1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1

Introduction

Nowadays, there were many public and private institutions offer various courses of
higher education. Factors affecting students making a decision in deciding which
courses to take in particular universities are an important issue to look into, but if the
research is being made throughout the whole Malaysia country and different
universities, large time and cost will have to be consumed.
Therefore, to narrow down and save time and cost consumed, the research
we carrying out is a study of the factors influencing UTAR quantity surveying
undergraduate student in choosing their courses. It is a survey based on 220
undergraduate students from Quantity Surveying courses of University Tunku Abdul
Rahman, who are enrolled for UEBE 2853 Quantitative Analysis and Operational
Research on January 2015 trimester.
In this chapter, we are going to discuss the problem statement of the topics,
research questions, research objectives and scope, justification, research design, chapter
organization and the chapters conclusion.

In short, this chapter is to make an introduction to understanding of student

choice in higher education in Malaysia, the problems they face in making their decision,
our research questions and objectives of the research, the research scope we cover,
research justification and chapter organization or chapter 1.
1.2

Problem Statement

1.2.1

Location of University

Location of a university has been always a considering factors which student makes
their choice. If a university is too far from the student accommodation, transportation
to university is a problem because some university bus transport will not go for too far
area if the distance to school is too long. Then this ultimately leads to the
inconvenience of the students who wish to study in that particular university.
Sia (2010), Keskinen (2008) and Padlee et al (2010) had both identified
the same factor which is location is always a factor that affect student choice of
university. A university that has a strategic location could be a major attribute to
influence students decisions in choosing the University for their Further Study.

1.2.2

Low Cost

Cost of education is one of the problems for students, because their study fee is
normally borne by parents or from government loan. Too high the education cost may
ultimately lead to the financial stress to the parents or if a student having a loan for
their study, it will be a financial stress to those who freshly graduate but need to pay
for their previous study loans from the government.
Ancheh et al (2007), Wagner and Fard (2009) Padlee et el (2010) this
researcher have found out that the majority of the students were cost conscious, in
which they preferred to register in a higher education institution offering quality
courses at low costs. Therefore, it is advisable to the university to look into this issue,
and focus on the cost of education in promoting their education. Cost of education

is included fee, such as tuition fee, accommodation fee, exchange rate etc. Nowadays
students are being smart in spending their money on education.
1.2.3

University / Academic reputation

University or academic reputation is important for a student to make their choice. As

we can see from the news, some university offers fake certificate for students. This can
lead to legal issue. Thus, it is important for students to consider and look into this
factor before they made their choices.
Daily et al (2010) reported that reputation of the institution was one of the
attribute for students to pursue in a course. University reputation has a tremendous and
direct effect in affecting students choice of university. Importance of universities and
academic reputation has been mentioned in the studies done, but Sia (2010), Obrien
et al (2007). They had pointed out that this factor is a powerful factor that affecting
students choice of higher education institution.

1.2.4

Facilities and information supplied by university

The availability, if sufficient and contemporary facilities were one of the highly
important considerations in choosing a university. A university with a poor facility
cannot provide their students a good learning environment. Poor facilities in school
will also affect a universitys reputation. This factor had been discussed by the
following researcher Price et al (2003), the author had mentioned that high standard
facilities could be considered as a relevant factor that influences the students decision.

1.2.5

Family / Peers Influence

Family and peers always give their opinion to the student base on their own experience.
This sometimes may cause misleading as some parents wish their children to choose
the course which they cant achieve during their past and hope their children can do it
for them. However, students or children may not be interested in the course, this

ultimately will lead to the high fail rate, stress of study and suicide case which we
always see in the newspaper.
Yamamoto (2006) has found that interpersonal influence of others, such
as parents and peers, has proven to significantly affect the students choice. Family
members played a crucial role in many stages if decision making for graduate studies.
Thus, parents, peers who provide sufficient encouragement and support to students can
affect their decision directly. This study had also been supported by Ivy (2010),
Wagner and Fard (2009) and Johnston (2010).

1.2.6

Availability of Financial Aid

Some university will provide financial aid for top students, but this had ignored the
normal academic performance students because they may also need a financial aid.
Not every student is eligible to get a loan from the government to continue or further
their studies thus into this situation, availability of financial aid from university or
surrounding society and or any parties involve is important to look into.
Yusof (2008) found that financial assistance offered by university and
government is very important attributes expected from a particular higher education
institution of choice. Thus, students who receive financial aid awards are more likely
to enter higher education. This factor of studies is supported by Jackson (1988), Litten
(1982), Manski and Wise, (1983), Ismail (2009).

1.2.7

Employment Opportunities

We can see many fresh graduate students cant find a job after a few months they had
graduated. This issue has long existed in the society, thus the employment
opportunities after graduate from that particular university is important. Student are
often attracted to career opportunities provided after graduation.

Saview (1998), Paulsen (1990) stated that students often made a choice
based on existing job opportunities for graduate students. They are interested in
outcomes. Therefore, it can be said that employment opportunities is a significant
predictor that influences a student choice decision.
As a conclusion, we are going to carry out a research on the factors
influencing and affecting undergraduate student choice in order to identify the factors
influencing the student decision.

1.3

Research Questions

What are the factors influencing and affecting undergraduate student choice?

1.4
1.

Research Objective
To identify and rank factors influencing undergraduate student choice of higher
education

To identify the underlying structure of factors influencing undergraduate

student choice

To identify and rank information sources in the undergraduate student choice

decision.

To

identify

the

underlying structures

undergraduate student choice decision.

of information sources

in

the

1.5

Research Scope

The respondent for this research reports are all undergraduate students of quantity
surveying in University Tunku Abdul Rahman enrolling in UEBE 2853 Quantitative
Analysis and Operational Research on January 2015 trimester. They are responsible to
undertake the full- fledged survey.

1.6

Research Justification

The objective of this research is to identify the factors influencing the undergraduate
student choice in University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). There are a few reasons
we conduct this research.
1.

Similar research has been carried out in other country but not Malaysia, so this
research is important to help us identify the factor of student choice in Malaysia

2.

The internal factor and external factor affecting student choice varies among
each others, so it is important for us to find out the major factor.

3.

From the factor that we identify, we may ultimately achieve in produce a model
for university, parents, or students to use as a guideline when making choices.

4.

This research also helps students who making choices avoid from complexity
if choice process.

5.

Reduction of the impact on the poor choice since research has been carried out
and sufficient data have been analysis for future guidance.

6.

To university, it helps the university department to recognize the factors

influencing the students choice and thus improvement can be made to develop
a better future.

7.

For students, it provides a clear guideline and help them to make decision more
wisely and more accuracy.

1.7

Research Design

Objective

Tools

Sources

1. To identify and rank factors

influencing

undergraduate

student

choice of higher education.

Undergraduate students of
2.

To

structure

identify
of

the

underlying

factors

influencing

undergraduate student choice.

Questionnaires

quantity

surveying

University

Tunku

in
Abdul

Rahman enrolling in UEBE

3. To identify and rank information

2853 Quantitative Analysis

sources

and Operational Research

in

the

undergraduate

student choice decision.

4.

To

identify

the

on January 2015 trimester

underlying

structures of information sources in

the undergraduate student choice
decision.

1.8

Chapter organization

Chapter organization is required to ensure readers understanding and easy to read

from the introduction into the process of the whole research report.
This research report will be compartmentalized into 5 chapters:
Chapter 1 is the introduction of the whole research topic. The topic or title of our
research is factors influencing undergraduate students choice in university. This
chapter basically provides information on the problem statements, research question,
research objective, research scope, research justification, research design, chapter
organization and conclusion of the whole chapter 1. From this chapter, we can have an
idea on what the whole research is going to be studied and scope of the research.
Chapter 2 will be literature review. Literature review helps us to further discuss the
problem stated in chapter 1. It discusses published information in a particular subject
area, and sometimes within a certain time period. It gives a new interpretation of old
material or combine new with old interpretation. Depending on the sources we have,
it may further evaluate the sources and advised reader of the most pertinent or relevant.
Chapter 3 consists of research methodology. This part will discuss the process used
to collect information and data for the research report. The methodology may include
published research, interviews, surveys and other research techniques, but in this
research report, we only use questionnaire. Details n research process and data analysis
procedure will be discussed and shown in this chapter.
Chapter 4 consists of about data analysis / results and discussion. In this chapter, we
will analyse the data we get and make it all into table form for easy understanding,
coding and coordinating.
Last but not least, Chapter 5 which addresses conclusion and recommendations is a
chapter that report our achievements of research objectives, research contributions,
study limitations and also recommendations for future research.

1.9

Conclusion

This research report aims to develop a conceptual framework for undergraduate

student choice decision in UTAR. The framework is developed based on the literature
review. To further promote our understanding of the factors, the questionnaire is
needed to be carried out.
The relationship between the factors to the undergraduate students as well
as further information and data analysis will be carried out and discuss in the following
chapters. The data gathered will provide suggestions, recommendations and solutions,
for improvement of higher education policies and practices. The important data
gathered, analysed and discussed will provide universities, parents and students more
about the range of choices available, and thus providing them make a better choice and
ascertain whether their educational and financial investment is worthwhile.

10

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1

Introduction

In the 21st century, people realize that the importance of education for their future
career life. Now day people try their best to further their study before getting into their
career life. These cause the high demand of higher education institution in the market.
In Malaysia, there is 20 Public Universities, 45 Private University, 30 Polytechnics
and 78 Community Colleges which register under Malaysia Qualification Agency and
a few hundred more institutions which are not registered under MQA. There are bundle
of choice for the students, but these make them more confuse. So in this chapter, we
will provide a research overview to know more about the factor that influencing the
undergraduate students choice and the Malaysia higher education (IPT) system. The
case studies include the main focus of the research as described in the previous chapter.
The content of the literature review is included:
The Malaysia higher education system
Higher education in University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR)
Selection process
Factors influencing undergraduate students choice
Information resources for students university choice decision
Conclusion
These are important clarified the importance of the particular study and analyse the
investigation of relevant research studies. Boote, D.N. & Beile, 2005 claimed that a

11

literature review is a process which penetrate deeply about the research information
and consist of the documentation and articulation of relationships between the
literature and any relevant field of research.
This literature review is based on the secondary research data for identification
of relevant work. The data are included the personal recommendation, citation and
several research data, analysis from different fields of academic which found from
newspaper, online article, library, publications, articles, journal and other research
report that related to this topic. The main idea of this research is taken from the article
that have been published at the Aberdeen Business School, The Robert Gordon
University, Aberdeen, UK by Mr. Senga Briggs with the title of An Exploratory
Study of The Factors Influencing Undergraduate Student Choice: The Case of Higher
Education in Scotland. Following there are some subtopics that will further discuss
about the relevant topic.

2.2

Malaysia higher education system

In the last 2 years, Malaysia higher education has gone through a metamorphosis.
Malaysia higher education system also can call as Malaysia tertiary education.
Malaysia higher education system is arranged as Figure 2.2.1.

12

STPM

A-Level

SPM

Matriculasi

Degree

Master of
Science degrees

Doctor of
Philosophy
degrees.

