final assignment research methodology

Lecturer: PhD Nguyen Viet Hung

Hanoi, May 2023

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FINAL ASSIGNMENT

INTERNATIONAL FOLDER VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI! SCHOOL

Grade (Office Use Only)

CLASS CODE: FLF100201 STUDENT ID: 21070122

Topic number 0

DECLARATION: I declare that

° No part of this assignment has been copied from any other person’s work except where due acknowledgement is made in the text, and

* No part of this assignment has been prepared for me by any other person except where such collaboration has been authorized by the lecturer concerned

Research Topic: Physical and Psychological Well-being of VNU-IS Students

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CONTENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION c 1 Rationale bee cen cee 00c ch ch ng re, 2, Objectives of the study Q.0 cuc nh ằ 3 Research questions

4 Scope of the study

5 Significance of the study ca 6 Organization of the study cu ằ

1 Health

2 Theoretical framework

1 Context of the study_ 2 Parficipan(s L Q0 cọc cnn cnn nnn nh HH va 3 Data collecfion Q co con nà nh nh kh nhe nh ky hen

3.1 QuestionnaIr€ cà cà 2222222 tr nh sào 4 Data analÌysis en ne ee nen ben teeter ee

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 1 Major findings of the study APPENDICES

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study

Health is an aspect of life that is essentially one of the important factors in basic human performance Health contributes to general well-being and overall lifestyle Since a person's basic health dictates how the body functions, developing a healthy lifestyle is necessary for them to experience a high quality of life There are numerous important factors that determine an individual’s well-being Some of them include exercise, nutrition, sleep and rest, stress management

The importance of university students is undeniable as they represent not only the future of the family, but also the welfare of the society, economic growth and development of the nation Although going to university can be a life-changing and transformative experience with upcoming opportunities, college can also be a demanding time as students may confront many challenges from school, work, family obligations, relationships and social life Throughout the college years, common lifestyle-associated risk factors of people aged 18 to 24 are inappropriate dietary practices (fast food consumption, low fruit consumption), low physical activity, and experimentation with alcohol and smoking (Singh et al., 2006) According to the research (Amiri et al., 2010) and (Sajwani et al.,2009), lack of time, poor time management, lack of motivation, lack of knowledge, lack of accessibility, peer pressure, media influences, priority of studying, and lack of family and cultural support are the common barriers to healthy lifestyles among youth

For those reasons, university student health and wellness is the top concern for college leaders Thus, many health surveys were designed to give the faculty members a comprehensive look at the health of their students In fact, in order to build mental health and prevention programs for students, The VNU-IS Counselling services and ISP of International School, National University of Hanoi has conducted a mental health survey Later, some workshops about mental health were organized for the purpose of improving student’s health This turned out to be a helpful and useful tool as there has been a lot of positive feedback from the students with high satisfaction Unfortunately, one thing they missed is the physical state of the students Considering the significance of circumstance, the author came up with a research titled “Physical and Psychological Well-being of VNU-IS Students” It is hoped that this study will serve as an initial step in finding and examining issues that can have considerable impact on students’ health and well-being

2 Objectives of the study

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The aim of this study is to investigate the perception of VNU-IS students towards a healthy lifestyle and its effect on their health With the purpose of improving students’ behavior and their quality of life, a survey will be conducted to figure out the major lifestyle factors affecting them Moreover, this research seeks to contribute to the future programme that will provide a better institutional environment, support students’ access to health care and vital services, hence, enhance the health, well-being, and academic achievement of students enrolled in the schools

3 Research questions

These two questions are expected to be answered

The research was conducted with the intention of answer the following questions: 1 What are the obstacles to a healthy lifestyle among VNU-IS students ?

