Research Methodology

The chapter presents methodology employed for examining framework developed, during the literature review, for the purpose of present study. In light of the research objectives, the chapter works upon the ontology, epistemology as well as the methodology adopted for the present study. The research is based on positivist philosophy which postulates that phenomena of interest in the social world, can be studied as concrete cause and effect relationships, following a quantitative research design and a deductive approach. Consequently, the present study has used the existing body of literature to deduce relationships between constructs and develops a strategy to test the proposed theory with the ultimate objective of confirming and building upon the existing knowledge in the field. Further, the chapter presents a roadmap for the study which showcases the journey towards achieving research objectives in a series of well-defined logical steps. The process followed for building survey instrument as well as sampling design has been laid down in a similar manner. While the survey design enumerates various methods adopted along with justifications, the sampling design sets forth target population, sampling frame, sampling units, sampling method and suitable sample size for the study. The chapter also spells out the operational definitions of the key variables before exhibiting the three-stage research process followed in the present study. In the first stage, questionnaire has been developed based upon key constructs from various theories/researchers in the field. Thereafter, the draft questionnaire has been refined with the help of a pilot study and its reliability and validity has been tested. Finally, in light of the results of the pilot study, the questionnaire has been finalized and final data has been collected. In doing so, the step-by-step process of gathering data from various sources has been presented. Towards end, the chapter throws spotlight on various statistical methods employed for analysis of data, along with the presentation of rationale for the selection of specific techniques used for the purpose of presentation of outcomes of the present research.