Research approach Essay

This chapter will present the research approach, chosen research method, sampling selection, materials, procedure, and method of data analysis of the current research. The present study adopts a quantitative approach through the use of surveys. It also is empirical and deductive, in the sense that it has gone through primary data gathering before making conclusions about the subject at hand (Sekaran 2000). Moreover, the study is also descriptive-correlational in nature. By descriptive, it has ascertained the levels of importance and actual performance of Body Shop along these factors which affect the buying choice of cosmetics among young females in the United Kingdom. It is likewise correlational in nature because it has aimed to establish if there are significant relationships among patronage of Body Shop because its products are environmentally friendly; belief that Body Shop is a socially responsible company; general patronage of products and companies that espouse care for the environment; and overall satisfaction of Body Shop Products The study made use of survey research to be able to gather primary data. A survey is beneficial for several reasons. First, it is able to gather a representative measure of a trait or characteristic, given a well-sampled group of respondents (Bryman 1992). Surveys are an effective means of data gathering given the constraints on finances and time. They are capable of describing charateristics of the sample of respondents who have accomplished it, and allow generalisations about the sample from which they were culled. Moreover, it is also effectual in gaining insights about the individual perceptions or assessments of the respondents on a given set of questions or statements. These lend themselves to statistical analysis (Bryman 1992; Malhotra & Birks 1999). Telephone surveys were used. Ritchie & Goeldner (1994), a telephone survey is carried out where respondents answer through the telephone as medium in contrast with personal administration. He further asserts that this medium even has advantages as opposed to personal survey deployment. They permit contact with individuals who are difficult to reach and may even make respondents more comfortable and candid with answering the questions. Moreover, it obviously allows savings in both time and cost. However, when not conducted effectively, it may come out as too impersonal and the researcher will also not see the body language of the respondent, which may sometimes be important. Information may be for straightforward questions only and may not be effective for highly sensitive research topics (Ritchie & Goeldner 1994). In the current research a survey was deployed to be able to ascertain the perceptions of the female respondents on factors that affect their purchase choice of cosmetics. These perceptions came in the form of the degree of importance attached to these factors and the actual performance of Body Shop on the same factors. There were also general statements that have to do with environmentalism, patronage of CSR-centric companies and overall satisfaction with a cosmetic product. 3. 1 Sampling Selection There was a total of 150 female respondents who participated in the study. This sample size was deemed adequate for the purposes of the study. However, to be able to qualify as respondent, the following inclusion criteria have to be met: The respondent should 1) be female; 2) have purchased a Body Shop product within the last 12 months; 3) be willing to participate in a telephone survey for 10 minutes. Thus, the researcher made use of purposive sampling (Salkind 2000). The researcher began only with 20 acquaintances who have then given referrals to be able to complete the sample size. This size will allow the use and computation of powerful parametric stastics. 3. 2 Materials The instrument that was used for the current research was self-constructed. The researcher went about designing the questions after an extensive review of related literature. From these were gathered insights on the factors which affect cosmetic purchase. After the initial design, the researcher showed the questionnaire to a subject matter expert to ascertain both face validity and content validity. Face validity suggests that the instrtument ‘looks’ valid, while content validity ensures that it measures what it intends to measure (Chisnall 1997). The evential aim for the instrument is to be able to provide a detailed way of presenting the questions while not incurring survey fatigue. Moreover, the researcher was careful about including only questions which were pertinent to the construct being measured, or they will be regarded as irrelevant (Oppenheim, 1992). This also suggests that the questions must allow the researcher to address all the objectives put forth in the research (Ghauri et al 2002). The questionnaire may either be sent through email or anwered personally by the respondents or through phone. In this case, the researcher opted to do telephone interviews, while marking the responses on the survey sheet. She has read each question loudly and asked the respondent to verbally express her rating on the statement. Questionnaires either describe or measure individual/group characteristics such as values, attitudes, opinions, etc. and contain four types of questions: demographics, behaviour, knowledge and attitude. Finally, they can be classified according to the type of response required, or the type of questionnaire administered (Chisnall, 1997). The first part of the questionnaire inquired about their gender and age, and whether they have purchased a Body Shop product in the past 12 months. The next two portions of the study inquired about the degree of importance they placed on the following factors:qality of the products; having a globally renowned brand name; competitive price of the product; tendiness or fashion sense represented by the product; the degree to which the product is environment-friendly; the customer service of the store personnel; the variety of product offerings in the store; the convenience of going to the store location; the sales promotions used for the product; recommendations or positive feedback I garner from my friends, family and acquaintances; media advertisements of the product; information on the product’s label; atractiveness of the packaging; the degree to which the product espouses â€Å"natural† rather than artificial; and the values espoused by the company who sells the product. These were all answered by ticking the box of their response (or expressing it directly in the case of a phone interview) within a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The last part of the survey presents the following statements, which also requires them to indicate their level of agreement on the same 5-point Likert scale: I patronise Body Shop because its products are environmentally friendly. I believe Body Shop is a socially responsible company. I generally patronise products and companies that espouse care for the environment. Your overall satisfaction of Body Shop Products Once approved as face and content valid, the researcher went about with the pilot testing of the questionnaire. This ensured that the questions were easily understandable and do not cause confusion. This required 5 respondents, from which no major changes were made on the instrument. 3. 3 Procedure The research entailed the gathering of both secondary and primary data. Secondary data came in the form of books, journals, and online sources which the researcher consulted to be able to draft Chapter 2 of the paper. Primary data, on the other and, entails the gathering of first-hand data through observations, surveys, interviews, and the like (Bryman 1992). To be able to gather primary data for the study, the researcher designed a questionnaire. The latter are usually the most feasible means of encompassing a large number of individuals that allows for valid and generalisable statistical results. With a well-designed instrument that is both reliable and valid, much substantive conclusions may be drawn. This is precisely the reason why the researcher has used this method in gathering primary data for the current research (Chisnall, 1997). After the design of the survey instrument, the researcher went about with the pilot study, which allowed him to check on the clarity of the questions (Chisnall 1997), through the suggestions of the 5 respondents who undertook it. They were requested to listen carefully to, answer the questions, and comment freely about each one. Moreover, this phase also allowed the researcher to estimate that each telephone interview will not last more than 10 minutes. The survey proper then followed, entailing gathering the respondents for the sample. This meant contacting acquaintances who were patrons of Body Shop and enlisting them onto the sample if they met the inclusion criteria (these are further discussed in the sampling section). Their responses were collated and statistically analysed. Substantive conclusions were drawn from the statistical results.