Likelihood Sequence Estimation

ABSTRACT
Due to the recent advancement in the IT sector and digital technology, freelancing trend has
grown to a great extent around the world. The concept of traditional jobs is still there but for
certain business companies, it is cheaper to hire a freelancer to do the job which benefits both
sides. A freelancer is not paid on a monthly basis by the client but just according to the project.
The concept of freelancing is very much common now in developing countries like Sri Lanka.
Hence, there was a need of pointing out the difficulties faced by the freelancers in doing the job
and analyze the frequency of those difficulties and the factors which influence the difficulties
faced by the freelance workforce as well as the willingness to adapt freelancing. In this research
the factors that influence the difficulties faced by freelancers are computed with the help of a
survey questionnaire distributed among the population of Sri Lanka and then analyzed using
SPSS. Additionally, the willingness of people to adapt freelancing as a full-time job has also
been calculated. The results indicate that age, gender, marital status, average monthly household
income, familiarity with freelancing, job preference, working from home and employment status
are a few factors that would influence the difficulties faced by freelancers in Sri Lanka.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to pay special thanks to my supervisor as well as my instructor Dr.
Chamara De Zoysa who has been very helpful in guiding me throughout the research. The
guidance and supervision of my supervisor made it easier for me to carry out this research in a
comfortable way and didn’t have had to face any difficulties throughout each and every step of
the research study. This research wouldn’t have been possible without the advices of my
supervisor at critical steps in the research which acted like a steppingstone for me from the start
till the end. It has been an absolute pleasure to learn and work under his guidance.
Moreover, I would like to say special thanks to my family and friends for standing by me and
showing their continuous support and love in times of need when I needed a lot of motivation
during the research. A shout out to all the colleagues from the MBA batch who helped me out at
different phases during the project and made it possible for me to finish it till the end.
Last but not the least, I would also want to pay my regards to the staff, teachers and every
member of the Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College, University of
Wolverhampton who provided me with much needed information, guidance and support in time
of need throughout my MBA which cannot be explain in words.
I hope that my research is useful to conduct more researches in the same field and also useful for
the companies to implement the methods concluded by the research. That will be an honor for
me and the institution overall.
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CONTENTS
Abstract............................................................................................................................................3
Acknowledgement...........................................................................................................................4
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................5
1.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................5
1.2 Significance of the Research.............................................................................................6
1.3 Research Aim....................................................................................................................7
1.4 Research Objectives..........................................................................................................7
1.6 Chapter Summary.............................................................................................................8
Chapter 1 - Introduction...............................................................................................................8
Chapter 2 - Literature Review......................................................................................................8
Chapter 3 - Research Methodology.............................................................................................8
Chapter 4 - Data Analysis............................................................................................................9
Chapter 5 - Conclusion, Recommendation and Discussion.........................................................9
Chapter 2: Literature Review.........................................................................................................10
2.1 Background.....................................................................................................................10
2.2 Digital Economy and IT Technology..............................................................................11
2.3 Freelancing......................................................................................................................12
2.3.1 Online Labor Markets..............................................................................................12
2.3.2 Pros of Freelancing..................................................................................................13
2.3.3 Freelancing in Developing Countries......................................................................14
2.3.4 Increment in the Number of Freelancers.................................................................14
2.4 Freelancing in Sri Lanka.................................................................................................15
2.4.1 Economically Active Population in Sri Lanka........................................................15
2.4.2 Jobs Market in Sri Lanka.........................................................................................16
2.4.3 Freelancers in Sri Lanka..........................................................................................16
2.4.4 Factors Affecting Freelancers in Sri Lanka.............................................................17
2.4.5 Advantages of Freelancing......................................................................................18
2.5 Challenges Faced by Freelance Workforce Worldwide.................................................18
2.6 Challenges Faced by Freelance Workforce in Sri Lanka................................................19
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2.7 The Literature Gap..........................................................................................................20
Chapter 3: Research Methodology................................................................................................21
3.1 Introduction to Research Methodology...........................................................................21
3.2 Introduction to Research Design.....................................................................................21
3.3 Introduction to Conceptual Framework..........................................................................23
3.4 Research Approach.........................................................................................................23
3.5 Data Collection Approach...............................................................................................24
3.5.1 Target Population.....................................................................................................25
3.5.2 Sample Size.............................................................................................................26
3.5.3 Sampling Frame.......................................................................................................26
3.5.4 Sampling Techniques...............................................................................................26
3.5.5 Data Collection Tools..............................................................................................27
3.5.6 Data Analysis Techniques.......................................................................................28
3.5.7 Data Presentation Tools...........................................................................................29
Chapter 4: Data Analysis...............................................................................................................30
4.1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................30
4.2 Descriptive Analysis.......................................................................................................30
4.2.1 Age...........................................................................................................................30
4.2.2 Gender......................................................................................................................32
4.2.3 Marital Status...........................................................................................................33
4.2.4 Children...................................................................................................................34
4.2.5 Education.................................................................................................................35
4.2.6 Employment Status..................................................................................................36
4.2.7 Monthly Household Income....................................................................................37
4.2.8 Internet Connectivity...............................................................................................38
4.2.9 Computer Knowledge..............................................................................................39
4.2.10 Familiarity with Freelancing....................................................................................40
4.2.11 Fascination about Freelancing.................................................................................41
4.2.12 Job Preference..........................................................................................................42
4.2.13 Satisfaction with Current Job...................................................................................43
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4.2.14 Working from Home................................................................................................44
4.2.15 Happiness with Current Income..............................................................................45
4.2.16 Difficulties Faced in Freelancing.............................................................................46
4.3 Selected Methodological Approach................................................................................47
4.4 Output of the Model........................................................................................................48
4.4.1 Dependent Variables................................................................................................48
4.4.2 Frequency of difficulties faced in freelancing.........................................................48
4.4.3 Willingness to adopt freelancing.............................................................................57
4.5 Results of the Model.......................................................................................................65
Chapter 5: Conclusion, Recommendation and Discussion............................................................66
References......................................................................................................................................69
Appendixcies.................................................................................................................................73
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
It was seen that there were 47% users of internet by the end of 2016. It has also been depicted by
the research that the advancement in IT technology has positively affected the productivity,
consumer surplus, job creation sector and the overall efficiency of the firms. (Galpaya, 2017)
Revolution in digital technology takes a long time. Digital transformation helps in providing new
opportunities to the current socio-economic structures, business models, organizational patterns,
legal and policy measures and the cultural barriers. If this advancement in digital technology is
managed well then it could prove to be fruitful for a country. Digital revolution started take place
in Sri Lanka in the late 1980’s and ever since that time digitalization processes have continued to
have their impacts on the society and the overall economy as a whole. This digital revolution
paved way for new technology adoption by large local and foreign investments in the private
sector. Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to start mobile phone services in 1989
and launched internet connectivity commercially in 1995. (Gunawardene, 2017) Since the early
twentieth century, an alteration in technology has changed the boundaries of the web-based labor
platforms. Since the digital revolution, the transfer of business processes outsourcing started to
take place from developed countries like the USA, UK, Australia, Germany to developing
countries like Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and large amounts of data could transfer easily because
of the invention of broadband internet. The web-based digital labor platforms include the
freelance marketplaces, micro tasking crowd work and content based creative crowd work. In the
web-based digital labor platforms, the buyers and sellers connect over internet. The buyers find
the sellers by advertising their work requirements and sellers advertise their capabilities to
perform the required work. The buyers pay for their desired work upon the completion of the
work through online transaction facility of the platform through which they are connected with
each other. The buyers can also put an advertisement of the work and let all the relevant sellers
bid for the work and then choose the most competent and economical seller himself. The sellers
can make a name for themselves on the platform through good reviews, number of orders
completed on time and the delivery times through which orders were delivered to the buyers. It is
a blessing for the sellers as they could easily sell their work online worldwide anywhere and gain
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interest of the buyers and earn easy money just with the help of a laptop/computer and a fast
internet connection. This whole process is called freelancing. As far as Sri Lanka is concerned,
the country had 26.8% of the population which was computer literate and 25% of the total
households had a computer and 19.5% of the population had access to the internet.(Galpaya,
2017) The IT industry in Sri Lanka has also been promising with the Sri Lankan software firms
being procured by the leading markets worldwide like London Stock Exchange. From 2003 to
2010, this industry saw a growth of 17% and in 2016 this industry contributed 0.15% to the
Gross National Product. Micro-works and online freelancing platforms have generally been very
popular in Sri Lanka as compared to the rest of the world and a huge number of users have
registered themselves on these platforms. The three most common used platforms are Fiverr,
Freelancer and Upwork. (Galpaya, 2018)
Owing to the constant advancement in the IT industry has also led to the increase in the usage of
the micro-works and online free-lancing platforms. However, Sri Lanka had to face and still
facing a few challenges after the introduction of digitalization to the society and specially with
respect to the workforce of the web-based digital labor platforms which is the sole purpose of
conducting this research. (Galpaya, 2017)
1.2 Significance of the Research
With the progress in IT technology, there are some post connectivity challenges faced by Sri
Lanka. Some of them include making people aware of digital literacy especially social media
literacy, increasing locally created content, dealing with web censorship issues, making sure of
the standards set for web and digital applications and many others. (Gunawardene, 2017) One of
them include the challenges faced by the freelancers in Sri Lanka. There are different research
studies which have highlighted the problems faced by the freelancing industry like low
awareness among the masses due to technology gap, system of payments which involves online
banking after successful submission of the work online, uncertainty of job and work in the
freelance market. (Galpaya, 2018)
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1.3 Research Aim
The aim of the research is to evaluate the different challenges faced by the evolving freelancing
industry due to gradual development in the IT sector and the freelance workforce in Sri Lanka.
1.4 Research Objectives
The main goal of the research is to investigate and identify the challenges faced by the freelance
workforce in Sri Lanka. The research will look forward to
1. Analyze the advancement in the IT sector

2. Assess the freelancing workforce in Sri Lanka
3. Identify the challenges faced by the freelancers in Sri Lanka
4. Evaluate the impacts of the freelancing industry on the socio-economy of Sri Lanka
5. Provide mitigations on how to overcome the challenges faced by the freelance workforce
1.5 Research Questions
The research questions which could be formulated from the above-mentioned research objectives
are as follows:
1. How is the IT sector established in Sri Lanka?

