Formative Factors Influencing Individuals Attitudes - Research Proposal Example

Chapter 3: Research Methodology 3.1 Introduction In the preceding chapter, a review of literature as well as a conceptual framework for the research on formative factors influencing individuals’ attitudes towards academic plagiarism and cheating were presented. This chapter addresses the methodology that was used to test the conceptual framework that was presented in chapter 3. The chapter also addresses the research approach, research design, design of the survey to be used, the research questionnaire, the pre-testing stages, the context of the study, issues involved in sampling, the procedures used in the collection of data, the operationalisation and measurement of variables, as well as statistics pertaining to the response rate and methodology adopted for statistical analysis. 3.2 Research Approach The research project approach includes why the research is necessary, how values are related to the research, and issues that comprise ethical behaviour in research. Taking up a research approach calls for a lucid comprehension of how the research was conducted. The researcher may come across obstacles that limit smooth progression of the research process; hence, it is imperative to have an understanding of the influence of such occurrences and how to resolve them so as sustain the research’s momentum. Based on this, the research adopted a quantitative approach that involved the use of a survey. Quantitative research approaches make use of numerical data and measurements to make inferences from theoretical bases. Quantitative methods can be used to collect data from natural settings in the field or from planned laboratory research studies (Buchanan & Bryman, 2007; Creswell, 2014). As well, statistical analysis techniques and instruments are widely used in the analysis of numerical data related to quantitative units (Bryman & Bell, 2015; Cooksey & McDonald, 2011; Creswell, 2014; Jick, 1979). The researcher was of the opinion that analysing empirical evidence gathered from a survery would offer an insight on the perceptions of people from various cultural backgrounds towards corroborating the important formative factors that affect the attitudes of individuals towards academic cheating and plagiarism. Several logical reasons for using the quantitative approach (survey) in this research can be identified. These are: 1. Quantitative approaches help in making statistical inferences in regard to the relationships between different constructs (Cooksey, 2007; Creswell, 2014; Hair, 2010). Such methods enable detailed explanations to augment the understanding of the results that are collected (Creswell, 2014; Neuman, 2005). This in turn helps in exploring how the board of directors performs its roles with respect to the governance structure so as to improve the embracing of CSR practices and FP. This can assist in interpreting the statistical findings. 2. The second aspect is the generalisability of results. By employing the survey method, using a large sample of participants from different cultural backgrounds to confirm the important formative factors that influence individuals’ attitudes toward academic cheating and plagiarism offers a stronger validity and enables examination of the general ideas and relationships in a research framework. 3. A quantitative survey provides statistical evidence in regard to construct validity and reliability. Based on this, it was necessary to establish the overall validity of the important formative factors that influence the attitudes of individuals towards academic cheating and plagiarism. 3.3 Quantitative Survey The quantitative method has been widely used in studies across many disciplines. The current research has adopted this method to verify measurements of the conceptual model of factors that influence the attitudes of individuals towards academic plagiarism and cheating. The use of survey questionnaires as a quantitative primary data collection method has also been common in contemporary research studies. The survey approach denotes a collection of methods that support quantitative analysis. This is achieved through a variety of instruments including email and postal questionnaires and telephone interviews, whereby the data that is collected is analysed using statistical procedures (Creswell, 2014; Neuman, 2005). The purpose of conducting a survey is to obtain data from a population sample so that generalised conclusions can be made about some features, attitudes or behaviours of the population in question. Sample sizes and types are important in quantitative studies and in providing guidance on the categories and assumptions that are derived from qualitative research in reference to the population (Creswell, 2014). In regard to this, it was decided that there was need to study the influence of formative factors on people’s attitudes towards academic cheating and plagiarism based on the sample of participants to be involved in the research. The section that follows provides a detailed explanation of the survey design, which includes the questionnaire design, units of analysis, issues involved in sampling, collection of data, and data analysis. 3.2.1 Questionnaire Design The questionnaire that was designed was based on the information that was collected in the review of literature. The process of developing the questionnaire took about three months. A number of versions of the questionnaire were made and revised to arrive at the final form. The questions on the final version of the questionnaire were written in English (refer to Appendix 1). The following sections give a detailed explanation of the questionnaire design process, such as the types of questions used as well as the questionnaire’s sections and length. 3.3.2 Types of Questions The current research made use of a survey questionnaire with closed-ended questions with ordered answer options. Five- and two-point Likert scales were used consistently throughout the survey process. The statements that form the survey questions are supposed to be as short as possible so as to make it easier for the participants to understand them (Lietz, 2010). The survey questionnaire used in the current research was written using an active voice as opposed to passive voice as recommended by Bradburn, Sudman, Blair, Locander, and Miles (1980) and Sudman and Bradburn (1982). At the same time, the researcher avoided the use of ambiguous terms and expressions, language, generalisations and leading questions as recommended by several authors (e.g. Block et al., 1986; Lietz, 2010). 