The methodology is the theoretical and systematic investigation of the method implemented for research. It includes all the theoretical analysis of the principles and methods. The methodology section does not provide any solutions; rather, it focuses on theoretical underpinning for evaluating the methods and best practices applicable to the currency case study (Bell 2022). This research has chosen the Saunders research onion as the framework of analysis. The study has focused on scrutinising the advantages and disadvantages of each method and choosing the most effective one for the research (Melnikovas 2018). It describes the different decisions to be made while developing the methodology. It uses a holistic approach in formulating an effective research design. This research will choose a multi-method research design that will use both secondary and primary data collection methods for gathering effective information and scrutinising it (Orth and Maçada 2021). Therefore, this is applied research where the impact of green technology on the sustainability of the energy sector in the United Kingdom will be examined. The results have facilitated an understanding of the influence and significance of green technology for business practitioners.
Research philosophy is the first layer of the research onion and consists of beliefs that act as the methodology’s foundation. It can be evaluated from the ontological and epistemological perspectives (Melnikovas 2018). An ontology defines the extent to which reality can be understood and whether the nature of reality remains the same or varies for different individuals. In contrast, epistemology deals with the different ways of gathering knowledge and the limitation of this knowledge (Orth and Maçada 2021). Pragmatism, positivism, interpretivism and realism are the major epistemological and ontological assumptions.
However, the current study has selected interpretivism as the philosophical position for the research. It focuses on the cultural and social factors and their influence on the individuals. People’s ideas and thoughts are considered based on the cultural and social backdrop (Kennedy 2017). The researcher plays a key role in this kind of research, and it is essential for drawing a holistic view of the actions of the participants and their thoughts (Ryan 2018). This research has chosen interpretivism as the philosophy as it uses a subjective view and facilitates performing qualitative research (Bell 2022). Interpretivism will help perform a secondary and a primary qualitative study to examine the impact of green technology on the sustainability of the energy sector in the United Kingdom. It develops a specified solution to the problems faced by the energy sectors in the United Kingdom.
The research approach is the second layer of the onion and consists of a broader approach consisting of inductive and deductive approaches. The approach determines the decision for choosing the data collection and examination method (Bell 2022). The inductive approach generates theories from the study instead of starting a project having a theory of having a foundation (Pearse 2019, June). On the other hand, the deductive approach starts with the theory and tests the theory using the study (Azungah 2018). The current study has chosen an inductive approach in this case as it facilitates collecting qualitative data from secondary and primary sources. The research will choose a qualitative which is suitable with the inductive approach (Azungah 2018). The inductive approach assists in describing the issues in the sector, and link it to green technology specific to the energy sector in the United Kingdom.
Research design is choosing between exploratory, explanatory and descriptive research design. It can also be divided between mixed, mono and multiple methods (Schoonenboom and Johnson 2017). Research design is the plan to gather and examine the data collected and choose between the qualitative and quantitative research design.
However, the current study has chosen an inductive approach where qualitative analysis will be performed, so the descriptive research design will be used to examine the development of the energy sector in the United Kingdom, key aspects of green technology and its significance on the environment, and the relationship between green technology and environmental sustainability (Leavy 2017). The descriptive research design investigates the characteristics of the issue identified using descriptive statistics, and the current study has chosen the descriptive design for examining the importance of green technology in the energy sector, and the relationship between environmental sustainability, and green technology.
Data collection can be divided into primary and secondary data collection methods. However, the current research will choose primary and secondary data collection methods (Clark and Vealé 2018). In terms of secondary data collection method, the research will choose peer-reviewed journals, articles and web articles on the energy sector in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, the primary data collection will include an interview questionnaire, which will be consist of open-ended questions (Mkandawire 2019). The questionnaire will consist of 5 questions, and these questions will be a semi-structured interview. A semi-structured interview will ensure that the order of the questions can be changed based on the participants’ responses (Mann et al. 2020). The research will conduct personal interviews with the respondents, and the interview will be recorded. Each interview will be transcribed and stored till the purpose of the study is completed (Mkandawire 2019).
The data has been analysed using thematic analysis for the secondary data, where the patterns within the data set will be evaluated to develop themes, and these will be investigated thoroughly based on the objective of the study. The search string has been developed initially based on the keywords to search for relevant articles on the topic. These keywords include green technology, sustainability, the energy sector in the United Kingdom, relationship between green technology and sustainability. These search terms have been used to identify 10 articles relevant to the research.
In the case of the interview, the research will use content analysis (Mkandawire 2019). The interview has been initially transcribed and coded to identify the results’ key common terminologies and patterns. The results have been examined by linking with the objectives and providing a valid discussion. It has used axial and selective coding to link the phrases to the theories and develop a proper conclusion. Initially, open coding has been used to choose specific terminologies that have been constantly used in the interviews on the same question by different respondents. Once the open codes have been developed, the research uses past theories to link the different terminologies to develop themes, and finally, selective coding is used to form the final themes to be discussed for the research.
