In the explanatory sequential mixed methods design, the purpose of the quantitative phase is to provide a general understanding of the topic under investigation before carrying out the qualitative phase, which explains and refines the quantitative results. After finalizing the survey instrument, help with data collection was requested from 17 instructors at UoJ involved with the 30 targeted Intensive English classes, each consisting of at least 25 students. Instructors were given a two-week window to voluntarily inform their students of the
research by sharing the study’s participant information sheet and link to the online survey. At one point during this two-week period, another reminder was given to teacher volunteers to relay the survey information. Students were informed that the survey would take
approximately 15 minutes to complete, and that the final question would involve a yes or no response to whether they would be willing to join the second phase of the study: the
qualitative email questionnaire. Of the 763 students enrolled in Intensive English, I received responses from 348; however, after eliminating the responses that were ineligible based on exclusion criteria, the total number of responses equaled 334, with 311 containing answers to each question. To ensure consistency in the reporting, it is these 311 complete responses that constitute the quantitative data. After receiving the data, some preliminary analysis was conducted in Excel and Survey Monkey. This initial analysis included basic and descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviations, and significance. More advanced analysis, such as correlation and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), was done with SPSS.
3.6.2. Reliability of survey data.
3.6.2.1. Study abroad intent items.
As discussed, the defining of study abroad intent shifted from a single-item question in the pilot, to a multi-item scale in the final survey. I integrated five original questions into the international posture items to establish intent to study abroad, such as “studying abroad during my time at university is a goal of mine” and “I intend to study abroad during my time at university”. For the five study abroad intent items employed in the survey, the Cronbach Alpha was .95, which is considered as excellent reliability (Kline, 1999; Plonsky & Derrick, 2016). Deleting any individual item would result in negligible improvements, so all five items were kept in the analysis.
Central to answering the research questions presented in this study, I needed to establish differences in intention to study abroad. To accomplish this, three different groups of students were classified: one with strong intent to study abroad (N=69), one with weak intent (N=66), and a group exhibiting moderate or inconsistent degrees of intention (N=176). The process to define these groups is explained in section 4.1. With focus on the strong and weak groups, similarities and differences that emerged not only played a pivotal role in answering the research questions, but also in identifying email questionnaire participants in the qualitative phase of the study.
3.6.2.2. International posture items.
In evaluating the reliability of Yashima’s 28-item international posture instrument, internal consistency – the correlation of different items intended to measure a variable or construct – was measured. From the analysis of the 311 complete responses involving the 28 items comprising international posture, the Cronbach Alpha was .89. In analyzing each international posture variable in isolation, there were no instances where the omission of any item improved the overall reliability of international posture. A breakdown of the reliability of each individual variable composing international posture, as well as study abroad intent, is shown in Table 3. The values are presented for the 311 participants, and also those
constituting the strong (N=69) and weak (N=66) intent groups. To garner an understanding of the international posture variables, each is explained in detail, along with a description of their relevance and consistency to the current study.
Table 3
International Posture & Study Abroad Intent Cronbach Alpha Coefficients
Variable All Participants Strong Group Weak Group
International Posture .89 .87 .84
Approach Avoidance .75 .63 .76
Interest international vocation .79 .75 .76
Interest in foreign affairs .79 .79 .84
Ethnocentricity .65 .64 .71
Willingness to communicate .77 .81 .69
Study Abroad Intent .95 .94 .92
1) Intercultural approach-avoidance tendency is a 7-point scale that evaluates the likelihood of a respondent approaching a non-Japanese person to engage in
interactions. In this study, the overall alpha was computed as .75, thus representing an acceptable to good level of internal consistency (Plonsky & Derrick, 2016; Kline, 1999). Examples of questions in this scale include “I would talk to an international student if there were one at school” and the negatively worded item “I try to avoid talking with foreigners if I can”. Deleting any individual items would decrease the overall reliability of this variable and international posture.
2) Interest in international vocation is a 6-item scale that gauges one’s degree of interest in an international career or working abroad. The alpha for this construct was .79, again representing acceptable to good consistency. Individual questions include “I
want to work in a foreign country” and “I don't think what's happening overseas has much to do with my daily life”. Deleting the latter of these two questions would result in a marginally improved alpha for the variable (.8); however, doing so would also reduce the overall reliability of international posture, so it remained in the analysis. 3) Interest in foreign affairs is a 4-item scale to determine the respondents’ interest in
issues and affairs outside of Japan. Items for this variable include “I often read and watch news about foreign countries” and “I often talk about situations and events in foreign countries with my family and/or friends”. The internal consistency was .79. The omission of one particular item would increase the reliability to .8; however, this would have an adverse impact on the reliability of international posture as a whole. 4) Ethnocentrism is a 5-point scale, which evaluates ethnocentrism and reactions to
different customs, values, and behaviors. Items include “I enjoy working with people who have different customs and values” and “I feel awkward by what foreigners say and what they do”. The alpha for this variable was .65. The exclusion of one
inconsistent item would increase the alpha to .7; however, this would have a negative impact on the overall reliability of international posture, so it was retained.
Ethnocentrism is notorious for having low reliability in international posture, so while .65 appears weak, it is stronger than several Japanese studies that have applied it. In a 2010 study, Yashima computed an alpha of .61 for ethnocentrism, yet continued to use it in her study. Also, .65 is still within the parameters of acceptable, according the Kline (1999).
5) Willingness to communicate to the world is the final and most recently added component of international posture (Yashima, 2009). It consists of six items, including “I know a lot of topics I can discuss with people from around the world” and “I have no clear opinions about international issues”.The alpha for this (.77) again represents acceptable to good reliability and there were no outstanding items that if deleted, would improve both consistency of the individual variable and international posture.
3.6.3. SPSS analysis – correlation and MANOVA.
Research questions presented in this study involve the differences between those with weak intent to study abroad and those with strong intent. In attempting to identify these differences, analysis was executed to ascertain which international posture variables may be
correlated with study abroad intent. Data from the 311 complete survey responses were processed in SPSS to determine correlation between intent and the five variables comprising international posture: approach avoidance, interest in international vocation, interest in foreign affairs, ethnocentricity and willingness to communicate. MANOVA was also employed as it can be used in situations where “there are several correlated dependent variables, and the researcher desires a single, overall statistical test on this set of variables instead of performing multiple individual tests” (Carey, 1998, p. 1). In the analysis, the independent variable was defined as study abroad intent at two levels: strong intent and weak intent. Additionally, the five elements of international posture were delineated as dependent variables. The MANOVA was executed to determine the differences in mean international posture scores between the strong and weak intent groups.