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01/04/2022 dr.m_econ@uitm.kedah

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Lecture 2

Problem Identification

Introduction to broad problem area

Defining the problem statement

Information gathering

Research questions and objectives

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Lesson Outcome

– By the end of this topic, students should be able to:

 Identify a problem of research interest

 Describe the nature of that problem

 Generate a good problem statement

 Generate a set of research objectives

 Create a set of research questions

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Recall a research process

 A research must begin with a topic / issue. From a topic, you need to identify a problem.

 Do you have an area of interest?

 A problem can refer to any of the followings:

 Area of concern

 Situation or condition to be improved

 Something bothers your mind

 Difficulty that needs to be removed

01/04/2022 dr.m_econ@uitm.kedah

3 What is a problem? What is a problem?

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Socio-economic issues / difficulties / challenges

– What are the current concerns of the public?

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Broad Problem Area

– Think of the BIG PICTURE

• Consider your field: economics

– Which is your area of interest? Do you have any?

– What is the problem you are concerned with?

– Think of something you like to learn more, understand more – Consult text books, relevant journals or your supervisor

– Pick one based on (narrowing the focus):

– Interest and relevance

– Magnitude of work involved – Level of expertise

– you and your advisors

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6 Economics

Micro &

macroeconomics Micro &

macroeconomics Monetary economics Monetary economics Financial economics Financial economics

Labour economics

Labour economics Agricultural economics Agricultural

economics Health economics Health economics

Public economics

Public economics Regional economics Regional economics Industrial economics Industrial economics

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Public finance

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Government spending

• Govt final consumption expenditure

• Govt

operations

• Redistribution of wealth

• Transfer payment

Government revenue

• taxation

• Non-tax revenue

Deficit spending

• budget

• Surplus / deficit

Government debt

• Domestic

• foreign

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Corporate finance

8 Accounting

audit Capital budgeting

Credit rating agency Financial

statement Leveraged

buyout Mergers and

acquisition Financial risk

management Structured

finance

Venture

capital

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Personal finance

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Credit and debt

Employment contract

Financial

planning Retirement

Financial aid

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Broad topic to narrow topic

Broad topic Narrow topics

Efficiency and

productivity of firms / labours

Factors influencing the efficiency of commercial banks

Factors influencing the productivity of labour force in Malaysia

Performance of public sector

Factors behind the growth of public debt Impact of public debt on economic growth Sustaining Agricultural

development Factors affecting the supply chain of agricultural product

The impact of manufacturing growth on agricultural sector

Sustaining Malaysia’s

economic growth Factors influencing the growth of manufacturing sector

Effect of external sector on national income

Determinants of domestic investment in Malaysia Determinants of outflow FDI from Malaysia

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Examples of research artiles:

Source: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/finance-research- letters/recent-articles

– Xuan Vinh Vo and Craig Ellis, 2017.

An empirical investigation of capital structure and firm value in Vietnam.

– Danilo Drago, Caterina Di Tommaso and John Thornton. 2017.

What determines bank credit default swap (CDS) spreads

? Evidence from European and US banks.

– Wenlong Bian and Chao Deng. 2017.

Ownership dispersion and bank performance: Evidence from China.

– Nicholas Apergis. 2017.

Democracy and market crashes: Evidence from a worldwide panel of countries Pradit Withisuphakorn and Pornsit Jiraporn. 2017.

CEO age and CEO gender: Are female CEOs older than their male counterparts

?

Maria Gerhardt and Rudi Vander Vennet. 2017 . Bank bailouts in Europe and bank performance

– Naseem Ahamed and Nitya Nand Tripathi. 2016. Capital

structure determinants: an empirical study in a growing economy of the eme rging market

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Example of research articles

Source: International Journal of Economics and Business Research

– Mouldi Ben Amor and Mustapha Ben Hassine. 2017. The

relationship between unemployment and economic growth: is Okun's Law valid for the Saudi Arabia case?.

– Md. Tofael Hossain Majumder and Mohammad Jashim Uddin. 2017. The determinants of profitability of nationalised banks in Bangladesh.

