CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter described in detail the methodological research framework for the present

study. The matters discussed in this chapter are the research design, target population,

sampling, instrument, pre-testing, pilot study, data analysis method. Through the

description in this chapter, readers will gain a clearer picture of related research,

3.2 Research Design

Research design describe the study design have been plan to answer the research question.

This research is to ascertain the cause-and-effect relationship between the variable.

(Sakeran and Bougie, 2013). For research design it is proposed that the study will be

carried out in order to decide on the right research tool should be used. The research using

questionnaires research methodology. This study will use the sample technique of simple

random sampling. Every element in the population has known and equal chance of being

selected as a subject. This is because the study is to investigate the relationship between the

personality traits and the ethical behaviour of employees in The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Kuala

Lumpur.

There are 3,516 registered tourism accommodation premises in Malaysia. With 1,238 got

the verification of premises with Star (Bintang) grade all over Malaysia. In Kuala Lumpur

alone there are 122 number of verified Star hotel with overall 30,465 numbers of rooms.

(Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, 2018) For this research it is focus on The

Ritz-Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur with 5 Star Hotel grade that occupied with 248 number
of rooms. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur was officially operated on 1 December

1997. The owner of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur is YTL Corporation and the

management come from the Ritz Carlton itself. (YTL Corporation, 2002)

The respondents are all the total number of operation employees in The Ritz-Carlton Hotel

Kuala Lumpur which consist of 150 numbers of employees. A more accurate respondent

would be from food and beverages, housekeeping, the kitchen, concierge, financial, human

resources, sales and marketing, maintenance and engineering and other department.

A survey questionnaire was made with suitable modifications from previous studies to

measure the impact of personal traits towards the ethical behaviour of employees in the

Ritz Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur which is focus on the private sector employees and the

hospitality industry as well. The previous research was focus on the personality traits

towards the ethical behaviour of the government servant which is employees at the

Kumpulan Wang Amanah Simpanan Pekerja (Employees Provident Fund) Wangsa Maju,

Kuala Lumpur. The questionnaire was distributed by physical questionnaire binding book

directly to the The Ritz-Carlton Hotel office. Hence, a time set for the questionnaire to be

distributed and collected is in to ninety days which is from September 2019 to November

2019.
3.3 Target Population

The study conducted on the operation employees at The Ritz- Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia. They come from various departments which is food and beverage, housekeeping,

the kitchen, front office, concierge, financial, human resources, sales and marketing,

maintenance and engineering and others. The total number of operation employees at The

Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur is 150. The data was retrieved from their Senior Executive. As

the good reputation of hotel in Malaysia, the targeted employees were the right position to

respond to the questionnaires adequately. Table 3.3 below depicts the total population of

operation employees at The Ritz- Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

Number of
No. Department
Employees
1. Food and Beverage 25
2. Housekeeping 26
3. The Kitchen 16
4. Front Office 11
5. Concierge 11
6. Financial 17
7. Human Resources 10
8. Sales and Marketing 9
9. Maintenance and Engineering 17
10. Others 8
Total 150
Table 3.3: Total population of operation employees at The Ritz- Carlton Hotel Kuala
Lumpur, 2019
Source: The Senior Executive of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur
3.4 Instrument

The researcher used the questionnaire as instruments to collect data. It can be considered as

an efficient data collection mechanism (Sekaran & Bougie, 2013). The researcher included

a closed-ended questionnaire in this study. It consists of seven sections which is section A,

B, C, D, E, F and G. Section A for demographic profile. Section B, C, D, E and F is Part A

which is independent variables and section G for Part B which is dependent variable. The

independent variables in this study are the Big 5 Personality Traits which is Openness to

Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeable and Neuroticism. Dependent

variable in this research is Ethical Behaviour of Employees. Table 3.5 shows the

instruments that used in this study:

The research instruments for personality traits and ethical behaviour of employees was

adopted from the Big 5 Model of Personality Traits by Lewis R. Goldberg, (1993). The

research instruments for dependent variables which is ethical behaviour of employees was

adopted from Ferrell and Gresham (1985), Hunt and Vitell (1986).

The instructions and the numerous items on the questionnaires were clarified to the

employees to avoid misunderstanding in the terms related to the study. The research

instruments were used to measure with 5 points of Likert-type scales response of options

that characterize factors influencing ethical behaviour of employees. The options are 1

(Strongly Disagree), 2 (Disagree), 3 (Neutral), 4 (Agree), and 5 (Strongly Agree).

