Qualitative Research Summary

3.1 Introduction

In this chapter the coverage is on the research design and methodology, including sampling, population, establishing rigour during and after data collection, ethical considerations and data analysis.

3.2 Research Strategy

This study used quantitative research strategy. According to Newman, quantitative research goes from reviewing and defining directly to developing hypotheses and collecting data. In quantitative analysis, this is called the derivation of hypotheses. “The researcher examines the literature and, based upon this process, he or she derives theoretical expectations, which become the derived hypotheses (Newman, Ridenour, & Ridenour, 1998).

This research examines four hypotheses:

• People with higher educational

While Parahoo describes, a research design as “a plan that describes how, when and where data are to be collected and analysed” (Parahoo, 1997). Others also confirm that the research design is descriptive in nature. A research design can also be defined as “the researcher’s overall for answering the research question or testing the research hypothesis” (Polit & Hungler, 2013).

This study used descriptive research. Descriptive research involves gathering data that describe events and then organizes, tabulates, depicts, and describes the data collection (Glass & Hopkins, 1984). It often uses visual aids such as graphs and charts to aid the reader in understanding the data distribution and therefore offered better

Secondary data present on the websites.

3.7 Validity and Reliability

The validity of contents refers to the extent to which an instrument represents the factors under study. To achieve content validity, questionnaires included a variety of questions on the knowledge of participants on Gluten-free products and consumer purchasing behaviour. All the subjects completed the questionnaires anonymously over the internet. This was done to prevent subjects to preserve their identity with regards to the answering the questionnaires.

The reliability of the data collected can be ensured by minimizing sources of measurement error like data collector bias. Data collector bias was minimized by the researcher being the only one to administer the questionnaires, and standardizing conditions such as exhibiting similar personal attributes to all respondents, e.g., friendliness and support. Pilot testing was carried out by the researcher with fellow MBA students to identify any flaws on the questionnaire to reduce errors of measurement and test for consistency.

3.8 Data