However, this still represents 50% of the entire sample population. Therefore, it is expected that the opinions expressed in the interviews will be a good representation of Iranian banks. 3.5 Data Collection

The primary aim of the study is to identify the challenges that Iranian banks face in the implementation of EMV. This research is divided into two portions. The first part will be the survey questionnaire. The second will be face-to-face interviews. Where possible, the researcher will visit the bank and administer the questionnaire in person. However, is some cases, this will not be possible, either because of the distances that need to be traveled or the schedule of the bank official. In these cases, the questionnaire will be emailed to the participant and they can return it at their convenience. As the sample pool will consist of all Iranian banks, it is not expected that this data collection method will create sample bias in the study population.

The distances that need to be traveled and time constraints might have an affect in the sample pool for the face-to-face interview portion of the study. The sample pool will be limited to banks in the immediate physical location of the researcher. This sample selection method might create the potential for sample bias in the study population. It might be that the interviews will show regional answers and attitudes. However, it is felt that the sample population is large enough that if these factors are present in the study population, that they will be eliminated due to the size of the sample population in relation to the total number of Iranian banks.

Both data collection methods support the validity of the study and will support the ability to achieve the desired goals of the study. The result of the interview will be used the support and verify the results of the survey study. They will also add depth and clarity to the survey responses. These two data collection methods will add to both the internal and external validity of the research study. It is not expected that the survey response or the willingness to provide face-to-face interviews would be high, due to the schedules of the survey respondents if this approach were not taken by the researcher. The survey will be addressed to the IT department, who will be ultimately responsible for the implementation of the EMV technology. They are very busy and are not expected to have time to respond to the survey or to the interview if this approach to data collection is not taken. This would compromise the integrity of the study results.

3.5.1 Questionnaire

The design of the survey questionnaire was inspired by material found during the literature review. The survey will be provided in paper form, and will be available via a link on the Internet. The survey instrument is divided into three phases that address the risks and challenges before, during and after implementation of EMV technology. For the most part, the survey consists of check box responses. This allows for quick administration of the survey and supports the ability to analyze data more quickly when the survey is complete. However, some open-ended questions were included to add clarity and support the survey/

The first part of the survey addresses the risks and challenges that the IT people feel will be present before the implementation of the EMV. The first section addresses readiness for the implementation process. It asks them to rate the importance of several factors that will affect the implementation process. These include identifying the stakeholders, understanding of EMV and the process involved, budgetary concerns, time constraints. It also addresses technical readiness of the bank and the need to upgrade their existing infrastructure, gap identification, and the planning of any customer service or technical help that will be needed after the project is complete.

The second part of the survey addresses any unforeseeable problems that might occur during the implementation process of installing the EMV technology. Like the first part of the survey, this section asks the respondent to respond to Likert type questions about the importance of various elements. These elements include the need to upgrade the existing system, issue customers new cards, securing card data and disaster recovery, the ability to retain the current level of stability and operational efficiency, and the time needed to make the system compliant with the EMV standard. This section of the study allows the respondent to rank what they feel that most significant challenge in implementing the system will be. If the choices provided do not reflect the desired response, the respondent has the ability to fill in what they feel that most significant challenge will be.

The third section of the survey addresses the challenges that are foreseen after implementation of the new EMV smart card system. The first two questions of this section address the...

The second addresses the scheme that will be used to assess EMV compliance. The next set of questions ask the respondent to choose which of the following four operations they feel will be the most intensive: update infrastructure, understand guidance and tools, operating procedure, and upgrade existing systems. It might be noted that the researcher might have to explain that infrastructures refers to hardware and the final column (upgrade existing systems), refers to software. This will need to be clarified before administration of the survey. These four elements will be assessed in terms of time, skills, worker experience, cost, and difficulty. The final question in this section is open-ended and asks the respondent to expound on any challenges that they foresee that were not addressed in the questionnaire.
3.5.2 Interview

The interview portion of the study is designed to accomplish two goals. The first is to verify the results of the study questionnaire. The second is to uncover any issues that were not addressed in the questionnaire, but that will have an impact on EMV implementation. The interviews will be free form and will allow the respondent to guide the process to capture their true feelings about the process. However, in order to gain consistency in analysis, the interviewer will make certain that certain topics are covered. Some sample interview questions to assist in keeping the interview on track are:

1. What is the most important challenge that you anticipate that you will face, or that you have faced in the implementation of EMV technology?

2. Do you feel that EMV standards are difficult or easy to follow from and IT perspective?

3. How do you feel that EMV will change your bank and the way that you do business?

4. What security issues do you anticipate?

5. How will you address security issues?

3.4. Data Analyses

Data analysis will be divided into two sections. The survey questionnaire will be analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques and frequency distribution of the number of respondents who checked each survey response. This will be presented graphically and discussed in the final research study. Several different tools are available to perform this type of analysis. These include SPSS and Microsoft Office EXCEL. For this study, the researcher will use Microsoft Office EXCEL for reasons of availability and familiarity with this software package.

The open-ended survey questions and interview responses will be analyzed using categorical analysis, followed by frequency distribution analysis. Categorical analysis means reading the responses and attempting to fit them into specific categories. Some of these categories can be anticipated, but others will emerge during the course of data analysis.

3.6. Recommendations

In the final stage of the research project, the researcher will address the issues that emerged and the importance of those issues, according to the data collected in the study. The researcher will use this data to write recommendations that can be used to help Iranian banks anticipate the problems that they might encounter. It will also make suggestions as to how they might mitigate these problems throughout various stages of the implementation process.

3.7. Ethical Issues

The most important ethical issue that will affect the ability to conduct the study and the ultimate outcome of the research is confidentiality. The researchers will be asking questions that may represent corporate secrets that could affect the bank's competitive advantage. It very important to stress data confidentiality to encourage participation in the study.

3.8. Conclusion

This research methodology represents the most appropriate method for attaining the desire information. Literature supports this type of research for the research questions that are being asked. It is expected that this research methodology will allow the researcher to achieve the desired goals and aims of the research study. This methodology is expected to result in information that can be used in the development of recommendations to help Iranian banks make a smoother transition as they implement EMV smart card technology.

References

Hall, C. 2009. New study pinpoints risk issues for Hispanic business owners. Houston Business Journal. Friday, May 8, 2009.

"List of Banks in Iran." 2010. Available at: http://openoffshorebankaccountsfornonresidents.com/ListofBanksinIran.htm. [accessed August 29, 2010].

Sumner, M. 2000. Risk factors in enterprise-wide/ERP projects Journal of Information Technology…