 Cod
No. Variables Item Source
e
O1 I enjoyed hearing new ideas
Independent O2 I rarely look for a deeper meaning in things
Lewis R.
Variable 1; O3 I get excited by new ideas
1. Goldberg,
Openness to O4 I like to get lost in thoughts 1993
Experience O5 I experience my emotions intensely
O6 I am a creative and imaginative person
C1 I pay attention to details
Independent
C2 I make plans and stick to them Lewis R.
Variable 2;
2 C3 I get your chores done right away Goldberg,
Conscientiousn
C4 I need a push to get started a work 1993
ess
C5 I always get prepared
E1 I prefer meeting with new people
Independent E2 I prefer to have few friends
Lewis R.
Variable 3; E3 I am mostly quiet around people
3. Goldberg,
Extraversion E4 I hate being in crowd of people
1993
E5 I find it difficult to approach others
E6 I always start the conversations with people
A1 I am not interested in other people’s problems
A2 I am concerned about others
Independent Lewis R.
A3 I get along with people easily
4. Variable 4; Goldberg,
A4 I can work well with my colleagues
Agreeable 1993
A5 I find it hard to give full cooperation in my
works
N1 I tend to worry so much about things
N2 I get panic easily
Independent N3 I rarely get irritated Lewis R.
5. Variable 5; N4 I get stressed out so easily Goldberg,
Neuroticism N5 I have frequent mood swings 1993
N6 I am not easily bothered by things
N7 I am relaxed most of the time
EB1 I utilize your authority properly
EB2 I balance organizational and personal needs
EB3 I follow orders from superiors even it is
Dependent unethical
Kohlberg, Ferrell
Variable 1 ; EB4 I able to manage your personal biases
(1985) and
6. Ethical EB5 I am honest when sharing information with
Gresham and Hunt
Behaviour of others
and Vitell (1986)
Employees EB6 I respect the diversity within your
organization
EB7 I maintain appropriate confidentiality
EB8 I prioritize my favouritism in decision making
Table 3.4: The instruments that be used in this study:
3.5 Pre-testing

Pre-testing is the “first attempt to get empirical feedback from a highly controlled sample to

assess the appropriateness of the original instrument” (Lewis et al., 2005, p. 392). During

the pre-test, members are approached to finish the instrument and study matters important

for starting instrument configuration, for example: design, content, get capacity, phrasing,

and straightforwardness and speed of fruition (Lewis et al., 2005). As indicated by Bryman

and Bell (2007) pre-testing of an instrument is significant as it will give a sign of how well

the inquiries stream and improve instrument comprehension; and enables the researcher to

check the ampleness of guidelines to respondents.

The pre-test process is essential to build up the instrument’s content validity (Straub, 1989).

Establishing content validity is important as it represents the appropriateness of the items

on the instrument for measuring constructs (Lewis et al., 2005; Straub et al., 2004; Straub,

1989). Each of the items should be representative of the construct and comprehensively

cover all aspects of the construct. This study follows the suggestion of Lewis et al. (2005)

on establishing content validity by conducting pre-tests and a pilot-test.

For this study, the pre-test was done in two steps. First, a number of experts were

approached for their opinions relating to the questionnaire design. Second, a pre-test survey

was carried out with employees at Dee Seng Fashion Trading, The Mines to evaluate the

measurement properties and the relationships specified in the structural model. Through the

pre-testing phase, experts are allowed to identify items that could be added or deleted from

the instrument, and make suggestions for enhancements, if necessary (Lewis et al., 2005).

Thus in this study, experts were consulted. The first expert consisted of senior lecturer from

Universiti Teknologi MARA. She was approached for her expertise in research
methodology. Meanwhile, the second expert consists of senior lecturers also from

Universiti Teknologi MARA where she are asked to comment on the questionnaire’s plan

and research methodology. Every one of the items is checked on by the experts for its

substance, extension, and reason. Experts are solicited to remark on different perspectives

from the review plan, for example, the lucidity or equivocalness of definitions, thing

representativeness, suitability of the scale, and clearness of guidelines. The pre-tests are

directed to set up the questionnaire's substance legitimacy. Subsequently, from the

exchanges with experts, the questionnaires are valid and can be tested for the following

research.

