CHAPTER 1

Research strategiesRobson (2002:86-90) classifies three strategies of dealing with a research problem which

are Exploratory, Descriptive and Explanatory and also pointed out that you may also have

more than one strategy but my research is based on descriptive strategy. Klein and Richey

(2000:43 ) also contributed that research could be viewed as being Exploratory, Descriptive

and Explanatory

Exploratory research

Singleton and Straits (2005 cited in Klein and Richey 2007:43 ) described exploratory

research to relate to topics about which very little was known and they pointed out that to

be the reason for research designs to be less structured than descriptive research. They also

mentioned that usually exploratory research tend to be qualitative in nature.

Exploratory research is a focus on the discovery of ideas (Crisp 1957:54-55). He gave an

example like having a business where sales have been declining for some time and

management conduct a quick study to find out what might be the cause or possible

explanations for such scenario. The study undertaken is what he called and exploratory one

because it was entailed to discover or to find ideas on the root cause of the decline.

Crisp (1957:55) also said that exploratory study were generally based on secondary data

that were readily available.

Robson (2002:59) said that exploratory studies were a valuable means of finding out ‘what

is happening; to seek new insights; to ask questions and to assess phenomena in a new

light’.

Exploratory research was argued to start at the beginning and researchers were exploring

what is happening because there was not much, if any was know actually (Robbins

2008:9). An example was provided that exploratory research included case studies and

needs assessments whereby researchers studied one organization, one city or one group of

people. Researchers collects data for exploratory studies by forming small groups as well

(Robbins 2008:9).

Descriptive research

Descriptive research is more of a “fact-finding enterprise, focusing on relatively few

dimensions of a well-defined entity” (Singleton and Straits 2005:68 cited in Klein and

Richey 2007:43) and it can be quantitative or qualitative in nature.

Descriptive research is “to portray an accurate profile of persons, events or situations.”

(Robson 2002:59). Accuracy is needed when performing a descriptive research. A clear

picture of the phenomena on which data is to be collected is needed prior to data collection

to ensure the accuracy.

Explanatory research

Explanatory research are initiated not only to describe a phenomena, but also to test

relationships between elements of a problem and subjectively designed to “seek answers to

problems and hypotheses.” (Singleton and Straits 2005:69 cited in Klein and Richey

2007:43). Explanatory researches are usually quantitative in nature (Klein and Richey

2007:43).

Crisp (1957:44) argued that explanatory research developed theory that could be used to

explain empirical generalization. Comparing to descriptive research explanatory focus on

cause-effect relationships, explaining which causes generated which effects and it is

essential to use that type of research when you want to show that one variable determines

the value of other variables (Crisp 1957:44). The aim here is to study a problem in order to

explain the relationship between variables.

Since my research is not dealing with the cause-effect relationship it won’t be based on

exploratory approach because I am not intending to study on a problem that later will be

explained on relationships between variables. Furthermore the problem of my research is

well known and structured which omit exploratory approach as well and classify it now as

a descriptive one. My research will base primarily on descriptive since the problem is well

known and structured and I am also intending to obtain information pertaining to the

current status of the situation.

Research approach

According to Klein and Richey (2007:39-42) there exist two choices of research approach

and these are qualitative and quantitative ones.

Dey (1993:3) said that “number depends on meaning” and it was not the case that meaning

to be dependent on number but rather meaning is informed by number. “Enumeration

depends upon adequate conceptualization, and adequate conceptualization cannot ignore

enumeration.” (Dey 1993:3). He also pointed as well that “The more ambiguous and elastic

our concepts, the less possible it is t quantify our data in a meaningful way”.

“Qualitative data can easily become overwhelming even in small projects.”. That meant

there was a big need to always keep data manageable and it must start before any other data

is collected (Robson 2002:476).

Qualitative approach

Qualitative research tends to be associated with words or images as the unit of analysis and

best way to distinguish between qualitative and quantitative was that one approach use

words and the other use numbers (Denscombe 2007:248). It is argued that qualitative

research usually relies on transforming information from observations, reports and

recordings into data in the form of written words and not numbers (Denscombe 2007:248).

Quantitative approach

Quantitative research tends to be associated with numbers as a unit of analysis. As

Denscombe (2007:248) argued this type of approach differ with qualitative in the sense that

qualitative approach deals with words. The aim of a quantitative research is to measure

phenomena so that they can be transformed into numbers from which some analysis

through statistical procedures will be implemented (Denscombe 2007:248).

