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BPMN 3143 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Stress is a feeling in which a person faces high level of depression due to the

requirements he /she need to perform in any task that they undergo. Stress is a normal

physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in

some way. As for this study, the stress level is mainly tested the first semester students

in Northern University of Malaysia.

According to our research on previous studies, there are many factors that can

contribute to the stress among the first semester student. The investigated variable that

we analysis in this study are academic and social factor. On the other hand our

dependent variables (DV) are physical factor and office relationship (stress). In this

study, we will also investigate the correlation on the students relationshipwith their

course mate, roommate, their family background, financial support and etc.

1.1.1CURRENT ISSUE ON STRESS

According to an article published in Berita Online, on Thursday, October 6 th,

2011, revealed that the stress level among students is very high. The issue is also being

experienced by others locally and globally. This is because students are everywhere in

the world wide and as their education level is getting higher, they need to accomplish

many tasks and face new environment which can be slightly or totally different from

their primary and secondary school life. They have to go through all this stages in their

life to prepare them to working environment. Unfortunately, their colleges or

universities life cause them a lot of pressure due to the lack of skills or certain

knowledge to accomplish those tasks. Besides that, some of them who facing with

personal or family problem could make their stress level to increase causing them to

be in trauma. Therefore, everyone who involve in developing students should be more

concern on this issue and find solution to overcome this problem.


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1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

From the observation through our research, we identified what are the severalfactors that contribute stress among the first semester of Northern University students?

The factors that lead to stress among students in UUM are academic factors, and social

factors. The major factor that affects the students in UUM is academic. Stress happens

when there are examination, monthly assignment and coursework task around the

corner where the entire dateline are near. Competition among students also leads to

stress. Social factors also lead to stress that also exclude students relationshipwith

their course mate, roommate, their family background, and financial support.

1.2.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT ON CURRENT ISSUE

Current issue also informs that stress among students nationwide is also wide

.The problem statement for the current issue also to know the factors that leads to

stress. According to the newspaper above, the research tells that examinations,

problems at home and pressure from schools are mainly factors that contribute stress

to students. Students have to gone through a lot of obstacles when facing the higher

education as they are slightly different or even higher which can cause mental strain.

Apart from that , especially new joined students have hard time to differentiate

problem that are facing .They will mingle up all the problem that they faced at home

and universities together which can leads them depression. Besides that, pressure from

school also lead to stress as the students former school they have their own targets and

achievement of each and every students that the students should to fulfill.


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1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The objective of our research can be divided into two parts, the general objectives

and specific objectives. The general objective is our research is looking at the

existence of relationship between the stress experience by first semester students and

the factors that contribute to stress in Northern University. The specific objective of

this research is:-

1) To examine the relationship between academic and stress

2) To examine the relationship between the social factors and stress

3) To investigate the difference of stress level between gender

4)

To investigate the difference of stress among family background

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This basic study is carried out mainly to investigate the factors that influence

stress among students. The study is made mainly by considering two aspects which is

academic and social factors. The study is constructed especially for the first semesterstudents of Northern University. As the study is made by having the first semester

students in mind, the findings obtained from this study will be mainly generalized

among them only.

The number of students taken in this research is about 100 students. In

academic, we study on the academic achievements, examinations and course material

where can be collected through their current exam result and study on their weekly or

monthly assignments or coursework task. Besides that, competition among students

also is studied in this category. Another factor that contribute stress is social factors

which included social aspects in college, relationships in classroom, parental

influences and socioeconomic supports.


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1.5 RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY

This study has been done mainly for the benefit of the first semester students as

it could be made as guideline by them to handle their stress better. From this study,

both the first semester students and the Northern University management team could

consider the adjustment that should be made in order to reduce or eliminate the stress

level to enhance the education process.


