Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MBA Internship Report in Marketing Research
MBA Internship Report in Marketing Research
Submitted to
Professor Golam Mohammed Chowdhury
Chairman, Internship & Placement Program
Supervised by
Dr. M Z Mamun
Professor and Director
Submitted by
Noman Ahmed Khan
Roll No. 16
MBA 41 (D)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all I must thank Dr. M Z Mamun, Professor & Director, IBA for his insisting on the brevity of the
report. He helped me determine the objective of the report and guided me through to get to the end. He
made me grateful with his valuable suggestions from time to time during my internship. I can never forget
his fatherly guidance and his utmost friendly and sincere attention toward me.
The second person to acknowledge will surely be my supervisor at SRGB: Mr. M Saidul Haq, Managing
Director of SRG Bangladesh Limited. He has been a great support from the choice of the topic, learning
of different part of research and understanding the difference between theory and practice.
Special thank goes to Mr. Ziauddin Kamal, Senior Research Executive and Mr Emrul Kayes, Manager,
HR for providing me every kind of information related to my study.
I really should thank every other employee of SRGB, whom I found during different phases of my
internship. Most of them have been very open and friendly with me and provided me with the answers I
needed from them.
Lastly I would like to thank my classmates working in OrgQuest and the Nielsen Company Bangladesh
Limited for providing me with brief but useful information about the practices in their organization.
iii
Sincerely yours
Noman Ahemd Khan
Roll # 16
Batch 41(D)
iv
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................ vii
1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Origin of the Report............................................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Objective............................................................................................................................................ 1
1.3 Methodology....................................................................................................................................... 2
1.4 Scope................................................................................................................................................. 2
1.5 Limitations.......................................................................................................................................... 2
5.0 Critical Assessment of the Methodology of the Project Awareness and Acceptance of UK
Qualifications in Bangladesh....................................................................................................22
5.1 Background of the study.................................................................................................................. 22
5.1.1 Definition of the Business Problem............................................................................................ 22
5.1.2 Research Objectives................................................................................................................. 22
5.2 Methodology..................................................................................................................................... 23
5.2.1 Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Quantitative Study..............................................23
5.2.2 Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Qualitative Study (KII and IDI)............................25
5.2.3 Criticism on FGD....................................................................................................................... 26
5.2.4 A Mixed-Methodology Approach to the Study............................................................................27
v
vi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Revenues of Research and Consultancy Firms by Services.........................................4
Figure 2: Growth Rate of Research and Consultancy Firms by Services.....................................4
Figure 3: Groups of Research and Consultancy Players by Size and Origin...............................5
Figure 4. Percentage of Market Share Depending on Size of Businesses...................................6
vii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report has been written with a focused ultimate goal of identifying the gaps between theory and
practice of research in SRG Bangladesh Limited. It has been found that the effectiveness of a research
firm SRGB in preparing research works fairly supported by theory practitioners. Difference between
theory and practice is a very old phenomenon which we can see here too. But it can be concluded easily
that though the practice is not perfectly similar with the suggestions from theory, the practice will work
effectively to bring out the result, which is the goal of all research works.
Market research and consultancy is an old art which is becoming more important in Bangladesh day by
day. The activities of market research include defining marketing opportunities and problems, generating
and evaluating marketing ideas, monitoring performance, and understanding the marketing process. At the
same time management consultancy refers to both the industry of, and the practice of, helping
organizations improve their performance, primarily through the analysis of existing business problems
and development of plans for improvement. Organizations hire the services of management consultants
for a number of reasons, including gaining external (and presumably objective) advice, access to the
consultants' specialized expertise, or simply as extra temporary help during a one-time project, where the
hiring of more permanent employees is not required. Internship opportunity in a market research and
management consultancy house can be considered a great opportunity for a student to learn some most
important and effective skills.
Bangladesh is comparatively new in Market Research and Management Consultancy sector. We can find
very few big players and a number of small players here. But the industry is expanding day by day. The
total revenue is also increasing every year. Mainly four companies can be considered the topmost players
in this industry. One of them SRG Bangladesh Limited is the company where the author completed his
internship.
The Survey Research Group of Bangladesh [SRGB] was initiated in October 1987 as a Management and
Industrial Consulting house. Since the early 90s, SRGB ventured into providing Qualitative and
Quantitative Research Services. Since then SRGB has successfully conducted hundreds of studies ranging
from broad based sectoral studies to micro level case studies for domestic and international clients.
SRGB maintains a countrywide panel of more than 800 male and female Field Investigators, who are
recruited locally resulting in substantial cost efficiency. Moreover, local investigators ensure operational
efficiency and accuracy in collecting relevant information. In terms of organizational philosophy, to
remain updated with the rapid changes in the global survey research scenario and to benefit from the
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hard-earned experience of developed economies, SRGB remains in constant touch with a number of
overseas firms engaged in research and consulting.
