Critical Preliminary Stage of Mounting a Research Study – Articles Review

First Article

The purpose of the study titled “Bank Image in the UAE: Comparing Islamic and Conventional Banks” by Al-Tamimi, Lafi and Uddin (2009) is to examine the variations between how UAE-based consumers of banking services view conventional banks on one hand and Islamic banks on the other hand. Particularly, the study seeks to examine the differences as they relate to the banks’ religious factors, demographic attributes, and cultural aspects. Besides, particularly, the study seeks to examine the differences as they relate to the banks’ images, products as well as service quality.

In the study by Al-Tamimi, Lafi and Uddin (2009), the research questions are not stated explicitly. Even then, they are implicit in the study’s report, article. The implied questions are:

  1. Do UAE-based consumers of banking services prefer getting banking services from Islamic banks more than getting banking services from conventional banks?
  2. Are the preferences of UAE-based consumers of banking services for getting banking services from particular banks premised on their satisfaction with the quality of the services offered by the banks?
  • Do UAE-based consumers of banking services develop positive images of the banks that they get services from?
  1. Do the factors that UAE-based consumers of banking services consider when selecting a bank differ in their significances?
  2. Is there a considerable variation between how UAE-based consumers of banking services view convectional banks on one hand and Islamic banks on the other hand based on the length of their relationships with the banks?
  3. Is there a considerable variation between how UAE-based consumers of banking services view convectional banks on one hand and Islamic banks on the other hand based on the length of their gender?
  • Is there a considerable variation between how UAE-based consumers of banking services view convectional banks on one hand and Islamic banks on the other hand based on the length of their educational attainments?

Hypotheses are the suggested explanations for given phenomena. Scientific hypotheses are testable. In the study by Al-Tamimi, Lafi and Uddin (2009), the implied hypotheses are:

  1. UAE-based consumers of banking services prefer getting banking services from Islamic banks more than getting banking services from conventional banks.
  2. The preferences of UAE-based consumers of banking services for getting banking services from particular banks are premised on their satisfaction with the quality of the services offered by the banks.
  • UAE-based consumers of banking services develop positive images of the banks that they get services from.
  1. The factors that UAE-based consumers of banking services consider when selecting a bank differ in their significances.
  2. There is a considerable variation between how UAE-based consumers of banking services view convectional banks on one hand and Islamic banks on the other hand based on the length of their relationships with the banks.
  3. There is a considerable variation between how UAE-based consumers of banking services view convectional banks on one hand and Islamic banks on the other hand based on the length of their gender.
  • There is a considerable variation between how UAE-based consumers of banking services view convectional banks on one hand and Islamic banks on the other hand based on the length of their educational attainments.

There are various independent, as well as dependent, variables in the study by Al-Tamimi, Lafi and Uddin (2009). The dependent variables include the preference levels of the consumers. The independent ones include bank type, quality of services, length of the relationships between the banks and the consumers, consumers’ gender, and consumers’ educational attainments.

Second Article

One of the purposes of the study titled “The Impact of Monetary Policy on Bank Lending Rate in South Africa” by Matemilola, Bany-Ariffin and Muhtar (2015) is to examine the money market rate’s pass-through of the lasting interest rate as it relates to the lending rates of banks and their asymmetric adjustments. The second purpose is to apply the momentum asymmetric and autoregressive models for correcting errors. In the study by Matemilola, Bany-Ariffin and Muhtar (2015), there is a research question that is not stated explicitly. The question is whether or not the lending rates of banks reviewed downwards when rates in money markets reduce in South Africa.

As noted earlier, hypotheses are the suggested explanations for given phenomena. Scientific hypotheses are testable. The implied hypothesis in the titled “The Impact of Monetary Policy on Bank Lending Rate in South Africa” study by Matemilola, Bany-Ariffin and Muhtar (2015) is that the lending rates of banks reviewed downwards when rates in money markets reduce in South Africa. The independent variable in the study is the rate in the money markets. The rate is deemed independent since the study by Matemilola, Bany-Ariffin and Muhtar (2015) does not entail the measurement of the rate against any set of standards or benchmarks. The rate is taken as it is in the money markets. In the study, the variable that is deemed to be changing, or varying, over time is the lending rate of any of the selected banks. Notably, the variable is seen as varying in response to the rates in the money markets of South Africa.

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