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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INVESTIGATED VARIABLE

The investigated variables that are used in this study are academic, physical

factors, office relationship and social factor. In this study, the investigated variables

consist of both independent variable and dependent variable. Academic means studies

that is liberal or classical rather than technical or vocational (The American Heritage,

2009). Next is social factor, which means interaction of organisms with other

organisms and to their collective co-existence (Dolwick, JS, 2009). Other than that,

physical factors mean Non-living factors that affect organisms and their survival (Wiki

Answers.Com). Next is the office relationship, this term means the degree of success

obtained in achieving a favorable relationship with the public (Public Relations

Research, 1989). In addition,stress means body's reaction to a change that requires a

physical, mental or emotional adjustment or response (Lazarus,R.S & Folkman,S,

1984).

2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

The hypothesis is constructed in a non directional hypothesis method. A non

directional hypothesis is those that do postulate a relationship difference, but offer no

indication of the direction of these relationship or differences. Usually this theory is

used when the result is uncertain. In other word, the result might be either positive or

negative. As for this study, the relation of the IVs (academic and social) with the DV

(physical factors and office relationship) is uncertain. Therefore the non directional

hypothesis method is used.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/0j537m2362328336.html,http://www.springerlink.com/content/0j537m2362328336.html,


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2.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Table 2.1: Theoretical fr amework

2.4. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H1: There is a significant relationship between the academic factors and stress in

university

H2: There is a significant relationship between the social factors and stress in

university.

H3: There is a significant relationship between social factors and physical factor

H4: There is significant relationship between social factors and office relationship

H5: There is significant relationship between academic and physical factor

H6:There is a significant relationship between academic and office relationship

H7: There is significant differences of stress level in university between gender

H8: There is significant differences of stress level in university between hometown

H9: There is a significant differences of stress level in university among family

background

H10: There is a significant differences of stress level in university among academic

background

Stress factors

Academic

Social

Stress in university

Physical stress

Office relationship stress


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2.5 OPERATIONALIZATION OF VARIABLES

2.5.1 STRESS FACTORS

The operational definition of factor leads to stress in this study is a

multidimensional construct capturing the academic and social factor. The items for

each dimension adapted from (Shah, Trivedi, Diwan, Dixit, & Anand, 2009) in the

Table 2.2. With the use of 5-point likert scale, they will be asked to specify from (1)

No stress (5) Extreme Stress on each items.

Variable

Type of scale and its

constructionItems used Adapted from

Academic

5-items, 5-point

Likert scale anchored by:

(1) Strongly disagree

to (5) Strongly agree

Time table ,

Duration ,

APA system,

English ,

Course , Time

,Result, Smartways, Recent

course

,Pressure

Shah.C,Trivedi.R.S.,

Diwan.J, Dixit.R, &

Anand.A.K. (2009

Social factor

5-items, 5-point

Likert scale anchored by:

(1) Never

to (5) Always

Ragging,

Social Status,

Assignment,

Parents,

Financial ,

Personal,

University

Lifestyle


Diwan.J, Dixit.R, &

Anand.A.K. (2009)

Table 2.2: Measur ement and scaling of stress factor among students


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2.5.2 STRESS IN UNIVERSITY

The operational definition of stress among first semester studentsin this study

is a multidimensional construct capturing the physical factor and office relationship.

Variable Type of scale/question

and its construction

Items used Adapted from

Physical

factor

5-items, 5-point

Likert scale anchored

by:

(1) No stress

to (5) Extreme Stress

Knowledge,

Facilities , New

Environment,

Transportation ,

Classes


Diwan.J, Dixit.R, &

Anand.A.K. (2009)

Office

relationship

5-items, 5-point

Likert scale anchored

by:

(1) No Stress

to (5) Extreme Stress

JPA scholarship,

Procedure ,

Requirement ,

Service


Diwan.J, Dixit.R, &

Anand.A.K. (2009)

TABLE 2.3: MEASUREMENT AND SCALI NG OF STRESS AMONG

STUDENTS


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CHAPTER 3 : METHOLODOGY

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

Both hypothesis testing and correlation study were used to suits the study nature

and its specific objectives. The hypothesis testing design permits us to test the

relationship between the stress experience by first semester students and the factors

that contribute to stress in Northern University. The factors that contribute to stress of

our research are academic and social factors. Therefore, these two dimensions are used

as the independent variables in the hypothesis testing. Meanwhile, correlation testing

was used to identify the relationship among the investigated variables on each aspect

on factors that contribute to stress which enable us to describe the relationship level.

