Social Media Marketing Strategies Used by Small Retail Businesses

Assumptions, Limitations, and Delimitations 
Assumptions 
Assumptions are considered unverifiable truths, carry risks and can cause 
inaccuracies in the findings (Lips-Wiersma & Mills, 2014). Leedy and Ormrod (2016) 
reported that researchers must disclose all assumptions or risk invalidated findings.
Researchers might investigate a phenomenon from a particular viewpoint based on their 
beliefs and assumptions, which could influence the approach to their research (Chandler, 
2014). Using the qualitative multiple case study design, I assumed small business 
retailers used SMM strategies to successfully engage customers. Researchers conducted 

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face-to-face interviews that address entrepreneurship experiences to gather a rich 
understanding and to connect with participants (Galloway, Kapasi, & Whittam, 2015).
Thus, I assumed participants would answer the interview questions honestly and provide 
accurate feedback on their personal experiences using SMM strategies.
Limitations 
Limitations are shortcomings, conditions, or influences the researcher cannot 
control and can affect the final review of the research (Utian & Maamari, 2014). There 
were several limitations in this study specific to the retail industry. One limitation of the 
study was that the target population was small business retailers. The results of this study 
were unique to the small business leaders in the retail industry and might not be 
transferable across other industries. Another limitation was that the geographical location 
was specific to the Southwestern United States; the results might not be indicative of 
issues experienced in other regions in the United States and the rest of the world. A third 
limitation was the small population size of five small business retailers, which might not 
be representative of all retail businesses in SATX, nor detail every small business 
retailer’s experiences.
Delimitations 
Delimitations are set boundaries that will narrow the scope of the study (Ody-
Brasier & Vermeulen, 2014). Setting boundaries can help answer specific questions, 
which is important when there are time constraints or other limiting factors.
Delimitations might include methodological procedures that do not fit the scope of the 
study, the chosen population, and the chosen conceptual framework (Ody-Brasier & 

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Vermeulen, 2014). Boundaries specific to this study included small business leaders in 
the retail industry: (a) with businesses in the SATX region, (b) who employed successful 
SMM strategies to engage customers, and (c) who had been operational for at least five 
years.