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Chapter 3:Research methodology

This chapter will describe the detailed nature and structure of the research planning of this

dissertation. The description will covers purpose of the research conducted, its approach to

research planning, research strategy, sample selection procedure, data collection method and

nature of data analysis.

3.1. Research purpose

Early in any research study, one faces the task of selecting the specific design to use. A number

of different design approaches exist but, unfortunately, no simple classification system defines

all the various that must be considered (Cooper & Schindler, 2003)

Research can be used for different purposes and various uses. Based on their types and

nature, research can be classified in different categories. Sauders, Lewis & Thornhil (2003)

mentioned that they are most often classified exploratory, descriptive or explanatory while

Cooper and Schindler (2003) divide research into two types descriptive and causal.

Exploratory Research

Exploratory research is a type of research design, which objective is to clarifying and defines thenature of the problem. It helps to clarify the ambiguous nature of a problem, to gain better

understanding to aid analysis.

Exploratory study is useful when the research question are vague or when there is little theory

available to guide prediction. Developing a better understanding is the main reason of using

exploratory research (Hair, Babin, Money and Samoel 2003). it is also useful when formulating a

basic statement of research problem is impossible. Exploratory studies are a valuable means of

finding oout what is happening, to seek new insight, to ask questions and to assess phenomena

in a new light. It is particularly useful if researcher wish to clarify the understanding of a problem.

Descriptive research


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This type of research is more formal than exploratory research. One reason is that it is

structured with clearly defined hypothesis or investigative questions. Formal studies may have

the following characteristics-

y Descriptions of phenomenon or characteristics associated with subject population

y Estimates of the proportions of a population that have these characteristics

y Decovery of associations among different variables (Cooper and Schindler 2003)

Explanatory research

The aim of this type of research is to find a causal relationship between/among the variables.

Explanatory studies emphasis on investigating a situation or a problem in order to explain the

relationship between dependent and independent variable (Sauders, Lewis & Thornhil 2003).

Explanatory studies designed to test whether one event causes another ( Hair, Babin, Money

and Samoel 2003).

The main purpose of this research study is to measure the level of service of quality customers

expect to get from HSBC and also the level of service the customers perceive that they are

getting leading towards identifying the gap between the expectation and perception of the level

of quality of services.

In this study, descriptive research will be conducted to find out and understanding of the overall

banking of HSBC and also to determine some of the attributes of service quality in this Bank.

3.2. Research approach

Research approach consists of the method, strategies and knowledge claims that is/are used in

a research paper or dissertation. In the world of research approach, you will find two very

common types of research approach. Namely these two approaches are qualitative approach

and quantitative approach. There also a mixed approach also existed.

3.2.1. Quantitative approach


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Quantitative research is very well known as hypothesis testing research. In this type of

research, initially a theory of statement is selected for deriving a hypothesis. Then an

experimental design will choose for measuring the effect of variable in question by the selected

independent variable. To get rid of bias and to reduce the error, subject selected randomly in

the study.here sample of subjects will represent the whole population of that subject ( Newmanand Benz 1998).

Apart from the hypothesis testing, quantitative approach also includes cause and effect thinking,

use of instrument and observation, and the test of theories. Quantitative approach is one which

the investigator primarily uses post positivist claims for developing knowledge , employs

strategies of inquiry such as experiments and surveys and collects data on predetermined

instruments that yield statistical data (Creswell 2003)

3.2.2. Qualitative approach

Qualitative research is multi method in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to

its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural setting,

attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meaning people bring to

them (Newman and Benz 1998)

Qualitative approach is one in which the inquirer often makes knowledge claims based primarily

on constructivists perspectives (i.e., the multiple meaning of individual experiences, meaning

socially and historically constructed, with an intent of developing a theory or pattern) or

advocacy/participatory perspectives ( i.e., political, issue-oriented, collaborative or change

oriented) or both. It also uses strategies of inquiry such as narratives, phenomenology,

ethnography, grounded theory studies or case studies. The researcher collects open-minded,

emerging data with the primary intent of developing themes from the data (Creswell 2003).

Since the purpose is to understand the most important dimensions of service quality from the

customer perceived and expected value of service quality of HSBC bank, quantitative researchis found to be more appropriate for this study.

3.3. Research Strategy


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Five types of research strategy are there which are based on three basic properties. These properties are

form of research question, requirement of control over behavioral events and necessary focuses on

contemporary events. These strategies are experiments, surveys, archival analysis, histories and case

studies (see table 1).

Table 1: Research strategies

Strategy Form of ResearchQuestion

Requires control overbehavioral events?

Focuses oncontemporary events?

Experiment How, Why Yes YesSurvey Who, what, where, how

many , how muchNo yes

Archival analysis Who, what , where,how many, how much

no Yes/No

History How, why No No

Case Study How , why No YesSource: Yin, 199 4 , p.6

The research problem question in the study is based on what question and this what question

is actually form a how many and investigator has no control over the actual behavioral events,

Survey is found to be a more appropriate approach in order to gain a better understanding of

the research area. Survey is more appropriate for the quantitative study.