Denscombe (2007:248) said that “The obsession of quantitative approaches, then, is with

generating data that are numerical, with transforming what is observed, reported or

recorded into quantifiable units”.

From that fact the basic aim of my research is to investigate usability of WAP services to

mobile users I find suitable to use quantitative approach because my aim is to measure a

phenomena based on the magnitude of respondents that will comply to my research

objectives, transform those phenomena into numbers from which I will apply statistical

means to give results of the investigation. I want to generate data that are numerical in

nature so that I can analyze the magnitude or the number of respondents that find WAP

services usable and vice versa and the quantitative approach is the one which will sought

well for that matter.

Research strategyNow from my qunatitative research approach I need a strategy of collecting the data I wish

to analyze later. According to Yin (1994:3-9) there exist five primary research strategies

which are Experiments, Survey, History, Archival Analysis and Case study. Yin (1994:3-9)

pointed out that strategy selection depended on:

1. The type of research question posed that is asking primarily why and how questions

2. The extent of control an investigator has over actual behavioral events that is his job is to

observe and has no control

3. The degree of focus on contemporary as opposed to behavior events that is why and how

contemporary event of a study

Strategy Form of Research

Question

Requires control

over behavioral

event?

Focuses on

Contemporary

events?

Experiments How, Why Yes Yes

Survey Who, What,

Where, How

many, How much

No Yes

History Who, What,

Where, How

many, How much

No Yes/No

Archival Analysis How, Why No No

Case Study How, Why No Yes

Table 1-1 Relevant situation for different research strategies

Source: Yin 1994:6

Yin (1994:4-9) made it clear that when someone wants to choose a strategy for his or her

research it should be envisaged that the type of research questions with how and why

questions mostly for experiments, archival analysis and case study and who, what, where,

how many and how much for survey and history strategy are driving out researchers

towards the choice of strategy.

Control over behavioral event contributes a lot towards a strategy selection and it should

also be envisage in the process of choosing the strategy without forgetting the extent to

which contemporary events are focused upon.

Experiments

“Experiments yield data that are examined for the purpose of answering research

questions” (Kennedy and Bush :27)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003:91) pointed out that experiment was “a classical form

of research that owes much to the natural sciences, although it featured strongly in much

social science research, particularly psychology”. The mentioned that experiment involved

the definition of a theoretical hypothesis, selection of samples of individuals from known

populations, allocation of samples to different experimental conditions, introduction of

planned change on one or more of the variables, measurement on a small number of the

variables and control of other variables.

From Table 3-1 above it shows that the experiments rely on controlled methods and

focuses on contemporary events as well. From Yin’s point of view experiments are used

when a researcher needs to compare two variables and examine their cause-effect

relationship but for our case the experiment strategy will not be suitable because I cannot

control behavioral events of users and cannot focus on contemporary events as well. I am

not comparing any variables and I am not examining the cause-effects relationship because

the problem is well known in advance.

History

Yin (1994:3-9) ideas on history strategy were that the strategy was dealing with the past

and was used when no persons were alive to interview or report. Since no trace of life of

the people who started the research to ask to the history of the problem has to be worked

upon by using the past. Since there are plenty of people to interview about the usability of

WAP services today then my work cannot lie on history strategy for that matter.

Archival Information

The research typically is based on archival data that was stored for a period of time to

achieve the research objectives. The archived data will be used as a source of evidence to

build up a problem or situation. Those archival information are like documents,

photographs, video and audio recordings. Since my research is not based on archived

information and do not describe a phenomenon the strategy won’t suit the needs of my

research.

Case Study

When an investigation is done in which the most interest is detailed descriptions and

analysis of individual cases then the investigation is classified as a Case study Denscombe

(2007:36). Most likely when somebody does an investigation there is an eager to know

more and more on the stuff investigated. The ideology of knowing each part of the research

deeply with high level of accuracy drives to a case study.

Robson (2002:178) defined case study as “a strategy for doing research which involves an

empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life

context using multiple sources of evidence”. In Robson ‘s definition of case study he

pointed out as well that the investigation could be performed under multiple sources of

evidences meaning that investigation will be a success under the pretext that significant

amount of valuable evidence is available.

Case studies are defined to be “in-depth investigation of an individual, group, or institution

to determine the variables, and the relationship among those variables” (Richey and Klein

2007:155). This explains the singular and detailed in nature characteristic of case studies.

