3.3
Purposive sampling
Bailey (1978) explains purposive sampling technique as a
technique whereby the researcher uses her own judgment about which respondents
to choose and picks only those who can best meet the purposes of the study. Researcher used this technique by selecting
respondents with relevant information who have e-procurement in their daily
activities.
3. 4
Data collection methods and instruments
The information from the primary data was obtained through a
structured questionnaire and an interview schedule and documentary search was
applied as to obtain secondary data.
3.4.1 Questionnaire
Kenneth D. Bailey (1987: 93) defines questionnaire as a list
of questions generally mailed or handed to the respondents and filled in by her
with no help to the interviewer. The questionnaire contained both open and
closed ended questions were addressed to the respondents. With open-ended
questions were kept to the minimum so as to enable the respondents to focus on
aspect of the research. With open -ended questions, the respondents had to
give personal responses or opinions in their own words whereas with close-ended
questions, respondents were given different alternatives to choose from.
According to Kendall (1992:135), a questionnaire is
information guttering technique that gathers information about; attitudes,
beliefs, behaviors and characteristics from several respondents in the
institution, who may be affected by a given phenomenon or system.
The whole process of distributing questionnaires was as
follows: the researcher first contacted the Director General of Kabaya District
Hospital about the issue before the process started. At this stage, researcher
gave the Director General a pre-test questionnaire to fill. This helped
researcher to test the understandability of the respondents in relation to
questions asked. By the help of pre-tests, the researcher was able to identify
the gaps in the questionnaire and made corrections where necessary.
After the pre-test questionnaires were collected and necessary
corrections made, questionnaires were distributed to the respondents for
filling. The questionnaire distribution protocol in the Hospital was organized
in a way that facilitated the process of collecting them.
Here the researcher deliberately selected few of the staff
members only from the Hospital and some of the suppliers; to whom the
questionnaires were given for both distribution and collection after being
filled out. In a few cases, the researcher had to be personally present to aid
the respondents' complete questions.
The advantages of close- ended questions are that the answers
are standard, and can be compared from person to person. Therefore, are much
easier to code and analyze; and often can be coded from the questionnaire,
saving time and money. Further, the respondent was often clear about the
meaning of the question and could often tell the answer for what was
demanded.
3.4.2 Interview Schedule
According to Bailey (1978:93) an interview is an instrument
that is not given directly to the respondents, but is filled in by an
interviewer who reads the questions to the respondent. In case where the
researcher had access to the respondents, she interviewed them and responses
were filled in the interview schedule.For better organization of the interview
exercise, the researcher made appointments with the respondents in order to
have access to them.
During the interview process, the researcher had a list of
questions that he read to the respondent' s responses, the researcher prepared
a separate schedule as this would later facilitate the coding process.
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