CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses the research design and the population from which samples of respondents were drawn. It further indicates the procedures that were followed in collecting data and how the collected data was organized. The research instruments that were used in data collection are also examined with their strengths and weaknesses clearly outlined. The researcher is of the opinion that the techniques that have been chosen for this study will be credible, easy to interpret and also representative of the population.
3.2 THE RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design is the framework for conducting the marketing research pro ect. According to !alhotra "#$$%&, the research design is a roadmap as it specifies the details and procedures necessary to enable obtaining of data to solve the research problem. A good research design will ensure that the research is conducted effectively and efficiently. !alhotra "#$$%& further states that research designs may be broadly defined as exploratory or conclusive. 'xploratory research seeks to give a deeper understanding of the problem and lay the foundation for further research. The research findings may only be used as an input into further research which would then be conclusive. (onclusive research is a research design that will test specific hypotheses and also look at particular relationships. This research will adopt the conclusive research design as it is more formal, has a larger sample and the data obtained will be sub ected to quantitative analysis. The findings are said to be conclusive because management will use the recommendations from research output to make decisions. In this case the conclusive research used is causal. According to !alhotra "#$$%&, causal research is a type of conclusive research where the main ob ective is to obtain evidence regarding cause and effect. In this case the ob ective is to get the cause of a

higher or lower market share in a bank and the effects of the higher or lower market share in a particular bank. The data used in the research was obtained from existing bank customers. )ive bank managers assisted in obtaining information from their customers. The bank managers were also interviewed and they provided invaluable information on the research sub ect.
3.3 RESEARCH POPULATION

!alhotra "#$$%&, defines a population as the aggregate of all the elements that share some common characteristics which comprises the universe for the purposes of the marketing research problem. In this case the researcher is using a sample which is a subgroup of the elements of the population that will have been chosen to take part in the study. In this case the sample is *+ bank customers from five commercial banks in ,imbabwe as opposed to interviewing the total bank customers in ,imbabwe which would have been a census. The five banks are also a sample because they are a fraction of the total number of commercial banks in ,imbabwe which number #- in all. .ottler "#$$#&, defines a population as the total number of countable items in a particular area at a particular time for a given particular study.
3.4 THE SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

After defining the population, the next step is to determine the sampling frame. According to !alhotra "#$$%& , the sampling frame is a representation of the elements of the target population. The sampling frame also consists of a list or a set of directions for identifying the target population. The sampling frame in this study consisted of people who satisfy the following attributes/ #& people who hold bank accounts 0& bank customers who would cooperate in completing the questionnaire %& bank customers who are literate to understand and respond to a questionnaire 1& bank customers who would be in the banking hall when the interviewer walk in and they would also have the time to complete the questionnaire.

After establishing the sampling frame, the next stage was the selection of the sampling technique, the sample size and finally execution of the sampling. In this study, the researcher used convenience sampling under the non2probability sampling methods. !alhotra "#$$%&,states that convenience sampling attempts to obtain a sample of convenient elements. 3nder this, respondents are normally selected because they happen to be at the right place at the right time. This is the same method that was used since the interviewer will approach bank customers who will be in the banking halls at the time of the call. It has been said that this sampling technique is the least expensive and also it does not take much of the researcher4s time. The other advantage with this technique is that the sample units are accessible, measurement is easy and they are generally cooperative. The disadvantages with this method are that the respondents might be selected with an element of bias and this may affect the results of the research. !alhotra "#$$%&, also states that there is a danger of respondent self selection. These issues compromise the outcome of the interview and the results of the research.

3.5 SAMPLE SIZE

5ample size has been described as the total number of that part of the population that is taking part in the study " !alhotra #$$%& and ".ent #$$%&. It is also mentioned that the sample size is dependent upon a number of considerations like the nature of the research, the significance or importance of the decision to be made after the research and also the purpose of the study. In this case, *+ bank customers were used as the sample size. This figure is small in relation to total bank customers in 6ulawayo but the fact that they will be picked at random through convenience sampling, that is those who were in the banking hall when the interviewer walked in, meant that their comments and responses are representative of the general feelings and attitudes of bank customers towards banks.
3.6 SAMPLE COMPOSITION

The total sample size is *+ bank customers. There were fifteen customers interviewed at four commercial banks and twenty from ,A67 as indicated in Table %.# below. Table 3.1 Sa !le "# !#$%&%#' (a') (6, 5tandard (hartered 6arclays 6ank 5tanbic 6ank ,A67 TOTAL Q*#&a ####0+ /0 + a,e #- .*#&a #*.8-9 #*.8-9 #*.8-9 #*.8-9 0-.+9 100+

3.1 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

These are the tools required to capture and record the data from the targeted population for the study. In surveys, these can include questionnaires with answering instructions, record forms, note books, interview guides, photo cameras, audio tape recorders and so on. In this case a semi structured interview questionnaire was used to collect data. 5tructured questions are the ones that specify the set of response alternatives and the response format to be followed. A structured question may be multiple choice, dichotomous or a scale. The questionnaire was precoded in order to facilitate easy data recording and analysis. !alhotra "#$$%& ,states that a questionnaire is a structured technique that is used to collect data and is made up of a series of questions and these could be written or verbal which someone targeted called a respondent should answer. !alhotra "#$$%&, is of the opinion that a questionnaire has three attributes which are: #& it must translate the information required into a set of specific questions that the targeted respondents will answer 0& The key characteristic of a questionnaire is that it must be able to motivate the respondent to be cooperative, to become involved and must also encourage provision of complete and accurate answers. It is important therefore that the researcher comes up with questions that are not boring so as to have a higher response rate. %& The questionnaire should also minimize response error. This occurs when the respondents provide incorrect answers or the responses may be wrongly recorded and therefore misanalysed.

