This chapter provided an overview about the research design, data collection and statistical methods applied to carry out analysis. The research framework and research questions were also described in the chapter. Based on the framework and research questions, four
hypotheses were proposed for the study. Next, the chapter showed the process of sampling design, data collection and analysis used in this study.
3.1 Research Design
The research design holds a significant role for the success of every study as it
addresses the way data is collected and analyzed. Generally, two common approaches usually chosen by researchers in their studies are qualitative and quantitative methods. Each of these methods has its own pros and cons. As the aim of this thesis is to investigate students’ game playing habits, gaming preferences and attitudes toward the application of game-based
learning approach in higher education, the quantitative research approach is chosen because it helps the researcher to collect data quickly and better describe findings of the study with numerical data.
The questionnaire used in this study was adapted from the questionnaire made by Hainey et al.(2013) in their study on game-based learning in Europe. The construction of the questionnaire is based on the framework of intrinsic motivation introduced by Malone and Lepper (1987). The questionnaire is divided into four parts (see Appendix A). In Part 1, respondents were asked to give their demographic information including age, gender, major of study and computer using habit. At the end of the first part, they were also asked whether they played computer games or not. Their answers in this question would directly guide them to the next different sections of the questionnaire. The second part of the questionnaire is
made exclusively for students who play computer games. In this part, participants would give their game playing habits and gaming preferences. Furthermore, they were asked to rate the importance of different reasons why they play computer games. These reasons were built on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from (1) very unimportant, (2) unimportant, (3) neutral, (4) important and (5) very important. Respondents who do not play computer games can skip Part 2 and move to Part 3. However, it should be noted that all respondents are required to fill in part 3 despite that they are gamers or not. In part 3, participants were asked to rate the importance of 10 reasons for using computer games in higher education. The same 5-point Likert scale was used in this part. Respondents were also asked if they have any experience of using games in higher education and whether they agree that computer game can be used in a higher education environment and reasons for their answer. In part 4, participants’
general attitudes toward computer game were examined by asking them to rate how strongly they agreed 10 attitudes given in the questionnaire. A 5-point-Likert scale (1.strongly
disagree; 2.disagree; 3.neutral; 4.agree; 5.strongly agree) was used to help respondents to give their ratings to the 10 attitudes. Besides, participants were also required to give their opinions on the types of skills that would be relevant to higher education can be obtained from computer games. The complete questionnaire can be found in Appendix A of the thesis.
3.2 Research Framework
The framework illustrates the relationship between two independent variables gender and nationality and four dependent variables including (1) computer using and game playing habits, (2) motivation for playing games, (3) reasons for using games in higher education and (4) attitudes toward playing computer games. The research framework of the study is shown in Figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1: Research Framework
The study is guided by four research questions:
+) What are the habit of playing computer game of Taiwanese and Vietnamese students in?
+) What are the motivations for playing computer games of Taiwanese and Vietnamese students?
+) What are the reasons for using computer games in Higher Education of Taiwanese and Vietnamese students?
+) What are the general attitudes toward playing computer games of Taiwanese and Vietnamese students?
3.3 Sampling Design
A total of 200 university students participated in the current study with 100 students from Vietnam and 100 students from Taiwan. All students are voluntary participants with different ages, gender, majors and years of study at the university. Participants come from
Gender &
Nationalities
Computer game playing habits
Motivation for playing computer
games
Reasons for using computer games in
Higher Education Attitudes toward playing computer
games
different departments so that the data would reflect the general perception of students instead of students in any particular department. Two universities were chosen as the places to conduct the study are Trade Union University in Vietnam and I-Shou University in Taiwan.
3.4 Data Collection
As the study is executed simultaneously in two countries, the surveys were made available through both online questionnaires and direct hand-out. The language used for the questionnaire is available in English, Vietnamese and Chinese. Back translation method was adopted to confirm the questions in each questionnaire version were consistent to one another.
Participants are free to choose the preferred way to give their answers.
3.5 Data Analysis
Collected data were analyzed using the statistical software named Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. The primary statistical data analysis for the study included means comparison and One-way ANOVA. The means comparison was used to explore the different motivations, reasons and attitudes of students as well as their game playing habits and gaming preferences. The One-way ANOVA aimed to investigate the relationship between different factors such as between genders and game playing habits or attitudes toward game playing.