DISPOSITIVO DE MEDICIÓN DE NIVEL DE FLUIDO EN EL

Creswell (2009) described a research design as the plan and procedure for research that span the decisions from broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection and analysis. Thus, research is the plan of action that links the philosophical assumptions to specific methods (Crotty, 1998; Creswell, 2003). Research design involves the intersection of philosophy, strategies of inquiry, and specific methods. Creswell (2009) identified three types of research designs: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods and also noted that worldviews, strategies, and the methods all contribute to a research design that tends to be quantitative, qualitative, or mixed. The author also created a distinction that may be useful in choosing an appropriate research design as presented in Table 4.1.

Quantitative research is an approach for testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables. The final written report has a set structure consisting of an introduction, literature and theory, methods, results, and discussions (Creswell, 2008). Under the quantitative research approach, the primary investigator uses positivist claims for developing knowledge, employs strategies of inquiry such as experiments and survey, and collects data on predetermined instruments that yield statistical data (Creswell, 2003; Saunders et al., 2009). Those who engage in quantitative research have assumptions about testing theories deductively, building in protections against bias, controlling for alternative explanations, and being able to generalize and replicate the findings (Creswell, 2009). The main strength of the quantitative approach lies in the use of numbers that are measurable and precise, which enable the results to be directly tested for validity and reliability using objective statistical methods which strengthen the generalizability of results. The limitation of this approach, however, is that it requires large samples which are cumbersome and expensive, and results do not have enough depth to provide a rich understanding of the phenomena (Hussey and Hussey, 1997).

In contrast, qualitative research is defined as a means for exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem (Creswell, 2007). Collins

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and Hussey (2003) noted that the qualitative approach emphasises the subjective aspects of human activity by focusing on the meaning rather than the measurement of social phenomena. Accordingly, qualitative research is associated with an interpretive philosophy. Those who engage in qualitative research support a way of looking at research that honours an inductive style, a focus on individual meaning, and the importance of rendering the complexity of a situation. In this type of research, data are typically collected in the participant’s setting and analysed inductively building from particulars to general themes. Qualitative research employs strategies of inquiry such as narratives, phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory, or case studies (Creswell, 2003) and the final written report has a flexible structure (Creswell, 2007). Even though the results of a qualitative research have enough depth to provide a rich understanding of the phenomena, this form of enquiry provides findings with reduced generalizability (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005).

On the other hand, the mixed methods research design adopts a pragmatic worldview, and involves the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data11. Saunders et al. (2009) noted that mixed methods researchers believe that while there is an external, objective reality to the world we live, the way in which each of us interprets and understands it will be affected by our particular social conditioning. In the social sciences at large, mixed methods research has become increasingly popular and may be considered a legitimate, stand-alone research design (Greene et al., 1989; Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998; Creswell, 2002, 2003). Mixed method research is defined as “the collection or analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study in which the data are collected concurrently or sequentially, are given a priority, and involve the integration of the data at one or more stages in the process of research”(Creswell et al., 2003, p.212). When quantitative and qualitative data are included in a study, researchers may enrich their results in ways that one form of data does not allow (Brewer and Hunter, 1989; Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998). Creswell and Plano Clark (2007) noted that the mixed methods research encourages the use of multiple worldviews and is a practical and natural approach to research; the authors described mixed methods research as follows:

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Sieber (1973) noted that the concept of mixing different methods originated in 1959 when Campbell and Fisk used multi-methods to study validity of psychological traits. This prompted others to mix methods, and soon approaches associated with field methods, such as observations and interviews (qualitative data), were combined with traditional surveys (quantitative data).

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“…mixed method research is a research design with philosophical assumptions as well as methods of inquiry. As a methodology, it involves philosophical assumptions that guide the direction of the collection and analysis of data and the mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches in many phases in the research process. As a method, it focuses on collecting, analysing, and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or series of studies. Its central premise is that the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches in combination provides a better understanding of research problems than either approach alone”.

