## 4 Research Methodology
### Data Collection Methods  
This study was conducted under the ethical approval of the AUT Ethics Committee (AUTEC) 22/232 on 2 November 2022, with informed consent obtained through an anonymous online survey approach.  
* Data Survey We employed a structured questionnaire survey designed [100] to test and validate measurement scales for both technology adoption factors and their perceived influence on government intention to adopt cloud services. The survey instrument was specifically constructed to evaluate whether measurement scales could maintain a validity suitable in the Nigerian government context, where challenging factors significantly influence cloud computing adoption decisions. While questionnaires can be subject to non-response and sampling bias, the cross-sectional survey questionnaire approach [101] was particularly appropriate for testing measurement scales across Nigeria's diverse governmental landscape. The survey approach facilitated the collection of sufficient data to conduct the psychometric analyses of the measurement scales, allowing us to determine which constructs effectively capture the relationships between cloud adoption challenging factors. We incorporated specific development-oriented measures to assess whether the scales adequately capture the unique challenges faced within public organisations.
* Data Collection The data collection procedure gathered responses necessary for psychometric validation of measurement scales from the key stakeholders responsible for technological decision making in Nigerian government institutions. An online survey approach was selected to ensure measurement equivalence across diverse government settings while minimising coverage and non-response errors [102]. The merits of adopting an Internet survey proved particularly relevant for scale validation [98], allowing us to reach a statistically significant sample across Nigeria's dispersed government agencies. The anonymous online survey targeted participants from relevant Nigerian government organisations within the ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), including IT administrators, information security and privacy personnel, and others familiar with cloud computing. This sampling strategy ensured we could validate measurement scales across the full spectrum of stakeholders involved in government technology adoption decisions that impact IT development outcomes. Our methodology included measures to validate the measurement scales developed in the contexts that adequately captured the development dimensions of cloud adoption.
* Survey Instrument The survey instrument was meticulously designed to test and validate measurement scales for factors influencing government cloud adoption in developing regions like Nigeria, and we adopted a structured questionnaire format to systematically evaluate the psychometric properties of scales measuring privacy concerns, governance frameworks, performance expectancy, information security, and perceived risk, as well as their relationships.  
A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure respondents' viewpoints, ranging from \"Strongly Disagree (1) to \"Strongly Agree\" (5). This response format was selected based on the proven reliability of previous studies and its appropriateness for the Nigerian cultural context. Additional demographic questions using continuous (ratio-scaled) and dichotomous responses were included to enable an analysis of how institutional factors could influence the measurement scale.  
The research instrument adapted scales from previous studies [18; 97; 103; 104], with careful modifications to ensure contextual relevance to Nigerian government settings and development priorities. While the foundational scales came from UTAUT research [105; 106; 107], we conceptualised the instrument to establish a measurement scale including items that are pertinent to information security and privacy concerns, public trust, cloud service accessibility, and performance and adoption in government.