2. How has the IT industry influenced growing freelancing sector in Sri Lanka?
3. What are the reasons for the people to adopt freelancing as a job in Sri Lanka?
4. What are the difficulties faced by the freelance workforce in IT sector in Sri Lanka?
5. How have these challenges affected the freelance workforce in Sri Lanka?
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6. What could be done to resolve the problems faced by the freelance workforce in Sri
Lanka?
1.6 Chapter Summary
Chapter 1 - Introduction
The first chapter is the Introduction. As the name clarifies, it introduces the topic briefly with a
discussion of the overall IT industry with a focus on freelancing. It also explains the significance
of the research that is being carried out. It also provides with the aim of the research, the
objectives of the research and the questions associated with the research.
Chapter 2 - Literature Review
The second chapter is the Literature Review. It provides the literature review of the study which
includes the background studies conducted on the same topic. The background studies include
research articles which have been published, reports that have been written and every sort of
authentic data available online on the topic of interest. It also identifies the similarities and
differences in the research studies already conducted to carve out a gap in the research which
would be fulfilled through this research.
Chapter 3 - Research Methodology
The third chapter is the Research Methodology. This chapter describes the different methods to
conduct the research. It provides different data collection methods and techniques and how the
data is collected in this research for the further analysis to be conducted to get the final results. In
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this research, the method used to collect data is a survey questionnaire. Hence, this is one of the
most important chapters of the research.
Chapter 4 - Data Analysis
The fourth chapter is the Data Analysis. This chapter explains the analysis done on the data
which is collected through the survey questionnaire. It includes the different dependent and
independent variables which are sorted, analyzed and interpreted with the help of statistical
analysis tool which is called SPSS. This chapter is the backbone of the thesis and provides the
answers to our research questions.
Chapter 5 - Conclusion, Recommendation and Discussion
The fifth chapter is the Results and Conclusions. This chapter is the final chapter of the research
which provides the results of the analysis and suitable methods on how to overcome the
problems faced by the freelance workforce based on the data analysis. Lastly, it provides the
limitations of the research and the area which could be further studied for future research.
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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Background
Unemployment is one of the main economic problems faced by the world. The youth
unemployment is even a bigger factor in the downfall of the economy of a country. This problem
is faced by both developing and developed countries, but its effects are more faced by the
developing countries as youth is the bigger part of the labor force. The countries in Asia like Sri
Lanka, Pakistan and India are part of the developing world and face this problem. It is a main
problem of Sri Lanka. However, most of the developing countries are tackling this issue by
promoting the technological development in the shape of digital platforms from which the idea
of online outsourcing has emerged. (Wijayarathne, 2019) Outsourcing as a terminology takes us
back to 1981 and it means to transfer the whole work or some part of the work to an outside
supplier in minimal costs. It could also take place in the shape of transferring employees or
assets from one company to another firm. (Commission, 2015) There are mainly two types of
platforms for online outsourcing and each one of them is made up for different categories of
workers and employers. The first is the microwork and the second is the online freelancing.
However, 145 online outsourcing platforms were found to be active around the world in 2013.
The main advantages of working as a micro-worker that have been discovered through surveys
are that the workers have flexible timings and the job is totally flexible in which they can easily
work from home which is a big plus point for women as they can work as well as take care of
their households in developing countries. Secondly, the workers are able to earn extra money
other than the regular monthly stipend which they earn every month. (Santos, 2016) As the
global connectivity has increased, the work nature and possibility to outsource the work is taking
turns as there are some location-based jobs which are becoming unimportant in today’s market.
More and more people are working without having a proper office set up and the employers are
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happy to outsource the work to a large number of capable workers in cheap rates.(Senanayake,
2018)
1.7 Digital Economy and IT Technology
As we have seen the dynamic nature of societies and economies influenced by technology in the
past, the change in the labor markets isn’t a surprise at all. We have seen the transformation of
the agriculture through Neolithic Revolution, the revamping of the manufacturing and production
that gave birth to the modern society through Industrial Revolution but right now we are in the
midst of a digital revolution which has been predicted to be the most destructive in a way for the
labor market.(Kathuria, 2017) In the recent years, there has been a massive progress in
technology, and it has created boundaries between the winners and the losers. Information and
communication technology (ICT) sector has progressed with leaps and bounds by helping the
nations with socio-economic growth. (Pupillo, 2018) Digital technology has promoted the
employment in the ICT sector and jobs related to the ICT sector around the globe. A recent
global study has found out that approximately 50% of millennials can opt new forms of
employment influenced by technical advancement like earning through online platforms. A
large number of jobs and earnings have been witnessed in the ICT sector in the last two decades
due to advancement in technology and firms moving towards digitalization and outsourcing work
through digital platforms. (Perampalam, 2017) The investment in digital economy has created
jobs as well as destroyed jobs. The effect of digital economy varies from country to country but
the countries having sturdy investments in the digital economy have shown steady growth. The
growth of internet has led to a definitive change in the labor market as it looks forward to the
talent in the media and entertainment business. (Pupillo, 2018) Undoubtedly, the information
society around the world has reached to each and every corner which is depicted by the number
of people that are connected to the internet. (White, 2012) Studies have shown that early
adoption of a new software-based infrastructure will help the US firms to add $3 million to their
economy over the period of next 10 years and will be able to create approximately 8 million new
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jobs. These are the socio-economic impacts of new software based innovations and fast internet
which is creating new opportunities in the job market (Pupillo, 2018) Studies have shown that
technology has helped in job creation specifically in the education, medicine and other
professional areas where knowledge of the field is desirable but it not limited to only such areas
or professional and skilled workers but provides equal opportunities to the less educated and
informal workers who can take benefit of the various digital platforms. (Kathuria, 2017) The
modern workday life is very much connected with freelancers because of their characteristics of
portfolio work, self-employment and outsourcing and last but not the least short-term,
discontinuous and contingent labor contracts. (Damian and Susanu, 2018)
1.8 Freelancing
Freelancing was called boundary less career at the very beginning and the persons who did
freelancing were referred as “Boundary less Workers”. The idea of freelancing originated in the
1990s with the help of (Arthur, 1994) and (Defillippi and Arthur, 1994) who defined it as
“sequence of job opportunities that go beyond the boundaries of single employment setting”.
(Kazi, 2014) Freelancing fits into the type of work which is different from the traditional
categories of employee and entrepreneur as this work doesn’t involve anyone dictating the
freelancers and receive and honor the contracts themselves which simply means that they are
their own boss. Freelancers are mainly self-employed which is why they work on their own and
don’t hire anyone. The dawn of freelancing is basically based on pull and push factors on the
workforce. The pull factors include self-realization , independence and new ideas while the push
factors mainly include unemployment and restructuring or downsizing of companies.(Besten and
Nakara, 2016) Freelancing also suits both the firm and the employees who are trying to adjust in
the modern economic era. (Arthur et al., 1994) It has been noticed that the companies duly trust
the workers who are not their full-time employees but work on a temporary and short-term
contract which is a form of self-employment. (Shevchuk and Strebkov, 2012)
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2.3.1 Online Labor Markets
The economy influenced by this short term contract is called the ‘gig economy’ in which the
workers are hired just for different gigs on flexible contract terms as independent contractors or
consultants in which they are assigned to do a particular one time job in a defined time frame and
after the completion of the job there is no more contact between the worker and the employer.
The emergence of OLMs (online labor markets) have facilitated flexible and one-time jobs.
OLMs also help in hiring workers with a variety of skills and knowledge from around the world
including the skill set of simple translations, transcriptions, CV and cover letter writing to web
and software development. These OLMs provide opportunities for different workers having a
broad range of skill set to join the gig workforce and start an online career. (Seifried, 2019) In
2018, there was a survey conducted by the BCG Henderson Institute and Research which
included data taken from 11 countries and 11,000 workers. The countries included the US, the
UK, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, Japan, India, China, Indonesia and Brazil. The purpose of
the survey was to find out their professional situations and which forces are affecting them in
their jobs at the workplace or would affect them in the near future. The specific focus of the
survey was on freelancing and online gig work. It was concluded from the survey that the people
who lost jobs because of the emerging online labor markets was almost the same as the amount
of people who got employment because of the online job markets. More than 30% people got
employment and rejoined workforce because of the online gig work which means more than
3300 people out of the 11,000 people that were surveyed. According to the same survey about
12% of people earned through the online gig work as their primary source of income in the
developing countries like India, Indonesia and Brazil, China as compared to just 1% to 4% of
people in the developed countries like UK, USA, Germany and Sweden. It reflects the adapting
quality of the workers in the developing countries who have adopted working with online labor
markets and platforms faster as compared to the workers in developed countries where mostly
people still earn primarily through the traditional means. (Wallenstein, 2019)
2.3.2 Pros of Freelancing
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The one major reason for people choosing freelancing as their main source of income is that
people want to avoid the strict and hectic office life and the policies of a company. Moreover, if
some person wants to switch the field of work, he/she is working in then it is very easily possible
with the help of freelancing. For example, an engineer who doesn’t want to work as an engineer
but work as a researcher or in any other field then freelancing provides the basic platform for
him to change the field and switch to a field where he thinks he can excel in a better way.
(Masood, 2018) According to the studies conducted about 70% of the population of the whole
world have at least worked once as a freelancer. Studies of the research conducted in the UK
have shown that freelancers will be given more attention than normal full-time workers as they
are distinguished from the small business owners qualitatively and are quantitatively vital for the
economy of the UK to thrive in future. The research done in the Russian online market has also
shown that freelancers play a significant role in the evolution of the e-business, internet and
innovative entrepreneurship. (Krishnamoorthy, 2016) In another study which was done in the
UK, the result depicted that there has been a massive increase of 84% in the freelance workforce
from the year 1992 to year 2015. (Burke, 2015)
2.3.3 Freelancing in Developing Countries

Talking about the developing countries, there are more than 60 million people who have made
their accounts on the online labor platforms in the low- and middle-income countries and out of
those 60% about 10% are active users which still accounts for more than six million freelancers.
The trend of freelancing in this developing world is on a high as there are about a million active
workers in both India and Philippines and about a thousand workers in other developing
countries like Kenya and South Africa. (Malik, 2018)
2.3.4 Increment in the Number of Freelancers

In another research it was found out that the number of freelancers across the globe has increased
by 45% from 2011 to 2016. It means if there were 2 million freelancers worldwide then in 2016
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this number reached to 4.5 million. (Damian and Susanu, 2018) A recent study concluded that
the flexibility provided by online working platforms is far more than the traditional way of doing
work which has led to the efficiency and popularity of freelancing over a time period.
(Illangasinghe, 2019) Although it can be a challenge for freelancers to find a task of their field of
study or interest, but online digital freelancing platforms do provide them opportunities to find a
relevant work for themselves. (Nemkova, 2019)
1.9 Freelancing in Sri Lanka
The current population of Sri Lanka is about 22 million. According to the report of the first
quarter of Sri Lankan Labor Force Survey 2020, the economically active population is about 8.5
million and economically inactive population is about 8.1 million. Out of the 8.5 million
economically active people, about 5.5 million (65.1%) people are male and about 2.9 million
(34.9%) are females. Out of the economically inactive population of 8.1 million, about 2.1
million (26.1%) are males while 6 million (73.9%) are females. (Statistics, 2020)
2.4.1 Economically Active Population in Sri Lanka

The economically active population is defined as “the population including all the people above
a certain age (15 years and above) of either gender who furnish the supply of labor for the
production of economic goods and services during a specified time (reference period)” while the
economically inactive population is defined as “the population who are not economically active
during the specified time (reference period) and those who are mainly engaged in studies,
household duties, retired or old disabled persons”. The labor force are the workers which are
included in the economically active population of age 15 and above. (Statistics, 2019) The
economically active population of Sri Lanka has increased from 8.0 million in 2004 to 8.5
million in 2020. (Nawaratne, 2013) There is a problem of youth unemployment in Sri Lanka.
The ages of the unemployed people ranged from 15 years to 24 years. The employment of the
youth is immense for the growth of developing countries as the families invest a lot of money in
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the education of the youth and expect them to pay them back after completing the education and
securing a good job. The rate of unemployment of the youth population in Sri Lanka rose from
17.40% in the fourth quarter of 2017 to 21.80% in the first quarter of 2018. To overcome this
problem, online outsourcing is considered as a key to tackle unemployment in developing
countries. This strategy has been adopted both by developing and developed countries as it runs
businesses and gives employment to the young generation. (Wijayarathne, 2019)
2.4.2 Jobs Market in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, the job styles have changed from the traditional job contracts to atypical
employment practices with the passage of time after the economic liberation specifically in the
manufacturing sector and tertiary sectors which include whole-selling, retailing, banking,
finance, insurance, transportation, communication, education and other similar sectors. Since
1977, the economic policies introduced by Sri Lanka have largely taken into consideration the
source of employment being the economic development through foreign investment. (Nawaratne,
2013) The capability of the Sri Lankans to integrate easily in foreign units also encourage the
foreign investors to invest in the BPO sector of the country. Online Freelancing is gradually
getting popular among the working class of Sri Lanka who are equipped with knowledge and
skills. (Wijayarathne, 2019) The freelancing platforms which are popular among the people in
Sri Lanka include Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer and Onwadak.lk. The swift development of these
freelancing platforms has transformed Sri Lanka in a way that they have provided more jobs in
the job sector with increased opportunities and multiple dimensions of earning. Moreover, these
platforms have created awareness among the masses who had hardly any idea about freelancing.
(Illangasinghe, 2019)
2.4.3 Freelancers in Sri Lanka

