Elements of

Research Design

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 Research Design

Research Design: It is designing the research in such a way that the

requisite data can be gathered and analyzed to arrive at a solution for
the problem.
A research design is a blue print for the collection, measurement,
and analysis of data, based on the research questions of the data.

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 Research Process

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Lecture 3
 Research Design

Philosophy Methodology Sampling

Reasoning:
Epistemology: Positivism, Inter-pretivism Deductive/Inductive
, pragmatic

Purpose:
Exploratory,
Descriptive,
Explanatory,

Approach

Strategy: Experiment,
case study, Survey,…

Data collection Method

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 Research Philosophy
■ Epistemology involves “the nature and forms of knowledge” (Cohen et al.
2007, p. 7). Epistemological assumptions mainly concern how to create,
acquire and communicate knowledge. Similarly, Guba and Lincon (1994, p.
108) previously explained that “epistemology asks the question, How we
know what we know”.
■ Positivism: it has a greater opportunity to control the process and can
mainly be used for testing hypotheses that reflect anticipated answers to
questions about cause-and-effect relationships (Thomas, 2010).
■ Inter-pretivism claims that social reality is different than natural reality
because the subjects of social reality are human beings and their relations
with each other. Inter-pretivism “contend that only through the subjective
interpretation and intervention in reality to be fully understood”.
■ Pragmatic : Mix of both philosophies

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 Research Reasoning

■ Deductive
■ Inductive

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 Deductive Reasoning

■ Deductive reasoning relies on a general statement or

hypothesis—sometimes called a standard—held to be true. The
standard is used to reach a specific, logical conclusion.
■ A common example is the if/then statement. If A = B and B = C,
then deductive reasoning tells us that A = C.

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 Deductive Reasoning

• Starts with a general rule (a premise)

which we know to be true. Then, from
that rule, we make a true conclusion
about something specific.

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 Deductive Reasoning

■ The process of reasoning from

known facts to conclusions. When
you reason deductively, you can
say “therefore” with certainty.

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 Deductive
Reasoning

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0
 Deductive Reasoning

From
vague

To
specific
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1
 Deductive Examples
1. A consumer products firm believes that professional
women are overloaded with family and work
responsibilities and strapped for time. Therefore, they
advertise that their hair coloring product can be
applied in less time than their competition's hair
coloring product.
2. A human resources department has identified public
speaking skills as an important qualifier for a
particular position. They decide to require candidates
to make an oral presentation on a predetermined topic
as a part of their second interview.
3. Management is committed to professional
development for staff members and therefore mandates
that a formal professional development plan is
incorporated into all performance reviews.

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 Inductive Reasoning

• The process of going from observations

to conclusions.
• This type of conclusion is sometimes
called an inference.

It refers to reasoning that takes specific

information and makes a broader
generalization

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3
 Inductive Reasoning
• Observing that something is true many times,
then concluding that it will be true in all instances
• Using the data to make a prediction

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 Inductive
Reasoning

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 Inductive Reasoning

From
specific

To
vague
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 Inductive Examples
■ Every windstorm in this area comes from the north. I
can see a big cloud of dust in the distance. A new
windstorm is coming from the north.
■ The chair in the living room is red. The chair in the
dining room is red. The chair in the bedroom is red. All
the chairs in the house are red.
■ Every time you eat peanuts, you start to cough. You are
allergic to peanuts.
■ Every cat that you've observed purrs. Therefore, all cats
must purr.
■ John is an excellent swimmer. His family has a
swimming pool. John's sister Mary must also be an
excellent swimmer.

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 Purpose of the Study

■ Descriptive
■ Exploratory
■ Explanatory (Causal)

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 The importance of theory

■ Asking for opinions and gathering facts –

'what' questions (descriptive research)

■ Using questions that go beyond description

and require analysis – 'why' questions
Phillips and Pugh (2005)
In order to:

Explain phenomena Analyse

relationships

Predict outcomes Compare and

generalise

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 Descriptive Study

■ A descriptive study is to describe. Descriptive studies are often

designed to collect data that describe the characteristics of
persons, events, or situations.
■ It is either quantitative or qualitative in nature. It may involve the
collection of quantitative data such as satisfaction ratings,
production figures, sales figures, or demographic data
■ it may also entail the collection of qualitative information. For
instance, qualitative data might be gathered to describe how
consumers go through a decision-making process or to examine
how managers resolve conflicts in organizations.

