Group Report on Research Design and Methodology Name of the University

Group REPORT ON RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY GROUP REPORT ON RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 13 13 GROUP REPORT ON RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY Group Report on Research Design and Methodology Name of the student Name of the university Author note Introduction: 3 Research methodology: 3 Proposed primary data sample size: 5 Sampling approach: 6 Questionnaire design factors: 6 Quantitative questionnaire: 7 Qualitative questionnaire: 9 Data collection method: 9 Qualitative-quantitative debate: 10 Secondary data collection method: 10 Data analysis: 11 Ethical consideration

Running head: GROUP REPORT ON RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Group Report on Research Design and Methodology
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

GROUP REPORT ON RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 2
Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Research methodology:...................................................................................................................3
Proposed primary data sample size:................................................................................................5
Sampling approach:.........................................................................................................................6
Questionnaire design factors:..........................................................................................................6
Quantitative questionnaire:..........................................................................................................7
Qualitative questionnaire:............................................................................................................9
Data collection method:...................................................................................................................9
Qualitative-quantitative debate:.....................................................................................................10
Secondary data collection method:................................................................................................10
Data analysis:.................................................................................................................................11
Ethical consideration:....................................................................................................................12
Summary:.......................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................12
References:....................................................................................................................................14
Appendix- Overview of who wrote which portion........................................................................16
Appendix: Overview of who wrote which portion........................................................................17

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Introduction: as
Research methodology is the major chapters of a research report as it supports in giving
the research with proper direction. Kumar (2019) said that research methodology can be defined
as the way, by the application of which, the researcher can design the research in an effective
manner. Research methodology is third chapter of the research report which incorporates the
methods which are to be followed by the researcher for the sake of concluding the research in a
systematic manner. This research is based on the analysis which focused on the impact of the
social media advertising in influencing the behavior. Mackey and Gass (2015) observed that in
order to initiate the research properly, the researcher has incorporated various tools and
techniques which is the key of presenting the data in an effective manner. Present paper would
out firth the discussion of the research methodology, which has been followed in terms of
carrying out the research in a systemic manner. Research design, approach, data collection
method, data analysis and sampling approach will be discussed in the paper.
Research methodology:
The fundamental aim of this research is to evaluate the role, played by social media
advertisement in the way of framing the purchasing attitude of the customers. Research
philosophy is one of the vital parts of research methodology which is defined as the set of belief
of the researcher regarding the progress of the research. Taylor et al. (2015) put stress on the fact
that research philosophy plays a critical role in developing the nature of the study with the
assistance of various theoretical frameworks. Positivism, realism and interpretivism are three
different types of research philosophy. Positivism research philosophy deals with in-depth

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analysis of the underlying research problem, while interpretivism is the way of incorporating
various activities and managing the activities for the sake of getting comprehensive outcome. On
the other hand, realism is a mixed style of both interpretivism and positivism. For the case of
present research, positivism research philosophy has been chosen by the researcher with the
intension of analyzing the research in a logical and coherent manner. Flick (2015) shaded light
on the fact that by the application of positive research philosophy, the researcher has become
able in order to assess the impact of social media advertisement on the buyer’s behavior in an
effective manner.
Research Approach is another major portion of research methodology, which plays a
critical role in designing the way of the research in an effective manner. According to Alvesson
and Sköldberg (2017) deductive and inductive is two of the different type of research approach.
The Inductive research approach focuses on the way of working on the set of theories or models.
On the contrary, deductive research approach deals with the discussion of existing theories or
model. In order to carry out the given research, inductive research approach has been chosen for
the sake of making comprehensive analysis of the given topic with the assistance of existing
theories or model. By the application of inductive research approach, the researcher has become
able to gather necessary information about the research.
Ledford and Gast (2018) said that research design is another vital part of research which
deals with the way of carrying out the research in an effective manner. There are three types of
research design. Research designs is of two types which include descriptive, explanatory and
exploratory research designs. Exploratory research design shows the way of plays a major role in
conducting the preliminary stage of the research on the basis of predetermined research design.
On the other hand, Quinlan et al. (2019) perceived that explanatory research design benefits in

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raising the relationship among the variables of the research. On the contrary, descriptive research
design supers in carrying out the research in a detailed and descriptive manner. For the case of
current research, descriptive mode of research design has been chosen as it supports the
researcher to get detailed information about the impact of social media advertising on
influencing the buying behavior.
With the help of this descriptive research design, the researcher has also acquired detailed
information on the theoretical frameworks on he given topic. Fletcher (2017) said that research
strategy is also a major factor of research methodology, which has been applied by the researcher
with the intension of providing the research with proper direction. Case studies, focus group,
survey methods, interview procedure are some of the major types of research strategy which is
the key of getting comprehensive outcome from the research. Smith (2015) showed that survey
and interview method are the critical approaches in terms of getting relevant information from
the primary research method. To assess the impact of social media advertising on the purchasing
attitude of the customers, it is the matter of utmost importance to understand their point of view.
This is the reason, for which the researcher has followed the interview method. This is the way,
through which the researcher has become able to get relevant information about the research.
Proposed primary data sample size:
As discussed by McCusker and Gunaydin (2015) before conducting the primary
research, it is the matter of utmost importance for the researcher to select the range of people, on
whom the survey and interview is going to be carried out. This research is constructed on the
analysis of the impact of social media advertisement on the behavior of the buyers. As this is a
large project, the researcher can choose 3 managers who are employing the strategy of social