Diploma

Foundation

Figure 2.2.1 Choice after SPM

From the Figure 2.2.1 we can clearly show the system of Malaysia tertiary
education. We found out that there is plenty of choice for those students who have
completed their study of SPM. So these are the main cause that makes the students to
confuse on what they have to choose for their further study. Generally, universities in
Malaysia are categorized into public and private universities. The locally established
universities and campuses of foreign universities are included as the Private
universities.
The higher education of Malaysia is classified based on the Malaysia
Qualifications Framework (MQF). A centralized system of posting secondary
qualifications has been set up by the MQF to offer on a national basis, both in
vocational as well as higher educational sectors. During the period 2004 till 2013, the
job of overseeing higher education system in Malaysia has been assigned by the
government to the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE).
Besides, Malaysia higher education system is protected by the legal system.
There are several regulated fields such as Education Act 1996, Private Higher
Educational Institutions Act 1996, Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 and

13

National Council on Higher Education Act 1996. All these regulated fields are used to
strictly ensure and update the quality of the Higher Education of Malaysia.
In March of 2006, the MoHE had introduced the National Higher Education
Strategic Plan (NHESP) in the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9 th MP) as the second phased that
governments effort to achieve Vision 2020. In this plan, the MoHE has the main
responsibility to initiate the mission for raising the capacity of knowledge and
innovation.
In the meantime, the formulating of NHESP is to improve higher education within
the context of establishing Malaysia to become the international hub with excellence
in higher education. This reformation of the strategy is one of the main pathways
towards the achievement of the higher education system beyond 2020.

The NHESP is included with seven (7) thrust as below:

Thrust 1: Widening of access and Increasing Equity
The MoHE will be highly promoted and improve the standard of higher
education of Malaysia through diversified meritocracy. Every year the
government will look for those people who have a good sense of talent and
give them an offer for their further study in local university. At the same time,
the MoHE also will provide higher education, human capital development fund
such as prestigious scholarships (for outstanding students) and special
scholarships (for specific groups).
Thrust 2: Improving the quality of teaching and learning
To improve the graduate students skill, the MoHE not only provide the
transformation in the updated theoretical knowledge for the students in
university, the MoHE also focuses on the practical work of the students.
Therefore the government has enforced the national policy on industrial
internship for those undergraduate to improve their practical skill. At the same
time, the MoHE also encourages the universities to recruit more lecture with
industry attachment so that the lecture can give more practical

14

knowledge, based on their knowledge and sharing their working experience. In

between, the MoHE also encourages the university students involve more in
the soft skill activities to have a more interactive learning methodology and the
widening usage of language such as English Language. All these will help for
the graduate students to be more versatile and marketable graduates.

Thrust 3: Enhancing research and innovation

Now days most of the universities have bought in a lot of high technology
equipment for teaching purposes, but most of the time the equipment has not
frequently been used. To enhance the usability of the equipment, the MoHE
encourage development of a critical mass of researchers. In Malaysia there are
6 main research universities such as University Malaya, University Science
Malaysia and University Putra Malaysia. They provide research on some new
technologies or research test for different factor, for example in construction
field. The University Malaya will provide the equipment to do cube test or they
will provide equipment for testing the workability of new Industrial Build
System (IBS). These activities are also will improve the innovation culture
among students. 10% of the research finding is commercialized in the field.
Thrust 4: Empowering the institutions of Higher Education (IHE)
In Malaysia there is only one APEX (Accelerated Program for Excellence)
University among existing IHEs which is University Sains Malaysia and this
special status is accorded by the MoHE. Besides, the top three IHEs of
Malaysia are ranked in the top 50 of world renowned universities. This shows
the quality assurance of universities of Malaysias standard are getting the
confirmation of the global. For keeping the quality, the MoHE has been hired
75% of the lectures with PhD qualifications and the autonomy of the systems
are based on Key Performance Indicator (KPIs).
Thrust 5: Intensifying Internationalization
In the last ten years, MoHE have tried their best to have a wider collaborative
networking with foreign Institution of Higher Education (IHE). On average,
10% of overall enrollment consists of international students, especially in

15

private IHE and 5% of them will be arranged in competitive course. At the

same time, MoHE also hired 15% of the foreign countries teaching staff for
those research Universities. Besides, MoHE also provides some international
scholarships to those students who have excellent performance. The MoHE
also will offer the chance for those excellent students to have their studies at
oversea or some renowned international universities.

2.3 Higher Education in UTAR

History of UTAR

In year 2001, the President of Malaysia Chinese Association (MCA) received an

invitation to establish a university. The Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and his committee
have drawn up a framework to establish the university when they get the invitation.
Then the pass Principal of Tunku Abdul Rahman College, Datuk Dr. Ng Lay Swee
was appointed as the first President and CEO of UTAR Education Foundations CEO.
He leaded his committee to prepare the necessary papers ready for getting the approval
from the local authorities for setting up the university.
In June 2012, the first UTAR campus has been set in a building which the old
premises owned by the Star in Section 13 of Petaling Jaya. UTAR began with the
Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS), Faculty of Accountancy and Management
(FAM) and Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (FICT). UTAR
was offering eight honors degrees programme for the first 411 pioneer students. In
April 2008, Ir Professor Dato Dr Chuah Hean Teik took over the helmet as the new
President of UTAR.
Today, UTAR have been enlarged its organization and now UTAR are
separated into 4 campuses which offering 116 programmes in fields including the
foundation studies, undergraduate studies and postgraduate studies for more than
24,000 students in its 10 faculties. The employability of UTAR graduates exceeded
97% within 6 months after their graduation.

16

Campuses
UTAR has made their effort to establish a better reputation of the University to achieve
excellence in teaching and research. There are 4 campuses, Petaling Jaya, Kuala
Lumpur, Bandar Sungai Long and Kampar. The students are located based on their
choice of programme.

Petaling Jaya Campus

The Petaling Jaya campus is located in Section 13, Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul
Ehsan. This is the first campus of UTAR which establish in year 2002. It has 3
buildings. This campus offers students some learning facility such as library, computer
laboratory and science laboratory to help for students study and research purpose. This
campus is including the Faculty of Creative Studies (FCI), Centre for Extension
Education (CEE), Centre for Foundation Studies (CFS PJ), Institute of Chinese Studies
(ICS

PJ),

and

Institute

of

Postgraduate

Studies

and

Research

(IPSR).

17

Sungai Long Campus

This campus is a 10 stories high building which is surrounded by the restaurants, bank
and other amenities. It is situated in Bandar Sungai Long and opposite of Hospital
Bandar Sungai Long. This campus is established in the year 2005 this was the Centre
for Foundation Studies and it was bought by UTAR from the developer in the year
2009. This campus owns a library, cafeteria and computer laboratories. There are 2
faculty, Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) and Faculty of Medicine
and Health Sciences (FMHS) in this campus. This campus also includes the Institute
of Management and Leadership Development (IMLD).

Kuala Lumpur campus

The Kuala Lumpur campus is allocated in Setapak and it is next to the Tar College.
This campus was established in the year 2004 and it is rented from Tar College. The
only faculty that exists is Lee Kong Chian faculty of Engineering and Science (LKS
FES). This campus provides a broad range of facilities for the students study and
research purpose. At the same time, they also provide some space for the purpose of
recreation activities.

Kampar campus
The Kampar campus sits on a 1300-acre piece of land which donated by the
government and it is located in the Western city of Kampar in Perak. The ground
breaking ceremony of construction was conducted by the Pass Minister of Country,
Y.A.B. Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad. In year 2007, the first 500 students are

18

recruited while the open of UTAR Perak campus. This campus is surrounded with the
mountain and lake and they also provide the latest learning information and
technologies for the student research and study purpose. There are 5 faculty in this
campus: Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS), Faculty of Business and Finance
(FBF), Faculty of engineering and Green Technology (FEGT), Faculty of Information
and Communication technology (FICT), and Faculty of Science (FSc). Besides, this
campus also includes the Centre for Extension Education (CEE Pk), Centre for
Foundation Studies (CFS Pk) and the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS Pk).

19

20

Sungai Long New Campus Building

With the growth and expansion of UTAR, the new campus building beside the current
Sungai Long Campus is constructed and it is scheduled to be completed in mid 2015.
When this building is completed, the other 2 Klang Valley campus, Petaling Jaya and
Setapak campus will be moved in and will be merged in Sungai Long.

Achievement of UTAR
UTAR has the high reputation of their programme among the private universities.
UTAR not only provide the affordable tuition fee and they also get some accreditation
of their programme quality from certain professional organization.
UTAR has

the

excellent

qualification

in

accreditation

For example,

from the

Malaysian

Qualification Agency (MQA) in the category of System for Malaysian Higher

Education Institution (SETARA11) and the Discipline-Based Rating System (DSETARA) for Engineering in Malaysia. Besides, all the UTAR professional courses
are accredited and recommended by the professional board and society such as CIDB,
RICS and ACCA. At the meanwhile, UTAR also was listed in the top 300 Universities
in Asia by Quacquarellie Symonds (QS) Worldwide University Ranking for two

21

consecutive years, 2012 & 2013. The UTAR Perak Campus also gets the Gold Pam
award from the Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM) in the education category in the
year 2013.
At the same time, graduate students from UTAR are highly consumed in the
career field. 97% of the graduated students from UTAR will be employed within 6
months after graduation. All these are because the UTAR are well trained to fix
themselves in their fields and the students have to pass truth all the highest standard
exam and the student are well trained in their soft skill which is every important for
their future but being ignored by most of the other university.
To make sure the students are well prepared for their future career challenge,
UTAR have provided a student placement programme which is compulsory for all the
students before their graduation. Before this programme, UTAR will make sure all
students achieve the minimum goal with exempted minimum credit hours to make sure
the students are well trained and they have enough basic knowledge in their field
before they go for placement. This will help to student to have a clear mind set on their
field and it will help for the Final Year Project research.

Quantity Surveying
Quantity Survey is a professional progress which required the skill combination of
economic, measurement technique, construction basic knowledge, legal system of
contract and managerial system. The programmes provided in UTAR do not only
prepare the students to be a skillful Quantity Surveyor, the student also is well prepared
to accept a different role that within their ability such as purchasing manager, site
supervisor and etc. Quantity surveying also is one of the famous subjects in UTAR
others then accounting which have high course reputation because the course offer by
UTAR is accredited by the RICS, the Quantity Surveyor Board. The examination
guidelines and standards are always updated and examine by those external examiner
from Queensland University, Australia.

22

Each student is well trained to achieve the minimum skill required for the
career life. The students are being trained on the basic knowledge of the construction
technology, building services and equipment, construction law, estimating skill,
management skill, and measurement skill. These are the courses that required to know
by the Quantity Surveying students of UTAR:

YEAR 1

Construction Technology I

Construction Technology II

Building Materials

Technical Drawing and CADD

English for Professionals

Site Surveying

Measurement of Building Works I

Building Services and Equipment I

Building Structural System

Management Principles

Organization

and

Human

Resource

Besides, UTAR also have arranged a 6 months periods industrial training for
the students. Each student who has gained enough credit hours need to go for industrial
training before they are getting into their final year. During the period of industrial
training, each student must practice on all the skill they have been learning in
university and they can get more practical knowledge. This will help to the students to
get clearer mind set and well prepare for their Final Year Project research.

