Statement of the Problem
It is said that Foreign Direct Investment has both positive and negative impacts in the Economic Growth of Kazakhstan. Hence, these impacts must be investigated and lessons must be learned and derived from this study.
Purpose of the Study
This study will be conducted in order to determine the positive and negative impacts of Foreign Direct Investment in the Economic Growth of Kazakhstan, and provide meaningful lessons such as learning their effective marketing strategies.
This study will also aim to increase the awareness and provide a better understanding of the issues and problems concerning Foreign Direct Investment in order to contribute an effective approach in addressing these problems.
Significance of the Study
If the positive and negative impacts of Foreign Direct Investment in the Economic Growth of Kazakhstan will be determined, this study will be a benefit to other countries also planning to engage in Foreign Direct Investment activities. Also, if effectiveness is supported, this study will be significant in developing Kazakhstan as a productive and effective nation in the future.
Research Questions
Specifically this study will address the following questions:
1. What positive and negative impacts of Foreign Direct Investment in the Economic Growth of Kazakhstan were determined?
2. What specific alternatives or measures can be done to help improve the economy of Kazakhstan?
Assumptions
The research will be based on the following assumptions: (a) all participants will be utilizing the correct procedures as outlined in the guidelines for the specific methodology employed, and (b) all participants will answer questions honestly to the best of their ability.
Limitations
Time will be the greatest limitation to this research, which could hinder long-term outcome objectives. Environmental factors, such as socioeconomic status, will not be controlled, and this could create many variables within the research. As this study will utilize a small sample of respondents, the results may not effectively represent the general population.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Political Trends
Kazakhstan has experienced electoral and political transitions and crises in the last 12 months. There have been at least four political trends that have emanated from these political events. These are: (a) the cry for democracy and reforms; (b) increased popular and local-level assertiveness; (c) greater public accountability; (d) re-definition of the concepts of power and politics. Also, the forms of political economies have slowly shifted from a bipolar (big government-big business) to a tri-polar structure (authorities – private sector – civil society).
The implementation of the Free Trade Area, or FTA, which laid out a comprehensive program of regional tariff reduction, will be continuously implemented in phases through the year 2008 ( 2008). Over the course of the next several years, the programs in tariff reductions were made broader. Efforts to eliminate non-tariff barriers and develop common product certification standards were initiated. In addition, Kazakhstan also was able to formulate framework agreements for the intra-regional liberalization of trade in services. Industrial complementation schemes meant to encourage intra-regional investment were also approved.
Economic Trends
Despite the adverse economic trends in the first half of the year, Kazakhstan as a whole experienced relatively robust economic growth. It is estimated that Kazakhstan, taken together, posted a better-than-expected GDP growth of 4.5% last year, slightly higher than the 4.1% growth that they achieved in 2002 ( 2004).
Kazakhstan has also seen the risk-weighted capital adequacy ratios of their banking systems improve due to government-sponsored bank recapitalization programs, continued progress in financial restructuring, and improvements in financial risk management. The capital adequacy ratio of commercial banks in the country is now far higher than the 8% Basle norm. It ranges from about 14% in Astana and Pavlodar to about 20% in Almaty, with commercial banks reporting an average capital adequacy ratio of about 18%.
Social/Cultural Trends
With the rise in the middle to upper-middle class households in certain countries within Kazakhstan, there exists a strategy mismatch for not considering the potential for consumer market.
There have also been social and cultural trends that have been evident over the last 12 months. These include: (a) the irreversible rise of civil society among provinces in Kazakhstan; (b) the rise of civil society blends perfectly with a tri-polar structure of political economy; (c) the increase in the roles of intellectuals; and (d) the beginning of a period of introspection.
METHODOLOGY
This study will be conducted in order to determine the positive and negative impacts of Foreign Direct Investment in the Economic Growth of Kazakhstan. In this study, the interview method of data gathering will be utilized, with a combined total of 20 economic experts in Kazakhstan as participants.
Methods of Research to be Used
For this study, the descriptive method will be utilized. In this method, it is possible that the study would be cheap and quick. It could also suggest unanticipated hypotheses. Nonetheless, it would be very hard to rule out alternative explanations and especially infer causations. Thus, this study will use the descriptive approach. This descriptive type of research utilizes observations in the study. To illustrate the descriptive type of research, (1994) guided the researcher.
