the consumer but the study revealed nothing about how much cost got lowered with
the help of IT services.

44. 36
The disadvantages of information technology in airport security. A few disadvantages with
information technology are as follows:
Unemployment: With the advantages of information technology, causes less need of lower
and middle level jobs which means more unemployment for people who do not have certain
qualification level. This means only skilled laborers can find work, resulting in higher
unemployment among less educated population (Bible,n.d.).
Privacy: A passenger’s data includes bank account numbers or credit card numbers and other
vital information such as social security number. No one wants to share their information but
information technologies allow other people access to some private information. (Bible,n.d.).
Lack of job security: Industry experts believe that, those who are working and have technical
knowhow also feel insecure because IT software systems are constantly changing and they have
to keep learning new skills. Failing to do that make them feel unsecured about the job
(Bible,n.d.).
Cost: One of the biggest factors in every business is cost, and implementing information
technology-based infrastructure in the commercial airline industry typically involves a
significant initial capital investment. Like any other industry information brings more cost and
capital investment and small or privately owned airports may not be able to spend that much
capital on information technology (Bible,n.d.).
To summarize this chapter the research in security of airports and airlines after the September
11 incident found that information technology stepped into security procedures and changed the
regular security process areas into highly secured areas. The research went deep into finding the
newly implemented information technology systems and their use. Issues related to airline
security measures were searched and examined. The case studies brought up in secondary

45. 37
research helped a lot to find out the differences came in airline business and security due to
information technology. These two case studies identified the problems related to security
procedures and how those problems can be solved with the help of information technology.
This chapter presented the importance of information technology in safeguarding airlines,
airports, and passengers from any possible threat. This chapter also shows the importance of this
research is to understand the interaction of new technology and human being-how it affects
them, what they think about it, and the results of the conflicts between the right of privacy and
the need of security. The next chapter will describe how the researcher will use primary data to
illustrate these issues.

46. 38
Chapter Three: Research Design and Methods
Research Design
The purpose of this study is to discover how travelers feel about commercial airlines’
information technology-based security systems following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack
against the United States. This study explores advanced technologies currently in use and those
under development to make air travel safer and more secure. The research effort focuses on the
perceptions of travelers relative to the new security technologies, and the degree to which the
new security measures may be providing passengers with a greater sense of security and safety.
This research found several new types of security equipment, such as Backscatter x-ray scanning
technology, Biometric wristbands, and fingerprint and eye scanning tools that not only enhance
the security of airports, but also can track and save certain data about the user. Considering the
problems that developed in the travel industry post September 11, 2001, the researcher found that
new laws were implemented to secure the United States from any further terrorist attacks. The
attacks had a tremendous effect on the travel industry and revealed many problems and loopholes
in airport and airline security systems.
Data Collection Methods
The researcher completed two types of studies, primary with a survey and secondary with
research with sources such as case studies, books, journals and newspaper articles, to find out the
new types of technologies and issues related to those new technologies.
Secondary research data collection method. The first of these case studies was “The
Impact of E-Commerce Technology on the Air Travel Industry” (Gasson, 2003), which showed
how the Internet is changing the travel industry structure. The other case study, “Integrating

47. 39
Airport Security Functions Using an Open Platform” (Integrating airport, ), showed how
information technology provided solutions to problems faced by an airport.
The case studies were the most important learning from the thesis, which allow the reader
to understand the need for change required in airport security procedures. In addition, the
primary research is the most important foundation for the thesis, which allowed the researcher to
find answers to the thesis question.
Primary research data collection method. In order to learn how the latest technologies
affect traveler’s perceptions about safety and security, the researcher developed a quantitative
research instrument with a set of questions in the form of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was
designed on surveymonkey.com and a link to the questionnaire was sent to various people in
countries like USA, India, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, China and Taiwan, assuming
they have traveled through international airports before and after 9/11 and have experienced the
change in the airport security measures. The researcher used the resulting primary data to
analyze the role played by information technology and how this new technology affected
passengers’ views about the safety of air travel and their personal privacy. The random sample
for survey was pre selected; the researcher selected passengers who were friends, relatives, past
co-workers and online chat friends who were assumed to have traveled through international
airports. These passengers were not from only one continent or country they were globally
selected for this survey, which gave some of them problem to understand English and they did
not reply.
This questionnaire was sent to 110 travelers in several countries. This link was sent to 76
travelers in India, 16 in the USA, 7 in Canada, 4 in the UK, 3 in Australia, 1 in Taiwan, 1 in
China and 2 in New Zealand, so that they could access questions through the website,

