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

InternationalSchoolofBusiness--- NguyenThiHa THEEFFECTSOFSUPERVISOR'SINTERPERSO NALSTYLEONPOSTGRADUATESTUDENT'SSK ILLDEVELOPMENT,RESEARCH... ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABST RAC T TABLEOFCONTENTS LI

InternationalSchoolofBusiness -

NguyenThiHa

THEEFFECTSOFSUPERVISOR'SINTERPERSO NALSTYLEONPOSTGRADUATESTUDENT'SS

K I L L DEVELOPMENT,R E S E A R C H SATISF ACTION,ANDQUALITYOFLIFE:EVIDENCEFR

OMVIETNAM

HoChiMinhCity–Year2015

InternationalSchoolofBusiness -

NguyenThiHa

THEEFFECTSOFSUPERVISOR'SINTERPERSO NALSTYLEONPOSTGRADUATESTUDENT'SSK ILLDEVELOPMENT,RESEARCH

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThecompletionofthisstudyrepresentsasignificantmilestoneinmylife.Ithasbeenal o n g timewhenIcomebacktheacademicjournalanditdemandsplentyeffort.Thisthesiscouldnothavebeencompletedwithoutthevaluablesupportandkindencouragementofmanyp e o p l e

Firstly,Iwouldliketoexpressmygenuineappreciationtomysupervisor,Dr.NguyenT h i MaiTrangforherprecioustime,countlessadvice,professionalguidance,aswellasherv a lu ab l e commentsineverystageofdoingmyresearch.Icouldnothavecompletedthisr e s e a r c h withoutherteachingandassistance

Iwouldalsoliketoexpressmygreatgratitudetothecommitteemembers,Dr.N g u y e n DinhTho,Dr.TranHaMinhQuan,Dr.NguyenThiNguyetQueandDr.NguyenThiMaiT r an g Theirvaluablecommentsandconstructivesuggestionscontributedsignificantlyformet o completethisthesiswithbestresults

MyspecialthankisextendedtoallinstructorsandstaffsofSchoolInternationalSchoolo f B u s i n e s s –

U n i v e r s i t y ofE c o n o m i c s HoC h i MinhC i t y fort h e i r gr ea t s u p p o r t a n d e x p e r i e n

c e sharingduringthelasttwoyears.Inaddition,lotsofotherprofessors,classmates,f r i e n d s , andbossesmotivatedmeinthelongjourneyofpostgraduateprogram

Finally,thedeepestandmostsinceregratitudeareformybelovedfamilyandmyh u s b a

n d whoalwaysfacilitategreatconditionsandkindlyencouragemetopursueandco m p l e t e MBAprogram

completionandtimetakentocompletionhasa t t r a c t e d toexplorerecentlyandsupervisorisdesignatedtofacilitatethestudent’sacademicdevelo pmen t eitherintermsofcourseworkorresearchprojects.Toaddressthisproblem,thepurp ose ofthisstudyistoexaminetheeffectsofsupervisor’sinterpersonalstyleonresearch

s k i l l developmentandsubsequently,onresearchsatisfactionandqualityoflifeinthecontextofV ie tn a m postgraduatestudies.Additionally,itinvestigatesthemoderatingroleofstudent’si n t r i n s i c

m o t i v a t i o n intherelationshipbetweensupervisor’sinterpersonalstyle andskilld e v e l o p m e n t Qualitativeresearchbyin-

depthinterviewismanagedtomaketheadoptedscalest o beappropriateforthecontextofthestudy.Following,quantitativeresearchormainsurveyisc o n d u c t e d totestthemeasurementmodelsandthehypothesizedmodel.WithStructuralEquationM o d e l i n g ( S E M ) a p p r o a c h , ther e s e a r c h f i n d i n g s i n d

i c a t e t h a t s u p e r v i s o r ’ s i n t e r p e r s o n a l stylehasastronglypositiveimpactonstudent’sskilldevelopment,researchs a t i s f a c t i o n , andeventuallyhappinessinlife.Inaddition,intrinsicmotivationishighlightedtomoderatetherelationshipofsupervisor’sinterpersonalstyleandskilldevelopmentdurings u p e

r v i s o r y process.Thus,thesefindingswillbeusefulforuniversities,orscientificresearchi n s t i t u t i o n

s toidentifyandaddressimplementationissuesrelatedtoeffectivesupervisionine n h a n c i n g p

os tg radu ate res ea rchs tudie s

Keywords:effectivesupervision,supervisor’sinterpersonalstyle,skilldevelopment,qualityofl i f e , intrinsicmotivation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABST RAC T

TABLEOFCONTENTS

LISTOFFIGURESLIST

OFTABLES

TABLEOFCONTENTS

CHAPTER1-INTRODUCTION -6

1.1Researchbackground -6

1.2Researchgap -8

1.3Researchobjectives -10

1.4Researchscope -10

1.5Researchsignificance -11

1.6ResearchStructure -11

CHAPTER2-LITERATUREREVIEWANDHYPOTHESES -13

2.1Qualityoflifeandresearchsatisfaction -13

2.2Skilldevelopment -14

2.3Supervisor’sinterpersonalstyle -15

2.4Moderatingeffectofintrinsicmotivation -17

2.5Conceptualmodel -19

CHAPTER3-METHODOLOGY -21

3.1Researchdesign -21

3.1.1Researchprocess -21

3.2Qualitativestudy -26

3.2.1 -Thepurposeofqualitativeresearch 26 3.2.2Sampleofqualitativeresearch -26

3.2.3 -Theconductofqualitativeresearch 26 3.2.4 -Theoutcomeofqualitativeresearch 27 3.3Quantitativestudy -29