If a questionnaire standardized, it will ensure that the data so obtained will be comparable, there will also be greater speed and accuracy in the processing of the data. The questionnaire as ;eedy "#$$*&, points out, observes data beyond the physical reach of the observer. This is the main advantage of using the questionnaire as it can be administered to a large number of people with minimum costs being incurred. The questionnaire again has the advantage of affording respondents anonymity and the freedom to answer the questions at their own pace without being pressurized or influenced by the researcher. The questions are few and closed ones so that they do not discourage the respondent but at the same time providing the requisite information pertaining to the study. There are also a few open ended questions meant to probe some views and opinions that are not taken care of in the coded questions which are close ended. The researcher followed the ten step questionnaire deign process as given by !alhotra "#$$%&, as follows: #& 5pecification of the information needed 0& 5pecification of the type of the interviewing method %& <etermination of the content of individual questions 1& <esigning of the question to overcome the respondents4 inability and willingness to answer. -& <eciding on the question structure =& <etermination of the question wording 8& Arranging the questions in proper order *& Identifying the form and layout $& >eproduction of the questionnaire #+& 'liminating bugs by pre testing the questionnaire. The researcher pre2tested the questionnaire with ten samples. !alhotra "#$$%&, states that pretesting is the testing of a questionnaire on a small sample of respondents to identify and eliminate potential problems. In this case, ten questionnaires were used for the pretest and there were issues of wording and terminology that were picked and corrected.

The researcher did not have name or bank details on the questionnaire in order to increase the respondents4 willingness to complete the questionnaire. The research questions were derived from the 1 research questions and sub problems. This was done so that the questions would be relevant in addressing the research problem when answered. Table %.0 shows the classes of the questions and what they sought to address: Table 3.22 G*%3e &# &4e "#'$&5*"&%#' #- .*e$&%#''a%5e
?roblem area )actors affecting market share @uestion (an you rate factors affecting market share from not important to most 5trategies to grow market share important. The scale ranges from #2<o you agree on the strategies that can grow market (hallenges in growing market share Ahich do you think are the @uestion ob ective and significance To find out which factors are of paramount importance to customers when they choose a bank The ob ective is to look at those various strategies that banks employ to gain market share To establish the constraints that banks face in recruitment and retention of customers To get feedback from customers on how banks can improve their competitiveness in the industry.

challenges being faced by banks in >ecommendations to grow market share ,imbabwe Ahich areas do you think banks should improve in order to grow market share

3./ DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES

The researcher made use of a semi structured questionnaire that had more closed questions and a few open ended ones for further probing and soliciting. !alhotra "#$$% & and <illon "#$$1&, state that survey methods can be classified depending on the method of administration into categories of telephone, personal and mail survey. The choice of the method to be used would depend on the speed of data collection, the cost the social desirability of the responses, the amount of data required, sample control degree applicability of physical aids, environmental control, response rate, the potential for interviewer bias and also how flexible the data collection process is. )ollowing on the foregoing factors, the interview questionnaire was administered to customers in the various banks4 banking halls through convenient sampling. The researcher made use of the various banks4 branch managers to distribute the questionnaires and they were also agreed to be responsible for their return after completion.

The researcher also used the personal interview approach on five bank managers after having set appointments. The strength of this research tool lies from its face to face conduct from which the following benefits were derived. #& more information can be obtained and vague statements clarified 0& the response rate is very high %& the collection of data is instant 1& non verbal behavior can be observed and recorded -& it is flexible and adaptable. The researcher did not encounter problems at the respective managers are colleagues and there is good rapport. The face to face interview strengthened and enhanced the quality of data as the interviewee4s body language could be observed. !ore information was obtained through probing where the response was vague.
3.6 DATA ANALYSIS

All questionnaires were numbered and as the questions had been pre2coded, the responses were captured on excel spreadsheets in preparation for an analysis. >esponses for some questions were tabulated into frequency tables, histograms and pie charts for analysis of the different scores of the possible responses. There was a challenge in coding the open ended questions as the responses could not be predetermined. The questions had to be post coded. The responses were paraphrased, summarized and the key words were noted. These were put into categories that for assigning a code. The researcher also carried out data cleaning through consistence checks to note data that was out of range that is the data that was not consistent logically and had extreme values. There was also data that was seen to be out of range. The issue of extreme values was also looked at as part of data cleaning exercise.

3.10 DATA REPRESENTATION

It is a fact that some observations provide a better understanding and clearer picture if they are in graph, pie2chart and frequency tables. These are the data presentation tools that were used in this research.
3.11 CHAPTER SUMMARY

This chapter outlined the research design used for this research, the composition of the study populations well as research instruments, data collection techniques, sampling and data analysis procedure were discussed. The next chapter presents findings of the study where data collected is presented and analyzed.