3.3. Sources of Information

Information of this dissertation will be collected from both primary and secondary sources. Thedetails of the sources are given in the following section.

3.3.1. Primary data

Primary data can be collected by variety of ways, first of all by interviewing employees of HSBC

and directly communicating with the customers. Primary data will be derived from the discussion

with the employees & through surveys on customers of the organization. Primary information is

under consideration in the following manner:

Face to face conversation with the employees.

By interviewing customers of HSBC.

3.3.2. Secondary data


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Different types of secondary data will be elaborated in the research. Sources of secondary

information can be defined as follows:

Internal Sources

Prior research report

Group Business Principal manual

Group Instruction Manual & Business Instruction Manual

Bank's Annual Report.

External Sources

Different books and periodicals related to the banking sector.

Internet.

Newspapers.

3.4. Research strategy

1In spite of various standpoints and theories of consumerism, different disciplines generallyemploy similar sets of approaches and tools for studying consumer satisfaction. The approachescan be exploratory, descriptive, comparative or interpretative, and the most common tools areconsumer surveys/polls, intervie ws and focus group discussions.

y E xploratory and descriptive approaches are usually employed for evaluating attitudes,

opinions, and public understanding of various issues, i.e. health and environment, consumer attitudes towards specific instruments or coercive measures.

y Comparative and explanatory approaches are involved in studying particular consumer behaviours, i.e. recycling; and for development of predictions of specific factors that may affectvalues and attitudes, which in their turn may lead to cha nges in behaviour.

y Interpretative methods and envisioning are used for predicting the consequences of particular consumption patterns, i.e. dematerialised lifestyles.

4.3.1 Surveys

Customer satisfaction surveys are a questionnaire based information collection tool to determinethe level of satisfaction with various product or service features. Developing a goodquestionnaire is the key to collecting good quality information. Questions must be short andconcise, well formulated, easy to interpret and answer, and facilitate unbiased responses. Surveytechniques and questionnaire designs are well known to research community and multipleguidance from different disciplines exist (see, for example, (Hayes 1998), (Kessler 1996),

1 iiiee_customer satisfaction review of literature and application to the product-service systems


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(Chakrapani 1998), (Gerson 1994), (Hill, Brierley et al. 1999), (Reidenbach and McClung1998)).

Many methods are being used for gathering survey information. Telephone surveys are generallyused to collect data from a large group of customers and to target segment markets. They are

more effective in obtaining data than mail or e-mail questionnaires and can potentially provide ahigher depth of data (Fetz 1996). Online surveys offer an economical and fast alternative form of surveying. They can be utilised with current customers, or the entire on-line population to

provide fast feedback on satisfaction and allow quick automatic information processing.

Mail surveys are the least expensive approach, but they often have a low response rate (20-30%), which becomes problematic for the statistical reliability of the data. These surveys also donot permit follow-up questions and do not offer the depth of a telephone survey (Dickey 1998).

Return cards allow getting customer response and certain possibility for measuring customer satisfaction. They proved to be especially useful if they are used in after-sale interaction withconsumers, e.g. repair or service activity or warranty registration (Dickey 1998).

Customer intercepts and exit surveys are two types of in-store information collection methods.They are especially useful in probing customer in their shopping environment. These surveysaim to intercept consumers in retail places and deliver a short structured questionnaire on their satisfaction with the delivered service, preferences, or behaviour. The intercept surveys can alsoincorporate limited product testing, which provides opportunity to appraise consumer opinionimmediately after sampling a product.

Consumer intercepts are usually employed to gain a fast or first overview of the phenomenastudied. They are relatively cheap and can result in a considerable sample. Their major disadvantage is that samples may not randomly chosen leading to stratified sampling andreducing the representativeness of the results.

Measurement scales in surveysAlong with the development of consumer research, the number of measurement scales used incustomer satisfaction surveys is growing (Devlin, Dong et al. 1993), which complicates dataanalysis. Some studies, for example, may list over 40 different scales (Haddrell 1994). Two

broad types of scales, however, could be distinguished: single- and multi-item scales. The single-item scales are simple, for example, many studies have used simple single-item scales such asvery dissatisfied to very satisfied responses. The problem is that these scales are hardly ableto capture different nuances related to products and services, which reduces their reliability andthe only possibility for assessment is a test-retest format (Yi 1989).

The multi- item measures in this case a much offer a better capture of customer satisfaction. Heresurvey respondents are asked not only to provide an overall evaluation of their satisfaction withthe product or service, but are also required to evaluate the key components or dimensions of theoffer. The reliability of the result, therefore, is higher than when using single-item scales. Themulti-item scales can be presented in a number of different ways: Likert 2, verbal, graphic,semantic differential 3, and inferential scales. Some authors suggest that the semantic differentia lscale is probably most reliable (Westbrook and Oliver 1981).