3.3.1Questionnairedesign -29

3.3.2 -Thepurposeofquantitativeresearch 30 3.3.3Sampling -30

3.3.4Dataanalysismethod -31

CHAPTER4–DATAANALYSISANDRESULTS -33

4.1 Datacollection -33

4.2 Samplecharacteristics -34

4.3Cronbach’sAlphacoefficientofreliabilitytest -36

4.4ExploratoryFactorAnalysis(EFA) -40

4.5ConfirmatoryFactorAnalysis(CFA) -42

4.5.1ModelFit -42

4.5.2ReliabilityandValidityCheck -44 4.5.2.1 -Reliability

44

44

4.5.2.3 -DiscriminantValidity

44

4.7 Testingthemoderatingeffectofintrinsicmotivation -48

CHAPTER5–CONCLUSION,IMPLICATIONS,ANDLIMITATIONS -50

5.1Conclusionsanddiscussionofthefindings -50

5.2Managerialimplications -54

5.3Limitationsandfutureresearch -56

REFERENCES -57

AppendixA:Guidelinesforin-depthinterview -62

AppendixB:Finalmeasurementscales -68

AppendixC:Questionnaire(Englishversion) -70

AppendixD:Questionnaire(VietnameseVersion) -73

AppendixE:KMOandBartlett'sTestandTotalVarianceExplained -76

Figure2.1Conceptualmodel -19

Figure3.1Researchprocess -22

Figure4.5Confirmatoryfactoranalysis(Standardizedestimates) -43

Figure4.6Structuralresults(Standardizedestimates) -46

Table3.1Scaleitemsofsupervisor’sinterpersonalstyle 23

Table3.2Scaleitemsofskilldevelopment 24

Table3.3Scaleitemsofintrinsicmotivation 24

Table3.4Scaleitemsofresearchsatisfaction 25

Table3.5Scaleitemsofqualityoflify 25

Table3.6Removeditems 28

Table4.1Sourceofdatacollection 33

Table4.2Respondents’characteristics 35

Table4.3Cronbach’sAlphaRuleofthumb 36

Table4.4Cronbach’sAlphacoefficientsforeachmeasurementscale–firstround 37

Table4.5Cronbach’sAlphacoefficientsforeachmeasurementscale–finalround 39

Table4.6PatternMatrix 41

Table4.7Keygoodness-of-fitindices 42

Table4.8Constructcorrelations,squaredcorrelationsandAVE 45

Table4.9FitnessofconceptualizedModel 45

Table4.10UnstandardizedRegressionWeights(SEM) 46

Table4.11Summaryofhypothesestestingresult 47

Table4.12Differencebetweenvarianceandpartialinvariancemodel 48

Table4.13Estimatingformoderatingeffectsofintrinsicmotivation 49

TableD1KMOandBarlett’sTest 76

TableD2TotalVarianceExplainedinExploratoryFactorAnalysis 76

Therelationshipbetweenresearchstudentsandsupervisorsplaysacriticalroleinthes u c c e s s ofpostgraduatethesis.Doingresearchorthesisistheprocessinvolvingselectingar e s e a r c h topic,planningtheresearch,identifyingthenecessaryresources,managingtheproject,activelyconductingtheresearch,carryingouttheliteraturereview,dataanalysisandi n t e r p r e t a t i o n ofthedata,writingthethesis,anddefendingit(Ismail,Abiddin&Hassan,20 11) Obviously,students’commitmentswiththeirstudiesandtheirenduranceinpursuinga c a d e m i c pathhavebeenaddressedaskeyfactorsinensuringcompletionoftheirpostgraduatep rogra m(Sakurai,Pyhältö&Lindblom-Ylänne,2012)

Postgraduatestudentscanbelistedintothreemainprogramsincludingresearch,c o u r s e w o

r k andresearch-coursework Thus, theconcern abouthigher degree completionandtimetakentocompletionhasattractedmanyscholarstoexplore,especiallyinoverseas,fore x a m p l e inCanada,AustraliaandMalaysia.Recentresearchonpostgraduatestudyexperienceh a s shownthatstress,frustrationandattritionratesamongstudentsarehighandthenumberofp o s t g r a d u a t e studentsleavingtheirprogramsisalarming,rangingfrom40%to70%

non-(Gardner,2 0 0 7 ) ThestudybyElga(2003)inCanadaindicatesthatthecompletionratesvaryfrom45%t o 77%insubjecttothemajor(Artsandhumanities:masters67.9%,doctoral44.7%;Socials c i e n c e s : masters72.6%,doctoral48.5%;Natural&Appliedsciences:masters74.5%,doctoral6 6 7 % ; Lifesciences:masters77.1%,doctoral70.4%).InAustralia,thecompletionratesforr e s e a r c h degreeshaveincreasedremarkablysincethe1980stobetween80

%and90%inthem i d 1990s(Colebatch,ascitedinIsmailetal.,2011).Further,basedonthedatagatheredbyGraduateSchoolofStudies(GSO)ofonepublicuniversityinMalaysia,graduatestudentswiththesis(researchandcoursework)completetheirMastersaveragelywithin2.69yearsandPh.Ds t u d e n t completetheirPh.Dwithin4.84yearsaveragelyin2005whereastheycancompleteite a r l i e r thanthat(Abiddin&Ismail,2011)

drivenbystronghouseholdandlabormarketd e m a n d Bytheearly90sofXXcentury,ithasanoutbreakthatthepostgraduateenrollmenta n d trainingnumbershaveincreasedremarkably,whichcreatesaleapinVietnampostgraduatep r o g r a m Especially,inrecentyears,thescalepostgraduatetraininghasincreasedspeedily.Intheperiod2000-2005,thenumberofmasterstudentsincreasedby51.9%/

yearanddoctorals t u d e n t s increasedby61.1%/

yearandbyearly2014,therearemorethan130institutionsford o c t o r a l degreeand150trainingfacilitiesformaster'sdegrees(ĐỗĐứcMinh,2014).Notonlyp u b l i c universitiesorscientificresearchinstitutionsspecializeinpostgraduatetrainingtask,butalsotheprivateuniversitieswithqualifiedqualityassurancearetaskedwithpostgraduatetraining.Yearly,thehighereducationsectorprovides20,000-25,000mastersandthousandsofd o c t o r a l (ĐỗĐứcMinh,2014)

Inadditiontotheachievedresults,

thepostgraduatetraininginVietnamalsorevealss o m e challengestoaddress.Firstly,theefficiencyandscaleofpostgraduateprogramarenotinc o n j u n c t i o n w i t h t h e q u a l i t y o f t r a i n i n g A c c o r d i n g t omanye x p e r t s , t h e qualityofp o s t g r a d u a t e trainingisworryingandfarfromexpectation.Hence,thequalityofthesisandr e s e a r c h islow,notyetmeetsinternationalstandardinbothcontentandform,es

performindependentresearchcapabilitye x p e c t e d l y norkeepupwiththedevelopmentlevelofscience,technologyandnotassociatedw i t h life(ĐỗĐức

