The Learning Business Research Proposal BX2174: Research & Decision-Making for Business   The Learning Business Research Proposal 1. Analyzing the Business Decision or Problem Singapore is known for its academic reputation with well-developed public education system. Singapore's higher education offers widest range of programs to the widest range of people. It incorporates paths of higher education, specifically the ITEs, polytechnics and universities. Most universities in Singapore offer science, arts and technology streams of education. Though famous universities in Singapore are state or local (Six Universities), the government never hindered the entry of universities from other countries to Singapore. Dr. Tony Tan, the recently elected President of Singapore believes in a ‘Singapore first’ policy in higher education. He clarifies by saying “though the locals have the first opportunity, we ought not make it excessively difficult for international talent to come to Singapore.” He also pointed out that closing the doors to foreigners would have limited the talented people who were presently contributing to the country. Soft power through positioning the institutions of higher education as part of a global network, secures relations with other countries and brings further benefits to Singapore. Education of Singapore contributes between 0.5 - 5% of GDP in top international student host countries (Australia, UK and USA), which indicated that education can be a significant and sustainable contributor to the country. There are some private institutions in Singapore which exchange and immersion programs, along with collaborative research with leading overseas institutions. This would prepare the local students as well as the migrated students studying in these institutions for global careers. Also, this would lead to cosmopolitan; development of east - west society. English is the language of instruction and communication in Singapore, which means a large addressable job market. The geographic location of Singapore has the top source for international students, especially from Asia and Europe. Before bringing the University of Brisbane (UB) to Singapore, Dr. Charles should first understand the influence of international students’ decisions in choosing Singapore as their destination to study abroad. Dr. Charles can understand the mindset and decision making process of international students by three research questions. Research Questions 1. What are the motivation factors that influence international students' decision making process? 2. How do international students decide the country for education? 3. Why do international students have a different perspective towards education abroad?  2. What is Already Known about the Decision or Problem Literature Review In order to collect information on the factors that motivate students to study abroad, researches have been conducted specifically, about the push and pull factors. We have used the internet search engines such as One Search JCU and Google Scholar. These provide advantages of getting journal articles written by various authors. Through qualitative research method, we have extracted ten articles under the same topic, which have some similarities and differences between them. In this literature review, the summary of the findings and their likenesses and the variations, will be described relevantly. SN Author(s) Article (Title) Findings Relevance Push Factors Pull Factors 1 Bhati, Lee & Kairon, 2014 Underlining Factors in deciding to pursue Australian Higher education in Singapore - An International Student’s Perspective 1. Safety and security reasons. 2. Multicultural experience and international exposure. 3. Quality of education and prospects for permanent job placements. 4. Proximity to the home country and migration possibilities. 5. cost of living 6. Government policies. Push and Pull factors 2 Cheng-Fei, 2014 An Investigation of Factors Determining the Study Abroad Destination Choice. 1. The level of economic growth. 2. The degree of involvement of the developing country in the world economy. 3. The priority placed on education by the government of the developing country. 4. The availability of educational opportunities in the home country. 1. The relative size of the student’s home country economy compared with the host country’s economy. 2. Economic links between the home and the host country. 3. Host nation political interests in the home country through foreign assistance or cultural links. 4. The host nation support of international via scholarships or other assistance. Push and Pull factors 3 Eder, Wayne & Robert, 2010 Exploring Factors Influencing Student Study Abroad Destination Choice 1. Importance of personal growth. 2. Importance of Language. 3. Importance of future career. 1. Importance of college issues. 2. Importance of physical geography. 3. Importance of U.S. culture. Push and Pull factors. 4 Hegarty, Fuxman, &Elifoglu, & Chao Chinese students’ decisions for studying in U.S colleges: an explanatory investigation 1. Break from traditional education system 2. Education being a high priority in home country and the affordability of parents 3. Not getting outstanding education in home country 4. Intense competition for places in universities coupled with lack of supply 5. Higher education in abroad becoming a trend in home country 6. Corruption in home country 1. Quality of education in abroad and an opportunity to earn an internationally recognized qualification 2. Future migration opportunity 3. Reputation and ranking 4. Recommendation from relatives and friends 5. Costs compared with other destinations 6. Environment and lifestyle 7. Geographic proximity 8. Social links Push and Pull factors. 