This chapter explained more on research framework, research hypotheses, research sample and research instruments. Data collection and data analysis were also included. Lastly, the overall research process was described.
Research Framework
The model of the research framework was developed by the purpose of this study and also according to the literature review. It briefly covered and illustrated the whole study. First, there was one independent variable discussed, cultural intelligence (X) which was assessed by cultural intelligence scale. The study looked at the relationship between this independent variable and the dependent variable, psychological well-being (Y). In addition, the moderating effects of two moderators, mindfulness (MO1) and social support (MO2) on the relationship between cultural intelligence and psychological well-being with its six sub-dimensions were also examined in this study. Figure 3.1 was shown below:
Figure 3.1. Research framework of this study.
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Research Hypotheses
Based on the research questions and the relevant literature review that were addressed in previous chapters, the following research hypothesis were developed. These examined the relationship between cultural intelligence and psychological well-being, and also the moderating effect of mindfulness and the level of social support on the relationship between cultural intelligence and psychological well-being, including its six dimensions, in Taiwanese students participating in the studying abroad program.
Research Question 1:
Is students’ cultural intelligence positively related to their psychological well-being when studying abroad?
Hypothesis 1:
Students’ cultural intelligence is positively related to their psychological well-being when they are studying abroad.
Research Question 2:
Does students’ mindfulness positively strengthen the relationship between cultural intelligence and psychological well-being?
Hypothesis 2:
Mindfulness positively strengthens the relationship between cultural intelligence and psychological well-being.
Hypothesis 2-1:
Mindfulness positively strengthens the relationship between cultural intelligence and six sub-dimensions of psychological well-being.
21 Research Question 3:
Does social support that students receive positively strengthen the relationship between cultural intelligence and psychological well-being?
Hypothesis 3:
Social support positively strengthens the relationship between cultural intelligence and psychological well-being.
Hypothesis 3-1:
Social support positively strengthens the relationship between cultural intelligence and six sub-dimensions of psychological well-being.
Research Sample
The sample population of this study were Taiwanese students who are currently studying abroad, for example, exchange students, degree program students, and students who are attending language schools. Convenience sampling and snowball sampling were used to reach the sample population.
Selected students have to be studying abroad. In addition, their length of stay in the foreign country should be for at least six months. This time length was set as a criterion based on the U-Curve Theory (UCT) of cross cultural adjustment. In this case, Taiwanese students studying abroad were expected to have already passed the first and the second stage of the UCT, honeymoon and culture shock stage. Therefore, participants’ responses whose time length staying abroad do not exceed six months were not used to be analyzed. A total of 268 participants filled the self-rated questionnaires online and there were 200 responses meeting the criterions.
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Measurement Psychological Well-being
A 18-item Chinese version for Ryff’s psychological well-being scale developed by Li 2014 is used in this study. According to Li (2014), this shorter version scale is based on Ryff’s original 84-item psychological well-being scale for measuring psychological well-being. A 6-point Likert type scale where participants respond from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree) was used. Psychological well-being consists of six sub-dimensions – positive relations, autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose of life and self-acceptance (Ryff
& Singer, 2008). The 18 Chinese items are divided into 3 for each sub-dimensions. This scale was tested by 820 samples aged from 31 to 95 and the results turned out that factor loading were 0.60 at least and the Cronbach alpha value was 0.92 and 0.71, 0.60, 0.75, 0.74, 0.73 and 0.73 for the six sub-dimensions respectively (Li, 2014).
Cultural Intelligence
This study uses Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) developed by Van, Ang and Koh (2008) to measure cultural intelligence. It is a 20-item scale that measures the four capabilities discussed before: CQ Knowledge (cognition CQ), CQ Strategy (metacognition CQ), CQ Drive (motivational CQ), and CQ Action (behavioral CQ) with 6 items, 4 items, 5 items, and 5 items for each capability. A 7-point Likert type scale where participants respond whether or not the item statements describe how they really are, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) will be used. In the process of developing CQS, the generalizability across nations and research methods are cautiously examined and validated with several studies. The internal consistency of each dimension is also examined with 576 business school undergraduates’ participants, namely cognitive CQ, metacognitive CQ, motivational CQ and behavioral CQ with Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.85, 0.71, 0.75 and 0.83 (Van, Ang, & Koh, 2008).
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Mindfulness
This study uses Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) to assess individuals’
mindfulness. It is a psychological self-survey which was developed by Brown and Ryan (2003) and it was created to capture attention and awareness in daily life specifically (Brown & Ryan, 2003). 15 descriptive questions with general Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.80 to 0.90 are included in this questionnaire and the participants answer from 1 (almost never) to 6 (almost always) according to the level they feel corresponding to their recent condition. The reliability and validity have also been examined in several researches. For example, Ruiz, Suárez-Falcón and Riaño-Hernández (2016) analyze the factor structure and psychometric properties of the MAAS in Spanish with sample size of 762 Colombian undergraduates. They found out that data was very similar to those obtained in other MAAS validation studies. Jermann, Billieux, Larøi, Argembeau, Bondolfi, Zermatten and Van der Linden (2009) also proved the reliability and validity of the MAAS by using the French MAAS in French-speaking places. Validity evidence is also shown when the MAAS was used among Brazilian samples (Barros, Kozasa, Souza, & Ronzani, 2015).
Social Support
Multidimensional scale of perceived social support, a 12-item social support questionnaire adopted from Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet and Farley (1988), is used in this questionnaire. There are 12 questions in total which can be separated in to 3 questions measure social support from friends, 3 from family, and the other 3 from significant other. The Cronbach’s alpha value of each dimension are 0.85 for friends, 0.87 for family and 0.91 for significant other. And for the whole scale, the overall Cronbach alpha value is 0.85. Overall, this scale has good internal reliability.
