Qualitative Research Method

Where:

Yt = the dependent variable Xt = the explanatory variable

α = the intercept and β = the slope (coefficient of the independent variable)

Ut = residual (error term)

The subscript (t) denotes to the time since t = 1, 2, 3, T

The most common method used for estimation above model is the ordinary least square (OLS) which aims at minimising the square of residuals. The OLS assumes that the dependent and error term are normally distributed. Also there is no relationship between Xt and Ut (Kutner & Neter, 2004; Ravishankar & Dey, 2002).

The quantitative analysis in Chapter Seven involved examining the impact of FDI inflows on economic growth in Sudan. To magnify the impact of FDI on economic growth, and factors determining the inflows and effectiveness of FDI, the researcher uses the Liner Regression Model in estimating the model parameters. It utilises the statistical package Linear Regression Model to obtain the results under evaluation, when the researcher collected data from Central Bank of Sudan. It examines the impact of FDI on the GDP, imports and exports for the period 1994 to 2010.

5.4.2 Qualitative Research Method

Qualitative Data Collection

The qualitative research interview seeks to describe the meanings of central themes in the life and world of the subject. The main task in interviewing is to understand the meaning of what the interviewees say (Kavale, 1996). A qualitative research interview

seeks to understand at both a factual and a meaning level, although it is usually difficult to interview at a meaning level (Kavale, 1996).

A standardised open–ended interview, where the same open questions are asked to all interviewees, facilitates faster interviews that can be more easily analysed and compared; closed fixed-response interviews is where all interviewees are asked the same questions and asked to choose answers from among the same set of alternatives.

This format is useful for those not practiced in interviewing.

Apart from the aim of attaining the research objectives, the interview questions were designed to examine the impact of governmental policies on foreign investors and provide insights into some of the key aspects of this thesis. This method of qualitative research was used to discover the obstacles that foreign investors may have to face while doing business in Sudan, and also used to analyse the institutional and governmental contribution to encourage FDI.

Interview Administration

In qualitative research, the sample is small and not chosen randomly. Rather, the choice of a sample is purposeful (Patton, 1996). In a qualitative survey (interview surveys specifically) it is very rare to determine the sample size, as there is very limited knowledge about the population from which the sample is taken. Thus, it is advised that the respondents or informants might be selected according to their relevance to the research topic rather than to whether they represent the population (Cohen et al., 2007).

Therefore, qualitative researchers tend to use non-probability or non-random samples.

Examples of non-probability sampling techniques are convenience sampling, quota sampling, purposive sampling and snowball sampling.

For this thesis, group of interviewees from both government and private sectors were chosen according to their expected knowledge on FDI and their relation to the investment field. Interviews with government bodies were specifically conducted by interviewing personnel from the specific department that was focusing on investment in Sudan.

121

The researcher prepared for the interviews. A list of interviewees was prepared with their contact details. Interviewees were approached by letter (see Appendix 2). Emails were sent to interviewees to explain the purpose of the interview, the format of the interview, an indication of how long the interview would take, and to provide the contact information of the interviewer.

Prior to the interview sessions, the interviewees were informed of the research and the subsequent use of the data. They were also reassured regarding the confidentiality of their information. The interviewees were interviewed using open-ended questions.

Notes and key points from the responses were taken, and they themselves were allowed to ask any related questions. After each interview, the responses were manually transcribed into a database allowing the researcher to identify and quickly analyse the themes and trends from the interviews.

As the researcher was satisfied with interviews, qualitative analyses of the results were carried out. Discussions on the interview data analyses are discussed below.

Data Analysis for Qualitative Method

Despite the diversity of qualitative methods, data are obtained through practical interviews. The analysis is based on a common set of principles: transcribing the interviews; immersing oneself in the data to give detailed insights into the phenomena under investigation; developing a data-coding system, and linking codes or units of data to form overarching categories or themes that can lead to the development of theory (Morse & Richards, 2002). Analytical frameworks such as the framework approach (Ritiche & Lewis, 2003) and thematic networks (Attride-Sterling, 2001) are gaining in popularity because they systematically and explicitly apply principles of undertaking qualitative analysis to a series of interconnected stages that guide the process.

Generating themes from data is common feature of qualitative methods and a widely used analytical method.

The procedures of analysis for the data collected through qualitative techniques are quite different. Qualitative data will be analysed with content data analysis. This

involves: data preparation and data-entry (transcript); the set-up of some type of classification scheme (codes), and the classification of data by different researchers in order to establish the reliability of the classification scheme. The transcripts are cut and then sorted. Each segment gets a code. Conclusions are made on the basis of this classification or further analysis in which relations are examined between different codes.

5.5 CONCLUSION

The researcher used a qualitative and quantitative method. Questionnaires were administered by the researcher to collect the data from convenient samples. The questionnaires had both closed-ended and open-ended questions. The samples characteristics included those key personnel in both private and public sector. A group of interviewees from both government and private sectors were chosen according to their expected knowledge on FDI and their relation to the investment field.

Interviews with government bodies were specifically conducted by interviewing personnel from the specific department.

The researcher describes the method applied in researching this thesis. In conducting this research, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods have been employed here. The case study approach has been chosen to investigate the measures taken by the government of Sudan to encourage FDI and whether there has been any significant growth in the amount of FDI according to the influence of public policies on inward FDI flows. The sampling procedure is described, followed by the means of data collection. Methods of data analysis and limitations of the research are discussed.

Finally, the framework for this research is introduced.

123

Chapter 6

ECONOMIC POLICIES AND FOREIGN TRADE IN