The effect of supervisors interpersonal style on postgraduate students skill development, research satisfaction, and quality of life, evidence from vietnam

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business Nguyen Thi Ha THE EFFECTS OF SUPERVISOR'S INTERPERSONAL STYLE ON POSTGRADUATE STUDENT'S SKILL DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH SATISFACTION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE: EVIDENCE FROM VIETNAM MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours) Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2015 UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business Nguyen Thi Ha THE EFFECTS OF SUPERVISOR'S INTERPERSONAL STYLE ON POSTGRADUATE STUDENT'S SKILL DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH SATISFACTION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE: EVIDENCE FROM VIETNAM ID: 22130018 MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours) SUPERVISOR: Dr NGUYEN THI MAI TRANG Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this study represents a significant milestone in my life It has been a long time when I come back the academic journal and it demands plenty effort This thesis could not have been completed without the valuable support and kind encouragement of many people Firstly, I would like to express my genuine appreciation to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Mai Trang for her precious time, countless advice, professional guidance, as well as her valuable comments in every stage of doing my research I could not have completed this research without her teaching and assistance I would also like to express my great gratitude to the committee members, Dr Nguyen Dinh Tho, Dr Tran Ha Minh Quan, Dr Nguyen Thi Nguyet Que and Dr Nguyen Thi Mai Trang Their valuable comments and constructive suggestions contributed significantly for me to complete this thesis with best results My special thank is extended to all instructors and staffs of School International School of Business – University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City for their great support and experience sharing during the last two years In addition, lots of other professors, classmates, friends, and bosses motivated me in the long journey of postgraduate program Finally, the deepest and most sincere gratitude are for my beloved family and my husband who always facilitate great conditions and kindly encourage me to pursue and complete MBA program ABSTRACT The concern about postgraduate non-completion and time taken to completion has attracted to explore recently and supervisor is designated to facilitate the student’s academic development either in terms of coursework or research projects To address this problem, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of supervisor’s interpersonal style on research skill development and subsequently, on research satisfaction and quality of life in the context of Vietnam postgraduate studies Additionally, it investigates the moderating role of student’s intrinsic motivation in the relationship between supervisor’s interpersonal style and skill development Qualitative research by in-depth interview is managed to make the adopted scales to be appropriate for the context of the study Following, quantitative research or main survey is conducted to test the measurement models and the hypothesized model With Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach, the research findings indicate that supervisor’s interpersonal style has a strongly positive impact on student’s skill development, research satisfaction, and eventually happiness in life In addition, intrinsic motivation is highlighted to moderate the relationship of supervisor’s interpersonal style and skill development during supervisory process Thus, these findings will be useful for universities, or scientific research institutions to identify and address implementation issues related to effective supervision in enhancing postgraduate research studies Keywords: effective supervision, supervisor’s development, quality of life, intrinsic motivation interpersonal style, skill TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER - INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research background 1.2 Research gap 1.3 Research objectives 10 1.4 Research scope - 10 1.5 Research significance 11 1.6 Research Structure - 11 CHAPTER - LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES 13 2.1 Quality of life and research satisfaction - 13 2.2 Skill development 14 2.3 Supervisor’s interpersonal style 15 2.4 Moderating effect of intrinsic motivation - 17 2.5 Conceptual model 19 CHAPTER - METHODOLOGY - 21 3.1 Research design 21 3.1.1 Research process 21 Page | 3.1.2Measurement scales - 3.2Qualitative study - 3.2.1The purpose of qualita 3.2.2Sample of qualitative r 3.2.3The conduct of qualita 3.2.4The outcome of qualita 3.3Quantitative study -3.3.1Questionnaire design 3.3.2The purpose of quantit 3.3.3Sampling 3.3.4Data analysis method CHAPTER – DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS - 4.1Data collection 4.2Sample characteristics 4.3Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of reliability test - 4.4Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) - 