3.2 POPULATION, SAMPLE AND UNIT OF ANALYSIS

The population for our research consist of semester one of UUM students who

have been facing with stress. We have collected responds from 100 semester one

students as the sample of the whole population and based on Shah.C, Trivedi.R.S.,

Diwan.J, Dixit.R, & Anand.A.K. (2009) in the journal of Common Stressors and

Coping of Stress by Medical Students. Individual student is the unit of analysis of the

study.

3.3 SAMPLING DESIGN

As the study is interested to generalize the findings to the whole population, the

probability sampling is the most suitable design for our research. Hence, all the

elements in the population have chance of being selected as sample subjects. To

collect the survey data, the simple random sampling.


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3.4 DATA SOURCES

The study involves the use of both secondary and primary data. The secondary

data is taken from online journals and the Internet meanwhile the primary data

includes the questionnaires that have been administered to students.

3.5 DATA COLLECTION METHODS

The primary data will be collected through questionnaire that will be issue to

any 100 randomly selected students according to the simple random sampling.

3.6 DATA ANALYSIS

The quantitative statistical software programs will be used to address the

research objectives which include the following analysis:

Reliability Analysis which is to provide a unique estimate of the internal

consistency and reliability.

Correlation Analysis is to describe whether relationship exists between two

continuous variables.

ANOVA test which is use to compare the means of the samples.


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CHAPTER 4 : DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

4.1 DEMOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND

Gender

Frequenc

y Percent

Valid

Percent

Cumulative

Percent

Valid Male 26 26.0 26.0 26.0

Female 74 74.0 74.0 100.0Total 100 100.0 100.0

Table 4.1: F requency table on gender

The table above showed the frequency on gender. We take a sample population of 100

students for our research which consist of 24 male and 74 female. Therefore, the percentage

of male students is only about 24% meanwhile the female students consist of 74%.


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Course

Frequency Percent

ValidPercent

CumulativePercent

Valid acct 4 4.0 4.0 4.0

agribis 1 1.0 1.0 5.0

banking 1 1.0 1.0 6.0

bba 17 17.0 17.0 23.0

bcomm 1 1.0 1.0 24.0

bdm 2 2.0 2.0 26.0bibm 4 4.0 4.0 30.0

bma 2 2.0 2.0 32.0

d.sci 6 6.0 6.0 38.0

econom

y18 18.0 18.0 56.0

edu bba 3 3.0 3.0 59.0

edu it 1 1.0 1.0 60.0

entre 1 1.0 1.0 61.0

finance 1 1.0 1.0 62.0

hrm 1 1.0 1.0 63.0

intaf 7 7.0 7.0 70.0

is.bank 1 1.0 1.0 71.0

it 1 1.0 1.0 72.0

law 2 2.0 2.0 74.0

logistic 5 5.0 5.0 79.0

m.tech 1 1.0 1.0 80.0

mot 11 11.0 11.0 91.0

mrkg 6 6.0 6.0 97.0

pom 3 3.0 3.0 100.0

Total 100 100.0 100.0

Table 4.2: F requency table on course


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Above table showed the respondentscourses. From our research, most of the respondents are

from the course of Economy (18 %), BBA (17%), and MOT (11%).

Qualification

Frequenc

y Percent

Valid

Percent

Cumulative

Percent

Valid STPM 83 83.0 83.0 83.0

MATRICULA

TION

7 7.0 7.0 90.0

DIPLOMA 10 10.0 10.0 100.0

Total 100 100.0 100.0

Table 4.3: Frequency on students qualifications

The table above showed the frequency on students qualifications. From the 100 respondents,

83% is from STPM qualification. The remaining 10% is from Diploma background while

another 7% from Matriculation.