48. 40
monkeysurvey.com. Of the 42 replies recorded within a reasonable time period, the researcher
chose 39 survey responses in which; 13 were from India, 8 from the USA, 6 from Canada, 4
from the UK, 3 from Australia, 1 from China and 2 from New Zealand. The three rejected
responds were not counted because they never had an airplane journey and did not complete the
survey. Appendix A shows the 18 questions. Some questions were based on multiple choices or a
Likert rating system from 1 to 5 in which:
1) Means strongly disagree
2) Means somewhat disagree
3) Means neither disagree nor agree
4) Means somewhat agree
5) Means highly agree
Each participant surveyed was expected to respond honestly regarding the current
developments in information technology in air travel security. Lack of knowledge about the
airport security equipment among the respondents was a problem, but the responses were
calculated on the knowledge they had before any explanations about the products and services.
Every question of the questionnaire was asked to understand how the participant felt about the
issues at hand. Participants were informed that all answers would be kept confidential. All data
are protected and used in a consolidated format confined within the thesis. No agency or
organization will be able to see the names and any other information about the respondents. The
following Table 3 shows those 18 questions.

49. 41
Table 3
Number of questions
Question 1 Have you traveled on a commercial flight after September 11, 2001?
Question 2 Typically, how many commercial airline flights do you take per year?
Question 3 What is your gender?
Question 4 What is your age?
Question 5 How much do you know about the latest security equipment such as backscatter
technology, biometric wristband and biometric eye scans?
Question 6 To what extent do you agree with the statement that people are less likely to travel
by commercial airlines today because of the September 11, 2001 attacks?
Question 7 What do you think about adding more information technology-based security
features to airports?
Question 8 What alternative do you think travelers would opt for rather than airlines because
of the increased burden of safety features at airports? Please select your answer
Question 9 In the context of the question above, why did you choose the option?
Question 10 How was your last airline security check done?
Question 11 What do you think about getting “wanded” by a security officer?
Question 12 What to you think about being scanned through an X-ray machine?
Question 13 Which one would you choose in order to pass through security?
Question 14 In the context of question 13, why did you choose the option?
Question 15 Have you ever been asked for a personal security check?
Question 16 In the context of the question above, how did you felt at that time?
Question 17 Would you use the same airlines to travel to the same destination you visited
previously
Question 18 In the context of the question above why did you choose the option?
The eighteen questions were asked to find out the following information: What are the
traveler’s feelings and perceptions about airport security? These questions asked what makes a
person opt for another means of transportation rather than air travel, and what changes can be
made by the airline industry to prevent this. This questionnaire also focuses on the psychology of
a person to know if uses of information technology systems can affect a person’s emotions,
causing them to opt for another means of transportation. This questionnaire also includes

50. 42
questions to find out how aware people are of the new technologies and the use of new
information systems. Finally, the questionnaire also included questions to find out the
demographics of the participants. This information was for research validity.
The first question set out to find if the participant had traveled via airlines before and/or
after 9/11. This question was asked to find out how many participants have felt the change in
technology after 9/11. Similarly, the second question determines how familiar the participants
are with an airport security check, which can only be understood by the number of flights a
participant takes. These two questions were set to define the use of the survey; if a person taking
the survey traveled both before and after 9/11, that data becomes important for the survey and
should be counted in the result.
Questions 3 and 4 were asked to find out gender and age for demographic purposes and
to find out if there is any effect of age or gender on the research question.
Question 5 sought to find out how knowledgeable the respondents are about the
technology in airport security.
Question 6 sought to find out the perspective of the participant; how do they think about
the effect of terrorism on airlines or the travel industry? The question was based on a Likert
rating scale. Question 7 asks the participants about use of technology in airport security with
multiple choices, either in favor or not in favor of technology, based on technology delays and
extended travel time.
Question 8 asked about alternate means of transportation for a participant. This question
also included multiple-choice answers, giving four different options of travel, to find out which
other means of transportation are used, if the airways are not the best option. Question 9 meant
to find out why the participant selected an alternate way to travel. This question had multiple-

