Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 Introduction
In this chapter, the author will put forward the explanation of the methodology deployed
in this study. Accordingly, the process of interview and questionnaire design will be
presented as well as the collection and analysis of data. Finally, the limitations in this
research will be summarized.
3.2 Aim and objectives of the research
The aim of this study is to investigate the challenges in international hospitality
management education.
The objectives are:

To review the research methods used in this study

To identify the different perspectives of participants towards challenges in
international hospitality management education

To explore the points of view towards the influence of eight trends for international
hospitality management education.

To discover the ways of improving international hospitality management education
from in-depth interviews in an attempt to address
these challenges.
3.3 Secondary data collection
Secondary data is used
to design the primary research. Besides, a comparison using the
results of the primary data collected, this study will also
use secondary data. Therefore,
when investigating the particular issues in this paper, , it will begin with the secondary
research data (Veal 2011). In a literal sense, secondary data analysis can be described as
"second hand" analysis. Such data or information analysis is always carried out by other
person, such as researchers, institutions and so on for purposes other than the ones which
this paper is presently concerned with.
According to Veal (2011),
diverse sources of
secondary data would constitute the following.

Literature review articles attempt to review the original research that focuses on a
particular topic. Sometimes, experts and researchers in this area will present their
reviews which may be the first written overview of a topic area. Such articles also
push further discussion and enumerate every publication related with the origin of
the information on certain topics.

Official statistics: Official statistics refer to statistics which governments and their
various institutions, agencies and institutions collect for various purposes. These
statistics can help researchers for the reason that they are available and
comprehensive source of information, which are usually long lasting (Four 2006).

Technical Reports: Technical reports are related with the reports about the particular
pursuit of research projects, which are written to hand in the results to other entities
such as colleagues, institutions, governments and other concerned researchers. A
report can be the result of

either finished research or ongoing research projects.
Scientific journals: In general, such journals include reports that experts in certain
fields publish in to present original research and experimentation. Articles from such
journals usually experience a mutual review where other experts dealing with the
same field will evaluate through the contents of the article for accuracy, originality
and relevance.

Journals: Trade journals contain articles that discuss practical details in the various
fields. These journals give people in these areas the information they their particular
field or trade.

