Chapter-3 (Research Methodology)

3.1 Introduction

In the previous chapters and sections, background of the study, statement of the problems,

research questions, research objectives, significance (importance) of the study were discussed. A

review of related literature was also performed. In this chapter, research purpose, research

design, research data, questionnaire design, sampling technique and sample size, measurement of

variables and techniques of data analysis will be discussed.

3.2 Research purpose

There are three research purpose:

1. Exploratory Research 2. Descriptive Research 3. Causal Research

Exploratory research:

Exploratory research is "the preliminary research to clarify the exact nature of the problem to be

solved." Exploratory research is conducted when enough is not known about a phenomenon and

a problem that has not been clearly defined (Saunders et al., 2007).An explanatory study sets

out to explain and account for the descriptive information. So, while descriptive studies may
ask ‘what’ kinds of questions, explanatory studies seek to ask ‘why’ and ‘how’

questions(Grey,2014).Explanatory research looks for causes and reasons and provides evidence

to support or refute an explanation or prediction. It is conducted to discover and report some

relationships among different aspects of the phenomenon under study. The primary objective of

exploratory research is to provide insights into and an understanding of marketing phenomena. It

is used in instances where the subject of the study cannot be measured in a quantitative manner

or where the process of measurement cannot realistically represent particular qualities (Malhotra,

2010).

Descriptive Research:

According to Williams (2007) descriptive research is a research method that can determine the

situation in current phenomenon. Nassaji (2015) also states that the goal of descriptive research

is drawing and classifying the phenomenon. In other words, descriptive research primarily

focuses on describing the nature of a demographic segment, without focusing on “why” a certain

phenomenon occurs. The major objective of descriptive research is to describe something,

usually market characteristics or functions (Malhotra, 2010). Descriptive research is

characterized by the prior formulation of specific research questions and hypotheses. Data from

descriptive studies can be used to examine the relationships (correlations) among variables.

While the findings from correlational analyses are not evidence of causality, they can help to

distinguish variables that may be important in explaining a phenomenon from those that are not.

A variety of data collection methods may be used alone or in combination to answer the types of

questions guiding descriptive research. Some of the more common methods include surveys,

interviews, observations, case studies, and portfolios.

Casual Research:

Causal Research is a type of conclusive research, which attempts to establish a cause-and-effect

relationship between two or more variables. Causal research is appropriate in understanding

which variables are the cause (independent variables) and which variables are the effect

(dependent variables) of marketing phenomena, determining the nature of the relationship

between the causal variables and the effect to be predicted, and in testing hypotheses (Malhotra,

2010). A variation in an independent variable is observed, which is assumed to be causing

changes in the dependent variable. The changes in the independent variable are measured due to

the variation taking place in the dependent variable. These researches work as building blocks to

one another. Exploratory research paves the way for descriptive research, which usually

establishes the basis for causal research (Zikmund, 2008).

3.2.1 Appropriate Research Purpose of this Study

This study is causal research as it intends to explore the relationship between the independent,

dependent variables. This study aims to explore the relationship between e-service quality,

customer trust and intention to e-shop in the e-commerce sector of Bangladesh.

3.3 Research Design

There are three types of research designs are:

1.Qualitative Research 2. Quantitative Research 3. Triangulation Research.

Qualitative Research:

Creswell and Poth(2018) explain the word phenomena as an abstract or concrete construct that is

of interest to qualitative researchers. Some phenomena require different measurements, different

ways of collecting data, and different ways of conducting the research process. People who are

interested of examining human behavior require this approach to qualitative research approach.

Coopers and Schindler (2012) stated that qualitative research includes an “array of interpretive

techniques which seek to describe, decode, translate, and otherwise come to terms with the

meaning, not the frequency, of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomena in the social

world.” Qualitative research is less structured than most quantitative approaches. It does not rely

on self-response questionnaires containing structured response formats. Instead, it is more

researcher dependent in that the researcher must extract meaning from unstructured responses

(Zikmund, 2008). It should be noted that qualitative research encompasses a variety of

approaches and space does not permit us to elaborate on every approach in-depth

(Creswell,2007).

