The method references on how to approach the subject of issue to write about and how one intend to treat the subject (Ejvegård, 2003). In chapter 2, I gave a brief and discussed the issues of this analysis. In this chapter I will describe how the work have been done. I will also give further details of how the progress for the report’s scientific conditions has been worked out.
4.1. Requirement of Scientific Conditions
Every scientific work, or any report produced within a University or Collage, shall be objective, impartial and written in a balanced way (Ejvegård, 2003). I will define, according to Ejvegård (2003), what this requirement represents:
4.1.1. Objective conditions
Objectivity means that information that is presented shall be truthful and correct. This means that no author unexpectedly is allowed to accept information or fact without check and guarantee the reliability of the source. The check-up or control can be realized differently according to what kind of information to treat. A principal rule is always to seek the primary source. The author can also consolidate the reliability in information, by quotations of other authorities in the field of issue. If extensive conclusions are made, by given information, it is extra important to control the reliability of the information (Ejvegård, 2003).
4.1.2. Unprejudiced conditions
The difficulty of being unprejudiced is in a psychological dimension, where underlying biases and preconceived notions often are difficult to sort out. The ambition of unprejudiced
conditions requires that standpoints from different angles all are expressed, in debates where opinions are divided. Other ways to hedge against unprejudiced conditions is to explicit state that information is taken from sources that may be partial (Ejvegård, 2003).
4.1.3. Balanced conditions
The concept of balance is, according to Ejvegård (2003) himself a vague concept in order to describe scientific conditions. Both the objective conditions and the unprejudiced conditions are included in the concept of Balance, but the concept also treats the approach of how to
portion each topic right. Unessential details shall not be given space in a report, at the expense of more important discussions, as well as one party in a discussions shall not be given more space than other parties, in order to keep the report unprejudiced (Ejvegård, 2003).
4.1.4. Guarantee of Objective, Unprejudiced, and Balanced conditions In order to guarantee required objectivity for this report, I have applied used information carefully and in an accurate way. In this field of study, which is relatively new compared to mature industries I have found it necessary to be careful in managing information. The
carefulness of managing this type of information is also required, since much of it comes from daily press and media, due to its novel creation. Every single source that are used in this report have therefore been reviewed in a structured way, with held of Ejvegård’s (2003) recommendations for source reviews.
• Is the material authentic? Has the material been falsified?
In order to control the accuracy of the information used, I have tried to control the information channels. Written books have been lent from the Library of Chalmers University of Technology and the library of Gothenburg’s School of Law &
Economics, which vouch for an accurate information channel. Other books used for this report are either recommended books that are used in prior university courses, or books that are bought from established distribution channels. Scientific reports and articles used for this report have been taken from established databases or are acquired after recommendations. Authors who not where familiar prior to this study have been checked-up on Internet (Google.com) in order to get a perception of how quoted the authors are, and how used the material are in other studies. This method of checking the authors may not be strictly scientific, but I have classified the material accurate and reliable, since much of the material are well used, well known, and recommended by high ranked10 international business schools. Much of the material stems from contemporary articles in daily financial press and weekly magazines, due to the field of Internet’s novelty. The articles used stems from established press.
• Is the material impartial?
In the ambition to keep the report impartial, I have chosen to manage this by
10 The ranking of Universities and Business Schools are made by BusinessWeek, The Economist, Financial Times, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
examining if the source is a primary source or not. In those cases where the source not is a primary source, I have tried to replace the source with its original. If any source is a secondary source, I have tried to made an assessment of any changes in angles and views. Much of corporate information or quotations in media may have a different agenda, than to be objective, due to specific firm’s marketing, etc. I have not found that there exists any such risk in the sources used for this report, though.
• Is the material new?
The requirement of the freshness of the sources used means that newer sources should be used prior to older material. The material has to be that novel that it covers enough facts of the field of issue. Due to the novelty of the topic of the report, it is highly relevant to get as contemporary material as possible. In this case I have found that ordinary libraries and databases sometimes lack of contemporary information, why Internet search, and daily press in such cases can give a more contemporary picture of the field of issue.
4.2. The Implementation of the Study
This section describes the methodology used in this work. Methodology refers to the approach of how to collect material in order to be able to compare, test hypothesizes, or predict results (Ejvegård, 2003).
I have chosen to collect information primary by two ways: by literature search and by
interviews. The literature search was required in order to get as broad and extensive empirical information as possible, and to be able to get useful theoretical models, suitable for this report.
The interviews were important in order to get a contemporary picture of the field practice of the field of issue. Due to the fast development of the Internet industry, it is difficult to gain sufficient contemporary information only from literature.
4.2.1. Literature search
In scientific context, literature to a great extent means every printed material: books, articles, reports, essays, papers, etc. (Ejvegård, 2003).
The literature channels used for this report:
• Library of Chalmers University of Technology and Gothenburg’s School of Law &
Economic.
• Electronic databases and articles connected to the libraries
• Internet: Internet has been used in order to search primarily for two types of information:
1. Corporate information. From company websites have annual reports and company specific information from press releases been colleted in order to stay updated about recent activities. Facts and figures from these company sites have been classified accurate and reliable, due to their establishment.
2. News articles. From daily financial press have online articles been used, in order to stay contemporary with the recent development in the field of study.
Information from these online newspapers has been classified accurate and reliable, due to their establishment. Ejvegård (2003) states that this kind of information has a higher degree of risk in its accuracy, why only international established press only has been used in this report.
• Branch specific magazines of the Internet industry. These branch specific magazines have been used in the same extent as the other online daily press. The reliability of these magazines has the same classification as for the daily online press used in this report.
4.2.2. Interviews
Two types of interviews for this report have been used: Interviews with professionals in Finance, and interviews with start-up entrepreneurs. Jointly for both types of interviews is that both are related to specialists interviews.
• Interviews with professionals in Finance.
When elaborating the concepts of valuation principles, it felt necessary to get a contemporary picture of the valuation practice, why a specialist interview was held.
The interviews with specialists in each area can be seen as a significant complement to the written information.
The two interviews were held face-to-face during the work progress, and after the sessions I had occasional contact with both parts. The interviews turned out to be more effective if the sessions were of an “open discussion” kind, around a few central questions. Due to the delicacy of the chosen subject, the specialist discussions with Finance professionals have to be kept anonymous. Both interview objects works for an international finance advisory and accountant firm, which vouch for adequate competence in the subject. Due to the divided opinions of the valuation principles,
none of them could revile any corporate policy, why their comments not are any official company policy.
• Interviews with start-up entrepreneurs
In the interviews with the start-up entrepreneurs, I have had constant contact during the work progress, and the interviews have all had the character of “open discussions”.