Bachelor's thesis (Turku University of Applied Sciences) Degree Program in Business Management

Qualitative research approach 
Allows 
for 
more 
subjective 
results, such as the evaluation of 
trading 
experience 
of 
an 
investment manager of a certain 
bank. Applied in order to create 
the interview questionnaire and 
conduct 
the 
interview 
itself 
(stages 5-6). 
Deductive research approach 
Initial plan was to start from the 
macro level and then to narrow 
down the focus of the research: 
starting from the industry level 
and then proceeding to examine 
participants of the industry and 
relations 
to 
macro-economic 
variables. Deductive approach 
serves as the foundation of the 
whole work, therefore, could 
serve as the explanation for the 
organizational structure of stages 
1-7. 
Applied research approach 
One of the main objectives of the 
research was to apply the 
findings to concrete situations, 
especially to the way commercial 

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TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Artem Vorobyev 
banks in Finland handle their 
investment 
activities. 
Encountered in parts 6-7. 
Table 2 Research methods applied in the course of the Thesis (Collis and Hussey, 2003, p. 10-
15; Kumar, 2008, p. 2-5; Shukla, 2008, p. 36-39) 
2.3 Reliability, Validity and Generalizability 
According to the work of Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill, 
“reducing the possibility of getting the research answer wrong means that 
attention has to be paid to two particular emphases on research design: 
reliability and validity
” (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009, p. 149). 
Therefore, in principle it is possible to point out that, while research methods 
used in the course of current project greatly influence the outcomes of the 
research process itself, it is always important to introduce an independent 
objective measurement system that would allow for a more precise evaluation 
of the research progress. 
In particular, Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill proceed to define reliability as a 
way to understand whether research findings are logically tied with initially 
introduced goals, as well as whether they could in general be considered 
relevant to the matter in question (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009, p. 149). 
For a more concrete reference, it might be useful to take a look at the 
foundations behind reliability classification proposed by Mark Easterby-Smith, 
Richard Thorpe and Andy Lowe (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Lowe, 2002, p. 
53):
Are the acquired research results objective, in other words: would it be 
possible for someone else to reach the same results using the data 
spectrum given in current research? 
Will the results change in accordance with the change in analysed data? 
How logical are the conluding ideas? 

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16 
TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Artem Vorobyev 
While the majority of these questions are going to be analysed in Chapter 8 
(empirical research), it is essential to let the reader know beforehand that: 
A. The summarizing ideas of the Thesis research are totally based on the 
financial information acquired through careful observation of annual 
reports. To be more precise, it means that, while the outcomes of the 
research are definitely subject to change in accordance with the 
fluctuation of the described variables, the core of the concluding ideas 
will remain the same if the analysed data is identical. 
B. Even though annual financial statistical publications are totally unbiased, 
the concluding results are still subject to the train of thought of a