4.5Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) 4.5.1Model Fit - 4.5.2Reliability and Validity 4.5.2.1 Reliability - 4.5.2.2 Convergent validity - 4.5.2.3 Discriminant Validity -Page | 4.6 Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) - 45 4.7 Testing the moderating effect of intrinsic motivation - 48 CHAPTER – CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND LIMITATIONS - 50 5.1 Conclusions and discussion of the findings - 50 5.2 Managerial implications - 54 5.3 Limitations and future research 56 REFERENCES - 57 Appendix A: Guidelines for in-depth interview - 62 Appendix B: Final measurement scales - 68 Appendix C: Questionnaire (English version) - 70 Appendix D: Questionnaire (Vietnamese Version) - 73 Appendix E: KMO and Bartlett's Test and Total Variance Explained 76 Page | LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Conceptual model - 19 Figure 3.1 Research process 22 Figure 4.5 Confirmatory factor analysis (Standardized estimates) 43 Figure 4.6 Structural results (Standardized estimates) 46 Page | LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Scale items of supervisor’s interpersonal style 23 Table 3.2 Scale items of skill development 24 Table 3.3 Scale items of intrinsic motivation 24 Table 3.4 Scale items of research satisfaction 25 Table 3.5 Scale items of quality of lify 25 Table 3.6 Removed items 28 Table 4.1 Source of data collection 33 Table 4.2 Respondents’ characteristics 35 Table 4.3 Cronbach’s Alpha Rule of thumb 36 Table 4.4 Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients for each measurement scale – first round 37 Table 4.5 Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients for each measurement scale – final round 39 Table 4.6 Pattern Matrix 41 Table 4.7 Key goodness-of-fit indices 42 Table 4.8 Construct correlations, squared correlations and AVE 45 Table 4.9 Fitness of conceptualized Model 45 Table 4.10 Unstandardized Regression Weights (SEM) 46 Table 4.11 Summary of hypotheses testing result 47 Table 4.12 Difference between variance and partial invariance model .48 Table 4.13 Estimating for moderating effects of intrinsic motivation 49 Table D1 KMO and Barlett’s Test 76 Table D2 Total Variance Explained in Exploratory Factor Analysis 76 Page | CHAPTER - INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research background The relationship between research students and supervisors plays a critical role in the success of postgraduate thesis Doing research or thesis is the process involving selecting a research topic, planning the research, identifying the necessary resources, managing the project, actively conducting the research, carrying out the literature review, data analysis and interpretation of the data, writing the thesis, and defending it (Ismail, Abiddin & Hassan, 2011) Obviously, students’ commitments with their studies and their endurance in pursuing academic path have been addressed as key factors in ensuring completion of their postgraduate program (Sakurai, Pyhältö & Lindblom-Ylänne, 2012) Postgraduate students can be listed into three main programs including research, coursework and research - coursework Thus, the concern about higher degree noncompletion and time taken to completion has attracted many scholars to explore, especially in overseas, for example in Canada, Australia and Malaysia Recent research on postgraduate study experience has shown that stress, frustration and attrition rates among students are high and the number of postgraduate students leaving their programs is alarming, ranging from 40% to 70% (Gardner, 2007) The study by Elga (2003) in Canada indicates that the completion rates vary from 45% to 77% in subject to the major (Arts and humanities: masters 67.9%, doctoral 44.7%; Social sciences: masters 72.6%, doctoral 48.5%; Natural & Applied sciences: masters 74.5%, doctoral 66.7%; Life sciences: masters 77.1%, doctoral 70.4%) In Australia, the completion rates for research degrees have increased remarkably since the 1980s to between 80% and 90% in the mid 1990s (Colebatch, as cited in Ismail et al., 2011) Further, based on the data gathered by Graduate School of Studies (GSO) of one public university in Malaysia, graduate students with thesis (research and coursework) complete their Masters averagely within 2.69 years and Ph.D student complete their Ph.D within 4.84 years averagely in 2005 whereas they can complete it earlier than that (Abiddin & Ismail, 2011) Page | Skill development (adopted from Marsh et al., 2002) Doing my own research helped me to develop my ability to plan my own work As a result of my research, I feel confident about tackling unfamiliar problems Intrinsic motivation (adopted from Karatepe, 2014) I feel a great sense of personal satisfaction when I my research well My research increases my feeling of self esteem Research satisfaction (adopted from Lee et al., 2012) Most days, I have to force myself to research Most days, I am enthusiastic about my research research Hence, this item was excluded Page | 65 I find real enjoyment in my research I consider my research pleasant I am relaxed with my research I am disappointed I ever look research Page | 66 List of interviewees: No Names Trần Nguyễn Kiều