Methodology Section

Question: What is the Methodology Secation and Research Study ? Answer : Introduction The methodology section is a very crucial section in a research study. This sets the platform for the researcher to make effective adjustments in the study that helps the organisation to analyse the data that has been gathered and get suitable results from its analysis. The methodology section sheds light on the procedures and approaches the researcher has used to gather suitable data for achieving the desired outcome. This section of research methodology is important as it will highlight the different methods utilised on the present research and also the justifications for their utilisation. The investigations in a research are extremely important and the application of the right tools and techniques is important in this case (Glesne, 2015). The present section will discuss the key segments of the research methods used for the study like research philosophy, design, strategy, the choice of the data collection, and the data analysis tools which would help to complete the study Impact of financial stability on the sustainability of hospitality industry. It is important for the researcher to prudently choose the research methods and apply them strategically to make sure the right kinds of findings are received from the study. The research onion diagram provides effective understanding of the following discussion. Fig 1: Research Onion Research Philosophy The research philosophy is an extremely important part of the research method. It is extremely important for every researcher to understand the importance of research philosophy involved in a study. Research philosophy could be defined as the belief or notion of the way in which information and data about a particular subject should be gathered. The gathering of data stands to be important for a particular research, and hence it is important for the researchers and scholars to follow a particular belief about gathering data. There are number of research philosophies which are used by different researcher and the choice is mainly based on the kind of research that is being done. The most common research philosophies are positivism, post positivism and interpretivism (Mackey and Gass, 2013 p, 65). Positivism: People with positivist mindset believe that reality could be observed and described from the objective point of view. It is important to mention that people believing in positivist approach are largely practical and only believe in rational thinking to gather information about a particular subject. This highly emphasises on one single variable of the research and the predictions are made on the previously studied and gathered information. Positivism has had a long and successful relationship with physical and natural sciences. There have been long standing debate about its suitability and applicability of the positivist framework in the social science subjects (Denzin, 2012 p, 78). Post Positivism: This is comparatively a new approach to positivism and it could be said that it follows the philosophy of positivism to a large extent with trifle difference. The post positivist approach supports the amalgamation of both rational and scientific reasoning to support data gathering. Data gathering is the most important part of a research the post positivist philosophy allows the researchers to implement both commonsense reasoning and scientific reasoning to get the best possible data for the study (Flick, 2011 p, 47). Interpretivism: Interpretivism is more into interpreting subjects. The study of phenomena in their natural environments is the key to interpretivism philosophy. It is important to mention that interpretivism believes that scientists cannot avoid the phenomena they study and hence a subjective interpretation and intervention becomes essential in interpretivism. Realism: This philosophy believes that some perceptions in practice are completely ontologically free of conceptual schemes and understanding (Blumberg Cooper and Schiendler, 2011 p, 89). The present research asks to analyse the importance of financial stability in the sustainability of the hospitality industry and hence it will be effective if the researcher is able to gather data in the best possible way through the application of logical understanding. It will also be important to use different data sources to gather data which would enhance the efficiency of the data gathered. The gathering of data on logical grounds will help to analyse the data gathered properly and help to get best possible result from the analysis. Research Design Research design could be defined as the overall strategy of the research which helps to link each and every component of the research effectively to complete the study in a logical and cohesive manner. It is essential to make a proper decision about choosing the right kind of research design for a research in order to get efficient and favorable result from the study. Effective research design helps to drive the research in an effective manner and helps to achieve the objectives of the study properly. There are three key research designs used by researchers which are exploratory, explanatory and descriptive designs. The exploratory research design is mostly implemented in research where the researcher is focused on gaining new insights and revealing new results for the particular subject. This kind of research design is focused on using large amount of information and is expensive as well that prevents most of the academic researches to use exploratory design of research. On the othe r hand the descriptive design is effective in describing a phenomenon and analysing variables properly to support the existing study and literature on the same topic and also justifying them properly (Pickard, 2012 p, 55). The explanatory research design is effective in explaining a particular research topic effectively which even though time consuming but achieves the objectives of a study. In the present study there are two different variables which are financial stability and sustainability. Both these variables are broad variables and need significant description which would help to link them properly in the research and understand the cause and effect of one on the other (Green, Camili and Elmore, 2012 p, 56). Hence the present research will be done with the help