thesis help

Hi! I'm doing a thesis about aging and its effect to the economy, IT industry in particular. What do you think is the best way to gather data other than books of course. Can you suggest anything to solve my thesis problem: How does Japan's aging population affect the IT (Information Technology) sector?. What is the best thing to do? Interview or a survey? And who are the right people to ask? Can you suggest some possible questions.

MAKUBEX said:

Hi! I'm doing a thesis about aging and its effect to the economy, IT industry in particular. What do you think is the best way to gather data other than books of course. Can you suggest anything to solve my thesis problem: How does Japan's aging population affect the IT (Information Technology) sector?. What is the best thing to do? Interview or a survey? And who are the right people to ask? Can you suggest some possible questions.

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Interesting topic! I don't know much about the subject, but I would like to ask you this out of curiosity. What is the logic of your thesis? Which of the four?

1. No causal relationship assumed: you are only observing certain correlations between age above 60 and measurable variables characterizing IT industry.

2. Growth of IT industry affecting the lives of the elderly.

3. The change in age demographics affecting certain IT industry indices.

4. Age and IT in active interaction

From the description you gave, it appears to be number 3., but I would better understand the question if you could make that explicit.

Furthemore, there seems to be a huge number of variables that you might call indicative of "economy" or "IT industry." Have you narrowed down your possible areas of interest?

Another question would be; who are going to be your qustionees? The elderly or people in the IT business?

actually we want to know if its having a negative effect on the economy. since we consider IT popular to japan (is this still true?) having the retired or old people still working might have a negative effect on the company(IT sector) and might affect japan's economy.

is that still clear? actually i'm not so sure if i'm doing the right thing so any suggestions will help a lot.

MAKUBEX said:

actually we want to know if its having a negative effect on the economy. since we consider IT popular to japan (is this still true?) having the retired or old people still working might have a negative effect on the company(IT sector) and might affect japan's economy.is that still clear?

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O, yes, Makubex, thank you. Funny thing, I was just talking to a cabbie yesterday about the negative impact of aged bureacrats impeding the advancement of science and technology in the national research labs. I personally think that (in the case of Korea) the negative impact has long been at a national level of self-defeatism; they are sworn officials to serve the public, but in reality they are the problems themsleves. It's actually not just aging, but the backward thinking and insecurity of these senior members that is causing many talented and motivated researchers to dump their current positions for a place where innovative research is welcome. I would say the seriousness of the problem is in strong correlation with administrative power they are excercising. I would like to ask, why can't we have brilliant, young scientists with an admistrative bent at the top of the lab's commanding hierarchy? But to make an objective study of this, the statistical figures, which you seem to be intreseted in, need to be above 2,000 ideally. In many instances measurements in social science seem to compromise due to the difficulty and cost of conducting such a wide survey, and settle for a moderate figure of 200 or even less. I don't know the time and funding limitations of your study. If funding is a problem, you might contact government offices in charge of science, technology, or IT in particular. I think it has great value, first for Japan, and second for other industialized countries facing the same problem.

MAKUBEX said:

actually i'm not so sure if i'm doing the right thing so any suggestions will help a lot.

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Right as in morally right? If that was the question, I think yes. A study like yours can give policy makers, voters, investors, and business owners alike invaluable information to see IT reality and make proper adjustments to improve on past mistakes. On the other hand, if the study fails to make clear what kind of aged people are causing problems, the sweeping generalization of aged people as a whole can result in undue discrimination of innocent IT personnel in the above-60 age bracket. So I would advise, maybe clear wording throughout your thesis, however cumbersome it may be?

Right as in the method of approach? I'm not a specialist in that area. And since you provided us with so little detail, I really don't know what to say. A good thesis, by the way! Tell us more, please.

ah so you think its a nice thesis. actually i'm not even sure of what i'm doing, but thanks, now i know i can continue. i also want to know if IT is still a dominant factor in the economy coz' i think it would be useless if IT is not affecting the economy of the japan at all. but i don't know where to get statistics to support this. something like 'what is the contribution of IT in the economy', is that question right?

I don't know the time and funding limitations of your study. If funding is a problem, you might contact government offices in charge of science, technology, or IT in particular. I think it has great value, first for Japan, and second for other industialized countries facing the same problem.

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government offices in our country? what are the typical questions that i might ask?

t to make an objective study of this, the statistical figures, which you seem to be intreseted in, need to be above 2,000 ideally. In many instances measurements in social science seem to compromise due to the difficulty and cost of conducting such a wide survey, and settle for a moderate figure of 200 or even less.

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yes, this might be possibly my plan if i can't get someone to interview. do you think statistics can answer the main problem? i think i might but it depends on the statistics and right now i'm still clueless. what am i suppose to look for?