Quantitative Research:
Quantitative Research encompasses a range of methods concerned with the systematic

investigation of social phenomena, using statistical or numerical data. Therefore, quantitative

research involves measurement and assumes that the phenomena under study can be measured. It

sets out to analyze data for trends and relationships and to verify the measurements

made(Watson,2015). In business research, quantitative methodologies usually measure consumer

behavior, knowledge, opinions, or attitudes (Coopers & Schindler, 2012). Such methodologies

answer questions related to how much, how often, how many, when, and who. Quantitative data

often consist of participant responses that are coded, categorized, and reduced to numbers so that

these data may be manipulated for statistical analysis.

Triangulation Research:

Triangulation refers to the use of multiple methods or data sources in qualitative research to

develop a comprehensive understanding of phenomena (Patton, 1999). According to Coopers

and Schindler (2012), triangulation is the term used to describe the combining of several

qualitative methods or combining qualitative with quantitative methods. This type of research is

the combination of both quantitative and qualitative research methods in 92 order to gain the

advantages of both methods (Burns, 2007). It allows researchers to identify a problem from a

variety perspective.

3.3.1 Appropriate Research Design for this Study

The appropriate research design for this study is quantitative research. This research is designed

on the basis of quantitative research as it involves the structured questionnaire in which the
response options have been predetermined and the use of statistical and mathematical tools to

obtain results.

3.4 Research Data

Research data can be classified into two categories. These are: 1. Primary Data 2. Secondary

Data.

Primary Data:

Primary data is a type of data that is collected by researchers directly from main sources through

interviews, surveys, experiments, etc. Primary data are usually collected from the source—where

the data originally originates from and are regarded as the best kind of data in research. The cost

of collecting primary data can be very high. It is also usually very time-consuming. According to

Coopers and Schindler (2012), the researcher collects primary data to address the specific

problem at hand—the research question and are sought for their proximity to the truth and

control over error.

Secondary Data:

Secondary data refers to data that is collected by someone other than the primary user. Common

sources of secondary data for social science include censuses, information collected by

government departments, organizational records and data that was originally collected for other

research purposes. Secondary data is the information that has been previously gathered by
someone other than the researcher and/or some other purpose than the current research project

(Zikmund, 2013).

Appropriate Research Data for this Study:

This study entails the collecting of primary data through a survey process that occurs in real-time

involving 200 respondents and a structured questionnaire. This research study employed primary

data to obtain individual perspectives since one of the key benefits of primary data is that it is

gathered for specific problems or issues under inquiry, implying that the data is current

(Berkwoitz, 2010).

3.5 Questionnaire Design

Questionnaires are a common instrument used for research. A set of questions extracts relevant

information given to a sample of respondents to complete (Harkness,2008). They are used in

research over other data collection methods and frequently have standardized answers that

provide easy to compile and analyze data. They are relatively cheap to implement, compared to

other surveying or assessment instruments, such as interviews or focus groups. Questionnaires

are frequently administered through the official, written languages and rarely present

accessibility features, such as using Easy to Read (Bernabe & Oreo,2019). A questionnaire can

be of two types- structured and unstructured. A structured questionnaire refers to the use of
predetermined and standard or identical sets of questions (Saunders et al., 2009). The

unstructured questionnaire does not have any predetermined list of questions and the

respondent’s answers are basically open-ended.

The questionnaire has two parts. The first part is demographic which involves five questions on

from Q1 to Q4 which are based on gender, education qualification, employment and age with the

customer respectively, to understand the respondent’s profile. And the second part comprises of

Q5 to Q23 with 23 main research questions that were segmented into six sections including web-

site design from Q5 to Q8, customer service from Q9 to Q13, privacy & security from Q14 to

Q18, experiential from Q19 to Q21, customer trust from Q22 to Q24 and intention to e-shop

from Q25 to Q27.