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E ven though the survey techniques are well developed and have a long history, they have benefits and drawbacks. The main ones are outlined below:Benefits:y Access to many customers - broad sample;y Opportunity to see and describe variations and distributions of variables in population;y

Possibility to gain general information about consumers attitudes, intentions, and perceptions;y Amount of collected data allows use of statistical analysis for explaining and predicting certain

behaviours.

Drawbacks:y Problematic to make consumers understand and interpret questions in the same way;y People tend to provide socially acceptable answers;y Reliance on consumer self- reporting and some argue that it is inconsistent with actual

behaviour of people (Zelezny 1999);y Time consuming and difficult to develop good questionnaire;y Difficult to get access to needed population/sample;y

Questionnaires require testing, but once at use corrections are difficult to make.4.3.2 In-depth interviewsSometimes, companies complement surveys with in-depth personal interviews. Such interviewscan serve as a test bed for questionnaires and be an effective when the number of respondent issmall. Personal interviews are often used when companies are creating specific customer

profiles or satisfaction improvement plans (Dickey 1998). The participants in in-depthinterviews are chosen based on their willingness to participate, their value as a customer, andtheir ability to articulate issues (Kessler 1996).

The strength of in-depth interviews is that they provide possibilities to get access to consumer perceptions of the offer, discover new variables and new needs of consumers and test and correctinstrument. However, several weaknesses could be noted. For example, when interviewees arenot randomly chosen, the conclusions need be confirmed with a broad, stratified randomsampling. It is also difficult to have a large number of interviews and thus the sample is rarelyrepresentative. The personal interviews also require certain flexibility and interpersonalcommunication skills, which may not be always at hand.

4.3.3 Focus group interviewsFocus groups interviews is a direct questioning of a group of usually 8-12 people that providesfast feedback on service issues and customer satisfaction. It is a qualitative data gatheringtechnique, in which the interviewer directs the interaction and inquiry in a very structured or unstructured manner, depending on the interviews purpose (Denzin and Lincoln 1994).

In consumer research, this method is used extensively for eliciting opinions, which explainconsumer behaviour in shopping centres. It is also applied to pre-test and post-testadvertisements and commercials. Focus groups may be the most cost-effective means of measuring product acceptance and may help define how the product should be adapted to a

particular market or group of customers.


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Depending on the researched area, groups are recruited based on specified and varied criteria,such as age, gender, or other important characteristics. The respondents are recruited among thecustomers of a given shopping centre or supermarket.

The strengths of the focus groups interviews are the possibility to assess how people themselves

perceive or conceptualise issues and the possibility to test new issues or new dimensions of customer satisfaction. The weakness is that it is difficult to distinguish between personal andgroup perceptions. Group dynamics can also prevent certain issues or perceptions from beingtackled. In addition, the size of a sample is rarely representative.

Survey

Pilot test

In-depth interview: During the exploratory research, in-depth interviews with employees &

customers of HSBC will be conducted.

Questionnaire survey: a structured questionnaire will be designed for the customers of HSBC.This structured questionnaire is the major tool of this research project.

3.5. Sample selection

3.5.1. Method

As the researcher unable to collect the total populations demographic information, simple

random sampling can not be used for the research. Considering the easiness and simplicity,

convenience sampling method is selected for this research. During the survey of this project

where customers are given copies of the questionnaire and are asked to fill them. I will give

continuous support to the customers for any problems that they faced while filling upquestionnaire so that the validity of the questionnaire increases. As the convenience sampling is

easily understood and results are assessable it is best suited for my study.

3.5.2. Sample Size

In this Research phase I selected a group of 50 people. As two countries are Bangladesh and

UK. 25 respondents will be selected from each country. There will be some in depth interview of

employees of HSBC which will be informal in nature.

3.6. Data collection

3.6.1. Questionnaire preparation

The entire questionnaire is prepared based on the SERVQUAL scale. There are five service

quality dimensions Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy and Tangibles. 21


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questions are selected which focus these 5 dimensions. Beside this there are also some other

questions which are selected based on my judgment to identify the satisfaction level of the

customers. At the very beginning there are some questions those are related to the

demographic segment of HSBC customers.

3.6.2. Data analysis

The analysis of the collected data is completed with the help of the statistical tools. The

responses of the survey including the level of importance and the customers perception are

tallied at first and then the weighted average of those responses are prepared. Here the value of

the SERVQUAL scale (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) is counted as the weight and the responses (for an example

10, 30, 45, 10, 5) respectively is counted as the frequency. Then using this weighted average

mean of the each questions are calculated both the level of importance of the attributes and

also the customers satisfaction level. Finally by doing mean of the three questions of a single

segment the overall mean importance and overall mean satisfaction level of that service quality

dimension are calculated.

3.7. Validity and reliability

Validity

Reliability

3.8. Frame of reference

Conception framework

SERVQUAL dimension in relation to customer service improvement

Appended partsBib l i ography Cooper, D.R. & Schindler, P.S (2003) Business Research Methods; 8 th ed. ISBN: 0-07-249870-6; McGraw Hill higher Education.


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Sauders, Lewis & Thornhil (2003) organizational justice, trust and the management of change An exploration, Personel review Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 360-375

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