According to a survey carried out in Sri Lanka, there are 22,000 freelancers based on nationally
representative survey and 17,000 freelancers based on counting platform registration and
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estimation. The growth of freelancers in Sri Lanka in 44% per year. According to the survey, 7.7
million sample population was surveyed between the age group 16 years to 40 years. 74% of the
people (5.7 million) had no idea about freelancing or microwork while only 26% (2 million)
were aware of freelancing and microwork. Out of the 2 million people who knew about
freelancing, only 1.1% (22,000) were actually involved in freelancing and the rest of 98.9%
(1.98 million) were not involved at all. (Galpaya, 2016)
2.4.4 Factors Affecting Freelancers in Sri Lanka

Freelancing in Sri Lanka is mostly male predominated who are educated and belong to
households having a high socio-economic status in the urban areas. Those people are mostly
willing to work on freelancing platform who are computer literate, internet users and have
knowledge and skills of marketing. If more and more people start working via online platforms,
then gradually with time the people who are currently not part of the economically active
population will become a part of it. They will start from being unemployed to underemployed
and become self-employed. (Perampalam, 2017)
In a survey carried out in 2016, 11% of the total sample population of 5,377 people showed
willingness to do online freelancing. It was also found out that most of the people wanted to
adopt freelancing as a part-time job instead of a full-time job. This held for both employed and
unemployed people. There were more women who were interested to do freelancing as a part-
time job as compared to men. Online freelancing is specifically a very attractive option for the
female population of Sri Lanka who are housewives or stay at home mothers. Freelancing could
help them contribute to the family’s income and for their children brought up in the long term. In
a survey carried out in 2016 to identify the awareness, willingness and potential of online
freelancers in Sri Lanka depicted that about 71% of the women who had an idea of freelancing
were willing to work online. The main problem faced by the majority of the women (60%) who
wanted to do freelancing but had not started as yet was the lack of understanding of online work
implementation. (Galpaya, 2017) According to (Baraku, 2020), there is a loss of 28% of the
Gross National Income (GNI) for an economy in which women don’t participate. It was also
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studied that working women could add up to 30% to the Gross Domestic Production (GDP).
Freelancing can serve to increase women productivity in the economy of a country and their
individual activity rate. A recent study in Bangladesh showed that there are 25% of the
freelancers in the country are women and they are doing a better job than men. (Baraku, 2020)
The freelancing industry in Sri Lanka is very male dominated and which according to a recent
survey was 9:1 in the favor of males because of their number, connections and ideas sharing.
(Perampalam, 2017)
2.4.5 Advantages of Freelancing

All in all, one of the advantages of freelancing is that it polishes the skills of the worker. It helps
the worker to have a lot of experiences with different clients, different areas of work,
improvement of soft skills and the great ability to work in pressure situations or in minimum
time period. It is said that a worker learns more in five years of freelancing as compared to doing
two to three normal traditional jobs in the same period because of the vast exposure of working
with different clients. (Baraku, 2020)
1.10 Challenges Faced by Freelance Workforce Worldwide
A survey was conducted in Russia by the employees of the PayPal payment system and the
Netfluential agency to find out the advantages and disadvantages of freelancing. The results
showed that 46% of the total sample population voted in favor of having a remote workplace,
43% were in favor of a fixed schedule, 41% liked the possibility of choosing the projects
themselves, while 38% were happy to be being their own boss. (Akhmetshin, 2018) As a coin
has two sides, everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Freelancers have independence
when it comes to working and rely more on themselves as compared to the employees who work
normally. The risk associated with the job of a freelancer as well as the uncertainty and income
security are a few aspects which make freelancing challenging as a full-time job. (Pehkonen,
2013) There are several disadvantages linked with freelancing found out by the survey conducted
19
in Russia. The biggest disadvantage which was depicted by the results was irregular income
chosen by 54% of the respondents. Alongside irregular income, 27% of the respondents thought
high competition, 22% people considered the need of self-discipline while 21% people chose low
income. (Akhmetshin, 2018) Along with these disadvantages there are other challenges faced by
the freelancers like lack of working skills, difficulty in getting work, insufficient communication
skills, not having appropriate payment methods available and the internet speed while working
from remote areas of a country. (Rahman and Rahman, 2017) There is a chance of project
discontinuation at any time period which may happen while doing freelancing as the platforms
don’t give any guarantee of continuous work and stable income. A recent research conducted by
Upwork found out that about 63% of the freelance workforce thought that their biggest challenge
while doing freelancing is the lack of security in terms of stabilize income.(Baraku, 2020)
1.11 Challenges Faced by Freelance Workforce in Sri Lanka
There are various barriers faced by the freelance workforce in Sri Lanka as pointed out by
(Wijayarathne, 2019). These are retirement aspect, payment methods, internet connection, power
supply, health of workers, job recognition and employee satisfaction. According to the survey
conducted to identify the barriers faced by online outsourcing workforce in Sri Lanka, 27.2%
sample population of freelance workforce faced power cuts once a week. 92.6% of the sample
population of freelance workforce didn’t have had any alternative source of electricity during
power cuts. The survey also found out that the most freelancers were not satisfied with the
government regulations as far as the payment methods are concerned. PayPal is prohibited in Sri
Lanka which is also a big issue for the freelancers. (Wijayarathne, 2019)
One of the challenges faced by the freelance workforce in Sri Lanka as found out by a study was
the less social interaction when working online. Another big challenge was to overcome the
biasness of the online platforms towards the buyers. The study also found out that moving up
levels on the online platforms to get more attention from the buyers was also a big challenge.
Most of the Sri Lankans adopt freelancing as a part-time job since they are not sure about the job
security and stable income plus, they don’t get any help from the banks as well in shape of loans
20
to stabilize themselves economically. The durability of the online platforms in the long run was
also a concern for the freelance workforce as they were not sure about its long-term success.
Another problem which the freelance workforce faced in Sri Lanka was the high competition and
low rates offered by the freelance workforce of other countries which means that they had to do a
task for $5 to get the work which would otherwise cost $200 due to low rates offered by other
freelancers. (Senanayake, 2018)
In another study conducted in Sri Lanka, it was revealed that the freelance workforce finds it
difficult to maintain a balance between life and job when doing freelancing as a part-time job
with another daytime job. The study also stated that due to the poor internet speed in some areas
it is difficult for the sellers to submit their work on time. The one of the biggest challenges that
the freelancers in Sri Lanka had to face was to manage the perception of family and society as
working from home is relatively a new concept and much of the developing world is unaware of
this new way of work.(Galpaya, 2016)
1.12 The Literature Gap
This study specially focuses on the challenges faced by the freelance workforce in Sri Lanka and
will try to fill the literature gap left by a bundle of studies done on the same topic but in a
different way and none of them really focuses specially on freelancing. Some studies have been
done keeping in mind the online outsourcing and web based digital labor platforms and the focal
point is not freelancing with a relatively small sample population in a country of 21 million
population. The studies which have been done till now didn’t compare the situation of the
freelance workforce of Sri Lanka with the rest of the world and the challenges faced by them in
comparison to each other. This study intends to analyze the different challenges faced by the
freelance industry in Sri Lanka and the literature also explains the freelance industry in the rest
of the world as compared to Sri Lanka along with the barriers and the challenges faced by the
freelance workforce.
21
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1 Introduction to Research Methodology
Methodology is a vital part of any research as it explains the methods which are used to evaluate
and validate the research. The research methods to be implemented depend on the type of
research and the audience. The type of research could be quantitative research or qualitative
research and the research methods differ individually for both type of researches. One factor in
the research methodology is the field of study in which the research is being done.
The methodology chosen to carry out this research is to construct a questionnaire survey made
up of two sections relevant to the research goals and the research questions as described in the
previous chapters. The fact that questionnaire has been chosen to carry out this research is
because of the reason that it is a convenient way available to perform this kind of research.
Furthermore, this method is preferred over other methods of research design like telephonic
survey’s or face to face interviews as this method helps in recording more response from the
respondents in less time. (Hollier, 2016)
2.2 Introduction to Research Design
Research design is the process of collecting, analyzing, interpreting and reporting data in
research studies. It includes the actual plan used for the connection of conceptual research
problems with appropriate empirical research. It can be said that research design lays out the
procedures on the required data and explains the methods to be used in the process to collect and
analyze the data to answer the research question.(Boru, 2018)
Research designs can be has mainly classified into three forms based on the purpose of the
research area as each form is used for different end purpose. (Boru, 2018) These forms are
22
1. Exploratory
2. Descriptive
3. Explanatory
For example, if there is a descriptive study then the main goal of the descriptive study would be
to depict the situation, person or event or show the relevance of things with each other and how
the process takes place naturally which is different to the other two forms of classification as
descriptive studies don’t explain the reason of the event and is appropriate for a new and
unresearched area. Hence, in situations where there is limited descriptive information, the other
two forms of research designs are used.(Boru, 2018)
Exploratory research is carried out when the known amount of information is insufficient about
any phenomenon or problem which lacks proper definition. (Saunders, 2007) This form of
research design doesn’t give any final wordings about the research question but investigate the
topic of research in detail. This is the reason why this form of research is used to have a go at the
topics which have not been studied before. In extreme cases, exploratory research is used to lay
down the basis for deep research and is used to figure out initial research design, sampling
methodology and data collection method. (Singh, 2007)
On the other side, the third form of research study which is the explanatory study is used to
explain and describe the descriptive information. Therefore, the difference between the
descriptive studies and explanatory studies is that the descriptive studies usually ask questions
starting with ‘what’ while explanatory studies try to answer the ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions.
(Gray, 2014) Exploratory and descriptive research provides the basis which then helps in
identifying the actual reasons for a phenomenon to occur. Explanatory research helps in
identifying the causes and reasons and gives proof of supporting or rejecting a prediction. It is
carried out to find out the relationships between different features of the phenomenon under
study. (Boru, 2018)
23
2.3 Introduction to Conceptual Framework
As defined in the previous section, the main goal of the study is to analyze the role of freelance
workforce in Sri Lanka and evaluate the difficulties faced by the freelance workforce. To achieve
the desired goal, it needs a statistical analysis based on quantitative results of a survey
questionnaire which would then be used to provide justifications on the relationship established
with the qualitative study. Hence, the relevant form of research design used for this study is the
explanatory research which answers both the ‘which’ and ‘why’ research features of the research
question.
The questionnaire will aid in reviewing the aim of the study including data analysis to conclude
the research. The questionnaire is distributed among the citizens of Sri Lanka of different age
groups as well as having different employment statuses which helps in deeply analyzing the
current problems faced by the freelance workforce in Sri Lanka. The sample questionnaire
includes Demographics and IT related sections with different questions related to household,
employment, knowledge of freelancing, IT sector and the difficulties based by them currently if
they are working as a freelancer. The influence of the difficulties faced by the freelancers on
their current employment status and as well as their willingness to adopt freelancing if the
difficulties faced by the current freelancers would have overcome will be analyzed in the data
analysis chapter further.
2.4 Research Approach
There are basically three approaches or methods which are used for conducting research on a
broader scale. The first method is the qualitative method then comes the quantitative method and
the last one is the mixed method.
24
Quantitative method is the research approach in which numerical data is collected which
explains a phenomena or problem and is analyzed using statistical models or methods. In this
approach, the researcher uses different strategies such as experiments and surveys to collect data
and analyze it to yield different results. The biggest advantage associated with quantitative
research is that this method is able to produce reliable and quantifiable data which could be
further implemented to a large population. This approach is also appropriate to test and validate
already made theories about the occurrence of different phenomena with the help of testing
hypothesis. (Boru, 2018)
Qualitative research method is a type of study in which the researcher observes and interacts
with the participants of the study to know about a certain phenomenon in detail. The preference
of the researchers doing qualitative research is to explore and describe the phenomenon
originally in their natural setting. The biggest advantage of qualitative methods is the fact that
they concentrate on the occurrence of the phenomenon as have the tendency to create thorough
descriptions of the participants thought processes. (Boru, 2018)
A mixed method research is the type of research comprising of both the quantitative and the
qualitative research methods. In this method, the data is collected and analyzed by mixing both
quantitative and the qualitative methods to understand the research problem. This approach is
used by the researcher in order to base knowledge claims on pragmatic grounds. The strategies
used in this method include collecting data either simultaneously or in a sequence to figure out
the research problem. The data collection methods also involve collecting both numeric
information (based on digits) as well as subjective information (based on ideas/interviews) in
order to get the final data base which is a mixture of both qualitative and quantitative studies.
(Bhawna and Gobind, 2015)
This research study is a mixture of quantitative and qualitative studies since it depends on
freelancers’ opinions as well as the data collected and analyzed via questionnaire. Hence, the
mixed method approach is used to address the research questions.
25
2.5 Data Collection Approach
Surveys are used to collect data from a large and widely distributed population with a large
sample size while case studies are used when the researcher needs to be more focused and
concentrated. A case study is used to know about the dynamics existing within single settings as
compared to surveys which are used to collect data on a restricted number of topics, but the
range of sample size is more than case studies. Case studies on the other hand could be handy to
collect data on various themes and subjects but the range of population and sample size is
focused and concentrated on a limited number of people. (Gray, 2014)
Surveys are mostly conducted by using a questionnaire or structured observation or structured

