Personal Development Portfolio: Challenges in Financial Assistance

This Personal Development Portfolio showcases a student's journey through a research project examining the challenges faced by small businesses in obtaining financial assistance from Canadian banks. The portfolio details the student's reflective journal entries, covering the selection of the research topic, which focuses on the dynamic nature of the Canadian banking environment and its impact on small businesses. It further explores the application of qualitative research methodologies, including interview methods, to gather data and analyze the specific issues small businesses encounter when seeking loans and financial support. The portfolio encompasses the student's understanding of research paradigms, sampling techniques, and the differences between quantitative and qualitative approaches. The student reflects on the research process, including challenges, data collection, and analysis, and acknowledges the support from professors. The portfolio includes a bibliography of the sources used in the research.

Running Head: PERSONAL DEVEOPMENT PORTFOLIO
Personal Development Portfolio
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The Reflective Journal
In the week -1, the focus was on the business research and as a topic I had chosen the small
business during undertaking the financial assistance by the banks. I had chosen the topic
because I explored and found that the Canadian banking environment is extremely dynamic
in nature along with having different policies supporting the overall small businesses in the
particular economy. The study I went through aimed at recognizing the various problems
usually faced by the small businesses. I believe that that my paper can be considered as
unique because it is highly specific to the topic. The information collected through both the
primary and secondary sources for making it more authentic. The week 1 module has taught
me how to choose a research topic and how to execute it.
In the week 2, I went through an article review where the article of Saini and Budhwar
(2008) is reviewed by me. This particular article focused on the management of the human
resources in the Indian SMEs and then role of the indigenous realities. The week module has
been highly helpful for me as I have learnt how to analyse a paper critically step by step
while understanding the theories inherent in it. As far as my experience with this particular
paper is concerned, I have understood that a review is always both a summary and evaluation
of a paper. With the assistance of my professor and the week lectures, I have become able to
understand the main points and the arguments essential for a perfect summation. The
implication for the further research is also an important element in the review of an article.
Another important part of the review is the identification of the contradictions, the
inconsistencies and the gaps too. Since I have understood the strategy of how to analyse a
paper, I can review any article in future for the literature review of any of my research paper.
In the week 3, I have learnt about how to proceed with the method and methodology. It has
further taught me that methodology is the research paradigm which lies at the heart of any

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research process and aligns with the goals and the objectives of the research. On the other
hand, the research paradigm varies as per the methodology of the research. The basic idea is
that the assumptions should comply with the adopted methodologies in general. I have also
learnt the characteristics of the paradigms and methodologies and analysed four specific
articles in my assignment. Through my assignment, I have become familiar with the two
broad research methodologies such as the quantitative and the qualitative. It includes the
experiments, the surveys, the participant observation, the secondary data and others. The key
concepts have helped me to become able in analysing the methodologies of any article in
future. The topic of week 3.1 module was planning for the research project. I have learnt how
to plan for my research project and had chosen the study on the problems being faced by the
SMEs during undertaking the financial assistance by the Canadian banks. I can now easily do
the statement of the problem of a given topic, form the research questions, prepare the
research hypothesis divide the paper into different segments. The module has been of great
help to me in this regard. Moreover, the most important of the research that is the timeline or
the Gantt Chart is also covered in this week. The planning is the most important as per my
observations.
The topic of week-4 particularly dealt with the quantitative approach to the research. As my
topic was the challenges faced by the SMEs during undertaking the assistance from banks, I
followed the quantitative approach for the data collection and the analysis. I found that the
interview method would be the most important. Although there are so many advantages of
the research design, there are few disadvantages too. The advantages of this research design
is that it is a descriptive design and the observations of the participants are allowed to answer
natural and in –depth. It has helped to collect data in the large volumes. On the other hand,
the limitation of this design is that the findings may be manipulated.

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The week 5 has taught how to test the statistical hypothesis and use the statistical techniques
for the data analysis. On the other hand, the week 6 module was all about following the
qualitative research design on the topic of challenges faced by the small businesses during
undertaking the financial assistance from the banks. The in –depth analysis of the qualitative
research approach along with the advantages and disadvantages have been explained here. I
have further learnt using the sampling techniques for the data collection. The module has
made be aware of the key differences in the planning of the research from both a qualitative
and the quantitative perspective. The articles of Collis and Hussey( 2013), Mishra, Gupta and
Bhatnagar (2014) have been highly helpful for me.
The week 7 module was again about the qualitative research design which enabled me to
reflect on my knowledge to point out few ways to be implemented in order to overcome the
challenges while carrying out the research. It has given me a detailed description about the
advantages of the interview as a method of data collection lading to gain more information.
The key concepts of the week 8 covered the use of the mix methods. The previous weeks
such as 4 and 5 focused on the quantitative method, the weeks 6 and 7 focused on the
qualitative method. The week 8 module taught about the mixed methods. I have learnt that in
the context of research design, different ways have been identified by different researchers. It
involves the philosophical assumptions which guide towards the direction of the data
collection and analysis as a mixture of the quantitative and qualitative data. On a concluding
note, I would thank the professors who assisted me in completing the modules and gather in-
depth knowledge regarding the key concepts of research.

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Bibliography
Bryman, A., 2007. Barriers to integrating quantitative and qualitative research. Journal of
mixed methods research, 1(1), pp.8-22.
Collis, J. and Hussey, R., 2013. Business research: A practical guide for undergraduate and
postgraduate students. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Fan, W. and Yan, Z., 2010. Factors affecting response rates of the web survey: A systematic
review. Computers in human behavior, 26(2), pp.132-139.
Fay, M.J., 2011. Informal communication of co-workers: a thematic analysis of
messages. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International
Journal, 6(3), pp.212-229.
Mishra, P., Gupta, R. and Bhatnagar, J., 2014. Grounded theory research: Exploring work-
family enrichment in an emerging economy. Qualitative Research Journal, 14(3), pp.289-
306.
Rowley, J., 2012. Conducting research interviews. Management Research Review, 35(3/4),
pp.260-271.
Siccama, C.J. and Penna, S., 2008. Enhancing validity of a qualitative dissertation research
study by using NVivo. Qualitative research journal, 8(2), pp.91-103.
Venkatesh, V., Brown, S.A. and Bala, H., 2013. Bridging the qualitative-quantitative divide:
Guidelines for conducting mixed methods research in information systems. MIS quarterly,
pp.21-54.