23

YEAR 2

Measurement of Building Works

II

Building Services and Equipment

II

Measurement

of

Civil

and

Infrastructure Works

Construction Financial Practice

Economics of the Construction

Industry

Introduction

to

Law

and

Malaysian Legal System

YEAR 3

Professional Practice I

Estimating

Contract Administration I

Measurement of Building Works

III

Quantitative

Analysis

and

Operational Research

Applied Construction Technology

and Maintenance

YEAR 4

Construction Management

Construction Economics

Industrial Training

Contract Administration II

Construction Law

Computer

Aided

Quantity

Surveying

Project Management

Development Economics

Value Management

Professional Practice II

Current Construction Issues

24

2.4

International Construction

Selecting Process

After the secondary schools study, those students who wish to have their further study
will be suffering on which university or college should be their choice. In this process,
every student need to do their analysis and research properly because their choice will
affect their future. During this period, some students feel conscious because they have
no aim but some they have the dream that need to be accomplished.
While students are in their secondary school, the school is preparing some
activities to make the students to have a clearer mind set on the higher education. The
secondary school will arrange some talk with the speaker from some universities.
Sometimes they might bring the students go to have some visiting to the universities
or joining some competition which organize by some universities.
At the same time, students also can get some information in online research or
some magazine from Future Study Intelligent Centre, which have the collection of
information for universities or college from Malaysia or overseas. From here, the
students can know about the background of the universities and some information
about the courses.
Other than that, every year the government or the private sector will organize
some education fair in every state. In there, students can get the updated information
from the universities and they have some staff to answer the query of the students.
Besides, some of them also will provide some career service. They will provide a
counselling section to find out the interest of the students and base on the analysis they
will give a professional recommendation on the field that suit for the students as their
reference to choose courses.

25

Figure 2.4.1 Study Options for Further Higher Education Study of SPM

Those students who wish to continue their studies in higher education, they need to
achieve the minimum grades of SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) which required by their choice
of pre-university programme, such as matriculation, form six, foundation and A-levels before
proceed with the undergraduate programme. Other than that, students also have other choice
other than the pre-university programme which stated in Figure 2.4.1.

2.5

Factors Affecting Undergraduate Students Choice

The factors which affect choice of university involve significant decisions which have
the potential to change an individuals life success in career. However the processes
influence this decision is lengthy and complicated. While the choice process has
changed significantly during the past half-century as a result of changes in the student
population as the development of institutional admissions and marketing practices by

26

Kinzie, et al., 2004. Hence, student choice is a basic and integral part of research on
higher education. For unlike elementary, primary and secondary schools which have
the freedom to choose. They must decide whether to go to university, which university
to enroll in either public universities or private universities, what to major in, which
courses to take and so on. Factors such as reputation factor, institution features factor,
information factor, demographic factor and employment factor play an important role
in making decisions.

2.5.1

Reputation Factor

Reputation means the impression of a person or an organization to somebody or the

value of the people or organization is built up by the past events, ranking or
achievements. According to our studies done, reputation factor is one of the main
factors that affect the students' choice for higher education institutions.
Reputation factors can break down into academic reputation, teaching
reputation, quality of faculty and research reputation. All this sub factors are
connecting with each other. The poor reputation and good reputation of the universities
also will bring some effect to the recruitment of new students. The students can observe
the reputation of the university based on the quality of teaching staff or lecturer and
the arrangement of faculty in the campus for the students furthering studies program.

2.5.1.1

Teaching reputation

Teaching reputation refers to the quality and styles of teaching method of the lecture
to the university or the course. For example, quantity survey needs to have more
practical work on their knowledge in construction so the lecture can arrange for any
site visit or more sharing to gain more practical knowledge of the students. Besides,
the method that used by the lecture to conduct the lecture is important too. The students
would like to prefer some interaction between the lectures and students or they are
expecting to the lecture to grab their attention for the class. A lecture with high

27

teaching reputation should be expert in their field so that he can provide more sharing
with the students on their experience rather than the theories in lecture note. An
instructor assessment had an influence on student selection of courses (Keskinen et al.,
2008; Sidin, et al., 2003) Soutar & Turner, 2002). This means that the high reputation
of teaching will lead the university to have a better reputation and more recruitment
for the university.

2.5.1.2

Quality of faculty

Each university is divided into several faculty for different purposes. For example,
UTAR has Faculty of Art and Social Science, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering
& Science, Faculty of Business and Finance and etc which lead by different Head of
Department. So different management style applies for different faculty. In the book
Asian Journal of University Education (2011), Norainis research on Students
perceptions and expectations for the service quality in Malaysia higher education, she
found that the well organize and effective management of the faculty will indirectly
affect the university reputation and the choice of students.

2.5.1.3

Academic Reputation

According to the American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2013, a very good
academic reputation was the most important factor influencing university decisions.
Academic reputation is largely subjective. Even Times Higher Education admits this
much in their 2014 world reputation rankings. Students choose a university based on
reputation. It is defined as more important than how much it costs, where the college
is located or even course content. As they believed that the university brand they
choose will determine the level of academics and resources available and will be a
reflection of their own reputation for a lifetime.

28

2.5.1.4

Research Reputation

The reputation of the institution was found to be the most important factor in a
students decision of a place of further study. According to Ancheh et al, recognition
and reputation of the institution are the strongest evaluative characteristics used by
students in their selection of higher education for both private universities and colleges
in Malaysia. The reputation of an institution is also a consideration in a students
university choice. Given the growing numbers of higher education institutions,
students are becoming more critical and analytical in their selection of educational
institutions. (Binsardi and Ekwulugo, 2003). Studies show that an institutions good
image can strongly affect the students preference for the institution. (Mazzarol, 1998;
Bourke, 2000; Gutman and Miaoulis, 2003).

2.5.2

Institution feature factor

Institution features factor are the features that provide by the university such as its
reputation with disabled, competition for a place, programme flexibility, cost of the
package, academic support facilities, and the first university to offer a place. These
features are sufficient to affect the students choice of courses or university.

2.5.2.1

Reputation with disabled

In the book Disabled Students in Welsh Higher Education by Karen (2013), this
research shows that disabled students were more likely to apply for certain types of
courses. Those disable students will look for the facility that provide to them and the
university will be restricted by dominant policy response towards disabled students.
Thus, a university that fails to attract disabled students will definitely affect the
students choice of it.

29

2.5.2.2

Competition for place

According to the book Off-Track Profs by Cross and Goldenberg (2009), nowadays,
many students had faced the rise of competition for a place and resources to join a
highly reputable university. The students compete for place to enroll in the university
or courses that they preferred. High academic point scores are required as the prerequisites for admission to certain courses when the places supplied by the course are
less than the student demand (Silberman, 1982). Thus, students would tend to choose
the courses where competition for places is less (Silberman, 1982).

2.5.2.3

Programme flexibility

Students selection of an institution of higher education is also related to the type of

programmes offered by the institution. Hooley and Lynch (1981) suggest that the
suitability of the programmes is the most consideration in students university choice.
Krampf and Heinlein (1981) found that prospective students compared
programmes offered by various institutions to access their suitability. Students
evaluate programmes based on the following criteria: selection of courses (Qureshi,
1995); availability of courses and entry requirements (Bourke, 2000); quality and
variety of education (Shanka, Quintal and Taylor, 2005); and the

quality and

flexibility of degree/course combinations (Holdsworth and Nind, 2006).

2.5.2.4

Cost of package

Tuition and fee rates can vary significantly from university to university, as there are
no standard government set fees in the Malaysia. Understand the terms of each source
of financial aid you receive loans must always be repaid, while scholarships are
almost always money that is not repaid. Finances are a basic consideration for students
and the effect of school fees varies. Studies show that demand for private universities
tends to be at a higher level of price sensitivity than public ones (Bezmen & Depken,

30

1998). One element linked to the students choice of institution is the cost of education
and financial aid. If cost is an obstacle for students, then the solution to the problem is
financial aid. Foskett, Maringe and Roberts (2006) found that the flexibility of fee
payment, availability of financial aid, and reasonable accommodation costs exert a
significant influence on the student choice of a higher education institution

2.5.2.5

Academic support facilities

The quality of academic facilities was another top consideration for applicants. When
an open day, make sure you check out the academic facilities you are expecting to use
whether it is the library, IT suites or laboratories. Reynolds & Cain (2006), in their
study of the influence of facilities on the of student recruitment and retention in the
United States discovered that campus attractiveness and facility quality influenced
students decision processes, though not necessarily a deciding factor. However, the
absence or insufficient kept up important facilities may likely have a negative impact
on choice for a significant number of respondents. Other facilities that students may
take into consideration include recreational facilities (Joseph and Joseph, 1998) and
athletic or sport facilities (Maguire and Lay, 1981)

2.5.2.6

First university to offer place

The first university to offer place means the first offer that students received among
the universities that have been applied. The first university which offered place might
not be the first choice of university of the student. It is possible that they reject the
offer if the university does not offer their first-choice course. Thus, might not much
affecting on the choice of the students.

31

2.5.3

Information factor

Nowadays, students are given a lot of choice of different university lifestyles, and
course offers, but they need to get the information for their future university lifestyle
and condition. They expect to have some information which can convince them to
make the decision. Therefore, every university should provide clear information about
how the subjects that students choose to study in the form six, or at college can affect
their options at university and their chances in life. So that, students can make wellinformed-decisions. With the guidance of the right information will give you more
options when the students know which subject they want to study. Well define of the
information provided can help the student to determine which degree courses that
offered at each university. This review has offered insight into the challenges of the
undergraduate choice process. It says that students can be badly informed about the
five components which is cost of package, accommodation for the first year,
information supplied by university, entry requirements and social life nearby.

2.5.3.1

Guidance from parents.

The process of applying to and beginning university involves many important

decisions. While parental guidance can be a valuable source of support at this time.
We will find some helpful information to enable us to make a good decision. Familial
groups such as parents and relatives along with those with influential significance,
such as teachers all have an impact on school selection (Oosterbeek, et al., 1992;
Hossler, et al., 1999). Studies in Asian countries, predominantly found that reference
groups such as parents influence a students choice of a university. They can exert a
strong influence on students decision making in the students choice of university in
Malaysia. Research literature dealing with parental influence focuses on how parents
shape their childrens plans.

32

2.5.3.2

Accommodation for first year

Due to the problem of new students are strange with the new environment, some
universities and colleges have offered accommodation for those first year students.
This makes those students who came from another country or state easier because they
might apply to the university through the internet and they did not go through the hassle
of house hunting in the area that they do not know well. Indeed, some universities and
college students have to apply the accommodation for first year study by booking
before deadline or out of rooms, and may also need to offer some kind of guarantee as
promise. Those universities and colleges should clearly state the information of
housing provided in their main prospectus and website. However, many private
universities and colleges, mostly are not provided accommodation service for their
students. Due to this, the institution will list out a number of available housing and
special services for students. Normally, the accommodation provided by an institution
is much cheaper than private sectors and it may have a waiting list by using a first
come first serve basis to allocate the available rooms. University rooms are suitable
first year students moving into a building full of similar and newly arrived students.

2.5.3.3

Information supplied by university

Information required by the students should be provided by the university. Because

poor intention of universities will cause most of the students are badly informed about
the institutions to which they are applying (Pearson, 2012) and that bad information
may lead to the poorer decision-making (Pearson, 2006). A group of people (Ellwood
and Kane, 2000; Avery and Hoxby, 2004; Long, 2004), had done few researches on
students choice of studies by picking up university and pre-university students as they
respond and they found out that the information provided by the university or
institution is one of the key point for them to choose either to enter or not to.
Information factors which we are going to discuss are about cost package,
accommodation for the first year, information supplied by the university and entry
requirement.

33

2.5.3.4

Entry requirements

Entry requirements are the strategies that set by the university to secure the place of
students and the quality of the students. In the research of Brown, Variety and Pal
(2009), they found out that entry requirements will directly affect the choice of
students. Entry requirement will be set based on a different course. For example, the
requirement for those students who choosing for medical subject might need to have
at credit on their science subject especially Biology and Chemistry. For those who
have taken social art subject, such as public relation and psychology, they need to have
at least 5 credit, including English for the minimum requirement of the entry for the
subject. Besides, some of the students choice will directly affect by the entry
requirement. For example, those who taken art stream in their secondary school, their
option will be restricted to those art-based course. To ensure the students have the clear
mind set on every requirement for each course, the university should clearly state out
the detail of entry requirement in their website or booklet.