The pre-test survey was carried out in September 2019 with employees at Dee Seng

Fashion Trading, The Mines. All reviews are classified and no distinguishing of individual

data is required. A total of 10 employees participated in this pre-test survey. Employees

were approached personally by the researcher what's more, advised about the pre-test. The

presence of the researcher is critical to distinguish and react quickly to challenges with

interpretation of questions. During the pre-test session, accentuation is set on distinguishing

things that respondents discover hard to reply or any plan issues. Consideration additionally

is given to the directions expressed to the respondents. Toward the finish of the pre-test

session, workers are required to give a composed remark about the length and wording of

things, structure and directions.. After the pre-testing stage, the instrument was pilot-tested

again utilizing respondents that are like the genuine overview test.
3.6 Pilot Study

Pilot study is feasibility in other word little scale form, or preliminary run, done in

anticipation of the significant investigation. It can also be pre-testing or trying out of a

particular research instrument. It is a small-scale implementation of a larger study or a part

of a larger study. Last for shorter period of time and usually involve a smaller number of

participations, sites or organizations. In a pre-test, only test one or a few components of the

research study on a small fraction of intended sample size. During a pilot, the research

study in its entirety, but on a smaller sample size

A pilot study was carried out before the questionnaires distributed to the respondents to

certify a very effective alteration and essential amendments to the research 30 employees

from the instruments. The questionnaires were randomly disseminated to employees at The

Ritz-Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur to establish the fittingness of the research instruments

before administering it in the study.

3.7 Data Analysis Method

3.7.1 Factor Analysis

Factor analysis is a method that is utilized to lessen countless variables into less quantities

of factors. This procedure separates most extreme regular variance from all variables and

places them into a typical score. As a file everything being equal, I can utilize this score for

further analysis. Factor analysis is a piece of general linear model (GLM) and this

technique likewise expect a few presumptions: there is linear relationship, there is no

multicollinearity, it incorporates applicable variables into analysis, and there is genuine

correlation among variables and factors. These research using principal axis factoring

(PAF) method of factor extraction.

Factor loading is fundamentally the correlation coefficient for the variable and factor.

Factor loading shows the variance clarified by the variable on that specific factor. In the

SEM approach, as a rule of thumb, 0.7 or higher factor loading speaks to that the factor

extricates adequate variance from that variable.

Eigenvalues is additionally called characteristic roots. Eigenvalues shows variance clarified

by that specific factor out of the all out variance. From the shared characteristic segment, I

can realize how a lot of variance is clarified by the main factor out of the absolute variance.

The factor score is additionally called the component score. This score is of all row and

columns, which can be utilized as a list everything being equal and can be utilized for

further examination. I can standardize this score by increasing a typical term. With this

factor score, whatever investigation I will do, I will expect that all variables will act as

factor scores and will move.

Criteria for deciding the quantity of factors: According to the Kaiser Criterion, Eigenvalues

is a decent criteria for deciding a factor. On the off chance that Eigenvalues is more

prominent than one, I ought to think about that a factor and in the event that Eigenvalues is

short of what one, at that point I ought not think about that a factor. As per the variance

extraction rule, it ought to be more than 0.7. On the off chance that variance is under 0.7, at

that point I ought not think about that a factor.

Rotation method: Rotation method makes it progressively reliable to understand the yield.

Eigenvalues don't influence the rotation method, however the rotation method influences

the Eigenvalues or level of variance removed. Each of these can be effectively chosen in

SPSS, and I can think about our variance clarified by those specific methods.
3.7.2 Reliability and Validity Analysis

A reliability test was conducted to focus on the consistency of the measuring instrument in

supplying the results for this research. Tima (2011) refer reliability of the study as the

constancy of results acquired from questionnaires or interview. Regardless of the general

acknowledgment on the estimation of 0.7 as the cut-off purpose of reliability measure, the

satisfactory degree of reliability additionally relies upon how a measure is being utilized.

“In the early stages of research on predictor tests or hypothesised measures of a construct,

one saves time and energy by working with instruments that have only modest reliability,

for which purpose reliabilities of 0.60 or 0.50 will suffice” (Sekaran, 2003). The data

considered not reliable if the value is less than 0.7. Thus, this research was done based on

this guideline. Any discussion of interpretation and implication involving the variables with

slightly low Average Variance Extracted is provisional and requires replication to further

confirm the associations between variables. Table 3.8.3 explains the interpretation of

Cronbach's Alpha coefficient.

Cronbach’s Alpha Internal Consistency

α ≥ 0.9 Excellent
0.9 > α ≥ 0.8 Good
0.8 > α ≥ 0.7 Acceptable
0.7 > α ≥ 0.6 Questionable
0.6 > α ≥ 0.5 Poor
0.5 > α Unacceptable
Table 3.7.3: Interpretation of Cronbach's Alpha coefficient.
Source: Sekaran (2003), Research Method for Business(4th Edirtion), New York Wiley
3.7.3 Normality Analysis

Normality analysis used to identify whether the data are normally distributed or not. If

both Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilks value are above 0.05, the data can be

perceived as to he normally disseminated (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2007). Skewness

and Kurtosis statistics indicate the data distribution shape. The distribution is 100% normal

if the Skewness and Kurtosis show zero value. If the value of Skewness is positive, it

shows the graph is positively skewed while if the value of Skewness is negative, it shows

the graph is negatively skewed. On the other hand, Kurtosis shows high curve distribution

when the value is positive while it shows low curve distribution when the value is negative.