– Ilias A. Makris. 2017. Analysing

the effect of macroeconomic characteristics, on firm performance: evidence from selected c ountries of

Eurozone

– Jordan French. 2016. Economic determinants of wine consumption in Thailand.

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How much choice you

have

Your motivation

Regulations and expectations Your subject

or field of

study The size of

your topic The time

you have available The cost of

research

The resources you have available Your need

for support

Access issues Methods for

researching

Issues to consid

er

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What to research:

– Stereotype approach?

– Reverse psychology?

– A step beyond?

– New knowledge?

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Never try a topic that you

believe can change the

world !!!

WHY???

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Information gathering

– Do you really understand the nature of the problem?

– Have you generated and refined research ideas?

– Have you identified potential variables involved?

– Are the variables measurable or not?

– Do you have access to the data?

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Generating research ideas

Techniques for generating and refining research ideas

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Rational Thinking Creative Thinking

Examining your own strengths

and interests Keeping a notebook of your ideas

Examining staff research

interests Exploring personal

preferences using past projects

Looking at past project titles Exploring relevance to

business using the literature

Discussion Relevance trees

Searching the literature Brainstorming Scanning the media

Source : Saunders et al, 2012, p 31.

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Defining a problem statement

Research as a problem-oriented approach

Problems can be identified as evidence that objectives are not being achieved.

Thus a problem can be identified by referring to a set of objectives

But the two concepts, objectives and problems, are two sides of the same coin.

We can start either with objectives or problems and come to the same conclusions. Normally starts with a problem

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the basic

question is ‘how do we know we

have got a

problem?

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Examples of objectives to be achieved

– Malaysia sets an objective of economic growth of 4% in 2017.

– Maybank plans to achieve a 5% loan growth in 2017.

– Malaysian government sets a 3% budget deficit of GDP in 2017.

– BNM targets an inflation of 3% in 2017.

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Research questions and objectives

– Research ideas must be turned into research projects

– Defining research questions is not a straight forward matter (Saunders et al, 2012). The research questions will lead to research objectives.

– Consider a research idea about the outflow of capital from Malaysia to abroad and the following set of questions:

 “What is the trend of capital outflow from Malaysia for the last 20 years?”

 “When does the outflow of capital from Malaysia exceed the inflow of capital into Malaysia?”

 “What are the reasons for capital outflow from Malaysia?”

 What is the impact of capital outflow on Malaysian economy?

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– Consider a question that commences with

 What

 When

 Where

 Who

 How

 Why

 To what extend

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Examples of research ideas and resulting research questions

Research ideas Research questions

Outflow of FDI and investment

incentives in the host country Do the tax incentives offered by Vietnam have any impact on the outflow of FDI from Malaysia?

Corporate social responsibility and firm

performance What is the impact of CSR upon Bank

Rakyat performance?

The value of a currency and trade

balance To what extend the trade balance

affect the currency value?

Internet and banking operation What is the impact of internet transaction on the banking performance?

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Writing research objectives

– Research question is about the issue or problem that you want to study.

– Research objective is about how to operationalise the question i.e. to state the steps you intend to take to answer it.

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Criterion Purpose

Transparency The meaning of the research objective is clear and unambiguous.

Specificity The purpose of the research objective is clear and easily understood.

Relevance The research objective’s link to the research question and wider research project is clear.

Interconnectivity The research objectives illustrate the steps in the research process from its start to its conclusion.

Answerability The intended outcome of the research objective is achievable.

Measurability The intended product of the research objective will be evident when it has been achieved.

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Ways to think of a research topic

– Ask your supervisor, manager, colleagues, clients, customers etc – Look at previous research works of one’s research area

– Develop some of your previous research or your practice at work – Related to your other interests

– Think of a title

– Start from a quote that engages you – Follow your hunches

– Draw your self a picture or a diagram – Just start anywhere

– But be prepared to change direction

Source: Blaxter, Hughes and Tight (2001)

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References

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