interviews. In large scale surveys, it is mostly a teamwork divided between a team of survey
designers, interviewers or data collectors and those who gather the data in a computer before
proceeding to the analysis stage. (Gray, 2014)
There are mainly two categories for surveys:
1. Analytical surveys
2. Descriptive surveys
Analytical surveys are used for experimental and deductive research putting stress on reliability
of data and statistical control of variables and sample size whereas descriptive surveys are
inclined towards a more inductive approach of research. They are ethnographic in nature and use
mostly open-ended questions to find out more perspectives in detail. (Gray, 2014)
3.5.1 Target Population

Target population for any survey is the total set of units for which the survey data will be used to
make inferences. It can be said that the target population describes the units for which the survey
findings will be generalized. The first step in designing survey is to establish study objectives
and align them by defining the target population in the second step.(Lavrakas, 2008)
26
The target population must be defined in order to determine the eligibility or ineligibility of the
sample cases in the survey. There are many characteristics of the target population which need to
be sorted out like the geographic and temporal characteristics as well as the type of units.
(Lavrakas, 2008)
The target population for this research is the workforce of Sri Lanka working as freelancers or
just doing normal traditional jobs.
3.5.2 Sample Size

The sample size for any survey is defined as the number of units chosen from the gathered data.
There are different ways of defining sample size like designated sample size and final sample
size. The designated sample size is the total number of sample units chosen for data collection.
The final sample size is the number of completed interviews or data samples collected in real.
The final sample size could be much lesser than the designated sample size due to nonresponse,
ineligibility or incompletion of the samples received. (Lavrakas, 2008)
The sample size for this study is about 100-110 participants.
3.5.3 Sampling Frame

Sampling frame refers to the total list of all the people or entities in the entire population from
which a random sample will be drawn. It covers the people or entities who are going to be
addressed by the research study. (Gray, 2014) The sampling frame opted for this research study
is the population of Sri Lanka working as freelancers.
3.5.4 Sampling Techniques

There is a broad range of sampling strategies to be used for both quantitative and qualitative
studies. Sampling of participants and data sources plays an important role and act as a vital
27
component in any research study. With respect to quantitative studies, probability sampling
techniques are used which include picking up a large sample size from the population in a
random way where each unit of the sample has an equal probability of getting selected. The main
goal of any quantitative research is the generalization of results to a larger population in which
random sampling plays an important role to achieve the desired results. In qualitative studies
where the main objective of the research isn’t generalization but the selection of such
respondents which will be likely to provide deep levels of understanding. A few sampling
techniques used for both quantitative and qualitive studies are probability sampling, random
sampling, systematic sampling, stratified random sampling, cluster sampling, multi-stage
sampling, non-probability sampling, quota sampling and purposive sampling. (Gray, 2014)
3.5.5 Data Collection Tools

There are various data collection tools which are used to collect data in a research study. The
technique used for this research is the development of a research questionnaire. First of all, the
research questions are developed which will be used in the survey questionnaire that might be
fixed, structured, open-ended or non-structured questions. The former type are the ones which
have a particular set of possible answer choices while the latter are the ones in which the answer
depends more or less on the subjective point of view of the respondent. Secondly, a decision is
made on the method of administration of the survey questionnaire. The method of administration
decides how the data is to be collected whether through web-based online surveys, face to face
interviews, written questionnaires or interviews on the telephone. After this step, questionnaire is
taken care of in the sense that the questions must be arranged in a logical way with topic specific
questions under the specified topic. The sensitive questions must be grouped together with
neutral questions to be asked at the end of the questionnaire. The language used in the
questionnaire must be easy to understand and answer and sufficient appropriate information must
be provided to the respondents in order to complete the survey in an effective manner.
(Muhammad, 2018)
28
There are mainly three stages after collecting data through a research questionnaire before
analyzing the data. (Park, 2017)
1. Survey sampling
2. Questionnaire design
3. Survey administration
In the stage of survey sampling, the target audience is selected, and population is limited with a
sufficient sample size. The second stage includes the design of the questionnaire as described
earlier. It is a data collection tool to survey the given population in order to do research about
some topic which is still unknown or the research which has been done till now is insufficient.
The last stage is the administration of the survey which includes the various different methods
used to distribute the questionnaire among the audience which has to be targeted through the
questionnaire. The pros and cons of every administration procedure must be decided prior to
making a final decision. (Park, 2017)
3.5.6 Data Analysis Techniques

This step includes the procedures for analyzing the data after the survey is completed. The
purpose of the data analysis is to gather all the research results and conclude the findings of the
research. Each and every research methodology is followed by a specific data analysis technique
which is decided taking into consideration the research goal. The main aim of data analysis is to
make the data meaningful by creating relationships within the collected data and to find the
missing information in the research topic. (Muhammad, 2018)
The three main procedures in the data analysis are exploratory data analysis, derivation of the
findings and archiving the data. In exploratory data analysis, the researcher views all the
gathered data with a thorough and deep view before the compilation in order to have a better idea
of what type of data is gathered and has to be stored in what format. It helps the researcher in
estimating the amount of data and the type of data which is to be analyzed further. In the second
stage of the data analysis, the gathered data is further analyzed to keep the consistency in the
29
analysis files avoiding the variations or limitations in the data set. This stage helps the researcher
in producing the main findings, interpretations and recommendations of the study. The last stage
is the archiving which includes the data collection after it is analyzed, interpreted and results
have been formed. This stage is used for storing the data on a CD, Hard Drive or other storage
devices. (Muhammad, 2018)
3.5.7 Data Presentation Tools

Data gathered and collected is usually in raw format which needs to be summarized, processed
and analyzed. The information gathered from raw data must be presented in an effective format
to make it understandable for the other authors and readers. Hence, there are different ways and
techniques of presenting the data. The presentation of data can take place either as text, in tabular
form or in graphical form. The methods of presentation depend upon the data format, the
analysis method used in the research and as well as the information to be conveyed to the
readers. The method to be used to present the data must be chosen after carefully observing the
advantages and disadvantages of all the methods of presentation. (In and Lee, 2017)
For example, if the researcher wants to compare one or two values at a certain time period, it is
advisable to use the text or written language. If all the data in the research requires equal
attention, then a table must be created which allows the readers to look at the information which
they want. Graphs are important to show trend in the data and make comparisons between
different components of the data in different years. (In and Lee, 2017)
There are different types of graphs which could be used as per the situation and the relevance of
the data and analysis. For example, Scatter plots are used to identify an association between two
variables. Likewise, bar graphs and histograms are used to indicate and compare values in a
discrete category while a pie-chart is used to describe nominal data which visually represents a
distribution of categories. (In and Lee, 2017)
30
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS
3.1 Introduction
This chapter deals with the data analysis. The responses from the questionnaire distributed
among the population in Sri Lanka will be analyzed using ordinal logistic regression since the
questionnaire developed has two sections based on demographics and IT and all the questions
have a Likert scale. The chapter is mainly distributed in three parts. Firstly, the descriptive
analysis takes place involving the graphical representation and tabular representation of the
different variables which is depicted as gathered as selected by the respondents. The second part
depicts the chosen methodological approach to perform the data analysis. The third part sums up
the analysis with the output given by the model including the appropriate interpretation of the
results.
3.2 Descriptive Analysis
The final questionnaire was distributed among the residents of Sri Lanka. There were 27
questions in the questionnaire to be filled. The sample size taken for the research is 100 which
means that 100 questionnaires were filled by the respondents. These 100 questionnaires were
then put into the system and coded into Microsoft Excel to be made usable by the statistical
software SPSS for further statistical analysis. The main aim of descriptive analysis is the
knowledge of the profiles of the candidates and the know-how of the data gathered through the
questionnaire.
4.2.1 Age
31
The majority 39% of the respondents belong to the age group of 18-30 years. 31% belong to the
age group of under 18 years. 15% belong to the age group of 31-50 years while 8% belong to the
age group of 51-70 years. 6% of the total respondents preferred not to disclose their age.
Table 1 The descriptive statistics of age
Age
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Vali Under 18 31 31.0 31.0 31.0
d
18-30 39 39.0 39.0 70.0
31-50 15 15.0 15.0 85.0
51-70 8 8.0 8.0 93.0
>70 years 1 1.0 1.0 94.0
Prefer not to 6 6.0 6.0 100.0
answer
Total 100 100.0 100.0
32
Figure 1 A pie-chart representing the descriptive statistics of age groups
4.2.2 Gender
Out of the 100 respondents found through the questionnaire, 60% of the respondents were
females while 34% were male.
Table 2 The descriptive statistics of gender
Gender
Percent
Vali Male 34 34.0 34.0 34.0
d female 60 60.0 60.0 94.0
other 2 2.0 2.0 96.0
Prefer not to 4 4.0 4.0 100.0
answer
Total 100 100.0 100.0
33
Figure 2 A pie-chart representing the descriptive statistics of gender
4.2.3 Marital Status

Out of the 100 respondents surveyed, the majority of the respondents (51%) were married while
34% were single. 5% widowed and 3% fell into divorced category.
Table 3 The descriptive statistics of marital status
Marital Status
Percent
Vali Single 34 34.0 34.0 34.0
d Married 51 51.0 51.0 85.0
Divorced 3 3.0 3.0 88.0
Widowed 5 5.0 5.0 93.0
Separated 3 3.0 3.0 96.0
Others 2 2.0 2.0 98.0
Prefer not to 2 2.0 2.0 100.0
answer
Total 100 100.0 100.0
34
Figure 3 A pie-chart representing the descriptive statistics of various marital statuses
4.2.4 Children
59% of the respondents had children while 29% of the respondents didn’t have had children
while 12% didn’t prefer to answer this question.
Table 4 The descriptive statistics of children
Children
Percent
Vali Yes 59 59.0 59.0 59.0
d No 29 29.0 29.0 88.0
Prefer not to 12 12.0 12.0 100.0
answer
Total 100 100.0 100.0
35
Figure 4 A pie-chart representing the descriptive statistics of children
4.2.5 Education
The majority of the respondents were high school degree holders with a percentage of 38%. 14%
of the respondents had a college degree while 6% had a Bachelor’s degree.
Table 5 The descriptive statistics of education
Education
Percent
Vali Less than High School 36 36.0 36.0 36.0
d Diploma
High School Degree 38 38.0 38.0 74.0
College Degree 14 14.0 14.0 88.0
Bachelor’s Degree 6 6.0 6.0 94.0
Master’s Degree 5 5.0 5.0 99.0
Doctorate Degree 1 1.0 1.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
36
Figure 5 A pie-chart representing the descriptive statistics of education categories
4.2.6 Employment Status

