Descriptive research was used, as the purpose was determine the relative importance of each choice factor and the usefulness of various sources of information. According to Alvin C.Burns and Ronald F. Bush, descriptive research desirable when we wish to project a study’s findings to a large popular if the study’s sample is representative. The study aimed to provide a description (in terms of convenience sample) of the following: socio-demographic information contains brief profile of first year students in term of gender, age, etc; behavioural information consist of the decision-making process specifically the choice factors and information sources influencing university selection of students.
The time dimension of our study was cross-sectional as the data collected at one point in time. Research was conducted under field condition as students were interviewed in their lecture rooms at the university. Participants were fully aware of the research activity, and they have nothing to lose or gain from manipulating their answers, thus there was nothing influences the results.
Identify information types and sources and determine method of accessing data
Primary data is information that is developed or gathered by the researcher specifically for research project at hand while secondary data has previously been gathered by someone other than researchers and/or for other purpose than research project at hand. In this research, the primary data collection method was used to collect the data from the respondents (students). Primary data is obtain through quantitative methods which focus on gathering a large amount of information through surveys such as mail, personal interviews. Results obtained from these methods are easily quantifiable and have potentially high degree of accuracy. There are many different survey method but we used personal interview and chose self-administrated interview for our research. In the self-administrated interview method, no interviewer is involved in completing the questionnaire. It allows respondents to complete the questionnaire by themselves. Data collection requires respondents to record their response to the research question in writing. This method is relatively fast, cheap, convenient and easy to process and the response rate is usually high.
Design data collection forms
The data collection instrument is questionnaire. It is a set of questions designed to generate the data necessary to accomplish the objectives of the research project. In this research, questions were grouped into three sections: University characteristics, information sources and personal profile. This ensured that the necessary information was obtained to reach the objectives of the study and to enable university make the correct decision regarding the student market. These questionnaires also fit the respondents’ requirements. When designing the questionnaire we considered the topic, the type of respondent, interviewing environment and length of the interview to ensure that respondents will give their cooperation. Pre-testing of the questionnaire was used and the necessary changes implemented to ensure that the respondents’ requirements were met. The questionnaire was assigned codes before distribution and thoroughly discussed with the data collector and statistical analyst to ensure that all the requirements were met. In this research, we used close-ended questions which have various possible answers from which the respondent has to pick one or more. This type of question includes dichotomous, multiple choice, scale-response questions. Such questions are easy to answer, require less effort by the researcher and make tabulation and analysis easier. The answers of these questions are also directly comparable from one respondent to another and therefore mainly closed response format questions were used in the study.
Sections of the questionnaire used in this study
The questionnaire consisted of three sections and each of these sections and questions in the questionnaire will be explained below:
Section A:
Section A consisted of Question 1 and investigated Latrobe university characteristics/choice factors. Question 1 contained ten variables and measured the importance of Latrobe characteristics (choice factors) such as:
-
Image of Latrobe
- Location of Latrobe – Hanu Campus
- Attractiveness of campus
- Quality of teaching
- Fees (cost)
- Academic facilities (libraries, laboratories...)
- Campus safety and security
- Social life on campus (music festivals, prom...)
- International links (study and job opportunities...)
- Relationship (parent, sibling, friends... went there)
A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure the ten identified choice factors. This type of scale is a widely used rating scale that requires the respondents to indicate the degree of agreement or disagreement with each of a series of statements about an object. Typically, each scale item has 5 response categories ranging from not important at all, of little importance, moderately important, important, to very important.
For example:
Section B:
Section B of the questionnaire consisted of Question 2 which measured the usefulness of different information sources such as:
- University of publications (newsletters & brochures)
- University website
- Word – of – mouth (friends & other people)
- Advertisements on radio
- Advertisement in magazines/ newspapers
- Advertisements on TV
A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure the usefulness of information sources. Each scale item had 5 response categories ranging from very poor, poor, fair, and good to excellent. Provision was also made for not applicable to ensure that respondents were not forced to rank an information source that they had not encountered before.