Phương Trần Quốc Trung Phan Thanh Tú Đoàn Hồng Phát Trần Thanh Đăng Sơn Trương Kim Ngân Nguyễn Duy Tân Nguyễn Văn Luật Lê Quốc Hùng 10 Nguyễn Thị Yến List of target respondents to read the final thirty-two items after in-depth interview No Names Đặng Bích Phương Nguyễn Thị Thu Hằng Nguyễn Hồng Tân Ngơ Tuấn Tài Page | 67 Appendix B: Final measurement scales Supervisor's interpersonal style (adopted from Mainhard et al., 2009) Leadership My supervisor gives thorough feedback on my research My supervisor always explains comprehensibly when I ask something My supervisor acts professionally during our meetings Helping/friendly My supervisor gives me clear guidance My supervisor reacts enthusiastically about my initiatives My supervisor always cooperates, if I want something Understanding My supervisor supports me My supervisor listens to me My supervisor pays attention, if I have something to say Strict My supervisor trusts me My supervisor is critical in guiding my research My supervisor demands a lot from me My supervisor immediately corrects me if I something wrong My supervisor is strict when evaluating my progress Student responsibility/freedom My supervisor follows my proposals My supervisor is easily impressed by me My supervisor allows me to make my own decisions Skill development (adopted from Marsh et al., 2002) My research further developed my problem-solving skills I learned to develop my ideas and present them in my written research My research sharpened my analytical skills Doing my own research helped me to develop my ability to plan my own work As a result of my research, I feel confident about tackling unfamiliar problems Page | 68 Intrinsic motivation (adopted from Karatepe, 2014) I feel a great sense of personal satisfaction when I my research well When I perform my research well, it contributes to my personal growth and development When I research well, it gives me a feeling of accomplishment Research satisfaction (adopted from Lee et al., 2012) Most days, I have to remind myself to research I definitely like my research My research is pretty interesting I feel fairly well-satisfied with my research Quality of life (adopted from Nguyen & Nguyen, 2012) Conditions of my life are excellent I am satisfied with my life I have gotten the important things I want in life Page | 69 Appendix C: Questionnaire (English version) Dear Sir/Madam, I am Nguyen Thi Ha, a student of Master Program of International School of Business, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City I am undertaking a research to investigate the effects of supervisor’s interpersonal style on student’s skill development, research satisfaction, and quality of life in the context of Vietnam postgraduate studies Please kindly help to complete the following short questionnaire regarding your perception upon doing postgraduate thesis, which should take you less than 10 minutes There is no right or wrong opinion All your responses are valuable and important for my research Your personal information will be kept confidentially and not be disclosed without your permission If you have any concerns or questions about this study, please contact me via email address: ha.nguyenin@gmail.com, or phone number: +84 909 880 941 I Section A This section of the questionnaire explores your experience regarding to postgraduate thesis Doing research, mentioned in this survey, is understood as doing thesis Have you done postgraduate thesis? Already complete (Continue 1a) 1a You have completed postgraduate thesis: a < year b 1-2 years c > 2-3 years d > years Under doing postgraduate thesis (Continue 1b) 1b You have been doing postgraduate thesis: a < months b 3-6 months c > months Not yet doing postgraduate thesis If your answer for question is Not yet doing postgraduate thesis, you can stop your work here Thank you for your cooperation in completing this questionnaire Page | 70 II Section B: This section explores your perceptions upon doing postgraduate thesis Question # To what extent you agree with eac please indicate your answer using where: = Strongly disagree = Disagree = Neutral = Strongly agree = Agree 10 11 12 13 14 15 My supervisor gives thorough fee My supervisor always explains compre My supervisor acts professionall My supervisor gives me clear gui My supervisor reacts enthusiasti My supervisor always cooperates My supervisor supports me My supervisor listens to me My supervisor pays attention, if I My supervisor trusts me My supervisor is critical in guidin My supervisor demands a lot from My supervisor immediately corrects My supervisor is strict when eval My supervisor follows my propos 16 17 18 19 20 My supervisor allows me to make My supervisor is easily impresse My research further developed m I learned to develop my ideas and pres My research sharpened my analy Doing my own research helped me to own work As a result of my research, I feel conf problems I feel a great sense of personal satis well When I perform my research well, growth and development When I research well, it gives me Most days, I have to remind myse I definitely like my research My research is pretty interesting I feel fairly well-satisfied with my Conditions of my life are excellen I am satisfied with my life I