From the table of research strategies from Yin (1994:6) the case study strategy has the

ability to generate answers to question ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ but do not have control to

behavioral events.

Survey

From Richey and Klein (2007:159) point of views survey was a kind of attempt to obtain

data from members of a population or in other words sample to try to determine the current

status of that population with respect a phenomena.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003) pointed out survey was “a collection of a large

amount of data from a sizeable population in the least economical way” often used by

questionnaires by standardizing them for easy comparison. He also mentioned that survey

strategically research was authorities by people themselves that is to say people are the

main engines and the ones driving the research to a success because they are involved in all

the resulted analysis.

Now based on the nature of my research survey is the suitable research strategy to use

because my work involve a sizeable population from which I want to evaluate how they

feel usability about their WAP enabled mobile phone services using pre designed

questionnaires that I have prepared for them.

My survey will be based in Tanzania at Dar es Salaam region because all 5 leading mobile

operators’ head quarters, telecommunications infrastructures and mobile shops are situated

there hence more mobile devices are available. Tanzania has 26 regions but the other

reason I chose Dar es Salaam is first because it is the city prone to most business activities,

second because of limited resource to pay for travel expense all along Tanzania and third is

duty office from which I could not get enough time as I am a full time employee.

It was very interesting to make the survey in Dar es Salaam because I am also living there

and It was a good thing to discover how people around me with same available

infrastructures facilities and variety of mobile resources perceived on the usability of WAP

service.

Sampling

It is very important to distinguish between one particular sample and the population as a

whole (Lancaster 2005:148). It is said that the difference between the sample and the

population as a whole was the heart of statistical practice. More or likely sample and

population can be identified as the latter doe not use symbols (Lancaster 2005:148).

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003:150) mentioned that if the data was to be collected

and analyzed from every possible case of group members it would be termed as census but

it is mostly impossible for someone to collect and analyze all the data available owing to

time, money and access as well. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003:150) identified that

sampling was the technique that “provide a range of methods that enable you to reduce the

amount of data you need to collect by considering only data from a subgroup rather than all

possible cases or elements”.

Sampling is the process by which inference is made to the whole by examining only a

part.” (Som 2000:1). The purpose of sampling merely is to provide various statistical

information of a qualitative or quantitative nature of phenomena by selecting only few

units. Som (2000:1) said that sampling method “is the scientific procedure of selecting

those sampling units which would provide the required estimates with associated margins

of uncertainty, arising from examining only a part and not the whole.”. In short from my

point of view sampling deals with selecting a small part of a big item to work on.

Probability sampling

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003:152) identified two basic types of sampling which

are:

1. Probability or representative sampling and

2. Non- probability or judgmental sampling

He defined probability sampling as the sample with a chance, or probability of each case

being selected from a population is known. Each case being selected from the populations

have equal chances of being selected and the probability of the selection is known as well

from Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003:152) point of view. From Mark et al. points of

view that meant that it is possible to answer any research questions and achieve objectives

as well. He acknowledged that probability sampling was often associated with survey

research approaches and to a lesser extent experimental research approaches.

On the other end Mark et al. defined non-probability samples as the sample of each case

being selected from total population is not known and practical impossibility to answer

research questions.

I will use probability sampling technique because my work will be associated with a survey

where I will make inferences from a sample about a population to answer my research

questions to meet my objectives (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2003:153). He said that

non-probability sampling was more frequently used for study research because one could

still be able to generalize from non-probability samples about population, but not on

statistical grounds.

Mark et al. has identified that probability sampling was a process that undergo four stages

which are:

1. To identify a suitable sampling frame base on the research questions

2. To decide on a suitable sample size

3. To select the most appropriate sample technique and the sample as well

4. To check If the sample is representative of the population

Based on the series of stages of probability sampling I followed up sequentially through the

whole four stages to choose my sample out of the population.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003:154) defines sampling frame as a complete list of all

the cases in the population from which the sample is to be drawn. He also said that he

completeness of a sample frame was very important to ensure that every case in the

population get a chance of being selected.