26% of the respondents are full time workers and 22% of the respondents work as part time
while 23% of the respondents are home makers.
Table 6 The descriptive statistics of employment
Employment Status
Percent
Vali Full time 26 26.0 26.0 26.0
d Part time 22 22.0 22.0 48.0
Student 15 15.0 15.0 63.0
Retired 5 5.0 5.0 68.0
Self-Employed 5 5.0 5.0 73.0
Home maker 23 23.0 23.0 96.0
Others 1 1.0 1.0 97.0
37
Prefer not to answer 3 3.0 3.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
Figure 6 A pie-chart representing the descriptive statistics of various employment statuses
4.2.7 Monthly Household Income

32% of the respondents had an average household income of less than 60,000 LKR while 20% of
the respondents had a household income in between 61,000 to 100,000 LKR.
Table 7 The descriptive statistics of monthly household income
Monthly Household Income

Percent
Vali Less than 60,000 LKR 32 32.0 32.0 32.0
d 61,000-100,000 LKR 20 20.0 20.0 52.0
100,000-300,000 LKR 12 12.0 12.0 64.0
More than 300,000 11 11.0 11.0 75.0
LKR
Prefer not to answer 25 25.0 25.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
38
Figure 7 A pie-chart showing the distribution of average monthly household incomes
4.2.8 Internet Connectivity

79% of the respondents had internet connections had home while 21% didn’t have had internet
connection at home.
Table 8 The descriptive statistics of internet connectivity
Internet Connectivity
Percent
Vali Yes 79 79.0 79.0 79.0
d No 21 21.0 21.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
39
Figure 8 A pie-chart showing the descriptive statistics of internet connectivity
4.2.9 Computer Knowledge

About 80% of the respondents had computer knowledge while 20% of the respondents didn’t
possess any computer knowledge.
Table 9 The descriptive statistics of computer knowledge of respondents
Computer Knowledge
Percent
Vali Yes 80 80.0 80.0 80.0
d No 20 20.0 20.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
40
Figure 9 A pie-chart depicting the ratio of computer knowledge of participants
4.2.10 Familiarity with Freelancing

Most of the respondents (36%) were moderate about the familiarity with freelancing while 32%
were very familiar with freelancing.
Table 10 The descriptive statistics of familiarity with freelancing
Familiarity with Freelancing

Percent
Vali Very unfamiliar 7 7.0 7.0 7.0
d Rather unfamiliar 17 17.0 17.0 24.0
Moderately 36 36.0 36.0 60.0
Rather familiar 8 8.0 8.0 68.0
Very familiar 32 32.0 32.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
41
Figure 10 A pie-chart representing the familiarity with freelancing of respondents
4.2.11 Fascination about Freelancing

55% of the total respondents of the questionnaire were moderate with the fascination about
freelancing while 15% were rather less fascinated about the idea of freelancing.
Table 11 The descriptive statistics of fascination about freelancing
Fascination
Percent
Vali Very less 8 8.0 8.0 8.0
d Rather Less 15 15.0 15.0 23.0
Moderate 55 55.0 55.0 78.0
Rather High 14 14.0 14.0 92.0
Very High 8 8.0 8.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
42
Figure 11 A pie-chart showing the distribution of respondents based on fascination about freelancing
4.2.12 Job Preference

About 45% of the respondents preferred to adapt the traditional job as full time while opted to
prefer freelancing as part time job. 18% of the respondents preferred freelancing as full-time job.
Table 12 The descriptive statistics of job preference
Job Preference
Percent
Vali Traditional job as full 25 25.0 25.0 25.0
d time
Freelancing as full time 18 18.0 18.0 43.0
Traditional job as full 45 45.0 45.0 88.0
time and freelancing as
part time
Any other job please 3 3.0 3.0 91.0
43
mention
No job at all 9 9.0 9.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
Figure 12 A pie-chart showing the distribution with respect to job preference
4.2.13 Satisfaction with Current Job

About 43% of the respondents were moderately satisfied with the current job while 31% of the
respondents were rather unsatisfied with their current job.
Table 13 The descriptive statistics of satisfaction with current job
Satisfaction with Current Job

Percent
Vali Very 14 14.0 14.0 14.0
d unsatisfactory
Rather 31 31.0 31.0 45.0
unsatisfactory
Moderately 43 43.0 43.0 88.0
Rather satisfactory 7 7.0 7.0 95.0
44
Very satisfactory 5 5.0 5.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
Figure 13 A pie-chart showing the respondents satisfaction with current job
4.2.14 Working from Home

34% of the total respondents like the idea of working from home while 31% of the respondents
were moderate about working from home.
Table 14 The descriptive statistics of working from home
Working from Home

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid Very less 13 13.0 13.0 13.0
Rather less 11 11.0 11.0 24.0
Moderate 31 31.0 31.0 55.0
Rather high 34 34.0 34.0 89.0
Very high 11 11.0 11.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
45
Figure 14 A pie-chart representing the percentage of respondents thinking about working from home
4.2.15 Happiness with Current Income

A vast majority of the respondents (68%) were not satisfied with their current income while
(32%) were happy with their current income.
Table 15 The descriptive statistics of happiness with current income
Happiness with Current Income

Percent
Vali Yes 32 32.0 32.0 32.0
d No 68 68.0 68.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
46
Figure 15 A pie-chart showing the respondents happiness with current income
4.2.16 Difficulties Faced in Freelancing

Most of the respondents (46%) chose no fixed earnings as the difficulty faced during freelancing
as well as the lack of technical knowledge which is (32%).
Table 16 The descriptive statistics of difficulties faced in freelancing
Difficulties Faced in Freelancing

Percent
Vali Poor/no internet 7 7.0 7.0 7.0
d connection
Lack of computer 9 9.0 9.0 16.0
knowledge
No idea of freelancing 6 6.0 6.0 22.0
47
Lack of technical 32 32.0 32.0 54.0
knowledge
No fixed earnings 46 46.0 46.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
Figure 16 A pie-chart showing the different difficulties faced by the respondents in freelancing
3.3 Selected Methodological Approach
This step explains the procedures for organizing and analyzing the disorganized data which is
gathered with the help of survey questionnaire. It assists in getting validated results with models
and the interpreted results through statistical techniques using various different statistical tools.
Data analysis is a very important fragment of mixed research as it connects the methodology and
literature review with the conclusion, summary and further research.
The survey questionnaire for this research was made up of 27 questions. Out of those 27
questions, 19 questions are chosen to be categorized into independent and dependent variables
48
respectively. 16 independent variables were chosen based on the impact of those questions on the
research questions to be answered. 2 dependent variables are chosen based on the nature of the
research questions. The dependent variables are those which are directly involved with the
outcome of the research. The independent variables are those variables which influence the
dependent variables in one way or the other and indirectly influence the output of the model as
well. The number of dependent and independent variables depend on the type of research.
The various independent and dependent variables selected for this research are as follows
Independent Variables (Predictive) Dependent Variables (Outcome)

Age Frequency of difficulties faced while
working as a Freelancer
Gender Willingness to adopt freelancing leaving
their current job
Marital status
Children
Education
Employment status
Monthly household income
Internet connectivity
Computer knowledge
Familiarity with freelancing
Fascination about freelancing
Job preference
Satisfaction with current job
Working from home
Happiness with current income
Difficulties faced in freelancing
The data analysis was carried out using these 16 independent variables and these 2 dependent
variables with the help of a statistical software SPSS. The technique used for the statistical
analysis is Ordinal Regression Analysis. It was carried out thrice as we have three dependent
variables and each dependent variable was analyzed against all 16 independent variables.
The goal of the Ordinal Regression Analysis method is to compute a model which provides
statistically significant variables for every dependent variable to identify the independent
49
variables that influence the difficulties faced by freelancers positively or negatively in order to
draw conclusions.
3.4 Output of the Model
This section of the research contains the output models as given by the SPSS after analyzing the
given data. There are 2 model outputs generated. One for each dependent variable using selected
independent variables to find the most statistic significant model.
4.4.1 Dependent Variables

The dependent variables chosen from the questionnaire are as follows:
1. Frequency of difficulties faced in freelancing
2. Willingness to adopt freelancing
4.4.2 Frequency of difficulties faced in freelancing

The frequency of difficulties faced was computed through Ordinal Logistic Regression with the
help of SPSS and the following output was received.
Table 17 Frequency of difficulties faced using Ordinal Logistic Regression
Case Processing Summary

N Marginal
Percentage
Frequency of Very less 32 32.7%
Difficulties Faced Rather less 17 17.3%
Moderate 2 2.0%
Rather often 28 28.6%
Very often 19 19.4%
Age Under 18 30 30.6%
50
18-30 39 39.8%
31-50 14 14.3%
51-70 8 8.2%
>70 years 1 1.0%
Prefer not to answer 6 6.1%
Gender Male 34 34.7%
female 59 60.2%
other 2 2.0%
Marital Status Single 34 34.7%
Married 50 51.0%
Divorced 3 3.1%
Widowed 5 5.1%
Separated 3 3.1%
Others 1 1.0%
Internet Connection Yes 78 79.6%
No 20 20.4%
Employment Status Full time 26 26.5%
Part time 21 21.4%
Student 15 15.3%
Retired 5 5.1%
Self-Employed 5 5.1%
Home maker 22 22.4%
Others 1 1.0%
Difficulties Faced Poor/no internet 7 7.1%
connection
Lack of computer 9 9.2%
knowledge
No idea of freelancing 6 6.1%
Lack of technical 31 31.6%
knowledge
No fixed earnings 45 45.9%
Children Yes 58 59.2%
No 28 28.6%
Education Less than High School 35 35.7%
Diploma
High School Degree 38 38.8%
College Degree 14 14.3%
Bachelor’s Degree 6 6.1%
Master’s Degree 4 4.1%
Doctorate Degree 1 1.0%
51
Monthly Household Less than 60,000 LKR 31 31.6%
Income 61,000-100,000 LKR 19 19.4%
100,000-300,000 LKR 12 12.2%
More than 300,000 11 11.2%
LKR
Computer knowledge Yes 79 80.6%
No 19 19.4%
Familiarity with Very unfamiliar 7 7.1%
freelancing Rather unfamiliar 17 17.3%
Moderately unfamiliar 36 36.7%
Rather familiar 7 7.1%
Very familiar 31 31.6%
Fascination Very less 8 8.2%
Rather Less 15 15.3%
Moderate 53 54.1%
High 14 14.3%
Very High 8 8.2%
Job preference Traditional job as full 24 24.5%
time
Freelancing as full 18 18.4%
time
Traditional job as full 44 44.9%
part time
Any other job please 3 3.1%
mention
No job at all 9 9.2%
Satisfaction with Very unsatisfactory 14 14.3%
current job Rather unsatisfactory 31 31.6%
Moderately 41 41.8%
Rather satisfactory 7 7.1%
Very satisfactory 5 5.1%
Working from home Very less 13 13.3%
Rather less 11 11.2%
Moderate 31 31.6%
Rather high 32 32.7%
Very high 11 11.2%
Happiness with current Yes 32 32.7%
income No 66 67.3%
Valid 98 100.0%
Missing 2
Total 100
52
In the Case Processing Summary, the number and percentage in each level of our response
variable are depicted. As we can see that the total number of observations in our data analysis set
are 100. The variables with missing values were sorted when choosing the independent variables.
The number of people who frequently very often or rather often faced difficulties in freelancing
in total comes out to be about 47% which is approximately half of our sample size used for this
research.
Model Fitting Information

