This chapter is comprised of several sections, those sections outlined as research framework, states the research hypotheses, describes the research procedure and the research design. In addition, it will explain the methods which are analyzed statistically and used to evaluate the data.
Research Framework
Based on the review of the literature, the research purpose and the research questions, the following research framework for this study was developed examined. (Figure 3.1), The primary purpose of this study was to explore the relationship among acculturation, psychological well-being, and Acculturative stress and its moderating effect of the Indian women in Taiwan.
H1
H2 H3
Figure 3.1. Research framework
Research Approach
The researcher selected quantitative method to conduct for this study. The primary perseverance of this study was to see the sights of the relationship among acculturation, Psychological well-being, and Stress and its moderating effect on Indian women in Taiwan. The researcher chosen this method to collect quantitative data in a larger sample and the data was analyzed by using statistical methods to exam and validate the connection between the variables.
The quantitative study tries to verify or falsify a relationship or hypothesis. Also, it point-outs the outcomes or effects between variables. The survey questionnaires were used because they act as
Acculturation
Acculturative stress
Psychological well-being
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tools to the researcher to assemble the information on the credentials, beliefs, or attitudes of a large number of individuals (Neumon, 2014).
Research Hypothesis
Based on the research questions and the research purpose, the following hypotheses were developed and examined:
H1- Acculturation is positively correlated to the psychological well-being.
H2- Acculturation is negatively correlated to the acculturative stress.
H3- Acculturative stress as a negative moderating effect on the relationship between acculturation and psychological well-being.
Research Procedure
For the purpose of this study, the research process was carried out in several major steps.
The procedure is shown in Figure 3.2. The very first step in this procedure was identifying and defining the research scope and objectives. Second, collection and reviewing the relevant literature for better understanding the relationships among acculturation, psychological well-being and stress of Indian women who are residing in Taiwan. Then, the research framework was created and the adequate questionnaires were selected after literature review. Questionnaire survey had been carried out by Indian women who are residing in Taiwan. After data collection and analysis, the results were discussed and conclusions as well as suggestions were given according to the research findings.
19 Figure 3.2. Research procedure
Sample Population
The research samples of this study were Indian women who are residing in Taiwan and also resided in Taiwan in the past. It was known that as of August 2017, there were around 2,725 Indian residents in Taiwan out of which 1960 were men and 765 were women (National Immigration Agency, Taiwan (2017) https://www.immigration.gov.tw/mp.asp?mp=2). This number may increase further year by year as the relations between these two countries are becoming strong ahead. Among which, the samples of women students, housewives, working women, married and unmarried Indian women residing in all over the Taiwan were the selected sample in this study.
Apart from this, to test the designed questionnaire, the researcher had taken an expert reviewer’s opinion from an Indian woman who has been residing in Taiwan for the past 20 years and also has mere knowledge on the cultural aspects of both host country Taiwan and home country India. As per her opinion, the questionnaire designed was satisfactory.
Research scope and purpose identification
Literature collection and review
Theoretical frame work
Conclusion and suggestions Questionnaire design and
review
Discussion of results Data analysis Data collection
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The online survey questionnaire was used for this study. The participants received a link that took them to a web site that describe the survey and asked for their participation. If they chose to participate, they were given a direct link to the survey distributed by social media (Facebook, WhatsApp, Line) and also by email. The online survey composed primarily of check boxes and comment fields and submits.
Research Instrument
The survey questionnaire was composed of four parts, which include demographic information, acculturating ability, psychological well-being levels and stress management that will provide the required information of the respondents. The instrument had a total of 60 questions, which were divided into 4 parts. The details are as follows:
Demographic Information
The demographic information includes age, marital status, working status, length of residence in Taiwan, awareness of Taiwan before coming and language skills of Indian women, etc. were asked.
Acculturation
The Vancouver Index of Acculturation (VIA) is conducted in this study which contains 20 items to explore the acculturation heritage and dimensions (Kim, 2002; Ryder, Alden & Paulhus, 2000). The VIA demonstrates that the bi-dimensional model can be reliably measured in several different ethnic groups with 10 pairs of straight forward items tapping core aspects of cultural identity (Ryder, Alden & Paulhus, 2000). This study did a slightly modification of the items to explore the Indian women rather than U.S. and Korean international students in the previous study.
The purpose of the VIA in this study is to measure the heritage and main stream dimensions of acculturation of Indian women in Taiwan with 20 items instruments.
Each item rated on a 5-point scale ranging from (1) “Strongly disagree”, (2) “Disagree”, (3) Neutral/depends, (4) “Agree”, (5) “Strongly Agree”. Examples of items included “I enjoy social activities with people from the same heritage culture as myself” and “I enjoy social activities with typical Taiwanese people”. Reliability of the VIA will assess by means of the Cronbach alpha coefficient. The heritage dimension was medium internal consistent in the subjects ( = .6321).