For example:
Section C:
Section C of the questionnaire contained three questions and aimed to measure the socio-demographic details of respondents such as: age, gender and average income. In this section, mainly multiple choice questions with single answers were used.
For example:
C.1. Indicate your gender:
1. Male
2. Female
Determine of sample plan and size
The target population of our study was students at Latrobe University – Hanu Campus. The research was conducted at the beginning of the semester. Non-probability sampling was chosen as the characteristics of this method have particular appeal due to financial and time restraints. According to Alvin C.Burns and Ronald F.Bush, non-probability samples can produce samples of the population that are reasonably representative. A major implication of this type of sampling is that a statistical evaluation of the sampling error cannot be undertaken. There are some errors that are usually associated with non-probability such as measurement errors, respondents’ errors. Questionnaire design errors were prevented by following the guidelines for constructing a questionnaire and pre-coding were used to avoid coding and data capturing errors, thus, measurement errors were prevented. Respondents’ errors were also prevented by making sure it is not a lengthy questionnaire. Interviewer errors were limited by making use of a structured questionnaire.
There are four types of non-probability sampling methods: judgment, quota, referral and convenience sampling. For the purpose of this study, a convenience sample was chosen. Samples were drawn at the convenience of the interviewer and respondent participation was voluntary. Convenience sampling was used in this research as the sample members (Latrobe students) were chosen on the basis of being available or accessible during normal class times. After selecting a sampling method, the sample size was determined. As this research used a non-probability sampling method, the sample size was determined by practical consideration such as resources in terms of money, time and personnel impact, as well as the number of respondents present in class and willing to participate. Total 100 questionnaires were distributed to classes of the Latrobe University.
Collect data
Firstly, we gave a brief description of the research project, reasons for conducting the research and timeframe to each monitor of each class. We collected questionnaires at the end of the session. Written permission was also obtained from each respondent (students) to participate in the research. The front page of the questionnaire contained instructions on how to complete the questionnaire as well as clear instructions at each question. After completion, the questionnaires were handed back to the monitor, who then sent it back to the researcher.
After data has been collected, it has to be processed. Codes can be assigned before or after a research study is completed. In this research, pre-coding was used as mainly closed-ended questions, multiple choice questions and scaled questions were used for which answers can be anticipated from the questionnaire. Pre-coding made the completion of data sheets unnecessary as the data was accessible directly from the questionnaire, saving time and money and decreasing the chances of coding errors. After that, coded data was inputted into a software package that will ultimately allow the researcher analyst to manipulate and transform the raw data into useful information. A personal computer was used as a data entry device. The data was entered directly from the questionnaires. The data capturers checked for errors in the captured data. The researcher also checked the final captured data a second time to ensure that no mistakes were made.
Analysis data
This section first presents the realized sample compared to the planned sample, thus the response rate for study. It then provides a socio-demographic profile of the respondents, followed by descriptive analysis of the data. Finally, the reliability and validity of the measurement scale is addressed, whereafter the research objectives and hypothesis testing results are presented.
Table 1: Response rate
From above table, it is clear that the overall response rate for the study was perfect (100%), as 100 of the 100 questionnaires were complete. Once the fieldwork had been completed, the questionnaires were edited and coded. The next section provides an overview of the descriptive analysis of the dataset by reporting the findings of all the sections of the questionnaire.
Descriptive data
The tables and figures in this section report the findings of the descriptive statistics undertaken in order to report the responses of all the questions in the questionnaire (refer to Appendix A for the questionnaire). The first section provides a profile of the respondents by reporting the socio-demographic results of Section C in the questionnaire. The second section reports on the results of the importance of different university characteristics or choice factors (Section A of the questionnaire). The final section of the descriptive data highlights the results of Section B of the questionnaire, namely the usefulness of information sources in the institution selection process. All percentages in the descriptive data section are rounded to a full number with no decimals. The missing responses are presented in the figures and tables to indicate respondents who did not answer the particular question.
Socio-demographic profile of students
Section C of the questionnaire was devoted to respondents’ personal details. This was done to gain insight into the demographic profile of the students are studying at La Trobe University (Hanu campus). These details included information on gender, age and average income. The results are presented in the figures and tables below.