Model -2 Log Chi- df Sig.
Likelihood Square
Intercept 279.253
Only
Final 193.815 85.438 59 .014
Next, we see the Model Fitting Information table which gives the -2 Log Likelihood for the
intercept only and the final models. “Intercept Only” explains a model that doesn’t control for
any predictor variables and simply fits an intercept to predict the outcome variable. “Final”
depicts a model that includes the specified predictor variables whose co-efficient have been
estimated using an iterative process that enhances the log likelihood of the outcome. The
likelihood ratio chi-square test is used to test whether there is a significant improvement in fit of
the final model relative to the Intercept only model. The Sig. is the p-value and shows the
statistical significance of the model which in our case is 0.01 which is less than 0.05 and hence
the model is statistically significant.
Goodness-of-Fit
Chi-Square df Sig.
Pearson 324.927 329 .553
Deviance 193.815 329 1.000
The “Goodness of Fit” table contains the Deviance and Pearson chi-square tests, which are
useful for determining whether a model exhibits good fit to the data. In this analysis, we can see
53
that both the Pearson chi-square test [324.927, p= 0.553] and the Deviance test [193.815, p= 1.0]
are both non-significant. Hence, the results suggest good model fit.
Parameter Estimates
Estimat Std. Error Wald df Sig. 95% Confidence Interval
e Lower Upper
Bound Bound
Threshol [Frequency of 19.195 6643.521 .000 1 .998 -13001.867 13040.258
d Difficulties
Faced = 1]
[Frequency of 20.669 6643.521 .000 1 .998 -13000.393 13041.731
Difficulties
Faced = 2]
[Frequency of 20.821 6643.521 .000 1 .997 -13000.241 13041.883
Difficulties
Faced = 3]
[Frequency of 23.084 6643.521 .000 1 .997 -12997.978 13044.146
Difficulties
Faced = 4]
Location [Age=1] 6.495 2.383 7.430 1 .006 1.825 11.165
[Age=2] 5.067 1.935 6.856 1 .009 1.274 8.859
[Age=3] 6.764 2.237 9.139 1 .003 2.379 11.149
[Age=4] 6.552 3.208 4.171 1 .041 .264 12.840
[Age=5] 32.520 5875.622 .000 1 .996 -11483.488 11548.528
[Age=6] 0a . . 0 . . .
[Gender=1] -2.156 2.040 1.117 1 .291 -6.154 1.842
[Gender=2] -1.422 1.775 .641 1 .423 -4.901 2.058
[Gender=3] -.909 2.447 .138 1 .710 -5.706 3.888
[Gender=4] 0a . . 0 . . .
[Marital 18.595 6643.519 .000 1 .998 -13002.462 13039.653
Status=1]
[Marital 18.574 6643.519 .000 1 .998 -13002.484 13039.631
Status=2]
[Marital 24.102 6643.519 .000 1 .997 -12996.957 13045.160
Status=3]
[Marital 19.729 6643.519 .000 1 .998 -13001.329 13040.787
Status=4]
[Marital 23.900 6643.519 .000 1 .997 -12997.158 13044.958
Status=5]
[Marital -4.016 .000 . 1 . -4.016 -4.016
Status=6]
[Marital 0a . . 0 . . .
Status=7]
54
[Internet 1.090 .959 1.291 1 .256 -.790 2.970
Connection=1]
[Internet 0a . . 0 . . .
Connection=2]
[Employment 1.249 1.703 .538 1 .463 -2.089 4.587
Status=1]
[Employment 2.290 1.773 1.669 1 .196 -1.184 5.764
Status=2]
[Employment 4.217 1.933 4.762 1 .029 .430 8.005
Status=3]
[Employment -20.624 5875.621 .000 1 .997 -11536.629 11495.382
Status=4]
[Employment 1.158 2.145 .292 1 .589 -3.045 5.362
Status=5]
[Employment 4.184 1.846 5.139 1 .023 .566 7.801
Status=6]
[Employment -.482 3.005 .026 1 .872 -6.371 5.406
Status=7]
[Employment 0a . . 0 . . .
Status=8]
[Difficulties 2.111 1.487 2.015 1 .156 -.804 5.027
Faced=1]
[Difficulties 1.376 1.255 1.202 1 .273 -1.084 3.837
Faced=2]
[Difficulties -2.430 1.499 2.628 1 .105 -5.369 .508
Faced=3]
[Difficulties 1.325 .804 2.718 1 .099 -.250 2.900
Faced=4]
[Difficulties 0a . . 0 . . .
Faced=5]
[Children=1] .385 1.208 .102 1 .750 -1.982 2.753
[Children=2] 1.344 1.091 1.518 1 .218 -.794 3.481
[Children=3] 0a . . 0 . . .
[Education=1] -5.858 2.773 4.464 1 .035 -11.292 -.423
[Education=2] -4.427 2.697 2.695 1 .101 -9.713 .858
[Education=3] -4.027 2.796 2.073 1 .150 -9.508 1.454
[Education=4] -7.737 3.658 4.475 1 .034 -14.906 -.569
[Education=5] -1.954 3.495 .313 1 .576 -8.804 4.896
[Education=6] 0a . . 0 . . .
[Monthly -.399 .840 .225 1 .635 -2.046 1.248
Household
Income=1]
[Monthly .180 1.115 .026 1 .872 -2.006 2.366
Household
55
Income=2]
[Monthly 2.743 1.179 5.410 1 .020 .432 5.055
Household
Income=3]
[Monthly 1.341 1.139 1.387 1 .239 -.891 3.573
Household
Income=4]
[Monthly 0a . . 0 . . .
Household
Income=5]
[Computer -.186 .967 .037 1 .848 -2.081 1.710
Knowledge=1]
[Computer 0a . . 0 . . .
Knowledge=2]
[Familiarity 3.206 1.732 3.424 1 .064 -.190 6.601
with
Freelancing=1]
[Familiarity .829 .987 .705 1 .401 -1.106 2.764
with
Freelancing=2]
[Familiarity -2.042 .770 7.026 1 .008 -3.551 -.532
with
Freelancing=3]
[Familiarity 1.160 1.356 .732 1 .392 -1.498 3.818
with
Freelancing=4]
[Familiarity 0a . . 0 . . .
with
Freelancing=5]
[Fascination=1 -3.590 1.980 3.288 1 .070 -7.471 .290
]
[Fascination=2 -3.562 1.553 5.264 1 .022 -6.606 -.519
]
[Fascination=3 -2.275 1.428 2.536 1 .111 -5.075 .525
]
[Fascination=4 -.888 1.539 .333 1 .564 -3.904 2.127
]
[Fascination=5 0a . . 0 . . .
]
[Job .294 1.177 .062 1 .803 -2.013 2.601
Preference=1]
[Job 1.065 1.354 .618 1 .432 -1.589 3.719
Preference=2]
[Job -.757 1.232 .378 1 .539 -3.171 1.657
Preference=3]
56
[Job 23.364 5875.620 .000 1 .997 -11492.641 11539.368
Preference=4]
[Job 0a . . 0 . . .
Preference=5]
[Satisfaction -1.221 1.958 .389 1 .533 -5.058 2.615
with Current
Job=1]
[Satisfaction -.050 1.821 .001 1 .978 -3.619 3.518
with Current
Job=2]
[Satisfaction .589 1.854 .101 1 .751 -3.044 4.223
with Current
Job=3]
[Satisfaction 2.551 2.362 1.166 1 .280 -2.078 7.179
with Current
Job=4]
[Satisfaction 0a . . 0 . . .
with Current
Job=5]
[Working from 1.188 1.797 .437 1 .509 -2.334 4.710
Home=1]
[Working from 2.355 1.768 1.775 1 .183 -1.110 5.820
Home=2]
[Working from -.795 1.521 .273 1 .601 -3.776 2.187
Home=3]
[Working from .797 1.404 .322 1 .570 -1.955 3.550
Home=4]
[Working from 0a . . 0 . . .
Home=5]
[Happiness -1.100 .971 1.284 1 .257 -3.003 .802
with Current
Income=1]
[Happiness 0a . . 0 . . .
with Current
Income=2]
Link function: Logit.
a. This parameter is set to zero because it is redundant.
In this table, regression coefficients and significance tests for each of the independent variables
in the model are depicted in detail. The regression coefficients are interpreted literally as the
57
predicted change in log odds of being in a higher (as opposed to a lower) group/category on the
dependent variable per unit increase on the independent variable. The positive Estimate is
interpreted in such a way that for each one unit increase on an independent variable, there is a
predicted increase in the log odds of falling at a higher level of the dependent variable. The
negative Estimate is interpreted in such a way that for each one unit increase on an independent
variable there is a predicted decrease in the log odds of falling at a higher level of the dependent
variable. For this dependent variable it was found that age groups of Under 18, 18-30 years, 31-
50 years and 51 to 70 years were significant positive predictor of interest. For each one unit
increase on the age group of under 18 years, there is a predicted increase of 6.495 in the log odds
of a person’s frequency in facing difficulties while doing freelancing. This indicates that a person
falling in the age group of under 18 years is more likely to face difficulties while doing
freelancing. Likewise, for each unit increase in the age groups of 18-30 years, 31-50 years and
51-70 years there is a predicted increase of 5.067, 6.764 and 6.552 in the log odds of a person’s
frequency in facing difficulties while doing freelancing.
The statistical significance of the variables is calculated using the p-value given by the model
output. Each of the ordinal scales has value <0.05 so it is statistically significant.
For the independent variable employment status, it was found that the categories of student and
home makers were found as significant positive predictor of interest. For each unit increase in
the students, there is a predicted increase of 4.217 in the log odds of a person’s frequency in
facing difficulties while doing freelancing. For one unit increase in the homemakers, there is a
predicted increase of 4.184 in the log odds of a person’s frequency in facing difficulties while
doing freelancing.
One ordinal scale of the independent variable monthly household income was also found
statistically significant. The respondents who have a monthly household income between
100,000 to 300,000 LKR were found as significant positive predictor of interest. For each unit
increase in the people who have a monthly household income in between 100,000 to 300,000
LKR, there is a predicted increase of 2.743 in the log odds of a person’s frequency in facing
difficulties while doing freelancing.
58
So, the independent variables which have a positive estimate and affect the frequency of
difficulties faced by freelancers are age, employment status and monthly household income.
Education is an independent variable with a significant predictor in the model but a negative
estimate. Therefore, it can be said that the categories of respondents having an education level of
less than high school diploma have a negative estimate. For each unit increase in the people who
hold an education level of less than high school diploma, there is a predicted decrease of 5.858 in
the log odds of a person’s frequency in facing difficulties while doing freelancing whereas the
for one unit increase in the people who hold a bachelor’s degree, there is a predicted decrease of
7.737 in the log odds of a person’s frequency in facing difficulties while doing freelancing.
The independent variable of fascination about freelancing also has a negative estimate. For one
unit increase in the respondents who would rather less fascinate the idea of freelancing, there is a
predicted decrease of 3.562 in the log odds of the respondents frequency in facing difficulties
while doing freelancing.
4.4.3 Willingness to adopt freelancing

The willingness to adopt freelancing if same income is earned every month was computed
through Ordinal Logistic Regression with the help of SPSS and the following output was
received.
Table 18 Ordinal Logistic Regression for Willingness to adapt freelancing
Case Processing Summary