Hometown

Frequenc

y Percent

Valid

Percent

Cumulative

Percent

Valid Rural 51 51.0 51.0 51.0

Urba

n48 48.0 48.0 99.0

4 1 1.0 1.0 100.0

Total 100 100.0 100.0

Table 4.4 : F requency on hometown


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4.2 INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS FROM DATA ANALYSIS

Variable Cronbachs Alpha Item Deleted Item Used

Academic 0.621 1 item is deleted:

A2:What did you felt

for your current mid-

semester examination

results?

11

Physical Factor 0.738 - 5

Office Relationship 0.738 - 4

Social Factors 0.529 4 items are deleted:

D3:I prefer doing

assignment with my

friends rather than new

people

D4: My parents often

control me in all aspect

D5: I do have financial

problem

D6: I can adopt with

the new university

lifestyle

3

Table 4.6: Reli abil ity Analysis


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The table above showed the reliability analysis research variable (Academic, Physical Factor,

Office Relationship and Social Factors). For Academic variable, the Cronbachs Alpha is

0.621 which shows that is variable is reliable and can be accepted. One item has been deleted

for Academic variable; A2: What did you felt for your current mid-semester examinationresults?. Physical Factor and Office Relationship with Cronbachs Alpha of 0.738 show that

both of these variables are reliable enough for this research. Finally, the Social Factors

variable is not reliable enough as its Cronbachs Alpha is only 0.529 which is less than 0.6

and 4 items have been deleted for this variable which are:

D3: I prefer doing assignment with my friends rather than new people

D4: My parents often control me in all aspects

D5: I do have financial problem

D6: I can adopt with the new university lifestyle

Correlation Analysis

4.2.1 H1: There is a significant relationship between the academic factors and stress in

University

Correlations

academi

c

stress in

universit

y

academic Pearson

Correlation1 -.161

Sig. (2-tailed) .110

N 100 100

stress in

university

Pearson

Correlation-.161 1


N 100 100

Table 4.7: Corr elation between academic and stress in un iversity


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Table above show the correlation between Academic and Stress in university (Office

Relationship and Physical Factor). The Pearson Correlation of -0.161 shows that there is little

correlation between Academic and Stress in university and the relation between both variables

are in negative direction. Therefore, it can be conclude here that there is no significantrelationship between the academic factors and stress in university.

4.2.2 H2: There is a significant relationship between the social factors and stress in

University

Correlations

stress in

universit

y

mean social

factors

stress in

university

Pearson

Correlation1 -.139


N 100 100

mean social

factors

Pearson

Correlation-.139 1


N 100 100

Table 4.7 : Cor relati on between stress in un iversity and social factors

Table shows the correlation between stress in university and social factors. Since r = -0.139,

there is negative negligible relation between the two variables. It also can be see here that p=

0.168 is more than 0.05 which means that the relationship between stress in university and

social factors is not significant.


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4.2.3 H3: There is a significant relationship between social factors and physical factor

Correlations

mean social

factors

mean

physical

factor

mean social

factors

Pearson

Correlation1 -.081


N 100 100mean physical

factor

Pearson

Correlation-.081 1


N 100 100

Table 4.8 : Correlation between social factors and physical factor

The table above shows the correlation between social factors and physical factor. Pearson

Correlation, r = -0.081 showed that there is little negative relation between social factors and

physical factor. There is no significant relationship between social factors and physical factor

since p= 0.423 which is more than 0.05.


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4.2.4 H4: There is significant relationship between social factors and office relationship

Correlations

mean social

factors

mean office

relationship

mean social factors Pearson

Correlation1 -.138


N 100 100

mean officerelationship

PearsonCorrelation

-.138 1


N 100 100

Table 4.9 : Cor relati on between social factors and off ice relationship

The table above shows the relationship between social factors and office relationship. Pearson

Correlation, r = -0.138 showed that there is little negative relation between social factors and

office relationship. The value of p= 0.170 which is more than 0.05 describe that there is no

significant relationship between social factors and office relationship.