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 Descriptive Study

■ Descriptive research is defined as a research method that

describes the characteristics of the population or phenomenon
that is being studied. This methodology focuses more on the
“what” of the research subject rather than the “why” of the
research subject.
■ In other words, descriptive research primarily focuses on
describing the nature of a demographic segment, without
focusing on “why” a certain phenomenon occurs. In other words,
it “describes” the subject of the research, without covering
“why” it happens.

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 Descriptive Study

■ For example, an apparel brand that wants to understand the

fashion purchasing trends among New York buyers will conduct
a demographic survey of this region, gather population data and
then conduct descriptive research on this demographic segment.
The research will then uncover details on “what is the purchasing
pattern of New York buyers”, but not cover any investigative
details on “why” the patterns exits. Because for the apparel
brand trying to break into this market, understanding the nature
of their market is the objective of the study.

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 Descriptive Study

■ Example:
– A bank manager wants to have a profile of the
individuals who have loan payments outstanding for 6
months and more. It would include details of their
average age, earnings, nature of occupation,
full-time/part-time employment status, and the like.
This might help him to elicit further information or
decide right away on the types of individuals who
should be made ineligible for loans in the future.

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 Exploratory Study

■ is undertaken when not much is known about the situation at

hand, or no information is available on how similar problems or
research issues have been solved in the past.

■ In such cases, extensive preliminary work needs to be done to

understand what is occurring, assess the magnitude of the
problem, and/or gain familiarity with the phenomena in the
situation.

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 Example on Exploratory
research:
The manager of a multinational corporation wants to know
if the work ethic values of employees working in its
branch in India is different than those of its main branch
in NewYork.

In this case, since little is known about the work ethic

values in India, an exploratory study is needed.

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 Explanatory study

■ Explanatory (Causal study):

– It tests whether or not one variable causes another to change. In
a causal study the researchers want to know if variable X is the
cause of variable Y.
■ Example 1:
– A marketing manager wants to know if the sales of the company
will increase if he increases the advertising budget.
– A researcher wants to know the effect of smoking on the cancer.

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 Research Approach
■ Quantitative approach is likely to be associated with a deductive approach
to test a theory, using quantitative data (Saunders et al., 2012).
■ Quantitative researchers may employ strategies such as surveys and
experiments and collects data with tools that produce statistical data
(Creswell, 2012). This approach involves cause and effect thinking,
hypotheses and questions, and the test of theories.
■ This approach is suitable to establish, confirm or validate relationships and it
allows generalization of conclusions in human and social behaviors that
contribute to theory. It also enables flexible data analysis such as statistical
and comparative analysis (Thomas, 2010).
■ Quantitative approach deals mainly with numbers rather than meanings and
personal experiences. Methods associated with such approach include
experiments and questionnaires, where information is easy to statistically
analyze and are fairly reliable. This approach does not provide deep
description or generate new theories (Kiguba et al., 2012).

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 Research Approach
■ Qualitative approach involves that researchers were interested in studying
human behavior and the social world inhabited by human beings however,
they found difficulties to explain human behavior in measurable terms
therefore this approach dealing with the opinions, experiences and feelings
of individuals.
■ Qualitative researchers may employ strategies of inquiry such as case study,
grounded, and producing subjective data, non-numerical information and
implicit knowledge (Ghauri and Grønhaug, 2010).
■ In other word, this approach is more suitable to understand people’s mind
sets as the research topic is more concerned with interaction or process, or is
complex, hard to quantify, or sensitive (Lahouati, 2012). Furthermore, it is
mainly used to understand how people think and experience (Saunders,
et.al.2012).

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 Research Approach

■ Mixed research is the third research approach. It mixes

qualitative and quantitative research approaches, and uses both
deductive and inductive reasoning. It takes a balanced approach,
and corroborates findings. Using the mixed methods approach,
researchers should ensure that the combination of methods has
complementary strengths rather than overlapping weaknesses
(Creswell, 2012).

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 Research Approach

Quantitative Qualitative

• know what you want to • want narrative or in-depth

measure information
• want to conduct statistical • are not sure what you are
analysis able to measure
• want to be precise • do not need to quantify the
• want to cover a large group results

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 Research Design

Philosophy Methodology Sampling

Purpose:
Exploratory,
Epistemology: Positivism, Inter-pretivism Descriptive,
, pragmatic Explanatory,

Reasoning:
Deductive/Inductive

Approach

Strategy: Experiment,
case study, Survey,…

Time Horizon: Cross

sectional/ Longitudinal

Data collection Method

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 Research strategy

■ Every strategy has different characteristics that depend upon

three conditions: the type of research questions asked (“Who”,
“What”, “Where”, “how” and “Why”), the control an
investigator has over the actual behavior events and the focus on
current as opposes to historical events.

