Investigation On Homesickness Of International Students: Survey Questions

Research Project Information Sheet

This research reflects on the mixed data survey approach that has been demonstrated to extract information on the homesickness of international students. From the previous report on this topic, it is identified that international students face severe alienation while completing their study in a foreign country ¹³. Based on this assumption, multiple works of scholars have been addressed that have helped the researcher to craft the questions of this research. Henceforth, the importance of proper research questions cannot be eliminated from the investigation, as this report discusses the questionnaire and rectified questions significantly. Finally, an extensive justification has been provided by focusing on the feedback received from the pilot study.

The research team consists of Chief Investigator Dr Chief Investigator (University of the Sunshine Coast), Dr Partner Investigator (insert organisation) and Ms Student Researcher (Student Researcher).Please direct questions to:

Project Description

The purpose of this project is to identify the significant factors that are related to homesickness of International students.

You have been invited to participate in this project because; I am doing research on the topic of homesickness of international students in this country.

Participation

If you agree to participate in this project, you will be asked to complete a survey that will take approximately 56 hours of your time.

The survey will ask questions such as:

Question 1: Do you think about your home?

Question 2: Are you able to concentrate on your study?

Question 3: What is your opinion on the racism amongst international students?

The survey / interview / focus group / other experience will take place at college campus on the coming Saturday.

Your participation in this project is completely voluntary. If you do not wish to take part you are not required to. If you decide to take part and later change your mind, you are free to withdraw at any point.

Your decision to participate (or not), will in no way impact your current or future relationship with the University of the Sunshine Coast

Consent

Consent to participate will be implied by the completion of the survey / interview / focus group / other experience.

  OR

You will be asked to provide verbal / written consent before participating in the research. [Include further details as appropriate]

The research team will be able to identify if you choose to participate.

Risks and Benefits

There are no anticipated risks beyond normal day-to-day living associated with your participation in this project.

It is anticipated that this project will directly benefit you.

Benefits

• Improve my knowledge regarding homesickness
• Allow me to conduct a survey questionnaire in an appropriate manner
• Improve my analytical skills

Privacy, Confidentiality and Results

Any data collected as a part of this project will be stored securely as per USC’s Research Data Management policy. All comments and responses will be treated confidentially unless required by law.

If you would like a summary of findings of this research project, please contact the Chief Investigator (listed above). Non-identifiable results may be presented at external or internal conferences or meetings, or by publication.

Concerns or Complaints

If you have any concerns or complaints about the way this research project is being conducted you can raise them with the Chief Investigator (listed above).  If you prefer an independent person, contact the Chairperson of the USC Human Research Ethics Committee: (c/- Office of Research, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC 4558; telephone (07) 5430 2823; email 

Instructions for participants to complete questionnaire including demographic information

Thank you for consideration of this study. Please keep this sheet for your information.

Before completing a survey, participants need to acknowledge the below instructions and should fill the basic questions. These fundamental questions are not for the survey as the researcher will analyse the information for conducting the project properly. This instruction as follows: “By engaging in this questionnaire procedure, you need to provide your response as truthfully as you can. Please note that your private information will remain secret as we do not disclose personal information if participants. Furthermore, you need to give your consent for completing this questionnaire, which will state that you are not forced for this questionnaire. Before, participating in this questionnaire process, every participant should fill the following information of demographic details:

Question 1: What is your age?

Question 2: What is your motherland?

Question 3: How long have you been in this country?

Question 4: What is your religion?”

At the initial stage, the researcher developed five close-ended questions and three open-ended questions. To test the validity of this developed questionnaire, a pilot study has been performed among the peers of this course study. The previous questionnaire is provided below:

Open ended questions

Question 1: Do you have any other source of income besides your family?

Question 2: Ain’t you thinking that homesickness is a possible word?

Question 3: What is the employment condition of an international student in a country?

Close ended questions

Question 4: Do you think that homesickness is natural for international students?

• Yes
• No

Question 5: How long would you like to stay here?

1. Lifetime
2. Till the completion of the course
3. Till get the professional establishment
4. Till the completion of semester

Question 6:  How homesick are you?

• Very homesick
• Moderately homesick
• No homesick at all

Question 7:  How long you have been in this country?

1. Less than six months
2. 6 months to 1 year
3. 1year to 3 year
4. Above 5 years

Question 8: Would you like to return to your country?

• Yes
• No

Before developing this survey questionnaire, the researcher demonstrated effective research in the area of study, which is the homesickness of international students. It is observed that ethical issues are important any format of research as the researcher must obey the rules and procedures of designing and administrating a better questionnaire ¹². In this case, the following core principles of ethics have been followed:

Also, the researcher has also complied with the data privacy act of this country as private information of participants will not be disclosed to any third party. These ethical considerations will help the researcher to develop a proper survey to fulfil the requirements of developed research questions in the previous study.  