Books: Reference books provide secondary source material. In many cases, specific
facts or an overview of a topic everything is included. Handbooks, manuals,
encyclopedias and dictionaries, encyclopedias are involved (Lincoln 2005).
In this research, Scholarly Journals, Literature Review Articles, Trade Journals as well as
reference books have been used
as the main sources so as to illustrate the current
situation, and theoretical foundation, of international hospitality management such as
relevant definitions, the type of problems as well as the challenges.
3.4 Primary data collection
Veal (2011) pointed out that primary research is a way to deal with an explicit set of
research purposes, and should consistently
support secondary research. Data is
collected for special objectives. The researcher has collected first-hand operational data..
Generally, primary research can be classified into two broad groups, quantitative and
qualitative research (Baggio and Klobas 2011). When conducting the studies,
questionnaires and interviews are always employed together (Lai and Waltman 2008). On
one hand, qualitative interview data is often collected thorough different views of
respondents’ attitudes,
perspectives, and opinions (Rubin and Rubin 2005).
Questionnaires can present evidence of patterns amongst large numbers of people. In
order to achieve the aims and objectives of this study, the author chose both the
semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to carry out the research.
3.4.1 Qualitative and quantitative research
Hennink et al (2011, p. 9) referred to qualitative research as:”qualitative researchers
study people in their natural settings, to identify how their experiences and behavior are
shaped by the context of their lives, such as the social, economic, cultural or physical
context in which they live” This implies
that the meaning of data results from a research
context. On the other hand, lots of scholars also pay attention to the analysis of
quantitative research. Veal (2006) provides
a concise definition of quantitative research
as a kind of research, which explains phenomena by collecting numerical data, then
analyzing it with the help of
suitable mathematically based methods (especially
statistics).
Maxwell (2005) suggests that qualitative researchers aim to study phenomena
in their
natural environment. They attempt to find the importance, and meanings seen by those
who are being researched (or subjects) rather than that of the researcher. Nevertheless,
quantitative researchers focus on how one thing (a variable) impacts another in a
population, by quantifying the relationships between variables (Altinay and Paraskevas,
2008). Qualitative research and quantitative research are different in some characteristics
and dimensions as summarized in Table 3.1 (Lichtman 2006; Johnson and Christensen
2008; Veal 2011):
Table 3.1 Comparison between Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Source: Lichtman 2006; Johnson and Christensen 2008; Veal 2011
On the other hand, both methods of quantitative and qualitative analysis have advantages
and disadvantages when fully utilized by the researcher. The advantages and
disadvantages of quantitative and qualitative research methods are summarized by
Matsuo (2005), as illustrated in Table 3.2 below. In addition, information from table 3.1
is mentioned and analyzed
in the later part of this chapter:
Table 3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods
Source: Matsuo (2005)
3.5 Qualitative research
According to Corbin and Strauss (2008), qualitative research puts its emphasis on the
interpretation of phenomena in their natural environment, and to be logical, in relation to
the meanings people bring to these circumstances. Another definition of qualitative
research refers to an attempt to interact in a unique situation and to understand (Patton
2002).
Generally, qualitative research includes the collection of information such as interviews,
personal experience, introspection, life history, observations, history, interaction and
visual texts that are important moments in the lives of people (Hennink et al 2011). The
purpose of qualitative research is to honestly present results to others who show great
concern with what the researcher is doing (Holloway and Wheeler 2010).
3.5.1 Interview design
Interviewing can be defined as a way to collect data in order to acquire knowledge from
individuals (Silverman 2005). Cohen et al. (2000, p. 267) regarded interviews as “… An
interchange of views between two or more people on a topic of mutual interest, sees the
centrality of human interaction for knowledge production, and emphasizes the social
situations
of research data.”(full citation required here?) There are numerous reasons
why interviews are used for collecting data. Conducting interviews is a suitable way to
obtain highly personalized data, and there are always opportunities available for probing
(Gray 2004). Interviews can be divided into several types. They are structured interviews,
semi-structured interviews, unstructured interviews and non-directive interview (Mason
2002). Semi-structured interviews are conducted
in a relatively open arrangement,
discussion, allowing two-way communication will focus on. It can give and receive both.
Generally, semi-structured interviews always start with questions or topics (Veal 2006).
Nevertheless, the main issues are first identified and the potential impact of these
questions form the basis for further questions, which do not need to be prepared in
advance. Not all of the questions need to be prepared ahead of schedule (Maxwell 2005).
In this context, the author prefers to conduct semi-structured interviews rather than the
other interview formats. This form of interview drives the researcher to meet his / her
research objectives more efficiently. The purposes of this study is to have interviews with
each of the people working or studying in the hospitality management field, to identify
the challenges faced by educators, students and managers of international hospitality
education.
Another objective is to discover the influence of trends, and gain
recommendations that are currently being used in order to deal with those challenges for
future development. Therefore, interviews include two sections. First of all, 3 to 4
questions were asked to the interviewees, asking them to identify the challenges they face
now. Then, they are asked to discuss the eight trends that most influence the international
hospitalitysector. Subsequently, the author asked the interviewees recommendations and
suggestions. The questions in the questionnaire were similar, and in-depth compared to
the interviews. Additionally, Berg (2007) concludes that research should be designed as
sets of questions relevant to each of the outlined categories. Thus, the author’s interview
design is presented in Table. 3.3:
Table 3.3 Sample design of interview
3.5.2 Interview implementation