(Creswell and Plano Clark, 2007, p. 5)

Notwithstanding the fact that quantitative and qualitative methodologies constitute alternative strategies for research, qualitative and quantitative approaches should not be viewed as polar opposites or dichotomies; instead, they represent different ends on a continuum (Chua 1986; Newman and Benz, 1998; Patton, 1990; Laughlin 1995). This suggests that quantitative and qualitative methods are not mutually exclusive. A study tends to be more quantitative than qualitative or vice versa. Creswell (2009) noted that mixed methods research resides in the middle of this continuum because it incorporates elements of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. A mixed research approach strengthens the research results because it reaps the benefits of both approaches while avoiding their limitations through what is known as triangulation (Hussey and Hussey, 1997). Triangulation is the use of different research approaches, methods and techniques in the same study to overcome the potential bias and sterility of a single-method approach. This suggests that a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches provides a better understanding of research problems than either approach alone. Creswell and Plano Clark (2007) noted that this better understanding exists because mixed methods offer strengths that offset the weaknesses of separately applied quantitative and qualitative research methods. The authors listed the value that mixed methods research adds that quantitative or qualitative approaches, each by themselves, do not provide as follows:

 Mixed methods research provides strengths that offset the weaknesses of both quantitative and qualitative research.

 Mixed methods research provides more comprehensive evidence for studying a research problem than either quantitative or qualitative research alone.

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 Mixed methods research helps answer questions that cannot be answered by qualitative or quantitative approaches alone.

 Mixed methods encourage researchers to collaborate across the sometimes adversarial relationships between quantitative and qualitative researchers.

 Mixed methods research encourages the use of multiple worldviews or paradigms rather than the typical association of certain paradigms for quantitative researchers and others for qualitative researchers.

 Mixed methods research is “practical” because it gives the researcher the freedom to use all methods possible to address a research problem and also enable individuals to solve problems using both numbers and words as well combining inductive and deductive thinking.

Against this backdrop, current thesis employs a mixed method research design, comprising of both quantitative and qualitative approaches in the investigation of the dividend puzzle in the Nigerian context. The rationales for adopting the mixed method research design in the current thesis are: (i) to extend the breadth or range of enquiry (Hanson et al., 2005); (ii) to better understand the research problem by converging numeric trends from quantitative data and specific details from qualitative data (Punch, 1998); and (iii) to obtain statistical, quantitative data and results from a sample of a population and use them to identify individuals who may expand on the results through qualitative data and results (Mertens, 2003). Thus, the mixed method research design was employed in this thesis to ensure a comprehensive investigation of the dividend policy and stock market reaction to dividend announcements in Nigeria. In the current thesis, the quantitative data comprised of close- ended questionnaire survey which seeks to identify the factors that drive the dividend decision of Nigerian companies and the event-study method which examines the causal relationships between dividend announcements and share prices. On the other hand, a semi-structured interview which seeks to ascertain the perspectives of financial managers on various dividend policy issues was used to obtain the qualitative data. The aim of the qualitative component was to probe further the responses from the questionnaire survey.

In summary, the current thesis adopts a pragmatic worldview to research in that the research question is the most important in this study. The adoption of the pragmatic paradigm necessitated the choice of a mixed methods research design, comprising of both

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the quantitative and qualitative approaches in the investigation of the dividend policy and stock market reaction to dividend announcements in Nigeria. The next section provides a detailed description of each of the three research methods employed to achieve the research objectives of this thesis. These research methods include a questionnaire survey, an event study methodology employing the market model, and a semi-structured interview.

Table 4.1: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches Tend to or

Typically…

Qualitative Approaches Quantitative Approaches Mixed Methods Approaches Use these philosophical assumptions  Constructivist/ advocacy/ participatory knowledge claims  Post-positivist  Pragmatic knowledge claims Employ these strategies of inquiry  Phenomenology, grounded theory ethnography, case study, and narrative  Surveys and experiments  Sequential, Concurrent, and transformative Employ these Methods  Open-ended questions, emerging approaches, text or image data  Close-ended questions, predetermined approaches, numeric data

 Both open- and closed-

ended questions, both emerging and

predetermined

approaches, quantitative and qualitative data and analysis

Use these practices of research as the researcher

 Positions him- or herself

 Collects participant meanings  Focuses on a single concept or phenomenon  Brings personal

values into the study  Studies the context or setting of participants  Validates the accuracy of findings  Makes interpretations of the data

 Creates an agenda for

change or reform

 Collaborates with the

participants  Tests or verifies theories or explanations  Identifies variables to study  Relates variables in questions or hypotheses  Uses standards of validity and reliability  Observes and measures information numerically  Uses unbiased approaches  Employs statistical procedures 

 Collects both quantitative and qualitative data

 Develops a rationale for mixing

 Integrates the data at different stages of inquiry

 Presents visual pictures of the procedures in the study

 Employs the practices of both qualitative and quantitative research

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