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choice answers with different reasons to choose from, to find out why they selected their choice
as the answer.
From here, the researcher formed questions related directly to the participant’s
experiences and psychology to find out the answer to the thesis question. The tenth question was
formed to find out about the last security check performed on the participant. This question
sought to understand the use of technology, and find out what sort of technology is more widely
used, Body Scanning or the Wand.
Question 11 asked if the participants found the Wand important in airport security. This
question had multiple choices, to understand what the majority of participants think of the Wand:
a waste of resources, very important task, or something about which travelers feel embarrassed.
Similarly, Question 12 was formed on the same pattern, but for Body Scanning technology, to
find out if technology has any benefit to the participant’s psychology.
The next question, number 13, gave a choice to the participant between being Wanded
and getting Body Scanned. This question sought to find out what the participants would prefer
in a security check. The next question asked why they selected the particular option in a security
check. This question contained multiple choices, allowing the researcher to understand the needs
of a traveler. Question 15 is a closed-end question, which allows the researcher to find out
which participants have actually felt the pressure of a personal security check: in other words,
what psychological effects technology has on travelers. To find out the effect technology has on
participants, Question 16 has multiple-choices, with a rating scale to answer the question.
Questions 17 and 18 attempt to disclose the psychological effect of a security check on
participants and Question 17 was asked to find out if there is any effect of human thinking or
psychology on the airline business. This question gave a closed-end choice to participants; it

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asked if they would take the same flight on which they were scanned or wanded privately.
Question 18 was designed to find out the reason for the answer given by the participants in
Question 17. Question 18 included multiple-choice answers with a rating scale as well.
Limitations of the Research
Secondary data. For the secondary research data, the biggest limitation was to find the
issues related to information technology use in airports, which are not discussed publicly by
news outlets or any other media, especially the issues that concern any effect of x-rays on the
human body. Despite the inability to find much data on the public problems with new
technologies, the researcher was able to find information about operation and issues related to
the performance results of those machines. The researcher was able to find some new
technological products under development, products like the biometric eye identification system,
fingerprint scanning and wristband identification systems. Lack of information on security
equipment became the reason why the secondary research data are based only on online journals
and news articles. Again, no data were available about what problems could plague consumers
with those new technologies under development.
The target sample for the survey was pre-selected; the researcher selected passengers who
he assumed to have traveled through international airports. These passengers were from
international locations, which meant some of them had a problem to understand English; the
result was that they did not reply. The thesis may not cover all the latest technologies under
invention or in the testing phase, because finding all technologies was not necessary. The
technologies, dealing with public issues, were considered important and selected for research.
For statistical validity, the number of survey participants obtained may or may not be enough for
the result.

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Limitation in gathering survey data. Few people know about the latest technologies used for
airport and airline security, and for this reason, it was difficult for the researcher to make
participants understand the questions. Giving more background to the questions would have
made the survey too long and would become a problem for, the respondents to answer so many
questions. This, in turn, made the researcher change the questionnaire to a shorter set of
questions, which prolonged the time period to have people complete enough of the thesis.
Another problem was that the researcher was not given permission to enter any airport to
conduct surveys on travelers. Consequently, this made the researcher choose the Internet as the
only source to gather the data for the survey.
Chapter Four: Data Analysis and Presentation
Data Analysis
To answer the research question, a survey was conducted via the Internet in which
various participants from different countries took part and added valuable information based on
their thoughts and perceptions about airport security following the post 9/11. This questionnaire
was administered online through surveymonkey.com. Email invitations, including the link for
accessing the survey, were sent to individuals residing in the United States, Canada, the United
Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India and China.
The questionnaire was divided into four. The first part of the questionnaire included
questions to verify that the participants had traveled by means of commercial airlines in the post

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9/11 era. Similarly, other questions sought the perception of the participant about airport
security after the 9/11 attack on the U.S. The second part of survey included demographic
questions, such as gender, age, and another question to find out how knowledgeable the
respondents are about airport security equipment. In the third part of questionnaire, the questions
were designed to discover what people may think is a better solution to airways. The fourth part
answered why air travelers may seek another means of transport and if privacy or security are
important for air travelers.
The survey was sent to nearly 110 participants; 42 surveys were selected based on how
many of them traveled before 9/11 and how many of them traveled both before and after. Those
who skipped this question were not part of this survey because the data obtained from those
could change results. Among the 42 participants, three surveys were left incomplete and were not
included in the result. Therefore, the data analysis was performed on 39 accurate surveys.
Question 1 helped find the participant’s period of air travel. The results are in Figure 8.
The question was, “Have you traveled on a commercial flight after September 11, 2001?”

