Choosing Financial And Economic Research Methods Example For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2123 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? One of the major quandaries of researchers is to select the best suitable method for the research as the result and quality of any research depends basically on the type of methodology used in the research. The best suitable methodology depends on many factors like research objectives, aim, resources available for research and many other factors. The previous chapter of this report represented the literature review on new products, its market and the factors affecting adoption of new product, whereas this chapter will represent the relevant research approach used in the project followed by research design and then method used for data collection, sampling and analysis. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Choosing Financial And Economic Research Methods Example For Free" essay for you Create order 3.2 Research Approach: Research approach suggests that methodology is based on the two prime approaches which include deductive theory testing and inductive theory building: 3.2.1 Inductive Approach Inductive application is bottom-up processes where observation considered initially and then pattern is decided for the research, following the pattern tentative hypothesis is created which formulate the theory. This application more focuses on observation and there is some degree of uncertainty in conclusion. According to George (1997), inductive process form a bridge between the researcher and the research objective, further more he stated inductive application mostly used for qualitative analysis. Researcher used inductive application as the primary research based on the focus group interviews and researcher considered this approach as vital for carrying out the research. 3.2.2 Deductive Approach Deductive approach can be defined as when evaluating the research objective the literature is considered as priority to form a basic concept of theory and then formulating this theory, hypothesis is created in order to target the audience further more observation can placed to achieve the results from the hypothesis. According to Balbin, (2005), deductive application more focuses on the reasoning and facts where as Sauder (2008) stated that deductive approach can be termed as top down approach, where conclusion follows the logical facts. According to Oppenheim (1992), Deductive approach is vital for the research while projecting the conclusion but it often depends on the researcher in deciding the approach. Sauder (2008) stated that the advantaging factor in deductive approach is, it consider the logical facts and observation for the analysis rather than theory and materialistic arguments. Researcher has used this method while conducting the questionnaire, researcher build up the theory by consuming the literature review and hypothesis is created on which all questions are based further more observation will be done in analysis chapter to conclude the research. 3.3 Research Design: According to Burns (2006) a research design is a set of advance decisions that makes up the master plan specifying the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the needed information. According to Malhotra (2006) research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting a market research. It explains the necessary process for obtaining the relevant information. There are three types of research design Exploratory Research, Descriptive Research, Causal Research. (Burns et al, 2006) Descriptive Research: As stated by Malhotra (2006) and Burns (2006). Descriptive research is formulated by particular research question or hypotheses, in it the information required is clearly defined. Descriptive research generally used to answer Questions like who, what, when, where or how. Generally descriptive research is based on large samples; it states the methods to identify sources of information and to collect information from it. Some examples of Descriptive Research are: Market studies describing the size and buying power of the market Sales analysis Product usage studies Market share studies Causal Research: The causal research is used for determining cause and effect relationship (Gilbert 1996). This research requires a planned and structured design and experimentation is the best method of casual research. Casual research is generally suitable for (Malhotra 2006): Understanding variables, i.e. which variables are causes (independent variable) and which ones are effects (dependent variable) of market phenomena. To determine the association between causal variable and effects. Testing hypotheses. Exploratory Research: The exploratory research is generally used to get inner information and understanding of the market (Malhotra 2006). It is the most familiar, unstructured and informal research which is used to get the background information about the research problem. This research method is used when the researcher doesnt have much information about the research problems so researcher formulate hypothesis for the research and collect required background information. (Burns 2006) According to Burns (2006) there are several Methods for collecting exploratory research such as Secondary Data analysis (i.e. examining literature, management journals and market reports), Case analysis, Focus groups and Experience surveys. After the detailed analysis on the literature researcher found that exploratory research is the best suitable method for this research because exploratory research seems suitable for finding factors affecting adoption of new products as exploratory research is used to get inner i nformation and understanding of the market. 3.4 Data Collection Methods: There are two types of Data collection methods primary and secondary data Primary Data Primary data is information/data created by researcher thru various methods to answer specific research questions; its a more customised and focused data which is used only for the problems in hand. This data collection method is time consuming and expensive as compare to secondary data. (Malhotra 2006) For this research researcher obtained primary data by conducting focus groups and survey between adopters and non adopters of new products, to collect both perceptions that why consumer choose to adopt or refuse the product. This data will help in understanding the factors affecting adoption of new products and compare them to literature. Focus Group: Burn (2006) state that Focus group is a qualitative research method in which small group of people are brought together for unstructured and spontaneous discussion moderated by a neutral moderator who makes sure that the discussion is focused on the area of interest. According to Malhotra (2004), the essential element in focus group is to observe the respondents from suitable target market by listening to them and achieve the appropriate results. Focus group is type of an application to evaluate the research question. The key benefits which are attached to focus groups are respondent can easily be observed and analysis can be done effectively. Author explained that the minimum to maximum number of people for the focus group can be 6 to 12 and the respondents which are selected for focus group can be pre screened to understand the mental capacity. (Malhotra et al, 2006) Focus group can be recorded for analysis purpose, which can give a edge in forming a research opinion, fo r this research two focus groups were conducted with