The methodological choices in the research onion of Saunders et al. (2012) include the quantitative method, the qualitative method, and the mixed method, which combines features of both the quantitative and qualitative methods. The research utilises the quantitative method, which is consistent with the positivist research philosophy and the deductive approach to the research. The factors influencing consumer behaviour in purchases of organic food products in Bangkok, Thailand are determined using a quantitative approach for collection of data that allows the researcher to quantify responses provided in the primary research. The quantitative method typically uses statistical analysis in assessing the quantitative data and in confirming the hypotheses in the study. This research utilises statistical analysis to confirm the defined hypotheses.
An important aspect of the use of the quantitative method in research is that the researcher should ensure that primary research respondents have an understanding of the research questions and that there is no scope for misunderstanding, as this would skew the results provided by the primary research respondents. In addition, the researcher should not have any links or relationships with respondents to prevent any bias in the quantitative data generated from the conduct of the primary research.
The quantitative method was considered by the researcher to be the appropriate methodological choice given the parameters of the research and consistency with the research philosophy and research approach defined for the study. The quantitative method is also suitable in the determination of factors influencing consumer behaviour in the purchase of organic food products, as this allows the researcher to prioritise the factors based on the responses of the primary research respondents. This would be difficult to achieve in a qualitative method.