3.6 Measurement Variable

The independent variable of this study is e-service quality which has four part e-service quality,

customer service, privacy & security and experiential. The dependent variables of this study are

customer trust and intention to e-shop. The Likert scale is formulated to study, how strongly the

respondents will agree or disagree with a particular statement (Sekaran, 2003). The items are

measured by a 5-point Likert Scale starting from, (1) Strongly Disagree (2) Disagree (3) Neutral

(4) Agree (5) Strongly Agree.

Table 3.1 Measurement Variable

The relationships among e-service quality, customer trust and intention to e-shop

Web site design (Ha & Stoel, 2009)

WD 1 The site doesn’t waste my time.

WD 2 I can go to exactly what I want quickly.

WD 3 The site ensures the ease of searching for products.

WD 4 The site gives me enough information of products.

Customer service (Ha & Stoel, 2009)

CS 1 The company is ready and willing to respond to customer needs.

CS 2 The web site has reasonable shipping and handling costs.

CS 3 Customer service personnel are always willing to help you.

CS 4 Inquiries are answered promptly.

CS 5 When you have a problem, the web site shows a sincere interest in solving it.

Privacy & security (Ha & Stoel, 2009)

PS 1 I feel like my privacy is protected at this site.

PS 2 I feel safe in my transactions with this web site.

PS 3 I feel I can trust this web site.

PS 4 The web site has adequate security features.

PS 5 The company behind the site is reputable.

Experiential (Ha & Stoel, 2009)

E1 It is really fun to shop at this web site.

E2 The site almost says, “come in and shop”.

E3 Buying at this web site is exciting for me.

Customer trust (Pavlou, 2003)

CT 1 The e-commerce websites are trustworthy.

CT 2 The e-commerce websites keep their promises and commitments.

CT 3 I trust the e-commerce websites because they keep my best interests in mind.

Intention to e-shop (Ling, Chai & Piew, 2010)

IE 1 It is likely that I will transact with this e-commerce in the near future.

IE 2 Given the chance, I intend to use this e-commerce’s web site.

IE 3 Given the chance, I predict that I should use this e-commerce’s web site in the future.

3.7 Sampling Design

3.7.1 Sampling Technique

There are two types of sampling techniques. These are: 1. Non-Probability Sampling Technique

2. Probability Sampling Technique.

Non-Probability Sampling Technique:

Non-probability sampling is a sampling method in which not all members of the population have

an equal chance of participating in the study, unlike probability sampling. Each member of the

population has a known chance of being selected. This sampling technique does not use chance

selection procedures but rather relies on the personal judgment of the researcher (Malhotra,
2010). There are four types of non-probability sampling techniques- convenience sampling,

judgmental sampling, quota sampling, and snowball sampling.

Probability Sampling Technique:

Probability sampling refers to the selection of a sample from a population, when this selection is
based on the principle of randomization, that is, random selection or chance. In this sampling
procedure each element of the population has a fixed probabilistic chance of being selected for
the sample (Malhotra, 2010). There are four types of probability sampling- simple random
sampling, systematic sampling, stratified sampling, and cluster sampling.

Appropriate Sampling Technique for this Study:

This study incorporates the use of convenience sampling techniques. Convenience sampling
involves using respondents who are “convenient” to the researcher. According to Zikmund
(2008), researchers generally use convenience samples to obtain a large number of completed
questionnaires quickly and economically, or when obtaining a sample through other means is
impractical.

3.7.2 Sample Size

The number of items to be included in the study, according to Malhotra (2010), is referred to as
sample size (N. K. Malhotra & Dash, 2010). For the current investigation, selecting relevant
samples from a specified group is predicted to yield more consistent and trustworthy results
(Sekaran, 2003). The sample size of the study is 200. Customers of e-commerce site are the
subjects of this research.