2.5.4

Demographic Factor

Demographic factor is considered about the socioeconomic characteristics of a

population expressed statistically. For example, in this research study are age, gender,
and education level. Most of the students will conscious of the environment of the
university which they need to stay for at least 3 years in that area. For example, some
of the students prefer to have their foundation study in UTAR Kampar Campus rather
than the Petaling Jaya Campus due to the environment of the Lakeside Campus of
UTAR (Kampar Campus). The demographic factor of this research can be divided into
three: location, distance, and social life nearby.

2.5.4.1

Location

Do you thrive on the excitement and adventure of the city? Or do you feel more secure
in a rural area? Are you a sun-worshipper or do you hide indoors at the first sign of

34

snow? Although your surroundings shouldn't be the deciding factor, they are a
definitely important when determining where you'd be the most comfortable.

2.5.4.2

Distance from home

Drews (2006) indicates that students prefer universities closer to home as the
additional costs of living away make further keep away from institutions less
attractive .For many students 'Home' is where the family is. The geographic location
of an institution, or its proximity to home is another factor that has bearing on students
college choice. Jackson (1982) suggests that many students only seriously consider
university that are relatively close to their homes and that do not present excessive
financial obstacles.

2.5.4.3

Social life nearby

Bowers and Pugh (1972) found out that social life nearby the university is one of the
main concerns which will influence undergraduate choice. Many universities and
colleges have provided some sport facilities for students due to it is essential subjects
that required by the government for the purpose of releasing stress. Moreover, the
curriculum can improve students teamwork, and enlarge their social life. Students that
have a good social life and a solid on-campus network often find academic work easier
to accomplish. Based on the research of Joseph and Joseph (1998) found that male
students were more concerned about the campus social life than female. In addition,
social life nearby the university is more important than the social life in university
because some students want to enjoy the entertainments, especially those applicants
who came from a poor village or state. On the universitys website should clearly show
the special services nearby the university.

35

2.5.5

Employment factor

Some of the students are a long term viewer. They will focus on what the university
can bring to them for their future work lifestyle. They will expect the university to
train them well for their future challenge in working life. They expected to get a job
easily due to the high reputation of the university. So for this employment factor of
this research, we will divide into student placement and graduate employment.

2.5.5.1

Student placements

Student placement is the main activity that strictly request by the government to
impose for the degree courses. From the Inkster & Ross (1995) research, the student
placement is structured and supervised professional experiences in an organization to
earn credit hours for the enhancement of undergraduate students knowledge and skills.

2.5.5.2

Graduate employment

Employment opportunities are revealed as a factor unique to the career and private
school version of the Student Satisfaction Inventory and indicated the students
perceptions regarding career option with a degree from the institution. Students are
also highly attracted to the prospect of good employment upon completion of studies,
(Sevier, 1998,Ancheh et al.). A study done by Paulsen (1990) claimed that most
students choose their institutions based on the employment prospect after graduating.

2.5.6

Other influences

Another influence of education system which may give a major role to affect the
students choice and accountability are parental background, the development level of
a country and the mean educational expenditure per student of a country. (David 2005)

36

According to a study of Jackson (1982), family background has a moderate to strong

effect on a student choice at 3 stages which are preferred, exclusion and evaluation.
Although many studies show that there is a very strong family background effect on
educational choices, and students from a better-educated home with a higher
socioeconomic status can perform better. However, David (2005) claims that most
studies usually have no consistent effect of resource endowment.

2.5.6.1

Own perception

Previous studies on choosing a university have also explored the influence of personal
factors. Raposo and Alves (1987) noted that personal factors show the greatest positive
influences on student choice of a university in Portugal. Some of the students might
do some analysis base on their own perception. They will base on the strengths and
weaknesses from their analysis to make the decision.

2.5.6.2

Amenities of university

The perception of university amenities is important in for some of the students. This
will have a large influence on its ability to attract good students, by the presence of
specific, quality of social life at university and many more. Recently, universities have
put in more effort on the campus amenities as they believe that it is considered
important factors in a students choice which university to attend. Some amenities
include student centers or large gymnasia providing a multitude of recreational
facilities and more hotel-like dormitory accommodations and high- quality food
services (Wojciech 2012). On the other hand, in the view of some prospective and
actual students, not all students have to common interest in the current consumption
possibilities offered free or at subsidized prices through the universitys amenities.
Through some social point of view, these may be a waste of resources for the university
(Harry 1982).

37

2.6

Factor of Information Sources

The information sources are very important for students to make their analysis of
choice. From the information sources, they can find out more information about the
university, so that they can make the right choice. An updated and correct information
is very important to affect the choice of the student and the future of the student.

2.6.1

Career Factor

There have few career factor can influence the student to make a decision on what
course and university they are preferring to choose. The students can obtain the
information from the career factor which include career teacher, career services and
careers convention. From here, students can get some professional advice based on the
survey or the counselling section that provide by these people.

2.6.1.1

Careers Teachers

Teachers in secondary school play as a most important role in the school, which can
guide the student for their career path. They voluntarily act as informal counselors to
advise the student in their choices of subjects and career paths (Khan 2012). Teachers
can help the young people to develop their own conceptual understanding to the career
exactly (Unifrog, 2014). The teacher could share their own experience to their students
in better understanding of how careers is happening and what the important milestones
are along their way (Unifrog, 2014). Otherwise, the school counselor also is a vital
role for the student to strong understand of themselves and their potential (Erika, 2015).
School counselors have a well of important information on career and educational
opportunities provide the valued advisers to the students who are unsure their future
(Erika, 2015). The high school counselors will help the students to choose the best
strategies for formulating future goals which are preparing the further education or
entry into the work force. (Erika, 2015)

38

2.6.1.2

Careers service

Career services is not a placement office, instate it is the overall education program
which will help student and graduates in developing a lifelong career planning skill
that can be utilized after they graduated, (2014). Besides, this service is committed to
helping students find the careers that best match their skills and aspirations through
the counselling section. Charlottesville, VA (2015). Professional career service will
provide one-on-one counselling and interview preparation sessions. They can provide
updates on the job opportunity ensuring student successes enter the job market.
Moreover, support such as multiple forms, including administrative support, financial
resources and the capabilities of existing computer systems and infrastructure may be
provided. (Melissa Venable, 2007).

2.6.1.3

Careers Convention

Careers Convention is the events that are organized by the government or some private
sector to allow the students who has an interest and curiosity on the information of
university to visit and seek for the information provided by the numerous employers
about job and the internship opportunities with their companies (Walton College,
2014). At the career convention, the business and motivation speaker will come to give
a talk to the students and parents about their particular career area. At the convention,
there are many speakers who have success in their field to share about their experience
provide more information about their organization. The students can explore and learn
more about industries and expand their network and compare different corporate
cultures, and get a sense of where the students would best fit (York University, n.e).
Therefore, students can choose a right course after understanding different type of the
career.

39

2.6.2

University related publicity factor

The university-related publicity factor consists of prospectus and university open day.
These are the marketing strategy and publicity of university that provide the helpful
information to students about the university environment, reputation, history, facility,
course option and others. All of this information can help the students to make a
decision on their choice of course and university.

2.6.2.1

Prospectus

The prospectus is a brochure or document that provided by the university in order to

get the attention of the students to apply for admissions. According to Diane Reay
(2005), the prospectus is some kind of youth magazine where you can tell what the
universities are like. The document contains brief information regarding the institution
and the available courses being offered, including guideline to apply and benefit of
accepting a place in the university. A traditional prospectus is an unspecific catalyst
that is used as the basis for finding the more focused and unbiased information. (Tony
Cook 2009). Now a day, the universities provide both online and paper versions of
their own prospectus. The prospectus usually contains detailed information on the
individual courses, the teaching staff (lecturers and professors), notable alumni, the
campus, special facilities (like sport complex and swimming pool), the contact of the
university, and the location of the university.

2.6.2.2

University Open day

Every college or university will hold the open day to attract those students who are
interested to visit the campus and experience what its really like to live and study
there. On that day, all the facilities and academic departments are open for the students
to experience they offered by the university (University of Southampton, 2015).
Moreover, students also have full opportunity to find out more detailed information
about the degree programmers from the academic staff of the university (University of

40

Southampton, 2015). During the university open day the student will seek out about
the lecturing staff, course details, current lab facilities, current student projects, career
opportunities, facilities, student lifestyle, accommodation, fees, application process
and submissions, scholarships and public transportation around the university
(University of Southampton, 2015). The open days are the important for the student to
clear with their decision on which course and university to be selected.

2.6.3

Publicity Factor

Publicity of the university is one of the tools that may affect the student choice. People
might get attracted by the advertisement on the newspaper, advertising on TV or radio
channel, the information they get via the university website and also by the ranking in
the league table. There are researches showed that many universities have spent a lot
of investment on the publicity in order to attract the attention student for enrolling of
the university. (Gauatm, 2011)

2.6.3.1

Newspaper Features

There are plenty choices of newspaper selling in the market. People have practiced
reading a newspaper as part of their daily activity. There are full of knowledge and
news in the newspaper and people get to update the daily news via reading newspaper.
Besides, there are many universities have posted some advertisements on the
newspaper to advertise their course offering. People get to know the new intake time
for the university and some information in the newspaper before approaching to the
university. They can do some researches or find some important information before
taking any decision to further their studies.

41

2.6.3.2

University website

According to Piet et al. 2014, research showed that there are a relationship between
the website quality dimensions and the perception of the university website quality.
There are a total of six (6) website quality dimensions which are reliability,
responsiveness, easiness to be used, information quality and visual appeal. According
to the statistical test, the reliability of the university website does not affect the
perception of that particular university. Normally, user perception is that if a website
can load fast is one of the factors that have significant positive correlation. However,
respondents do not have any partial effect on the perceived quality for university
websites. According to the regression analysis results done, functionality affects the
perceived quality, meaning that the perception that a website of moderate quality will
ease the finding of information. (Piet Kommers, Tomayess Issa, Pedro Isaas, 2014).

2.6.3.3

League tables

League tables focus on the ratings of institutions as a whole. (Roger King, 2009). A
league tables ranks the university and is specifically designed to inform student about
the teaching quality in a particular course in a particular university. (Don F.
Westerheijden, Bjrn Stensaker, Maria Joo Rosa, 2007). A league tables will show
the data such as the achievement and attainment from different sources. It shows the
ranking of achievement and the quality of teaching staff among the universities based
on different categories. League tables was establish by a senior team to provide a
systematic internal analysis of the league table methodologies, moreover it provide the
reasons underlying the institutions ranking. (Roger King, 2009). This ranking
provides an on-line facility and website enable anyone to construct their own
university league tables according to the criteria that important to them. (Roger King,
2009).

42

2.6.4

Personal Contact Factor

The personal contact factor has also given a very big impact for the student to choose
their university for their further studies. The peer around them and the word from their
mouth has made a deep image in the mind and it will be very hard to change their mind
in the future. They will get the information and experience from the mouth of their
peer and they will follow their footprint after they get the useful information from them.

2.6.4.1

Peer Influence

A lot of students have asked for the detail or information from the peer about the
educational standard, employment opportunity in the future and the living cost (Pimpa,
2001) The peers around us is very influencing our decision in daily life. Peer is always
standing by our side and solve problem together in the teen period. Students are in the
teen stage are easier to influence by the group norm (Hezlina Mohd Hashim and Abdul
Mutalib Embong, 2015).