seven members in each group who were both adopters and non-adopters of new products with open-ended questions and were conducted in free responsive environment. Survey Research: Survey is the most common method of collecting primary data, it involves interview with a large group of peoples from appropriate target market using a structured questionnaire. In which respondents are asked questions regarding their attitude, behaviour, intension, demographic and lifestyle characteristics. (Malhotra et al, 2006). According to Peter Chisnall 2005, questionnaire always behave as the backbone of any survey and therefore requires a careful planning and execution further more author stated that various tool and applications are being considered to design questionnaire which follows the research objectives. Questionnaire can be highly structured or unstructured. In highly structured questionnaire the questions asked to respondents, responses are completely predetermined on permitted concepts. The unstructured questionnaires are those which responses are loosely predetermined because of responses are by their own words and the way they feel to fit. (Gilbert A. Chu rchill, JR. 1996) According to Malhotra (2006), structured questionnaire posses three qualities, first, it must demonstrate the understanding of the respondents and respondent can easily describe their views on the question, secondly questionnaire must possess the quality to encourage the respondent in responding the questionnaire and finally questionnaire must be designed in way that assures the error freeness. Researcher has used survey method as primary research for data collection, most of the question which researcher used was open-ended question in order to get admirable response from the audience further more researcher specifically considered the prominent market where these questions was gathered. Secondary Data Secondary data is information/ data which were collected previously for specific purpose rather than the current research problem. The for more advantage of collecting this data is quite easy, writers often include this type of data in inexpensive category due to nature of collection methods used. Secondary data can be distinguished into Internal and External secondary data. Internal secondary data is generated within the organisation on which research is being conducted whereas External secondary data is generated by other sources like publication houses and online database. According to Malhotra (2006), before collecting primary data researcher should search and study for relevant secondary data as secondary data can help in sample design and it can provide base for the primary research. For this research secondary data has been collected from various sources such as from library, Metalib, and various other research websites. Much of the data has been collected from libr ary and due to nature of research; wide literature is available on topic. Sampling: According to Peter Chisnall (2005), sampling is one of the major components of any market research, in which a small group of respondents are selected to represent a large group. Sampling enables the researcher to obtain data of high quality and save time, money and labour. 3.5.1 Sampling technique Sampling technique can be classified as Probability sampling and Non-Probability sampling. In probability sampling every element of the population has equal chance of being selected into samples whereas Non-Probability sampling technique is not depend on chances, in it researcher decides which element to include in sample. (Naresh K. Malhotra David F. Birks 2006) For this research Non-Probability sampling technique is used. Non-Probability technique can be classified into Convenience Sampling, Judgemental Sampling, Quota Sampling, and Snowball Sampling. After the detail study of these entire sampling techniques researcher adopt Convenience Sampling technique in which the samples are obtain at the convenience of the researcher. Malhotra (2006) States that convenience sampling technique is the most cost effective and time saving sampling technique and is recommended for exploratory research for generating ideas, insights and hypotheses and can be used for pre-testing questionnair es. 3.5.2 Sample size According to the Sauder (2007), Sample size is the size of result which is going to be selected from the population in order to evaluate the results further more author defined that sampling size depends upon nature of the population and the research questions. Researcher used sampling technique for the effective research analysis below is the table which best describe the how sampling method used by the researcher. For this research sample size of ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦. respondents was achieved in a questionnaire survey whereas in focus group there were two sessions, in session one sample size of ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦. was attained in which there were ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦. males and ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ females and in session two the sample size of ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€ šÃ‚ ¦.. was achieved with ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦. females and ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦. males. All these respondents were adopters of new product which in this research is apple iPhone 4. Questionnaire Sample Plan Total no. of Questionnaire Distributed Rejected no. of Questionnaire Completed no. of Questionnaire Percentage of Response Focus Group Sample plan Focus Group S.No. No. of Participants Date Duration Focus Group 1 Focus Group 2 3.6 Data Analysis: After collecting primary data next stage is data analysis, Paul Baines (2008) states that data analysis is a stage in which data obtained thru different methods are processed to data input, analysis and interpretation. To find the factors affecting the adoption of new products both qualitative data (thru focus group) and quantitative data (thru questionnaires) were used. For qualitative data transcript based analysis was used in which the recordings of focus group was transcribed and used with field noted to analysis the factors. For summarising and analysing quantitative data researcher use SPSS tool which is a statistical analysis package, SPSS facilitate the researcher to perform wide range of analysis, quickly and accurately carry out statical tests, and it convert the data into tables, charts and graphs to give clear view of findings. (Jill Hussey Roger Hussey 1997) 3.7 Summery This chapter act as the ground for conducting any research. It explains and justified the methodology used for the research. This research uses both the research approaches to collect data, in which secondary data was researched and analysed using desk research in which journals, articles and online data was studied, this information searched was on product adoption, new product and consumer buying behaviour, these information was critically analysed for finding factors affecting adoption of new products. Primary data was collected thru Focus Group which is a qualitative method, two focus groups were conducted for the research with seven and six members in it, these focus groups were transcribed and analysed for relevant information. Second method used for collecting primary data was online survey which is a quantitative method in which ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦. sample size was selected and analysed using SPSS software.