3.3.3 Questionnaire: Length and Parts The survey questionnaire used in the research comprised 21 pages with 32 items (refer to Appendix 1). The first four pages of the questionnaire included the title of the research, an information sheet for participants as well as online implied consent for partaking in the research. The significance of the information included in the first four pages of the questionnaire was to describe the purpose of the research and its main objective and to provide rules and guidance information relating to the questions. The information also addressed the issue of confidentiality regarding the information provided by participants. The questionnaire was divided into eight different parts. The first section of the survey questionnaire was related to the participants’ demographic data. The significance of this section is to help explore the different places where the participants schooled. The second part sought to survey the effects of participants’ ethical values, beliefs and behaviour on how the participants perceive plagiarism and cheating. The third section looked at the influence of teachers and mentors on the participants’ perceptions regarding plagiarism and cheating. The fourth part of the questionnaire explored the impact of education and reading on how the participants perceived cheating and plagiarism. The fifth part evaluated the impact of sporting heroes, politicians or celebrities on how the participants view cheating and plagiarism. The sixth section explored the impact of religion on the participants’ perception of cheating and plagiarism. The seventh part looked at the influence of other groups on how the participants perceive cheating and plagiarism. The final part of the survey questionnaire assessed the influence of people’s own beliefs, behaviour and attitude on how the same people perceive academic cheating and plagiarism. Details of the variable code, the nature of each variable, the objectives of the variable with regard to its construction and operationalisation measurement level scale as well as sources are shown in table 3.1 3.3.4 Survey Pre-testing The survey instrument was pre-tested by administering the questionnaire to the students at different levels of education (bachelor’s, master’s and PhD) at the University of New England. The aim of the pre-testing was to ensure that clarity was achieved and to check if there were any irrelevant questions in the questionnaire as noted by Field (2013) and Moore and Benbasat (1991). After the questionnaire had been administered, respondents were asked to give their views regarding the questionnaire. The respondents made some suggestions for refinement and elucidation of the questions and items in the questions. This was done in terms of meaning and clarity of every statement, appropriateness and adequacy of the statements, and any uncertainties or problems associated with completing the questionnaires before the final conducting of the survey. 3.4 Main Survey Questionnaire This section outlines and explains the research instruments that were used in administering the main survey questionnaire in the current research. The elements that are covered include collection of data, unit of analysis, electronic survey, the research sampling environment, administration of the survey questionnaire and analytical procedures for the quantitative research. 3.4.1 Collection of data: Electronic survey The process of collecting data was conducted by use of a web survey or e-survey following the approach suggested by several authors (Babbie, 1990; Dillman, 2000; Scornavacca, Becker et al., 2004; Evans & Mathur, 2005; Straub, Gefen et al., 2005). A web-based survey encompasses the use of a self-administered questionnaire (meaning that an interview is not involved), which is delivered through a standard web browser. The participants’ responses are collected electronically via a server network, mostly the Internet. In most cases, respondents are invited to participate in the survey through an email and web address. According to a number of authors (Klassen & Jacobs, 2001; Scornavacca, Becker et al., 2004; Goeritz, 2006), there are several advantages of e-surveys when such survey are compared with traditional methods. Chief among the benefits is the aspect of the low cost of administering the surveys since they are paperless and do not require the use of interviewers (Clayton & Werking 1988). For instance, there are no costs of buying paper, printing, buying envelopes and stamps, as well as administrative work such as data entry and editing. Further advantages of e-surveys include the time saved in administering the e-surveys, the fact that no data re-entry is required, and the ability to conduct customized e-mail follow-ups (Simsek & Veiga, 2000; Simsek & Veiga, 2001; Holland, Smith et al. 2010). E-surveys are also associated with various challenges. These include low response rates, difficulty in assuring the quality of the sampling frame, and non-response biases (Dillman 2000; Scornavacca, Becker et al. 2004). In regard to this study, Survey Monkey was used to host the survey. This made it possible to provide the survey online and send a link to the questionnaire to a large number of people across different regions in the world. The survey could be viewed online over a period of 30 days. A total of 205 people viewed the questionnaire website. Following a meticulous assessment of the dataset in a spreadsheet, it was discovered that 14 people left the survey at some stage and thus did not produce a complete set of data. Additionally, 22 individuals were excluded from the final analysis because they had not fully completed some of the survey questions. Consequently, 169 questionnaires were considered useful for the data analysis stage. 3.4.2 Research unit of analysis A critical component of a research instrument is how to describe the level of analysis for the research. Describing the unit of analysis as well as response ensures that the results of the research are reasonable (Creswell, 2014; Field, 2013; Hair, 2010). The unit of analysis could be an individual, a group, an organisation, a phenomenon or event, a project, or a decision (Creswell, 2013). In this study, individual participants from various cultural backgrounds across the world were the unit of analysis and unit of response to determine the important formative factors that influence people’s attitudes towards academic cheating and plagiarism. 3.4.3 Research sampling environment This section discusses some of the issues in the sampling environment which relate to this research. These include sample size and selection, key participants, remaindering procedure and response rates. In this research, the target of the quantitative sample was people from different cultural backgrounds across the world. The reason for this target group was to get a comprehensive view of the important formative factors that affect people’s attitudes toward academic cheating and plagiarism. The number of participants from various regions and the response rate is shown in table 3.2. 