5 K, Lane-Toomey, & Lane, 2012 U.S. students study abroad in the middle east/north Africa: factors influencing growing numbers. 1. Lack of capable faculty 2. Study abroad programs 3. Non-government organisations 1. Cultural capital - previous international travel experience and previous language experience. 2. Economic capital influences - scholarships to support study abroad 3. Social capital - exposure international issues and ethnics ties. 4. Motivation - career goals and other motivation. 5. Attitudes - risk propensity. Push and Pull factors 6 Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002 Push-pull Factors Influencing International Students’ Destination Choice. 1. Lack of study programs within their own country, perceptions of the quality of the tertiary education system. 2. Level of the economic wealth, the degree of involvement of the developing country in the world economy, the priority placed on education by the government 3. Relative wealth of the home country and the GNP growth rate in the home country. 4. Availability of science or technology -based programs. 5. Per capita income in the home country, the education opportunities available in the home country and the expected benefits of studying abroad. 1. Level of knowledge, awareness, reputation for quality and the recognition of the host country’s reputation in the student’s home country. 2. Level of referrals or personal recommendations that the study destination receives from parents, relatives, friends and other “gatekeepers” prior to making the final decision. 3. Cost issues, occluding the cost of fees, living expenses, travel costs and social costs, such as crime, safety and racial discrimination. 4. Environment which relates to perceptions about the study “climate” in the destination country, as well as its physical climate and lifestyle. 5. Geographic proximity, which related to the geographic (and time) proximity of the potential destination country to the student’s country. 6. Social links, which related to whether a student has a family or friends living in the destination country and whether family and friends have studied previously. Push and pull factors 7 Nguyen, 2012 Vietnamese Students’ Tansitions in Study Abroad Programs 1. Nation’s involvement in the world economy. 2. Financial ability. 3. A nation’s domestic higher education quality. 4. Economic benefits for countries in expanding their international student bodies and becoming more involved in the trade in education. 1. Career ambitions 2. Changing nature to work 3. Influence of multinationals 4. International organizations provide a wider landscape for opportunities in the international labor market. Push and Pull factors. 8 Peter, J.G., Tori, P. & John, C. 2014. Increasing International Study Abroad Rates for Business Students 1. Strong & growing economic forces of host country. 2. Differences in organizational & cultural values 3. Cultural diversity among employees and customers 4. Changing technology in products & processes 5. Financial barriers (affordable). 6. Cultural barriers - family and friends. Push and Pull factors 9 Shanka, Quintal, & Taylor, 2006 Factors Influencing International Students’ Choice of An Education Destination - A Correspondence Analysis. 1. Academic reputation of the college 2. The variety/quality of courses 3. Campus safety 4. Costs/fees 5. Campus location 6. Opinions of others who have studied there before. Push and Pull factors 10 Zwart, J.2013 Study Abroad Choices of Chinese students: Factors, Influences and Motivations. 1. Students’ motivation (increase in opportunity, status, wealth or lifestyle) 2. Ranking of the universities 3. Immigration and government policy 4. Safety 5. Climate 6. International competition between students and schools. Push and Pull factors Table 1: Summary of Relevant Academic Literature The journal articles are mainly based on Indonesia, Taiwan, China, India, Vietnam, United States, Australia and other home and host countries. While reading through the articles, we found that the students who go abroad for education are affected by the push-pull factors. These factors take place in the home country, host country and the students themselves. To begin with, ‘Push’ factors are factors that function in the home country, that innovate the students’ decision to study abroad. First of all, students might leave their home countries due to the low quality of education systems in their home country and the increased education opportunities in host country. In other words, students move from developing countries to more developed countries. Niall Hegarty points out that the Chinese students go to United States because they assume that their domestic universities will not give them a prestigious education. This assumption is also observed in Taiwan students. In addition, the standing of the home country’s economy, its involvement in the world economy, and its priority of education are some of the push factors. Mostly, in China, the economy does not have a good standing, not only in its region, but also in the ranking of the world economy. Consequently, students do not prefer local universities because of less priority of education in the country and lack of prestigious universities in the country. Also, in the article, “Study Abroad Choices of Chinese Students: Factors, Influences and Motivations”, it is said that the government