Research Methodology

Abstract

The previous chapter formed a conceptual model aimed at examining broadband adoption, usage, and impact from the context of household consumers. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the research approaches utilised within information systems (IS) field, which leads to the selection of an appropriate research approach for guiding the validation of the conceptual model. To understand the research topic, to validate and understand the conceptual model, and to obtain the required data, a quantitative research was employed. The philosophical foundation utilised for guidance was positivism, resulting in a survey research approach being employed. The data collection technique used to collect the data was the questionnaire. Reasons for the selection of the philosophical underpinning, type of research approach, and data collection method are explained and justified within this chapter. This chapter is structured as follows. The next section provides an overview of the underlying epistemologies and then provides justifications for the preferred one. This is followed by an overview discussion on various issues related to the available research approaches in the IS field and a justification for the selection of a survey as the research approach. A detailed account of the various aspects of the survey approach is then offered. This is followed by a brief discussion on issues relating to data analyses. The final section offers a summary of the chapter.