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Figure 8: Response count of people traveled through airways
The question served the purpose to know how familiar participants are with new
information technology security systems, especially systems implemented post 9/11. The data
showed that 46 percent of the participants were familiar with the security system changes.
Figure 8 shows that over half of the survey sample has traveled through airways both before and
after 9/11.
Question 2 of the survey verified how many participants are experienced enough to
understand the change in airport security. Those who had been using airways constantly can
identify this change. Figure 9 shows the results obtained. The question was, “Typically, how
many commercial airline flights do you take per year”?

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Figure 9. Response count of participants travel habits
The result showed that 47 percent of the population traveled 2 to 3 times a year. This
means this group impacts the results obtained in the following research. Question 3 was
“gender”, which allowed the researcher to any specific impact of gender in the survey. Little
influence of gender was expected Figure 10 shows the results obtained from the survey.

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Figure 10. Question 3, Gender
Figure 10 shows that 51 percent of the participant population was male and 49 percent
female. therefore, gender did not infulence the final result of the survey. Question 4, about “age”,
sought any influence of age on the survey. Figure 11 shows the results obtained from the survey.

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Figure 11. Question 4, Age
Figure 11 shows that 38 percent of the participant population were under 25 years of age
and 36 percent were between 25 to 35 which means a majority of respondents were young.
The next demographic question was: “How much do you know about the latest security
equipments such as backscatter technology, biometric wristband and biometric eye scans?” It
sought to know how educated participants are with the latest technologies in airport security.
This question also gave credibility to the survey. Figure 12 shows the results obtained from the
survey.

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Figure 12. Awareness about emerging technologies
46 percent of the participant populations were not aware of any changes in technologies,
but 38 percent had some knowledge about these technologies presented in Figure 12.
Furthermore, 16 percent have full knowledge of these technologies, which means that the
majority of the populations were aware of new equipment to some extent.
Question 6 asked: “To what extent do you agree with the statement that people are less
likely to travel by commercial airlines today because of the September 11, 2001 attacks?” helped
to find the perception of people about traveling post 9/11. This question also sought to find if this
type of threat could become a reason for airline passengers to switch to another way of travel.
Figure 13 shows the results obtained.

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Figure 13. Do you agree with the statement in Question 6?
The result proves that 43 percent somewhat agree with the option and fear traveling by
airways post 9/11. This proves that incidents like 9/11 become an important issue for air
travelers. Question 7: “What do you think about adding more information technology based
security features to airports?” was the first of a series of questions, recording the participant’s
answers to “how secure passengers feel with new IT based security features and accept IT
without any issues”. The participants were provided multiple-choice answers. The possible
answers were a 1 to 5 likert rating scale, where one means highly disagree, two means somewhat
disagree, three means neither agree nor disagree, four means somewhat agree and five means
highly agree. Figure 14 shows the answer to the question.

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Figure 14. More security features lead to more delays in travel.
The first option, was “do you believe more security features lead to more delays in
travel?” and the result shows that 55 percent of the participants somewhat agree with this
statement, that more security features delay traveling. Option b, “do you believe more security
features allow safer air travel?” shows exactly what air travelers think about security equipment?
Figure 15 shows the results to this question.

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Figure 15. Do you believe more security features allow safer air travel?
In Figure 15, 34 percent of the participant poppulation somewhat agrees to the statement
that more security features allow safer air travel. However, this picture also shows 29 percent of
population somewhat disagreeing to the statement, which is a significant number.
The next Option c, “do you believe more security features allow safer air travel but slow
down the travel time and increase time spent at the airports?” was to find if there is any influence
of new security equipment on travel time. Figure 16 represents the data obtained from the
survey.

