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CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter describes the methodology of the study. It describes the sample, setting,

instrument, procedure of data collection and data analysis used in the study. This research

investigates the digital literacy among technical students in a public university. In this

chapter, the researcher also elaborates the framework of analysis used as a guidance in

conducting the research and the respondents’ involvement in this study.

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3.2 Research Design

The selection of a research design was based on the study’s objectives, theoretical

framework and the posited research questions. This study used a case study design.

According to Yin (2003), case study is a form of empirical inquiry that is conducted to

explore a phenomenon. In addition, he also said that the case study could be conducted by

using a variety of implementation strategies, including mixed research design, varied data

collection and data analysis techniques. There are three types of case studies: single case

and single site, multiple cases and single site and multiple cases and multiple sites. In this

study, the researcher used multiple case and single sites design.

According to Noraini (2010), a case study is pertinent when a researcher wants to

collect data related to phenomenon that cannot be directly reviewed. In addition, according

to Yin (2003), justification to choose case study design is closely related to the research

questions. Typically, the research questions associated with identifying “how or why”

something happened in the context of real life. The instrument used to obtain empirical data

in this study was a set of questionnaires. Five-point likert scale was used to obtain the

empirical data. The questionnaire was constructed based on several instruments used from

the previous studies. The questionnaire was validated by an expert before making a pilot

study. Furthermore, the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were obtained through

a pilot study conducted.

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3.3 Population and Sample

Population of the study refers to all individuals in a target group with similar characteristics

and this group can be distinguished from the other groups (Noraini Idris, 2010). According

to Fraenkel and Wallen (1990), population is the target group set by the researcher so that

the findings can be generalized. The process of identifying population and sample is an

important step in conducting educational research in order to make a valid generalization.

Table 3.1 shows the population, the samples and the percentage of the samples for each

program in Faculty of Technical and Vocational.

Table 3.1: Population, samples and percentage of samples

Program Population Samples Percentage of Samples

(n) (n) (%)
Bachelor of Living Skill 32 28 44.6
Bachelor of Agriculture 14 10 15.8
Science 28 25 39.6
Bachelor of Home Economy
Total 74 63 100

Sampling is related to the process of selecting a number of subjects from a

population to serve as respondents for the study. Sampling is important for obtaining data.

A sample refers to a group drawn from the population who can provide data and
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information to the study. Through the sample, researcher can obtain information about a

population from some of the individuals that belong to the population. The selected samples

are based on Krecjie and Morgan (1970) sample size table. If the total population is 74, so

the sample size proposed by Krecjie and Morgan (1970) is 63 students as shown in the

Table 3.0.

3.4 Instrumentation

The research instrument refers to the tool used to collect the information obtained (Sayed

Mahussain & Fathiah, 2009). This study used a questionnaire as the instrument for

obtaining empirical data from the sample. According to Farida (2012), a questionnaire is

an effective way to obtain information from respondents. Questionnaire is a formal tool

used to get information directly about something to be studied (Rohana Yusuf, 2003). In

addition, Mohd Najib (2003) states that a questionnaire is often used to measure to attitudes,

perceptions and views of respondents regarding an issue. The items in this questionnaire

were constructed based on the objectives and the conceptual framework of the study. The

items included in this questionnaire are divided into four sections, namely, Parts A, B, C

and D.
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i. Section A : Includes eight items regarding the demographic background of the

respondents.

ii. Section B : Includes 55 items related to the respondents’ perception regarding

their digital competencies

iii. Section C : Includes 13 items related to respondents’ perception regarding on

their digital literacy

iv. Section D : Includes six open-ended items

Section A

In section A, items related to the respondents' background were constructed. In this section

there are five items related to the background of the respondents. These items were gender,

age, respondents' academic qualifications, major of study and CGPA.

Section B

Section B comprised 55 items related to the digital competency. There were nine

subconstructs such as information processing, communication, content creation, safety,

interactivity, virtuality, hypertextuality, social media and cyber ethics in this section.

Section B consisted of nine subsconstructs and 55 items as shown in Table 3.1.