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4.2.5 H5: There is significant relationship between academic and physical factor

Correlations

academi

c

mean

physical

factor

academic Pearson

Correlation1 -.069


N 100 100mean physical

factor

Pearson

Correlation-.069 1


N 100 100

Table 4.10 : Cor relati on between academic and physical factor

Table above shows the correlation between academic and physical factor. From the result

obtained, r = -0.069 showed that there is negative negligible relation between academic and

physical factor. The value p= 0.498 is more than 0.05 describe that there is no significant

relationship between academic and physical factor.


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4.2.6 H6:There is a significant relationship between academic and office relationship

Correlations

academi

c

mean office

relationship

Academic Pearson

Correlation1 -.182


N 100 100

mean officerelationship

PearsonCorrelation

-.182 1


N 100 100

Table 4.11 : Cor relati on between academic and off ice relationship

The table above shows the correlation between academic and office relationship. The value r

= -0.182 showed little negative correlation between the two variables. In addition, p= 0.07

0.05 clearly stated that there is no significant relationship between academic and office

relationship.


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T-Test Analysis

4.2.7 H7: There is significant differences of stress level in university between

gender

Group Statistics

Gender N Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std.

Error

Mean

stress in

university

Male 26 2.8413 .47963 .09406

Female 74 3.0466 .56927 .06618

Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test

for Equality

of Variances t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. T df

Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Difference

Std. Error

Difference

95%

ConfidenceInterval of the

Difference

Lower Upper

stress in

university

Equal

variances

assumed

.544 .463-

1.64498 .103 -.20528 .12489

-

.45311.04256

Equal

variancesnot

assumed

-1.785

51.547 .080 -.20528 .11501 -.43611

.02556

Table 4.12: T-test anal ysis among stress level in uni versity between gender

From the table above, equal variances are assumed since F = 0.544 0.05. The significant

value of 0.103 which is more than 0.05 showed that there is no significant differences of

stress level in university between gender.


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4.2.8 H8: There is significant differences of stress level in university between hometown

Group Statistics

Hometow

n N Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std.

Error

Mean

stress in

university

Rural 51 3.0328 .39995 .05600

Urban 48 2.9432 .68222 .09847

Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test

for Equality of

Variances t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t df

Sig.

(2-

tailed)

Mean

Difference

Std. Error

Difference

95% Confidence

Interval of the

Difference

Lower Upper

stress in

university

Equal

variances

assumed

14.279 .000 .803 97 .424 .08961 .11160 -.13188 .31111

Equal

variances

not

assumed

.791 74.953 .431 .08961 .11328 -.13606 .31528

Table 4.13: T-test between stress inuniversity and students hometown

Table above shows the Independent Sample Test between stress in university and students

hometown. We can see here that equal variances are assumed as F = 14.279 0.05.

Therefore, the significant value for this independent samples test is 0.424 which is larger than

0.05. As a conclusion, there is no significant differences of stress level in university between

students hometown.


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Analysis on One-Way ANOVA

4.2.9 H9: There is a significant differences of stress level in university among family

background

Descriptives

stress in university

N Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std.

Error

95% Confidence

Interval for Mean

Minimum Maximum

Between-

Component

Variance

Lower

Bound

Upper

Bound

< RM1000 32 3.0992 .45982 .08128 2.9334 3.2650 1.58 4.03

RM1000-RM2000 41 2.9024 .49996 .07808 2.7446 3.0602 1.70 4.08

RM2000-RM3000 18 3.0569 .73333 .17285 2.6923 3.4216 1.20 4.05

> RM3000 9 2.9028 .67817 .22606 2.3815 3.4241 1.78 3.60

Total 100 2.9933 .55248 .05525 2.8836 3.1029 1.20 4.08

Model Fixed

Effects.55316 .05532 2.8834 3.1031

Random

Effects.05532(a) 2.8172(a) 3.1693(a) -.00107

a Warning: Between-component variance is negative. It was replaced by 0.0 in computing

this random effects measure.