Most of the assignments handled in SRGB were long-term projects that had already been started. Some
were in the beginning phase and some were in their final stages. Some of them are also a type of
continuous research with several waves. The discussed research study that was used to prepare this report
is Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh. It was an ongoing project. It
therefore made sense to continue doing what the rest of the team was doing (taking interviews of different
types and writing those down). It required all three interns from IBA to take interviews of different
people. At the very beginning tough job of taking face to face interviews was assigned. Some visits to a
private university (BRAC University for this author) and a multinational (Novartis Bangladesh Limited)
helped the job done. Then the qualitative part commenced. A 7 day tour to Chittagong was made to take
the KII of a number of Deans and department heads. The tour was successful with nice opportunities to
learn interview and communication skills. Then again a 5 day tour to Rajshahi, the land of heat and
mango. It was also a very successful tour with acquiring of huge experiences. Finally different top
management personnels from different organizations and universities like University of Dhaka,
International Islamic University Chittagong Dhaka Campus, Square, Grameenphone, Dhaka Bank,
BMET, UGC etc. were interviewed.
ix
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Market research and consultancy is an old art which is becoming more important in Bangladesh day by
day. The activities of market research include defining marketing opportunities and problems,
generating and evaluating marketing ideas, monitoring performance, and understanding the marketing
process. At the same time management consultancy refers to both the industry of, and the practice of,
helping organizations improve their performance, primarily through the analysis of existing business
problems and development of plans for improvement. Organizations hire the services of management
consultants for a number of reasons, including gaining external (and presumably objective) advice,
access to the consultants' specialized expertise, or simply as extra temporary help during a one-time
project, where the hiring of more permanent employees is not required. Internship opportunity in a
market research and management consultancy house can be considered a great opportunity for a student
to learn some most important and effective skills.
1.1 Origin of the Report
As a compulsory part of Internship program, this particular report is being prepared by the author on the
proposed topic Critical Assessment of the Research Methodology used in SRG Bangladesh Limited.
The intention was to give an opportunity to the students to gain some real world experience by working
in a practical environment. The internship supervisor was Mr. M Saidul Haq, Managing Director, SRG
Bangladesh Limited and the faculty advisor was Dr. M Z Mamun, Professor & Director of Institute of
Business Administration.
1.2 Objective
The Primary Objective of this report is:
To measure the gap between theory and practice for the selection of the methodology.
1.3 Methodology
The research will be composed of literature review for theories and qualitative research mainly. An
extensive study of the research methodology literature will be the base. Then the practical experiences
and observations from the project worked for during internship will be compared with the literature.
Finally qualitative in-depth interviews and key informant interviews will lead us to our answers.
1.4 Scope
SRGB selects and follows different kinds of methodology for different projects. It changes with the
change of projects. Here only the study project in which the author worked- Awareness and
Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh will come under consideration. The author will try to
reveal the theoretical requirements to selection of methodology for this particular study project and the
practical happenings in this project only. The other two studies which were taking place at SRGB at the
time of internship will not be considered though the author worked for those in some few instances.
1.5 Limitations
Some limiting factors were faced while conducting the research and preparing the report. These could
be summarized as follows:
No secondary information was found, such as, any report or research papers on this
particular issue.
For finding out reasons behind gap between theory and practice, enough number of
projects could not be studied due to shortage of time and scope.
Market segments
In Germany there are 14700 management consultancies and sole practitioners. They employ 68000
consultants.
The market for management consultancy in Germany has shown rapid growth throughout the last
years. Total revenues rose from 16.4 bn DM in 1997 to 18.8 bn in 1998, 21.3 bn in 1999, and 23.8 bn
DM in 2000. Although the annual growth rate declined from 14.6 % in 1998 to 11.8 % in 2000, it is still
significantly above the growth rate of the German GDP, being below 3 %. However, growth is not
equally spread across the market segments.
Today management consultancy is much more than the traditional strategy consulting. The
Bundesverband Deutscher Unternehmensberater e.V. (BDU, Association of German Management
Consultants) distinguishes between consulting for strategy, organisation, IT and human resources.
Analysis of these segments reveals their different contributions to overall revenue and growth:
These figures indicate that IT- and organisational consulting fuelled growth in 1999. This was driven by
the current developments in the IT-sector. The BDU names year 2000 solutions, Euro-implementations,
SAP implementations and e-business activities. These changes in the customers' environment change
their industries more or less and hence create enormous needs for consulting. Without the impact of
Y2K and Euro-implementation, the growth of IT consulting slowed down in 2000. However, this sector
remains the most important field of consulting with 43.4% of total consulting revenues in 2000. The
4
BDU predicts, that the proportion of consulting projects that include at least partly some e-commerce
consulting, will grow from 38% in 2000 to about 50% in 2001.
All in all the whole industry shows a dynamic growth. Besides the influence of IT this is driven by
globalisation, technological change and the deregulation of markets.
2.1.2
Player groups
In recent years the industry has seen the entry of many non-traditional consultants into the market.
