3.2.

1 Research approach

For the interpretation and the analysis of the data the deduction approach is used for the current
research. From this approach as the premises from which the research data is collected is true, so the
inference drawn from analyzing the data must also be true. The conclusions drawn from the data can be
used to form generalization. This can be used to draw conclusions, which can point whether the
hypothesizes for the current research are verified or falsified (Saunders, et al., 2019).

3.2.2 Deductive approach

The secondary data is collected from the online sources which collect data from the different firms. The
data collected from the firms by these online databases is used for many purposes, such as to determine
the market forecasts, investor recommendation etc. This makes the data reliable as it is used by other
sources to draw results from. The collected data will be used to perform data analysis to test the
hypothesis devised during the course of the research. The conclusion and the inferences drawn are
based on the research question, aim and the objectives. The deductive approach is used to perform
analysis on the secondary data. The data is adapted to be used according to the research question, from
where the answers to the question can be drawn upon. The results are deduced from the analysis of the
data, so the research approach is deductive in nature (O’Reilly, 2009).

3.3 Research Design

The research design is the overall approach and strategy taken to understand and answer the research
question for the research. The research design depends on the research, aim, objectives, hypothesis of
the research, the methods in which the data for the current research is collected, and the approach on
which the data is analyzed. The research design should help in finding the answer to the research
question. As the data collected from this research is numerical in nature, measured and recorded
according to the research, the research design is quantitative research approach (Durrheim, 2006).

The reason for the quantitative research approach is that the aims and the objectives of the research
required that the different parameters of the board composition in relation to the firm performance
need the data to be in the numerical form. The data collected is numerical and quantified according to
the research question and the variables determined important for the current research. The data is
collected on the importance of these factors to the research. The factors expressed in the numerical
dataset prepared are selected from the numerical data from the stock performance of the firms
(Anderson, et al., 2018). For the analysis of the data, the effect of the various characteristics of the
board composition are measured and their relationship with the firm’s stock performance is examined.
This is done to understand the relationship of the board composition variables with the firm
performance. From the quantitative data analysis, deductions and inference related to the research
question can be drawn (Anderson, et al., 2018) .

Form this the overall research design for the research is the descriptive and the correlational. The
research design helps in determining the relation between factors that of the board composition have
with the performance of the firm in the market. The data will show if there is a strong, weak, positive or
negative relation between the factors and the firm performance. The relationship between these factors
and their effects on each other show the clear picture of the situation in the current industry. The detail
of the relationship present describes the clear picture of the factors and their characteristics in the
current market (Anderson, et al., 2018).

3.4 Research method for the research, Secondary research

The specific steps required to collect the research-based data and the methods upon which the data is
then analyzed is defined as the research method for the research. The research methods depend on the
research question, method of data collection and the data analysis performed.

For the current research study, the secondary data research method is used. The reason for choosing
the secondary data collection method is due to the constraint of resources on collecting the primary
data for the collecting from the various firms makes it difficult (Hox & Boeije, 2005). The firms provide
the data required as according to the various government reforms for the betterment of the
stakeholders. This data is kept in the many data archives over the internet. These archives contain the
relevant data to measure the financial performance of the firm which the stakeholders, investors or
academics can use to for various purposes (Magnan & Martin, 2019). This makes the data more reliable
and secure to be used to draw conclusion upon, as opposed to the uncertainty present in the
mishandling of data due to the primary data collection.