This chapter discusses the methodology for this study. In order to answer the questions raised by the research problem, the researcher has to device a more appropriate methodology to gather empirical evidence. Broadly, there are two main research methodologies which are qualitative and quantitative. These methodologies have their own ideological underpinning and research tools. Naslund (2002) argued that a good, sound and logical research output should be governed by a well-defined research methodology based on scientific principles.
3.1 Quantitative Research Method
Quantitative research method was originally developed in the natural sciences to study natural phenomena (Berry, 2005). This method has been adapted to research in social sciences such as sociology, psychology and business studies. Quantitative method is the preferred methodology for testing a pre-determined hypothesis to produce generalizable results (Marshall, 1996) because of its emphasis on procedure and statistical measure of validity. In social science research, data collection is mainly through interviews therefore, using quantitative data collection methods in social sciences may sometimes be less precise or less certain as a measurement of what the researcher actually wants, thus undermining the validity and reliability of the research approach used (Remenyi and Williams 1996). Hence, quantitative method is more useful for answering more mechanistic "what?" questions (Marshall, 1996).
Qualitative research method is aimed at investigating and understanding of human behaviour and their complex psychosocial issues (Marshall, 1996) within their social and cultural context. Denzin and Lincoln (2000) also describe qualitative research as an approach that studies the social world, and seeks to describe and analyse the culture and behaviour of humans and their groups from the point of view of those being studied. The main argument in support of this approach in social sciences is idea of studying social phenomena in its natural settings. Therefore, understanding the social phenomenon from the point of view of participants within its social and institutional context is largely lost when textual data is quantified (Kaplan and Maxwell, 1994). Therefore, to acquire an in-depth understanding of any social phenomena, qualitative research is more appropriate.
Mixed Method
Mixed methodology involves combining qualitative and quantitative research approaches in a single study. Combining the two methods in the same study have the advantage of capitalising on the strengths of both approaches whiles minimising their individual weaknesses. According to Johnson and Onwuegbuzie (2004), a key feature of mixed methods is its methodological pluralism which frequently results in superior research work.
Following the above argument, mixed methodology approach would be adopted for this study because the main aim is to understand why GCB implemented networking technology by using qualitative method to gather data from GCB management and quantitative method to collect data from customers of the bank
Research Strategy
Research strategy describes the general plan of how the research questions would be answered. Myers (2009) defines research strategy as a strategy of enquiry which moves from underlying philosophical assumptions to research design and data collection. Saunders et al (2003) identified 8 research strategies that may be employed in any research. They are as follows:
Experiment
Survey
Case study
Grounded theory
Ethnography
Action research
Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies
Exploratory, descriptive and explanatory studies
According to them, what matters is not the label attached to the particular strategy, but whether it is appropriate for your particular research questions and objectives.
A case study method is adopted for this study. A case study as a research method involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence (Saunders et al., 2003). A more recent definition of case study in business research by Myers states that
"Case study research in business uses empirical evidence from one or more organisations where an attempt is made to study the subject matter in context. Multiple sources of evidence are used, although most of the evidence comes from interviews and documents" (Myers 2009:76).
Myers (1997) recommended the use of case study in information systems (IS) research arguing that "this method is particularly well-suited to IS research since the object of our discipline is the study of information systems in organisations, and 'interest has shifted to organisational rather than technical issues' (Benbasat et al, 1987)". Therefore, since the aim of this study is to find out why GCB adopted the networking strategy and how it has impacted on its performance and customers, case study approach would be more appropriate for this study. Yin (1994) recommended case study method in a research endeavour that seeks to answer the questions "how" and "why". In order words, "the case study researcher seeks to understand how and why a particular business decision was made, or how and why a business process works the way it does" (Myers, 2009). Again it enables an in-depth study of issues relevant to the subject matter and also the relationships between variables under study.
Data collection method
Data would be collected from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data according to Myers (2009), add richness and credibility to qualitative research study because it is unique to the researcher and the particular project. Primary data sources include senior managers, branch managers, key IT staff, and customers of the bank. Data from this source would be collected mainly by face-to-face interviews using questionnaire. The aim is to collect empirical data from respondents by soliciting responses relevant to the study. Secondary data refers to any data collected from previously published source such as published books, journals, newspaper articles, and nowadays web portals such as Emerald Insight. For this study, secondary data sources would include Ghana Institute of bankers, Bank of Ghana, GCB annual reports, and forecasts, scholarly journals articles, web portals such as Emerald Insight, internet search engines such as Google, and key informants in the banking industry.
Primary Data Collection
Primary data would be collected from management, staff and customers of the bank using interviews and questionnaire.
Primary Data Access
One of the most important aspects of this research study was getting approval and access to senior managers of the bank to collect data. This was anticipated to be quite difficult. Utilising network contacts within the institution, an approval for this study was obtained. However, arranging meetings with senior managers and key IT staff to conduct interviews was proving difficult. One of my contacts managed to arrange on my behalf a weekend meeting with one senior manager I needed to interview for this study. For the remaining two senior managers, an out of office hour's appointment was made to secure an interview.
Secondly, permission was granted to administer questionnaire for this study to the bank's customers within the banking hall and at the forecourt of the sampled branches. Only customers who volunteered to answer the questionnaire were given one.