has loosened the policies about migrating for education. This can boost the rate of mobility. Besides, if the GDP and wealth of the economy in the home country is accelerating, the students’ decisions to study overseas can be influenced (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002). The accelerated wealth brings about the affordability of parents to send their children overseas for their future education. Accordingly, Leonora Fuxman has investigated that going abroad for continuing their studies, has become a trend in China. Finally, apart from the common factors, there are factors that are not considered in either home or host countries. The factors which are not considered are competition between universities, corruption in home country, lack of faculties in home country and non-governmental organizations. It can be said that unlike the frequent ‘push’ factors, these findings have little or no effect on the students’ choice of studying overseas. Next, ‘Pull’ factors function in the host country and bring attractiveness to the international students. The idea of migrating to host countries for studies is probably innovated by the recommendations from friends, relatives, people who have been to a certain destination, family and media. Vanessa Quintal (2006) has quoted that friends and relatives are the key source of information about the studies abroad. The individuals in the United States will hear about the destinations from social exposure, media too (Cara K, 2012). The social links in the host countries can also boost the students’ decisions. If the students have relatives or families in the chosen country, he can confirm his determination. Moreover, after the abdication, students will have some reasons to be willing to emigrate. Vietnamese students want to transit as they want to experience some interactions with people from cross-cultures, which is exposed from international countries (Nguyen, 2012). In the article about mobility from United States to the Middle East, it is written that at the same time, they will get the chance to experience the respective languages. Additionally, some features of the universities will motivate the students. They are aware of the reputation, ranks, quality and recognition of the host country. It must have high quality for education programs, and the qualifications given must be internationally recognized. This is proved in the journal article, “Push-Pull factors influencing the international student destination choice”. Lee Cheng-Fei (2014) stated that students go through whether the host nations have scholarship programs. Furthermore, Judith Eder (2010) has contradicted that the theme and environment of the destination is mainly considered by the students. Students prefer destinations that are quiet, corruption free, no racial discrimination and accessible to basic needs. Additionally, cost issues are included in the “pull” factors. The fees of transportation, accommodation, courses, and tuition must be affordable. The availability of part-time jobs is more important than the fees to be paid (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002). Cost issues consist of not only the fees but also the social costs such as the safety and security. These points are focused when choosing the destinations. Lastly, it is disclosed in the article, “Underlining Factors in deciding to pursue Australian Higher education in Singapore - An International Student’s Perspective” that being a pull factor the government policies influence the students’ decisions. Similar to the ‘push’ factors, there are some ‘pull’ factors that do not frequently overwhelm the decisions of the students. They are the importance of cultures in the host country, comparison of the economy between the home and host countries, cultural links, and international competition between schools and students. In general, international students’ decisions are internally and externally influenced by the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors that are found in the research conducted by authors of these articles. Due to these factors, the choice of destination for study by the international students varies.   3. The Overall Research Design – Evaluating Options A research design is a framework for the gathering, estimating, and analyzing the data, based on research questions posed. The main purpose of this research is to comprehend the decision making process of international students to migrate for their education. According to our research questions, we decided to use descriptive mode of study. Descriptive research is either quantitative or qualitative in nature. While approaching the audience, we would use qualitative questions to know specific answers of the audience. But while interpreting the results, we would convert the answers into quantitative data and use descriptive statistics for better analysis of the data. We would conduct correlational study in a natural environment where events proceed normally (non-contrived setting), with minimal interference by the researcher. All that we would do is delineate the relevant variables, collect the relevant data from research and analyze them to come up with the findings. Our field experiment to study cause-and-effect relationships would be international students in Singapore, irrespective of university barriers. Deductive research and a scientific or hypothetico - deductive research approach is the best approach for our research questions. The research tradition we would implement is critical realists, which is not