MAKUBEX said:

ah so you think its a nice thesis. actually i'm not even sure of what i'm doing, but thanks, now i know i can continue. i also want to know if IT is still a dominant factor in the economy coz' i think it would be useless if IT is not affecting the economy of the japan at all. but i don't know where to get statistics to support this. something like 'what is the contribution of IT in the economy', is that question right?

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Yeah, I sincerely think it's a good thesis. You should also get other opinions, too, btw. That (bold faced) surely sounds like THEE most basic fact you would like to establish before proceeding further. Dominant factor? I think surely. It is an undeniable global trend. It can only be more extreme in Japan due to its advanced industry. As to what degree? You would need to dig up concrete figures with reference. And there should be relevant articles; both independent reseach papers and those in the periodicals. As a starter, I would both google and dig around in the refrefence section of your library. Start with the light stuff in the popular weeklies and dailies. To kind of get you prepared with the big picture before the real thing...

government offices in our country?

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Yes, and more. It would all depend on your particular situation, but if you have enough time, you should be able to secure adeqate funding for research unless it's been already done by someone elsewhere. That part, by the way, can be a little time consuming; kind of like preparing for a doctorate thesis. No, I shouldn't scare you. Ask around, dig around, ask your professor or you librarian, and something useful will surely turn up. I don't have anything off hand, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open for you.
I would say, try both your country and Japan, too. There are many foundations promoting research, in other countries as well, and you should be able to secure some kind of scholarship/imbursement/funding for your interesting thesis.

what are the typical questions that i might ask?

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The government or foundation people, or the interviewees/surveyees?

yes, this might be possibly my plan if i can't get someone to interview. do you think statistics can answer the main problem? i think i might but it depends on the statistics and right now i'm still clueless. what am i suppose to look for?

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Sorry, I was just guessing, because I had thought your interview or survey was going to use statistical tools. But this was only my "uninformed" assumption. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't. But some background info. wouldn't hurt you, would it? Here's some I found here using the JREF search fundtion. There should be more "specific" statistics out there if you try various combinations of google key words.

Background Statistics:
Japan Fact Sheet @Japan Fact Sheet
Japan Statistics Bureau @Japan Fact Sheet

Yes, having the right kind of question and approach would be essential for the success of any statistical analysis. Without it, it would be a waste of time. But if you have a good question that can be modeled into a well defined statistical figure, then you're a winner. But let's not rush into it, until you have a better idea as to what you might want to prove.

thanks for the reply. btw based on what you've heard, can you suggest a catchy or a nice title. we made one for our first draft Japan's Aging Society: Its effect on the IT industry because we are being rushed for a tentative title. but i think its not catchy enough...

on the statistics, i think we're okay using the already existing ones like 'a statistics on the contribution of IT in the japanse economy' but i don't know if it is its existing. or the number of employees working in IT to see if its decreasing as time pass by. or the number of immigrants working in the IT industry. will those be relevant? can you suggest more?

on the interview. any one with a background or knowledge about IT or economics and he is in japan or a japanese national. or it might be better for a sociologist with expertise in aging? or both?

here are the possible questions i can think of right now.

How popular is the IT in Japan? What is the fad among computers, mobile phones etc. (there have been reports that Japan's technology of mobile phones and computers are popular in Japan alone but can't reach the Asian market, eg. cell phones, a lot of phones in Asia are either made by Finland and Germany or other asian countries, Japanese phones are not even popular no matter how advanced they are, also considering the price of course.)

Why are the Japanese mobile phones and the like not popular in Asia?

-Do the Japanese still prefer the local brands over imported brands when it comes to technology? Why.
(to answer the question whether the local IT industry to still have an impact on Japan itself)

-How big the contribution of the IT industry in the economy of Japan?

-How big or the percentage of people aging 60 and above or near retiring age who are still working in IT companies. If these people retires, how big is the loss?

-Will there be a chance for them to recover if they started to to import workers from other countries?

-Are they open to accept foreigners? If no what are the reasons why not.

my other plain is to interview IT companies and the conclusion based on their answers, since this IT companies make it big in the market thus affecting the Japanese economy.

Survey three companies, the least.
-Retirment age. If they follow the standard 65+ etc.
-How many of them aged 65+ and above and the chances of replacing them.
-From workers age 50+ or near retirement can they be replaced or can the company do without them.
-How many foreigners are working in a company.
-If there is what country dominates foreigners in the workforce.
-Will they still be Japanese or prefer a Japanese nationality. Are they strict about the nationality.
-Do other countries known to be good in IT have a chance. What are the qualities they're looking for.
-What are the chances that the newer batch will be better than the replaced ones. If not are there chances that they will be thought like the veterans do.

but i might have trouble asking them...