Conceptualizing the Variables of my Study
| Research Question | Target Variables | Instrument | How will you target variable conceptualized during research? |
| What is the role of external motivational factors for students to join hospitality? Questions:
| The various extrinsic factors that motivated students to join hospitality. | Paper questionnaire survey with a list of external motivational factors: Parents, Family, Friends, Role Models, People visiting tourist destinations and any other unlisted extrinsic motivator. | A questionnaire with the list of external motivational factors will be presented to the students for assessment. A stem question with branching options will be applied (Deci & Ryan, 2013). Example: Who motivated you to join the course? Options will be: a. Parents b. Family c. Friends d. Role models e. People visiting tourist destinations f. Any other _____________ |
| What are the various industries that the hospitality students would prefer to work in? Questions: 1. What industry are you planning to work in? 2. Do the opportunities presented by the course fascinate you?
| The interests/preferred areas of work component. | A questionnaire with direct questions featuring the various areas of interests. | Ruan, Zhang, and Leung (2016) note that motivation has traditionally been measured using the Likert Scale. In my study, the interest section will include a three-point Likert Scale to measure the interests of the students directly and considering the frequencies with which they are actively or passively involved with the hospitality outside class. A sample question in this section will be: What industry are you planning to work in? The following three areas will be assessed: a. Accommodation: A = Hostels, B = Hotels, C = Motels, D = Flotels E = Inns, F = Resorts, G = Serviced apartments and H = Bed and Breakfasts
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| What is the connection between personal student choices to join the course and the perception of the course as relevant to their lives? Sample questions:
| The personal choice (intrinsic motivation) the students made to join hospitality. | A paper survey with appropriate “yes” and “no” questions and a rating of factors. | The Dichotomous Inventory Item Scale will be used to assess the students’ personal choices to study hospitality. A question stem followed by two response options will be formulated; entailing “yes” and “no” responses. The “yes” and “no” responses will be counted to give a quantitative overview of the personal student choices (Cerasoli, Nicklin, & Ford, 2014). |
| What are the relationship between obtaining a degree (or working) in the hospitality industry and the dream ambitions of the students? Questions:
| The perception of the students on the hospitality course as of relevance to their lives, dreams and ambitions. | A paper survey with relevant questions for the students will be carried out. | The Likert-type items scale will be used to measure the responses of the students (Bagozii & Burnkrant, 2010). The option categories will span a five-point range of replies. From A = “Not Relevant to my Ambitions/ Life,” B= “A Little Relevant,” C = “Moderately Relevant,” D = “Very Much Relevant,” E = “Greatly Relevant,” F = “Not Applicable.” |
| What are the attitudes of hospitality students toward studying the course? Questions: 1. Please rate the course so far on the following scale: (appropriate scale questions here.) 2. Is a degree/ working in the hospitality industry your dream ambitions? 3. Does the course offer a desirable environment to study and work? | Measure the attitudes of students towards hospitality as a subject. | Paper survey with questions on the rating of various factors that are attitude indicators. | The Semantic Differential Scale is used to measure the respondents’ (students’) attitudes toward hospitality as a course. The semantic differential questions are used to ask the position of the respondent on a scale between two bipolar adjectives such as “Happy – Sad” or “Fun – Boring.” The frequencies of the responses will be measured (Lipnevich, Preckel & Roberts, 2016). The importance student attitude attached to the course will also be measured using a five-point Likert-Type Scale in general, and the impact of hospitality applications. The Likert Scale will be used for the question on the course offering a desirable environment to study and work. Example: Please rate if the course offers a suitable environment to study: I feel the course offers a suitable environment to study: A= “Strongly Disagree,” B = “Disagree,” C = “Neutral,” D = “Agree,” E = “Strongly Agree.” |
References
Bagozii, R. P., & Burnkrant, R. E., (2010). Attitude organization and the attitude-behavior relationship. Journal of personality and social psychology, 37(6), 913-917.
Cerasoli, C. P., Nicklin, J. M., & Ford, M. T. (2014). Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance: a 40-year meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 980-990.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2013). Intrinsic Motivation and Self-determination in Human Behavior. Boston, MA: Springer US. eBook: Document: English.
Lipnevich, A. A., Preckel, F., & Roberts, R. D. (2016). Psychological skills and school systems in the 21st Century: Theory, research, and practice. Switzerland: Springer. eBook: Document: English.
Ruan, J., Zhang, J., & Leung, C. (2016). Chinese language education in the United States. Cham: Springer Science + Business Media. eBook: Document: English.