In my research I have identified all WAP users in Dar es Salaam who eventually posses a

WAP enabled mobile device and use WAP internet services as well. All Dar es Salaam

users that are in hold of a WAP enabled cell phone and use the WAP services at the same

time will fall in my complete sampling frame I want to establish my survey.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003:155) clearly mentioned that the larger the samples

size the lower the error in generalizing population. According to him he noted The

Economist’s (1997) advising that a minimum number of 30 for statistical analyses provided

useful rule of thumb for the smallest number in each category within the overall sample. If

a detailed level of analysis was needed, but the population in the category was less than 30

the data should be collected from all the cases in that category. He also said that probability

sampling was a compromise between accuracy of one’s findings and the amount of time

and money invested in collecting, checking and analyzing the data stating that the choice of

one’s sample size was governed by:

1. The confidence needed to have the data. That is being certain that the total data collected

will represent the characteristics of the total population

2. The margin error needed to be tolerated. That is the degree of accuracy required from any

estimates made from the sample

3. The type of analysis needed to be undertaken. The number of categories needed to be

divided when doing statistical analysis

4. The total size of population from which the sample was taken from

I have envisaged probabilities of not getting responses at all during collection of data. It is

very difficult to guarantee that all your questions will be answered willingly by

respondents. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003:157) contributed that non-responsive

questionnaire was due to four inter-related problems:

1. Refusal to respond

2. Ineligibility to respond

3. Inability to locate respondent

4. Respondent located but unable to make contact

It should be noted that there are kinds of people that do not like to help others because of

bad attitudes or just because they do not wish to be questioned about anything. Those kinds

of people should be approached in a way that would make them comfortable to answer the

questions set. I have tried my level best to treat those kind of people by designing my

questionnaire in such a way that would not bore the respondent by being too long and

complex. I tried to be simple and clear towards the flow of questions as well.

Another problem of response rate after choosing your sample is people who are completely

ineligible to answer the questions. For my case ineligible people would be all that do not

posses or have never possessed a mobile phone which is WAP enabled. That is to say even

though they have mobile phones but not WAP enabled they could not help me achieve my

objective of evaluating the usability of the WAP service they would have accessed if they

would be in possession of a WAP enabled phone.

Furthermore there is a significant problem of reaching your sample after deciding on your

sample size for data collection. For my case since I was residing in Dar and had my

personal transport it was easy for me to drive around and distribute those questionnaire to

main district councils. I designed an online questionnaire as well to help me locate even

more respondents for that case.

In my research I did not have the problem of respondent unable to make contact because

the questionnaire was collected from the main council office and I did not have the trouble

to contact the users directly.

Simple random

It is true that estimating the response rate which I could get from my research

questionnaires was unpredictable but with a good sampling technique chosen the response

rate can be enhanced to some remarkable extents. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill

(2003:159) mentioned five main techniques that can be used to obtain a representative

sample. The techniques are:

1. Simple random

2. Systematic

3. Stratified

4. Cluster and

5. Multistage

The research questions and the objectives I set were the main factors that drove me to

choose the simple random probability technique.

Because of time and money to travel the probability sampling technique I have used is a

random sampling one. I have selected randomly my sample from a group of students,

employed and unemployed people both male and female which had equal chances of being

selected.

Despite the fact that Secondary data collection is cheaper in most projects (Lancaster

2005:94) I did collect primary type of data using interviews because I was interested to

investigate usability of WAP services now after the advancement of mobile technology, so

I was in need of fresh data to give out relevant results.

In my study I have chosen a group of people selected randomly that I have categorized as

blow twenty, between twenty and thirty five, and over thirty five years of age. The reason

for such categorization was to be able to report more interesting results by involving age

class but of course based on my research objectives.

In terms of numbers, I chose to question around 200 users out of 2.9 million people in Dar

es Salaam (National Bureau of Statistics Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs

2009:17). I could have chosen a broader sample but due to scarcity of time to collect all the

data this was enough to draw broad conclusions both from users’ experience with WAP

services usability.

During selection of the group female and male users had equal chances to be chosen as a

sample and the respondents I chose were all the ones that had WAP enabled mobile phones

and were accessing the internet using the same device they hold.

Data collection“A collection of numbers, no matter how large, may contain no useful information.”

(Federer 1991:42). Federer jus meant that even if you collected immense or huge amounts

of data the information must be of use and there was no point of withholding bulky data

that did not have any relevance.

I wanted to reach my research objectives by choosing the most suitable way possible to

collect my data. This part is important as data is the main vital source to come up with

results that is to say if no data then no result hence the whole point and trouble to achieve

objectives would be useless.

Primary data

According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003:188) we have two classifications of

data which are:

1. Primary data

2. Secondary data

According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill primary data can be identified as new data that

have not being collected already while secondary data are data that have been collected

already and are usually reanalyzed to achieve research objectives and can be collected

through observation, questionnaires or interviews.