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 Research Strategies

■ Experiments
■ Survey Research
■ Case studies
■ Grounded theory
■ Action research
■ Ethnography
■ Analysis of Archival

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Experiments

■ Experiments are usually associated with deductive research and

a scientific or hypothetico-deductive approach to research.
Experimental designs are often used to establish causal
relationships. As you might expect, experimental designs are less
useful for many other – exploratory and/or descriptive – business
and management questions.

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 Survey
■ It allows considerable amount of data collection
from a high population in an economic way.
■ In addition, this strategy is a popular and common
in business research is usually associated with the
deductive approach. It is used to answer questions
such as what, where, who, and how much/many.
■ Surveys are the most common methodological
tools in explanatory studies.
■ Besides, it determines whether the information
found is more generalizable or specific to certain
unique corporations. It is possible to generate
findings that are representative of the whole
population at a lower cost than collecting the data
for the whole population, which makes it a suitable
vehicle for the research at hand.

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 Case studies
■ Case studies focus on collecting information
about a specific object, event or activity, such
as a particular business unit or organization.
■ In case studies, the case is the individual, the
group, the organization, the event, or the
situation the researcher is interested in.
■ The idea behind a case study is that in order to
obtain a clear picture of a problem one must
examine the real-life situation from various
angles and perspectives using multiple methods
of data collection.

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 Grounded theory
■ It is a systematic set of procedures to develop
an inductively derived theory from the data.
Important tools of grounded theory are
theoretical sampling, coding, and constant
comparison.
■ Theoretical sampling is “the process of data
collection for generating theory whereby the
analyst jointly collects, codes, and analyzes the
data and decides what data to collect next and
where to find them, in order to develop his
theory as it emerges”.

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 Action research
■ It is sometimes undertaken by consultants who want to initiate
change processes in organizations. In other words, action research
methodology is most appropriate while effecting planned changes.
■ Here, the researcher begins with a problem that is already
identified, and gathers relevant data to provide a tentative problem
solution. This solution is then implemented, with the knowledge
that there may be unintended consequences following such
implementation.
■ The effects are then evaluated, defined, and diagnosed, and the
research continues on an ongoing basis until the problem is fully
resolved. Thus, action research is a constantly evolving project with
interplay among problem, solution, effects or consequences, and
new solution. A sensible and realistic problem definition and
creative ways of collecting data are critical to action research.

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 Archival and Ethnography
■ Archival research makes use of administrative
records and documents as the principal source of
data. Although the term ‘archival’ has historical
connotations, it can refer to recent as well as
historical documents. An archival research strategy
allows research questions that focus upon the past
and changes over time to be answered.
■ Another strategy called Ethnography requires the
researcher to be immersed in the study setting to
understand the phenomenon being studied
(Easterby- Smith et al., 2008; Metzler and Seaman,
2013).

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 Time Horizon
■ Cross-sectional studies
■ A study can be undertaken in which data are gathered just
once, perhaps over a period of days or weeks or months, in
order to answer a research question. Such studies are called
one-shot.

■ Longitudinal studies
■ The researcher might want to study people or phenomena at
more than one point in time in order to answer the research
question. Here, because data are gathered at two different
points in time. It is carried longitudinally across a period of
time. Such studies, as when data on the dependent variable
are gathered at two or more points in time to answer the
research question.

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 Data Collection Methods
Primary / Secondary

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 Observation
•It is also a process of watching the behavior patterns
of people, objects, and occurrences with or without
questioning or communicating with them.

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Participant observation
■ Complete participants: sees you as a
researcher attempting to become a
member of the group in which you are
performing research.
■ Complete observer: you wouldn’t reveal
the purpose of your activity to those you
are observing. However, unlike the
complete participate role, you wouldn’t
take part in the activities of the group.

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 Observation
Advantages Disadvantages

• It is good at explaining • It can be very time consuming.