According to Berg (2007), more questions may be asked, and some may query issues that
cannot be predicted at the beginning of the interview. Generally, note taking or tape
recording of documents is always involved in an interview (Patton 2002). This type of
research can provide scientists with the opportunity to examine physically both the
interviewer and the interviewees. It is a good method to interview in new ways that were
not necessarily original (Silverman 2010).
In order to meet the purpose of this study, the author made appointments with the
interviewees at first. . Five interviewees were involved. There are two international
students, two managers and one educator. The interview format preferred was the
semi-structured format. The semi-structured interview was conducted face-to-face. As
Berg mentioned before, the author asked some unpredicted questions before the interview,
such as talking about the weather, or work situations. The author believed that this sort of
ice-breaker technique helps the interviewees to be more relaxed during the interview
process. Moreover, it is also useful for the author in getting more useful information. .
3.5.3 Interview sampling
Generally, in qualitative research, the sample is small and not chosen randomly. Rather,
the choice of a sample is purposeful (Veal 2011). The interview sample should be
representative in size and adequate with regard to the complexity of the research theme
(Crabtree and Miller 1999). Moreover, qualitative data is the result of categorizing and
describing attributes of a population (Silverman 2005; McGivern 2008).
It is important to chose a representative size for the research, because the author would
like to create a deeper understanding of the challenges of hospitality management on the
international education. Thus, in this research, the people interviewed should have a deep
knowledge of the topic of the interview. In the case of this research there are two or three
determinants that are
involved. First, people which are highly correlated with the
hospitality management field. Secondly, interviewees have to understand knowledge on
the topic of international hospitality education. Finally, respondents should relate to both
of these areas, and could provide explicit opinions regarding the challenges in
international hospitality management education. Consequently, the researcher has
attempted to include these three categories of experts, in order to fulfil the aims and
objectives of its study. In this research, the author decided to interview 5 people who
were chosen from three different sectors. There is an educator, some students and an
industry manager in the international hospitality area. It includes one of educators, two
international students, and two managers. The details can be seen in Table 4.1
Demographic profiles of the interviews are in chapter 4. In addition, the interviewees’
names were classified, and their positions were not described clearly in order to ensure
confidentiality.
3.5.4 Qualitative data analysis
Encoding is one of the phases, which is often called a "qualitative" or QDA. Decisions on
the themes, or codes, are a qualitative analysis of the ability of a study to guide the
intuition and experience of what is important and what does not matter. When data is
coded, the statistical processing of these data continues to work after the data analysis
(Hennink et al 2011).
The interviews were conducted between 2~15 of November 2011 in the working place of
all participants and more specifically in their offices. Veal (2011) provided qualitative
data analysis that is a systematic transcription of interviews, field notes and other
materials that researchers collect to increase their own level of understanding,
as well
as to show what they have found. The analysis includes handling data, organizing it ,
breaking it
down into manageable parts, integrating it , looking for patterns, so as to
find what is important and what has been learned, and decide what researchers will
present to others (Holloway and Wheeler 2010). Thus, in this research, the author records
an interpretation by reading the notes and listening to the recording. The researcher
repeatedly listened to the recordings to acquire comprehensive information of qualitative
data. It can also expose previously neglected or returning characteristics
of the
conversations. Nevertheless, the transcripts must be translated from Chinese into English,
as the interviews were conducted in Chinese. The result is that some of the meaning in
the interviews may have been lost in translation. .
in Chapter 4.
More analyses details are presented
3.6 Quantitative research
Since 2001, Jennings has defined quantitative research as social research which takes
advantage of empirical methods and empirical data sets. In a typical manner, empirical
statements are expressed numerically. According to Veal (2006), another characteristic for
quantitative research is that empirical evaluations are applied. Empirical assessments are
defined as a form It addresses the degree to which a specific program policy of empirical
analysis does not meet the standard or standards that are to be determined.
3.6.1 Questionnaire survey
There are two basic types of questions in terms of questionnaires. One is closed-ended (or
“closed question”) that is a question for which a researcher presents a proper enumeration
of responses (e.g. Yes / No). Such type of questionnaires can produce mainly quantitative
data (Smith 2010). The other is open-ended, also called open question. This refers to a
question where the respondents are not presented with a series of answers for their
choices by the designer. Rather, the respondents should answer such questions in their
own words. Such type of questionnaires can produce mainly qualitative data. Most
designers tend to choose the latter (Long 2007).
Since questionnaires are likely to generate quantitative data, they are relatively easy to
analyze, for instance, using specially designed computer programs. Similarly, the results
can be obtained compared well with other surveys, studies, or standard of research on a
general impression of an issue or problem. The questionnaires are subject to low response
rates that encourage participants to perform or be generally indifferent to the lack of the
object. What’s more, data analysis may become too complex and distorted when
respondents misunderstood or incorrectly answered the questions.
3.6.2 Questionnaire design
Saunders et al (2009) stress that design of the questions, the structure of the questionnaire
and the rigour of the pilot testing, which decides the internal validity and reliability of the
data and the response rate. Therefore, design questionnaire become the significant part in
quantitative research. One of design questionnaire key issue is every question should be
linked back to the research questions. As shown in Figure 3.1 (Veal 2011, P. 279)
Draft design
Research questions/
Management
problem/ Conceptual