Interview
An interview is a purposeful discussion between two or more people (Kahn and Cannell, 1957; cited in Saunders et al, 2003). There are several types of interviews and all of them can be grouped into three main categories namely, structured, unstructured and semi-structured interviews.
For this study, face-to-face interview approach is adopted using pre-determined questions guide to collect data from senior IT and divisional managers of the bank. The main reason for employing this method is to collect adequate empirical data from respondents which are relevant to answering the research questions and also to prevent the possibility of misunderstanding by respondents which sometimes occur when an unstructured interview method is deployed. Again, Rynes, S. and R. P. Gephart (2004) encourages the use of interviews in research studies because of its ability to help researchers understand the way in which individuals develop their meaning and significance of the situation they face in the workplace. Additionally, this method gives respondents the flexibility to express themselves free in their own words.
Therefore, by using this method to collect primary data from management of GCB who have good knowledge of how the bank is using the network technology to its competitive advantage, an in-depth knowledge of the impact of network technology would be obtained by the researcher.
Questionnaire
A questionnaire is a means of eliciting the feelings, beliefs, experiences, perceptions or attitudes of a sample of individuals (Key, 1997). It is designed to collect specific data about pertinent topic which a researcher wishes to investigate and respondents answer the same set of question in a pre-determined order. Therefore using a questionnaire has the advantage of soliciting a standardised response because each respondent receives the same set of questions phrased in exactly the same way (Key, 1997).
In this study a questionnaire is used to collect data from branch managers, branch I.T staff and customers of G.C.B. Ltd. The aim is to investigate their attitudes, experiences and perceptions towards the products and services offered by the bank.
Sample selection
The choice of sampling technique is largely dependent on the feasibility and sensitivity of the data that would be collected. For this study, non-probability sampling method was used. An email was sent to branch managers in Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions. Those who responded were selected for the study. That is, self-selection for this category of respondents. Key IT managers and senior managers were purposively selected for this study. The rational for using these selection techniques to sample employees of the bank is that those selected occupy positions of authority and responsibility hence would have in-depth knowledge of the subject area under study. Secondly, some informants are "richer" than others (Marshall, 1996) therefore are more likely to provide more insight and understanding for this research study.
Random technique was used to collect data from customers at each branch location visited as they exit the bank's premises. 10 branches were selected from the two regions randomly. This method was the most appropriate method of obtaining a sample of customers of G.C.B for this study.
Secondary data Collection
Data obtained from these sources are mostly publicly available information. They include Ghana Institute of bankers, Bank of Ghana, G.C.B annual reports, and forecasts, G.C.B website, scholarly journals articles such as international journal of bank marketing; web portals such as Emerald Insight; internet search engines such as Google, and key informants in the banking industry. Confidential and sensitive information obtained from management provided valuable and an in-depth understanding of the underlying theme for this study however, this information has not been reproduced for ethical reasons.
Data analysis
Data analysis involves examining, categorising, describing and tabulation of the data collected to answer the research questions. Yin (1994) argues that the main aim of data analysis is to produce compelling analytical conclusions in order to rule out alternative interpretation.
In this study, findings have been presented mainly using narrative analysis however, quantitative data collected was analysed using SPSS, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word processor presented in the form of tables, charts and figures.
Ethical Consideration
Ethical behaviour is recommended to researchers in any field to ensure that participants are informed about the purpose of the research, and protected from any wrongdoing from the researcher (Cooper and Schindler, 2006). To address these ethical concerns in this study, the researcher would explain to the participants the following:
The purpose and benefits of the study;
Their rights to protection such as anonymity and confidentiality where required;
Obtain their voluntary participation in the study by ensuring that at the end of the study feedback on the study results can be obtained on request;
That information collected for this study cannot be used for any other purpose than this study only;
That secrete information related to competitive advantage of the organisation cannot be given to other organisations;
That information collected would be destroyed after publication of this study to ensure that no one can access them illegally.
Limitation of the study
The major limitation of this study is the geographical spread of GCB branch network. It would be very expensive in terms of cost and time to cover all the 153 branches hence, only 50 branches were purposively selected for the study.
Secondly, despite the argued validity of using interviews in this type of research, the data collected may be deceptive, espousing corporate view or the perspective that the respondent wants the researcher to know. Also, some managers were reluctant to give out certain performance data which they regarded as "company secrete and confidential". Some customers were not corporative.
Designing a good questionnaire and interview guide for this study proved to be a difficult task (Saunders et al, 2003). A draft interview guide and questionnaire was designed and administered to 10 employees and 20 customers of the bank to test the relevance of the questions and also ensure reliability of the data collected. Also due to the amount of time and resources required to conduct interviews and administer questionnaire therefore a researcher need to be skilled enough to recognise what is relevant and to probe in-depth those aspects that are relevant to a research study.
Finally, non-probability sampling method was used for this study. This method is widely criticised for its subjectivity therefore, findings from this study cannot be generalised to the entire population.
Chapter Summary
In summary, this chapter presented the rationale for selecting the methodology for this research study. How data would be collected and analysed to enhance the understanding of the research case. Mixed methodology is adopted for this study because of its advantage of drawing on the strengths of both approaches. . However, the motivation of respondents in this study and the personal bias of the researcher in recording the responses cannot be assessed thereby affecting the validity and reliability of responses hence, the data collected. The findings from the research study are discussed in chapter four.