Figure 1 indicates the gender distribution of the respondents.
Figure 1: Gender of respondents
N = 100
Figure 1 indicates that of the 100 respondents, 35% (35) were male and 64% (64) female. More females may have participated in this university due to:
- A general higher attendance by female students
- Higher education increasing female enrolments in an attempt to achieve gender equity; or
- More female students enrolled in the field of Business administration.
The age distribution of respondents is presented in figure 2
Figure 2: Age of respondents
N = 100
From figure 2, it is evident that the majority of the respondents (87%) were young. The large percentage of students between the ages of 18 to 20 years can be seen as the first year students.
The average income in respondents’ family is shown in figure 3.
Figure 3: The average income in respondents’ family
N = 100
Above figure shows that 33% of respondents do not want to mention to average income of their family. In the rest of 67%, there is almost family get the average income of lower $300 per month (30$) and only 13% of family’s respondent have the average of income higher $500.
The relative importance of university characteristics or choice factors
Section A, the questions of the questionnaire dealt with the relative importance students attached to different university characteristics, mainly referred to as choice factors in this study. Respondents indicated the relative importance of each choice factor on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from Not important to Very important. For the discussion of the importance of choice factors, reference will be made to mean values and the corresponding level of importance (1=Not important, 2=Little important, 3=Moderate, 4=Important and 5=Very important). The mean, standard deviation and number of responses for each choice factor (variable) are depicted in Table 2.
Table 2: The importance of different university characteristics (choice factors)
From above tables, the following can be highlighted:
-
Quality of teaching was indicated as the most important choice factor, as 73 percent of the respondents indicated it as very important. It was a very low (0.448), indicating that most respondents had a high agreement on the importance of this item;
-
The fact that respondent’s parents, siblings or friends attended the Latrobe university, was indicated as moderate important by 81% of the respondents;
-
Responses differed the most with regard to the importance of the attractiveness of Hanu campus, as the standard deviation is the highest (1.833) followed by location of Latrobe university (Hanu campus) with a standard deviation of 1.562. As standard deviation measures the spread of data about the mean, it implies that if the points are close to the mean, the standard deviation is small or low (indicating consistency or agreement) and if the points are far from the mean, the standard deviation is high or large (indicating inconsistency or differences). The high standard deviations thus suggest that there is a wider spread in the data, suggesting that there is not high agreement on these items.
The final section of the descriptive analysis presents the results of Section B. The results pertain to the usefulness of different information sources as perceived by the respondents.
Usefulness of information
Students rely on information they obtain about Latrobe University before they decide to study in this university. Section B in the questionnaire, investigated the usefulness of different information sources on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from Very poor to Excellent. In the discussion of the usefulness of information sources, reference will be made to the mean values and corresponding usefulness (1=very poor, 2=poor, 3=fair, 4=good and 5=excellent). Table 3 highlights the mean, standard deviation and number of responses for each information sources.
Table 3: Usefulness of information sources
The following can be deducted from Table 3:
-
Word of mouth about Latrobe university were the most useful source of information with the highest mean of 4.23, followed by Latrobe’s website with a mean of 3.23;
- The least useful source of information was Advertisement on radio and television;
-
Responses for the usefulness of Word of mouth differed the most, with a standard deviation of 1.188, suggest that respondents had a low level of agreement on the usefulness of this information source;
-
Still WOM, it was rated 62% of the respondents as excellent, followed by University website (7% of excellent) ;
-
54% of the respondents rated the usefulness of Latrobe’s website as good or excellent, suggesting that students had access to the Internet;
-
100% and 97% of respondents indicated Advertisement on radio/ television and Advertisement in magazines/ newspapers, respectively, as not being applicable, indicating that Latrobe University is not currently making use of this medium to reach students.
The next section focuses on the reliability and validity of the measurement instrument.
Hypotheses results
The process of formulating the hypothesis for the study was as follows: Firstly, the null and alternative hypothesis was formulated. Next, the circumstance under which the null hypothesis would or could not be rejected was specified by choosing a level of significance. For the purpose of testing hypothesis in this study, the significance level for all hypotheses were set at a 5 percent significance level (α=0.05). Then an appropriate statistical test was chosen. Finally, the values of the statistical test were calculated, the test results interpreted and a decision made to reject or not reject the null hypothesis.