of the descriptive research design which will help to plan the research study and structure in a systematic manner to get favorable research results from the study effectively. The research aims to focus on understanding the relationship between the financial stability for the sustainability in the hospitality industry. Research Approach Research approach could be defined as the systematic movement of a research to establish facts and principles on a given subject of study. Research approach is the basic movement of the research to get favorable results from a study. There are basically two different types of research approach namely: Inductive approach and deductive approach of research. Inductive approach: The inductive approach is mainly based on qualitative analysis process to get results from the research. The inductive approach is focused on using research questions to narrow the scope of the study and is concerned with the generation of new theory and information. The inductive approach of research moves from specific observations to generate general findings (Robson, 2011 p, 109). Deductive approach: The deductive approach is just the opposite of the inductive approach. This kind of approach starts with a hypothesis rather than following research questions and moves from general observations to get specific findings which is suitable to study a particular phenomena. The deductive approach uses quantitative analysis techniques in order to get results from the study (Miller et al, 2012 p, 44). The involvement of the two variables in the present study is broad and needs to be analysed effectively by the researcher. As the present study does not aim to generate new theories or information and is focused on analysing the existing literature and theories the deductive approach is the best option to choose for the present research study. In the following research findings are achieved through the analysis of the general answers of the chosen respondents which helps to come to a conclusion regarding the sustainability in the hospitality industry. The deductive approach is suitable for the present study as it will help to complete the study within the stipulated time as well as within the limited available resources. Overall it could be concluded that as the research study has been able to apply general observation to get specific results the deductive approach has been effective for the study. Research Strategy Research strategy could be defined as the basic blueprint of the study. The research strategy is the plan based on which the study would be taken further by the researcher. This is the strategic idea of the research that helps the researcher to move systematically towards the achievement of the research objectives. There are various kinds of research strategy which are used by different researchers in different research. Experiments in laboratories, scientific research, simple observations, empirical research, interviews, surveys and case study based research. Lab experiments help the researchers to understand the relationship between the different variables directly which helps them to get the best possible results from the study. In lab experiments small numbers of variables are studied intensively within a developed laboratory system. This kind of strategy is implemented with the help of quantitative analysis techniques that helps to make a generic statement about the real life scenario (Reynolds et al, 2014 p, 89). Case study strategy is mainly used for research done on a particular company. It is important to mention that case study strategy is effective in ensuring effective result for the organisation on which the research has been done. This not only helps to analyse the case study organisation but it also helps to understand the trend in the market and how it will affect the market conditions. Hence the case study strategy is suitable for a research on a particular organisation. Interview strategy is mainly focused on gathering information from the chosen respondents with the application of interview. A few relevant questions are developed in order to interview the different chosen respondents which help to gather the right kind of information from them which is largely helpful in coming to a conclusion from the study (Kirkova et al, 2011 p, 23). Survey strategy is another commonly implemented strategy in research. The survey strategy is a process of analysing a given populace or a market environment through survey questionnaire helping to get effective insights from the study (Cameron, 2009 p, 56). The present study is following a deductive approach which helps to do a research on the existing literature and theories. It is important to mention that deductive study is done best with the quantitative analysis technique and hence for that the interview research strategy would be the best strategy to follow in this research. It has helped to interview different entities that have helped to get the best possible insights based on the aspects of sustainability and financial stability. Overall it could be said that the interview strategy has helped to get suitable results from the study. Sampling Method Sampling is one of the key aspects in the research study. Effective sampling helps a research to reach the pinnacle of success, on the other hand failing to choose a right sample size could affect the results found from the research and hence it is important for a researcher to use the right sampling method to choose sample size. There are different kind of sampling method like probability sampling, non probability sampling and Stratified sampling. The probability sampling is a kind of random sampling which is applied on a given populace to choose respondents for the study (Brinkmann, 2014 p, 98). On the other hand non probability sampling is a form of convenient sampling which means choosing the respondents in a biased way from a given sample size and finally stratified sampling is a process of sampling where the researcher divides a given sample size into two halves and then from the each group respondents will be chosen applying the probability sampling method. As the present study is an academic one the time allotted for the study is small the researcher has applied non probability convenient sampling to choose respondents for the research which is easy and time effective (Cooper and