Given that the participants are Taiwanese students; Chinese version questionnaire will be
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used in this study. However, questionnaires for cultural intelligence, mindfulness and social support are developed in English originally, therefore; back translation method will be applied for the purpose of ensuring the consistency.
Pilot Test
The complete questionnaire was mainly composed by cultural intelligence scale, 18-item Chinese version Ryff’s psychological well-being scale, mindful attention awareness scale and multidimensional scale of perceived social support with other demographic questions. Once the questionnaire was made, the researcher conducted a pilot test in order to firstly ensured the internal reliability.
There were 36 participants filling the questionnaire and their age ranging from 21 to 28.
They were all students with studying abroad experiences – exchange students, master degree students or language school students and they also studied in a foreign country for at least six months. Among them, there were 28 female students and 8 male students, 13 with bachelor degree and 23 with master degree and studying in USA, UK, Holland, Spain, Austria and Korea.
After data was collected from these 36 participants, a reliability test was done by using SPSS. The Cronbach alpha value of each variable were 0.87 for psychological well-being, 0.94 for cultural intelligence, 0.87 for mindfulness and 0.92 for social support.
The Cronbach alpha value of their sub-dimensions were also presented in Table 3.1. For psychological well-being, the Cronbach alpha value ranged from 0.66 to 0.82. As for cultural intelligence, it ranged from 0.78 to 0.91, and for social support, the Cronbach alpha vale were 0.85, 0.89 and 0.88 respectively.
According to George and Mallery (2003), for Cronbach alpha vale that explained the internal consistency of items, ranging from 0.6 to 0.7 is considered to be acceptable, from 0.7 to 0.8 is good; moreover, 0.9 and over 0.9 is considered excellent. Therefore, overall the
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questionnaire used in this study had a good reliability based on the results that pilot test showed.
Table 3.1.
Cronbach Alpha Value of Each Variable and Their Sub-Dimensions of This Study
Variable Total Item Number Cronbach Alpha
Psychological well-being 18 0.87
Positive relations 3 0.66
Cultural intelligence (CQ) 20 0.94
Cognitive CQ 6 0.91
In this study, data was collected through online questionnaire. The online questionnaire consisted of instruments for four variables with demographic information questions added. A clear description of the research purpose and criterion for the target participants was attached in the beginning of the questionnaire. The target population of this study was students who are studying abroad and they also have stayed in the foreign country for at least six months. And the way of sampling for this study was convenience sampling and snowball sampling.
Convenience sampling is a way of sampling that owns features like easy accessibility or geographical proximity of target population (Dörnyei, 2007). Therefore, researcher is going to
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post the questionnaire on the social media platform, like Facebook group of students studying abroad to reach the potential participants. Participants meeting the criteria and willing to fill the questionnaire would directly fill it. In order to make sure the participants meet the criterion of this study, the requirements of the participants would be described clearly in the very beginning of the questionnaire. For example, I am currently studying abroad and I have been studying abroad for six months. Also, the qualification of the participants like study abroad condition and time duration would be examined again by the researcher when processing the responses.
This study also used snowball sampling, as some questionnaires were sent by the researcher to participants who meet the criterion of the sample; then, they were asked to distribute the questionnaire to others who also meet the sample criterion.
Therefore, the questionnaire was posted in social media platform that is grouped by potential participants like group of exchange students. In addition, through personal network, researcher sent the questionnaire to some participants who meet the sample criterion; then, they were asked to distribute the questionnaire to others within network who also meet the sample criterion to fill the questionnaire.
After all the data was collected, the completed responses were analyzed through the way discussed in the next session.
Data Analysis
This study used “IBM SPSS Statistics 23” which was currently the latest statistical processing tool to analyze the collecting data. The analyzing process went through the following elements,
1. Descriptive statistics analysis
To describe the frequencies of the demographic data, including participants’ age,
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gender, educational level, studying abroad program, studying abroad time length, country and its main official language, and previous international experiences.
2. Correlation analysis
To see the relationship between the independent variable, cultural intelligence and the dependent variable, psychological well-being, meanwhile the relationship between its sub-dimensions were examined as well.
3. Hierarchical regression analysis
To see the relationship between the independent variable, cultural intelligence and the dependent variable, psychological well-being. Whether the moderating effects of the moderators, mindfulness and social support, were also examined through hierarchical regression analysis.
Research Procedure
This part provided a description of the process that this study would go through. Figure 3.2 concluded the research process at the end of this part.
Research Topic Development
After several discussions about the interest of the research with thesis advisor and also reviewing literatures, a research topic whose focus was on the condition of students’
psychological well-being when they are studying abroad was developed.
Research Background, Purpose, and Questions Development
Researchers have discussed about psychological well-being for some time. Also, the trend of studying abroad is gradually pervasive. After reviewing the relevant literatures and information, research background, purpose and questions were determined.
Literature Review
Researcher kept reviewing the literatures that were related to the variables, psychological
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well-being, cultural intelligence, mindfulness and social support in order to have more understanding.
Measurement Selection
The instruments for measuring the variables were crucial for the study. Researcher also attentively reviewed the literature related to the measurement. The generalizability and validation of the measurements were also ensured. Finally, the measurements for each variable were chosen; any needed revision for the study was made accordingly
Data Collection
The participants were selected by convenience sampling and snowball sampling.
Questionnaire with a clear research purpose introduction and participant instruction was send through the Internet (e-mail, social media group, etc.). After about one month and half, the data collection process was done.
Data Analysis
After data was collected, researcher used statistical software, SPSS, to analyze the data.
Descriptive data analysis, correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used in this study.
Conclusion
Data analyzed and the literature review were used to discuss the findings and finally concluded this study.
29 Figure 3.2. Research procedure of this study.
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