3.4 Data collection
The data collection will only include secondary data from academic websites, including Google Scholar, and publicly available websites, including industry, business and news sites. This secondary data will be predominately qualitative in nature although some quantitative data may be included. It is acknowledged that the use of secondary data is a limitation for the research, but this is addressed by using both academic sources to support the exploratory approach and real-world case studies to support the inductive approach and thus using the mixed methods approach (Saunders et al 2016; Bryman and Bell 2015; Molina-Azorin and Cameron 2010).
3.5 Mixed Methods approach
The use of the mixed methods approach has been applied to this piece of research for the following reasons (Cresswell and Cresswell 2018; Saunders et al 2016). Firstly, by using a number of secondary sources, bot academic and real-world, there is a reduced risk of bias which can occur if only one data source, or a mono-method approach, is utilised (Molina-Azorin and Cameron 2010; Tashakkori and Teddlie 2010). Secondly, the mixed method approach allows for the data to be analysed in a number of ways including the sequential approach which has been utilised for this research (Cresswell and Cresswell 2018; Molina-Azorin and Cameron 2010). This sequential approach sees the data from the academic sources analysed first and then this is followed by the data from the real-world case studies. This allows for the examination of both areas to be explored individually and to then undergo a process of synthesis to support the inductive approach (Cresswell and Cresswell 2018; Bryman and Bell 2015). Thirdly, the mixed methods approach is often utilised and has become increasingly popular in business based research, for example strategic management studies, as it supports the development of practical solutions to address contemporary business challenges, such as the issue of sustainability and the application of frameworks, such as the Circular Economy (Molina-Azorin and Cameron 2010; Tashakkori and Teddlie 2010).
3.6 Sample
The sample for the secondary data collection was initially purposive and for the literature review needed to include the following search parameters: sustainability; Circular Economy; and sustainability and the Circular Economy (Cresswell and Cresswell 2018; Bryman and Bell 2015). It was essential for each academic source to have a minimum of one of these search terms in order to be included in the results and findings chapter.
The academic journals which have been used to evaluate the similarities and differences between sustainability and the Circular Economy also provided the opportunity for snowball sampling due to the initial academic source providing references which could then be used as additional sources of information (Saunders et al 2016; Bryman and Bell 2015).
The sample for the case studies were based upon the application of sustainability and the Circular Economy. The case studies for sustainability were based upon organisations who had applied and were reporting the use of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The case studies for the Circular Economy were selected from the case studies which are publicly available on the Ellen MacArthur Foundation website (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2017).
3.7 Reliability and validity
The issues of reliability and validity are dependent upon the research paradigm, in this case interpretivism, and the data collection and analysis decisions which include the use of secondary data and the mixed methods approach (Cresswell and Cresswell 2018; Saunders et al 2016