2.6.4.2

Word of mouth

The power of word of mouth is great in the spreading of information around. It will
help to spread about the great things of a particular university is doing, the better it is
for the continued of growth (Laura A. 2011). Most people tend to believe through word
of mouth of experience people compared to advertisement broadcast on radio or
television. According to Sheryl Bond, word of mouth is the most potent marketing
tools for satisfied alumni (1999). Besides, alumni able to provide extra funding to the
university and also provide word of mouth reputation and publicity. They can tell the
public about their university life and all exciting moments throughout their study to
potential student in helping them to get an idea of what is it about a university life
which they might need to spend for the next 3-4 years.

43

2.7

Conclusion

In the nutshell, the Malaysia MoHE has organized a good higher education structure
system. Everyone who can full fill the requirements will be provided a chance to get
the offer of higher education. Higher education of Malaysia is divided into 2 types:
private university and public university. University Tunku Abdul Rahman is one of
the private universities which offer a wide range of programmes.
From our research, we get clear on the information and background of
University Tunku Abdul Rahman. In the research, we know more about the
administrative structure of UTAR. At the same time, we can know how the
organization of University Tunku Abdul Rahman and how its growth in these 12 years.
Besides, we also do research on one of the famous subjects that offered by University
Tunku Abdul Rahman, Quantity Surveying. We know more about the job requirement,
scope and how the program runs for this course.
Meantime, our research in this topic also cover on the factors affecting
undergraduate students choice of universities are categorized into six types of factors,
reputation factor, institutional features, information factor, demographic factors,
employment factor and other factors. The reputation factor includes teaching
reputation, quality of faculty, academic reputation and research reputation. The
institutional feature encompasses reputation with disabled, competition for price,
programme flexibility, cost of the package, academic support facilities and the first
university to offer place. The information factor consists of accommodation for the
first year,

information

supplied

by

university

and

entry

requirements.

The

demographic factor includes the location of university, distance from home to

university and social life nearby; employment factor contains student placements and
graduate employment. Finally, the other factors such as guidance from parents, own
perception, other influences and amenities of university are identified as well.
Besides, the factor analysis of information sources identifies five components
which are careers factor, university-related publicity factor, another publicity factor
and personal contact factor. The careers factor includes careers teachers, careers
service and careers convention; the university-related publicity factor encompasses
prospectus and university open day; another publicity factor consists of newspaper
features, university web site and league tables; personal contact factor encompasses

44

peer influence and word of mouth. Undergraduate students rely on these information
sources to gain information and make decisions on the universities they would want to
study in.

45

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1

Introduction

This chapter discusses about the research methodology of this project. In this chapter,
we have attempted to distinguish the difference between quantitative and qualitative
research the research method. We have justified the advantages and disadvantages of
quantitative and qualitative research respectively, and decide which research method
is suitable in this study. The research process of this study includes problem
identification, designing the research objective, reviewing literature, designing a
research method, designing the research methodology and the last report writing. In
this chapter, we define literature review, find out the purpose of the literature review
and determine literature review development. In this study, a questionnaire is chosen
as the research technique of this research. In this chapter, we tend to define
questionnaire and the purposes of the questionnaire being designed. At the same time,
we also select appropriate respondents to respond to these questionnaires. This chapter
briefly describes the questionnaire development and administration. The procedure of
analysis of data collected in this research is also stated in this chapter, and the analysis
and ranking factors are shown. Factor analysis will also be conducted for numerous
purposes.

46

3.2

Quantitative versus Qualitative Research

Generally, the research methods that are conducted in education and other social
science are often composed of two types, which are qualitative and quantitative
research. This section will further discuss about the difference between qualitative and
quantitative research and what to distinguish them.
When you think about quantitative method, probably it will have specific
things come into your head. The first thing that will probably come to your mind might
be statistic, numbers and even feel apprehensive as you will think that quantitative
method might be difficult. The book of Aliaga and Gunderson (2000) had described
the meaning of quantitative research methods very well. From the book, quantitative
research is the Explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that are analyzed
using mathematically based methods (in particular statistics). Consequently, as
quantitative research is basically about statistical analysis of numerical data to explain
a particular phenomenon.
For the qualitative research method, the data are collected, analyzed and
interpreted through observation of what people do and say. As compared to
quantitative research, qualitative research is much more subjective. It uses very
different methods to gather information, for example in-depth interviews and focus
group discussions which is different from quantitative research, which using
questionnaire or structured interviews method.
Exploratory and open-ended can be said as the nature of the qualitative research.
In order to conduct this research, a small group of people are interviewed in-depth or
a relatively small number of focus group discussions are conducted. Participants are
requested to respond to the general questions and the interviewer or group moderator
will investigate and explore their responses to identify and define peoples experiences,
attitudes, perceptions and feelings about the topic being discussed and at the same time
to identify the degree of agreement that appears in the group.
In conclusion, quantitative research is objective; qualitative is subjective.
Quantitative research search for explanatory laws, whereas qualitative research aims
to have an in-depth description. Qualitative research measures in order to develop

47

universal laws. It explores everything that is assumed to be a dynamic reality. It is

replicable as it does not state that what is found in the process is universal.

3.3

Selection of research method

The selection of research method will depend on the nature of the study. It depends on
the type of information needed in the context of the study and the availability of the
research, such as time, money and human. By quantitative methods, questions seem
immediately suited to being answered. For example, how many males and females
students Quantity Surveying courses of University Tunku Abdul Rahman, who are
enrolled for UEBE 2853 Quantitative Analysis and Operational Research on January
2015 trimester? How many percentages of students make the choice to study at
University Tunku Abdul Rahman because of the university reputation? We can look
these questions at quantitatively, because the data that we need to collect already
existing in the numerical form.
However, there are many phenomena that we might want to explore does not
appear to produce any quantitative data. Nevertheless, this does not severely limiting
the usefulness of the quantitative research. Data can be collected in a quantitative way,
if it does not naturally emerge in quantitative form. Research instruments which are
for the purpose of converting phenomena that do not exist in quantitative form into
quantitative data are designed. It can be then analyzed statistically. We might want to
collect data on the importance of family influence in influencing the students choice
of higher education. Obviously, this opinion do not naturally exist in quantitative form
which we do not form our thought in the form of numerical scales. So we can develop
questionnaires that ask respondents to rate a number of statements. For example, I
think family influence is very important as either strongly agree, agree,
disagree, and strongly disagree.
Quantitative research allows generalizations of research finding from a sample
to many different populations and subpopulations. At the same time, it can also
measure the commonness of various views and opinions in a given sample. It is useful

48

to study a large number of people, especially UTAR Quantity Surveying courses

students who are enrolled for UEBE 2853 Quantitative Analysis and Operational
Research on January 2015 trimester. This is because it allows quick data collection
and quantitative predictions to be made which are useful for the research. It is relatively
less time consuming as compared to qualitative research which is not possible to
automate qualitative-data.
For qualitative research method, the quality of the finding is relatively different
from one qualitative research to the other, no matter on the skills, experience and
sensitive of the interviewer or group moderator.

Normally, qualitative research has

usually been performed when there are only 6 to 10 participants, whereas quantitative
research is common to involve hundreds or even thousands of people. As a result,
qualitative research is likely to have less statistical power compared to quantitative
research discovering and verifying trends is needed.
In conclusion, we had selected quantitative research method as the method of
research in this study as the quantitative research is much more suitable for this study
which needs a precise, quantitative and numerical data.

3.4

Research process

Problem identification
In order to carry out research, identifying what exactly the researcher is researching,
and why they conduct this research is the most challenging part in the entire process.
As a researcher, we need to address a problem for this study. This is because if there
is no problem, then there is no need for a research. In this study, our research question
is what are the factors influencing and affecting undergraduate student choice?

49

Defining the research objective

After identifying the problem, the research objective is defined. Research objective is
a clear and concise statement of the purpose and aim of the study, which basically
summarizes what are intended to be achieved by the study. Normally, four to five
objectives are considered adequate. In this study, the research objectives are stated
below:
a) To identify and rank factors influencing undergraduate student choice of higher
education
b) To identify the underlying structure of factors influencing undergraduate
student choice
c) To identify and rank information sources in the undergraduate student choice
decision
d) To

identify

the

underlying structures

of information sources

in

the

undergraduate student choice decision

Reviewing literature
Next, the literature review is conducted in this study to identify the important variables
that are likely to influence the problem situation, besides helping to develop the
theoretical framework and hypothesis. First, the various published and unpublished
materials related to this study are identified and gaining access to it. Then, we gather
the relevant information by going through the materials in the library and by gaining
access to the internet.

Designing a research method

After spending long hours to digest the literature related to research, we have identified
some important variables. The research design is now ready to be chosen to evaluate
the relationships between the variables. Research design serves two functions, which

50

are (1) exploratory data collection and analysis, aims to identify new phenomenon and
relationships and (2) hypothesis testing to check the adequacy of proposed
explanations.
There exist two basic designs that determine the relationship between two
variables, which are correlational designs and experimental designs. Correlation
research involves collecting data on two or more variables over a period of time,
whereas experimental design provides strong control over variables and determination
of whether the variables have cause and effect relationship. In this study, correlation
research is being selected as it allows for simple observation of variables in the natural
setting.
Correlation designs show the existing relationship between the observed
variables and determine the direction of the relationship. Correlation designs are
valuable in situations where it would be difficult or impossible to directly manipulate
a variable. For example, it is valuable when manipulation is not possible for gender,
or age of the students who are involved in this research. The disadvantage is that for
correlation design, the third-variable problem may arise because of the existing of the
third unmeasured variable, which influence the observed variable by generating
correlation between them. For example, between the variables of low education cost
and the choice of the Quantity Surveying courses students who are enrolled for UEBE
2853 Quantitative Analysis and Operational Research on January 2015 trimester, there
exists the third variable, which is the quality of faculty that influence the observed
variables.
For experimental design, laboratory is often required in the experiment and
because of the variable of interest such as gender, a true experiment may be impossible.
Therefore, experimental research is not being chosen.

Designing research methodology

1. Research method

51

The information is collected through primary and secondary research. We

conduct primary data from the respondents of the research, which are the
UTAR Quantity Surveying courses students who are enrolled for UEBE 2853
Quantitative Analysis and Operational Research on

January 2015 trimester.

On the other hand, the secondary data is collected through published or

unpublished sources such as scholarly books, journals and certain pages on the
World Wide Web.
2. Data collection method
The data are collected from primary sources through questionnaires given to
the UTAR Quantity Surveying courses students. It includes a series of
questions with comprehensive instructions and rating of factors with ten-point
rating scale following the 22 factors. The purpose is to test for the level of
importance of each factor in influencing undergraduates student choices.

3. Sampling plan
Since there are too many Quantity Surveying courses students, we have
chosen UTAR Quantity Surveying courses students who are enrolled for
UEBE 2853 Quantitative Analysis and Operational Research on January 2015
trimester as the subjects of the sample.

4. Fieldwork plan
Once the sample size is determined, we then plan for the field work. Our group
members start to do the fieldwork for collecting data in our campus area.
Before commencing the fieldwork, we make sure that the questionnaire is
finalized.

5. Analysis plan and expected income

We have conducted analysis plan at the time we are preparing the questionnaire
and before we go for data collection. Some basic analyses include a simple
tabulation such as a frequency table for a single question, cross tabulation such
as a frequency table for two or more different questions and different types of
hypothesis testing.