“what is going on” in
particular social situation.
• It heightens the researcher’s
awareness of significant
social process.
• It is particularly useful for
researchers working within
their own organization.
• Some participant
observation affords the
opportunity for the
researcher to the experience
‘for real’ the emotions of
those who are being
researched.
• It can pose difficult ethical dilemmas
for the researchers.
• They can be high levels of role
conflict for the researcher.
• The closeness of the researcher to the
situation being observed can lead to
significant observer bias .
• Access to organizations may be
difficult.
• Data recording is often very difficult
for the researcher.

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 Survey

■ “Survey” is a broader term that describes content, method, and

analysis.
■ A survey is the set of questions and the process of collecting,
aggregating, and analyzing the responses.
■ The instruments that are utilized can be either a questionnaire or
an interview.

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 Research interviews
Definition
‘An interview is a purposeful discussion between two
or more people’
■ It is a useful data collection method, especially during the
exploratory stages of research. It is important to train the
interviewers with care in order to minimize interviewer
bias in such ways as voice inflections, differences in
wording, and interpretation. Good training decreases
interviewer bias.

Types of interview used in research

■ Structured- Semi-structured- Unstructured (in depth)

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 Non-standardised (qualitative)
interviews

Four key aspects

■ Purpose of the research

■ Significance of establishing
personal contact

■ Nature of the data collection

questions

■ Time required and completeness of

process
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 Interviewing competence
There are several areas where you need to develop and
demonstrate competence in relation to conduct of semi structured
and in-depth research interview . These areas are:
■ Opening the interview;
■ Using appropriate language;
■ Questioning;
■ Listening;
■ Testing and summarizing understanding;
■ Recording and dealing with difficult participants;
■ recording data.

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 Interviewing competence
Approaches to questioning
1. Open questions: it allows participants to define and
describe the situation or event. An open is designed to
encourage the interviewee to provide an extensive and
developmental answer and may be used to reveal attitudes
or obtain facts. It encourages the interviewee to reply as
they wish. An open question is likely to start with or
include, one of the following words: ‘what’, or ‘how’, or
‘why’,.
Example:
■ Is your customer satisfied with online banking services? How do
you know?
■ What are the procedures that clients have to go through to create an
online bank account?
■ What are the main quality criteria that should be fulfilled in an
e-banking
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website?
 Approaches to questioning
2. Probing questions:Can be used to explore responses that are of
significance to the research topic. They may be worded like open
questions but request a particular focus or direction.
■ Example: Do
you think the information on your bank
is well provided through your bank’s website?
How would this criterion affect you and your
customers? Why?
3. Specific and closed questions:These types of questions
are simpler to those used in structured interviews. They can be used to
obtain specific information or to confirm a fact or opinion.

■ Example: Do you think the information on

your bank is well provided through your
bank’s website?
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 Types of interview
■ Structured interviews: use questionnaire based on
standardized or identical set of questions and we refer to
them as interviewer administered questionnaires.
■ Semi-structure interviews: the researcher will have a list
of themes and questions to be covered, although these
may vary from interview to interview. This means that
you may omit some questions in particular interviews,
given a specific organizational context that is encountered
in relation to the research topic. The order of questions
also be varied depending on the flow of conversation. On
the other hand, additional questions may be required to
explore your research question and objectives given the
nature of events within particular organizations.

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 Types of Interview

■ Unstructured interviews: are informal. You would use these to

explore in-depth a general area in which you are interested . We
therefore, refer to these as in-depth interviews. There is no
predetermined list of questions to work through in this situation,
although you need to have a clear idea about the aspect or
aspects that you want to explore. The interviewee is given the
opportunity to talk freely about events behavior and beliefs in
relation to topic area.

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 Research purpose

Uses of different types of interview in

each of the main research
categories

Saunders et al. (2009)

Table 10.1 Uses of different types of interview in each of
the main research categories
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 Personal Interview Telephone Interview
Advantages Advantages
• Can clarify doubts about questionnaire • Discomfort of face to face is
• Can pick up non-verbal cues avoided
• Relatively high response/cooperation • Faster / Number of calls per
day could be high
Disadvantages
• High costs and time intensive Disadvantages
• Geographical limitations • Interview length must be
• Some respondents are unwilling to talk to limited
strangers • Low response rate
• Trained interviewers • No facial expressions
• cost

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 Focus Group

■ It consists of 8-10 members with a moderator leading the discussions

for about two hours on a particular topic, concept, or product.
■ Purpose: to identify issues and themes.
■ Members are generally chosen on the basis of their expertise in the
topic on which information is sought.
■ For example:
1. Computer specialists may be selected to form a focus group to
discuss matters related to computers and computing.
2. Women with children may compose a focus group to identify how
organizations can help working mothers.
■ Type of qualitative research where small homogenous groups of
people are brought together to informally discuss specific topics.