completely deductive research approach. Our research questions can be studied by several methods, but we chose survey type of research strategy. According to Fink, the survey system includes setting objectives for data collection, designing the study, preparing a reliable and valid survey instrument, administering the survey, managing and analyzing survey data, and reporting the results (2003). We would distribute survey questionnaires to different international students and analyze the results relating it with push and pull factors for the migration of the international students. During the research, we should not understate the fact that there can be different interpretations and perspectives and not everything that matters to the research can be easily measured. A unit of analysis refers to the level of aggregation of the data collected during the data analysis stage. We will be looking at individual unit of analysis, the data gathered from each individual and treating each international student’s response as an individual data source. The decision to use individual unit of analysis is based on the research questions, data collection methods (survey), convenience (availability) and sample size. For our research we are adapting cross sectional study, in which data is gathered only once, so as to answer the research questions. The survey questionnaires would be distributed almost at the same to the audience and would be one-shot study instead of more than one point of time study (Longitudinal study).   4. What are the Key Variables and How Will you Measure Them? In every research projects, variables are required to estimate how the results will be if dependent and independent variables are adjusted. According to the findings of push and pull factors from the literature review, independent variables can be age and gender whereas dependent variables are the factors of choice of the study abroad destination by international students. Age and gender can be independent variables as these can be adjusted by the researcher and they influence the dependent variable. However, a dependent variable will change accordingly to the changes of the independent variables. For the level of measurement, there are four types which are nominal/categorical, ordinal, interval and ratio. As for age, the level of measurement will be ordinal. This is because when doing a survey to find out about the factors of the international students decision making process to study abroad, age is mostly stated in a series of ordered age categories like, 15 to 19 years old, 20 to 26 years old, etc. Gender generally has only two categories like male or female, so this can be measured using nominal/categorical with no logical order to the categories. The factors affecting international students’ choice of study abroad destination can be of many categories. In the push and pull factors, there are about four push factors and seven pull factors the students mainly consider. For example, pull factors will be the reputation of the college and the host country, environment, lifestyle and culture differences, cost and safety of study abroad destination, so on and push factors like lack of study programs in home country, level of economic wealth, per capita income, education opportunities and wealth and GNP (Gross National Product) growth rate in home country. As these factors are organized in such categories, nominal can be used to measure these and these can be multinomial. After all, the graphs can also be drawn to demonstrate the cause and effect clearly by putting the independent variable on the X-axis and dependent variables on the Y-axis. So, the relationships can be revealed. The study of descriptive statistics can be tabulated using mean, median, mode and standard deviation of both independent and dependent variables. By working out the descriptive statistics, the factors that average students considered as important for their decision making processes can be easily observed.   5. Sample Requirements & Sampling Options This proposal is based on all the international students who aimed to study in Singapore. Therefore, the population is very wide as there can be many students waiting to grab such a good opportunity. In this case, sampling will be a good method to sort out the decision-making process of international students. Sampling a huge population is to select a subset of the population of interest and it saves time and cost as well as it represents the data of the whole targeted group. Among probability and non-probability sampling, non-probabilistic method can be more suitable to access this research questions because it is non-random method of sampling which is more common for both quantitative and qualitative research. There are four types of non-probability sampling, which are convenience, purposive, quota and snowball sampling. For this particular research, quota sampling will be most effective as it is the non-probability version of stratified sampling. The large population of international students studying in Singapore will be divided into a few subgroups such as gender, age, where they come from (their home country), etc. By dividing the data into subgroups, incorrect sampling frame can be avoided therefore the analysis is more precise and representative. A sample size of 300 will be a good choice to get better results without time and money being wasted. Each of us will get hold of at least three participants to fill up the surveys, which will then add up to 300 survey results assuming there will be 100 researchers