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Table 3.2: Distribution of the questionnaire items in Section B

No. Competencies Digital No. Item Total Item

B1. Information processing 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 7
B2. Communication 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15 8
B3. Content Creation 16,17,18,19,20 5
B4. Safety 21,22,23,24,25,26 6
B5. Interactivity 27,28,29,30,31,32 6
B6. Virtuality 33,34,35,36,37,38 6
B7. Hypertextuality 39,40,41,42,43,44 6
B8. Social Media 45,46,47,48,49 5
B9. Cyber Ethics 50,51,52,53,54,55 6
Total 55 55

Section C

In section C, 13 items were constructed to measure digital literacy which is the dependent

variable of the study. All respondents need to answer the items in this section by stating

their agreement based on the five-point Likert scale that has been assigned to each item

constructed.

Table 3.3: Perception on digital literacy

Perception on digital literacy No. Item Total Item

Digital Literacy 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 13
Total 13 13
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Section D

In this section, there were five open-ended questions built to obtain information from the

respondents regarding their digital literacy. All respondents were required to provide their

views by responding to all of the open-ended questions constructed. The five open-ended

questions that have been built in this section are tabulated in Table 3.3

Table 3.4: Open-ended questions

No. Item
1. What is the meaning/definition of digital literacy according to your knowledge?
2. Have you ever attended a course/seminar on digital literacy?
3. How would you rate your digital literacy the ability to use digital technologies?
4. What are the problems or constraints your faced to master digital literacy in your
faculty/university?
5. What are your recommendations to the faculty/university to enhance digital
literacy?
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3.5 Interpretation of Mean Scores

The questionnaire was designed to facilitate the respondents to understand the items given

and to answer all the items confidently without any doubt. In addition, the division of the

subconstructs was made to facilitate the researcher to analyze the data. In section A, the

background or demographics studied are gender, age, qualification to further study, majors

of study and CGPA. Next, the questionnaire items were constructed by using a 5-point

Likert scale. Respondents were asked to answer the questionnaire items by choosing their

agreement using the scales in Table 3.4. To interpreted the mean scores, five ranges were

constructed as tabulated in Table 3.5.

Table 3.5: A five-point Likert scale

Scale Description

1 Strongly Disagree

2 Disagree

3 Uncertain

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

(Source: Mohamad Najib, 2000)

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Table 3.6: Interpretation of the mean scores

Mean Interpretation

1.00 – 1.80 Strongly Disagree

1.81 – 2.60 Disagree

2.61 – 3.40 Uncertain

3.41 – 4.20 Agree

4.21 – 5.00 Strongly Agree

(Source: Ramlee & Noraini, 2009)

3.6 Validity and Reliability of the Instrument

The validity of an instrument refers to how far the instrument can measure what it claims

it can measure (Creswell, 2010). Mohd Majid (2000) states that if the degree of ability to

measure what is supposed to measure is high, then the instrument is said to have a high

validity. The level of validity can be enhanced by measuring the appropriate content. The

questionnaire must be clear, concise and easily understood by respondents to avoid

confusion. Reliability refers to the stability and internal consistency of an instrument

(Creswell, 2005). In this study, the validity of the instrument was checked by the supervisor

and an ICT expert who is a lecturer at the Faculty of Technical and Vocational (FTV). The

experts agree that the instrument has adequate construct validity.

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According to Mohd Najib (2000), the reliability of the instrument refers to the

internal consistency of an instrument. In the pilot study, the researcher had distributed a

total of 10 sets of questionnaire to 10 students to obtain the reliability index. The reliability

index of the questionnaire items was determined using Cronbach Alpha. The value of

Cronbach Alpha index greater than 0.80 indicates that the reliability index is at a high level

and the items can be accepted. Table 3.6 shows the interpretation of Cronbach Alpha

coefficient and Table 3.7 illustrates the reliability index for digital competency

subsconstructs.