Barriers to entry are considerably low with little investments into fixed assets needed. In addition on
the contrary to the auditing business there are no legal regulations limiting the entry to this profession.
Many former employees of large consultancy firms or senior managers from other businesses start up as
sole practitioners or small consulting firms. On the other hand, many companies from outside the
consulting industry enter this market. These are mainly IT-companies as IBM or Cap Gemini, but also
designers, technologists, marketing agencies, employment agencies and others.
This is an ongoing trend. By 2000 the market share of large consultancies has risen to 47%, share of
medium sized firms fell to 36% and share of small firms fell to 17%. This is because large firms show
by far the highest growth rates with an average of 18% in 2000. Medium and small firms grew by an
average of 9% and 2.5% only.
With this small number of large dominant players the market can be characterised as an oligopoly.
Competition is especially strong within the market segments and within the player groups. Due to the
limited growth rates in some segments and the entry of new players there is also a rising competition
across the segments and player groups. Smaller specialised consultants start to serve customers of all
sizes. The large consultants discover small and start-up enterprises as customers, seeing them as future
clients for further consulting and auditing activities.
According to this competition consultancies have developed different strategies. The large
consultancies establish themselves as generalist. They offer their clients a one-stop-shop service for all
the consulting needs they might have. Thus their focus is on long-lasting customer relationships and
cross-selling opportunities. Many smaller and medium sized consultancies have specialised in certain
areas of expertise like IT, HR or business recovery. A number of them operate only in their home area.
An important area of competition in consulting business is the supply-side. Consultancies compete
heavily to attract highly qualified people. Demand for these people is rising due to the growth
aspirations of the large consulting firms. The German member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers created
6
more than 1000 additional jobs during its first year after the merger and still continues to grow at high
rates. On the other hand, many graduates from universities and business schools choose to join start-ups
in the "new economy" in 2000.
2.2 Research and Consultancy Industry in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is comparatively new in Market Research and Management Consultancy sector. We can
find very few big players and a number of small players here. But the industry is expanding day by day.
The total revenue is also increasing every year. Mainly four companies can be considered the topmost
players in this industry. One of them SRG Bangladesh Limited is the company where the author
completed his internship, description of that company is coming latter. Here we find short description of
other three firms.
2.2.1 ORG-Quest Research Ltd (OrQuest)
ORG-QUEST RESEARCH LTD. (OrQuest) is a joint venture company with ORG India (pvt) Ltd. It
has been founded in 2003, though serving from 1994. Number of employees is 40 and interviewers is
300. We are a research & consulting firm with strong survey research and analytical skills that bring to
bear a blend of insights and Pan-Asian experience of a highly competent team of professionals. We
have been providing research services to our valued clients including MNCs, UN agencies,
development partners (World Bank, ADB, IFC-SEDF, Swisscontact, etc.), local conglomerates,
international research agencies, etc. in the country since 1994, using both quantitative and qualitative
techniques. Our qualitative wing owns a viewing facility with one way mirror in Dhaka. With a
dedicated team of researchers, having client and agency side experience and multi country exposures,
we offer high standard market, social and opinion research services in the areas mentioned under the
fields of operation later.
2.2.2 Sirius Marketing and Social Research Ltd.
Sirius is a full service research organization and offers the entire spectrum of consumer and media
research, social research, syndicated Media and Panel research services and business-to-business
research conforming to international standards. It has been founded in 1995 and it has 60 employees
and 350 interviewers presently. The company is an associate of IMRB International and has full access
to IMRB's expertise.
Today, Sirius is one of the leading research agencies and the clientele includes multinationals based in
Bangladesh, bilateral agencies and international companies. The company has conducted large scale
national level studies (all Bangladesh) and has field offices in the 6 Divisional headquarters of
Bangladesh. The company pioneered syndicated media research in the country that includes TV
7
audience measurement, National Media Study (covering all media), TV Ad tracking,and has in place a
national level household consumer panel since 2005.
2.2.3 The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company, offering services in over 100 countries, is the world's leading provider of market
research, information, and analysis. By delivering unrivalled combinations of insights, advanced
analytical tools and integrated marketing solutions, Nielsen provides complete views of consumers and
their markets.
Nielsen Consumer Research helps clients address the issues of brand health, shopper loyalty and
behavior, marketing mix management and consumer motivations. By integrating proprietary research
applications with in-market understanding from our retail and consumer panel services we dont
conduct consumer research in a vacuum, and are uniquely positioned to deliver business solutions in
their market context.
BASES, a service of The Nielsen Company and a world leader in STMs, uses industry-leading
forecasting models, rich databases, and proprietary analytical techniques to consult on a range of
business issues, including innovation strategy, concept and marketing plan optimization, and initiative
commercialization. BASES is widely known for expertise in the CPG sector, but tools have been
adapted to sectors such as pharmaceuticals, alcohol, quick-serve restaurants, and more.
uncompromising excellence of service of SRGB have duly earned high level of customer satisfaction
and reliability.