3.4.4 Assessing validity and reliability of the study constructs Validity and reliability are measures that are applied in a study to determine whether the data that is being studied is accurate, well developed and reflects the requirements of the study (Creswell, 2014; Hair, 2010). For this research, the aim of retesting the reliability and validity of the research constructs is that most of the items that were used to measure the formative factors that affect individuals’ attitudes towards academic cheating and plagiarism were modified from literature and their operationalisation was not adopted in previous empirical research. Construct validity denotes the extent to which interpretations and conclusions can be reasonably derived from operationalisations in the research to the theoretical variables that form the basis of such operationalisations (Creswell, 2014). This relates to generalising the findings of a research. On the other hand, reliability refers to the extent to which the variables used in a research assess the accuracy as well as consistency of responses and are free of errors (Hair, 2010). While validity refers to the projected truth of suggestions, interpretations and conclusions, reliability measures the consistency of the scale developed based on an assessment of the internal consistency of items that measure a given variable. According to Cooksey and McDonald (2011), validity is measured on the basis of content, discriminant and convergent validity. Content validity is determined by performing the detailed procedure of item choice and refinement when the intrument is being developed. Convergent validity assesses whether all the items that measure the construct combine to create a single construct. In regard to this, the aim of the resercher was to group the elements that belonged to the constructs being investgated. Discriminant validity is applied to measure the extent to which a concept is different from other concepts and is denoted by a measure not correlating significantly with other measures from which it should differ theoretically. Essentially, the researcher sets and controls the construct that needs to be operationalised and offers evidence of which measures where factored in and how such constuct measures behave theoretically in the context of a research. The structure content denotes how the construct items are to be assessed in a study. In this regard, data should be used to support the theoretical view behinnd this construct (Cooksey & McDonald, 2011; Creswell, 2014). Accordingly, three steps of construct validity and reliability processes were performed in the main survey. The processes, relevant statistical tests and objectives are explained in table 3.4. 3.4.5 Analytical procedure for the main survey This section highlights and explains the analystical procedures that were conducted in the main survey. Once all the steps of construct validity and the reliability process had been completed, the data was set for examining the research question: “What are the important formative factors influencing individuals’ attitudes toward academic plagiarism and cheating?” Descriptive analysis was used to answer this question. Descriptive analysis in this case refers to the initial quantitative findings that are presented in chapter 4 in this study. Descriptive statistics provide an insight into what are the most notable formative factors that influence people’s attitudes toward academic cheating and plagiarism by analysing the responses of individuals from different cultural backgrounds. A big volume of descriptive data can indicate the role of these factors in the attitudes of people towards academic cheating and plagiarism. Hence, metric level data were used to organise the five- and two-point Likert-type survey questionnaire into a Microsoft Excel file. Chapter 4 indicates how variables were analysed by use of descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation. Other descriptive analyses such as number of observations and proportion of frequencies were calculated as shown in chapter 4. The descriptive findings provided a better understanding of the research data set as well as the initial quantitative findings. 3.5 Summary of the chapter This chapter has discussed the methodology that was used in the research. It has addressed issues such as research approach and development of constructs and testing, designing of the questionnaire, sampling, administration of the research questionnaire, assessment of validity and reliability and the analytical procedures used in the main survey. The next chapter will present the findings of the descriptive analysis so as to provide an understanding of the effect of formative factors on individuals’ attitudes towards academic plagiarism and cheating. References Block, G., Hartman, A. M., Dresser, C. M., Carroll, M. D., Gannon, J., & Gardner, L. (1986). A data-based approach to diet questionnaire design and testing. American journal of epidemiology, 124(3), 453-469. Bradburn, N. M., Sudman, S., Blair, E., Locander, W., & Miles, C. (1980). Improving interview method and questionnaire design: Response effects to threatening questions in survey research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2015). Business research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Buchanan, D. A., & Bryman, A. (2007). Contextualizing methods choice in organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 10(3), 483-501. Cooksey, R. W. (2007). Illustrating statistical procedures: For business, behavioural and social science research. Prahran, Victoria: Tilde University Press. Cooksey, R. W., & McDonald, G. M. (2011). Surviving and thriving in postgraduate research. Prahran, Victoria: Tilde University Press. Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches: Sage publications. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. London: Sage Publications. Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. London: Sage. Hair, J. F. (2010). Multivariate data analysis. Jick, T. D. (1979). Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods: Triangulation in action. Administrative science quarterly, 602-611. Lietz, P. (2010). Research into questionnaire design. International Journal of Market Research, 52(2), 249-272. Moore, G. C., & Benbasat, I. (1991). Development of an instrument to measure the perceptions of adopting an information technology innovation. Information systems research, 2(3), 192-222. Neuman, W. L. (2005). Social research methods: Quantitative and qualitative approaches (Vol. 13). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Sudman, S., & Bradburn, N. M. (1982). 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This can assist in interpreting the statistical findings. 2. The second aspect is the generalisability of results. By employing the survey method, using a large sample of participants from different cultural backgrounds to confirm the important formative factors that influence individuals’ attitudes toward academic cheating and plagiarism offers a stronger validity and enables examination of the general ideas and relationships in a research framework. 3. A quantitative survey provides statistical evidence in regard to construct validity and reliability.