Table 3.7: Interpretation of Cronbach Alpha coefficients

Alpha value Item Position

0.00 – 0.20 Low (All items need to be changed)
0.21 – 0.80 Moderate (Some items need to be changed)
0.81 – 1.00 High (Items are acceptable)
(Source : Mohd Najib, 2000)

Table 3.8: Reliability index for digital competency subconstructs

Digital Competencies Cronbach Alpha

Information processing 0.84
Communication 0.80
Content Creation 0.82
Safety 0.81
Interactivity 0.81
Virtuality 0.83
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Hypertextuality 0.82
Social Media 0.82
Cyber Ethics 0.84
Overall 0.82

3.7 Pilot Study

Before conducting the actual study, researcher needs conduct a pilot study in order to

validate the items. Therefore, a pilot study has to be conducted to ensure the validity and

reliability of the instrument. The pilot sample could consist of 20-40 individuals with

background and demographics similar to the actual study’s respondents (Chua Yan Piaw,

2006). In addition, according to Mohd Najib (2000), the purpose of a pilot study is to

determine the validity and reliability of the items to be used in the study. In pilot study,

specific steps need to be performed to determine whether all items are understood by the

respondents to ensure the findings are accurate and correct.

This pilot study was design to detect and identify any inappropriate items that could

confuse the respondents when responding to each item contained in the questionnaire.

Therefore, by conducting this pilot study, the researcher was able to modify or delete the
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unclear items. All comments and suggestions involving the items by the pilot sample must

be taken into account before the questionnaires are distributed to the actual respondents.

In this study, 10 pilot respondents with similar demographic characteristics and

backgrounds, that are almost identical to the actual respondent were selected. Each

respondent was given a questionnaire that has been prepared. Subsequently, the data

collected from the pilot sample were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the

Social Science) software to measure the reliability of the instrument. Items with Alpha

Cronbach value greater than 0.7 then the items are considered good and can be used in the

real research (Noraini Idris, 2007). Meanwhile, for items with a value of 0.70 and below,

the items are considered poor items. Therefore, the items must be improved or aborted.

Based on the analysis, the overall Alpha Cronbach value obtained from the pilot

study was 0.82. According to Mohd Najib (2000), if the Alpha Cronbach value exceeds

0.8, the level of reliability of the items is high. This shows that the items constructed by the

researcher have high level of reliability and are suitable for this study. In addition, through

this pilot study, most items were understood by the respondents, there were only a few

words have been changed because of misspellings. All spelling errors have been corrected

before the actual questionnaires were distributed to respondents.

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3.8 Data Analysis

According to Mohd Najib (2003), data analysis means categorizing, giving ranks, analyzing

data using appropriate statistical analysis to answers the research questions. The data

obtained in this study were analyzed by using SPSS software (Statistical Package for Social

Science Version 23). In this study, the researcher used descriptive and inferential statistics

such as frequency (ƒ), percentage (%), mean, standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA. The

findings are tabulated in the form of tables by using frequency, percentage, mean and

standard deviation. Open-ended data were analyzed using thematic analysis by Braun and

Clarke (2006). Table 3.8 shows the statistics used to answer the research questions.

Table 3.9: Statistics used to answer the research questions

No. Objective Analysis Method

1. To identify the perception of the final-year Using descriptive statistics
students Faculty of Technical and Vocational such as mean and standard
regarding their digital competencies. deviation
2. To determine the perception of the final-year Using descriptive statistics
students from Faculty Technical and Vocational such as mean and standard
regarding their digital literacy. deviation
3. To determine the differences regarding the Using inferential statistic
students digital literacy based on the such as T-Test and ANOVA
demographics factors
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4. To determine the factors that influence the Using thematic analysis via
mastery of digital literacy among the final-year frequency rank
students.

3.9 Summary

This chapter discusses about the research design, population and sample, instrumentation,

pilot study, data collection and data analysis in this study. The methodology of this study

is an important element in providing guidance to the researcher to conduct the study for the

best possible study. The research design used for this study was a multiple cases and single

site design. Population in this study was 75 for final-year students from a Faculty of

Technical and Vocational. Using Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sample size table, 63 final-

year students were selected as sample. The instrument in this study consisted of a set of

questionnaire containing closed and open items. Five-point Likert scale instrument was

developed based on the objectives and the conceptual framework of the study as well as

previous studies.

The validity of the instrument was checked by the supervisor and an ICT expert

who is a lecturer of the Faculty of Technical and Vocational (FTV). The experts agree that

the instrument has adequate construct validity. The reliability of the instrument refers to
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the internal consistency of an instrument. A pilot study, was conducted to obtain the

reliability index. The reliability index of the questionnaire items was determined using

Cronbach Alpha. Based on the pilot data, the overall Alpha Cronbach value obtained was

0.82. This shows that the items constructed by the researcher have high level of reliability

and are suitable for this study.