The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study.
To come up with pertinent findings and provide credible recommendations, this study will utilize two sources of research: primary and secondary. Primary research data will be obtained through this new research study. Questionnaire survey and in-depth interview will be conducted. On the other hand, the secondary research data will be obtained from previous studies on the same topic.
The Research Design
In order to come up with the most suitable research approaches and strategies for this study, the research process “onion” will be undertaken. This is because conducting a research is like peeling the back layers of an onion—in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the necessary data needed to answer the research questions and objectives, important layers should be first peeled away. With the said process, the researcher was able to create an outline on what measures are most appropriate to be applied in the study.
(2003) said that while it is not unusual for a researcher to first think of his research undertaking by considering whether one should, for instance, administer a questionnaire or conduct interviews, thoughts on this question should belong to the centre of the research ‘onion’. That is, in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the data needed to answer one’s research questions, there are important layers of the onion that need to be peeled away: the first layer raises the question of the research philosophy to adopt, the second considers the subject of research approach that flows from the research philosophy, the third examines the research strategy most applicable, the fourth layer refers to the time horizon a researcher applies to his research, and the fifth layer is the data collection methods to be used.
Figure 1 shows how the researcher conceptualized the research approach to be applied in this study by (2003), in order to come up with the pertinent data needed to answer the research questions stated in the first chapter, as well as to arrive to the fulfillment of this research undertaking’s objectives. Then again, the research philosophy that is reflected in this study is positivism. With this research philosophy, a researcher prefers to work with an observable social reality in order to come up with law-like generalizations similar to those produced by the physical and natural scientists (1998), and in this tradition, the researcher becomes an objective analyst, coolly making detached interpretations about those data that have been collected in an apparently value-free manner ( 2003). In addition, the emphasis is on a highly structured methodology to facilitate replication ( 1997) and on quantifiable observations that lend themselves to statistical analysis (, 2003). In here, the assumption is that the researcher is independent of and neither affects nor is affected by the subject of the research ( 1998; 1998).
Meanwhile, the second layer shows that this study has undertaken a deductive approach. Accordingly, this approach has five sequential stages: deducing a hypothesis; expressing the hypothesis in operational terms; testing this operational hypothesis; examining the specific outcome of the inquiry to either confirm the theory or indicate the need for its modification; and finally, modifying the theory in the light of the findings (if necessary) ( 1993, p. 19). Further, the deductive approach has a number of important characteristics. First, this approach is a search to explain causal relationships between variables, which consequently leading to the development of a hypothesis. Second, it involves the collection of a quantitative data (although it can, as well, use qualitative data), and these data are important to test a hypothesis that has been previously developed. The third characteristic of a deductive approach is that it controls to allow the testing of hypothesis. However, one must remember that with this approach, it is important that the researcher is independent of what is being observed—that is, the researcher should be objective and not subjective—so that the principle of scientific strictness will be pursued, as this approach emphasizes scientific principles. ( 2003) Also, it is important that concepts are operationalized, which will enable facts to be measured quantitatively. Finally, the deductive approach is generalization (e.g., to be able to generalize about regularities in human social behavior, one must be able to select a sufficient numerical size of samples). (, 2003)
Instruments to be used
A self-administered questionnaire, or the type of questionnaire that is usually completed by respondents ( 2003), had been constructed by the researcher to gather the needed data. To further enhance the study on the customer satisfaction, the researcher prepared a survey-questionnaire wherein the respondents graded each statement. Every statement constituted of four levels of responses namely very satisfied, quite satisfied, quite dissatisfied and very dissatisfied.
The decision was made to use a questionnaire for the data collection for this project due to the sensitivity of the information being obtained. It is important for the respondents to be open and honest in their responses. The use of the questionnaire provides the researcher with the ability to test the views and attitudes of the patients.
The survey-questionnaires also will use open-ended questions to obtain as much information as possible about how the interviewee feels about the research topic. Interviews will take between one and two hours. The questions that will be used during the interview will be based on the research questions for this project; they have been reviewed, refined and approved by the project supervisor. The researcher designed a semi-structured interview. Here, the researcher will encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements and to further elaborate on brief comments. The interviewer did not share his/her own beliefs and opinions.