Minh,2014).Secondly,veryfewfacultiesappearactivelyengagedinr e s e a r c h andpublications.Studentsarelimitedtoassociatewithscientificresearch,self-studyc a p a c i t y , self-

practiceandresearchskilldevelopment.TheWorldBank(2008)reportedthatt h e r e seemveryfewpublicationsinVietnam,butthemajorityofthesearepublisheddomestically,ratherthanininternationalpeer-

reviewedscientificjournalswhilepublishingini n t e r n a t i o n a l peerreviewedjournalsisanimportanttestofthequalityofresearch,andani m p o r t a n t toolforimprovingquality.Thirdly,researchprojectsatmanyuniversitiesarebehindscheduleorpostponed,withabout70percentofresearchprojectsyettobeevaluatedoneto

sevenyearsaftertheirstipulateddurationcompletion,asshowninthereport(TheWorldBank,2 0 0 8 )

Likewise,n u m e r o u s r e s e a r c h f i n d i n g s h a v e p o i n t e d o u t v a r i a b l

e s thata f f e c t p o s t g r a d u a t e studiescompletionwithinthestimulatedtimeframeandthemajorproblemtendst

o approachtheresearchandsupervisionprocess(Hammick&Acker,1998;Ssegawa&R w el am il a, 2009;Ezebilo,2012;Sakuraietal.,2012;Ngozi&Kayode,2014).C o r r es p on d in gl y , supervisionisinterpretedasacomplexsocialencounterandatwo-

wayinteractionthatrequiresboththestudentandthesupervisortoconsciouslyengageeachotherw i t h i n thespiritofprofessionalism,respect,andopen-

mindedness(Ismailetal.,2011).AnempiricalstudybyHammickandAcker(1998)revealedthatthesupervisorgenderaffectsu p o n thesupervisionofresearchthroughitsinfluenceontheknowledgeflowandpowerb e

t w e e n studentandsupervisor.Further,majorreasonsforhighpostgraduateattritionrateincludestudentresearchdeficiencies,particularlylackingofresearchskillsandfailuretod e v e l o p acredibleandsoundresearchdefinitionanddesign(Ssegawa&Rwelamila,2009),challengesassociatedwithresearchprocessandstudent’sconfidenceinpresentingresearchw o r k s t o t h e scientificcommunity(Ezebilo,2012)orsupervisionprocessanddepartmentali s s u e s (Sakuraietal.,2012).Researchalsoshowsthatsupervisionschedule,students'interest,a n d predispositiontowardsresearchworkaswellasstudent'sskillinconductofresearchanda v a i l a b i l i t y ofneededresearchresourcesaremajorattributivevariablestodelayresearchorthesiscompletion(Ngozi&Kayode,2014).However,majorityofresearchfocusonthes u p e r v i s o r -

s t u d e n t interpersonalrelationshipandsupervisor’sinterpersonalstyleplaysthevitalr o l e forthesuccessofpostgraduateprogram(Marsh,Rowe&Martin,2002;Armstrong,2004;A l l e n , Day&Lentz,2005;Mainhard,Rijst,Tartwijk&Wubbels,2009;Ruhani,2012)

1.2Researchgap

interpersonalstyleandp o s t g r a d u a t e student’sskilldevelopmentandresearchsatisfactionisstilllimited.Sofar,the

controlledc u r r i c u l u m , thetraditionalteachingmethod,thepopularityofstudents’passivitytoclosetheg a p betweenstudyingandworkplace.Furthermore,anotherempiricalresearchbyTranandS w i e r c

t h e r o l e a n d t h e d e g r e e o f s t u d e n t s ’ s e l f

-determination andautonomousmotivationduringtheperiodofdoingthesisseemtobeo ve r l o

o ke d inthesupervisoryprocess.InVietnam,thenumberofstudiesaboutthisissueiss t i l l scare.EventhestudiesofTran(2013),TranandSwierczek(2009)showedthatschoolac tivi tie s andpart-

timeexperienceseffectivelyenhancingstudents’skilldevelopmentbuttheyc o n c e n t r a t e o n a d i f f e r e n t construct,t h a t i s t h e l i n k a g e b e t w e e n p o s t g r a d u a t e s k i l l -

d e v e l o p m e n t s inworkplaceandfocusonthecompetenciesapplicableinworkingenvironment.Mo r e o ve r , theseaboveresearchexamineuniversitystudentsandemployersasrespondentsi n s t e a d ofpostgraduatestudents.Whatremainstobeexplored,however,ishowpostgraduates t u d e n t s p e r c e i v e to achievelearningoutcomeofresearchskilldevelopmentandresearchs a t i s f a c t i o n fromdoingpostgraduatethesis

1.3Researcho b j e c t i v e s

Inordertofulfillthisgapandinanefforttoidentifythekeyfactorsaffectingstudent’ss k i l l developmentduringsupervisionprocess,theoverallobjectiveofthisstudyistoexaminet h e effectsofsupervisor’sinterpersonalstyleonresearchskilldevelopmentandsubsequently,o n researchsatisfactionandqualityoflifeinthecontextofVietnampostgraduatestudies.Inaddition,itinvestigatesthemoderatingroleofstudent’sintrinsicmotivationintherelationshipb e t w e e n supervisor’sinterpersonalstyleandskilldevelopment.Specifically,itinvestigates:

1.4Researchscope

ThisthesisconcentratesonMaster’sstudentswhoareunderdoingthepostgraduatethesisandalreadycompletedtheMBAprogrambecausetheyhavedeepexperienceins u p e r v i s o r y processandresearchcompletion.HoChiMinhCityischosentoconductthes u r v e y forthisstudysinceitisoneofthebiggestcitiesinVietnamandmostofuniversitiesa n d scientificresearchinstitutionscentralizehere.ThesurveyexaminesMBA’sstudentsm a i n l y atfouruniversitiesinHoChiMinhcity,VietnamincludingUniversityofEconomicsH o ChiMinhCity,University ofEconomics andLaw,Ho ChiMinhCityUniversityofT e c h n o l o g y andOpenUniversity

