This chapter describes the research design, methodology and procedure of the study for this dissertation. Specifically, this chapter highlights the research philosophy, approach, strategy and data collection procedures.
Research methodology is a set of structured set of guidelines or activities to assist in generating valid and reliable research results (Mingers, 2001, p.242). The research process has flexibility following the suggestion of Saunders et al. (2003) which is an « onion» model (figure 5). This process encompasses five layers: naming and identifying the research philosophy, research approaches, the strategy of conducting the research, establishing time horizons, and finally methods used to collect data.
Figure 5 : The research process ‘onion’ (Saunders et al., 2003)