Conducting the Semi-structured Interview
During the interview, the interviewer will encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements or to further elaborate on brief comments. More importantly, the interviewer will be objective and will not attempt, in any way, to influence the interviewer’s statements. In order to do this, the interviewer will not share his/her own beliefs and opinions. Also, the questions that will be thrown at the interviewees will be phrased clearly, so that interviewees can understand them, and they will be delivered in neutral tone of voice. The researcher will also avoid long questions, or those that are really made up of two or more questions, because as (2002) said, by asking long-questions, the tendency to obtain a response for each aspect a researcher wants to explore will be lost. The researcher will also avoid too many theoretical concepts or jargons, as the researcher’s understanding of such terms may vary from that of the interviewees. Also, during the interview, the researcher will be determined to establish trust by not being too assertive and by being attentive to the interviewees’ responses. Finally, the researcher will make sure that the interview will not last too long and will not consume much of the respondents’ time, as this may instigate uncooperativeness from the respondents.
Data Representative and Reliability
To ensure the reliability of interview results, a test-retest will be conducted, or the administration of the same test to the same set of interviewees on two different occasions will be conducted. This approach assumes that there is no substantial change in the construct being measured between the two occasions. Thus, two tests will also be conducted: a pretest or a pilot test shall be done and a post-test. Interviewees will be questioned twice themselves. Furthermore, the proposed approaches, structured interview and telephone questionnaire will be interview-administered in mode. This part will encourage credibility and accuracy in the interviews.
Description of the Data that will be Used in the Study
The study will also utilize secondary data. Secondary data include raw data and published summaries, as well as both quantitative and qualitative data. (2003) deduced that secondary data fall into three main subgroups documentary data, interview-based data, and those compiled from different sources. Documentary secondary data, accordingly, are the ones often used in research projects that also use primary data collection data methods, although such data can also be used on their own or be combined with other secondary data. Meanwhile, interview-based secondary data are those data collected by questionnaires that have already been analyzed for their original purpose; usually, such data refer to organizations, people or households and are made available as compiled data tables or as a computer-readable matrix of raw data.
Ethical Considerations
In keeping with the procedures and in the interest of maintaining the integrity of the proposed research, the researcher will make every effort to ensure that the ethical guidelines of the medical profession will be strictly followed. All data collected from the sites will be kept in a secure location. The names of the medical workers and their scores will not be revealed. The appropriate measures of the data will be obtained with the statistical instruments selected, and all results will be revealed in the study.
WORK PLAN AND TIMETABLE
Activity
Week
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Browse previous literature
· search for published literature (books, journals, periodicals)
· check on online sources
· contact groups or organizations that can provide additional information
Topic Selection
· base selection on literature
· develop possible topics of interest
· consult /meet with adviser
Definition of the Problem
Development of the Objectives
Selection of Methodology
· identification of the method to be used
· description of the participants
· identification of the research instruments
· description of the research procedures
Check the availability of resources
· determine the availability of the respondents
· acquisition of consent
· determine availability of library and online access
· development of data protection techniques
Verify the accessibility of the resources
· create schedule for the research process based on participants’ availability
Write the draft of the proposal
· create a proposal outline
· refer to research books for guidelines
· develop the proposal discussion based on the outline
· seek approval of the adviser
· do the necessary revisions
Prepare interview schedule and survey questionnaire
· develop questions for the questionnaire and interview based on the following: facilities, features and services
· design questionnaire in Likert format
· conduct validity tests
· seek approval of the adviser
· do the necessary revisions
Secure adviser’s approval
· submit final proposal, questionnaire and interview schedule
- do final revisions
Conduct research proper
· go to the research site; contact the selected population
· conduct the sampling technique
· identify all selected participants
Administer research tools
· distribution of research questionnaire
· conduct the interview; note down findings
Gather and analyze results
· compute for the descriptive statistics
· develop the acquired details into an analytical discussion
Do the necessary data presentation
· convert all data from the questionnaire into graphs
· support graphical presentations with the data from the interview and desk research
Interpret findings
Preparation of the final report
Formulation of conclusions and recommendations
· summarization of the entire study report
· identification of the major findings
· development of plausible suggestions to the main issue being studies
Preparation of the table of content, appendices
Editing and Final Formatting
- proofread report; check for typographical errors
Printing
· print final research report
· arrange details into chapters
· submission
REFERENCES
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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