Based on this, it was necessary to establish the overall validity of the important formative factors that influence the attitudes of individuals towards academic cheating and plagiarism. 3.3 Quantitative Survey The quantitative method has been widely used in studies across many disciplines. The current research has adopted this method to verify measurements of the conceptual model of factors that influence the attitudes of individuals towards academic plagiarism and cheating. The use of survey questionnaires as a quantitative primary data collection method has also been common in contemporary research studies.

The survey approach denotes a collection of methods that support quantitative analysis. This is achieved through a variety of instruments including email and postal questionnaires and telephone interviews, whereby the data that is collected is analysed using statistical procedures (Creswell, 2014; Neuman, 2005). The purpose of conducting a survey is to obtain data from a population sample so that generalised conclusions can be made about some features, attitudes or behaviours of the population in question.

Sample sizes and types are important in quantitative studies and in providing guidance on the categories and assumptions that are derived from qualitative research in reference to the population (Creswell, 2014). In regard to this, it was decided that there was need to study the influence of formative factors on people’s attitudes towards academic cheating and plagiarism based on the sample of participants to be involved in the research. The section that follows provides a detailed explanation of the survey design, which includes the questionnaire design, units of analysis, issues involved in sampling, collection of data, and data analysis. 3.2.

1 Questionnaire Design The questionnaire that was designed was based on the information that was collected in the review of literature. The process of developing the questionnaire took about three months. A number of versions of the questionnaire were made and revised to arrive at the final form. The questions on the final version of the questionnaire were written in English (refer to Appendix 1). The following sections give a detailed explanation of the questionnaire design process, such as the types of questions used as well as the questionnaire’s sections and length. 3.3.

2 Types of Questions The current research made use of a survey questionnaire with closed-ended questions with ordered answer options. Five- and two-point Likert scales were used consistently throughout the survey process. The statements that form the survey questions are supposed to be as short as possible so as to make it easier for the participants to understand them (Lietz, 2010). The survey questionnaire used in the current research was written using an active voice as opposed to passive voice as recommended by Bradburn, Sudman, Blair, Locander, and Miles (1980) and Sudman and Bradburn (1982).

At the same time, the researcher avoided the use of ambiguous terms and expressions, language, generalisations and leading questions as recommended by several authors (e.g. Block et al., 1986; Lietz, 2010). 3.3.3 Questionnaire: Length and Parts The survey questionnaire used in the research comprised 21 pages with 32 items (refer to Appendix 1). The first four pages of the questionnaire included the title of the research, an information sheet for participants as well as online implied consent for partaking in the research.

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