Schindler, 2010 p, 76). The present study is a much more analytical study and the data gathering has to be highly relevant. The impact of financial stability on the sustainability could only be understood with the help of the managers as they are able to understand the market conditions and hence the choice of managers had to be made. The subjects for the study have been mainly chosen from the personal contacts. The subjects have been recruited through personal interactions through one of the personal acquaintances who have helped to communicate with the subjects chosen and to reach the managers of the different hotels. There have been rigorous communications which has helped to convince them to take part in the study. Sample Size The sample size chosen for the present study is 10 managers. This sample will help to get proper idea about the impact of financial stability in establishing sustainability in the hotel industry in Saudi Arabia (Panneerselvam, 2014). The researcher has chosen the above sample size because it is sufficient to address the research objectives. The present research is mainly to understand the trend and the impact of the financial stability on sustainability of the hospitality industry and the suggestions of managers would be more or less same. It is also important to mention that in this case the sample size has been chosen from the different hotels of Saudi Arabia and not from one or two hotels and hence there is no possibility that managers will have similar view as they are working for the same company. 10 managers as a sample size from different hotels will be big enough to understand the financial trends of the hotels and the industry and hence it will also help to understand the im pact of financial stability as the data would come from different company which more or less help to understand the industry trend effectively. Data Collection Method Data Collection is the most important aspect in the research study. It has to be done in the best possible way for the best interest of the research. It is stated that the success of the research relies on the data collection and hence it is important for the researcher to collect data in the best possible manner. There are two major methods of collecting data namely: primary and secondary data collection. The primary data is the first hand data which is collected through different primary techniques like interview, survey, focus group study et cetera. On the other hand the secondary data collection techniques involves gathering of data from all kinds of secondary sources like journals, articles, books, existing research, online sources et cetera (Corbetta, 2009 p, 78). The present study has been done with the help of both primary and secondary data. The primary data has been collected with the help of interview questionnaire applied on the 10 managers of the different hotels of Saudi Arabia. On the other hand the secondary data has been collected from the different secondary sources like online sources, journals, books et cetera which has been integrated in the literature review section in order to get the best possible result. Data Analysis Plan There are two different ways of analysing gathered data namely: quantitative and qualitative analysis. The quantitative analysis is mainly numerical and statistical which is done with the help of tools like SPSS, MS Excel, and Correlations Table. On the other hand the qualitative analysis is done with the help of thematic analysis. In the present study the data gathered is mainly descriptive in nature that has helped the researcher to apply qualitative analysis tool and hence the present gathered has been collated and descriptive analysis have been implemented on it (Kothari, 2011). Ethical Considerations The present study has been done by undertaking different ethical considerations. Firstly the respondents have been convinced about taking part in the study by making them understand the subject studied. The data protection act has been considered while gathering any kind of data, the confidentiality aspect have been taken into account while communicating with the respondents. On the other hand it has been promised that no information shared by them would be used commercially and will only be used for academic purposes. The permission from appropriate authorities of the different hotels has also been taken in order to communicate with their managers (Gulati, 2009). For instance the subjects or respondents chosen for the research have been kept secret and their personal information has not been used anywhere with the research report and in this way confidentiality has been maintained. Normally the respondents were skeptical of giving away information it has been promised that the data gathered will not be used in any other works and the anonymity of the subjects have also been promised and hence by no chance their identities will be revealed which may harm the subjects and their professional career. The questionnaires sent to them had been kept completely objective and subject related and no offensive, discriminatory or unacceptable languages have been used which would give them respect and will also hold their professional integrity in place. The study was organised after a complete discussion with the respondents and with their complete consent. As per the data protection act the individual will not be recognised for giving away data relevant to the research which would help to keep privacy of their identity effectively. The researcher will also be responsible for any kind of data spillage that causes revelation of identity. Hence it could be said in the above discussed ways ethical considerations have been put to use. Research Limitations There are number of limitations that the present research faced. Firstly, this is an academic research and hence financial constraint played a huge role in not getting access to certain data sources, on the other hand the framing of the research had to be done prudently in terms of managing time as the institution is stringent about providing time for the research. On the other hand since time was small and the respondents involved in the research were highly busy getting their time became a big issue that had to be coped with (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault, 2015 p, 67). 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