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Figure 16. Do security features slow down travel time?
Figure 16 reveals that 34 percent of the participant population somewhat agrees with the
question. The data obtained from Question four indicate that the security equipment that most of
the participant population is familiar with are slow and waste time but, on the other hand,
security equipment are important for safe air travel.
When travelers feel that air travel is not safe enough and they cannot trust the airport
safety measures for the journey, and if travelers feel security equipment is too much hassle and
wastes a lot of time with no added protection, they can select another means of transportation.
Question 8: “What alternative do you think travelers would opt for rather than airlines because of

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the increased burden of safety features at airports?” was supposed to find out what other
alternative means of transport travelers think are best, and could become competitors to airlines.
Figure 17 shows the results obtained for other transportation in competition to airlines.
Figure 17. Alternatives to air travel
Figure 17 shows that 45 percent of the respondents opted for the Car, and Bus as the
second option with 29 percent. To find out why most of the population choose the Car as the best
alternate option, Question 9 was asked.
Question 9: “In context to Question six, why did you choose the option?” provided
multiple choices to find out what matters to a passenger when they choose another option rather
than air travel. Figure 18 shows the results to Question 9 “less security checks”.

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Figure 18. Less security checks
The data show that 39 percent of the participant population somewhat agree that they
opted for another means of transportation because it has less security checks.
Figure 19 shows the results obtained from the survey regarding the need for more
privacy. Figure 19 shows that 36 percent of the participant population believe that other means of
transportation provide more privacy than air travel and the car is the best option for their need.

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Figure 19. More privacy
Option C, “Better service”, asked if the option participants choose the same service
capabilities as an airplane. Figure 20 shows the data obtained from the survey in relation to this
point.

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Figure 20. Better service
The results obtained from Figure 20 shows that airline customers neither agree nor
disagree that the other option provides the same level of service as an airline.The last option was
“cost”; this option asked if cost is an issue when airline passangers are given a choice between
cost and other travel options. Figure 21 shows the results obtained from the survey.

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Figure 21. Cost
Figure 21 shows that 37 percent of the participant population neither agree nor disagree
with the cost statement. This shows that cost is not the only factor of consern for airline
passangers in choosing travel options.
Question 10 asked “how was your last security check done?”. the purpose was to find out
what technology airline passanger want . In this question participants were given two choices
between a metal detector or body scanning equipment to find out what type of technology is
more prevalent in international airports. Figure 22 shows the results obtained from the survey.

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Figure 22. Last security check
The survey result shows that 60 percent of the survey population went through a metal
detector or inspected with a wand. This means that technologies like backscatter scanning are not
yet available everywhere in the world.
The following two questions, 11 and 12, asked how important safety is for passengers
and to what extent they would compromise privacy for their own safety. The answers to these
two questions could help airports decide the best option for the future and allowed the researcher
to compare the wand and scanner.
Question 11 asked “What do you think about getting wanded by a security officer?” It
will help to understand how people feel about the use of metal detectors or wanding in front of

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other passengers. Figure 23 represents the data for the first option: “mandatory safety procedure,
but of no use”.
Figure 23. Mandatory procedure of no use
The results show that 44 percent of the participant population somewhat disagree with the
statement that wanding is a mandatory task and of no use. This shows that most of the
populations believe that wanding is useful.
Option b was “consider it important”. This option indicated weather participants feel that
wanding is important for their own safety. Figure 24 shows the results obtained from the survey
for this option.

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Figure 24. Consider it important
Figure 24 reveals that 42 percent of the respondents believe that wanding is important for
their own safety. Yet, there is a large portion of the population which is not sure, somewhat
disagree or even highly disagree.
Option c asked “an airport security issue does not matter to you, you do not have any
issues getting wanded”. This question would show the respondent’s indifference to airport
security checks; for example, they may not have any problem being wanded. Figure 23 reveals
the data captured from the survey on this issue.

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Figure 25. Airport security issue
Figure 25 shows that 34 percent of the population somewhat agree with the option
statement. This means that a majority of the air travelers feel that, as they are not involved in
any suspicious activity, then they are not bothered by airport security checks. Option d asked if
respondents “consider it embarrassing in front of others”; is there any psycological effects from
the use of any security meansures on air travelers. Figure 26 shows the results obtained from the
survey.

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Figure 26. Embarrassing in front of others
Figure 26 shows that 39 percent of the participant population agrees with the statement
that getting wanded makes them feel embarrassed in front of others. However, a large minority
of the participant disagree with the statement.
Question 12 seeks to compare the wand and scanning tools and conclude which one is the
best option for airports. “What do you think about getting scanned through an X-ray machine?”
This question also contained multiple choices The first option to differentiate between wand and
scan was: “consider it a safety procedure for the airline and airport But of no use”. Figure 27
shows the results obtained from the survey.

