Research approaches :
As discussed above that there is one main research approach that is widely used in the research to find the useful data or information for further analysis and discussion. In this section, important and famous data generation methods are chosen that are helpful for most of the research
1. Case studies analysis:
A case study is a data generation method, which is qualitative research approach, provides tools for researches to study complex situation with the subject context (Yin, 2013). A case study helps when the research main question is ‘how’ and ‘when’ and researches need to highlight the contextual conditions that relevant to the study (Victor, 2014). Many researches are choosing case studies as their research data generation method because they required understand the complex situation and need to extend the current knowledge. According to (Guest, Namey, & Mitchell, 2012), the main benefit of using case study as data generation method is that it help researcher to understand the problem and then provide a solution. Thus, a case study is selected for data generation method.
2. Document Analysis:
A document analysis is the data generation method; known as qualitative research approach which is in the form of written material available for the purpose of analysis and discussion (Given, 2008). According to (Patton, 2015) a document analysis is in the form of background research/ literature review that help to understand the previous researches has been done in the particular researches that help to improve or increase the current knowledge. The main sources of document analyses are include books, articles, journals, Internet sources and many more. The main purpose of this research is to understand the effect of social media on business. Therefore this data generation method is selected for this research where author conducted a thorough document analysis in the literature review chapter for more broaden the current knowledge in a conclusive perspective
There are several advantages and disadvantages of using document analysis for data generation method. According to (Patton, 2015) document analysis help to provide a more relevant documents that can improve the current knowledge and main disadvantage is the huge amount of data available which is hard to refine which one is helpful for research process where a more skills required.
A systematic literature review was selected as the appropriate research approach. A systematic research review is a summary of the literature. The individual conducting a systematic research review uses precise and reproducible approach to systematically explore, critically evaluate, and synthesize on a particular issue. The researcher is interested in the synthesis of the results of related multiple primary studies. A systematic literature review is appropriate in obtaining the concurrent view of different researchers who have conducted studies in the same topic. The approach provided a reliable point of view by reviewing of the evidence by systematically identifying, selecting and critically appraising relevant primary research. Relevant data was extracted and analyzed to arrive at a conclusion. The systematic literature review was conducted on existing literature ( Bernard & Bernard, 2012).
The research approach relied upon the use of transparent, objective and rigorous process with the aim of minimizing bias. The approach involved different steps. The first step was to deconstruct research questions to form the basis of search strings used in the literature search. Then a protocol was produced to describes search strings, definitions, search strategy, approach to synthesis and inclusion and exclusion criteria. A systematic search was then conducted by retrieving studies from academic databases and websites. At the initial stage, all studies relevant to the research were included (Mackenzie & Knipe, 2006). The next step involved screening all studies for relevance by making use of predefined inclusion and exclusion criterion. The screening was carried out in details to ensure consistency while comparing the results of the studies. After the completion of the screening process, a number of sources were included in the final analysis. The systematic review principles were applied sensitively to guarantee that quality data was used to arrive at the research findings. The quality of reviews was improved through the inclusion of greater breadth of studies, transparency and increased objectivity.