Thisthesisabouttherelationshipbetweenpostgraduatestudentswiththeirsupervisorsa n d thesupervisorystylestobemosteffectiveintermsofstudents’satisfactionwiththes u p e r v i s i o n intheirlearningjourneyispracticalforseveralreasons.First,theauthorhopestop r o v i d e ageneraloutlookaboutstudents’feedbackattheirsupervisors’interpersonalstylesw i t h thegoaltoimprovethequalityofsupervision.Althoughcommunicationbetweenresearchs t u d e n t s andsupervisorsfrequentlywillbeopen,theresearchaccommodates

theinstrumenttod i s c u s s therelationshipandthedatawilladdinsightsthatnotalwaysreflectinunregulatedd i s c u

s s i o n betweenpostgraduatestudentandsupervisor.Second,analyzingwhatpostgraduatestudents’preferredstyleandwhatsupervisor’sidealwouldhelpinthematchingofsupervisorsa n d supervisees Th ir d, thisstudyissignificant f o r un iv er si ti es or sc ie nt if ic r e s e a r c h i n s t i t u t i o n s

s p e c i a l i z i n g i n postgraduate training for futureprogram developmentinordertoenhance orcreateaclimatewhereevaluationofpostgraduatestudents’experiencesiscommonpractice.Finally,byhavinganinsightunderstandingaboutfactorsthatinfluencestudent’skilld e v e l o p m e

n t , researchsatisfaction,andhappinessinlife,universities,orscientificresearchi n s t i t u t i o n s canhaveappropriatestrategiesorspecificactivitiestoreleasethenaturetensionoft h e relationshipbetweensupervisorsandsuperviseesandincreasethequalityofresearchsupervisioninpostgraduateeducation

1.6ResearchStructure

Thisthesisincludesfivechapters:

Chapter1:Introduction

Thischapterpresentstheresearchbackgroundofthisstudyaswellastheresearchgap,researchobjectives,researchscope,researchsignificance,andresearchstructure

Thischapterdescribesaconceptualmodel.Additionally,thischapterreviewsandsynthesizesthetheoriesintheliteratureoffiveconstructsincludingqualityoflife,researchs a t i s f a c t i o n , skill d e v e lo

p m en t, su pe rvi sor’s i n t e r p e r s o n a l style s, a n d intri nsic mo t i v a ti o n T h u s , thedefinitionandtheliteraturereviewoftheaboveconstructsarepresented,andhypothesesareproposedrespectively

Chapter3:Methodology

Thischapterintroducesresearchdesign,researchmethodology,andtheprocessesofco n d u c t in g theresearchtotestthehypotheses.Inaddition,theresearchprocedureisi m p l e m e n t e d throughacombinationbetweenqualitativeresearchandquantitativeresearch

Chapter4:Dataanalysisandresults

Thischapterisdesignedtopresentthedataanalysisprogressandfindingsofdataanalysis.A c c o r d i n g l y , t h i s chapteri n c l u d e s t h r e e mainp a r t s : d e s c r i p t i v e a n a l y s i

s , m e a s u r e m e n t assessment,andhypothesestesting

Chapter5:Conclusions,Implications,andLimitations

Thelastchapterdiscussesmainconclusions,discussionofthefindingsandimplicationsbasedontheresultsofthepreviouschapters.Lastly,thelimitationsareidentified tor e c o m m e n d forfurtherresearchinthefuture

CHAPTER2-LITERATUREREVIEWANDHYPOTHESESThischaptermainlyintroducesthetheories,whichareproposedbymanyscholarsina c a d e m i

c field,relatingtoallconcepts,andresearchmodelofthestudy.Respectively,theauthorintroducesthedefinitionsofqualityoflife,researchsatisfaction,skilldevelopment,s u p e r v i s o r ’ s interpersonalstyles,andintrinsicmotivation.Therelatedtheoriesofeachconstructarealternativelydiscussed.Finally,basedontheoriesandtherelationofpreviousr e s e a r c h , itsconstructsandrelationshiphypothesizedamongtheseconstructsareproposed

2.1Qualityoflifeandresearchsatisfaction

Qualityoflifeisacomplexconceptandithasbeenevaluatedinavarietyofways.V e e n h o v

e n (ascitedinAydin,2012)definesoverallhappinessastheextenttowhichanindividualjudgestheoverallqualityofhislifeas“wholefavorably”.Further,Khoshnam,G h a m a r i , andGendavani(2013)arguedthathappinessisthepositiveemotionconsistingoft w o dimensions:socialbehaviorsandinnersatisfactionandcanshowasenseofjoyandthath a p p i n e s s isaffectiveincreatingamentalhealthandhelpsthepersonbesuccessfulonsocialr e l a t i o n s andachieveindividualgoal.Inthecontextofthisstudy,qualityoflifecanbedefineda s overallsatisfactionwithlife(Nguyen&Nguyen,2012)

Likewise,satisfactionhasbeenlargelydefinedandmeasuredindifferentwaysovertheyears.Theconceptofsatisfactionisunderstooddifferentlyinindividualrelativecontext.Respectively,jobsatisfactionisdefinedas“apleasurableorpositiveemotionalstateresultingf r o m theappraisalofone’sjoborjobexperiences”(Locke,ascitedinLeeetal.,2012).M e a n w h i l e , learningsatisfactionisperceivedastheextentofsatisfactionoflearnerstowardst h e learningprocessandtheresultsofperformanceandachievement(Ko,2012).Ingeneral,s a t i s f a c t i o n istheleveltowhichtheindividual'sneedsandaspirationaremet(Küskü,2001).Int h

e contextofthisstudy,followingLeeetal

(2012),researchsatisfactionisperceivedasenjoyablestatusofemotionderivingfromtheachievementofresearchskilldevelopmentd u r i n g thesupervisoryprocess

Thus,anumberofstudieshavefoundtherelationshipbetweenjobsatisfactionandq u a l i t y oflife(Iverson&Maguire,2000;Gavin&Mason,2004).Peoplewhoenjoytheirjobst e n d toperceivegreateroverallsatisfactionwiththeirlivesbecauselifesatisfactionisimpactedbysatisfactionwithlifedomains,includingwork(Sirgy,ascitedinNguyen&Nguyen,2012).I n addition,ithasalsofoundthatthereisalinkbetweensatisfactionandlong-

standingh a p p i n e s s orqualityoflife(Khoshnametal.,2013).Hence,inthecontextofthisstudy,theauthorhypothesizesthat:

Hypothesis1:Researchsatisfactionhasapositiveimpactonqualityoflife

2.2Skilld e v e l o p m e n t

Skilldevelopmenthasbeenmeasuredasapartofacademicachievementanddefinedasd e v e l o p m e n t ofgenericskills(Marshetal.,2002)orsoftskillstobeefficientforworkplace( T r a n &Swierczek,2009).Actually,therearenumerousdefinitionsofskilldevelopment( T r a n , 2013).Theseskillsarenamedvarietysuchastransferableskills,softskills,coreskills,k e y skills,genericskills,basicskills,cross-

curricularskills,ormorerecentlyemployabilitys k i l l s (Hager&Holland,2006).Additionally,skillsarealsoreferredtoas‘competencies’,‘ c a p a c i t i e s ’ , or‘abilities’ratherthanskillsandingeneral,thesetermsarewidelyused“torefert o arangeofqualitiesandcapacitiesthatareviewedasincreasinglyimportantincontemporaryl i f e ” (Tran,2013,p.633).Inthecontextofthisstudy,followingMarshetal.,

(2002),theauthorp e r c e i v e s skilldevelopmentasasetofgenericskillstodevelopresearchabilityofthestudent

Indeed,researchshowsthatthedevelopmentofgenericskillssuchasproblemsolving,analysis,communication,application,collaboration,self-

regulationarepredictorstotheo u t c o m e ofstudent’sreportedlevelofcoursesatisfactionatuniversity(Lizzio,Wilson&S i m o n s , 2002).Moreover,Zeng,Webster,andGinns(2013)foundthatstudents'perceiveds k i l l develop ment alon g withtheirresea rch de gr e e experiences duringpost gra duat e s u p e r v i s i o n tendstoachieveoverallsatisfactionindoingresearch.Accordingly,theauthorproposes:

2.3Supervisor’si n te r p e r s o n a l s t y l e

Interpersonalstylehasbeenwidelystudiedineducation(Frymier&Houser,2000;Marshetal.,2002;Armstrong,2004;Perry,Fisher&Koul,2005).Interpersonalstyleo r i g i n a t e s fromtheconceptofinterpersonalrelationshipsorinterpersonalrelationsinpsychology,whereinterpersonalstyleisdefinedasasystemsapproachtocommunication( W a t z l a w i c

k , Beavin&Jackson,ascitedinPerryetal.,2005).Accordingly,thesystemsapproachtocommunicationmainlyfocusesonthepragmaticaspectthatistheaffectofc o m m u n i c a t i o n ofthepersonsinvolved.Inthecontextofeducation,theconceptualizationoftheinterpersonalperspectiveconcentratesontheperceptionsofthestudentstowardtheb e h a v i o r oftheirteachers(Perryetal.,2005)andthecommunicationbetweenteachersands t u d e n t s isrelationalaswellascontentdriven(Frymier&Houser,2000)

Interpersonalperspectiveindicatesthatsupervisorbehaviornotonlyconveysthec o n t e n t ofthewordsbeingused,butalsoimpliesanintrinsicrelationshipcommunication( M a i n h a r d etal.,2009).Thisconceptevaluatessupervisionintermsoftherelationshipb e t w e e n thesupervisorandstudents.Respectively,therearetwofeaturescentraltothisp erspe ctive : thecommunicativesystemsapproachandamodeltodescribetherelationshipa s p e c t ofsupervisorbehavior.Todescribethisrelationship-

aspectofthesupervisorbehavior,r e s e a r c h e r s haveappliedLeary’sgeneralmodelforinterpersonalrelationships(Marshetal.,2 0 0 2 ; Perryetal.,2005;Wubbels,Brekelmans,Brok&Tartwijk,2006)inthecontextofhighereducationinwhichtherelationshipaspectofbehaviorisdescribedintwodimensionsa n d structuredinsmallersegments.Mainhardetal.(2009)developingfromamodelbyW u b b e l s etal.(2006)analyzetwodimensionsofthemodelforinterpersonalsupervisorbehavior:I n f l u e n c e a

n d P r o x i m i t y underli ning i n e i g h t t y p e s o f b e h a v i o r : l e a d e r s h i p , h e l p f u l /

f r i e n d l y , understanding,givingstudentsfreedomandresponsibility, uncertain,d i s s a t i s fi e d , admonishingandstrict

Infact,Gatfield(ascitedinMainhardetal.,2009)outlinesfoursupervisorystylesc o n s i s t i n gfiveitemsbycombiningthetwopolesofthedimensions:structureandsupport.Thelaissezfairetype(lowstructureandlowsupport)generallyoffersstudentsresponsibilityandf r e e d o m Thepastoraltype(highonsupportandlowonstructure)combinesunderstandingandh e l p f u l /

f r ie n d ly behavior.Thecontractualstyle(highonsupportandhighonstructure),theemphasisisonleadershipandhelpful/friendlybehavioralaspects.Finally,Gatfield’sdirectorialtype(highstructure,lowsupport)conveysstrictandleadershipbehavior.Inthecontextofthisstudy,followingGatfield’sresearchandadoptingfromMainhardetal

makingonresearchprojects(Koro-Ljungberg&Hayes,2006).Research

alsoshowsthatskilldevelopment

hash i g h correlationwithsupervisor’sinterpersonalstylesandoneofthemostprominentelementsa s s o c i a t e dwiththesupervisors’role(Marshetal.,2002;Mainhardetal.,2009).Therefore,theauthorsuggeststhat:

Hypothesis3:Supervisor’sinterpersonalstylehasapositiveimpactonstudent’sskilld e v e l o

p me n t

Positiveassociationshavebeendemonstratedbetweenteachers’sinterpersonalstylesa n d students’subject-

relatedattitudesofenjoyment(Henderson,ascitedinPerryetal.,2005;P e r r y etal.,2005).Forexample,HendersonfoundinthestudyofBiologyclassesinAustraliat h a t teachers’interpersonalstylesexplained33%instudents’enjoyment,eitheruniquelyorinc o m b i n a t i o n withotherlearningenvironmentvariables.Perryetal

(2005)alsofoundthatt e a c h e r ’ s interpersonalbehaviorhasastrongeffectonstudent’sattitudeofenjoymentinsecon da ryscienceinIndia.Inaddition,goodinterpersonalworkingrelationshipbetweens u p e r v i

s o r s andstudentsismorelikelytobeassociatedwithgoodprogressandstudents a t i s f a c t i o n (Ives

