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3.10. Research Limitations and Time frame.
Time needed to collect the data and present the findings was indeed a challenge and a
limiting factor to this research. This affected the size of the sample selected, the methodology
and the instrument used to collect data. Questionnaires were used as the only feasible data
collection method with the time scale and distance limit. Formal interviews and other
methods could have been useful but due to time limits, It was not possible to make use of
them.
Again this research was limited in terms of the literature. Given the fact that the amount of
literature on intellectual capital is indeed vast, the literature specifically relating to
intellectual capital matters pertaining to libraries is limited. Much can be found in the
business context.
The distance to the field area has limited this research a great deal. The choices of
methodology and sampling have been constrained by the distance. The use of such methods
as interview and observation proved to be difficult and at times impossible. With the
divergence of the study population the only feasible sampling method was snowball sampling
which is criticised for its inability to overcome biases. The myriad of sampling possibilities
and methodologies could have been feasible if not for the distance; for instance random
sampling and even interviews to mention but a few. See Time frame in appendices.
3.11. Chapter summary
Intellectual capital may be discussed from various perspectives. This chapter started by
presenting a theoretical framework. Under this framework intellectual capital and its
components are defined and given context in the sense of this research. Then this chapter
outlined the perspective chosen by this research. In relation to the aims and objectives of this
research, the postpostivistic view was preferred. The choice of methodology is explained in
this chapter. Survey is the methodology used by this research due to the factors explained in
section 3.2. To achieve its goal the research applied both qualitative and quantitative
methods, among other reasons being the possibility to take the advantage of the strength of
each method to ensure reliability and validity. The research covered public university
libraries of Tanzania and used snowball sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires
supplemented by secondary sources such as information found in websites. At the end of this
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