The total range of services from SRGB is delivered through three distinct operating divisions:
Centre for Research & Management Consulting
Centre for Continuing Professional Development
Centre for Data Processing & Analysis
All three centres have both intellectual and logistical resource-base that is unmatched in the country.
Each of the centres is highly professional, unparalleled in functional efficiency and strategically
organized to provide ample scope for future expandability and relentless enhancement of service
quality.
The Centre for Research & Management Consulting concentrates on providing consolidated business
management and development research solutions, while the Centre for Continuing Professional
Development offers wide range of skill development programs for practicing and prospective business
professionals to enhance their experience and functional capability. Finally, the Centre for Data
Processing & Analysis offer a spectrum of digitization services, which covers almost every document
conversion process including data, text, PDF, illustrator and XML/SGML conversion services.
3.2 Organization Chart
The organization is headed by the CEO or President. It has an organogram which is slim but
centralized. Here a diagram of the organization chart has been shown in the next page.
10
Automotive Research
Agricultural Research
HR Management Service
Media Research
Mystery Shopping
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Retail Study
Healthcare Research
11
Among the available services here we only highlight the qualitative and quantitative research.
3.4 Qualitative Research
SRGB has a specialist qualitative research division. This division forms a core part of the overall
business. This division has a team with an experience base of over 15 years. Keeping in mind the need
to bring in different perspectives in understanding human behavior, this team has been selected from
diverse backgrounds such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, marketing, economics and so on.
The qualitative division also has its own specialized field structure that handles all aspects of the field
operations. No fieldwork is sub-contracted. In addition to our own team of highly experienced and
motivated researchers, the qualitative division draws into the expertise of international consultants in
the fields of qualitative research and communication. This allows us access to global perspective as
well.
The qualitative division has handled hundreds of studies spanning categories as diverse as FMCG
products, financial products, durables, automobiles, media, telecommunication and so on. It has
considerable experience in handling the following types of research studies:
Segmentation studies
Positioning research
The experience pool also includes studies among a wide variety of target groups ranging from
housewives, chief wage earners, children, teenagers, young adults, different socio-economic groups
including high net worth individuals; specialist groups such as corporate, specific professions, etc.
The qualitative research division boasts of having a large number of specialized techniques such as:
Conflict Groups Peer Interactions Triads Paired Interviews Slice of life Semiotics Extended
creativity groups Hybrid Approaches Benefit Inhibitor chains Thematic Apperception Tests Mind
Mapping Value Equation World views Bring your Homework etc.
3.5 Quantitative Research
The quantitative research division is a specialized research with a combined experience of over 18 years
in handling quantitative research in a wide range of areas - such as FMCGs, personal grooming
products, automobiles, durables, telecom, IT media, pharmaceutical products, cigarettes, retail, financial
12
products and web research. The team, of over 15 quantitative researchers is adept at handling all aspects
of the research right from problem definition, to the analysis and data interpretation, to providing
implementable solutions to the clients needs.
The use of a wide array of tools and techniques, such as multivariate techniques adds value and helps
provide meaningful insights to the client. A team of experienced programmers ensure a quick and
efficient data summarization and interpretation, which ensure a quicker turnaround time for the project.
At any point of time, there are 800+ investigators for collecting data and they are spread across the
country. High quality in data collection is ensured through a systemized and stringent data collection
procedure-training sessions, mock calls, pilot interviews, back-checks by the company staff ensure that
data collected adheres to the quality standards laid down by the company.
Specialized teams of experts in various fields with in-depth knowledge of the global market add value
to the project. We have consultants with a global experience of at least 20 years in the following areas.
Customer satisfaction
Mystery shopping
Product testing
Retailing sector
Insurance sector
Banking sector
Client
CPTU, IMED
Ministry of Planning
Govt. of Bangladesh
AED, USA
[USAID funded
AI.COMM Project]
Period of Study
June 2009 to
June 2013
[Ongoing
Study]
June to July
2009
[Ongoing
Study]
April to
June 2009
[Ongoing
Study]
April to
June 2009
13
Pfizer Inc.
USA
British Council
Dhaka
HSBC Bangladesh
Dhaka
Grunfeld, Desiderio,
Lebowitz,
Silverman & Klestadt LLP
USA
10
11
12
13
US Embassy
Dhaka, Bangladesh
[Ongoing
Study]
March to
October 2009
[Ongoing
Study]
January to
July 2009
[Ongoing
Study]
August 2008 to
December 2009
[Ongoing
Study]
May 2008 to
June 2009
[Ongoing
Study]
January to
December 2009
[Ongoing
Study]
January to
December 2009
[Ongoing
Study]
January to
December 2009
[Ongoing
Study]
January to
December 2009
[Ongoing
Study]
October 2008
to
March 2009
Cisco, USA
Telenor, Norway
Microsoft, USA
BHP-Engineering, Australia
14
Quest International, UK
UNICEF Bangladesh
Commonwealth Secretariat, UK
CARE Bangladesh
Swisscontact-Katalyst
OXFAM Bangladesh
Concern Bangladesh
DFID Bangladesh
C: Domestic Clients
Unilever Bangladesh
Olympic Industries
A K Khan Group
Mutual Group
Baraka Group
SQ Group
Givenchy Group
Grameen Bank
Grameen Uddog
Grameen Shamogree
Tripti Industries
Brothers Group
Syngenta
Giant Group
Bell Corporation
Anlima Group
Grameen Telecom
Grameen Phone
Worked for about five years as the Consultant/National Monitor for Industrial
Commodity Program, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and
Canadian High Commission, Dhaka.