have gotten the important thing 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Page | 71 III Section C – Background information This section of the questionnaire refers to background or biographical information Please tick the suitable choice or write Gender: Male Language used in postgraduate program: English Major in postgraduate program: Business administration Other: …………………………………………………… University you study postgraduate program: University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City Open University University of Economics and Law Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology Other: …………………………………………………… Frequency you meet your supervisor: 1-2 times/month once/month twice/month Primary means of communication with your supervisor: Meet directly Email Phone Other: …………………………………………………… Thank you very much for your great collaboration! Page | 72 Appendix D: Questionnaire (Vietnamese Version) PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT Kính chào Anh/ Chị, Tôi tên Nguyễn Thị Hà, học viên cao học Viện Đào tạo Quốc tế, Trường Đại Học Kinh Tế TP HCM Tôi nghiên cứu vai trò giáo viên hướng dẫn việc phát triển kỹ nghiên cứu, hài lòng trình nghiên cứu chất lượng sống sinh viên Rất mong Anh/ Chị dành khoảng 10 phút để trả lời Phiếu khảo sát Xin lưu ý khơng có câu trả lời hay sai mà tất ý kiến Anh/ Chị có giá trị quan trọng cho nghiên cứu Thông tin cá nhân Anh/ Chị giữ bí mật hồn tồn Trong q trình thực phiếu khảo sát này, Anh/Chị có thắc mắc nào, xin vui lịng liên lạc với tơi thơng qua địa email: ha.nguyenin@gmail.com số điện thoại 0909 880 941 I Phần A Phần tìm hiểu kinh nghiệm làm nghiên cứu Anh/ Chị Làm nghiên cứu đề cập phiếu khảo sát hiểu làm luận văn Anh/ Chị làm luận văn chương trình đào tạo sau đại học chưa? Đã bảo vệ luận văn (tiếp tục câu 1a) 1a Anh/ Chị hoàn tất việc bảo vệ: a < năm Đang làm luận văn 1b Anh/ Chị làm luận văn: a < tháng Chưa làm Nếu câu trả lời Anh/Chị cho câu Chưa làm, Anh/Chị dừng việc trả lời phiếu khảo sát Chân thành cám ơn giúp đỡ Anh/Chị Page | 73 II Phần B Phần tìm hiểu thái độ, nhận thức Anh/ Chị trình làm luận văn Xin cho biết mức độ đồng ý Anh/Chị với phát biểu sau Câu hỏi cách đánh dấu vào ô tương ứng, với: 1-Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý 2-Khơng đồng ý 3-Khơng có ý kiến 4-Đồng ý 5-Hồn tồn đồng ý 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Giáo viên hướng dẫn (GVHD) thông tin chi tiết nhận xét GVHD nghiên cứu tơi GVHD ln giải thích kỹ tơi hỏi Cách hướng dẫn Giáo viên buổi gặp GVHD chuyên nghiệp GVHD hướng dẫn rõ ràng Trong trình làm nghiên cứu, GVHD ủng hộ sáng kiến tơi Trong q trình làm nghiên cứu, GVHD ln phản hồi tơi cần Trong q trình làm nghiên cứu, GVHD hỗ trợ tơi Trong q trình làm nghiên cứu, GVHD lắng nghe tơi Trong q trình làm nghiên cứu, GVHD ý tơi trình bày Trong q trình làm nghiên cứu, GVHD tin tưởng tơi GVHD nghiêm túc hướng dẫn đề tài nghiên cứu GVHD yêu cầu nỗ lực nhiều GVHD sửa cho tơi tơi làm điều sai GVHD nghiêm túc đánh giá trình làm nghiên cứu GVHD theo dõi đề cương GVHD cho phép tự định GVHD gây ấn tượng tốt Làm nghiên cứu giúp phát triển kỹ giải vấn đề Tôi học cách phát triển ý tưởng trình bày nghiên cứu Làm nghiên cứu rèn luyện kỹ phân tích tơi Làm nghiên cứu giúp phát triển khả lập kế hoạch làm việc Làm nghiên cứu giúp tơi tự tin xử lý vấn đề bất thường xảy Tơi có cảm giác thỏa mãn cá nhân tuyệt vời thực tốt nghiên cứu Khi thực tốt nghiên cứu mình, tơi cảm thấy trưởng thành Thực tốt nghiên cứu cho cảm giác đạt thành tốt Thường ngày, tơi nhắc nhở phải hồn thành nghiên cứu Tơi thích đề tài nghiên cứu tơi Đề tài nghiên cứu thú vị Tôi cảm thấy hài lịng với nghiên cứu tơi Điều kiện sống tơi tuyệt vời Tơi hài lịng với sống Tơi đạt điều quan trọng mà muốn sống Page | 74 III Phần C – Thông tin cá nhân Phần liên quan đến thông tin cá nhân Xin vui lịng đánh dấu vào thích hợp Giới tính Nam Ngơn ngữ Anh/Chị sử dụng chương trình sau đại học: Tiếng Anh Chuyên ngành Anh/Chị học chương trình sau đại học: Quản trị kinh doanh Khác: …………………………………………………… Trường Anh/Chị theo học chương trình sau đại học: Đại học Kinh tế Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh Đại học Kinh tế Luật Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh Khác: …………………………………………………… Tần suất Anh/Chị gặp giáo viên hướng dẫn: 1-2 lần/tháng Phương tiện chủ yếu để trao đổi nghiên cứu với giáo viên hướng dẫn: Gặp trực tiếp Khác: …………………………………………………… Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác quý báu Anh/Chị! Page | 75 Appendix E: KMO and Bartlett's Test and Total Variance Explained Factor Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring Page | 76 ... concepts, and research model of the study Respectively, the author introduces the definitions of quality of life, research satisfaction, skill development, supervisor’s interpersonal styles, and. .. communication mainly focuses on the pragmatic aspect that is the affect of communication of the persons involved In the context of education, the conceptualization of the interpersonal perspective concentrates... explore the relationship of supervisor’s interpersonal style on postgraduate student’s research skill development and its consequences in research satisfaction and quality of life Most of the researches