N Marginal
Percentage
Willingness to adapt Very unlikely 3 3.0%
freelancing Rather unlikely 15 15.0%
Moderately 19 19.0%
Rather likely 15 15.0%
Very likely 48 48.0%
Age Under 18 31 31.0%
18-30 39 39.0%
31-50 15 15.0%
51-70 8 8.0%
>70 years 1 1.0%
59
Gender Male 34 34.0%
female 60 60.0%
other 2 2.0%
Marital status Single 34 34.0%
Married 51 51.0%
Divorced 3 3.0%
Widowed 5 5.0%
Separated 3 3.0%
Others 2 2.0%
Internet Connectivity Yes 79 79.0%
No 21 21.0%
Employment status Full time 26 26.0%
Part time 22 22.0%
Student 15 15.0%
Retired 5 5.0%
Self-Employed 5 5.0%
Home maker 23 23.0%
Others 1 1.0%
Difficulties faced Poor/no internet 7 7.0%
connection
Lack of computer 9 9.0%
knowledge
No idea of freelancing 6 6.0%
Lack of technical 32 32.0%
knowledge
No fixed earnings 46 46.0%
Children Yes 59 59.0%
No 29 29.0%
Education Less than High School 36 36.0%
Diploma
High School Degree 38 38.0%
College Degree 14 14.0%
Bachelor’s Degree 6 6.0%
Master’s Degree 5 5.0%
Doctorate Degree 1 1.0%
Monthly household Less than 60,000 LKR 32 32.0%
income 61,000-100,000 LKR 20 20.0%
100,000-300,000 LKR 12 12.0%
More than 300,000 11 11.0%
LKR
60
Computer knowledge Yes 80 80.0%
No 20 20.0%
Familiarity with Very unfamiliar 7 7.0%
freelancing Rather unfamiliar 17 17.0%
Moderately unfamiliar 36 36.0%
Rather familiar 8 8.0%
Very familiar 32 32.0%
Fascination Very less 8 8.0%
Rather Less 15 15.0%
Moderate 55 55.0%
High 14 14.0%
Very High 8 8.0%
Job preference Traditional job as full 25 25.0%
time
Freelancing as full 18 18.0%
time
Traditional job as full 45 45.0%
part time
Any other job please 3 3.0%
mention
No job at all 9 9.0%
Satisfaction with Very unsatisfactory 14 14.0%
Current job Rather unsatisfactory 31 31.0%
Moderately 43 43.0%
Rather satisfactory 7 7.0%
Very satisfactory 5 5.0%
Working from home Very less 13 13.0%
Rather less 11 11.0%
Moderate 31 31.0%
Rather high 34 34.0%
Very high 11 11.0%
Happiness with current Yes 32 32.0%
income No 68 68.0%
Valid 100 100.0%
Missing 0
Total 100
As we can see that the total number of observations in our data analysis set are 100. The number
of people who are willing to leave their current job if they receive the same salary while doing
61
freelancing in total comes out to be about 63% which is more than half of our sample size used
for this research.
Model Fitting Information

Model -2 Log Chi- df Sig.
Likelihood Square
Intercept 268.435
Only
Final 148.182 120.253 59 .000
Just as done for the first dependent variable. This model is used to check how good the model
fits the data. The Sig. is the p-value and shows the statistical significance of the model which in
our case is 0.00 which is less than 0.05 and hence the model is statistically significant.
Goodness-of-Fit
Chi-Square df Sig.
Pearson 5411.240 337 .000
Deviance 148.182 337 1.000
In this analysis, we can see that the Pearson chi-square test [5411.240, p= 0.000] is statistically
significant and the Deviance test [148.182, p= 1.0] is non-significant. Hence, the results suggest
that its approximately a good model fit.
Parameter Estimates
Estimat Std. Wald df Sig. 95% Confidence
e Error Interval
Lower Upper
Bound Bound
Threshol [Willingness to 6.248 9.448 .437 1 .508 -12.269 24.765
d Adapt = 1]
[Willingness to 9.635 9.527 1.023 1 .312 -9.037 28.307
Adapt = 2]
62
[Willingness to 12.141 9.559 1.613 1 .204 -6.595 30.877
Adapt = 3]
[Willingness to 14.011 9.582 2.138 1 .144 -4.769 32.791
Adapt = 4]
Location [Age=1] 7.736 3.428 5.092 1 .024 1.017 14.456
[Age=2] 6.803 2.264 9.030 1 .003 2.366 11.241
[Age=3] 10.700 3.055 12.272 1 .000 4.714 16.687
[Age=4] 20.022 6.782 8.717 1 .003 6.730 33.314
[Age=5] 8.505 10.775 .623 1 .430 -12.613 29.623
a
[Age=6] 0 . . 0 . . .
[Gender=1] 9.154 3.536 6.701 1 .010 2.223 16.084
[Gender=2] 13.991 3.895 12.905 1 .000 6.357 21.624
[Gender=3] 1.167 3.296 .125 1 .723 -5.292 7.627
a
[Gender=4] 0 . . 0 . . .
[Marital -3.966 4.142 .917 1 .338 -12.085 4.152
status=1]
[Marital -2.887 3.314 .759 1 .384 -9.381 3.608
status=2]
[Marital 12.910 4.202 9.441 1 .002 4.675 21.145
status=3]
[Marital 4.498 5.470 .676 1 .411 -6.224 15.220
status=4]
[Marital -.486 3.295 .022 1 .883 -6.945 5.972
status=5]
[Marital -8.613 6.784 1.612 1 .204 -21.909 4.683
status=6]
[Marital 0a . . 0 . . .
status=7]
[Internet -7.448 1.964 14.381 1 .000 -11.297 -3.599
Connectivity=1
]
[Internet 0a . . 0 . . .
Connectivity
=2]
[Employment -6.267 3.439 3.321 1 .068 -13.008 .474
status=1]
[Employment -8.656 3.509 6.086 1 .014 -15.534 -1.779
status=2]
[Employment -1.932 3.224 .359 1 .549 -8.251 4.388
status=3]
[Employment -25.263 8.332 9.193 1 .002 -41.594 -8.932
status=4]
63
[Employment -1.964 3.322 .350 1 .554 -8.476 4.547
status=5]
[Employment -6.996 3.736 3.507 1 .061 -14.318 .326
status=6]
[Employment 33.383 .000 . 1 . 33.383 33.383
status=7]
[Employment 0a . . 0 . . .
status=8]
[Difficulties -4.812 2.279 4.457 1 .035 -9.279 -.345
faced=1]
[Difficulties -3.225 2.050 2.474 1 .116 -7.243 .794
faced=2]
[Difficulties -9.557 3.167 9.107 1 .003 -15.763 -3.350
faced=3]
[Difficulties 6.742 1.569 18.467 1 .000 3.667 9.817
faced=4]
[Difficulties 0a . . 0 . . .
faced=5]
[Children=1] 2.827 2.314 1.493 1 .222 -1.708 7.363
[Children=2] -1.922 2.101 .837 1 .360 -6.039 2.195
[Children=3] 0a . . 0 . . .
[Education=1] -5.272 3.841 1.884 1 .170 -12.801 2.257
[Education=2] -4.636 3.901 1.413 1 .235 -12.281 3.009
[Education=3] -5.948 4.512 1.737 1 .187 -14.791 2.896
[Education=4] -7.311 5.170 1.999 1 .157 -17.445 2.823
[Education=5] 3.735 4.187 .796 1 .372 -4.470 11.940
[Education=6] 0a . . 0 . . .
[Monthly 2.164 1.029 4.423 1 .035 .147 4.181
household
income=1]
[Monthly -1.812 1.289 1.975 1 .160 -4.339 .715
household
income=2]
[Monthly 3.635 2.318 2.458 1 .117 -.909 8.179
household
income=3]
[Monthly 5.003 1.632 9.395 1 .002 1.804 8.203
household
income=4]
[Monthly 0a . . 0 . . .
household
income=5]
64
[Computer .216 1.635 .017 1 .895 -2.988 3.420
knowledge=1]
[Computer 0a . . 0 . . .
knowledge=2]
[Familiarity 7.559 3.422 4.880 1 .027 .853 14.266
with
freelancing=1]
[Familiarity .148 1.267 .014 1 .907 -2.336 2.633
with
Freelancing=2]
[Familiarity 6.229 1.694 13.516 1 .000 2.908 9.550
with
Freelancing=3]
[Familiarity 11.136 3.093 12.960 1 .000 5.073 17.198
with
Freelancing=4]
[Familiarity 0a . . 0 . . .
with
Freelancing=5]
[Fascination=1] 10.325 3.425 9.089 1 .003 3.612 17.038
[Fascination=2] -4.262 2.247 3.598 1 .058 -8.665 .142
[Fascination=3] -.032 1.597 .000 1 .984 -3.162 3.098
[Fascination=4] .558 2.060 .073 1 .786 -3.479 4.596
[Fascination=5] 0a . . 0 . . .
[Job 6.415 2.101 9.321 1 .002 2.297 10.533
preference=1]
[Job 2.965 2.058 2.076 1 .150 -1.068 6.999
preference=2]
[Job 5.101 1.985 6.602 1 .010 1.210 8.992
preference=3]
[Job 12.306 5.688 4.681 1 .031 1.157 23.454
preference=4]
[Job 0a . . 0 . . .
preference=5]
[Satisfaction 5.503 2.866 3.686 1 .055 -.115 11.120
with Current
Job=1]
[Satisfaction .230 2.227 .011 1 .918 -4.135 4.595
with Current
Job=2]
[Satisfaction 1.599 2.255 .503 1 .478 -2.821 6.019
with Current
65
Job=3]
[Satisfaction 6.839 3.137 4.754 1 .029 .691 12.987
with Current
job=4]
[Satisfaction 0a . . 0 . . .
with Current
Job=5]
[Working from -9.302 3.068 9.192 1 .002 -15.315 -3.289
Home=1]
[Working from 5.514 2.349 5.508 1 .019 .909 10.118
Home=2]
[Working from 1.156 1.635 .500 1 .479 -2.048 4.361
Home=3]
[Working from -.086 1.603 .003 1 .957 -3.227 3.055
Home=4]
[Working from 0a . . 0 . . .
Home=5]
[Happiness 3.765 2.313 2.651 1 .104 -.767 8.297
with Current
income=1]
[Happiness 0a . . 0 . . .
with Current
Income=2]
For this dependent variable, the age groups of under 18 years, 18-30 years, 31-50 years and 51-
70 years were all found positively estimated statistically significant. For each one unit increase
on the age group of under 18 years, there is a predicted increase of 7.736 in the log odds of a
person’s willingness to leave current job and adapt freelancing as full-time job. Likewise, for one
unit increase on the age group of 18-30 years, there is a predicted increase of 6.803 in the log
odds of a person’s willingness to leave current job and adapt freelancing as full-time job.
Moreover, with one unit increase on the age groups of 31-50 years and 51-70 years, there is a
predicted increase of 10.700 and 20.022 in the log odds of a person’s willingness to adapt
freelancing.
The independent variable of gender was also found as a significant positive predictor of interest.
For each one unit increase on the male gender, there is a predicted increase of 9.154 in the log
66
odds of a person’s willingness to adapt freelancing as full-time job. Similarly, for one unit
increase on the female gender, there is a predicted increase of 13.991 in the log odds of a
person’s willingness to adapt freelancing as full-time job.
One category of the independent variable marital status was also found as a significant positive
predictor of interest. For one unit increase on the widowed, there is a predicted increase of
12.910 in the log odds of a person’s willingness to adapt freelancing.
For the people having lack of technical knowledge, for one unit increase in this variable
category, there is a predicted increase of 6.742 in the log odds of a person’s willingness to adapt
freelancing.
For the respondents having an average monthly income of less than 60,000 LKR, for one unit
increase in this variable category, there is a predicted increase of 2.164 in the log odds of a
person’s willingness to adapt freelancing whereas with one unit increase in the respondents
having a monthly income of more than 300,000 LKR, there is a predicted increase of 5.003 in the
log odds of a person’s willingness to adapt freelancing.
Familiarity with freelancing was also found as a significant positive predictor of interest. For
each unit increase in the people who are very unfamiliar, moderate and rather familiar, there is a
predicted increase of 7.559, 6.229 and 11.136 in the log odds of willingness to adapt freelancing
respectively.
Fascination about freelancing was also found as a significant positive predictor of interest. For
each unit increase in the people who were very less fascinated about freelancing, there is a
predicted increase of 10.325 in the log odds of willingness to adapt freelancing.
Job preference was also found as a significant positive predictor of interest. For each unit
increase in the people preferring traditional job as full time, traditional job as full time and
freelancing as part time and other jobs, there is a predicted increase of 6.415, 5.101 and 12.306 in
the log odds of willingness to adapt freelancing.
67
Satisfaction with current job was found as a significant positive predictor of interest as well.
For each unit increase in the people who were very less satisfied with the current job and the
people who were rather satisfied with their current job, there is a predicted increase of 5.503 and
6.839 in the log odds of willingness to adapt freelancing.
Working from home was also found as a significant positive predictor of interest. For each unit
increase in the people who would rather less want to work from home, there is a predicted
increase of 5.514 in the log odds of willingness to adapt freelancing.
Internet connectivity is a significant independent variable but with a negative estimate. For one
unit increase in the people who had internet connections at home, there is a predicted decrease of
7.448 in the log odds of willingness to adapt freelancing.
Employment status is also a significant independent variable but with a negative estimate. For
one unit increase in the people working as part-time and retired people, there is a predicted
decrease of 8.656 and 25.263 in the log odds of willingness to adapt freelancing.
For the people having poor/no internet connection and no idea of freelancing, for one unit
increase in this variable category, there is a predicted decrease of 4.812 and 9.557 in the log odds
of a person’s willingness to adapt freelancing
Working from home was also found as a significant negative predictor of interest. For each unit
increase in the people who would very less want to work from home, there is a predicted
decrease of 9.302 in the log odds of willingness to adapt freelancing.
3.5 Results of the Model
Table 19 Statistically significant variables
Dependent Variable Ordinal Logistic Regression

