Chapter 3: Research Methodology

Research Design
In order to collect the information needed in this study, the researchers will be using the

Quantitative Research Design. The respondents will be asked to answer questionnaires and the data that

will be collected will be recorded and will be used in this research to come up with a conclusion.

In order to identify the determinants affecting e-shoppers online, a Quantitative research would be

the best approach to collect the determinants and prove their effect as the respondents answers the

questionnaires provided to them.

Study Locale
This study will based in the Alfredo M. Velayo – College of Accountancy of the University of

Santo Tomas located in Espana, Manila, Metro Manila. The College of Accountancy is located at the center

of the university on the fourth floor of the carpark building. The researchers chose these locations because

it contains the main target population of the study who are students of the UST College of Accountancy.

Since our data gathering process involves survey. It will be convenient to distribute printed questionnaires

inside classrooms. The researchers will also utilize electronic surveys.

As for the location of the companies that will be the source of financial performance, it will depend

on the response from the survey on which product is frequently bought by students. When the product is

already determined, subsequently, the company will be also determined and selected.

Population and sampling

Research Instrumentation
Primary and secondary data will be utilized in this study. Primary data will be gathered through

survey questions. Secondary data will be gathered from the financial statements of selected companies to

be sourced from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The respondents of the study are from

Alfredo M. Velayo – College of Accountancy students located in University of Santo Tomas. Likewise, the
questions developed intends to discover what are the factors affect their buying decisions and its implication

to the firms’ profitability.

The survey form is divided into 4 segments:

a. Introduction and the primary purpose of the study

b. Personal information

c. Online buying experiences

d. Identification of products and services

A close-ended and rating scale questionnaire was administered to gather primary data. This type of

survey is simple and straightforward in terms of data interpretation and also time-efficient for both

respondents and researchers. For these variables, a five-point Likert scale where one is the lowest point of

the scale and five is the highest point of scale, was used. The questionnaire ranged from 1 - Strongly

disagree, 2 - Disagree, 3 - Neither agree nor disagree, 4 - Agree, 5 - Strongly agree.

Data Collection Procedure

In order to attain the total number of Alfredo M Velayo and Financial Management students, the

researchers will ask the office of the University to provide its list of students. The office will be rest assured

that the information given to the researchers will be confidential and will only be used for research purposes.

After gathering the total population, the researchers will now identify the sample size. All of the students

will be given equal chances to be part of the research. Next will be identifying the sample size from the

derived population using the Slovin’s formula. From the sample size, the researchers will ask the

respondents to answer the questionnaires and will be assured that the information gathered will remain

confidential.

The conclusion derived from the answers of the respondents will be used to identify the common

products that were usually purchased online. From this, the researchers will identify the targeted online

sellers that can benefit from this research. Also, after identifying the online sellers, the researchers will ask
the owner for the business’ financial statement to measure the business’ profitability. Subsequently, the

financial information gathered will be use to correlate the determinants affecting the e-shoppers when

purchasing online for the researchers to prove how the determinants does really affect the business’

financial performance.

Statistical Treatment of Data

Regression analysis is a statistical technique that aims to predict the relationship and trends between

independent and dependent variables. There are two models of regression analysis, one is the simple linear

technique, which has one predictor (independent variable) and one dependent variable. Another which is

the extension of the simple linear technique is the multiple regression model, which has several predictors

and one dependent variable. The researchers will use the latter in their study in order to know the

relationship between factors affecting consumer buying behavior and measure the profitability of the

company.

𝑌 = 𝛽0 + 𝛽1 𝑥1 + 𝛽2 𝑥2 + 𝛽3 𝑥3 + 𝛽4 𝑥4 + 𝛽5 𝑥5 + 𝛽6 𝑥6 + 𝛽7 𝑥7 + 𝛽7 𝑥7 + 𝜀
𝑌 = 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒)
𝛽 = 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑥1 = 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑥2 = 𝑃𝑠𝑦𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠
𝑥3 = 𝐶𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑥4 = 𝑆𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠

𝑥5 = 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑘 𝑥6 = 𝑁𝑜𝑛 − 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑘

𝑥7 = 𝐶𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑥8 = 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑘 𝑥9 = 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒
Relative frequency is a measure of how often an event is to occur, hence in this paper, how often a

certain product is bought by the consumers. The researchers would classify the products into major group

items such as, apparel, accessories, shoes, electronics and gadgets, gadget accessories, personal care, food

and electronic coupons and discounts. The relative frequency could be measured by dividing the number

of consumers that buy a certain category over the total number of respondents. The results would then guide

future and existing sellers to know which product to offer consumers to increase their potential sales.
 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑏𝑢𝑦𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 (𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑜𝑟𝑦)
𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 (%) =
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠
Ethical Consideration
Consideration of ethics is of great importance to the researchers and is therefore, crucial. The

researchers guarantee to uphold utmost quality and the integrity of the study. They will promote impartiality

and present facts which are well-supported by reliable studies and sources. Acknowledgment of works of

other authors will be secured and will be cited properly with the use of the APA system. Any form of

exaggeration and deception in the study will not be tolerated. The researchers also promise to advocate

complete transparency and honesty at all times. The study involves interaction with students and

professionals. The researchers will ensure that they acquire the voluntary and full informed consent of the

interviewees. They assure to inform the respondents of the implication of their participation in the study

giving them the freedom to decide whether or not to partake in the research without the use of pressure.

One of the data that is aimed to be acquired is figures pertaining to financial performance. The researchers

will assure the companies involved that their information will be kept confidential and will only be used

for the purposes of this research. The researchers will also prioritize the participants’ well-being as parts of

the study and ensure that they will not be subjected to any form of violence. The participants have the free

will to withdraw at any point of the study if they wish to do so. The researchers will ensure the protection

of privacy of the respondents and anonymity if necessary. They will make certain to only consider

information that is within the scope of the study. Adequate level of confidentiality will be imposed

throughout the research.