ANOVA


Sum of

Squares df

Mean

Square F Sig.

Between

Groups .844 3 .281 .920 .434

Within Groups 29.374 96 .306

Total 30.219 99

Table 4.14: One-way anova between stress level in un iversity and famil y background.

From the table above, low F value (F= 0.92) indicate high in pvalue. Therefore, p= 0.434

= 0.05 showed that there is no significant differences of stress level in university among

family background.


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4.2.10 H10: There is a significant differences of stress level in university among

academic background

Descriptive


N Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std.

Error

95% Confidence

Interval for

Mean

Minimum Maximum

Between-

Component

Variance

Lower

Bound

Upper

Bound

STPM 83 3.0340 .54081 .05936 2.9159 3.1521 1.20 4.08

MATRICULATION 7 2.8786 .74224 .28054 2.1921 3.5650 1.78 3.68

DIPLOMA 10 2.7350 .47525 .15029 2.3950 3.0750 2.13 3.65

Total 100 2.9933 .55248 .05525 2.8836 3.1029 1.20 4.08

Model Fixed

Effects.54980 .05498 2.8841 3.1024

Random

Effects.09986 2.5636 3.4229 .00987

ANOVA


Sum of

Squares df

Mean

Square F Sig.

Between

Groups.897 2 .449 1.484 .232

Within Groups 29.322 97 .302

Total 30.219 99

Table 4.14: One-way anova between of stress level in uni versity and academic background.

From the table above, low in F value, (F= 1.484) indicate high in pvalue. Therefore, p=

0.232 =0.05 showed that there is no significant differences of stress level in university

among academic background.


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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 CONCLUSION

Based on the research done it could be concluded that none of the hypothesis is

significant and none of the investigated variables are correlated to each other. The

result has been such as a result from several constraints and limitations that has been

set in the making of this report. The limitation that has mainly inverted the result will

be the target respondent chosen. The target respondent that had been selected for this

study consists of a sample from the total population of first semester students in

Northern University of Malaysia.

This target of respondents are not accurate for this study as first semester

students rarely experience any stress or stress causing situation . In comparison to the

result obtain by Shah.C, Trivedi.R.S. Diwan.J, Dixit.R, & Anand.A.K. (2009), in

which they have proved the significant in their hypothesis testing for similar research,

a contradiction of result could be observed. The reason behind the contradiction of the

result obtained from this study and the result from the previous research mentioned is

the differences in the chosen target respondent.

Despite that, unlike the environment in which the previous research was

conducted, the environment in Northern University is better and more conducive. As a

conclusion, we could learn that the result obtained from this research is acceptable and

the contradiction with the previous studies should not be questioned as the study was

conducted in a different environment with the different set of target respondents.


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5.2 RECOMMENDATION

The guiding principle of stress reduction is "stress inoculation," suggesting a

preventive approach so that the negative aspects of stress can be avoided. Stress

inoculation involves giving people realistic warnings, recommendations, and

reassurances. Hence, this report has focused on the value of feedback, faculty-student

relationships, and stress awareness.

Stress inoculation is associated with giving people information. Yet little

research in the field of higher education describes how best to inform students about

the challenges of higher learning. Research in the fields of combat and health care

demonstrates mixed results regarding the value of information. Thus, a need exists to

identify the factors that influence the helpfulness of information in reducing stress.

More research is needed to identify the constructive side of professional

intimacy, self-disclosure, and mentoring. Further research could determine why and

how lecturer-student relationships deteriorate and help faculty construct more

successful relationships.

Further research is needed to describe the stress that occurs when one teaches

another. Research at lower levels suggests that "to teach is to learn twice." Better

understanding of this phenomenon at the level of higher education could lead to new

teaching strategies. And more research is clearly needed to understand stress among

learning process involving students.

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