Blockchain
Application in Bank Risk Mitigation Framework
1 MSc FinTech with Business Analytics: Research Skills For Research Project or Work Placement Contents ❖ Part 1: Introduction To Research Skills For Research Project or Work Placement ❖ Reading List ❖ Motivation ❖ Introduction to Research ❖ Research Content ❖ Project Management ❖ Plagiarism ❖ Part 2: Choosing A Research Question ❖ Starting Research Questions Choice ❖ Importance of Research Questions ❖ Choosing A Broad Topic ❖ Choosing A More Specific Topic ❖ Example: Choosing a Research Question 2 Contents ❖ Part 3: Literature Review ❖ Purpose of a Literature Review ❖ What is a Literature Review? ❖ How To Review Papers ❖ Structuring the Literature Review ❖ Conducting a Literature Review: Example ❖ Part 4: Conclusion ❖ Key Points for Research ❖ Indicators of Good/Bad Research 3 Introduction To Research Skills For Research Project or Work Placement Part 1 4 Reading List 5 ❖ Recommended books ❖ Research Methods for Business Students ❖ Saunders, M et al. ❖ Prentice Hall,2012, 6th Edition ❖ Available online ❖ Succeeding with your Master’s Dissertation: a step-by-step handbook ❖ John Biggam ❖ Maidenhead: Open University 2008 ❖ Available online ❖ Research Method and Methodology in Finance and Accounting ❖ Bob Ryan, Robert W.Scapens, Michael Theobald, Viv Bettie ❖ Thomson: 2002; 2nd Edition ❖ Research is very much a practical subject ie learn research by doing research and seeing examples, rather than reading textbooks on how to do research Motivation Research skills are needed for work placement or research project modules: this lecture’s content relevant to either. Qu. why bother doing research? Useful for future jobs useful for interviews eg talk about specific area in detail many students put research project on CVs Learn about an area of interest at a sophisticated level eg trading Opportunity to form links with industry/firms tell them doing a research project and would like to work on industry problem -way to develop industry links for future careers, as well as enhance your CV only small inputs from firms required can work with small/startup firms 6 Motivation Qu. why bother doing research? (cont…) Experience of academic research Pursuing PhD/research career now or later Transferable skills for industry Communication/report writing Research skills increasingly being valued in industry Analytical skills Information analysis etc. 7 Introduction to Research ❖Qu. What is the definition of research? ❖ No simple and well accepted definition ❖ A contribution to knowledge ie new information Eg finding a new relation in stock prices such as “price momentum” , “small firm” effect Create new model eg Black-Scholes option pricing model, or Discovering a new theory such as “efficient market hypothesis” of markets Qu. What does research involve? Meeting supervisor: update on progress, ask questions etc. Using your own independence and initiative modules are taught in classrooms/textbooks but research is done on your own eg reviewing papers, thinking new research questions, doing practicals etc. 8 Introduction to Research Basic process for conducting research (1) Choose a research area and research questions (hypotheses) (2) Conduct a literature review to see What research has been done in that area? What are the gaps of knowledge? After literature review you may change your research questions (v.common). (3) Propose a method to investigate research questions (eg regression) and data required (eg stock price data) (4) Analyse results and draw conclusions eg stock price related to GDP etc. 9 Research Content Basic content for any research writing: Above is just a simple guide; if your module/assessment dictates a particular content/structure then you should follow that 10 Section Abstract Introduction Literature Review Research Design and Methodology Results and Analysis Conclusions and Recommendations Bibliography Research Content Abstract summarises entire research Aims of what you are investigation key findings/conclusions Learn how to do abstract by looking at example abstracts Qu. why include abstract in journal papers, dissertations etc.? Introduction Introduces general area, sets background, gives motivation/relevance for work Introduces research questions What are you specifically investigating? What is your hypothesis? A good research question can lead to a good research project11 Research Content Literature Review (see later) ❖ reviews and critiques current research literature in chosen area of investigation ❖ identifies gaps in research knowledge and this leads to giving research questions Research Design and Method ❖ What model/method are you using for investigation? Regression, option pricing model etc. ❖ What data required eg stock price data? What time period? Results and Analysis Present and analyse results, explaining any relationships eg stock price decline due to covid, inflation etc Articulating clearly any analyses is important: make it clear so research contributions clear12 Conclusion summarise key finding/contributions No specified number but aim for approximately 3 key contributions each contribution does not need to be a major discovery (most journal papers do not achieve 1 major discovery) limitations and scope of future research Research Content 13 Bibliography Students think bibliography not important. Qu. why important? Shows you’ve read around=> know research area and able to identify good research qu.s able to do good literature review. Citing references validates a statement/idea, otherwise its validity can be questioned. Use good references/sources academic journals, academic books (not non-academic sources eg newspapers) try to use recently published work, important/highly cited publications. Ask library about citing and referencing text Research Content 14 Writing style Clear: can I understand your writing? important otherwise no-one understands your work eg Black- Scholes paper was finished in 1969 but published in 1973. Use paragraphs, correct length sentences Paragraphs approx. 