Before conducting any test, there are different assumptions in each test. In this survey, we assume that all the assumptions were satisfaction.
Chi – square test for independence/ relatedness was used for hypothesis 1 to analysis the relationship between Image of Latrobe University variable and Quality of teaching variable. Hypothesis 2, 3 involved comparisons between the mean scores of two independent groups and therefore t-test was used.
Hypothesis 1
Determine whether there is relationship between image of Latrobe University and other variables?
H0: There is no relationship between image of Latrobe University and other variables.
H1: There is relationship between image of Latrobe University and other variables.
The Chi – square result of the hypothesis 2 was below in Table 4.
Table 4.1: Image of Latrobe University * University location (Hanu campus)
Chi-Square Tests
- 7 cells (58.3%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .08
Table 4.2: Image of Latrobe University * Attractiveness of Hanu campus
Chi-Square Tests
a. 14 cells (77.8%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .16
Table 4.3: Image of Latrobe University * Campus safety and security
Chi-Square Tests
a. 10 cells (66.7%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .16.
Table 4.4: Image of Latrobe University * Quality of teaching
Chi-Square Tests
a. 1 cell (16.7%) has expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 2.16.
Table 4.5: Image of Latrobe University * Fee
Chi-Square Tests
a. 13 cells (72.2%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .08
Table 4.6: Image of Latrobe University * Academic facilities
Chi-Square Tests
a. 14 cells (77.8%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .16
Table 4.7: Image of Latrobe University * Social life on campus
Chi-Square Tests
a. 13 cells (72.2%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .40
Table 4.8: Image of Latrobe University * International links
Chi-Square Tests
a. 13 cells (72.2%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .08
Table 4.9: Image of Latrobe University * Relationship (parent, siblings, friends... went there)
Chi-Square Tests
a. 4 cells (44.4%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .72
From 9 table above, it can be seen that all nine other variables (Location of Latrobe – Hanu Campus, attractiveness of Hanu campus, campus safety and security, quality of teaching, fee, academic facilities, social life on campus, international links and students’ relationship) do not have any relationship with image of Latrobe University (all sig. > 0.05)
Hypothesis 2
Determine whether there are gender differences regarding the importance students attach to choice factors when selecting Latrobe University?
H0: Male and female students do not differ in the importance they attach to choice factors.
H2: Male and female students differ regarding the importance they attach to choice factors.
The Independent samples t-test result of the hypothesis test is shown in Table 5.
Table 5: Independent samples test results
From above tables, it can be seen that significant from Levene’s test of following variables: Image of Latrobe University, Campus safety and security, Fee and Social life activities were lower than 0.05, it means that the variability in each two conditions is not the same. Then, just look at the second line at significant (2-tailed) column, we have sig. of all variables were higher than 0.05 (0.101; 0.105; 0.149 and 0.125). Therefore, we can conclude that there are no statistically significant differences between male and female in the way thinking what is important in following categories: image of Latrobe University, Campus safety and security, Fee and Social life activities choice factors.
The six other choice factors: Location of Latrobe – Hanu Campus, attractiveness of Hanu campus, quality of teaching, academic facilities, international links and students’ relationship have the Levene’s significant higher than 0.05 (0.522; 0.062; 0.456; 0.233; 0.706 and 0.289, respectively), it means that the variability in each two conditions is the same. Therefore, we read from the first row significant (2-tailed) and got the sig. of all variables higher than 0.05 as we can conclude that there is no statistically significant difference between each two conditions.
In conclusion, male and female students do not differ in the importance they attach to choice factors.
Hypothesis 3
Determine if family’s students that have lower average income make more use of WOM as a source of information than students have higher average income.
H0: Students who have family’s average income lower $300 do not value WOM more as a source of information than students who have family’s average income higher $500
H3: Students who have family’s average income lower $300 value WOM more as a source of information than students who have family’s average income higher $500
The t-test result is shown below in table 6 and table 7.
