(PDF) Concerning the Research : Qualitative research

Procedure:
Considering the nature of the relationship between theory and research defines that there are two
ways to conduct the research, either deductive approach (where theory guides research) or the
reverse-inductive approach (theory is an outcome of research) (Bell, Bryman and Harley, 2019).
This thesis follows the deductive process that is existing knowledge and theories will be used to
explain certain phenomena. From the theoretical framework, the study expects to find out
reasonable emotional and cognitive factors that influence consumer judgment and decision
making.
There are two types of methods used in research, qualitative and quantitative. Both research
methods have advantages depending on the nature of the study and what the researcher wants to
solve. Qualitative research is usually applied in studies where in-depth information is gathered
by interviewing focus groups. This research method provides an opportunity to study matters in
their natural environment by observing people and their interactions (Goddard and Melville,
2017). Qualitative research focuses on people’s feelings and thinking whereas quantitative
research relies more on numbers and data. Quantitative research is usually referred to as
hypothesis-testing research. The study starts from the theory from which hypotheses are
generated (Goddard and Melville, 2017). Data will be collected and analyzed by statistical tests
according to the hypotheses. The conclusion can be drawn from results to confirm or conflict
with the theory. The quantitative research method is applied in this study.
Quantitative research can provide data from a large number of units. These units are usually
people or matters. The data that is collected from the units are known as variables. Variables are
characteristics that the researcher is interested in, for example, age or gender. The researcher
should limit the variables before the study because there is a certain number of variables that can
be studied at once. However, in qualitative research unexpected variables can appear during the
study but in a quantitative study, variables need to be set beforehand (Robertson, 2018). In this
study, the author has chosen different variables that are compared to each other to reveal
relationships. On one side there are social, personal, and psychological factors such as age,
relationship status, and occupation. Moreover, there are issues related to decision-making
processes such as information search and evaluation of alternatives.