&Rowley,2005).Accordingly,theauthoralsoproposesthat:

Hypothesis4:Supervisor’sinterpersonalstylehasapositiveimpactonstudent’sresearchsatisfaction

2.4Moderatingeffectofintrinsicmotivation

Motivationisasignificantfactorinexplaininghumanbehavior.RyanandDeci(2000)j u d g e thatmotivationcanbeevaluatedeitherinquantitativemeasureasone’senthusiasmforap a r t i c u l a r taskorqualitativejudgmentasthebeliefsthatgiverisetoataskbeingundertaken.C o r r e s p o n d i n g l y , intrinsicmotivationreflectsthenaturalhumantendencytolearnandc o n f r o n t Vallerand(ascitedinAreepattamannil,Freeman&Klinger,2011)describesintrinsicmotivationint hr ee c a t e g o r i e s Respectively, in tr in si

c m o t i v a t i o n tokn ow r e f l e c t s t he aspirationtoperformanactivityinapleasureandsatisfactorymannerwhileoneperceivesd u r i n g learning,exploring,ortryingtounderstandsomethingnew.Intrinsicmotivationtoa c c o m p l i s h , ontheotherhand,reflectstheaspirationtoperformanactivityinapleasureands a t i s

f a c t o r y mannerwhileonereceivesfromcreatingnewthings.Finally,intrinsicmotivationt o experiencereferstheindividuals’pleasurableintellectualorphysicalsensationsinanactivity forthepleasureandsatisfactionobtained.Thus,intrinsicmotivationisalsoreferredasa partialpartself-

determinationtheory,whichhasreceivedwideattentioninthesport,e d u c a t i o n , work,andhealthcarefields.Accordingly,thisresearchbasesonthestudyof

Karatepe(2014)thatdescribesintrinsicmotivationasapartself-determinationtheoryofwhichi n t ri ns i ca ll y motivatedindividualstendtohaveaninternallocusofcontrol,aredriventoa c c o m p l i s h , andareenthusiasticaboutlearningnewthings

Actually,advantagesofintrinsicmotivationhavebeendemonstrated(Gagné&Deci,2005;Hon,2012;Khoshnametal.,2013).Forexample,GagnéandDeci(2005)foundthatw h e n individualsareautonomouslymotivated,theyfindtheirworkabsorbinganddelightful.I n addition,theirdecisiontowardworkcompletionisvoluntary.Moreover,intrinsicallym o t i v a t e d employeesseemtobemoreunprejudiced,flexibleandmorewillingtoassimilaten e w knowledgeormorewillingtobringaboutinnovativeapproachesindecision-

makingp r o c e s s e s (Hon,2012).Inthecontextoflearning,intrinsicallymotivatedstudentstendtohaveh i g h e r academicsuccessbecausestudentswithintrinsicmotivationseekchallengeandc o m p e t i t i o n instudying(Komarraju,Karau&Schmeck,2009)aswellasdeterminegoalsanda t t e m p t withcreactivitytoreachtheirgoals(Khoshnametal.,2013).Further,Ferrer-

CajaandWeiss(2000)foundthatstudentsinhighschoolphysicaleducationclasseswhoperceiveh i g h e r learningclimateintheirclasseswouldfostertheirhigherlevelofself-

determinationandsubsequentlyt r a n s l a t e t o t h e i r h i g h e r i n t r i n s i c m o t i v a t

i o n , e f f o r t , a n d p e r s i s t e n c e A r e e p a t t a m a n n i l etal

(2011)alsofoundthatintrinsicmotivationhasapositivepredictivee f f e c t onacademicachievementforboththeIndianimmigrantadolescentsinCanadaandtheI n d i a n a d o l e s c e n t s inIndia;however,theIndianimmigrantadolescentsinCanadatrendtoh a v e betterschoolperformanceascomparedtotheIndianadolescentsinIndiabecauseoftheirh i g h e r intrinsicmotivation.Inthecontextofthisstudy,theauthoralsohypothesizes:

Hypothesis5:Theimpactofsupervisor’sinterpersonalstyleonskilldevelopmentisst r o ng e r forgroupwithahighlevelofintrinsicmotivationthanthatofgroupwithalowlevelo f i n t r i n s i c motivation

Figure2.1ConceptualmodelTherearetotalfivehypothesesdevelopedforthisresearch:

H5:Theimpactofsupervisor’sinterpersonalstyleonskilldevelopmentisstrongerforg r o u p withahighlevelofintrinsicmotivationthanthatofgroupwithalowlevelofintrinsicm o t i v a t i o n

Insummary,thischapterpresentstheoreticalbackgroundofeachconstructinthemodel.Basedondiscussionsintheliteraturereview,supervisor’sinterpersionalstylehasah i g h impactonstudent’sskilldevelopmentandstudent’sresearchsatisfaction.Consequently,student’sskilldevelopmentpositivelyaffectsstudent’sresearchsatisfactionaswellasqualityo f life.Further,themoderatingroleofintrinsicmotivationduringsupervisoryprocessisalso

c o n s i d e r e d Totally,therearefivehypothesesproposedforthisresearch.Thenextchapterd i

s c u s s e s a b o u t methodologyto be applied fordataanalysisandtestinghypothesesofther e s e a r c h m o d e l

CHAPTER3-METHODOLOGYThischapterintroducedthemethodstodoresearchinordertoobtaindataforanalysingt h o s e conceptsandthemodel.Itincludedthreesections:researchdesignincludingresearchp r o c e s s and

measurementscales,qualitativeresearch,andquantitativeresearch

Thetwoi m p o r t a n t partsinthischapterweredetailsofqualitativeresearchandquantitativeresearchinw h i c h theresultofqualitativeresearchledtothefinalquestionnairetobeusedinthemains u r v e y ofthisstudy

Supervisor’sinterpersonalstylewasasecondorderconstruct

c o m p o n e n t s : leadership, helping/friendly, understanding, strict

comprisingfiveand studentresponsibility/freedom.T h e ite ms w er e usedto measuresupe rviso r’ s interpersonalstyleadaptedfromMainhardetal (2009).Specifically,sixitemsaddressi

ng

thesupervisor’s

leadershipintheperspectiveofsuperviseesmeasuredleadership.Sixitemsassessingthelevelo f helpfromsupervisorsalsomeasuredhelping/friendly.Understandingwasmeasuredbyfour

itemsandstrictwasmeasured byfiveitemsreflectingthedegreeof understandinga n d

makingundert h e perceptionofsuperviseesmeasuredstudentresponsibility/freedom.