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 Moderator for Focus Group

■ The moderator introduces the topic, observes, and takes notes

and/or tapes the discussions.
■ The moderator never becomes an integral part of the discussions,
but merely steers the group persuasively to obtain all the relevant
information, and helps the group members to get through any
impasse that might occur. The moderator also ensures that all
members participate in the discussion and that no member
dominates the group.

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 Focus Group Process
Phase Action

1 Opening Ice-breaker; explain purpose; ground rules;

introductions
2 Warm-u Relate experience; stimulate group interaction; start
p with least threatening and simplest questions
3 Main Move to more threatening or sensitive and complex
body questions; elicit deep responses; connect emergent
data to complex, broad participation
4 Closure End with closure-type questions; summarize and
refine; present theories, etc; invite final comments
or insights; thank participants

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 Advantages and Challenges of
Focus Groups
Advantag Can be conducted relatively quickly
es and easily; may take less staff time
than in-depth, in-person interviews;
allow flexibility to make changes in
process and questions; can explore
different perspectives; can be fun
Challenge Analysis is time consuming; possibly
s biasing the data; group may be
influenced by moderator or dominant
group members

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 Panels
• Panels, like focus groups, are another source of data collection.
• Individuals are chosen to serve as panel members for a research study. Panels
(of members) meet more than once but focus groups meet for a one-time
group session.
• In cases where the effects of certain interventions or changes are to be
studied over a period of time, panel studies are very useful.
• Example: if the effects of a proposed advertisement for a certain brand of
coffee are to be assessed quickly, the panel members can be exposed to the
advertisement and their intentions of purchasing that brand assessed.
• It is can be taken as the response that could be expected of consumers if, in
fact, they had been exposed to the advertisement.
• A few months later, the product manager might think of introducing a change
to the flavor of the same product and might explore its effects on this panel.
Thus, a continuing set of “experts” serves as the sample base or the sounding
board for assessing the effects of change. Such expert members compose the
panel.

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 Advantages and disadvantages of
audio-recording Observation/
Interviews

Saunders et al. (2009)

Table 10.3 Advantages and disadvantages of
audio-recording the interview
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Qualitative researchers must be
aware of the potential for their
own emotional turmoil in
processing this information
During the interview process,
participants may disclose
sensitive and potentially
distressing information in the
course of the interview..

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 Questionnaire
■ Definition
A questionnaire is written set of questions to
which the respondent records his answers

■ Steps
1. Determine the content of the questionnaire
2. Determine the wording of the questions
3. Determine the question sequence
4. Write cover letter

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 Use of questionnaires

When to use questionnaires

Mode of data collection Advantages Disadvantages

■ For explanatory
Can establishor
respondent.
descriptive
rapport and motivate

research Doubts
Personally administered
can be clarified.
Less expensive when administered to Take time and effort.
questionnaires
groups of respondents.
Almost 100% response rate ensured.
Anonymity of respondent is high.
■ Linked with other
Anonymity methods in a
is high.
Wide geographic regions can be Response rate is almost always low.
multiple-methods research design
reached. Token gifts can be enclosed A 30% rate is quite acceptable.
to seek Cannot clarify questions.
Mail questionnaires
compliance. Follow-up procedures for
Respondent can take more time to nonresponses
respond at convenience. Can be are necessary.
■ To collect responses from a large
administered electronically, if desired.

sample prior to globally.

quantitative analysis
Easy to administer.
Can reach
Computer literacy is a must.
Respondents must have access to
Very inexpensive.
the
Electronic questionnaires Fast delivery.
facility.
Respondents can answer at their
Respondent must be willing to
convenience like the mail
complete the survey.
questionnaire.
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 Data Collection Methods
Secondary/ Primary

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 Guidelines for Questionnaire
Design
1. Principles of Wording

b. Content and Purpose of the Questions

The nature of the variable tapped—subjective
feelings or objective facts—will determine what kinds of
questions will be asked. If the variables tapped are of a
subjective nature (e.g., satisfaction, involvement), the
questions should tap the dimensions and elements of
the concept.
b. Language and Wording of the Questionnaire
The language of the questionnaire should approximate
the level of understanding of the respondents. The
choice of words would depend on their educational
level, the usage of terms and the culture, and the frames
of reference of the respondents.
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c. Type and Form of Questions
Type of question refers to whether the question will be open-ended or
closed. Form refers to positively and negatively worded questions.