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media advertisement. This is the way, through which the researcher can get comprehensive
qualitative data. At the same time, the managers can select 20 customers who are largely
influenced by social media advertisement. Through this way, compact quantitative data can be
acquired.
Sampling approach:
There are wide ranges of companies who are using social media advertisement strategy.
At the same time, in the contemporary times, all the people irrespective of their age are accessing
social media. However, in reality it is not possible for the researcher to carry out the survey and
interview among such wide ranges of people. Walliman (2017) stressed on the fact that this is the
reason, for which certain sampling size is to be selected in terms of carrying out the entire
research in a logical and coherent manner. For the case of current research, probabilistic
sampling method has been followed and equal opportunity has been provided to all the people in
order to take part in the survey session. For the sake of selecting the managers who are using
social media as the advertisements strategy have been selected through random sampling. The
researcher was neutral while selecting the respondents.
Questionnaire design factors:
Questionnaire designing is a complicated process, which requires several factors. Thus,
it is the prime responsibility of the researchers to consider these factors while designing the
questionnaire. Initially, it is important to analyze the research objectives and design the
questionnaire accordingly in terms of satisfying the research objectives. As opined by Humphries
(2017) writing question with right wording is one of the major factors in designing the

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questionnaire. This is the most difficult portions of creating surveys. Thus, it is the prime
responsibility of the researchers to use proper wording in terms of framing the research
questions. Litosseliti (2018) showed that it is important to avoid using complex words as it can
create reluctant attitude among the respondents to respond to the questions properly.
Providing clear instructions is another major factor in designing appropriate questionnaire
and thus carrying out the research in an effective manner. af Wåhlberg (2017) commented that
self-reported behavior is one of the major factors of designing appropriate questionnaire. Thus, it
is the prime responsibility of the researcher to consider appropriate reference which is the key of
generating effective behavior among the respondents and thus generate interest among them to
participate in the research properly. The questions must be relevant in accordance with the state
of mind of the researcher. As observed by Dumay and Cai (2015) it is important to create
harmony in the structures of questions which is the key of carrying out the entire research session
in a logical and coherent manner. The questionnaire for the research is presented below:
Quantitative questionnaire:
1. What is your age?
Under 18
18-21
22-25
26-30
30+

9GROUP REPORT ON RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
2. Which of the following social media sites you are using regularly?
Social Networking Sites
Microblogging
Social Bookmarking Sites
3. Time spent in the social media.
1-3 hours
4-6 hours
7-9 hours
10 hours or more
4. The social media is helping you to access desired products or services.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
5. Do you tend to seek out product related information from the social media?
Always

10GROUP REPORT ON RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Often
Sometimes
Seldom
Rarely
Never
Qualitative questionnaire:
1. What is the strategy employed by you in terms of carrying out social media advertising?
2. How social media is influencing the buyer’s behavior?
3. Do you think that social media is acting as the best marketing tool in the contemporary
times?
Data collection method:
Data collection method is one of the major parts of the research method as it plays a
critical role in getting appropriate information about the research. This is the way, though which
the researcher can conclude the research in a logical and coherent manner (Wildemuth 2016).
For the case of present research, primary as well as secondary data collection method have been
followed. The primary data has been collected by the researcher by conducting the various
surveys and the interviews. The fundamental aim of conducting the primary research is to get
relevant and firsthand information about the given topic (Boyd et al. 2019).

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Qualitative-quantitative debate:
Successful execution of the primary data collection method has served the researcher
with the capability to complete the research with effective approach. In order to collect the
primary data, qualitative as well as quantitative data collection method have been followed.
Kebritchi et al. (2019) this is the way, through which the researcher has become able to get
detailed information about the impact of social media advertisement on the purchasing behavior
of the customers. For the case of qualitative research, interview has been conducted on the
managers. It has helped the researcher to explore the strategies being followed by the companies
to promote their products or services through social media. It has helped the researcher to collect
fundamental information on the basis of the research.
On the other hand, Eisend and Kuss (2019) commented that quantitative data has also
been collected by conducting survey with that of the customers, whose buying behavior is
largely influenced by social media advertising. It is worthy to mention in this context that the
answers given by the managers were recorded with their prior permission. The researcher has
asked same set of questions to all the managers.
Secondary data collection method:
In the case of collecting secondary data, comprehensive literature review has been
directed. The researcher has studies the related articles and research work for the sake of
gathering necessary information about the impact of social media advertisement on shaping the
buyer’s behavior. It is to note that, only the relevant articles and research works were used as the

