Quantitative Analysis of Brexit's Impact on Irish Banking Sector

This proposal outlines a research study aimed at assessing the potential economic implications of Brexit on Ireland’s banking sector. It is grounded in a quantitative methodology complemented by qualitative techniques like case studies and thematic analysis. Purposive sampling and survey methods are employed to gather data from experienced participants, ensuring robust and relevant insights. The primary objective is to analyze how Brexit influences the functions and performances of Irish banks, using statistical tools for primary data analysis and thematic approaches for secondary data evaluation. This research is expected to be completed within a year with an estimated budget of €500.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
A Research Study on the Effect of Brexit on the Banking Industry of Ireland in the years 2018-
2022
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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1.0 Introduction
Brexit refers to the Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU). On June 23, 2016, the
citizens of Great Britain voted for the referendum to exit the EU and the outcome had a shocking
effect on the British as well as global economy. UK got a new Prime Minister, Theresa May as
David Cameron stepped down from the post. The Brexit is expected to have a severe impact not
only on the British economy, but on Ireland also, as the Irish economy is heavily connected with
the British economy in terms of high level of trade and due to shared border of the country
(Hobolt 2016). According to the experts, Brexit will have significant effect on the major sectors
of the Irish economy, including banking or finance, education, agriculture and food production,
real estate, health, hospitality, insurance, pharmaceuticals, technology and software and many
other industries (Barrett et al. 2015). The research paper aims to find out the effect of Brexit on
the banking industry of Ireland in the years of 2018-2022. Among many other industries, the
researcher has chosen the banking sector, that is, finance sector of Ireland due to its huge
economic importance. As stated by McLeay, Radia and Thomas (2014), finance sector of a
country is the backbone of the economy and it determines how the economy will flow in the
future. The impact of Brexit on the banking will affect the entire Irish economy as the
production, consumption and trade decisions and the government of Ireland has to act
accordingly to incorporate the Brexit effects. Thus, in this research proposal, the researcher aims
to find out how far the Brexit is spreading its effect on the banking sector of Ireland from 2018 to
2022.

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2.0 Research objectives
The objectives of the research are:
 To find out the factors that impacts the performance of the banking sector of Ireland.
 To find out the impact of Brexit on the money supply in the economy
 To find out the impact of Brexit on the interest rate, savings, investment and foreign
capital inflow in Ireland
3.0 Research hypothesis
H0 (null hypothesis): Brexit has no significant impact on the Banking sector of Ireland.
H1 (alternate hypothesis): Brexit has significant impact on the Banking sector of Ireland.
4.0 Research strategy
Research strategy refers to the plan of the researcher to move in the proper direction to
fulfill the research objectives. There can be two ways of conducting a research, exploratory and
explanatory. Under the exploratory approach, the researcher will explore the research topic to
derive a new theory from the study. This is also known as inductive research. On the other hand,
explanatory research refers to the approach where the researcher will explain the research topic
on the basis of already established theories. This strategy follows the deductive approach of
research. Under deductive approach, the researcher does not focus on generating new theories
from the data; rather the research subject is explained or tested on the basis of established
theories.

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In the following research, the researcher will be choosing the explanatory research
strategy under the deductive research approach. To fulfill the research objectives, the researcher
has to find out relevant and supporting data from the banking sector and the economic condition
of Ireland and relate to the research objectives. He needs to collect the data on the factors
influencing the performance of the Irish banking sector, impact of Brexit on the money supply in
the economy and on the monetary and fiscal policies of the government, influencing the
macroeconomic factors, such as, savings, investment, production, interest rate and foreign capital
inflow into the economy. To come to a conclusion, the researcher will be analyzing those data
and observations on the basis of established literature and theories and present the explanations.
The researcher will not be using exploratory and inductive research approach because, to
address the issue, the researcher does not need to explore a new topic or generate a new theory
from the research. Rather, he has to explain the phenomenon on the basis of some observation
and collected data. He does not need to invent a new theory from the data. Thus, he should apply
the deductive approach of research and explanatory research strategy to find out the impact of
Brexit on the banking sector of Ireland and its implications on the Irish economy.
5.0 Research design and methodology
Research design is the basic plan of the researcher to choose a way to address the
research topic. Various types of research design are available, such as, case study, experiment,
narrative, ethnography and grounded theory. Based on the requirement, the researcher chooses
the best strategy. For the following study, the researcher will be adopting the case study
approach. This approach is helpful in testing the research topic through empirical investigation,
supported by the data collected from the sample. Bank of Ireland, which is one of the major