ICMCI representative to ECOSOC, United Nations (UN) for Geneva/Vienna and AsiaPacific region.
Widely traveled person and visited more than hundred countries/cities of the world.
19
It was an ongoing project. It therefore made sense to continue doing what the rest of the team was doing
(taking interviews of different types and writing those down). It required all three interns from IBA to
take interviews of different people. At the very beginning tough job of taking face to face interviews
was assigned. Some visits to a private university (BRAC University for this author) and a multinational
(Novartis Bangladesh Limited) helped the job done. Then the qualitative part commenced. A 7 day tour
to Chittagong was made to take the KII of a number of Deans and department heads. The tour was
successful with nice opportunities to learn interview and communication skills. Then again a 5 day tour
to Rajshahi, the land of heat and mango. It was also a very successful tour with acquiring of huge
experiences. Finally different top management personnels from different organizations and universities
like University of Dhaka, International Islamic University Chittagong Dhaka Campus, Square,
Grameenphone, Dhaka Bank, BMET, UGC etc. were interviewed.
20
This was a new project altogether. The preparation and translating of questionnaires were taking place.
Tough job of doing most effective translation to Bangla of the English questionnaires were done
effectively.
4.2.3 Global Opinion Poll on Social, Economic and Political Issues 2009, Project Green,
Wave 9
This is a regular project taken by SRGB every year. The author participated in a three day internal
training session to see how the field coordinators trained and assigned their jobs. It is a survey that takes
place throughout Bangladesh. The real world way of survey was learned here.
4.2.4 Mystery Shopping on Banking Products and Service
It was done for HSBC Bank. The author visited GEC and Agrabad branch in Chittagong where he
observed the customer care quality of the branches and wrote a report with assigning points.
4.3 Benefits of the Program
Benefit from the internship programme was more than what was expected in a number of ways:
Having a rare opportunity to use the knowledge and skills that had been acquired back at the institute
to provide critical real world research method information.
Career-wise, the internship programme undoubtedly enriched my curriculum vitae (CV). Also, having
gotten a chance to interact with most staff, it gave an insight on how to shape the career towards a
research job in the near future.
The internship programme gave me a chance not only to work with SRGB but also a chance to learn
from the research experts and consultants.
Working with people from different parts of the world was a rare chance that you cant easily get
from any other organization in Kenya. Therefore to me this was another opportunity to make friends
and share ideas.
To conclude, the internship at SRGB was a rewarding experience and provided with some new
perspectives that was not came across during studies back at the institute.
21
The business was defined as Although UK qualifications are popular and growing, recognition and
acceptance by employers, government and higher education providers is variable.
We need to be able to:
1. Identify where recognition and acceptance are weak but critical
2. Identify new sectors for growth
3. Review our product portfolio so that it meets market requirements.
5.1.2 Research Objectives
To identify the main reasons for the variable levels of awareness and acceptance.
Assess the impact of the growth of the private sector and the continued policy of
privatizing of state run assets by the government.
Apart from subject knowledge what skills are essential and how are they currently
assessed
Number of students from English medium schools applying for places- at private
universities (plus which ones) at public universities and overseas.
5.2 Methodology
After turning the idea into a research question and reviewing any necessary literature, the method of
research must be considered. The methodology selected should be the one that will be the most
effective to collect the data needed to answer the research question or to test the hypothesis. Research
studies may be either quantitative or qualitative, although it is possible to use both approaches in the
same research project and this has been used in this project on UK qualifications.
The choice of research design must be appropriate to the subject under investigation (Patton, 1987). So
it should be investigated that whether a research on education really admits the opportunity of blending
two methodologies.
5.2.1 Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Quantitative Study
In quantitative research the data collected takes the form of measurements or counts which can be
statistically analysed. The process of quantitative research follows standard procedures, methods, forms
of analysis and reporting the results of the research undertaken. This standardisation maximises
objectivity.
Quantitative methods can be used for comparison of subgroups and analysis is generally conducted
through statistics. The method is based on meanings derived from numbers and results are numerical
and standardised data.
23
They are also strong in measuring descriptive aspects, such as the composition of the
students.
