Metodologia
Lições de macroeconomia: uma introdução
Abstract:
The book that is now being published, in the form of lessons in macroeconomics, is the result of 3 years of work in teaching the discipline of Economics II, of the degrees in Economics, Mathematics Applied to Economics and Management and General Studies, at the Instituto Superior of Economics and Management at the University of Lisbon. These Macroeconomics Lessons are the result of a pedagogical experience of teaching an introductory-level subject and the objective is to facilitate the transmission of knowledge in a subject that is nonetheless complex, but which is indispensable in the training of any economist or manager. The approach presented in this book reflects three methodological options that aim to make it more attractive and user-friendly for its readers. The first is the search for the greatest possible clarity and simplification in the presentation of concepts and theories. The second is the purpose of making the distinction between the model of reality and reality understood. The third is the inclusion of the Portuguese economic reality in virtually all chapters, either as a reference for the discussion of concepts, which acquire a concrete and quantified dimension in this way, or as a specific object of macroeconomic analysis. Aimed primarily at students starting their university education, these Lessons do not fail to go further in dealing with the issues, and may be useful to all those who, regardless of their motives, wish to acquire an introductory vision of contemporary macroeconomic analysis.
Quotation:
Mendonça, António (Coordenador) e Vitor Magriço … [et al.] .(2021) . “Lições de macroeconomia: uma introdução”. Edições Silabo, Lisboa: p. 451.
National Social Identity in Guinea-Bissau: An Exploratory Essay Inspired by the Methodology of J. Cheek, S. Briggs, S. Smith and L. Tropp
Abstract:
The research (supported by the Centre for African and Development Studies of the University of Lisbon) is defined as exploratory and aims to evaluate whether the methodology of inquiry and analysis of the identity of J. Cheek, S. Briggs, S. Smith and L. Tropp, can be adapted to a fragile state like Guinea-Bissau. This methodology consists in the assessment of the importance attributed by the respondents of 70 sentences from which the characteristics of individual and social identity (family and collective) are extracted (Cheek, J. M. & Briggs, S. R.). The phrases were sent by digital means to 102 Guineans known in person or only by Facebook with a request for response and dissemination and obtained 183 responses. These answers, calculated according to the methodology adopted, allowed to define some identity characteristics of the respondents. We tried to interpret these results using other surveys conducted since 2014 in Guinea-Bissau with different themes. It is concluded by realizing that this is a method that can contribute to the knowledge of the national identity of Guineans, but insufficient. This conclusion remains to be demonstrated if it is carried out with a statistically significant sample.
Quotation:
Sangreman, C., Faria, R., & Magalhães, J. (2023). National Social Identity in Guinea-Bissau: An exploratory essay inspired by the methodology of J. Cheek, S. Smith and L. Tropp. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(5).148-171.
Working Paper 194/2023: A Qualidade do Serviço e a Satisfação do Cliente: Estudo dos Clientes do Banco de Poupança e Crédito – Luanda (Angola)
Abstract:
Nowadays, a correct and profitable way of managing the issue of service quality is to listen to customers, both satisfied and dissatisfied, to improve the information obtained, improve experiences with them and thus achieve greater levels of loyalty and, naturally, results. In this context, A Qualidade do Serviço e a Satisfação do Cliente: Estudo dos Clientes do Banco de Poupança e Crédito – Luanda (Angola) sought to assess the degree of customer satisfaction regarding the provision of the quality of services offered by Banco de Poupança e Crédito, located in Luanda (Angola) in order to identify the level of customer satisfaction according to the variables demographic and socioeconomic factors inherent to the SERVQUAL model and determine the correct methods and techniques for satisfaction, taking into account the elements of quality, in order to make the institution profitable. During this study, a structured interview was carried out for the Marketing and Communication Department and a questionnaire of 15 questions was applied, resulting in only 80 valid questionnaires out of 150. The same were applied during working hours to assess the quality of the service provided by the bank. From a modern company, as with the Bank, it is expected that its main objective is to provide customer satisfaction, indiscriminately needing all the company’s employees and for this it is necessary that they are satisfied to adopt attitudes consistent with this objective. However, managing these factors well to achieve positive results is an essential condition for the company to overcome the challenges.