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banks of Ireland, will be chosen as the case study company and the employees and officers will
be asked to fill up a survey questionnaire to throw some light on the factors influencing the
performance of the bank after the Brexit referendum and also on the monetary and fiscal policies
of the bank, taken to control the economic condition of the country.
The case study research design is best suitable for this research because it is quite
difficult to get the data on the banking industry from each of the Irish banks and compilation of
the data becomes complex too. The chance of error also increases if the sample size is too big.
Ethnography cannot be chosen as that focuses on the culture or context and impact of Brexit on
the Irish banking sector cannot be addressed by this approach. Individual stories and experience
will also not lead to the desired outcome, thus narrative approach is also not chosen. Thus, the
researcher will be choosing only one bank and collect the primary data from that.
Research methodology depicts the processes that would be followed by the researcher to
conduct the research study. Two types of methodologies are generally used by the researchers
while conducting a research, namely, qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative approach is
generally used for exploratory research when there is need to understand the opinions and
reasons for gaining an insight into the research topic. On the other hand, quantitative research is
helpful in empirical investigation and application of scientific tools to reach to a conclusion. It
proves the research hypothesis scientifically. Thus, this method is more logical and has wide
acceptability.
In the following research study on the banking sector of Ireland, the researcher will be
choosing the quantitative method. For quantitative study, the researcher will be collecting
primary data by conducting a survey on the employees of Bank of Ireland. Those data will be

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analyzed statistically to get scientific results. The researcher will also be collecting some
secondary statistical data of the performance of the bank from its annual reports, websites,
newspapers and journal articles to validate the results obtained from the primary data. The
secondary data will be analyzed using thematic analysis under quantitative methodology.
Following the explanation by Brannen (2017), using quantitative method is advantageous in this
research study, because using statistical method helps in achieving the results in a more scientific
and logical way.
6.0 Sampling method
In a research study, when the researcher will be collecting primary data through survey, a
sample of respondents should be chosen from the population. Sample is a part of the total
population that displays the similar features of the population. There are various types of
sampling methods to draw an appropriate sample from the population. Most commonly used
sampling technique is the simple random sampling. It is one type of probability sampling and in
this sampling, the chances of selection of each of the sample is equal. This process of sampling is
unbiased. Another type of sampling is the non-probability sampling and various types are quota
sampling, purposive sampling, snowball sampling, self-selection sampling and convenience
sampling. Among these, purpose sampling is most commonly used. This is a subjective or
selective sampling and applied when the researcher has a specific goal.
In this research, the researcher will be applying the purposive sampling method to draw
the sample for his survey. The sample would be drawn from the population who has working
experience of more than 8 years in the bank. As the issue of Brexit has severe implications,
hence, it is assumed that the employees, who have a longer experience with the banking system,

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will have a better understanding of the economic condition. Other types of sampling are not used
because, the researcher already has a criterion of choosing the respondents and hence, probability
sampling methods or other type of non-probability methods will not be relevant. Thus, purposive
non-probability sampling is the best method in this case, which is expected to bring a more
precise outcome of the survey.
7.0 Research instruments used
Research instruments are those, which are used to collect the data and measure the
responses of the respondents. Merriam and Tisdell (2015) highlight that the instruments are of
two types, namely, researcher completed and subject completed. Rating scales, flowcharts,
interview guides and schedules, observation forms, performance checklists, etc. are researcher
completed instruments. On the other hand, survey questionnaires, attitude scales, self-checklists,
aptitude tests, personality inventories etc. are subject completed instruments. In this research, the
instruments used for data collection are survey questionnaire and reading. To collect the primary
data, the researcher will prepare a survey questionnaire with 10-15 close ended questions and
circulate the survey form to a specific number of people. For the secondary data, the researcher
will do extensive reading of various sources of information. Other types of instruments are not
used because only questionnaire can reach out to the respondents in an easier and quicker way,
and without reading, no information can be captured.
The validity and reliability of the instruments are important in any research. If an
instrument can measure and perform as expected, it is considered to be a valid instrument. In
case of the questionnaire and reading by the researcher, both the instruments are useful in
collection of the data. Reliability describes the consistency of the data. The researcher will be

