EXPLORATORY DESCRIPTIVE CAUSAL
Objective Discover ideas and insights
Describe market characteristics or functions
Determine cause and effect relationships
Characteristics Flexible Versatile
Often the front end of total research design
Marked by prior formulation of specific hypotheses Pre-planned and structured design Manipulation of one or more independent variables Control of mediating variables
Methods Expert surveys Pilot surveys Secondary surveys Telephone surveys Questionnaires Observation Experiments
37 2.2.1 Exploratory research
The primary objective of exploratory research is to provide insight into the nature of the problem and an understanding of the problem confronting the researcher (Parasuraman, Grewal & Krishnan, 2007: 56). Exploratory research is used in cases where the researcher must define the problem, identify relevant courses of action or gain additional insights before an approach can be developed (Malhotra, 2004: 75). Exploratory research focuses on collecting both secondary and primary data and then uses unstructured formal or informal procedures to interpret those (Hair et al, 2000: 37). Among the three types of research designs, exploratory research incorporates the fewest characteristics or principles of the scientific method. Some examples of exploratory research techniques are focus-group interviews, surveys and pilot studies. Exploratory research may also use some forms of secondary data, for example, that are found in on-line databases.
Exploratory research can be somewhat intuitive and is used by many decision makers who monitor market performance measures pertinent to their organisation. Further, this type of research is characterised by flexibility and versatility with respect to the methods employed. Researchers should be receptive to new ideas and inputs as they proceed with new research insights. Thus, the individual creativity and ingenuity of the researcher plays a significant role in exploratory research (Malhotra, 2006: 80-81).
38 In the current study, the researcher applied exploratory and descriptive research. First, a review of academic literature was conducted in order to discover ideas and to gain insights into CRM. The literature review comprises of the growth and development of CRM together with the factors impacting CRM (refer to Chapters 4 and 5) and thus provided ideas and insights. A number of the factors and strategies concerning CRM were empirically tested. The results which are presented in Chapter 6, thus provides further insight into the problem.
Second, qualitative research was used in the form of structured and unstructured interviews. Three interviews were conducted with three senior decision makers in SMTEs. The duration of each interview was approximately 45 minutes. The purpose of the interviews was to gather information that could inform the quantitative research conducted later in the study. The respondents were asked open ended questions regarding their demographics and their views of customer relationships in their organisations. This information provided the researcher with constructive feedback in developing the final questionnaire.
2.2.2 Descriptive research
A typical objective of descriptive research is to describe market characteristics, functions or attitudes of a defined target population or market structure (Parasuraman et al, 2007: 64). Hair et al (2000: 38) point out that descriptive research uses a set of scientific methods and procedures to
39 collect raw data which is then used to create structures to describe the existing characteristics. The researcher looks for answers to the how, who, what, when and where questions concerning different components of a market structure.
Malhotra (2006: 82) offers the following reasons for conducting descriptive research, namely to:
describe the characteristics of relevant groups, such as consumers, salespeople, organisations or market areas;
estimate the percentage of units in a specified population exhibiting a certain behaviour;
determine the perceptions of product characteristics;
determine the degree to which marketing variables are associated; and
make specific predictions.
In contrast to exploratory research, descriptive research is characterised by a clear statement of the problem, the prior formulation of specific hypotheses and detailed information needs (Malholtra, 2006: 82). As a result, descriptive research must be pre-planned and structured. It is typically based on large representative samples. A formal research design specifies the methods for selecting the sources of information and for collecting data from those sources. A questionnaire is typically an instrument of descriptive research (refer to section 2.6). The current study used a questionnaire to extract
40 information regarding the factors with an impact on CRM. The questionnaire can be found in Annexure 3.
2.2.3 Causal research
Among the different data collection techniques available, experimental designs hold the greatest potential for establishing cause-effect relationships because they allow researchers to investigate changes in one variable while manipulating one or two other variables under the controlled conditions (Hair et al, 2000: 38). Causal research is most appropriate when the research objectives include the need to understand the reasons why certain market phenomena happen as they do (Hair et al, 2000: 38).
Causal research can be used to understand the functional relationships between the causal factors and the effect predicted on the specific market performance variable under investigation. This type of research design allows decision makers to gain the highest level of understanding from the research process. However, while causal research designs offer opportunity for identifying, determining and explaining causality among critical factors, they tend to be complex, expensive and time consuming.
Due to limited funds and time, a pilot study was conducted where interviews were held with SMTE owners to determine trends and patterns regarding their businesses. Descriptive research addresses complex variables, which
41 may include people‟s opinions and attitudes about a particular topic (Leedy &
Ormrod, 2013: 191).
2.3 RESEARCH PARADIGM
Bryman and Bell (2011: 26) contend that many writers on research methodology find it helpful to distinguish between quantitative and qualitative paradigms as this separation offers a useful means of classifying different