Table 6: Group Statistic
Table 7: Independent samples test
It can be seen from table 8 that the sig. from Levene’s test was higher than 0.05 (0.755), it means that the variability in two conditions lower and higher average income is the same. Therefore, we read from the first row significant (2-tailed) and got the sig. higher than 0.05 as we can conclude that there is no statistically significant difference between low or high income on average per month. This suggests that WOM is useful sources of information for students, regardless of how income their family get each month.
Summary
This chapter analysed and reported the results from the empirical study. Firstly, the response rate was presented and then the descriptive statistics were explained. The results of all the questions in the questionnaire were reported by focussing on the socio-demographic profile of respondents, university characteristics (choice factors) and the usefulness of information sources.
The empirical analysis indicated that the choice factor scale used in the study was reliable. The empirical results were also assessed to address the formulated hypotheses and research objectives. The chapter concluded with a summary of the outcome of each hypothesis. The results found in this section may be of importance to Latrobe’s marketing when planning recruitment, communication, and marketing strategies.
Limitation
A number of limitations should be highlighted as following:
• Due to the nature of this study (non-probability sampling), the non-response error and sampling error could not be determined.
• The study was limited to students from Latrobe Universities located in Hanu campus, thereby excluding students from other campus.
• The study was limited to diploma and bachelor students, thereby excluding students from master course.
• Due to the nature of non-probability sampling, the respondents used in this study are not representative of the broader Latrobe student population. Therefore, the results cannot be generalised to the entire population. It is suggested that future studies attempt to draw a representative sample of all campus.
Despite these limitations, the findings from this study provide guidance to Latrobe University on the choice factors and information sources used in the university selection process.
Conclusion
The research contributes to the information on choice factors and information sources used in students’ decision-making process with regard to selecting Latrobe University – Hanu campus. Latrobe University and the marketer they employ should consider such information much more than in the past, because of the changing higher education landscape facing increased competition and decreased funding. It is therefore important for Latrobe University to understand how prospective students are influenced so that Latrobe can employ appropriate marketing strategies. The findings of this study provides an understanding of the choice factors that are most important to students and provides insight into the information sources or promotional tools that can be used to communicate with prospective students. Results could be used for effective planning and resource allocation for recruitment, communication and marketing. In particular, the research adds to the understanding of how students choose Latrobe University in Hanoi and where students look for information to base their decisions on. There is also potential for the information gathered by this study to be used by Latrobe to assist prospective students to make more informed decisions and more appropriate choices.
Bibliography
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Alvin, C. & Ronal, F., Marketing Research, 6th edn.
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Danh sách các trường ĐH liên kết với nước ngoài, [online]. Available at URL: (Accessed 3 October 2010)
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Appendix A: Questionnaire
QUESTIONAIRE: CRITERIAL TO SELECT A COURSE AT LATROBE UNIVERSITY
Dear student: Listed below are some aspects of Latrobe University that students consider when selecting a course. It will be appreciated if you can take a few minutes of your time to complete this questionnaire on what led you to enrol at this university. Please note that your answers will be regarded as strictly confidential and will be used for research purposes only. Please indicate your choice by circling a number. Example:
Section A: Latrobe characteristics
- Please indicate how important each of the characteristics were to you in choosing Latrobe to attend.
1 = Not important at all 2 = Of little importance 3 = Moderately important
4 = Important 5 = Very important
Section B: Usefulness of information sources
- Students rely heavily on the information they can obtain about Latrobe before they enroll at this university. Please indicate the usefulness of the following information provided, when you considered enrolling at this university. If a given source was not available, circle 0.
0 = Not applicable 1 = Very poor 2 = Poor 3 = Fair 4 = Good 5 = Excellent
Section C: Additional information
C1. Indicate your gender:
- Male
- Female
C2. Indicate your age:
- From 18 – 20 years old
- From 21 – 23 years old
- Higher 24 years old
C3. Indicate the average income in your family
- Lower $300
- About $ 300 - $500
- Higher $500
Appendix B: Summary of all the discussed objectives, hypotheses, questions and statistical tests
Appendix C: Respondents’ email