Observations

Observation primary data is performed by watching people doing it (Saunders, Lewis and

Thornhill 2003:221) whereby two types of observation was identified to be participant

observation and structured observation. According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill

(2003:221) participative observation is qualitative and derived from the work of social

anthropology which emphasized on discovering the meanings that people attach to their

actions. So to be brief is that participative observations deal with meanings of people

actions and the researcher attempts to participate fully in the lives and activities of the

subjects and later on becoming a member of their group, organization or community.

Delbridge and Kirkpatrick (1994:37) noted that participant observation implied a research

strategy of immersion in the research setting, with the objective of sharing in peoples’ lives

while attempting to learn their symbolic world and they (1994:39) stated “in social sciences

we cannot hope to adequately explain the behavior of social actors unless we at least try to

understand their meaning” which emphasize the fact that there was a need to understand

and learn respondent’s ways of doing and characteristics.

It is identified the existence of types of data generated by participant observation like

primary, secondary and experimental. Primary observations were those where one would

note what happened or what was said at that particular moment of time, secondary

observations were those from which statements from observers of what happened or was

said already were recorded and lastly experimental were those observations on perceptions

and feelings experienced during the process of the research (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill

2003:227).

Participant observations have some advantages like

1. Having all data collected useful

2. Being good at explaining what is going on in particular social situations and

3. Being useful for researchers working within their organizations

At the same time it has disadvantages like

1. Being time consuming

2. Recording data is often very difficult

3. Being a very demanding role which not all researchers will be suited

In structured observation which is another type of observation the observation approach is a

systematic one and has a high level of predetermined structure. This type of observation

has the function of providing stats on how often things do happen rather than why they

happen hence have a quantitative nature. One can chose any type of research strategy to

collect the data as long as the method chosen always meet the research questions and

objectives.

Structured observations have the following advantages:

1. Can be used by anyone after suitable trainings

2. It is highly reliable and easy to use as well

3. I can observe frequency of events as well as recording relationship between events and

4. Data is collected at the time they occur

The disadvantages of the structured observation are

1. Observers must be in the research setting when phenomena under study occur and

2. Data are slow and very expensive to collect

Interviews

Having seen observational type of data collections let us see the interview collections now.

“Interviewing is the primary method of collecting testimonial evidence.” (Yeschke

2003:49). It is argued that interviews are different from interrogations in that their

objectives completely differ and the goal for interviewing is “to collect truthful data to be

used for informed decision making and just action taking.” (Yeschke 2003:49).

Interviews may be formalized and structured using standard questions for each respondent

or may be informal and unstructured conversations (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill

2003:246). Hitchcock and Hughes (1995:154-164) differentiated interviews as standardized

and non-standardized while Robson (2002:282) based on the work of Powney and Watts

(1987) referred to respondent and informant interviews.

Structured interviews use questionnaires based on a predetermined set of questions where

you read out each question and then record the response on a standardized schedule mostly

with pre-coded answers. One should read out the questions in the same tone of voice so that

not to indicate any bias while there is social interaction between the interviewer and the

respondent according to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003:246).

Semi-structured interview and unstructured interview are non-standardized ones and in

semi-structured interviews the research unusually has a list of themes and questions to be

covered. Normally some questions can be omitted in particular interviews, if given some

specific organizational context. Order of questions may also vary depending on the flow of

conversation and some additional questions may be required to explore one research

question and objectives given the nature of events within a particular organization

(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2003:246-247).

Unstructured interviews are informal and should be used to explore in depth a general area

of interest. A clear aspect about what someone wants to explore is needed and usually there

is no predetermined list of questions to work through. Interviewee is given normally is

given the opportunity to talk freely about events, behavior and beliefs in relation to the

topic area to generate a type of non direct interaction. It is the interviewee’s perceptions

that guide the conduct of the interview that’s why it is known as informal interview for that

matter. In comparison a respondent interview is the one where the interviewer directs the

interview and the interviewee responds to the questions of the researcher (Robson

2002:171).

Furthermore types of interview might be differentiated to the form of interaction that might

be established between the researcher and those who participate in the process that is

interviews may be conducted on a one-to-one basis and one-to-many.

One-to-one interviews are those between you and a single participant and mostly can be

face to face or via telephone conversation. The researcher can go to meet the respondent

directly or can use the telephone to get hold of the respondent as well.