i. Open-Ended versus Closed Questions

Open-ended questions allow respondents to answer them in any way they
choose.
An example state five things that are interesting and challenging in the job.
A closed question, in contrast, would ask the respondents to make choices
among a set of alternatives given by the researcher. For instance, the
researcher might list 10 or 15 aspects that might seem interesting or
challenging in jobs and ask the respondents to rank the first five among these
in the order of their preference. Closed questions help the respondents to
make quick decisions to choose among the several alternatives before them.

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ii. Positively and Negatively Worded Questions

Instead of phrasing all questions positively, it is advisable to include

some negatively worded questions as well, so the tendency in
respondents to mechanically circle the points toward one ended of the
scale is minimized.
I feel I have been able to accomplish a number of different things in my
job,
“I do not feel I am very effective in my job.”

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iii. Double-Barreled Questions
■ It’s a question that asks about more two or more issues but leaves room
for just a single answer. Basically, whenever you force people to
answer two questions (disguised as one) with a single answer, you’re
asking a double barreled question.

“Do you think there is a good market for the product and that it will sell
well? ”could bring a “yes” response to the first part (i.e., there is a good
market for the product) and a “no” response to the latter part (i.e., it will
not sell well for various other reasons).
■In this case, it would be better to ask two questions: (1) “Do you think
there is a good market for the product?” and (2) “Do you think the product
will sell well?”
■ How well do you get along with your managers and coworkers?
■ How pleased are you with your salary and work environment?

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Ambiguous Questions
Even questions that are not double-barreled might be ambiguously
worded and the respondent may not be sure what exactly they
mean. An example of such a question is “To what extent would you
say you are happy?” Respondents might find it difficult to decide
whether the question refers to their state of feelings at the
workplace, or at home, or in general.
Recall- Dependent Questions
Some questions might require respondents to recall experiences from the past
that are hazy in their memory. Answers to such questions might have bias. state
when he first started working in a particular department and for how long, he may not be
able to give the correct answers and may be way off in his responses.

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Social Desirability
Questions should not be worded such that they elicit socially
desirable responses, For instance, a question such as “Do you
think that older people should be laid off?” would elicit a
response of “no”
Length of Questions
Finally, simple, short questions are preferable to long ones. As a rule
of thumb, a question or a statement in the questionnaire should not
exceed 20 words, or exceed one full line in print.
Leading Questions
Questions should not be phrased in such a way that they lead the
respondents to give the responses that the researcher would like or
want them to give. An example of such a question is: “Don’t you
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that in these days of escalating costs of living, employees
 Leading Questions

■ Leading question: How great is our hard-working customer

service team?
Fixed: How would you describe your experience with the
customer service team?
■ Leading question: How awesome is the product?
Fixed: How would you rate this product?
■ Leading question: What problems do you have with the
design team?
Fixed: How likely are you to recommend working with the
design team?

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 Question Sequence
Sequencing of Questions
The sequence of questions in the
questionnaire should be such that the
respondent is led from questions of a
general nature to those that are more
specific, and from questions that are
relatively easy to answer to those that are
progressively more difficult.

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Classification Data or Personal Information
Classification data, also known as personal information or
demographic questions, elicit such information as age, educational
level, marital status, and income. Unless absolutely necessary, it is
bet not to ask for the name of the respondent.
Information on Income and Other Sensitive Personal Data
Information of a very private and personal nature such as income,
state of health, and so on, should be asked at the end of the
questionnaire.

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Good Introduction
A proper introduction that clearly discloses the identity of the
researcher and conveys the purpose of the survey is absolutely
necessary. (Cover letter)

Open-Ended Question at the End

The questionnaire could include an open-ended question at the end

allowing respondents to comment on any aspect they choose.

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Pretesting of Structured Questions

Whether it is a structured interview or a questionnaire that is used in a

survey, it is important to pretest the instrument to ensure that the
questions are understood by the respondents and that there are no
problems with the wording or measurement. Pretesting involves the
use of a small number of respondents to test the appropriateness of
the questions and their comprehension through the pilot test.

