Abdul Jumaat bin Mahajar
Hj. Muhammad Nasri Hj. Md. Hussain
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Date: 25 October 2001
Time: 4.30-5.00
 

This paper is concerned with an empirical investigation to explore the impact of Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis on the internationalisation of Malay Firms in Malaysia. Besides collecting qualitative data, quantitative data on barriers faced by the Malay firms in export and domestic businesses were also collected.  The study was conducted in 12 states in West Malaysia between 1997-2000.  In the qualitative analysis, the data gathered was obtained from 166 firms and 48 firms were interviewed for the qualitative survey at the Director and Managerial level of small, medium an large firms.
The researcher is faced with two choices of data collection methods, quantitative and qualitative data.  Both methods have their own strengths and weaknesses. Having reviewed the two approaches, it was felt that  both quantitative and qualitative methods were appropriate for this study.  The interview method was also used in this research to explore the perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, views and feelings of the exporter and non-exporters and was in-depth and semi-structured.  The results of the analysis gathered from the quantitative an qualitative survey showed that  the majority of  Malay entrepreneurs engaged in domestic businesses agreed that they could gain many incentives if they engage in international business.