One-to-many interviews are those where the researcher meet with a small number of

respondents to explore all aspect of the research usually facilitated via group discussions.

Questionnaires

Questionnaires or sometimes called surveys are identified as tools that researchers use to

measure variables of interest. Actually it is to say they measure what exactly they want to

know (Robbins 2008:121). According to Robbins (2008:121) questionnaires ask people to

answer questions or replay statements based on what people are, how people think, how

people act and what people know.

Among the types of data collection mentioned above the data for my research was collected

by means of questionnaires which I designed for the purpose of achieving my research

objectives.

On the contrary Bell (2005:149-167) used questionnaires as a more general term by

defining it as interviews that were administered either face to face or by telephone.

Questionnaires were nothing more than a series of interviews that could be done directly by

meeting the interviewee or by distant communication devices.

deVaus (2002:110) defined questionnaires as techniques of data collection in which one

person is asked to respond the same set of questions in a predetermined order. I agree with

deVaus that usually questionnaires involve same series of questions in a defined order

responded by various users.

Robson (2002:231) argued that questionnaires worked best with standardized questions that

every respondent could interpret the same way. It is very essential that the questionnaire is

straight forward and comprehensive to the respondent so that relevant data can be analyzed

after collection.

I have designed a questionnaire to collect clear opinions from users on the usability of

WAP services. According to Mark et al. we have two types of questionnaires which are:

1. Self administered

2. Interviewer administered

Self administered are questionnaires that are usually completed by the respondents. That is

the researcher is the one designing and distributing the questionnaire to the respondents and

then after the respondents have filled them they return it back to the researcher.

The researcher can distribute the questionnaire through various was like online, by post and

delivery by hand. Online questionnaires are the ones that are delivered and returned

electronically via online systems, postal questionnaires are the ones that are delivered by

post and lastly delivery by hand are the ones that are provided when the researcher get in

contact physically with the respondent.

The choice of questionnaire depends very much on the research questions and objectives

that one has set and to be precise the characteristics of the respondents from whom one

wish to collect the data, the importance of reaching a particular respondent, the importance

of respondent answer not to be disoriented from your goals, the size of the sample required

for analysis, the type of questions to be asked to collect the data and also the number of

questions you need to collect the data (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2003:283).

For my research I have used both online questionnaires and delivery by hand

questionnaires to collect my data and left out postal questionnaires because it would have

taken me a lot of time to get the questionnaires to the respondents and response back since

the postal systems in Tanzania especially in Dar es Salaam is not as fast as it is expected.

Postal mails do get long to reach people that are why I have left out completely that type of

questionnaire collection. Most of the people also in Tanzania do not go often to check their

postal mails and that would have been a factor to delay response rate as well. On top of that

very few people would get the trouble of replying to those questionnaires by posting them

back to me so those were actually the main reasons that discouraged me to use the postal

type questionnaire to collect my data.

On the other hand online questionnaire was the most successful type of questionnaire that

gave me a lot of response within short period of time. I used an online site called

esurvey.com which is an online portal where you can create and manage surveys for free

with basic functionalities features. All you have to do is signing up and account and you

can start designing and sending out your questionnaires via mails. Email offers greater

control because most of the users read and respond to their more often as it can be accessed

anywhere.

I have tried to design my questionnaire to prevent contamination by unwanted data from

respondents by putting three main key questions which will drive me to get and analyze

only targeted respondents. I asked the first key question to respondents if they were in hold

of mobile phones so that I could deal with the ones that said yes, the second key one was if

they did have mobile phone then if it was WAP enabled or in other word was internet

capable and the third one is if the phone they possessed was WAP enabled then did they

use it to surf the internet. Posing those three questions my analysis was focused on the ones

that answered all the three questions yes and not otherwise.

After distributing my questionnaires and for the period I was waiting to collect them I

performed some administered interview which is another type of questionnaire whereby I

was meeting some respondents face to face asking them questions about the usability of

WAP services. That activity was helpful to me because I could ensure the type of users I

was focusing on to answer my questions. It saved me a lot of time as I was able to get

enough data and views to achieve my objectives.