2 What are the students’ attitudes towards these barriers? 4 Scope of the study

This study was carried out among 100 undergraduate and graduate college students from VNU- IS, with a nearly equal percentage of male and female students to explore the barriers to a healthy and balanced lifestyle Information was collected via an online questionnaire 3 domains (nutrition and physical activity, sleep pattern and stress management and depression) In an attempt to ensure students stay healthy and illness free throughout their education, especially the risk factors for major diseases, some health and wellness tips will be provided at the end of the paper

5 Significance of the study

Due to the fact that both physical and mental health of Vietnamese students are not well taken care of compared to that in Western countries, the researcher has been inspired and motivated to undertake an investigation of students’ current health status and their self- awareness Besides, it can not be denied that students must be healthy to be able to perform on campus, and health disparities seem to be correlated to academic outcomes Healthy students generally have more chances to perform better while those with poor health conditions (both physically and mentally) are less likely to graduate from school Ahlstrand (2022) asserted that educational environments are considered important in strengthening students’ health status and knowledge, which are associated with good educational outcomes As educators and school health programs play a crucial role in promoting the health of students, more actions must be taken to eliminate the persisting barriers to care for vulnerable individuals In addition, if the challenges are studied and identified, it would accelerate the adoption and the progress of intervention strategies to deal with these barriers Therefore, through this study, the writer 5|Page

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wishes to inspect the difficulties that Vietnamese students in general and VNU-IS students in particular may struggle with More importantly, the study is assumed to shed the light on some efficient health and wellness practices that are essential to thrive

6 Organization of the study This study contains five parts as follow:

Chapter I: Introduction, which presents the rationale of the research by providing background and summarizing existing research, stating the paper's objectives, and emphasizing the importance and scope of the study

Chapter IT: Literature Review, which is intended to situate the research within existing knowledge, explaining key concepts of health and conceptualizes the theoretical framework Chapter III: Methodology, which cites the information about research type, along with the participants, the instruments and the data collection and analysis techniques

Chapter IV: Results and Findings, which describes the discovery of the researcher when analyzing data

Chapter V: Conclusion and Recommendations, which outlines major findings of the study, manifests the limitations and recommendations for further research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

key words: health, physical health, mental health, healthy lifestyle, College students, nutrition, physical activity, stress management, depression

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When students enter university life, it is a critical time of transition to develop and integrate health-related behaviour into their lives First of all, the students not only confront many difficulties in their academic years but also face challenges on how to manage their health behaviour and lifestyle Next, they also face the stresses of achieving success in their academic goals (El Ansari & Stock, 2010), and are expected to be competitive, adding to the demands and burdens and possibly leading to more stress (Eisenberg et al., 2007) University is a period of responsibility for choices and lifestyle practices, (Coli¢ Bari¢ et al., 2003) where students are exposed to the challenges of young adulthood and also tackle the mental and social issues of students’ life (Amett, 2000) Many students confront changes in living conditions, and (health promoting/damaging) adjustments to lifestyle and environment (Roberts et al., 2000) On the authority of Ozdemir and Tuncay (2008), Students also deal with issues around financial constraints and financial support, social interaction and loneliness These characteristics determine the physical and psychological wellness of university students Students, in order to cope with these abrupt changes, it has been found that they frequently drink, experience insomnia, stress, and occasionally even put on weight Therefore, it is necessary to identify the key health concerns affecting students

Despite the fact that making nutritious food choices plays an important role with the purpose of preserving a healthy lifestyle, many students still choose to skip breakfast or meals for diet Explain to this situation, this may happen when students, for the very first time, are responsible for their meals Nutritional concerns are of less relevance to most people than taste and cost, and it was shown that, for students, importance of nutrition disappears as a perception while convenience emerges (Betts et al., 1997; Glanz et al., 1998; Lappalainen et al., 1998) This is totally against Trockel (2000) study, when he stated in his research that the association between having breakfast and college student’s wellness 1s positive

Aside from the nutritional regimen, sleep is another major aspect in a person’s health From the study of Buboltz & Brown (2016), university students, unsurprisingly, have been detected to be an age group that does not embrace the necessity for adequate sleep as the typical adult population Fletcher (2019) mentioned in her articles that “Getting enough sleep is essential for maintaining optimal health and well-being Like exercise and a balanced diet, sleep may help prevent a range of health issues, including heart disease and depression.” A study from K6nen et al (2015) showed that children’s sleep patterns could directly impact their behavior and academic performance As a consequence, sleep deprivation may result in a decrease of student’s capability to pay attention, and negatively affect their ability to perform exams (Pilcher & Walters, 1997) Moreover, many studies have shown that lack of sleep can 7|Page