Frequency of difficulties Age, employment status, monthly household income, education
faced in freelancing level, fascination about freelancing
68
Age, gender, marital status, difficulties faced while freelancing,
average monthly household income, familiarity with
Willingness to adapt
freelancing, fascination about freelancing, job preference,
freelancing
satisfaction with current job, working from home, internet
connectivity, employment status
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION AND

DISCUSSION
5.1 Conclusion
This section provides a short background of the research indicating the different stages through
which the research was conducted and as well as the purpose of conducting the research. Finally,
it summarizes the research with a short conclusion and a discussion about the topic as well as
recommendations which could be given for future research in the same area.
In this research, difficulties faced by the freelancers were analyzed using a short research with a
sample size of 100. The research was conducted using a questionnaire and the results were
gathered using Microsoft Excel and later on put in SPSS to analyze the collected data. The
questionnaire had 27 total questions out of which 16 questions were selected as independent
69
variables and 2 questions were selected as dependent variables. Each dependent variable was
analyzed with all the 16 independent variables. The method used to analyze the sample was
Ordinal logistic regression. This method was chosen since the questionnaire created had Likert
scales. The research is mostly qualitative, and the questionnaire included the questions related to
demographics and information technology.
After the data analysis was completed, SPSS gave results for the two chosen dependent variables
against 16 independent variables. The results were later on interpreted to find out the statistically
significant variables and their individual effect on the dependent variables.
5.2 Discussion
This section describes the main findings of the research with different constructed models
including their future implications. This section also discusses the importance of this research
and how does this research help in further analyzing difficulties of the freelance workforce in Sri
Lanka.
The significant findings of the research are that p-value plays a vital role in finding the most
statistically significant variables. The factors that influence the frequency of difficulties faced in
freelancing are “age”, “employment status”, “monthly household income”, “education level”
and “fascination about freelancing” while the factors that influence the willingness of people to
adapt freelancing are “age”, “gender”, “marital status”, “difficulties faced while freelancing”,
“average monthly household income”, “familiarity with freelancing”,” fascination about
freelancing”,” job preference”, “satisfaction with current job”, “working from home”,
“internet connectivity” and “employment status”. The factors are chosen based on their p-values
as calculated by the model output. The p-values help in picking the statistically significant
variables.
The statistically significant variables from our models show that the frequency of difficulties
faced by the freelancers in Sri Lanka are influenced greatly by almost all age groups, students
and homemakers especially in the employment status group, people having an average monthly
70
income between 100,000- 300,000 LKR, education level of people having less than high school
diplomas and bachelor’s degree.
Likewise, the willingness of people to adapt freelancing as a full time job in Sri Lanka depends
on the age groups almost all age groups, male and female gender, widowed people in the marital
status, difficulties faced during freelancing including lack of technical knowledge, no internet
and no idea of freelancing, average monthly income of less than 60,000 LKR and more than
300,000 LKR, familiarity with freelancing, fascination about freelancing, full time working
preference to traditional jobs and part time freelancing, less satisfaction with current job,
working from home, internet connectivity, employment status of students and retired people.
The model results help us to conclude that there are demographic factors as well as some IT
related issues which highly influence the freelancing workforce in Sri Lanka. The factors pointed
out by the models are the main indicators of the research which helped in analyze the difficulties
faced by the freelance workforce in Sri Lanka. There are certain indictors which are strongly
affecting the dependent variables while some indicators are not influencing the results overall but
some of the ordinal categories are affecting the predicted output.
The research could help the authorities in Sri Lanka in identifying the needs of the freelancers as
well as the factors which affect the freelance workforce directly or indirectly. It also describes
the difference in challenges faced by the freelance workforce in Sri Lanka as compared to around
the world by the in-depth review of the literature.
5.3 Limitations and Recommendations
One of the limitations in the research was a limited sample size which could have been a
hindrance in finding more statistically significant variables. A sample bias might be another
limitation which it is overcome then it will help in significantly improving the results to a great
extent. There are some models in the result output of SPSS which could be interpreted as well to
71
describe the significant indicators further in order to deduce the results which were not a part of
this research.
The recommendations that could be given at the end of the research is that a bigger sample size
with a broader range of population could give diverse results in the factors influencing the
freelancing industry in Sri Lanka. The way of data collection and the type of statistical analysis
could vary in doing the same research and could conclude with different variables which
influence the freelance industry in Sri Lanka.
Another recommendation that could be given is to overcome the identified factors that affect the
freelance workforce mainly in Sri Lanka. If these factors are overcome, then the frequency of
facing difficulties would reduce and the willingness to adapt freelancing as the main source of
income would increase to an extent as compared to the situation nowadays. In short, freelancing
depends vastly on technical knowledge and IT advancement in the current world which is
common in the developed countries but developing countries are slowly and steadily getting
there in terms of skill and awareness among the people which will only increase from this point
onwards and increase if the difficulties faced by the current freelance workforce are overcome.
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APPENDIXCIES
1. Questionnaire
Introduction
Freelancing in Sri Lanka has been a relatively new concept but gradually people have got the
awareness and have started opting it as a full-time job or a part-time job. There have been
76
different difficulties and problems faced by the freelance workforce in Sri Lanka. This study
focuses on the problems faced by the freelance workforce.
Instructions and Information
The survey questionnaire below will take approximately 10 minutes to answer. Please take your
time. The purpose of the survey is to find out the difficulties faced by the freelance workforce in
Sri Lanka and on what factors those difficulties depend upon. Be open minded and unbiased to
the questions. Thankyou
Demographics Section
Q. No Questions Preferred Choices

What is your Age? Under 18
18-30 years
31-50 years
51-70 years
>70 years
Prefer not to answer
Please choose your Gender: Male
Female
Other
What is your Marital Status? Single
Married
Divorced
Widowed
Separated
Others
Do you have Children? Yes
N
What is your Highest Education Less than High School Diploma
qualification? High School Degree
College Degree
Bachelor’s Degree
Master’s Degree
Doctorate Degree
77
What is your current Employment Status?
Full time
Part time
Student
Retired
Self-Employed
Homemaker
Others ___________
What is your net household income per Less than 60,000 LKR
month? 61,000-100,000 LKR
101,000-300,000 LKR
More than 300,000 LKR
IT and Freelancing Section
Q. No Questions Preferred Choices

Do you have internet connection at home? Yes
No
Do you know how to use Yes
Computer/Laptop? No
How familiar are you with freelancing? Very unfamiliar
Rather unfamiliar
Moderately
Rather familiar
Very familiar
How much does the idea of freelancing Very less
fascinate you? Rather less
Moderate
High
Very High
If you have to choose, which type of job Traditional job as full time
would you prefer? Freelancing as full time
Traditional job as full time and
freelancing as part time
Any other job please mention
No job at all
How satisfactory are you with your Very unsatisfactory
current job if you are working? Rather unsatisfactory
Moderately
Rather satisfactory
78
Very satisfactory
How much do you like the idea of Very less
working from home every day? Rather less
Moderate
Rather high
Very high
Are you happy with the earning of your Yes
current job? No
If given an opportunity would you like to Yes
earn as a freelancer as a part time job No
along with your current job? Can’t say depends on time
Would you like to opt freelancing as a Yes

full-time job if you earn as much as you No
do with the full-time job? Never
How likely would you be willing to leave Very unlikely
your job and move to freelancing if you Rather unlikely
get the same earning every month? Moderately
Rather likely
Very likely
How likely would you be willing to shift Very unlikely
to freelancing if the difficulties faced by Rather unlikely
freelancers are overcome in Sri Lanka? Moderately
Rather likely
Very likely
If you are not working as a freelancer but Poor/No Internet Connection
wanted to work, then what stopped you Lack of Computer Knowledge
from working? No idea of Freelancing
Lack of technical knowledge
No fix earning
Are you a freelancer or tried working as a Yes
freelancer? No
If yes, how long have been doing Less than 1 year
freelancing or did freelancing? In between 1-3 years
More than 3 years
In between 3-5 years
More than 5 years
How often have you faced difficulties if Very less
you have ever tried freelancing? Rather less
Moderate
Rather Often
Very Often
How often has your freelance work been Very less
79
interrupted by the cutting of power Rather less
supply? Moderate
Rather Often
Very Often
How often has your work been interrupted Very less
by the delay of payments because of Rather less
unavailability of PayPal? Moderate
Rather Often
Very Often
How often have you been unable to find Very less
work online due to biasness of the online Rather less
platform? Moderate
Rather Often
Very Often
Did you not opt freelancing as a full-time Yes
job because of the society/home No
pressures?
80

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ABSTRACT

1.2 Significance of the Research

1.4 Research Objectives

1. Analyze the advancement in the IT sector

1.5 Research Questions

1. How is the IT sector established in Sri Lanka?

1.6 Chapter Summary

Chapter 2 - Literature Review

Chapter 3 - Research Methodology

Chapter 4 - Data Analysis

Chapter 5 - Conclusion, Recommendation and Discussion

1.7 Digital Economy and IT Technology

2.3.2 Pros of Freelancing

2.3.3 Freelancing in Developing Countries

2.3.4 Increment in the Number of Freelancers

1.9 Freelancing in Sri Lanka

2.4.1 Economically Active Population in Sri Lanka

2.4.2 Jobs Market in Sri Lanka

2.4.3 Freelancers in Sri Lanka

2.4.4 Factors Affecting Freelancers in Sri Lanka

2.4.5 Advantages of Freelancing

1.10 Challenges Faced by Freelance Workforce Worldwide

1.11 Challenges Faced by Freelance Workforce in Sri Lanka

1.12 The Literature Gap

2.1 Introduction to Research Methodology

2.2 Introduction to Research Design

2.4 Research Approach

Surveys are mostly conducted by using a questionnaire or structured observation or structured

There are mainly two categories for surveys:

3.5.1 Target Population

3.5.2 Sample Size

The sample size for this study is about 100-110 participants.

3.5.3 Sampling Frame

3.5.4 Sampling Techniques

3.5.5 Data Collection Tools

3.5.6 Data Analysis Techniques

3.5.7 Data Presentation Tools

3.2 Descriptive Analysis

Table 1 The descriptive statistics of age

Table 2 The descriptive statistics of gender

4.2.3 Marital Status

Table 3 The descriptive statistics of marital status

Table 4 The descriptive statistics of children

Table 5 The descriptive statistics of education

4.2.6 Employment Status

Table 6 The descriptive statistics of employment

Figure 6 A pie-chart representing the descriptive statistics of various employment statuses

4.2.7 Monthly Household Income

Table 7 The descriptive statistics of monthly household income

Monthly Household Income

4.2.8 Internet Connectivity

Table 8 The descriptive statistics of internet connectivity

4.2.9 Computer Knowledge

Table 9 The descriptive statistics of computer knowledge of respondents

4.2.10 Familiarity with Freelancing

Table 10 The descriptive statistics of familiarity with freelancing

Familiarity with Freelancing

4.2.11 Fascination about Freelancing