3 -5 sentences. Specific: eg the stock price “increased a lot” or “increased 5% in 1 trading day”. Concise: use the minimum words to communicate without vagueness or losing clarity. Writing should be well organised/structured organised structure, numbered and labelled sections, subsections, diagrams, tables etc…. Research Content 15 Generally under-rated by students but: Students generally run out of time with research Qu. How many real world projects finish on time and on budget? Research quality can be more dependent on time/project management than research ability for students some researchers suggest key to business success is not ‘ideas’ but execution management. Difficulties in project managing research knowing when to stop on a particular section Literature review can never finish, experiments can never finish, etc…. but you need to stop to move onto next section setting over-ambitious/unrealistic targets Eg want to do a good job so spend too much time on literature review instead of spending more time on other chapters Project Management 16 Difficulty in managing research (cont….) spending too much time exploring and thinking rather than writing up research Eg spending too much time reading around to identify research questions, instead of focussing on finishing project Research is a result orientated task: reach your targets eg. complete writing up section 1 by week 1, complete writing up section 2 by week 2 etc. Do not do manage time with setting specific goals eg work on section 1 in week 1 (no result specified). Note: don’t get too fixated on planning because unexpected problems will disrupt planning eg problems with practicals, etc. Project Management 17 80-20 rule/Pareto’s Law: it has been empirically observed that 80% of outputs occur from 20% of inputs Think about past exam revision? What 20% of time period counted for 80% of work output? Think about what 20% of research time period counts for 80% of student output? In general, think what key inputs give maximum outputs (ie marks gained)? Read: “80/20 Principle” by Richard Koch, “4-hour workweek” by Tim Ferriss You can use effective working strategies for research, studies, and for the rest of your life… Project Management: Working Effectively 18 ❖Plagiarism involves taking the words or ideas of other people and presenting them as your own ❖ It's an assessment offence that the University takes very seriously ❖All your assessments go through the Turnitin software which highlights sentences, paragraphs which have been copied and also gives the source (includes previous student papers, web, books, journal articles etc) ❖Consequences ❖ You can potentially get penalised by getting reduced marks or 0 ❖To avoid plagiarism cite and reference your work Plagiarism 19 Choosing A Research Question Part 2 20 Starting Research Questions To start any research you need to choose some research questions Effectively gives the research objectives of research Method of choosing research questions: 1)Find a broad topic eg banking 2)Narrow/focus your topic to an area of interest to investigate eg digital finance in banking 3)IDENTIFY an interesting question to investigate and where there is a GAP in the knowledge Qu. what is an interesting question to investigate? A question that is of importance or interest to industry, society or academia Qu. what is a gap in the knowledge? Areas not covered in research papers/textbooks. Eg impact of covid on digital banking in finance 21 Choosing good research qu. leads to good research content Try to keep a v.focussed/narrow research area as this generally leads to good research => focussed research qu.s important Journal papers provide good examples of this improves research quality Broad research questions tend to have (but not always) research that lack depth andso are lower quality Focussing reduces workload because only need to investigate a focussed area for literature review, methods, analysis. Importance of Research Questions 22 Choosing a Broad Topic ❖What is your area of interest? ❖ Explore topics using some of the following journals ❖ Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Corporate Finance, Review of Finance ❖ Any “peer-reviewed” journal ❖ Course material: lecture notes, textbooks etc, ❖ News: Financial Times, Bloomberg News, CNN.com, local broadcast news ❖ Internet: these are sources of ideas but keep in mind many resources vary in quality and reliability. ❖ Examples ❖ Modelling/Forecasting Financial Markets, ❖ Stock Indices: S&P 500, FTSE All Share ❖ Interest Rates ❖ Cryptocurrencies 23 Choosing a Broad Topic ❖Remember that a research study can: ❖ replicate an existing study in a different setting eg using method X to forecast UK stock prices can be replicated as using method X to forecast French stock prices ❖ extend a