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Pilot Test
■ Test the questionnaire on a small sample of your subjects
first. If this is not possible, at least test it on some
colleagues or friends. The aim here is to detect any flaws
in your questioning and correct these prior to the main
survey. The piloting may enable you to convert an
open-ended question in to a closed question by
determining the range of possible answers. You may also
be able to perform a trial analysis on your pilot sample
and hence test out all your analysis procedures.
■ Having done your pilot survey, you can make
amendments that will help to maximise your response rate
and minimise your error rate on answers.

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■Electronic Questionnaire Design and Surveys
Online questionnaire surveys are easily designed and administered when
micro-computers are hooked up to computer networks. Data disks can
also be mailed to respondents, who may use their personal computers for
responding to the questions.

Programs enabling the user to design a sophisticated computerized

questionnaire, computerize the data collection process, and analyze the
data collected. (The Survey System, Keypoint, SurveyGold, Statpac,
SurveyMonkey, Survey Pro)

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Multi-methods of Data Collection

Because almost all data collection methods have some biases

associated with them, collecting data through multi-methods
and from multiple sources lends rigor to research. Good
research entails collection of data from multiple sources and
through multiple data collection methods. Such research,
though, would be more costly and time consuming.

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■Organizing Questions, Giving Instructions and Guidance,
and Good Alignment

■Organizing the questions logically and neatly in appropriate sections

and providing instructions on how to complete the items in each
section will help the respondents to answer them without difficulty.

General Appearance or “Getup” of the Questionnaire

It is also necessary to pay attention to how the questionnaire
looks. An attractive and neat questionnaire with appropriate
introduction, instructions, and well-arrayed set of questions
and response alternatives will make it easier for the
respondents to answer them.
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 The questionnaire contained 54 variables arranged in

five sections:

1. General Questions (Q1-3): general questions about website usage;

2. Website usage pattern (Q4-8): website usage patterns in more detail;

3. Website dimensions (Q9-46);

4. Ranking Website dimensions (Q47): how respondents rank the website

dimensions of their main e-bank account;

5. Personal details (Q48-54): respondents’ personal information.

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 Validity and Reliability Test
for Survey
■ Both tests; validity and reliability tests enhance the accuracy of
the assessment and evaluations.
■ Validity and reliability are important in evaluating measurement
instruments. Thus, as a first step, data should be tested to know if
it is valid or not.
■ Validity is “concerned with the extent to which an instrument
measures what it is intended to measure” (Tavakol et al., 2011,
p.53). It refers to the extent to which an instrument measures
what it is supposed to measure correctly.

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 Validity Test

■ Calculate the Average Variance Extracted and Factor Loading.

■ The average variance extracted (AVE) represents the average
community for each factor, and in an adequate model it should
be greater than 0.5, which means that the factors should explain
at least half the variance of their respective indicators.

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 Reliability Test
■ Reliability concerns the extent to which a measurement of
a phenomenon provides stable and consist result
(Carmines and Zeller, 1979). Reliability is also concerned
with repeatability. For example, a scale or test is said to be
reliable if repeat measurement made by it under constant
conditions will give the same result (Moser and Kalton,
1989)
■ The most commonly used internal consistency measure is the
Cronbach Alpha coefficient.
■ Hair et al. (2007) include that Cronbach Alpha for each
construct should exceed 0.70.

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■ What is your favorite product?

■ Why did you purchase this product?

■ How satisfied are you with [product]?

■ Would you recommend [product] to a friend?

■ Would you recommend [company name] to a friend?

■ If you could change one thing about [product], what would it be?

■ Which other options were you considering before [product or company name]?

■ Did [product] help you accomplish your goal?

■ How would you feel if we did not offer this product, feature, or service?

■ What's the primary reason for canceling your account?

■ How satisfied are you with our customer support?

■ Did we answer all of your questions and concerns?

■ How can we be more helpful?

■ Are we meeting your expectations?

■ How satisfied are you with your experience?

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 RESEARCH
ETHICS

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 Ethics

■ Ethics refers to a code of conduct of behaviour while conducting

research.
■ Ethical conduct applies to the organization and the members that
sponsor the research, the researchers who undertake the research
and the respondents who provide them with the necessary data.

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 Ethics

■ The members that sponsor the research should do it in good

faith, pay attention what the results indicate and pursue
organizational rather than self-interest.
■ Ethical conduct should also be reflected in the behaviour of the
researchers who conduct the investigation, the participants who
provide the data, the analysts who provide the results and
suggests alternative solutions.

