Research Design

According to Herold, a research design pertains to setting out a plan for the transitioning from the beginning to the end of the research i.e. the initial inquiries to the final conclusions associated with such inquiries (Herold, 2011). Hartley concurred with the need for logical planning and provided that intelligible data collection, analysis and interpretation were necessary for the association of the inquiries with the conclusions (Hartley, 2004).

Table 3.1: Phasing of the study

The following Table summarises the approach to the boundary setting and focussed analysis for this study using Yin’s research design components recommended for case studies to achieve the logical associations necessary:

Table 3.2: Boundary setting with Yin's research design components

Component Detail

Propositions The propositions for the study are extracted from the literature review and are as follows (i) there are defined international e-signature regulatory frameworks and approaches by which to assess the effectiveness of e-signature regulatory frameworks in a particular country (ii) the analysis of e-signature regulation in a particular case or country through comparison with such frameworks and approaches permits conclusions and recommendations on the effectiveness of the country’s approach.

Background

• High level understanding of the current state of electronic signature regulation • Exploring challenges and problems with electronic signature regulation • Search for current similar studies

• Determination of the stakeholders of electronic signature regulation

Conceptual Framework

• Literature Review on measures or metrics for assessing the effectiveness of electronic signature regulation to advance electronic commerce

• What is the role of electronic signatures in electronic commerce?

• What is the objective of regulating electronic signatures in the context of such role?

• Coding the Literature according to key inquiries to assess the effectiveness of electronic signature regulation • Determinatin of the key audience for the research report and the objectives of the study

• Determintation of the research question and sub-questions

Research

• Deciding on the sources of evidence and estimating the findings from the sources of evidence • Design of the interview questionnaire

• Analysis of the legislation according to the key inquiries

• Conducting a pilot interview and amending the interview questionnaire to improve the effectiveness • Conducting the remaining interviews

• Drawing up the transcripts

• Summarising the outcomes of the interviews according to the key inquiries

Report

• Reporting on the findings of the research according to the key inquries • Interpretation of Findings and drawing up the conclusions

• Consultation of the literature review, and intended key audience of the research report and drawing up recommendations

Unit of Analysis It was clear from the conception of the study that the single case of South African e-signature regulation would be studied. Emanating from the literature review, however, was the association of e-signatures and e-signature regulation with advancing electronic commerce interests of the country. With this objective in mind, the analysis was restricted to e-signature regulation as a subset of electronic commerce regulation and the inquiries and the conclusions aligned with such electronic commerce objectives, as opposed to national security or identity management generally for instance. This demarcation instructed the data collection and sources of evidence as well as permitted the general association of the study with other similar studies in other countries. The primary intended audience, e-signature policy makers and regulators further informed the reporting of the conclusions whilst the interests of other stakeholders to the research were notwithstanding, accommodated in the analysis of the findings.

Study Questions The study main question and sub-questions derived from the literature review as the metrics for the assessment of the effectiveness of e-signature regulation

Logical application of the data to the propositions

A conceptual framework identifying three thematic inquiries and sub-inquiries was developed at the conclusion of the literature review to associate the inquiries for assessing the effectiveness with the data collected and analysed.

Criteria for the interpretation of the findings

The criteria for the interpretation are associated with the propositions of the study, particularly measures for the effectiveness of e-signature regulation and comparison with approaches in key model frameworks and other countries. Several studies of other countries substantiate the use of such propositions. Alternative explanations are further considered for the interpretation of the findings on e-signature regulation in South Africa. Country studies in Australia and China propose alternative explanations for the effectiveness of e-signature regulation extraneous to the framework and approach itself and the application of such alternatives or other revelatory explanations will be reflected on for completeness of the study.

Table adapted from Yin’s Case Study Research Design (Yin, 2003, p 21-28)

Herold confirmed that research design not only improves the logical association between research inquiries and

using certain tests (Herold, 2011). Two of such tests referred to by Herold, “construct validity”, and “external validity” are applied in this study to promote its validity (Herold, 2011, p7-8). Firstly, construct validity or the determination of the appropriate inquiries for the assessment is applied by conducting a literature review of international e-signature regulatory frameworks and the expert approaches to other similar studies in certain foreign countries to reveal the central inquiries for the study. This was particularly relevant to understand the central link between e-signature regulation and the advancement of electronic commerce and in so doing and establish boundaries for the study. The on-going return during the study to the core inquiries for analysis for the development of the research question, sub-research questions, interview questions and analysis of the findings pertains to second test of external validity i.e. the output of the research report is grounded in the accepted theory of effectiveness of e-signature regulation.