Quotation:
Sarmento, E. M. e Azevedo, S. C. (2023). “A Qualidade do Serviço e a Satisfação do Cliente: Estudo dos Clientes do Banco de Poupança e Crédito – Luanda (Angola)”. Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão – CEsA/CGS – Documentos de trabalho nº 194/2023
Working Paper 188/2023: A identidade nacional na Guiné-Bissau: um ensaio exploratório inspirado na metodologia de J.Cheek, S.Briggs, S.Smith e L.Tropp
Abstract:
The investigation of A Identidade Nacional na Guiné-Bissau – Um ensaio exploratório inspirado na metodologia de J.Cheek, S.Briggs, S.Smith e L.Tropp is defined as exploratory and aims to evaluate whether the methodology of inquiry and analysis of identity. created by J. Cheek, S. Briggs, S. Smith and L. Tropp, can be adapted to a fragile state like Guinea-Bissau. This methodology consists in the assessment of the importance attributed by the respondents of 70 sentences from which the characteristics of individual and social identity (family and collective) are extracted. The sentences were sent by digital means to 102 Guineans known in person or only by Facebook with request for response and dissemination and obtained 183 responses. These answers, calculated according to the methodology adopted, allowed to define some identity characteristics of the respondents. We tried to interpret these results using other surveys made since 2014 in Guinea-Bissau with different themes. It is concluded by realizing that this is a method that can contribute to the knowledge of the national identity of Guineans, but insufficient. This conclusion remains to be demonstrated if it is carried out with a statistically significant sample.
Quotation:
Sangreman, C., Magalhães, J., Faria, R. (2023). “A Identidade Nacional na Guiné-Bissau – Um ensaio exploratório inspirado na metodologia de J.Cheek, S.Briggs, S.Smith e L.Tropp“. Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão – CEsA/CSG – Documentos de Trabalho nº 188/2023
Identifying differences and similarities between donors regarding the long-term allocation of official development assistance
Abstract:
Advanced countries have pledged to mobilize additional financial resources to developing countries, including funding from multiple sources other than official development assistance (ODA), known as foreign aid. However, the effect of the novel coronavirus pandemic has raised doubts about the feasibility of such a pledge, highlighting, once again, the possible role of ODA and the importance of explaining its allocation, which could be of vital relevance for understanding its effectiveness. Identifying differences and similarities between donors regarding the long-term allocation of official development assistance analyzes a vast number of bilateral and multilateral donors by applying a novel methodology in the context of aid allocation – principal-component factor analysis – covering the period 1990–2015. The results revealed four distinct clusters of donors: (i) the proportionally largest Western European donors, characterized by a significant number of beneficiaries, especially low-income countries; (ii) donors that are predominantly driven by structural links with recipients, especially links derived from colonial connections; (iii) a group of mainly Eastern European donors who are engaged with lower-income countries in Eastern Europe and Western Asia; and (iv) a group of Asian and Oceanian donors that select their partners mainly based on the geographical proximity criterion.
Quotation:
Paulo Francisco, Sandrina B. Moreira & Jorge Caiado (2021) Identifying differences and similarities between donors regarding the long-term allocation of official development assistance, Development Studies Research, 8:1, 181-198, DOI: 10.1080/21665095.2021.1954965
Common causes in grassroot development: a case for community-based and community-driven response in the postpandemic era
Abstract:
The purpose of Common causes in grassroot development: a case for community-based and community-driven response in the postpandemic era is to determine the impact of community-based and driven approaches during the lockdowns and early periods of the pandemic. The study examines the impact and perceptions of the state-led intervention. This would help to discover a better approach for postpandemic interventions and policy responses. This article used the inductive method and gathered its data from surveys. In search of global opinions on COVID-19 responses received in communities, two countries in each continent with high COVID-19 infection per 100,000 during the peak period were chosen for study. In total, 13 community workers, leaders and members per continent were sampled. The simple percentile method was chosen for analysis. The simple interpretation was used to discuss the results. The study showed that poor publicity of community-based interventions affected awareness and fame as most were mistaken for government interventions. The study found that most respondents preferred state interventions but preferred many communities or local assessments of projects and interventions while the projects were ongoing to adjust the project and intervention as they progressed. However, many preferred community-based and driven interventions.
Quotation:
Patrick-Agulonye, U.V. (2021). “Common causes in grassroot development: a case for community-based and community-driven response in the postpandemic era” Fulbright Review of Economics and Policy, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 186-204. https://doi.org/10.1108/FREP-09-2021-0056
As (im) pertinências do método. Metodologia participativa e o estudo sobre a Afrodescendência em Portugal
Abstract:
The announcement of the Decade of African Descendants (2015-2024) by the UN, drew attention to the presence of African descendants in Europe, including in Portugal, as part of the contemporary social configuration of the continent. However, the focus on these people has been sustained, above all, in theories and representations of subalternity and exclusion that do not recognize them as new political subjects in a Europe that is no longer black and white. These politically hybrid subjects, in the historical and cultural sense, bring theoretical-epistemological and methodological challenges to the social sciences, since their visions, paradigms and ways of living escape the traditional lenses of the approaches that associate them with immigrants or refugees. We propose that in approaching the subject of Afrodescendence, method is central and determinant of the outcomes, ethical function and meaning of social research on emerging contemporary subjects. We argue in favour of participatory methodology, reflecting on its pertinence in a context where the people in the researched situation are critical subjects in their fields of intervention/action who reject being reduced to mere objects of study. We analyse the processes of negotiation in the field concluding on the contribution of this project to the dialogue between academics and the afrodescendant collectives. As (im)pertinências do método. Metodologia participativa e o estudo sobre a Afrodescendência em Portugal is inserted in the debate on the democratization of knowledge, sustained, in particular, by critical perspectives that are based on studies on emerging contemporary subjects.