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performing the reliability test on the survey responses and measure the score on the basis of
Cronbach’s alpha. For reliability of the secondary data, the researcher will be using scholarly
articles from various authentic sources, such as, journals, books, newspapers, government and
other official websites. This makes the collected data reliable and the outcomes can be trusted.
8.0 Data analysis techniques proposed
Data analysis is an integral part of any research study. A research paper cannot be
completed and cannot reach to a conclusion unless the topic is tested through some data analysis.
The researcher must choose the proper data type and its suitable analysis method to reach to a
valid outcome. There are two types of data analysis techniques, namely, qualitative and
quantitative. Statistical analysis is the part of quantitative analysis of data. Qualitative analysis
comprises of objective analysis.
In the given research, as the researcher has chosen the quantitative method of research,
hence, he has to use the quantitative data analysis techniques. The response data of the survey
will be analyzed using statistical tools. The questionnaire for the survey will be designed by
using 10-15 close ended questions, whose responses can be converted into likert scale values.
This helps in converting the responses into numerical variables, required for statistical analysis.
When the data collection is completed, the researcher has to choose the software to apply the
statistics on the data. In the universities, SPSS software is most commonly used for data analysis
in the research studies. It stands for Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The most
relevant statistical operation is chosen from different functions as per the data and requirement of
the research. Descriptive statistics, correlations, regressions, reliability test, ANOVA, t-tests are

8RESEARCH PROPOSAL
some of the common functions that are applied for statistical analysis. The graphs and charts will
be used to illustrate the features of the data or the results.
The secondary data will be analyzed using quantitative techniques. Based on the
statistical characteristics of the data and expected outcome, the researcher has chosen the
thematic analysis method. The data on the banking activities, interest rates, monetary and fiscal
policies and other economic conditions will be collected from various websites and the reports of
the Bank of Ireland and the information will be analyzed using thematic analysis. Grounded
theory is an inductive methodology, which is not followed in this case. Interviews are also not
conducted as that would widen the range of opinions and suggestions and data interpretation will
be robust.
9.0 Estimated timeline and budget for research
Estimated timeline:
Month
Task 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Making a strategy
Making a framework
Literature review
Primary data collection
Conducting survey
Secondary data
collection
Data analysis
Presenting the findings
and discussion
Providing the conclusion
Thesis submission

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Table 1: Timeline for the research
(Source: Author)

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Estimated budget:
Items Amount
Arranging equipment € 100.00
Visit to library for
literature study € 40.00
Making the questionnaire
using Google form € -
Visit to Bank of Ireland
for survey € 55.00
Circulating the
questionnaire through
emails € -
Installing SPSS € 55.00
Miscellaneous expenses
(For example. Purchasing
of a book, journal or
annual report of Bank of
Ireland, cost of print out,
subscription charges, etc.) € 250.00
Total € 500.00
Table 2: Estimated budget
(Source: Author)
10.0 Conclusion
Conducting a research in a proper manner requires a well designed framework. Without
an outline or research strategy, the researcher will not be able to keep the focus to get the desired
outcome. In the given research, the researcher will be conducting a study to find out the impact
of Brexit on the banking sector of Ireland for the years 2018 to 2022. The above report describes
the research objectives, research hypothesis, methodology, sampling techniques, research
instruments, data analysis techniques, estimated timeline and budget for the research. The
research hypothesis is designed to test the notion that if Brexit has significant impact on the

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functions and performances of the banking sector of Ireland. The hypothesis needs to be tested
using quantitative method and statistical tools to reach to the decision in a scientific and logical
way. It is seen that, for conducting a research on such a contemporary topic needs primary and
secondary data. Both the types of data will be analyzed using quantitative method. Qualitative
analysis is majorly dependent on the perception, knowledge of the researcher and can lead to
biased outcomes. Hence, this methodology is not preferred by the researcher in this case. Case
study approach helps in narrowing down the subject, which is beneficial for data collection and
analysis. Purposive sampling is the most suitable sampling method as the researcher expects that
experienced participants can provide better answers on the banking measures and economic
condition of the country. Survey method will be chosen due to its better, easier and quicker
accessibility to the responses. After the data collection, the researcher will be using statistical
tools for primary data analysis and thematic approach for secondary data analysis. The research
is expected to be completed within 12 months, by the end of 2018 and within an estimated
budget of €500.