These strengths however, are not the sole prerogative of quantitative designs. Indeed, many of the
arguments for the use of quantitative research, especially in an academic climate where resources are
limited, have pragmatic origins in terms of allowing large scale data collection and analysis at
reasonable cost and effort, as well as providing statistical "proof". So this problem of large scale data
collection could also be proved unwise in this situation. So this shows a negative opinion about the
choice of quantitative methodology for this study.
A further weakness of quantitative approaches lies in their tendencies to take a "snapshot" of a situation,
that is to measure variables at a specific moment in time. Acceptance of UK may be affected by
temporal changes, such as the current image of the country, or the quality of opposition (like USA,
Australia), which cannot always be identified within a single quantitative study.
According to Colon, Taylor, and Willis (2000) qualitative research emphasizes participant
observation whereas quantitative methods rely on the research instrument through which
measurements are made (p. 2). Weiler (2001) adds that if teachers want deeper understandings of
their students and their learning, they will not be able to achieve this through quantitative research-they will need to be intimately involved in the process (p. 415). Qualitative research would provide
this opportunity. As Labuschagne (2003) says, qualitative data provide depth and detail through direct
24
quotation and careful description of situations, events, interactions and observed behaviours (p. 1) or
what Jones (1997) describes as empathetic understanding (p. 3). Winter (2000) concurs that while
quantitative research limits itself to what can be measured or quantified, qualitative research
attempts to pick up the pieces of the unquantifiable, personal, in depth, descriptive and social aspects
of the world (p. 8). So now it looks like the decision for this project should be more inclined toward
qualitative approach.
5.2.2 Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Qualitative Study (KII and IDI)
research is very appropriate here. Both KII and IDI seem appropriate. The only problem that could be
marked is the number of qualitative interviews for this particular study; it is about around 200, which is
practically most difficult to make possible with effectiveness. Again accumulating such a high number
of interview results to make a summary is also so difficult. But answer could be found on the real world
practice to satisfy customer needs.
5.2.3 Criticism on FGD
By focus group discussions, we refer to a group of 4-12 people brought together to participate in the
discussion of an area of interest. Trained moderators run the discussions, and records are made of the
course of the discussions.
Focus groups, of course, are a popular (some even think too popular) method in marketing research
(Nancarrow, Vir, & Barker, 2005), but they have had a role in serious social science research since the
seminal work of R. K. Merton and P. Lazarsfeld (Hollander, 2004; Morgan, 1988). During the past
decades, they have established their role in sociology and communications research. In recent years,
they have also become increasingly popular in applied fields such as nursing research, urban and
community studies, development studies, and educational research (e.g., Barbour & Kitzinger, 2001;
Gibbs, 1997).
A distinctive feature of focus groups is that they create research data by generating social interaction.
This is done by assembling a group of participants to discuss a specific topic and then observe how the
ensuing discussion evolves (Boddy, 2005). The underlying assumption is that meaning is created in
social interaction (e.g., Wilkinson, 2001). Organized and focused group discussions provide a context
for participants to articulate the meaning of their experiences and elaborate on them in a collective
sensemaking process. Of course, focus groups are also used to obtain individual viewpoints; it is typical
to instruct discussants that the aim is not to reach consensus, but to explore the different viewpoints that
emerge. The method is popular in marketing research because it is a quick and easy way to gain a
wealth of perspectives on a novel or relatively unexplored topic (Threlfall, 1999). By observing,
recording, and analyzing the interaction in the group, researchers can also gain an understanding of how
the participants approach the topic and what kind of language they use to frame the issues. Interaction
also allows participants to pose questions to each other and to redefine their own views as the
discussion evolves.
The result of FGD depends sometimes largely on the skill of the moderator, which is a variable thing. In
this study on awareness and acceptance of UK qualifications it may suffer to this problem due to time
and budget constraints.
26
Although the use of a single methodology has been advocated by a number of authors, many of the
supporting arguments are decidedly pragmatic, such as time constraints, the need to limit the scope of a
study, and the difficulty of publishing the findings (Creswell, 1994). Here in this study, only time
constraint is the factor which could have been considered for a single methodology approach.
Denzin and Lincoln (1994) write that "objective reality can never be captured" (p. 2). To assume that
even with binocular vision one can "have" all the information, or even "know" what is true is a
dangerous positivistic position. The rub between the two methodologies comes when we analyze the
assumptions behind each one. These are clearly spelled out in detail by Denzin and Lincoln (1994, pp.
4-6) and can be summarized as follows. The differences between quantitative and qualitative research is
that the first is positivist, limiting, unable to capture the subjects' perspective, abstract, and based on flat
descriptions. Qualitative research, the critics claim, tends to be unscientific and based on slipshod
methodologies. It's proponents claim that it offers a postmodern and post-positivist view more in
keeping with prevailing social attitudes. They also claim that such a research method is able to capture
the voices of many and provide what Geertz (1973) called a "thick description" of everyday life.