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raise a person’s risk of developing major diseases, such as heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2022) A person's risk of major medical disorders is increased by getting insufficient sleep after a long time, which can be caused by numerous reasons: genetics, poor nutrition, and lack of exercise (Buboltz & Brown, 2016) From these studies, it can be said that along with nutrition and exercise, getting adequate and good quality sleep is equally important to health and well-being

Likewise, regular physical activity is certainly another key element that directly influences the quality of life The health benefits of being active and doing regular bodily exercises is uncountable The harder one does exercise, the better their health will improve According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2022, since “being physically active can improve your brain health, help manage weight, reduce the risk of disease, strengthen bones and muscles, and improve your ability to do everyday activities.”, the profit of physical activity indeed, together with a balanced diet can ensure both physical and mental health for students College is absolutely a perfect period for students to discipline themselves and discover the necessity of making time and dedicating energy to a health and fitness program (Keating et al., 2005) Additionally, physical activity on daily basis may help support the immune system, as long as the duration, frequency and intensity are guaranteed Because doing exercises can increase the expiration of the body, this will lower the chance of infection from the cold, flu, or other illness

As mentioned before, as students transitioning in university, they may go through a number of changes in life These adjustments can be either joyful or intense, yet for at least one time, most students will commonly experience stress The World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) defines stress as “a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation Stress is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives.” Although there are several factors that lead to stress, when enrolling to a university, students must be ready to cope with different stressors because college is innately stressful From tuition fees and exams to internship applications, students can face overwhelming pressure and demands, not to mention the need to balance school and work with social life In higher education, students are encouraged to compete in such a dynamic environment In other words, they are expected to acquire critical skills and abilities in addition to expanding their knowledge Students’ performance is significantly impacted by different sources in the current highly competitive academic environment, including social media, academic pressure, family and social bonding, etc (Likisa, 2018)

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2 Theoretical Framework

According to Fathima et al (2019), a cross-sectional study was administered with a structured interview schedule, consisting of 50 questions scored on a 5-point Likert scale with five domains (diet, physical activity, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and stress); the total score was classified into high-, moderate-, and low-barrier categories using percentiles

At the same time, the writer also refers to The College Student Health Survey (CSHS) by Boynton Health from University of Minnesota (2021) to conduct this survey As indicated in, the survey evaluates eight key areas: Health Insurance and Health Care Utilization, Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drug Use, Tobacco Use, Personal Safety, Financial Health, Nutrition and Physical Activity, and Sexual Health

Nevertheless, after taking into consideration, the researcher believes that these factors, namely tobacco use, alcohol consumption, financial health, health insurance and health care utilization are not practical in the context of Vietnamese culture and educational environment Therefore, the information will be collected via a web-based questionnaire and interview around the campus with 3 domains (nutrition and physical activity, sleep pattern and stress management and depression)

APTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the research design, the subject and context of the study, the instruments used to collect data, how to collect and analyze the data

1 Context of the study

This research was carried out in Vietnam National University - International School among 200 undergraduate and graduate students

2 Participants

This research was carried out in Vietnam National University - International School among 200 undergraduate and graduate students, with a nearly equal percentage of male and female students to explore the barriers to a healthy lifestyle All students are encouraged to patticipate in the questionnaire The participants can be either Vietnamese students or international students The action research was conducted in the second semester of the school year 2022-2023

3 Data collection 3.1 Questionnaire

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The author uses quantitative approach and the data are gathered by conducting a web- based survey, including 24 items in total The online questionnaire was constructed with Google forms for the purpose of this study The survey the prevalence of various diseases, health conditions, and health-related behaviors across 3 domains:

e Nutrition and physical activity e Sleep pattern

e Stress management and depression 4 Data analysis

There are two research questions in this study, namely “1 What are the obstacles to a healthy lifestyle among VNU-IS students?” and “2 What are the students’ attitudes towards these barriers?” In order to answer these two questions, the study employed quantitative approach to analyze the data