3.7.4 Descriptive Analysis

Descriptive statistics are usually used to obtain frequency (n) and percentage (°o) of the

demographic factors such as gender, age group, race, highest education, number of years

working at this organization and working department. Besides, a descriptive statistic such

as minimum, maximum, standard deviations, means, and variance are obtainable for the

interval-scaled independent and dependent variables as well as multi items (Sekaran and

Bougie, 2013).

3.7.5 Correlation Analysis

The correlation analysis decides if and to what degree a relationship exists between at least

two quantifiable variables. For instance, it is utilized to quantify the relationship quality

between the needy and free variables. Correlation is utilized to take a gander at the 'net

quality' relationship between two ceaseless variable. (Sweet and Martin, 2018). A

correlation coefficient shows the bearing, quality and criticalness of the bivariate

relationship among every one of the variables that were estimated at an interval or ratio
level. There could be an ideal positive correlation between two variables, spoke to by 1.0

(in addition to 1) or an ideal negative correlation, which would be - 1.0 (short 1). It doesn't

disclose to us which variable causes which, however it reveals to us that the two variables

are related with one another.Table 3.8.6 show the Correlation Strength Based on Guilford’s

Law

R Strength of Relationship
< 0.20 Almost negligible relationship
0.20 - 0.40 Low correlation; definite but small relationship
0.40 – 0.70 Moderate correlation; substantial relationship
0.70 – 0.90 High correlation; marked relationship
> 0.90 Very high correlation; very dependable relationship
Table 3.7.5: Correlation Strength Based on Guilford’s Law

3.7.6 Multiple Regression Analysis

Multiple regression analysis can be defined as an extension of simple linear regression.

The researcher used this analysis to identify the relationship between independent variables

and the dependent variable in this study. Sekaran and Bougie (2013) mentioned that

multiple regression analysis is used when the independent variables are more than one.

Also , the hypothesis in this study can be tested through this analysis.

Regression analysis is used to measure the percentage of dependent variables that were

explained by the independent variable. The variation in the independent variables that

explained percentage variance in the dependent variable can be shown through the "r"

value. The fits of different linear models can be compared through F-test in regression. If

the P-value for the F-test of the overall significance test is lower than level significance, it

can be concluded that the model delivers a better fit than the intercept- only model. On the

other hand, the "p" value is used to determine the relationship between the dependent and

independent variables. The "p" value that is lower than 0.05 indicates there is a significant
relationship between dependent and independent variables. The value of "p" also used to

determine whether the hypothesis is accepted or rejected. If the value of "p" is lower than

0.05, the hypothesis is accepted while if the value of "p" is higher than 0.05. The

hypothesis (P) is used to identify the most significant factors used in a study. is rejected.

Last, Beta The highest Beta (11) refers to the most significant factors

3.7.7 Independent Sample T-Test

A t-test is utilized to determine whether there is a significant different between two sets of

scores. Independent gathering t-test is appropriate when different participants have

performed in every one of the different conditions, in other words, when the participants in

a single condition are different from participants in the other condition. Independent

Sample T-test was computed to look at whether there is a mean score distinction between

male and female respondents in terms of their ethical conduct working in The Ritz-Carlton

Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

 3.8 Summary

Summary of Data Analysis Method based on the Research Specific Objective

No. Specific Research Objective Analysis Method

Research Objective 1: To identify the dimensions of
Multiple Regression
1. personality traits and the ethical behaviour of the employees in
Analysis
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur
Research Objective 2: To determine the importance of
2. personality traits and the ethical behaviour of the employees in Reliability Test
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur
Research Objective 3: To examine the relationship between
3. personality traits and the ethical behaviour of the employees in Correlation Analysis
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur
Table 3.8: Summary of Data Analysis Method based on the Research Specific Objective

This chapter is discussing about the overall research design which includes the methods

used to obtain the data through the questionnaire prepared for the respondents. The

population of the research have been choose so that the sampling size can be decided.

Simple random sampling technique will be used in this research and proper instrument also

have been confirmed. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 23 will be

used to carry out the reliability test, Cronbach’s Alpha, Correlations, Coefficient and

Regression.