framework
List of
information
requirements
Questionnaire
survey
Pilot test
Other methods
Final design
Figure 3.1 Questionnaire design process
This questionnaire was designed from four questions as follow (as shown in Table3.2 as
well):
Question one: identify challenges faced by educators in international education of
hospitality management. The questions were adopted and compiled from literature as
show below.
Question two: investigated the challenges faced by students study in international
hospitality management and understand the reasons of challenges. The questions were
edited and adopted from literature as show below.
Question Three: ascertain the challenges faced by the hospitality industry. The
questions were adopted and compiled from literature as show below.
Question Four: investigate the respondents’ perspective towards eight trends impacting
international hospitality education. The questions were designed and adopted from
literature as shown below:
Research Questions
1. Challenges faced by
educator
2. Challenges faced by
students
3. Challenges faced by
industry
4. 8 trends influence
Survey Questions
Literature
Q13
Nathan 2002; Jayawardena 2001;
Richardson 2010; Aggett and Busby
2011
Q1, Q2, Q3
Huang 2005; Dimmock and Walker
1998; Chan 1999; Kim et al 2007;
Charlesworth 2007. Chen and DiTomaso
1996; Ayoun et. al 2010; Barron and
Conway 2007;
Q4
Q5,Q6,Q7,Q8,Q9,
Q10Q11Q12
Edelheim and Ueda 2007;
et al. 2008
McCabe
Hobson 2010; Jayawardena 2001; Hsu
2006; Herriman and Burnaby 1996;
Baum 2006; Swerissen 2009; McBurnie
and Ziguras 2007; Hope 2005
Table 3.2 Questionnaire Literature
3.6.3 Questionnaire sampling
In quantitative research, the sample should be large enough to be representative of the
population (Veal 2006). Gillham (2008) explains that the smaller sample provide reduce
reliability to sustain the accuracy of the survey. In addition, sample size may be
determined by the statistics used because certain statistical tool requires a certain sample
size to be effective (McGivern 2008). In other world, quantitative researches may
sometimes be used to conjecture from one case to a large population (Silverman 2005).
According to above information, the author decides distribution the 155 questionnaire
and plan collect 150 valid questionnaires. Moreover, those questionnaires focus on the
hospitality area. 155 questionnaires were sent via the internet and 152 were collected in
the valid form. An online questionnaire method was chosen for the reason that it was easy
to manage a quick response time and results coming back directly for analysis. The
details can be seen part 4.4.1 Demographic profiles of the questionnaire in chapter 4. In
addition, the questionnaires of close-end type will be applied for the purpose of the
information collection. All the questions in this questionnaire are short and non technical.
3.6.4 Quantitative data analysis
Quantitative data are always presented in terms of numbers and are usually the data of
choice because there are many methods helpful for data analysis (Veal 2011). Counting or
measuring attributes of a population can obtain the quantitative data. Quantitative data
may be either discrete or continuous.
Much of this work can be accomplished by running descriptive analyses and frequencies
on each variable. In addition, many database programs (such as Microsoft Excel,
Microsoft Access, SPSS) allow the researcher to define the ranges, formats, and types of
data that will be accepted into certain data fields. The original SPSS manual has been
described as one of sociology's most influential books (Field 2009). Some different
techniques in the software were applied to the data, which included Frequencies,
Descriptives, Means, Reliability Analysis, Normality Statistical Test, Kruskal-Wallis Test,
Mann-Whitney-U Test, Factor Analysis and Linear Regression (Pallant 2010).
As (2005, P1094) referred to: “SPSS largely abandoned its mainframe version and
revised its syntax to be consistent with a single user. This allowed considerable
simplification.” Thus, in this research Statistical Program for the Social Sciences (SPSS)
will be employed. The reason for this were that the author felt that for some questions
one or other was more suitable or less time consuming to use. In the nest Chapter 4: Main
Findings, analysis and discussions, each question of the questionnaire was analyzed
separately and at the same time the author explained which methods were use and the
reasoned thinking behind it.
3.7 Pilot test
As Veal (2006, P.276) describes that “a pilot survey is a small scale ‘trial run’ of a larger
survey”. Indeed, pilot tests are employed for the establishment of the instrument
reliability in view of accuracy and consistency. The following steps are the general
implementing procedures.
First of all, make comparison of the scores for each question on the two sets of
instruments. A reliable instrument is characterized as a high percentage of agreement
between the paired scores (Janesick 2004). If questions conducted in an instrument may
be a low agreement, tester must be examined or deleted (Foureur 2011). If a reform is
necessary, the instrument validity test must be made once again. Those participants
should finish the entire instrument twice. They should possess characteristics which are
similar to those of the target population. Manage the instrument to this group. Within
seven to ten days, develop the same instrument to this same group for the next time.
Brotherton (2008) recommended that pilot testing should be carried out on a group of
people who have similar factors to those who will form the sample of the study.
Additionally, Hennink et al (2011) also states that “researcher conduct a few pilot
interviews, preferably with people who share the same characteristics as the actual
interview but perhaps who live outside the study community.” Therefore, this pilot study
was carry in with 5 students from major of international education of hospitality
management, to guarantee that the final questionnaire and interview were easy to
understand and complete. The pilot survey was conducted successfully without any major
issues such as the questionnaire was not changed.
3.8 Ethical considerations
The ethical behavior is the issues of the major concerns (Veal 2011). Jennings (2001)
also stresses that ethical consideration is essential to make sure that the right of the
respondent is protected in research. That is meaning participants should not be injured or
damaged in the research (Silverman 2010). Nevertheless, it cannot hold optimistic
attitudes in questionnaire. It is also critical that the interviews are not being used in a
dishonest and fraudulent manner, in order to sell something to the defendant (Gray, 2004
p. 235). Where the defendant, and exciting entertainment, the interview and questionnaire
may be revoked or suspended. A list of some of the ethical issues and presents solutions
are as follow (Patton, 2000, p. 404-5, and Gray, 2004 p. 235).