52

Report writing
The final step in this process is to report the result that is found in this study. The
relevant data that is collected is summarized and analyzed. After presenting the
preliminary information, the result is now can be reported which include values of any
descriptive (e.g. means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (e.g. t-tests,
analyses of variance) that have calculated, along with the relevant p values.

3.4.1

Literature review

A literature review is a body of text and aims to bring the reader up-to-date with recent
literature on the area of research and form the basis for another purpose, such as
justification of future research in the area. Ferfolja and Burnett of the University of
New South Wales, Australia defined literature as an examination of the research that
has been conducted in the particular field of study. Hart (2003) agrees with this
conception, but expanded its definition to the selection of available documents and
the effective evaluation of these documents in relation to the research being proposed.
(p.13). A literature review seeks to define, summarize, evaluate, explain and integrate
the content of the previous research.

3.4.1.1

Purposes of literature review

The purpose we conduct literature review is to avoid needless duplication of effort. No

matter what the topic of the research, there are chances of someone has been
conducting that particular research. Thus, we conduct a literature review which is
related to this research to avoid any duplication occurs.
Another purpose is to avoid proposing of specific research questions that have
already been addressed and answered. Literature review may reveal other questions
that remain to be answered. Therefore, by conducting a literature review, we can
propose that remaining research questions in this study.

53

Besides that, the literature review is conducted so that it will help us in research
design. Published research will provide sufficient resource for the idea of research
design. Through literature review, we may find that we can use the established
procedures and existing materials to gather information for this research.
Reviewing literature will also keep us up to date on current empirical or
theoretical controversies in a specific research area. As science progresses, new ideas,
develop related to age-old behavioral issues. It not only provides a valuable source of
research ideas, but also gives direction to particular research hypotheses and designs.

3.4.1.2

Literature review development

There are many examples of sources of research finding which include books,
scholarly journals, conventional and professional meetings and others such as personal
communication and certain pages on the World Wide Web. Sources of information we
use in this research are scholarly books, journals and certain pages on the World Wide
Web.
Although textbooks are valuable, the information they contain may be dated.
By the time the scientist made it into a book, it could already have been around for
several years. Therefore, we are more focused on scholarly journal. The journals
consist of a detailed research report, deal with a review of the literature, provide issues
in methodology review which are useful for our study.
Not all journals are created equal, so the source has to be considered. Usually
when the work is submitted to the refereed journal, the work is reviewed by two or
more reviewers. In contrast, for non-refereed journal, no such review procedure is
carried out. The articles may be published once the fee is received by the author. The
review procedure tends to ensure that high quality articles appear in the journal.
We have assessed the quality of the journal in several ways. First, we consult
Journals in

Psychology, published

by APA.

The publication lists journals

54

alphabetically and gives their manuscript acceptance rates. Top journals in a field have
low acceptance rates, whereas lesser journals have higher acceptance rates. Second,
we consult the Journal Citations Report online from the Institute for Scientific
Information (ISI) Web of Knowledge. Journals are ranked within category by their
impact factors. Third, we consult the Social Science Citations Index (SSCI). One
section of this publication lists journals by category and subcategory. Fourth, we use
the method of authority by asking the lecturers which journals in the fields of specialty
are of highest and lowest quality.
We have also performed library research in our study. The basic strategy we
have used is: (1) Find a relevant research article; (2) use the reference section of the
article that we have found to locate other articles; (3) repeat steps 1 and 2 for each
relevant article identified until we find no more; (4) use one of the many indexes
available in the library to identify more recent article; and (5) repeat the entire process
as we find more and more articles.
We also find the reference material related to this research by using Internet
search engines such as Google. Usually a general internet search engine provides
valuable information. However, the materials found should read with a very critical
eye as the information we are getting may not we valid, reliable, or objective.
Therefore, as suggested by Purdue University QWL Web site, we find out the author
of the material, associated institution, the timeliness of the material, the publisher, the
accuracy of the information, the goals of the web site on which the information was
found, and the reputation of the links that brought us to the information to ensure
validity and reliability of information.

3.4.2

Questionnaire

In order to collect information from respondents effectively and systematically,

questionnaire is one of the well-known methods that can be carried out for this study.
From a review of the literature on questionnaire design, the advantages and
disadvantages of a questionnaire survey method of data collection were considered.

55

The decision to use a questionnaire was based on the following advantages due to
compared to other method it is relatively cheap. Moreover, questionnaires are suitable
for a large population and it takes less time to complete than other data method such
as personal interviews. Whereas the disadvantages of questionnaire is the factors
within the questionnaire such as wording, format and setting maybe bias responses. In
summary, questionnaires do offer a standardized form of feedback by respondents and
allows researchers to gather information more conveniently and well.

3.4.2.1

Purpose of questionnaire

The main purpose of using questionnaire is to collect, record information, and capture
perception about a certain issue of interest. In this study, questionnaire is used to
understand why students are choosing UTAR and what factors have influenced in their
decision making. It has generally included a series of questions together with easy
understanding instructions As we know, a good questionnaire always having a specific
principle which is linked to the objectives of the research. Some more, respondents
have to be conscious of the rationale of the research and should be informed about the
receiving response to the findings. Example, sense of satisfaction of consumers with a
product or service can be determined and information can be gathered by conducting
a questionnaire, then all parties involved can improve their services. Lastly, necessity
tracking could be done from time to time to observe changes.

3.4.2.2

Selection of questionnaire

The goal of conducting a questionnaire survey was used to test the level of importance
of each factor below influence the choices of students for pursuing higher education.
This study used a questionnaire-based approach to obtain data on students preferences
towards studying in UTAR in particular. The questionnaire was administered to
students of Bachelor Quantity Surveying Undergraduates of UTAR who taking
Quantitative Analysis and Operational Research subject in the January 2015 trimester.
Due to time consideration and the sample size from all courses , students in UTAR

56

were large enough to permit statistical analysis of the date and at the same time small
enough to be practical for data collection, hence the questionnaire respondents have
been limited.

3.4.2.3

Questionnaire development

The questionnaire which is included in was divided into 22 factors. Questions

involving the rating of factors were designed with a ten-point rating scale following
each factor. Explanation and discussion preceded all questions. Clearly defined and
questions must not be vague and unambiguously for easy to understand.
There are some rules to be followed:
Every question should be related to the objectives of the study.
Every question must be easy for the respondents to make response.
Should make the questionnaire concise and to the point.
While there are some key principles of effective questionnaire design
1. Determine the Objective
From there, our desire for a complete and accurate answer that covered all
necessary points, so we need to have a clear and precise objective of the study.
A series of processes is needed to arrive at the questionnaire from the study
objectives. It is actually one of the skills of the researcher turn the objectives
of the study into a set of information requirements, and from there to create
questions for providing the information and turn into a questionnaire.

2. Defining the target population

We have to ensure the respondents who are appropriate to make the survey
questionnaire. This is to ensure that we can measure the right responses. The
researcher must define the population about what our wishes generalize from
the sample to be collected for ensuring to get the correct and appropriate
responses for the study.

57

3. Choose measurement scales

Scales are used to provide appropriate information needed from respondents.
The measuring instrument roughly to be convenient, interpretable and
economical. There are made up two choices, which are fixed responses and
narrative responses.
a. Fixed responses
Fixed responses are the questions that offered as a closed set of responses
from which to choose. Such as structured question and rating questions.
b. Narrative responses
Basically, narrative responses mean the respondents answer in complete
sentences and thoughts, like in an essay format, simply responding in a
story form or in paragraph format.

4. Language
While language encouraged that should be written in two languages, English
and Bahasa Malaysia. This is to ensure that the respondents are going to
understand and respond correctly. By using a clear language and the correct
tone, can avoid it is not clear to respondents. And if there is any ambiguity, it
will likely end up creeping into the results.

5. Check reliability
Reliability is established by using a pilot test while data collected from pilot
test and are analyzed by using SPSS. The coefficient of reliability can range
from 0 to 1, with 0 representing a full of error while 1 represent is perfect with
error-free.

3.4.2.4 Questionnaire administration

This study, which is exploratory in nature, has some limitations. First, the sample
consists of only 177 students and was restricted to undergraduates on one particular
programmes. Hence, the findings may not represent the entire UTAR undergraduate
population. The use of the questionnaire as a survey tool in this study also brings about

58

some problems. The respondents' assess of questions in the questionnaire may not be
accurate due to students' lack of comprehension of the questions asked. During the
survey, honesty of respondents in answering the questions is also difficult to ascertain.
The survey instrument was a questionnaire that was posted in a form of link by lecturer
in WBLE UTAR website. A follow-up reminder and questionnaire was also sent to the
entire survey group. There have many different modes of data collection by
questionnaire, including contacting with respondents, the administration of questions,
and the medium of delivering the questionnaire to respondents.

There have five methods of questionnaire administration.

1.

Personal Interview (face to face)

A personal interview, which administering structured questionnaires where
trained interviewers asked fixed choice questions in a consistent format. While
the interviewer asks questions and explain any unclear questions to the
respondent. It can eliminate misunderstanding and ensure to get the reliability
answer.

2.

Paper and pencil Questionnaire

Normally, this type of method we will experience in the shopping centers or
any public places, the interviewer will give the paper questionnaire to
respondents for answering. The question needs to simple and easy to answer,
but it needs a period of time to collect and interpret the data. While through
this method sometime will receive an incomplete answer due to cant clear up
misunderstandings

3.

Telephone Interview
In a telephone survey, the interviewer collects the information from the target
respondents through telephone conversation. It is quite similar to the personal
interview, but cheaper than personal interview, and it provides a faster way to
collect the data. But this method of survey is not really commended for
intensive surveys because time is wasted and respondents have little time to
think before answering questions over the phone.

59

4.

Internet or web-based survey

This is one of the well- known survey nowadays. Internet or web-based survey
is conducted over the web. It is a faster way to collect data and cost saving and
believed that it has potentially quicker response time with a wider magnitude
of coverage, but unfortunately it has a low level of confidential from
respondents so it only received low response rate.

5.

Mailing survey
In this survey, there are no involved any interviewers and the survey is
conducted by sending the survey form to respondents house address. However,
this mail survey is the slowest method to collect the data as it need to wait the
respondents to reply and return the mail. So it is quite time-consuming while
sometimes the respondents will fail to answer some important details and left
it as a gap.

3.5

Data analysis

The responses of the 177 participating students to the questionnaire are described using
frequency counts and percentages. The statistical program for the Social Sciences at
the UTAR was used to prepare and analyze the data. We can use two channels to record
behaviour when making observation and recording behaviour, there are qualitative
research and quantitative research. The main advantage of quantitative data is a wide
range of statistical tests are available for analyzing these data. The presentation of
qualitative data consists of written records of observed behaviour and this most likely
appears in the form of a graph. Qualitative research is conducted to understand human
behaviour and understanding of the underlying reasons and motivations No numbers
are generated on rating scales nor are there counts of behaviour. Lastly, we can settle
which method to be used depending on the research situations, we also may collect
only qualitative data or quantitative data or may be a combination of two. From
(Savenye, Robinson, 2004), there states researchers analysis in observations through
the whole data collection phase. In the short, the form of the analysis, we choose is
determined by the specific qualitative method taken and the form of data. We clear
that analyzing survey data are an important in the survey process. Data processing

60

helps us to prepare data and consist of editing, coding, data entry, handling missing
data and identification of outliers. Editing means scrutinizing the filled up data to
minimize error and incompleteness in the information obtained from respondents,
while coding is converting the information into numerical values. Most of statistical
packages such as SPSS and SAS will be used in the data entry process. At the other
hand, missing data can be settled by using list-wise and pair-wise deletion method or
by replacing the missing values by predicting, we still can avoid bias result by going
through checked for outliers.