Quotation:
Évora, Iolanda. “As (im)pertinências do método. Metodologia participativa e o estudo sobre a Afrodescendência em Portugal”, In: Yao, Jean-Arséne, Victorien Lavou Zoungbo et Luis Mancha San Esteban, eds. Forthcoming. Representations collectives croisées: Afriques, Amériques et Caraibes. Xix-xxi siècles. III GRELAT. Actas do Colóquio. Madrid: UAH Editora, 167-176. ISBN:978-84-18254-12-3.
Sobre a Metodologia Qualitativa: Experiências em psicologia social
Abstract:
Often, the reference to qualitative methodology leads us to the great controversy about the scientificity of the social sciences in comparison with the natural sciences and to doubts about the attribution of the status of “science” to the social field, studied in Sobre a metodologia qualitativa: experiências em psicologia social. There are those who argue that this attribution (of scientificity) will only be possible if the same procedures are applied to the social that are used to understand the natural. For others, on the contrary, the important thing is to claim the total difference and specificity of the human field and to show that the work for the knowledge of the social must reach the symbolic, historical and concrete orders. In the symbolic dimension, the meanings of the subjects are included; the historical dimension – of time consolidated in the real and analytical space – includes the fact that social actors resort to their experience and memory to recompose facts that took place within their temporality. The concrete dimension is related to the structures and social actors in relation. Hence the statement that the social sciences deal with phenomena marked by relativity, unpredictability and specificity.
Quotation:
Évora, Iolanda. 2011. “Sobre a metodologia qualitativa: experiências em psicologia social”. Comunicação apresentada nos Seminários em Psicologia, Universidade Autonomia de Lisboa
Working Paper 163/2017: Identificação e Construção de Cenários Macroeconómicos para o Estudo de Impactos de Medidas de Política Económica. Uma abordagem matricial com simulação a Moçambique
Abstract:
The study of the impacts of economic policy measures involves, on the one hand, the identification of the reality on which such measures will be applied and, on the other hand, the construction of scenarios that allow their perception. This exercise is based on the activity of a country, whose complexity requires the use of instruments or work tools. Identificação e Construção de Cenários Macroeconómicos para o Estudo de Impactos de Medidas de Política Económica. Uma abordagem matricial com simulação a Moçambique, the Social Accounting Matrix, commonly known as SAM (from the abbreviation of the name in English – Social Accounting Matrix), is proposed as a working tool for the study of the activity of a country. Such activity, here designated as socio-economic, involves monetary or nominal flows measured by national accounts, as well as production (organized into factors, activities and products) and institutions (organized into households, public administrations, non-financial and financial corporations, non-profit institutions serving families and the rest of the world). With a concern for methodological detail, the potential of SAM will be explored for the reading and interpretation of the reality under study, as well as for carrying out experiments with its operation. In an approach based on SAM, we will see the possibilities of building networks, more or less complex, of connections of the flows mentioned above, from which specific structural characteristics can be highlighted and the associated multiplier effects studied. In this way, I will show that a numerical version of the SAM allows an empirical description of the origin, use, distribution and accumulation of income, while an algebraic version (or model based on the SAM) allows for a more in-depth study of the multiplier effects (or impacts) associated with changes in these flows, caused by the adoption of policy measures, for example. I will exemplify such potentialities of SAM, giving special attention to the functional and institutional distribution of income, through the construction and analysis of two scenarios involving changes in the remuneration of production factors and in the income of institutions. Such an application will allow the identification of the relevant role of production factor accounts (from SAM), as they establish the link between income generation and the corresponding distribution and use. I will also emphasize the importance of a matrix approach in the identification and construction of macroeconomic scenarios in the study of impacts of economic policy measures, highlighting the complementary details that an InputOutput Matrix (IOM) can add. An application to the case of Mozambique in 2015 will accompany the presentation. In this application we will often talk about simulation due to the unavailability of information regarding all the flows worked.
Quotation:
Santos, Susana (2017). “Identificação e construção de cenários macroeconómicos para o estudo de impactos de medidas de política económica. Uma abordagem matricial com simulação a Moçambique”. Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão – CEsA/ CSG – Documentos de Trabalho nº 163/2017.