3 Mysupervisorletsmechoosemyowndirection

4 My supervisor allowsme to makemy own decisions

Skilldevelopmentwasmeasuredbyfiveitems,whichwasadoptedfromMarshetal

( 2 0 0 2 ) Itemsofskilldevelopmentreflectthegenericskillstobenourishedandachievedd u r i n g thesiscompletionofstudents

pointLikertscalefrom“1=s t r o n g l y disagree”to“5=stronglyagree”.

3.2.1Thepurposeofqualitativeresearch

Althoughmostofthescaleswereavailableintheprecedingresearches,thisstepwasimportant tomakethemappropriateforthecontextofthisstudy:applyinginadevelopingc o u n t r y likeVietnam.Themeasurementscalesofthisstudyweremainlyadaptedfromthepreviousresearchesofforeignauthors.Hence,theyweretestedandappliedinothercountries.D u e tothedifferenceofcultureandeconomy,theremightbeagapwhenthescaleswerea d a p t e d intheVietnamesecontext.Therefore,thisqualitativeresearchwasconductedforrevisingtheitemstobesuitableinthecontextofVietnam.Thepurposeofthisqualitativer e s e a r

c h wastochecktheclarityofthequestionnaireandtomakeappropriateadjustmentswhere itwasnecessary.Eventually,thein-

depthinterviewwouldhelptoensurethattheo f f i c i a l questionnairewouldbewellunderstoodbyrespondentsandvaluableinmeasuringo b servedvariablesbeforelaunchingthemainsurvey

3.2.3Theconductofqualitativeresearch

Eachoftheparticipantswasinterviewedseparatelyintheschoolyard,library,andc o f f e e shopduringthreeweeksfromJune5toJune27,2015.Thein-depthinterviewwasc o n d u c t e d inthreestepsasbelow:

Inthefirststep,theresearcherstartedwithspecifyingtheobjectivesofthequalitativer e s e a r c h intermsofwhatinformationwouldbeneededtobecollectedandaskedtheparticipantsthefollowingquestion:“How longhaveyoudonethethesis?” Oncethep a r t i c i p a n t s answered,theresearchernotedtheiranswersimmediately.Thisstepwastochecktheparticipants’doingresearchexperienceandrecalledtheirresearchperception,whichwash e lp f u l toprepareparticipantsforthecontentinthenextstep,anddeepexperienceofthep a r t i c i p a n t s intheresultwouldincreasethevalueofthisqualitativeresearch.

Int h e s e c o n d step,t h e r e s e a r c h e r g a v e t e n p a r t i c i p a n t s t h e f i r s t d r a f

t oft h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e , whichwastranslatedfromEnglishintoVietnamesefromthecollectionofthem e a s u r e m e n t scalesaspresentedin3.1.2ofthischapter.Then,eachrespondentwasaskedtor e a d thequestionnaireandtopointoutanyconfusingwordswhilereadingit.Duringtheint erv i ew, theauthoralsotriedtofindoutifthechosenmeasurementscalewassuitableforc o n d u c t i n g ther e s e a r c h i n Vi e t N a m C

o r r e s p o n d i n g l y , a l l t h e c o m m e n t s a n d recommendationsweretakennoteforappropriatechangesinthefinalquestionnairewhereitw a s necessaryforthepurposeofclarity

Inthethirdstep,theresearchergavethefinalscaleitemsafterin-depthinterviewinthes e c o n d stepforfournewtargetrespondentsreadtocheckwhethertheyunderstoodclearly

3.2.4Theoutcomeofqualitativeresearch

Theresultofthefirststeppresentedthatalltheparticipants’doingresearchexperiencew a s morethanthreemonths.Theirresearchexperiencesweresufficienttobeaskedaboutr e s e a r c h perceptionduringsupervisoryprocess

Inthesecondstepofthequalitativeresearch,theresearcherfoundthatthereappearedp l e n t y ofcommentstomodifythescalestobeclearlyunderstandableinVietnamcontext.Specially,somescalesweresuggestedtoeliminatebecauseitsmeaningwassimilarwithother;a n o t h e r itemwasabetterdescriptiveitemthanthedeletedoneorthecontentwasnotquitesuit able andnotrealisticinVietnameseculture.Theguidelinesofin-depthinterviewwere

2 Mysupervisoracts confidentlywhen

discussingmypapersMy supervisorgivesmealotofadviceHelping/friendly

3 MysupervisoranticipatespossiblemisunderstandingsbetweenusM y sup

ervisorissomeoneIcanrelyonMysupervisorhelpsme

05

Total14

IamrelaxedwithmyresearchIamdisappointedIeverlookresearch

3.3.1Questionnaired e s i g n

Basingonthefinalmeasurementscalesafterqualitativestudy,thequestionnairewasde signe d inthreesectionsasfollowing(referAppendixC:Questionnaire-EnglishversionandAppendixD:Questionnaire-

Vietnameseversion):

Thefirstsectionexploredrespondents’experienceindoingresearch.Thissectioni n c l u d e d aconsentformandscreeningquestiontoidentifyexactlythetargetaudienceofthiss u r v e y Theconsentformclarifiedindetailtheresearcher’sinformationandpurposeofthes u r v e y aswellastherespondents’estimateddurationofresponse,significanceofthep a r t i c i p a t i o n andprivacyprotectioncommitment.Thus,“doingresearch”wasanabstractc o n c e p t anddifferentrespondentsmighthavedifferentawarenessaboutit.Tomakesureallr e s p o n d e n t s hadthesameunderstandingofdoingresearch,adefinitionofdoingresearchwasp r o v i d

e d atthefirstpartofthequestionnaire.Additionally,screeningquestionwasthef o l l o w i n g question:“Haveyoudonepostgraduatethesis?”Therespondentswouldanswerthes c r e e n i n g questionbeforestartingtodothesurvey.Ifanyoneanswered“Alreadycomplete”,t heywouldneedtoanswerthenextquestion“Youhavecompletedpostgraduatethesisin:a.<