A questionnaire will be given out to collect quantitative data for the current study It aimed to investigate the perception of VNU-IS students about a healthy lifestyle and its effect on their health With the purpose of improving students’ behavior and their quality of life, a survey will be conducted to figure out the major lifestyle factors affecting them

There were 25 items in total Quantitative method was used to assess the responses to the close-ended questions by calculating the percentage of students who responded to each question using descriptive statistics The items are arranged in form of Likert-type scale with three-point spread:

(1) Disagree (2) Neutral (3) Agree

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND FINDINGS

This study focused on the undergraduate and graduate students from Vietnam National University - International School, as shown in Chapter 3 Its objective is to interrogate the opinion of VNU-IS students about their current health condition and how the challenges affect their life This chapter deals with the data that were gathered from this study, the results from the survey as well as summary conclusions drawn out from those results

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As can be seen from the first section which consists of 2 self-assessment questions, the majority of college students at VNU-IS conduct a moderate healthy lifestyle and to a lesser extent watch on their health

In response to the diet-related questions, it was found that a high percentage of the students do not care about eating daily breakfast About 42% of the students only consumed breakfast 1-3 days per week Meanwhile, 25% of the participants do not even have breakfast even once a week Among several reasons why they may intentionally avoid eating in the morning, a majority of VNU-IS students (75%) agree that they do not have enough time and almost 60% of the students admit that they do not want to eat or feel hungry in the morning

The study also shows that students’ diet is not ideal, commonly consisting of cheap, quick meals, with high coffee consumption due to its convenience

A great number of the participants did not meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity Lack of time and lack of motivation have been admitted to be the dominant barriers that prevent people from exercising

In addition, it was found that almost two thirds (63.4%) of the respondents are able to go to bed only after midnight due to the following reasons: hectic after-school schedule (65.3%), stress (61.5%) and excessive use of phone/internet before sleeping (55.7%) These have led to sleep deprivation, sleep disorders, which later will cause stress, negatively affect students’ academic performance, and lower their productivity

However, the result of the study shows that the considerable challenges students encounter are mental but not physical Stress and pressure that come along with the changes of university life can bring mental health problems such as anxiety and depression 44.2% of the students state a large amount of stress but find it hard to manage stress effectively The major factors responsible for stress among VNU-IS students were exams, assignments, presentations (48%), financial problems (63.4%), and workload in addition to studying (44.2%) Additional analysis shows that 63.4% of the respondents get 3-5 days to get enough sleep to feel rested when woke up in the morning The most commonly experienced stressors among VNU-IS students are stress and excessive computer/internet use (80.7% and 75% respectively)

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 1 Major findings of the study

As a result, there were two main findings in this study The first finding was that the domain of stress emerged as the topmost barrier followed by sleep and rest; the second finding was that Vietnam National University - International School’s students actually suffer from stress more than expected due to many reasons

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Stress emerged as the top most barrier to healthy lifestyle among adolescents Study done by Sani et al in Saudi Arabia reported that long hours of the study, examinations and very tight time schedule were the top most barriers which is similar to this study This may be due to the strict education system and semester examinations in every 6 months

Top most barrier in healthy diet was skipping breakfast due to lack of time which, in turn, can lead to obesity Those who skip breakfast have increase appetite and will take large proportion in the next meal Students always prefer fast food due to personal taste preferences Here, due to easy access to junk foods in the canteen, students will be have large proportion of junk food in their next meal which intern increases their body mass index

Lack of time for physical activity and playing video games or watching television are the barriers for physical activity This may be due to academic pressures and preferences for other sedentary recreational activities, respectively Girls are less likely than boys to be interested in physical activity due to societal restrictions, and they are self-conscious about their physical profile while exercising (ROBBINS et al (2003)

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 3,266

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