3.5.1

Analysis and ranking of factors

From the WBLE UTAR website, we obtained the information about the questionnaire
that provided to respondents. An analysis and ranking are made based on these data
and results from questionnaire after all respondents answered the questionnaire. Mean
is the average used in the field of mathematics that used in data analysis, also known
as average because it is obtained by dividing the sum of the observed values by the
number of observations which is N. By using this method, there is an equation used
for interpreting and analyzing the result, otherwise still can use to explain the
variability of data and predicting future data. According to Hair, Bush, and Ortinau
(2006, 512), using mean (known as arithmetic average) can present the average value
within a distribution. Besides, the degree of central tendency can be displayed which
means the trend with most responses shifted closer to the mean have higher central
tendency. The formula of the mean is:

Where:
x refers to the symbol for the mean.
X refers to the symbol for summation.
X refers to the symbol for the scores.
N refers to the symbol for the number of scores.

61

3.5.2

Conducting the factor analysis

A factor is a dimension that consists of any number of variables. Factor analysis is a

broad term representing a variety of statistical techniques that allow for estimating the
population level structure underlying the variations of observed variables and their
interrelationships (Gorsuch, 1983: Kim & Mueller, 1978). Factor analysis is used to
identify underlying constructs in the data and to reduce the number of variables from
a larger number to a manageable number of factors. Typically, the first two or three
factors will be the strongest. The strength of a factor is indicated by its eigenvalue (for
a more complete discussion of eigenvalues, see Tatsuoka, 1971, or Tabachnick &
Fidell, 2001). Hence, to conduct a factor analysis, which means smaller the groups of
factors collected (Hair, Bush, and Ortinau 2006) into an SPSS format, there are
involving a few steps. We have to understand that a good factor must make sense and
will be easy to interpret and in the simple structure. In our research, the method that
we used is the factor analysis technique which in the class of interdependence methods.
Theoretically, factor analysis is applied to summarize the information obtained in a
large number of variables into a smaller group of number of subsets which called
factors in general (Hair, Bush, and Ortinau 2006, 591). To conduct a complete factor
analysis, there are involving a few steps:

1. Select and measure a set of variables

In this stage, involve a sufficient number of variables such as in our study
we involving about 22 variables. If possible, we can include one marker
variable per hypothesized factor. We can still select a sample expected to
vary on the variables and factor. After that we collect the required data for
checking normality, linearity and outliers. Inspect the correlation matrix, a
correlation matrix show the interconnections between a series of variables
.
2. Extract the factors
From here, we decide on the factor extraction technique used to conduct,
there are two techniques: Principal factors (FA) and Principal Components
(PCA). Principal factors produce factors, it is a linear combination of all

62

factors approximates, but it allows for duplicate. In short, FA is a choice if

we are interested in a theoretical solution that are uncontaminated by
unique and error variance. On the other hand, Principal components (PCA)
produce components, there is a linear combination of all components
duplicated the observed correlation matrix. PCA will be a choice if we
interested acquired for an empirical summary of the data.

3. Determine the number of factors retain

4. Rotate the factors

Any study, when more than one factor is obtained, we find out that unrotated factors cannot be interpreted in most cases, while rotation does not
affect the mathematical fit of the solution. There are two types of rotations
for introduced, there are orthogonal rotation and oblique rotation. In simple,
orthogonal rotations are the factors are uncorrelated while oblique rotations
are the factors involved may be correlated.

5. Interpreting the results

If it is in orthogonal rotation, the data are interpreted from the "loading
matrix" (SPSS: "rotated factor matrix"). The values in this matrix are
bivariate correlations between the variables and the factors. If rotation is
oblique, the data are interpreted from the "pattern matrix". The values in
this matrix are only partial correlations between the variables and the
factors. In both cases, the values are called "factor loadings

3.6

Conclusion

In conclusion, chapter 3 research methodology for this study we are focusing on how
our analysis, which type of research method to use and the steps go through it, discuss
about literature review and analysis and interpret all the responses obtained and
available collected from all respondents. Otherwise, we also discussed about the

63

purpose of the questionnaire and the importance of the questionnaire. As we know that,
the conduct of questionnaire plays an important role too in the research process. From
that, we become clearer and understand about how to choose a better method to
conduct a questionnaire to respondents, whereas the selection of factors is a key to
achieve for a clear and certainty results. Hence, without doubt we are choosing scale
of 1 to 10 to reduce zero response bias, indirectly it also allows us to analyze the result
easily and effectively. Based on the information we obtained from data, we use the
formula of mean to calculate the data and data analysis.

64

CHAPTER 4

RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1

Introduction

In this chapter will discuss the result gathered from the online survey. The results had
collected threw comparing and calculating the data collected by using the SPSS
Statistic Software. Based on the results gained from SPSS we will discuss the factor
that affects the student choice.

4.2

Respondent background

A total of 154 respondents had participated in the online survey. Out of the 154
population, 9 outliers had detected and were removed from our survey. Therefore, this
survey consists of 145 respondents which holding more than half from female
respondents of 75 persons or 51.72%. Whereas the rest of the 70 male respondents
given 48.28% of the total number of respondents. This group of respondents is coming
from the same academic course which is a Bachelor of Science (Hons) Quantity
Surveying from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.

65

4.3

Comparison of means for factors

The comparison of mean shows the top 10 Factors that influencing the undergraduate
student choice during selection of higher education and the ranking of degree influence
by the Information Sources.
Table 1: The Ranking of Top 10 factors for The Level of Importance
Influencing The Undergraduate Student Choice.
(1 = least important and 10 = most important)
Gender
Male

Female

Total

Std.
Std.

Deviatio

Std.

Factor

Mean

Deviation

Mean

Mean

Deviation

F10 - Graduate employment

8.09

1.81

8.97

1.17

8.54

1.57

F06 - Cost of package

8.27

1.90

8.39

1.69

8.33

1.79

F21 - Teaching reputation

7.94

1.60

8.40

1.27

8.18

1.45

F01 - Academic reputation

7.87

1.60

8.07

1.52

7.97

1.55

F16 - Quality of faculty

7.69

1.77

7.69

1.87

7.69

1.82

F15 - Programme flexibility

7.41

1.76

7.20

1.81

7.30

1.78

7.40

1.78

7.08

1.76

7.23

1.77

F13 - Location

6.69

2.32

7.39

2.25

7.05

2.30

F14 - Own perception

6.89

1.89

7.17

2.13

7.03

2.02

6.54

2.17

7.17

1.81

6.87

2.01

F02 - Academic support

facilities

F12 - Information supplied

by university

66

As the result shown in Table 1 above, it lists the top 10 factors that influence
the undergraduate student choice. The most concerned factor is graduate employment
with a mean of 8.54. Students continue with higher education aim to earn extra
knowledge or a title, all of this will help them in futures when looking for a job. The
course offer must be easier for them to get a job after graduated. The second factor is
cost of the package with a mean of 8.33. In Malaysia, public universities are very
competitive and limited quantity is available, the selection of course in public
universities is a constraint, so more students will look forward to a private university.
These lead to higher cost of the package in a private university. As a student who need
family financial support for higher education cost will be a big factor whether the
family is able to bear for education cost. Then it is followed by teaching reputation,
academic reputation and quality of faculty with a mean of 8.18, 7.97 and 7.69
respectively. These three factors have shown that students focus on the quality of the
institution. A university with quality and good reputation will definitely make the
students confident to choose it.
For less influential factors consist of programme flexibility, academic support
facilities, location, own perception and information supplied by the university with a
mean of 7.30, 7.23, 7.05, 7.03 and 6.07 respectively. This factor is based on university
perception and also student expectation on specific criteria.
Gender Differences
Different genders will have a different result of the undergraduate students choice by
comparing the mean obtain from separate both genders. As shown in Table 1, cost of
package is the top influence factor for male undergraduate student with a mean of 8.27,
however, it falls in the 3rd ranking for the female with the mean of 8.39. It shows that
the male student is more concern to the financial part. The highest for females is
graduate employment with a mean of 8.97, this factor rank secondly for male with
mean 8.09. It shows female student hope easier to get a job after graduated. However,
the most critical differences between both genders are academic support facilities and
location. The male students are more focus on the availability of facilities in study
environment as an example experiment laboratory, but the female students are lack
interested in this area, therefore for male it fell at 7 th and female it is the 10th factor

67

with a mean of 7.40 and 7.08 respectively. Location is a strong influence factor for
female students, with a mean of 7.39 it sits on 6 th rank for female. However, for male
location sit in 9th with a mean of 6.69. Female students may feel away from home to
study in another city will be a big challenge for them.

4.4

Comparison of means for information sources

Table 2: Ranking of degree influenced by the information sources.
(1 = least important and 10 = most important)
Gender
Male

Female
Std.

Total

Std.

Std.

Mean

Deviation

Mean

Deviation

Mean

Deviation

S10 - Word of mouth

6.97

2.11

7.35

2.04

7.17

2.08

S09 - University web site

6.91

2.00

7.24

2.28

7.08

2.15

S01 - Careers convention

6.90

1.99

7.01

1.74

6.96

1.86

S02 - Careers service

6.84

1.86

6.93

1.71

6.89

1.78

S03 - Careers teachers

6.94

1.74

6.84

1.62

6.89

1.68

S06 - Peer influence

6.66

2.08

6.56

2.11

6.61

2.09

S08 - University open day

6.39

2.18

6.20

2.62

6.29

2.41

S07 - Prospectus

6.09

2.10

6.44

1.96

6.27

2.03

S04 - League tables

6.09

1.99

6.12

1.85

6.10

1.91

S05 - Newspaper features

6.16

2.16

5.99

2.05

6.07

2.10

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Table 2 above shows the ranking of the degree of influence by the information
sources. Word of mouth appears to have the greatest influence in students choice with
a mean of 7.17. According to Nielson (2012) research, up to 92% of respondent trust
recommendation from friends and family. These had confirmed word of mouth
strongly influence the peoples choice. Therefore the reputation of the university
among the mouth is important for students to make decisions. The second factor is a
university website with a mean of 7.08, it plays an important role as this will be the
first impression for students. The student can easily surf through university webpage
to get more detail about the university and the course offered before visit it. The details
available on the website should attract the students to make it their choice. Careers
fairs and exhibition will also influence the student decision as they can obtain the
education information from the careers service and careers teachers. University open
day, prospectus, league tables and newspaper feature seem not a critical source to
influence the student choice in selecting a university.
Gender Differences
The prospectus and the league table are the least influential factor for male
undergraduate students with a mean of only 6.09, however female undergraduate
students had scored 6.27 and 6.10 respectively and sit on 8 th and 9th in females ranking.
Female undergraduate students choose newspaper features as the least influential
factor, it only scored a mean of 6.07.

