3.

RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1 Research site / context
The study was conducted on English majored students at Faculty of Foreign
Languages, Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City. Our team would design a
questionnaire on Google form and post it on Facebook, because it was a rapid and
convenient means to reach students’ access. By this way, the researchers were able
to gather a large amount of data in an effective way. Due to the participants’ time
limit, the freshman would spend a few minutes completing the survey, they just
clicked on the linked posted on Facebook, which was both quick and convenient.
Then, the results would be compiled on another form in order that the research
team could evaluate and synthesize the collected data properly.
3.2 Participants / Objects
In this study, our group’s research objects were first -year English major at
IUH. Owing to a large number of freshmans at FFL and time limit, we determined
that 100 students would be the most practical quantity for our study. During the
school year, students who are instructed to practice skills and exposed to highly
specialized knowledge at university level will have difficult in learning
vocabulary . Moreover, vocabulary acquisition approach is crucial for students
majoring in English. Above the factors that concern students, so this study will
discover how to efficiently learn language and improve vocabulary.
3.3 Research methodology and research methods
3.3.1 Research methodology
To make the survey quickly and conveniently find information and collect
data, our group used the quantitative methodology to research the positive effects
of the method of learning vocabulary through flashcards on the English-majoring
freshmen at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City. According to Bhandari,
P. (2020), quantitative research is the process of collecting and analyzing
numerical data. It can be used to find patterns and averages, make predictions, test
causal relationships, and generalize results to wider populations. It involves
collecting numerical data from a sample population using surveys, polls, or
questionnaires. It can also test theories and hypotheses by applying mathematical,
computational, or statistical techniques and help answer questions such as how
many, how often, how much, or what is the relationship between variables?"
Therefore, we chose the quantitative methodology to survey and collect the most
comprehensive and accurate information.
3.3.2 Research methods
As mentioned above, our research uses online queétionnaires through Google
Forms to collect quantitative data relating to the student's opinions about the
positive effects of using flashcards in learning the vocabulary of English-majoring
freshmen in IUH. Based on the objectives and scope of the study, we decided to
use questionnaire to survey participants to collect information conveniently and
objectively. It is no longer contentious to state that the question is very quick to
design and captures a great amount of data, in addition to being simple to analyze.
Questionnaires, therefore, save time in collecting data and analyzing a large
amount of information. This data is analyzed using explicit and appropriate
techniques - statistical by software for quantitative data.
The survey questionnaire has 16 closed-ended questions, and each participant
will have 15 minutes to complete the survey. The searchers divided 16 closed-
ended questions into two types: multiple-choice questions and ranking questions.
For the multiple-choice questions, the students were asked to circle on the
responses that were suitable to them. At the ranking questions, participants would
base their views to mark the corresponding levels (including 5 levels: Excellent,
Good, Fair, Average, and Poor). The questions will be designed based on the
purpose of the research topic, exploiting quantitative data on the opinions of each
person on the effects that the method uses flashcards.
Moreover, the method of using survey questionnaires makes it easy for
researchers to analyze data, saving time and money. According to Roopa, S. (2012)
stated that "a question is the main means of collecting quantitative primary data. A
question enables quantitative data to be collected in a standardized way so that the
data are internally consistent and coherent for analysis. Questions should always
have a definite purpose that is related to the objectives of the research, and it needs
to be clear from the outset how the findings will be used." Therefore, this survey
will present a level of positive influence that the flashcards method can have in
learning English vocabulary. This will help English learners improve useful
learning methods and solve difficult problems when choosing vocabulary learning
methods.
3.4. Procedures
This study was conducted over a period of 4 months, from January to April. First
of all, our group spent 2 weeks considering the topic and discussing with group
members and our supervisor to define the appropriate topic. Next, research
objectives, research questions, and primary keywords were going to be defined in
order within the following 2 weeks. Then, we spent another 3 weeks identifying
participants, research sites, proper methodology and methods for the research.
After that, we seeked and reviewed some documents that are equivalent to the
topic in order to design a questionnaire on Google form, and organise questions in
a reasonable order during a period of 3 weeks. To ensure that there are no errors
and confusion in the survey form, our team would have the supervisor check our
questionnaire before having the students fill in it. In order to gather information
effectively, we sent the freshman at FFL in IUH (DHAV18) the link of the survey
form on the group Facebook, and sent their lecturers the paper survey to collect
information from the freshman if possible, this stage occurred within 1 week.
Finally, our team spent 4 weeks analyzing the collected data, and producing
answers for the research questions, thereby arriving at the appropriate conclusion
to support the research.
3.5. Data analysis
After having gathered information from questionnaires, we would analyse our data
by using Microsoft Office Excel because of its accuracy, benefits, and convenience
for our process. The data from questionnaires would be obvious through columns
and charts, so Microsoft Office Excel was certainly a useful tool for us to design
suitable charts that provided readers with a general view of statistics. To be clear,
our team would summarize the data to translate them to specific numbers and
percentages in order to create appropriate charts for analyzing the statistics. The
researchers started to examine the number and ratios after transferring all the
figures into charts, then making comparisons based on collective data. Finally, we
came to give a conclusion based on the research findings.