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secondary sources of the research. Books, journals, articles and valid websites are considered as
the secondary source of the research. The reason for accumulating the secondary data is to get
relevant data regarding the significant research work that had already been carried out on the
relevant issues by the eminent scholars. This is the way, through which the gap between the
current and previous research.
Data analysis:
Data analysis is regarded as the process of assessing the data by data utilizing the logical
and the analytical reasoning for the sake of examining the each element of the data and thereby
strengthens the value of the research. It has been observed that both the primary and secondary
data has been collected for the sake of present research. The data collected from the primary and
secondary research has been analyzed in order to get a comprehensive result. Various techniques
have been used to interpret the collected data. MS Excel was used by the researcher for the sake
of presented the data, collected from the quantitative research (Humphries 2017). This is the
way, through which the relationship between the independent variable like social media
advertisement and dependent variable like buyer behavior has been established.
The researcher has also constructed the graphs for the sake of illustrating the relationship
and thereby presents the data in a statistical manner. The qualitative data has been acquired from
the explanations of the experienced managers. In the data analysis portion of the research report,
the interpretation made from different part of the data. Thematic analysis is the best way of
presenting the qualitative data. For the case of present research, the prominent feature of the
qualitative data gas been evaluated by the researcher. Literature review is also referred as one of

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the most important sources of qualitative data. Thus, in the research report, themes have been
formulated by the researcher with the assistance of literature review and qualitative data.
Ethical consideration:
Maintaining ethics in carrying out the research is one of the major ways in terms of
strengthening the value of the research. It is worthy to note here that ethical considerations must
be maintained by the researcher in gathering both the primary and secondary data. Initially, the
researcher has clarified the main objectives of the research to the respondents. The managers
were also well-versed that their responses of the interview will be recorded. In addition to that,
the respondents were allowed to leave the interview at any point of time during the course of the
research. Any undue personal and unnecessary objectionable question has not been asked to the
respondents. Confidentiality was maintained in exposing the identity of the respondents. The
results of the interview were only used for the academic purpose which has been damaged after
the end of the research.
Summary:
The research is aims to analyse the impact of social media advertisement on buyer’s
behavior. The research methodology is of the major portions of the research as it shows the
methods of carrying out the research in a systematic manner. In the above chapter, the overall
research methods such as research approach, research philosophy and research design have been
presented. Justification behind choosing a particular research method has also been given.

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Conclusion:
With the advent of internet and technology, social media is playing a pivotal role in
modern business environment by modifying the organizational marketing strategy. Now, the
companies are becoming able to shift from their traditional method to that of the modern method
of marketing which is the key of keeping the customers attracted. Social media is helping the
firms to employ modern marketing strategy and thereby generate positive image among the
minds of the customers. With the assistance of social media, the companies are also becoming
able to keep the customers informed regarding the products and services.

15GROUP REPORT ON RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
References:
af Wåhlberg, A., 2017. Driver behaviour and accident research methodology: unresolved
problems. CRC Press.
Alvesson, M. and Sköldberg, K., 2017. Reflexive methodology: New vistas for qualitative
research. Sage.
Andrew, C.O., 2019. Applied agricultural Research: Foundations and methodology. Routledge.
Boyd, B., Crook, T.R., Lê, J.K. and Smith, A.D. eds., 2019. Standing on the shoulders of giants:
Traditions and innovations in research methodology. Emerald Group Publishing.
Dumay, J. and Cai, L., 2015. Using content analysis as a research methodology for investigating
intellectual capital disclosure: a critique. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 16(1), pp.121-155.
Eisend, M. and Kuss, A., 2019. Research Methodology in Marketing. Springer International
Publishing.
Fletcher, A.J., 2017. Applying critical realism in qualitative research: methodology meets
method. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 20(2), pp.181-194.
Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Humphries, B., 2017. Re-thinking social research: anti-discriminatory approaches in research
methodology. Routledge.

16GROUP REPORT ON RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Kebritchi, M., Rominger, R., Johnston, E., Bean, E., Lane, J., Johnson, K. and Davidson, P.,
2019. Research Methodology Group: The Community of Scholar Practitioners to Enhance
Qualitative and Mixed Methods Designs. CRC Press.
Kumar, R., 2019. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage Publications
Limited.
Ledford, J.R. and Gast, D.L., 2018. Single case research methodology: Applications in special
education and behavioral sciences. Routledge.
Litosseliti, L. ed., 2018. Research methods in linguistics. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Mackey, A. and Gass, S.M., 2015. Second language research: Methodology and design.
Routledge.
McCusker, K. and Gunaydin, S., 2015. Research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed
methods and choice based on the research. Perfusion, 30(7), pp.537-542.
Quinlan, C., Babin, B., Carr, J. and Griffin, M., 2019. Business research methods. South Western
Cengage.
Smith, J.A. ed., 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Walliman, N., 2017. Research methods: The basics. Routledge.
Wildemuth, B.M. ed., 2016. Applications of social research methods to questions in information
and library science. ABC-CLIO.

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Appendix- Overview of who wrote which portion
Introduction, research methodology and data
analysis
Pasan
Literature review, conclusion and
recommendation
Sarani

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Appendix: Overview of who wrote which portion