I tried to make my questionnaire very self explanatory so that to make people understand

straight as to what it was intended them to do. According to Dillman (2007:34-42) there are

three type of data variable that can be collected through questionnaires which are:

1. Opinion

2. Behavior

3. Attribute

He also pointed out that these distinctions were important, as they will influence the way

the questions will be worded. Opinion variables records is how a respondent is feeling

about something or what they think it is true but in contrary behavior and attributes is

focusing on what respondents are or what are they doing. My main objective questions are

based on opinions of the users as I want to know the way they feel when they make use of

WAP services using their mobile devices that are capable of the service.

There are two types of questions that can be set when designing a questionnaire. The types

of questions are:

1. Open ended and

2. Closed ended

Open ended and closed ended were both identified by Leeds (2007:29) .

Closed ended question is said to be the one that extracts a piece of information, but

precludes further discussion and can be answered with either a yes or a no or with a simple

statement fact Leeds (2000:29). Leeds also pointed out that closed ended question were

good for getting information quickly or in a hurry.

Open ended questions usually open up conversations, get people to think and encourage

discussion and opinions. They actually involve people to participate in an exchange of

ideas Leeds (2000:30). Open ended requires a more in depth response than a yes or a no

answer.

In my questionnaires I have used closed questions only because I knew all predetermined

answers from earlier studies and I was in need of users opinion regarding WAP services

usability from the current situation.

Six types of closed questions were identified by Nunan (2000) which are:

1. List

2. Category

3. Ranking

4. Scale or Rating

5. Quantity

6. Grid

In list questions the respondents have a list of responses from which they can choose any to

ensure that the respondents have almost considered all possible questions. Category

questions are the questions that limit the respondent that fit to only one answer and are

mostly useful when collecting attribute or behavioral type of data and it is advised that

categorical questions should not be of more than five responses.

In my questionnaire I have tried to arrange responses in logical order so that it is easy to

locate the response category that corresponds to respondents answers. I tried not to overlap

my categorical questions and also to cover all possible responses. I did my best when I was

designing the layouts of my questionnaire by making it clear which boxes referred to which

response category by placing them close to each appropriate texts.

Ranking questions are types of questions whereby respondents are asked to rank their

response based on preferences or importance depending on the questions. Since most

respondents find it difficult to rank more than eight to ten items it is advised to keep

ranking type of questions short.

Rating or scale questions are used to collect mostly respondents opinions and is dealing

with the extent to which an opinion is given and have been combined to measure a wide

variety of concepts such as customer loyalty, service quality and job satisfaction.

Quantity questions are questions that needs amount inputs as a response and collect mainly

behavioral and attribute data and lastly grid questions or sometimes called matrix are the

questions that enable a respondent to answer two or more responses to a similar question at

the same time.

Below find a table giving example of closed questions type:

Table 1-2 Closed question types in survey questionnaires

Source: After Youngman(1986) cited in Bell(1987) and Nunan (1992:144)

In my questionnaire I have used all types of questions except ranking and quantity type of

questions. The reason for not choosing those was just because It was not in my intentions to

allow any quantity amounts to be inputted as well as any ranking as well. On the other hand

I have used all other types of questions to design the questionnaire and I was very careful

when ensuring that I wrote precise meaning of individual words with well formed

sentences.

I would like to make a note as to when I was designing my questionnaire I spent time

considering the order and flow of my questions as mentioned earlier. By that I have used

filter questions to identify those respondents from whom the questions would not be

applicable so they could skip filling unnecessary questions. In my case I used three filter

questions as which depended on a respondent to answer all yes. To add more the layout of

my questionnaire was designed in such a way to make reading questions and filling in

responses easy. I tried to make it look attractive and not appearing too long as from most of

the experience it shows that people do get bored with extra page or cramped questionnaires

deVause (2002:112) made some recommendations of not making questionnaires longer

than is necessary to meet ones research questions and objectives without forgetting not to

be too obsessed with its length as well. In my questionnaire I started with a small

introduction on why I wanted the respondent to answer it and a clear title which conveyed

the topic of my research. At the end of my questionnaire I thanked respondents for taking

time to complete the questionnaire and provided my contacts for any queries that might be

existing without forgetting to mention the date by which I would like the questionnaire

already filled.

Before distributing the questionnaire I have gone through some pilot testing using friends

that I know and am working with to refine my questionnaire so that respondents will have

no problems in answering the questions and to obtain some assessment of the questions

validity and the reliability of the data that will be collected. The idea to do a pilot test came

from Bell (2005:147) who advised that despite the pressed time you are, he said to do best

to give a questionnaire a trial run as without that trial there was no way of knowing if the

questionnaire will be successful.