1year;b.1-2years;c.>2-3years;d.>3years”.Ifanyoneanswered,“Underdoingp o s t g r a d u a t e thesis”,theywouldneedtoanswerthenextquestion“Youhavebeendoingp o s t g r a d u a t e thesisin:a.<3months;b.3-

6months;c.>6months”.Ifanyoneanswered,“Notyetdoingpostgraduatethesis”,itmeantthattheywerenotthetargetrespondentsofthesurveya n d theywouldstoptheirjob

Thesecondsectionexploredrespondents’attitudeandperceptionduringdoingthesisperiod.Allthevariablesinthemodelweremeasuredwithmultipleitems,whichwered e v e l o p e d byotherresearchers,toadequatelycapturethedomainoftheconstructs.S p e c i f i c a l l

y , supervisor'sinterpersonalstylewasmeasuredbyfivecomponents,totallys e v e n t e e n itemsofMainhardetal.(2009).Continuously,fiveitemsofMarshetal.(2002),

measuredskilldevelopmentandthreeitemsofKaratepe(2014)measuredintrinsicmotivation;r e s e a r c h satisfactionwasmeasuredbyfouritemsofLeeetal

(2012);andfinally,qualityofl i f e wasmeasuredbythreeitemsbyNguyenandNguyen(2012).Toavoidresponsebias,allconcepts’nameswereexcludedfromthequestionnaire;totally32questionswerepresentedc o

n t i n u o u s l y inonetable

Thethirdsectionincludedbackgroundinformationsuchasgender,languageusedinpostgrad

ofstudyingpostgraduatep r o g r a m , frequencyofmeetingsupervisorandprimarymeansofcommunicationwiths upervisor.Suchinformationwasusedtoclassifyandcomparegroupsofrespondents

3.3.2Thepurposeofquantitativeresearch

Afterthequestionnairewasmodified,themainsurveywasconducted.Theauthoruseda d j u s t e d questionnairetocollectdatainordertotestthemeasurementmodelsandtheh y p o t h e s i z e d model.Thispurposewasfinallytogeneralizefromasampletoapopulationsot h a t inferencescouldbeinterpretedaboutsomecharacteristics,attitude,andbehaviorofthep o p u lation

3.3.3Sampling

Relatingtosample,thenonprobabilitysamplingtechnique-conveniencesamplinga p p r o a c h wasconductedinHoChiMinhCity.ThetargetrespondentswereMBAstudentsw h o wereunderdoingthepostgraduatethesisoralreadycompletedtheMBAprogramwhoh a

d

deepexperienceinsupervisoryprocess.Themethodofself-administeredsurveywase m p l o y e d forthisstudy,whichconsistedof05factorsand32variablestobemeasuredbyfive-

p o i n t Likertscaleincluding“stronglydisagree”(=1),“disagree”(=2),“neutral”(=3),“agree”( = 4 ) , and“stronglyagree”(=5).Hence,thesizeofthesamplewouldbenecessarilybigenought o guaranteestatistical

significance.AccordingtoHair,Black,Babin,andAnderson(2010),t h e minimumsampleforappropriateuseofstatisticalanalysiswasequaltoorgreaterthanfive

timesofnumberofvariables,butnotlessthan100.Respectively,theminimumsamplesizew a s determinedbyequation:n=32*5=160 observations.

Inthehopetoobtainasamplesizeover200torunStructuralEquationModelling( S E M ) , theauthorusedbothindirectmethodviaelectronicmailwithGooglesurveyanddirectmet hod viahardcopiestotargetcorrespondentsinHoChiMinhCity.Indirectmethodwasm a i n l y used,though.Duringdatacollectionperiod,InternationalSchoolofBusinessandther e s e a r c h e r ’ s friendswhohavebeenstudyingMBAprogramatdifferentUniversitieshelpedthelist ofemailaddressesofpostgraduatestudents.Accordingly,600questionnairesweresentviae m a i l toMBAstudentsmainlyatfourUniversitiesinHoChiMinhcity,VietnamincludingU n i v e r s i t y ofEconomicsHoChiMinhCity,UniversityofEconomicsandLaw,HoChiMinhCityUniversityofTechnologyandOpenUniversity.Respondentsreceivedthequestionnaire’sl i n k throughemailtocomplete.Tendaysaftertheinitialinvitation,areminderemailwassentt o encouragerespondentstoparticipatethesurveyaswellasthankthemiftheydidalready.DatacollectionwasconductedbothweekdayandweekendduringsixweeksfromJuly17,2 0 1 5 toAugust24,2015.Besides,byconvenientsamplingmethod,100paperquestionnairesw e r e deliveredtosomefriendsoftheresearcherandsomeMBAclassestocollectdata

3.3.4Dataanalysismethod

TheStatisticalPackageforSocialScienceversion22(SPSS22)andtheAnalysisofM o m e

n t Structures(AMOS22)wereusedtoanalyzethedata.TheCronbach’salpha,E x p l o r a t o

r y FactorAnalysis(EFA),andConfirmatoryfactoranalysis(CFA)approachesweree m p l o y e d totestthereliabilityandvalidity

ofthemeasurementmodel.Accordingly,allm e a s u r e m e n t s scaleswereevaluatedandanyunsatisfactoryitemsweredeletedfromthescalesb e c a u s e oftheirlowfitnesstothemeasurementmodelintheresearch.Continuously,thet h e o r e t i c a l modelappliedstructuralequationmodeling(SEM).Thus,SEMwasstatisticalte c hn iq u e thatcouldbeexaminedtheinterrelatedrelationshipsamongmultipledependentandi n d e p e n d e n t constructssimultaneously.Additionally,inordertoinvestigatethemoderating

Thefiveconstructs ofthisstudyincludedsupervisor's interpersonal style,skilld evelopme nt, intrinsicmotivation,researchsatisfaction,andqualityoflife.Interpersonalstylew i t h allofitsc

omponentswasexogenous.Therestfourconstructswereendogenousvariables.Insummary,this chapter reported themethodolodyused in thisstudytotestthec o n c e p t u a l model.Respectively,thisstudywasdesignedintotwophases:thefirstphasewasq u a l i t a t i v

e

researchbyin-depthinterviewandthesecondphasewasquantitative(mains u r v e y ) Themethodfordata

collectionandanalysiswasalsodiscussed.Thenext

chapterw o u l d presenttheresultsofdataanalysisfromquantitativesurvey