The crucial aspect in justifying a mixed methodology research design is that both single methodology
approaches (qualitative only and quantitative only) have strengths and weaknesses. The combination of
methodologies, on the other hand, can focus on their relevant strengths. The researcher should aim to
achieve the situation where "blending qualitative and quantitative methods of research can produce a
final product which can highlight the significant contributions of both" (Nau, 1995, p. 1), where
"qualitative data can support and explicate the meaning of quantitative research" (Jayaratne, 1993, p.
117). By adopting the following assumptions, the researcher should ensure that the final product
maximises the strengths of a mixed methods approach. So the research team of SRGB should be given
credit for mixing nicely qualitative and quantitative to get the most out of it if we look over the
difficulty of implementation and greater sample size for its qualitative part.
27
28
Bibliography
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http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR5-1/colon.html
Creswell, J. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. London: Sage.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Introduction: Entering the field of qualitative research. In N. K.
Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 1-17). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Hollander, J. (2004). The social context of focus groups. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 33(5),
602-637.
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research: Philosophy, politics and practice (pp. 109-123). London: Sage.
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Labuschagne, A. (2003). Qualitative research airy fairy or fundamental? The Qualitative Report, 8(1),
100-103. Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR8-1/labuschagne.pdf
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(2005). A rose by any other name may smell as sweet but group discussion is not another name for a
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Threlfall, K. D. (1999). Using focus groups as a consumer research tool. Journal of Marketing
Practice, 5(4), 102-105.
Wilkinson, S. (2001). How useful are focus groups in feminist research? In R. S. Barbour & J. Kitzinger
(Eds.), Developing focus group research: Politics, theory, and practice (pp. 64-78). London: Sage.
Winter, G. (2000). A comparative discussion of the notion of validity in qualitative and quantitative
research. The Qualitative Report, 4(3-4). Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR43/winter.html
29
srgb
1.1.1.1
House 45, Road 7, Block F, Banani, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh Tel: 9871839, 9871927 Fax: 9871436
E-mail: srgbangladesh@gmail.com, srgb@btcl.net.bd Web Site: http://www.srgb.org
Respondents Name
Division
Code
Rajshahi
1
Khulna
2
Dhaka
3
Chittagon
4
g
Barisal
5
Sylhet
6
___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________
1Male
Private University2
Association 3
Multinational 5
Local
Female
2
Iterviewers Name
____________________________________________________________
Supervisors Name
____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
30
Issues to be Discussed
Objective:
1. To know about acceptance and recognition of UK education in Bangladesh
2. To identify the main reasons for the variable levels of awareness and recognition of
UK qualifications.
3. To assess the impact of the growth of the private sector and the continued policy of
privatizing of state run assets by the government.
Sl
1
Questions
Which foreign qualifications are known in Bangladesh?
Which UK qualifications are known in Bangladesh?
Apart from subject knowledge, what skills are essential and how are they currently
assessed?
What are their relative importance or weight levels?
Do you test level of English of your prospective employees? If yes, How?
Do you provide training to improve level of English of your current employees?
If yes, how do you provide the training?
Education
Universities
Degree or subject
Others
What are the reasons behind those polices?
31
What are numbers of professionals having degrees from following categories of universities
are working at your company?
Local
o Private
o Public
USA
Australia
Canada
UK
Others
What are company policies regarding professional development of their staff in long term as
well as short term?
What are the areas your organization provides trainings to employees? How are they
delivered?
Are their variations in policies of professional development for staff members having
different categories of degrees?
Would you please comment on the variations in salary/benefit/promotion based on
categories of degrees at your industry level?
In general, what are the ratios between students coming from Bangla and English medium
schools applying for private and public universities of Bangladesh, and universities of
overseas countries?
Would the market accept vocational award which are tested through locally marked practical
but moderated overseas?
Would these have the same level of acceptance as qualifications tested through formal
exams?
1
0
How are following factors shaping the demand of education provided by top private, UK, and
other foreign universities and professional bodies:
accessibility
availability
variety of degrees
price competitiveness
quality
32
1
1
lead time
name or
brand recognition
Recognition of by prospective employers
Getting immigration
Others
What are the sectors where recognition and acceptance of UK education is weak, but market
opportunities are high and UK universities are capable to serve them?
Why are recognition and acceptance weak?
How should UK universities address them?
What is the attractiveness of UK/foreign university education through local study or couching
centers?
What could be likely public policies shaping delivery of UK/foreign university education
through local study or couching centers?
1
2
What are the areas of opportunities where UK education and service providers could be
competitive?
1
3
At what level awareness and acceptance are affecting the UK education in Bangladesh?
1
4
What are the key reasons for the variable levels of awareness and recognition of UK
education in different subject areas?
1
5
What are the opportunities and constraints faced by the private sector education to grow in
Bangladesh?
What are policy constraints to improve capacity, quality, and diversity of degrees?
What are relative weights of these constraints?
What are quality levels of private education?
Why are the areas the quality is suffering in private universities?
How is public policy framework forcing private universities to improve quality of education?
What is the role of competition among private universities to improve the quality of
education?
