Nam Hinboun Basin. They also meet with district officials and staff involved with resettlement to ensure that the project was fulfilling World Bank guidelines. Like every visit, the panel sought to examine developments that have taken place since the Panel's most recent visits, to visit areas not previously seen, and to participate in the review of documentation being prepared under Company auspices as a World Bank requirement for project appraisal. Factors that limit the POE's evaluations There are important institutional factors that guide the POE and other independent groups that work with the Nam Theun 2 project. In exchange for unique research opportunities, access to formerly inaccessible research sites, and high wages, the Bank specifies what kind of information is needed, the time frame for the research, and the deadline for the written report. The terms of reference also give the Bank, the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft, and other groups exclusive ownership of the raw data and the finished reports which means that the data cannot be distributed without permission from the contractor. The World Bank has chosen to make the POE reports public. In response to the time constraints, between one and two weeks, POE members employ “rapid rural appraisal” methods. These methods involve the quick and cost effectively extraction and analysis of information from respondents and secondary data. As a result of this research model, the Bank incentives researchers to work quickly with less contact with locals. Many researchers also argue that the complexities of the Mekong River, it changes from season to season and tributary to tributary, require more researchers and time to properly analyze. More importantly, because the Bank pays researchers to answer specific questions through the terms of reference, some researchers state that they are unable to discuss the more intricate facets of their research thereby reducing the reports viability. Rational for the POE's Endorsement of the Initial Project While the POE acknowledge that large scale projects such as the Nam Theun 2 dam present future environmental and social disadvantages which are often overlooked or impossible to predict, the POE wrote that they endorsed the World Bank's participation based on five major considerations. The panel was concerned with what they measured to be the significantly deteriorating living standard of the inhabits of the NNT Conservation and the Nakai Plateau and the NNT Conservation Area. They also pointed to the area's deteriorating environment and biodiversity.