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Psychological Well-being
Psychological well-being was measured and assessed by using Employee Well-being (EWB) scale, which consistsof three core components: Subjective Well-being (SWB), Work place Well-being (WWB) and Psychological Well-being (PWB). In which, researcher used PWB scale ( = 0.88) which consists of six dimensions: self-acceptance, positive relations with others, environmental mastery, autonomy, personal growth, and purpose in life (Page & Vella-Brodrick, 2009). composed of six items related to people’s psychological needs, including “I generally feel good about myself and I’m confident” and “I handle daily affairs well.” The participants used a Likert 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) to respond to each item.
Acculturative Stress
Acculturative Stress was measured and assessed by using 36-item Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS) developed by Sandhu and Asrabadi. This scale was designed to assess the acculturative stress of international students, includes perceived discrimination, homesickness, fear, guilt, perceived hatred, and stress due to change (cultural shock), identified as major contributing factors. The psychometric properties of this instrument and implications for use by mental health practitioners. Each item in this study was rated on a 5-point scale ranging from (1) “Strongly disagree”, (2) “Disagree”, (3) Neutral/depends, (4) “Agree”, (5) “Strongly Agree”.
Data Collection
Gathering relevant information from Indian women in Taiwan was the purpose of the sample. The only current sources that partake contribution to gather data which gives information on Indian women are small community which is called “Indians in Taiwan” and official immigration figures. As there were no readily existing data for the study, an acculturation survey was established to collect the data. With improvements in information technology, the Internet is more and more reachable and the chosen means of communication, henceforth data were gathered through an Internet survey. The data were taken from Indian women residing in Taiwan. The sample was gathered from Indian women of all categories including students, working women, housewives etc. All data was collected by an online survey hosted where the participants were allowed to fill out the survey through the Internet, with the survey period of 2 months. Contribution was completely voluntary and respondents could opt out of the survey at any time. The survey was
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made obtainable on all major networking websites 1) Facebook 2) WhatsApp 3) Gmail 4) Skype.
The participants were requested to go through and agree to the terms of the consent form before starting the survey. The participants of the survey remain anonymous and the researcher collected a total of 163 valid sample data.
Data Analysis
The researcher used the SPSS 23.0 and AMOS statistics soft wares for statistical analysis.
The following statistics were used to analyze the data:
Descriptive Statistics
This analysis is used to summarize the numerical results and show them in a clear and concise manner (Healey, 2008). The researcher conducted the descriptive analysis between demographics and other variables. The results will be shown in forms of tables to provide the reader a better picture of the data (Neuman, 2014). The descriptive statistics include the mean and the standard deviation of the data.
Correlation
This analysis was used to measure the strength of the association between two continuous variables (Gray & Kinnear, 2012). In this case the strength of relationship between independent variable (Acculturation) with the moderator (Stress) and the dependent variable (Psychological well-being) will be analyze.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is a multivariate statistical procedure that is used to test how well the measured variables represent the number of constructs. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is a tool that is used to confirm or reject the measurement theory. In CFA, several statistical tests are used to determine how well the model fits to the data. Chi-squared test, the Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), the comparative fit index (CFI), and the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR). (https://www.statisticssolutions.com/confirmatory-factor-analysis)
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Hierarchical Regression
This analysis was used when there are two or more independent variables and the purpose of this regression analysis is to examine the moderating effect among variables (Gray & Kinnear, 2012).
In this model, at the first level the independent and dependent variables (Acculturation and Acculturative stress) were added to test the relationship between them. Then in the second level, the interaction terms of moderator (stress) and independent variable were added to examine the moderating effect of Acculturative stress.
Reliability Analysis
This study was conducted with 47 questions of the variables, acculturation, psychological well-being, acculturative stress of Indian women living in Taiwan. To assess reliability of the questionnaire the researcher had taken an expert reviewer’s opinion from an Indian woman who has been residing in Taiwan for the past 20 years and also has mere knowledge on the cultural aspects of both host country Taiwan and home country India. As per her opinion, the questionnaire designed was satisfactory.
Reliability item analysis was performed on the SPSS. The Cronbach’s alpha was used to check the internal consistency of the instruments in this study. All the variables exceed the 0.70 criterion, meaning that the questionnaires were acceptable to use. The overall reliability coefficients for the instruments was α = 0.893. To measure the acculturation of Indian women in Taiwan the Vancouver Index of Acculturation (VIA) instrument were used. The reliability of the acculturation was α = 0.839. To measure psychological well-being, 6 item PWB dimension from, Employee Well-Being (EWB) instrument were used. The reliability of the psychological well-being was α=0.830. Finally, to measure the acculturative stress, Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS) instrument were used. The reliability of the acculturative stress was α=0.830. The details illustrated in table 4.5 below.
24 Table.3.1.
Reliability Analysis of Each Variable (N=163)
Items Valid Excluded Total Cronbach’s Alpha
Acculturation Psychological well-being
Acculturative Stress
11 6 30
9 0 5
20 6 30
0.839
0.830
0.953
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