in total. We will be required to approach to some international students who came to Singapore. The participants can be exchange students as well but it will be better to have Asian international students. The survey consists of some personal questions on how the participants think of studying in Singapore and their age, location, agent, etc. However, everything will be given in categorical form and the participants will just need to select from the choices given as long as their information is within the given choices. Moreover, it has several alternatives given to study which factors most international students consider when choosing study abroad destinations. While doing the survey, convenience sampling will also fit in, because we will have to choose any international student who is reachable at the moment. After all these findings, there will be one outcome that will make us able to understand the mindset and decision making process of international students.   6. References Bhati, A., Lee, D., & Kairon, H.S. (2014). Underlining factors in Deciding to Pursue Australian Higher Education in Singapore - An International Student’s Perspective. Procedia - Social and Behavioural Sciences,116, 1064 -1067. Devin, K. (2003-2015). Research Variables: Dependent, Independent, Control, Extraneous & Moderator. Retrieved from http://study.com/academy/lesson/research-variables-dependent-independent-control-extraneous-moderator.html Eder, J., Smith, W.W., & Pitts, R.E. (2010). Exploring factors Influencing Student Study Abroad Destination Choice. Journal of Teaching in travel & Tourism, 10(3), 232 - 250. Hegarty, N., Fuxman, L., Elifoglu, I. H., Chao, C. N. (2015). Chinese students’ decisions for studying in U.S colleges: an explanatory investigation. Karen, G. (2015). When a Variable’s Level of Measurement Isn’t Obvious. Retrieved from http://www.theanalysisfactor.com/level-of-measurement-not-obvious/ Katrina, A. K. (2012). Conducting Educational Research. Retrieved from http://korbedpsych.com/R02Variables.html Lane-Toomey, C.K., & Lane, S.R. (2013). U.S. Students Abroad in the Middle East/North Africa: Factors Influencing growing Numbers. Journal of Studies in International Education,17(4), 308-331. Lee, C.F. (2014). An Investigation of Factors Determining The Study Abroad Destination Choice: A Case Study of Taiwan. Journal of Studies in International Education, 18(4), 362- 381. Mazzarol, T., & Soutar, G. N. (2002). Push-Pull factors influencing international student destination choice. International Journal of Education Management,16 (2), 82-90. Nguyen, M.L.T., (2012). Vietnamese Students’ Transitions in Study Abroad Programs. Australian Journal of Career Development, 21(3). Peter, J.G., Tori, P., John, C. (2014). Increasing International Study Abroad Rates For Business Students. Academy of Education Leadership Journal, 18(3), 77-86. Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2013). Research methods for Business (6th Ed). United Kingdom: Wiley. Singapore Management University (2011). What Future Holds for Higher Education in Singapore. Singapore. Shanka, T., Quintal, V., & Medman, R.T. (2006). Factors Influencing International Students’ Choice of Education Destination-A Correspondence Analysis. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education,15(2), 31- 46. Zwart, J. (2013). Study Abroad Choices of Chinese Students: Factors, Influences and Motivations. Quarterly Journal of Chinese Studies, 68-90. 7. Checklist of Assessment Criteria Students should use the following to check their proposal before submission. Basic requirements necessary for a Pass □ The proposal uses the template provided and includes all relevant section □ The proposal is properly referenced (APA style) and no unreliable internet sources □ The proposal is free of spelling and grammatical errors (it has been carefully proof read) □ The review of available information - 3 academic papers and 2 reports/webpages 1. General Assessment Criteria (10 marks for each criterion) Criteria NN (<50) PA (50-64) CR (65-74) DI (75-84) HD (>85) Quality of writing - good quality writing uses clear sentences, organized into coherent paragraphs that follow a logical order Analysis of the decision or problem and identification of required information - a good analysis will demonstrate a thorough consideration for the decision and problem, identify the most important sets of information necessary and establish a logical connection to a set of clearly described relevant research questions Review of what is already known - a good review will be thorough, will identify and use relevant existing information, provide an accurate summary of key information, demonstrate awareness of major limitations and gaps in the available evidence and provide clear links between the summarized information and the research questions. Assessment of research designs - a good assessment of research designs will demonstrate a clear understanding of what the different research designs are and the different sorts of data they generate and provide a clear and logical argument to support the selection of the research design for the research questions Identification & measurement of key variables - a good response in this section will identify the most important variables and describe appropriate ways to measure them Description of sample& sampling - the required sample described is appropriate for the research questions, the proposed sampling procedure is appropriate for this sample 0. 1. Overall Mark: ___________/100 Overall percentage (20%)_______________