Is the revenue earned by private universities enough to improve quality education to a
satisfactory level?
Is their any development to deal with access to finance issue to make private education
more affordable among top grade students?
What is the
33
Why are the limitations of private universities to improve the quality of education?
How much progress private universities are making to improve the quality of education?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of graduates of top five private universities of
Bangladesh?
How is acceptance level of private university education changing in Bangladesh?
How far is it becoming a substitute to foreign university education?
What are the impacts of the growth of the private sector and the continued policy of
privatizing of state run assets by the government on UK education?
1
6
What are the opportunities of addressing potential market failures (i.e, imbalance between
supply and demand) in providing quality education in the private sector?
How far the imbalance between supply and demand of quality education provided by private
universities?
How far private university management and governance committed to address quality
issues of private university education?
How far universities can mobilize resources to address constraints to quality education?
Is willingness to pay of the society for quality education good enough to finance the delivery
of such education?
How far the public policy can play conducive role to improve the quality?
34
srg
bbb
1.1.1.2
House 45, Road 7, Block F, Banani, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh Tel: 9871839, 9871927 Fax: 9871436
E-mail: srgbangladesh@gmail.com, srgb@btcl.net.bd Web Site: http://www.srgb.org
Respondents Name
Division
Code
Rajshahi
1
Khulna
2
Dhaka
3
Chittagon
4
g
Barisal
5
Sylhet
6
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Type of University
Public
Gender
Interviewers Name
1
Male
1
Private 2
Female
2
____________________________________________________________
35
Supervisors Name
____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
36
Issues to be Discussed
Objective:
4. To know about acceptance and recognition of UK education in Bangladesh
5. To identify the main reasons for the variable levels of awareness and recognition of
UK qualifications.
6. To assess the impact of the growth of the private sector and the continued policy of
privatizing of state run assets by the government.
Note: Private and public universities mean private and public universities of Bangladesh
only
Sl
1
Questions
Which foreign qualifications are known in Bangladesh?
Which UK qualifications are known in Bangladesh?
Apart from subject knowledge, what skills are essential and how are they currently
assessed?
What are their relative importance or weight levels?
In general, what are the ratios between students coming from Bangla and English
medium schools applying for private and public universities of Bangladesh, and
universities of overseas countries?
How is English tested in the admission test by different categories of universities?
Would the market accept vocational award which are tested through locally marked
practical but moderated overseas?
Would these have the same level of acceptance as qualifications tested through
formal exams?
1
0
1
1
How are following factors shaping the demand of education provided by top
private, UK, and other foreign universities and professional bodies:
accessibility
availability
variety of degrees
price competitiveness
quality
lead time
name or
brand recognition
Recognition of by prospective employers
Getting immigration
Others
What are the sectors where recognition and acceptance of UK education is weak,
but market opportunities are high and UK universities are capable to serve them?
Why are recognition and acceptance weak?
How should UK universities address them?
What is the attractiveness of UK/foreign education through local study or couching
centers?
What could be likely public policies shaping delivery of UK/foreign university
education through local study or couching centers?
1
2
1
3
What are the areas of opportunities where UK education and service providers
could be competitive?
At what level awareness and acceptance are affecting the UK education in
Bangladesh?
What are the main sources of knowledge to know about UK education?
1
4
What are the key reasons for the variable levels of awareness and recognition of UK
education in different subject areas?
1
5
What are the opportunities and constraints faced by the private sector education to
grow in Bangladesh?
What are policy constraints to improve capacity, quality, and diversity of degrees?
What are quality levels of private education?
Why are the areas the quality is suffering in private universities?
How is public policy framework forcing private universities to improve quality of
education?
38
What is the role of competition among private universities to improve the quality of
education?
Is the revenue earned by private universities enough to improve quality education
to a satisfactory level?
Is their any development to deal with access to finance issue to make private
education more affordable among top grade students?
What is the acceptance level of qualifications provided by private universities
among
Local private companies
Multinationals
Government organizations
Foreign job markets
Foreign universities
Immigration authorities of USA, UK, Canada, Australia, etc
Why are the limitations of private universities to improve the quality of education?
How much progress private universities are making to improve the quality of
education?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of graduates of top five private universities
of Bangladesh?
How is acceptance level of private university education changing in Bangladesh?
How far is it becoming a substitute to foreign university education?
What are the impacts of the growth of the private sector and the continued policy
of privatizing of state run assets by the government on UK education?
What are the impacts of the growth of the private sector and the continued policy
of privatizing of state run assets by the government on UK education?
1
6
What are the opportunities of addressing potential market failures (i.e, imbalance
between supply and demand) in providing quality education in the private sector?
How far the imbalance between supply and demand of quality education provided
by private universities?
How far private university management and governance committed to address
quality issues of private university education?
How far universities can mobilize resources to address constraints to quality
education?
Is willingness to pay of the society for quality education good enough to finance the
delivery of such education?
How far the public policy can play conducive role to improve the quality?
39