A questionnaire can be interpreted as an organized set of questions that allow surveyors or research to gather primary data on a specific phenomenon or agenda. However, the importance of developing a valid research question is addressed in the existing literature. An appropriate questionnaire maintains the consistency and coherency of collected data ¹.  Although no scientific procedure for designing a proper survey has been addressed as the designing of questionnaire involves the art of science. Out of the significant steps of questionnaire design, a spontaneous review of the problem (s) is pivotal in designing a set of questions. In addition, identification of the proper problem is highly essential for tailoring a valid questionnaire. Researchers have preferred a formal tone of language, which is required to keep a survey accurate and reliable, in terms of data collection ¹¹.  Focusing on the formation of interview question, it is addressed that a proper determination of consequences of research questions helps researchers and scholars to maintain an impressive tone in the questionnaire.  Therefore, it is recommended that the individual perspective is needed to develop a research questionnaire. In this regard, arguments have been made that identified that sometimes becoming personal often creates problems for participants³. [Referred to Appendix 1] 

Original Questionnaire

Examples can be drawn from other works, which depicted those questions on a religious view; ethnicity might hamper the progress of data collection. Henceforth, multiple advantages and disadvantages can be observed during survey research ¹⁵. It is identified that survey research helps to generate data, which are based on real-life observations ¹⁰. Besides this, a collection of the enormous amount of data in a small period of time is the primary reason advantage of fundamental formatting research⁴.

Nevertheless, some disadvantages of this survey research have also been observed in existing literature⁹.  It is found that reliability of gathered data become irrelevant if any researcher focuses too much on the inclusion and exclusion criteria.  On another hand, receiving a high response rate from survey research often disappoint researchers². Furthermore, the risk of biases in gathered data can also be observed from the personal analysis.

After completing the first questionnaire, the researcher has received numerous feedbacks from the peers. These include some positive feedbacks but mostly negative ones. In order to understand the reason behind such pessimistic feedbacks from peers, extensive research on the questionnaire design has been conducted by the researcher, which allows the researcher to make a revision in the developed questionnaire significantly ⁸. Summary of the suggested questionnaire changes has been provided below:

In order to justify the changes and rejections of some questions in the first questionnaire, some references of literary scholars can be made. Misunderstandings can occur during an interview session, as it is addressed that indication is highly required in developing a better research question⁵.  On another hand, it is found that the use of native languages is unnecessary in a questionnaire ¹⁴. It is observed that the quality of research questions gets decreased in case of improper application if languages⁶. Henceforth, the researcher has changed the first question. A similar thing can be found in case of the second question as use “Ain’t” instead of “Are not “ has reduced the chance of inclusion in the current questionnaire.  Besides, two questions in the same questions and repetition of the same questions have made the original survey, invalid⁷. Therefore, the researcher has followed the guidelines in the second time, which ensured a better development of the questionnaire.

Conclusion

From the above discussion on the questionnaire development and designing, it can be concluded that survey research is essential in generating useful information on a specific area of topic. This entire report is segregated into major parts that discussed about the necessary information before participating in any survey. On the other hand, original questionnaire has been presented, which is interpreted in the entire report. It is found that the previously developed questionnaire did not follow the major guidelines. In order to gain information about proper designing and formatting of a survey, extensive research has been established which has helped the researcher to understand the importance of specific techniques like, review before setting any question, identification of any problem. In order to provide justification about the rejected and changed items, examples from previous literature are considered. Furthermore, discussion on the ethics of questionnaire designing has notified that the updated questions will not offend any particular community, ethnicity and individual being. Henceforth, proper compliance with the data privacy act of this country has also been considered in this research.

References

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4. Boynton PM, Greenhalgh T. Selecting, designing, and developing your questionnaire. Bmj. 2004 May 27;328(7451):1312-5.
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7. Squires A, Aiken LH, van den Heede K, Sermeus W, Bruyneel L, Lindqvist R, Schoonhoven L, Stromseng I, Busse R, Brzostek T, Ensio A. A systematic survey instrument translation process for multi-country, comparative health workforce studies. International journal of nursing studies. 2013 Feb 1;50(2):264-73.
8. Fowler Jr FJ. Survey research methods. California: Sage publications; 2013 Sep 18.
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10. De Vaus D. Surveys in social research. London: Routledge; 2013 Jan 11.
11. Glass CR, Westmont CM. Comparative effects of belongingness on the academic success and cross-cultural interactions of domestic and international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 2014 Jan 1;38:106-19.
12. Banjong DN. International Students’ Enhanced Academic Performance: Effects of Campus Resources. Journal of International Students. 2015;5(2):132-42.
13. Szabo A, Ward C, Jose PE. Uprooting stress, coping, and anxiety: A longitudinal study of international students. International Journal of Stress Management. 2016 May;23(2):190.
14. Hotta J, Ting-Toomey S. Intercultural adjustment and friendship dialectics in international students: A qualitative study. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 2013 Sep 1;37(5):550-66.
15. Mustaffa CS, Ilias M. Relationship between Students Adjustment Factors and Cross Cultural Adjustment: A Survey at the Northern University of Malaysia. Intercultural communication studies. 2013 Jan 1;22(1).

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