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It is the researcher’s ethical responsibility to safeguard
the story teller by maintaining the understood purpose
of the research…
The relationship should be based on trust between the
researcher and participants.

Inform participants of the purpose of the study.

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 Guidelines for designing
Questionnaire: Cover Letter
■ The cover letter is the introductory page of the
questionnaire

■ It includes:
– Identification of the researcher
– Motivation for respondents to fill it in
– Confidentiality
– Thanking of the respondent

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Cover letter Example (Questionnaire)

I am an associate lecturer at Arab Academy for Science

and Technology. I am now a part-time Ph.D candidate at
…….University. The purpose of this research project is
to investigate the impact of the Internet service quality
dimensions on e-banking websites and to rank and
prioritize the Internet Banking Service Quality
dimensions according to customer’s relevant importance
from banks in Egypt. Please complete each question by
either putting your answer in the space provided or
circling the appropriate response. All your responses are
confidential and will only be used for the purposes for
this research. Thank you in advance for taking the time
to complete this survey.

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Concluding the Questionnaire
The questionnaire should end on a courteous note, reminding
the respondent to check that all the items have been
completed, as per the example below.
Example
I sincerely appreciate your time and cooperation. Please check to
make sure that you have not skipped any questions inadvertently,
and then drop the questionnaire in the locked box, clearly marked
for the purpose, at the entrance of your department.

Thank you!
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You are invited to participate in a research project being conducted by Mary Smith, a
graduate student in the Department of Counseling at The University of Akron. The purpose
of this research is to find out how individuals decide on what type of counseling is
appropriate for them.
If you decide to participate, you will be asked to complete an anonymous web-based survey.
The survey should take no more than 30 minutes and I hope to recruit 100 participants.
The survey will not collect any identifiable information and no one will be able to connect
your responses to you. Your anonymity is further protected by not asking you to sign and
return a consent form. Your completion of the survey will serve as your consent. Please keep
this cover letter for future reference.
If you have any questions about this study, you may call me at 330-972-1111 or my advisor,
Dr. Jones, at 330-972-2222. This project has been reviewed and approved by The University
of Akron Institutional Review Board. If you have any questions about your rights as a
research participant, you may call the IRB at (330) 972-7666.
Please return the survey in the enclosed envelope. Thank you for your participation.

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Ethical Approval Form:
Project summary:

The purpose of this research project is to investigate the impact of electronic service quality
dimensions on e-banking websites in Egypt. It highlights the e-banking quality problems in
public and private banks by focusing on electronic service quality dimensions in the Internet
banking websites from both perspectives customers and Internet banker providers. Based on
reviewing the previous researches and secondary data, the current dimensions of electronic
service quality will be examined through designing and conducting both a structured
questionnaire, where data will be statistically analysed using SPSS and AHP and a
semi-structured interview, where data will be interpretively analysed using NVivo. Then, a
system dynamic approach will be applied using Powersim software. Research findings
should allow the researcher to determine, add and/ or eliminate the e-service quality
dimensions as needed. Finally, conclusions will be drawn by answering the research
questions and recommendations will be proposed.

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Why have you been asked to participate?
You have been asked to participate because you fit the profile of
the population being studied; that is participants are between the
ages of 18 and above 65.

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Project risks
The research involves the completion of questionnaires and participation in a
semi-structured interview which will be documented for later analysis.
It does not seek to collect any sensitive data on respondents and participants; this
study is only concerned with the Internet banking service quality and will not
discuss any immoderate behaviours. We do not think that there are any significant
risks associated with this study. However, if the respondents do feel that any of the
questions are inappropriate then the respondent can stop at any time. Furthermore,
the participant can change his/her mind and withdraw from the study at any time;
the researcher will completely respect participant’s decision.

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How we protect your privacy?

All the participants’ information provide will be held in

confidence. The researcher have taken careful steps to make sure
that participant cannot be directly identified from the questionnaire
form; there is no information on these questionnaires that will
identify the participants. Participant personal details and
questionnaire will be kept in secure locations by the researcher.
When the study is finished and data is analysed, all the
documentation used to gather the data will be destroyed. The
interview will also be held in a secure and confidential environment
during the study and destroyed when it is complete.
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 Checklist of general ethical issues to
consider, such as:

❖ Assessment of risk
❖ Confidentiality,
❖ Informed consent
❖ Data access and ownership.

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