Sampling selects a subset of the population from the total population when the target population is huge. It reduces the complexity, cost and time taken to complete the research. The sampling process starts with identifying the target population and will include employees working in the Energy sector (Sharma 2017). The next step is choosing the sample frame for the study, and it will consist of the employees in the United Kingdom. Finally, the next step is choosing the sample size for the qualitative research, and it will include 5 respondents in the industry.
On the other hand, the study has chosen 10 articles on the research topic where all the articles, journals and web articles has been checked for credibility (Campbell et al. 2020). The current research will choose the purposive sampling method as it will choose only those articles relevant for the research, and similarly, the respondents has been chosen cautiously based on their industry experience and knowledge on green technology and the energy sector in the United Kingdom (Sharma 2017).
Reliability is the process of examining the precision of the data set and methods where different data sets are used to evaluate the reproducibility of the methods. In this respect, the research has conducted a pilot study with 5 respondents to check whether the questionnaire is appropriate or not (Mueller and Knapp 2018). It also examines whether the data collected for the research is consistent with the research objectives or not. On the contrary, in the case of the secondary data, the research has been set criteria for examining the articles, peer-reviewed journals and web articles (Mueller and Knapp 2018). It examines the author’s background and ensures whether the data collected is credible and trustworthy or not.
The research has adhered to the ethical guidelines where the university guidelines has be considered. The anonymity and privacy of the respondents will be protected to maintain confidentiality. The research will assign unique codes to these respondents to protect their personal information (Qamar 2018). It has also helped retract data if any of the respondents want to withdraw from the research. Similarly, a consent form has been developed to ensure that participation in the study is voluntary and the respondents have full information regarding the scope of the research.
Moreover, the study has not been asked any offensive questions, which may hurt their sentiments. Plagiarism, fabrication and falsification will be avoided in the research where the authors will be credited for contributing to the study. Furthermore, the results will not be manipulated to achieve the research objectives.
References
Azungah, T., 2018. Qualitative research: deductive and inductive approaches to data analysis. Qualitative research journal.
Bauer, T., 2017. Research Philosophy and Method. Responsible Lobbying, pp.69-84.
Bell, E., 2022. Business research methods. Oxford university press.
Campbell, S., Greenwood, M., Prior, S., Shearer, T., Walkem, K., Young, S., Bywaters, D. and Walker, K., 2020. Purposive sampling: complex or simple? Research case examples. Journal of Research in Nursing, 25(8), pp.652-661.
Clark, K.R. and Vealé, B.L., 2018. Strategies to enhance data collection and analysis in qualitative research. Radiologic technology, 89(5), pp.482CT-485CT.
Kennedy, A.M., 2017. Macro-social marketing research: philosophy, methodology and methods. Journal of Macromarketing, 37(4), pp.347-355.
Leavy, P., 2017. Research design: Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and community-based participatory research approaches. Guilford Publications.
Mann, J.K., Kaffashi, F., Vandendriessche, B., Jacono, F.J. and Loparo, K., 2020. Data Collection and Analysis in the ICU. Neurocritical Care Informatics, pp.111-134.
Melnikovas, A., 2018. Towards an explicit research methodology: Adapting research onion model for futures studies. Journal of Futures Studies, 23(2), pp.29-44.
Mkandawire, S.B., 2019. Selected common methods and tools for data collection in research. Selected Readings in Education, 2, pp.143-153.
Mueller, R.O. and Knapp, T.R., 2018. Reliability and validity. In The reviewer’s guide to quantitative methods in the social Sciences (pp. 397-401). Routledge.
Orth, C.D.O. and Maçada, A.C.G., 2021. Corporate fraud and relationships: a systematic literature review in the light of research onion. Journal of Financial Crime, 28(3), pp.741-764.
Pearse, N., 2019, June. An illustration of deductive analysis in qualitative research. In 18th European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management Studies (p. 264).
Qamar, B.K., 2018. Research ethics. PAFMJ, 68(6), pp.1503-54.
Ryan, G., 2018. Introduction to positivism, interpretivism and critical theory. Nurse researcher, 25(4), pp.41-49.
Schoonenboom, J. and Johnson, R.B., 2017. How to construct a mixed methods research design. KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 69(2), pp.107-131.
Sharma, G., 2017. Pros and cons of different sampling techniques. International journal of applied research, 3(7), pp.749-752.
Turner, S.F., Cardinal, L.B. and Burton, R.M., 2017. The research design for mixed methods: A triangulation-based framework and roadmap. Organizational Research Methods, 20(2), pp.243-267.
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