AbstractResearch and development in business may be performed using quantitative, qualitative and or mixed-method based tools. In this report two examples of research and development for determining trends in the post-global-recession market are presented. One report allows for researchers to have an understanding of quantitative based research, while the other is a broad example of how qualitative research may be applied, to real life considerations.
Introduction
With respect to the recent trends in the global economy, it is safe to say that making money is different today than it was a few short decades ago. Innovations such as the Internet, transportation, materials, devices, etc. have made it much easier for individuals to sell product across international borders. This creates a market scenario in which firms must either adapt to a globalized system or face decline and expulsion from the world markets. In order to understand the processes that occur in business research and development two (2) reports are analyzed within the scope of this paper. One (1) report focuses on presenting a quantitative analysis of the new and “emerging” markets, while also taking into consideration the need for financial analysts to generate hard data that allows them to make better decisions for investment opportunities. In parallel, an additional paper provides a qualitative analysis of the current market in the same light as the first. However, the data is presented without true numerical results. This qualitative data is also beneficial in order to define non-quantifiable trends and to observe inconsistencies in the market. Both reports provide a good overview of the type of research that is typical in business related research and development. Hence, this is an interesting learning opportunity for one intending to obtain a general understanding of quantitative and qualitative research.
Investing in the “New Economy”: Mutual Fund Performance and the Nature of the Firm
The first report is a publication from the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, written by Swasti Gupta-Mukherjee. The author performs quantitative analysis by mining historical data. The author creates a defined time period for observing the best methods for investing in mutual funds, in what she terms as the “New Economy” (Gupta-Mukherjee, 2014). She has defined a quantifiable attribute for which data must lie within to be determined as relevant. Hence, the time period selected is 2008-2014. Due to the ending of the global recession (majority of nations), she has determined that this is a new point in time where investing in mutual funds is different than it was, previously. The data she obtains is from the top global firms that manage mutual funds. She analyzes their ability to add to their clients ROI, by simple means of observing their reported earnings (Gupta-Mukherjee, 2014). In addition, she selects the methods that have earned firms the largest ROI and then uses these numbers to validate her claim that some methods for obtaining a high level of return on mutual funds, is superior to another.
How Does the Market Value Toxic Assets?
Although the second article is published within a journal that is associated with mostly Quantitative analysis, this article is provided as a great qualitative case study. The author also uses literature review to determine the outcome of his study (Longstaff et.al, 2014). Hence, he would like to determine how investors feel about toxic assets. He defines toxic assets as investment opportunities that have previously received a low “score” or have historically brought about low ROI. In addition, he also limits the time frame in which data should be determined as relevant within his analysis. This creates a publication that characterizes a new post-recession market. The author conducts his study by obtaining interview data and commentary data. He does not utilize coding which is typical of qualitative analysis. In contrast he seems to pick key points out of interviews and publications that are unbiased but related to his topic. He then is able to make a firm conclusion that only certain investors that hedge on losses will obtain toxic assets as they will likely perform inverse type trading (Longstaff et.al, 2014).
Conclusion
This report has demonstrated how it is possible to utilize both types of research: Qualitative and Quantitative, in the field of business research and development. In business research and development is critical as it may allow for management to make an assessment of what is favorable for investment and what is not. Hence all individuals in the field should become familiar with how to read these types of journal articles, to decipher key information. In addition, serious analysts should also become very familiar with how to actually perform both types of research.
- Gupta-Mukherjee, S. (2014). Investing in the “New Economy”: Mutual Fund Performance and the Nature of the Firm. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 49(01), 165-191.
- Myers, B., & Longstaff, F. (2014). How Does the Market Value Toxic Assets? Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 49(2).
