1. Doing Academic Research:
Design and methodology – an example of a
qualitative research project regarding bank
lending to SMEs in Singapore.
Keith Pond
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

2. Doing Academic Research
Generating the
BIG idea
4 February 2010
Designing the
research
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop
Planning the
fieldwork

3. 4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

4. Doing Academic Research
• Why?
Is it important? interesting? adding value?
What?
What is known already? What outcome is
intended?
• How? – Who?, When?, Where?
Method
Budget
Opportunity
Analysis
4 February 2010
Skills
Experience
Knowledge
Subjects
Access
Time relevant?
Budget
Opportunity
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop
Permissions
Access
Budget

5. What is the big question?
• No eureka! moment
• An iterative process, defining and refining
Literature
review
Methodology
Conceptual
model
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

6. “Standing on the shoulders of giants”
• Literature review
–
–
–
–
What is relevant?
What is available?
What is current?
What is the quality of
the research?
– Is the research
credible?
Academic / Scientific
Research
Government reports
Professional journals
Newspaper articles
Anecdotal evidence
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

7. The Singapore study
• Previous studies in UK, Germany and Ukraine.
• Static data on the market.
• Key models of bank lending / risk
– Baas and Shrooten (2006) – lending types
– Stiglitz (various) – credit rationing / market failure
• Specific papers
– Berry et al. (2004) – UK and EU banks
– Lane and Quack (2001) – UK and German banks
– Behr (2007) – German banks
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

8. Singapore in 2009
Population:
4.65m. (+1% p.a.)
Languages:
Mandarin (35%),
English (23%),
Malay (14%)….
GDP:
£144 b. (-2.6% in 2009)
Industries:
Manufacturing (26.8%)
Services (73.2%)
Exports
£150b.
Imports
£128b.
Inflation
0.5% (6.5% in 2008)
Source: CIA Factbook, Jan 2010
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

9. Key issues for banks
•
The external / legal / regulatory environment
– Compliance
– Society
– Technology
•
Competition
– Margins
– Response speed
– Market share
•
Information asymmetry
– Relationship benefits
– Credit assessment / credit scoring / Z scores
•
Moral Hazard
– Monitoring and collateral costs
– Insolvency risk
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

10. A conceptual model
External environment
Operating environment
Corporate resources
The lending
decision
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

11. So…….What is the big question?
• What are the influences on bank lending
decisions to SMEs in respect of risk
assessment?
– What is the extent of the influence?
– Do influences differ between countries /
cultures / markets?
• How can these findings help and guide
bank practice?
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

12. Worth doing?
• Mostly brainstorming up to now
• Is the answer worth the effort?
– How can findings impact on bank practice?
– Can teaching / learning be enhanced?
– Can theory be amended / focused?
– Does it advance knowledge?
– Can methodology be refined?
– Is it able to be published?
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

13. 4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
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14. Key research design issues
Concept /
Research
question(s)
Budget
Skills
Ethics
Methodology
Quantitative
4 February 2010
Qualitative
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

15. Quantitative research
• Measure what?
– Measure what is valued / Value what is measured?
•
•
•
•
Underlying mathematical concept?
Access to data?
Reliability / consistency of data?
Expected output?
– Statistical inferences and correlations
– Unlikely to infer causality
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

16. Qualitative research
• Case based
– Ethnographic / Observation
– Interviews
– Collection of relevant data
• Survey
– Sample?
• How to analyse the findings?
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

17. http://www.qsrinternational.com/
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

18. Research methodology and
analysis
interviews
1
2
3
Respondents’ answers
First level coding
Second level coding
Third level coding
Themes
Categories
Risk source
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

19. “Map” of findings - Ukraine
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

20. LEVEL 3
LEVEL 2
TRANSCRIPT
LEVEL 1
Excel – cheaper than N.Vivo
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

21. So what sort of responses do
we want?
• Genuine and authentic
– Informed consent
– Full permissions from organisation
• Representative
• Accurately recorded
– Notes / audio / video?
– Language issues?
– Reflexivity issues?
• Clear and able to be interpreted?
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

22. Other issues for interviews
• Same questions for all respondents
• Questions derived from the conceptual
model
– Process / Policy / Environment / Judgement
•
•
•
•
Priority questions first
Easy questions first?
Internal consistency
Payment?
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

23. The Singapore interview
schedule
Environment
Competition, regulation and the
market
Loan specification
Process and products
Loan allocation
Process and policy
Process / teams /
people
Personal discretion and influence
Borrower selection Specific risks and legal forms in the
market
Reasons for
allocation
Portfolio and CSR issues
Underlying values
Ethics and policy
4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

24. 4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop

25. The interview process
Apply to
banks
Informed
consent
Contact
individual
Set date
and time
Send
Transcript
The
Interview
Send
questions
4 February 2010
Transcribe
Make
changes
Analyse
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Research Workshop

26. 4 February 2010
ifs School of Finance
Research Workshop