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Figure 27. Mandatory safety procedure
Figure 27 shows 34 percent of the respondents somewhat agree with the statement that
scanning is a mandatory safety procedure for airlines, but of no use. However, a slight majority
somewhat disagree or highly disagree with the statement. This means that most of the
respondents believe that scanning is important; however, this indicates that, although most of the
participants consider scanning a better option, there are people who are not aware of other
options.
Option 2 asked “will consider it for your own safety and get it done”. This is designed to
compare the use of the wand and scanning allowing the researcher to determine which type of
security check is important and acceptable to a large number of air travelers. Figure 28 shows the
results obtained from the survey.

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Figure 28. Will consider it for own safety
Figure 28 shows that 53 percent of the population somewhat agrees that scanning is
important for their own safety and they do not have any issues having it done. Option 3 was, “I
will consider it another checkpoint for air travel so no issues going through X-ray machine”.
This question showed what participants feel about getting scanned compared to being wanded.
Figure 29 shows the results obtained from the survey.

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Figure 29. No issues going through X-ray machine
Figure 29 shows that 49 percent of the participant passangers somewhat agree to the
statement. This shows that those who know they are not creating any issues have no problems
being scanned. Option 4 asked “It’s embarrassing and don’t want to reveal myself”, this should
tell the researcher how participants feel about getting scanned especially when they know the
technology will allow others to see through clothes and they may appear naked during the
security check. Figure 30 shows the results obtained from the survey.

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Figure 30. Do not want to reveal myself
Figure 30 shows 55 percent of the participant population highly or somewhat disagree
with the statement that they feel embarrassed using X-ray technology. It appears that passangers
are ready to reveal themselves for their own safety.
Question 13 asked participants to choose among scanner and wand: “Which one would
you choose in order to pass through security?” this question was asked directly to find out what
air travel passanger want. Figure 31 shows the result obtained from the survey.

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Figure 31: Which would you choose?
The results reveals that 59 percent of the respondents opted for scanning rather than the
wand, which indicates that travelers can compromise privacy for their security.
To understand why participants reached this way, the , next question asked, “why did you
choose the option in the preceding question?” Question 14 used multiple options to find out the
most appropriate answer to the question. Option a was, “because it’s easier”, Figure 32 shows the
result found in the survey.

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Figure 32: Because it’s easier
54 percent of the participating population, highly or somewhat disagrees to the statement
in Figure 32, which means that many of the travelers do not think about the ease of use of
security equipment. This information led the researcher to find another reason that can make
travelers feel comfortable or uncomfortable.
Option b was: “Because you don’t feel embarrassed” is directly related to the emotional
factors that affect participants Figure 33 shows the results obtained from the survey.

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Figure 33. Don’t feel embarrassed
The results reveled that 53 percent of the participating population do not feel embarrassed
by any technology, weather scanner or wand.
Option c was: “Because it allows better security for airlines and airports”. These data will
confirm the information from Question 10. Figure 34 shows the data obtained from the survey.

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Figure 34: Better security for airlines
Figure 30 shows that a majority of the population believes that the option they chose
allows better security. However, a large minority of the population do not know or somewhat
disagree with the statement. This shows that the participating population is not familiar with the
advantages of each option.
Option d was: “Because it’s better for your own safety” refers to the personal of the
participants security. Figure 35 shows the results obtained in the research for this question.

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Figure 35. Better for personal safety
Figure 31 shows that a solid majority of the respondents agree to the statement. Also this
implies that scanning is a better tool because most of the population selected scanning as the
option.
The next Question, number 15, targeted the respondent: “Have you ever been asked for a
personal security check?” This question was designed specifically for those who have faced the
strict rules and regulations of a security check. The answers obtained from these respondents
could guide the recearcher to find the best equipment for airport security. Figure 36 shows the
results obtained from the survey.

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Figure 36. Personal security check
Figure 32 shows that 46 percent of the participants have experienced the personal
security check, have felt the pressure of a unique security check, which is done individually and
separately from the normal passenger line. This question also supports the credibility of the
survey because of the personal experience of the participants.
In relation to the prior question, Question 16 asked, “In the context of the previous
question, how did you feel at that point of time?” this should identify any psychological impact
that a personal security check has on a person. Figure 37 shows the results obtained from the
survey.