Explain the purpose. Inform the purpose of the survey of respondents.

Promises and reciprocity. Tell participates what they can obtain.

Risk assessment. Think about what ways could interview the respondent to put at risk
in terms of stress, legal responsibilities, ostracism, or a political echo.

Confidentiality. Consider the extent to which the promises of confidentiality can be
achieved. (Confidentiality means you know, but do not tell. Anonymity means you
do not know, as the survey returned anonymously.)

Tell your consent. What kind of consent is helpful, if any?

The availability of data and control. Evaluate who are entitled to receive information
and what purposes will include.

Mental Health. Think about how the interviewer and the interviewee can affect
mental health by doing the interview.

Advice. Appoint advisor on ethical issues during the study.

Data collection limits. How hard you press the data? What lengths are you willing to
do to try to get the information you want? What do you participate?
The author in this research used interviewees’ position in the findings and notified the
participants, to enhance the anonymity and confidentiality. Moreover, author explains the
interview is for research only. Furthermore, during the interview, interviewees had the
right to end of recording, reject response any question that let respondents felt
uncomfortable. Interviewees also had the right to edit the transcript and had the right to
leave from the research after this interview.
3.9 Research Limitations
In this research, both secondary and primary research being conducted in order to obtain
the findings and fulfill the objectives. The qualitative and quantitative research methods
also were employed. Nevertheless, during the process of the study, some limitations still
occurred. Marshall and Rossman (2006) also stress that there are no proposed research is
without limitations, none is perfectly designed. The limitations part will divide into two
sections as follow.
3.9.1 Secondary research limitations
This research has been chosen as the main sources from literature review. However, the
literature review probably not includes all the previous findings. Moreover, since the
study area is a new, there are less literature sources about the study direction. Though
many resources explore internationalisation, but still less study focuses on both area of
internationalisation and hospitality management education. Additionally, during the
secondary research, a literature gap was found by the author. Some literature cannot
spread the newest information for reader to support the author’s point of view.
3.9.2 Primary research limitations

The questionnaires are conducted among more students than educators and managers.
Therefore, the findings and results tend to be of one-sidedness.

The respondents keep subjective consciousness when answering the questions, which
will have an impact on the results.

During the implementation of interview, the participants of international students
involved in are all from China, which will lead the results to be confined.

In the interview, face to face and one to one, no feedback from others

Due to lack of time, the researcher had to conduct most of the interviews in local and
this will limit the information gather to this field.

The language barrier was a constraint, the reason from the way the researcher speak
caused an extra time in expressing what the researcher asked
3.10 Conclusion
The aim and objectives of this research has been provided in this chapter. Besides, how
the research methods applied during the course of the primary and secondary research
implementation has also been presented in detail, such as the discussion about the
interview and questionnaire design as well as sampling selection. The limitations
encountered in the research process have been mentioned as well. In the following
chapter, the results and findings of this research will be provided.