4.5

Factor analysis of factors

Factor analysis is typically known as data reduction technique. It tries to statistically

identify and reduced a large set of variables (measured variables) into a smaller factor.
Although principal factor analysis is the commonly used for factor analysis, but we
choose Maximum Likelihood (ML) method of extraction to carry out factor analysis,
because most statisticians more prefer the ML way of factor analysis (Lawley and
Maxwell 1971) and ML method produce a better estimation than principal factor
analysis in large samples. By approaching the ML approach, factors loadings are most

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likely to produce observed correlation matrix. The rotation method is by Oblimin with
Kaiser Normalization to show the relationship among the factors. As stated in
SAS/STAT 9.2 Users Guide (2008), in common factor analysis, the distinct factors
are defined to be unrelated both with each other and with the common factors. Every
common factor is supposed to contribute at least two variables else it would be a unique
factor. For every component of the factor groupings will consists at least 2 variables.
According to SPSS Survival Manual (2011), initial screening process need to be done
to remove the extreme value so called outliers because it will affect the accuracy of
factor analysis.
Factor
1
F19 - Social life nearby

.822

F17 - Reputation with disabled

.734

F20 - Student placements

.685

F18 - Research reputation

.675

F22 - Other influences

.454

F21 - Teaching reputation

.648

F10 - Graduate employment

.623

F16 - Quality of faculty

.541

F06 - Cost of package

.520

F14 - Own perception

.433

.447

F15 - Programme flexibility

.310

.445

F01 - Academic reputation

.408

.330

.338

F04 - Amenities of university

.707

F03 - Accommodation for first year

.599

F02 - Academic support facilities

.339

.432

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F12 - Information supplied by university

.415

F11 - Guidance from parents

.394

.351

F13 - Location

.988

F07 - Distance from home

.679

F08 - Entry requirements

.842

F09 - First university to offer place

.555

F05 - Competition for place

Table 3: Factor Analysis of Factors Influencing Choice

In order to verify the suitability of factor analysis set of factors influencing

choice, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy (KMO) test is used. The
statistical analysis had obtained KMO value of 0.853 which is higher than 0.6 (Kaiser
1970, 1974). Bartletts Test of Sphericity (Bartlett 1954) also archived statistical
significance of 0.0, therefore the correlation matrix is supported. On the Correlation
Matrix table, there are many correlation coefficients of 0.3 and above. By using
Kaisers criterion, components which Eigenvalue of 1 and above are listed out. Only
top 5 components are recorded (6.930, 1.924, 1.680, 1.374 and 1.194) with a total of
59.56%. It is proven strong loading between the variables. Factor analysis can be
carried out after the verification process.
Factor analysis had separate 22 factors into different categories. Table 3 show
the rotated factors with loadings and extracts the following construct: information
factor (column 1), academic factor (column 2), university related factor (column 3),
geographical factor (column 4) and entrance factor (column 5). The factor analysis of
factors influencing choice is assumed to have loading factor of 0.4 or higher, a higher
loading factor will have higher correlation between variables. The rotation converged
in 6 iterations with only which factors of Eigenvalues more than 1.00 are used.

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4.6

Factor analysis of information sources

Table 4: Factor Analysis of Information Source

Factor
1
S05 - Newspaper features

.731

S06 - Peer influence

.691

S08 - University open day

.661

S09 - University web site

.557

S07 - Prospectus

.466

S04 - League tables

.442

S10 - Word of mouth

.435

.323

S02 - Careers service

1.068

S01 - Careers convention

.719

S03 - Careers teachers

.705

To verify the suitability of factor analysis set of factors influencing choice, KaiserMeyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy (KMO) test is used. The statistical
analysis had obtained KMO value of 0.785 which is higher than 0.6 (Kaiser 1970,
1974). Bartletts Test of Sphericity (Bartlett 1954) also archived statistical significance
of 0.0, therefore the correlation matrix is supported. On the Correlation Matrix table,

72

there are many correlation coefficients of 0.3 and above. By using Kaisers criterion,
components which Eigenvalue of 1 and above are listed out. Only first 2 components
are recorded (4.126 and 1.573) with a total of 56.99%. It is proven strong loading
between the variables. Factor analysis can be carried out after the verification process.
There are 10 attributes after extracted from factor analysis. This component is
listed in Table 4. This identifies the following constructs: publicity factor (column 1)
and careers factor (column 2). The same form of assuming is applied to have loading
factor of 0.4 or higher, a higher loading factor will have higher correlation between
variables. The rotation converged in 3 iterations with only which factors of
Eigenvalues more than 1.00 are used.

4.7

Findings

The research emphasizes the need to provide strategies that give an understanding of
undergraduate students choice in Malaysia which consists of: the criticality of quality
of information, the need for a model of choice and the marketing strategies that need
to be adopted to better information student choice.
From Forsyth and Furlong (2003) research, it shows that the information found
by student was inadequate to help them during the decision making process. This study
implies that even information is provided for undergraduate student choice, however
the most concern is the quality of the information instead of quantity. The quality of
the information should be reliable and recognized by university and college. As most
of the undergraduate students have no experience on academics quality, so the most
accessible way for them is through word of mouth and perception to make a decision
which confirmed by factor analysis of information source in Table 4.
For the need for model of choice, this study suggests that a predictor model on
student choice is needed to ensure a clear picture has been given to the university and
college to understand the feedback and opinion from the students to improve academic

73

status in the form of geographic factor, demographic factor and others as shown in
Table 3 are to be influential to determine the undergraduate students choices.
Universities and colleges need to focus on the marketing strategies that need to
be adopted to better inform student choice. All institutions should know their
advantage and promote themselves. This is part of the marketing strategy to sell their
product. As mentioned in Roberts (2003), marketing in higher education is in transition,
moving from a brochure-ware towards relationship management with the purchaser.
Refer to Table 3, institutions should have to focus on graduate employment which has
been shown as highest ranking factors and also the social life nearby and entry
requirements in this research. These factors will help the university or college to create
a better package to the students.

4.8

Conclusion

Through statistical analysis obtain from 145 out of 154 respondents, we found out that
some of the factors and information sources that influencing students choice in
choosing for higher education. Although our respondent samples come from only
UTAR QS students, nonetheless it is relevant among the students in Malaysia, so we
use this sample to represent all undergraduate students in Malaysia.
The results show graduate employment, cost of package and teaching
reputation is the top 3 factors that influencing the undergraduate student choice which
obtains mean above 8.0. Word of mouth and university website is the top 2 information
sources influencing students choice which obtains above 7.0. The factors and
information sources influencing choice can be different due to gender differences and
country (E.g. Scotland vs Malaysia).
Factor analysis had group 22 factors into 5 components and 10 information
sources into 2 components. The 5 components for factors are information factor,
academic factor, university related factor, geographical factor and entrance factor. The
2 components for information sources is publicity factor and careers factor.

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1

Introduction

This chapter covered conclusion and recommendations from our research based on the
result and analysis gathered from the previous chapter. Achievements of research
objectives, research contributions, study limitations and recommendation for future
research will be discussed in this chapter. The conclusion for our research will be made
at the end of this chapter.

5.2

Achievement of research objective

This part discussed about whether the result had achieved our research objectives that
we set at the beginning of this research. The research objectives are, to identify and
rank factor influencing undergraduate student choice of higher education, to identify
the underlying structure of factors influencing undergraduate student choice, to
identify and rank information sources in the undergraduate student choice decision and
to identify the underlying structures of information sources in the undergraduate
choice decision.

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5.2.1

First research objective

Through our research, we are able to identify and rank the 22 factors influencing
students choice. The

mean analysis, we identify and rank top 10 factors that

influencing student choice of higher education are graduate employment, cost of thr
package, teaching reputation,

academic reputation,

quality faculty,

programme

flexibility, academic support facilities, location, own perception and information

supplied by university.

5.2.2

Second research objective

Through factor analysis, we identify underlying structures of factors influencing

undergraduate student choice are academic reputation, academic support facilities,
competition for place, guidance from parents, information supplied by university, own
perception, programme flexibility and other influence.

5.2.3

Third research objective

Through mean analysis, we identify and rank information sources that influencing
undergraduate students choice decision are word of mouth, university website, careers
conventions, careers service, careers teachers, peer influence, university open day,
prospectus, league tables and newspaper features.

5.2.4

Fourth research objective

Through factor analysis, we underlying structures of information sources in the

undergraduate student choice decision are league tables, prospectus and word of mouth.

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5.3

Research contributions

This research can provide clearer information to students who look for further study
in higher education, readers who going to do further research and university. Students
who plan to continue study in higher education in university able to justified what
factors will be faced by them during the selection on their future university. The
research is very helpful, especially for undergraduate student who looking for a private
university in Malaysia. By studying this research they able to forecast what problem
they will face later in their higher education selection. The result of this research can
be used to represent all undergraduate students in Malaysia.
Readers able to know what the problems faced by undergraduate students
during their selection for university. They can clearly understand the factors that
influencing the undergraduate students choice and the current situation in todays
education sector in Malaysia. They can do further research on specific factors that
influencing student choice in more details.
University able to know the problem and the situation faced by undergraduate
students during their selection and try to provide useful information to students or fulfil
the students needs. As example, the university can provide accommodation to
students, this will definitely an advantage during student selection.

5.4

Study limitation

In our research, there is a limitation. In this research, we use questionnaire

methodology. There is a limitation for this questionnaire. Phenomenologist state that
quantitative research is simply an artificial creation by the researcher, as it is asking
only a limited amount of information without explanation therefore there is lack of
validity. People or respondent may read differently into each question and therefore
reply based on their own interpretation of the question. For example, what is good to
someone may be poor to someone else. Therefore, there is a level of subjectivity that
is not acknowledged. Besides that, there is a level of researcher imposition, meaning
that when developing the questionnaire, the researcher is making their own decisions

77

and assumptions as to what is and is not important thus they may be missing something
that is of importance. The respondent may be forgetful or not thinking within the full
context of the situation.
Our research results are quantitative, thus there is some limitation for example,
many kinds of information are difficult to obtain through structured data collection
instruments, particularly on sensitive topics such as domestic violence or income. Selfreported information obtained from questionnaires may be inaccurate or incomplete.
Errors in the hypotheses tested may yield misimpressions of program quality or
influential factors and errors in the selection of procedures for determining statistical
significance can result in erroneous findings regarding impact.

5.5

Recommendations

If there is a second opportunity to conduct the same research again, I will replicate our
research and repeat the same research but on different course students and university.
In this research, we using quantitative research, therefore if repeat the same research,
I will use qualitative research.
Using qualitative research issue can be examined in detail and in depth.
Interviews are not restricted to specific questions and can be guided/redirected by the
researcher in real time. The research framework and direction can be quickly revised
as new information emerges. The data based on human experience that is obtained is
powerful and sometimes more compelling than quantitative data.

5.6

Conclusion

The research is carried out to study the factors influencing the undergraduate students
choice in selection their university for further study. The survey data obtain from
UTAR QS students, with the result shows that many factors can affect student choice
in selection for their future university. Although the survey is done by the UTAR

78

research ability to help undergraduate students with forecast problems that they will
face later in their selection for university so they able to overcome the difficulties. The
research had met our objectives.
A few limitations had been faced during the research it can lead to inaccurate
and erroneous result. However the limitation can be overcome by the proposed
recommendation.

79

REFERENCE

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SAS Institute Inc (2008). The factor procedure, SAS/SAT 9.2 Users Guide.
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April 2015)

Briggs, S (2006). An exploratory study of the factors influencing undergraduate

student choice: the case of higher education in Scotland, Studies in Higher
Education (UK, Aberdeen)

Lawley & Maxwell (1971). Factor Analysis as a Statistical Method 2 nd Edition (The
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Forsyth, A & Furlong, A (2003). Losing out? Socioeconomic disadvantage and

experience in further and higher education (Bristol, policy Press)

80

Roberts, D (2003). A review of the research document marketing in higher

-education

professional

in

transition?

(Online)

Available

http://www.heist.co.uk/library5/enterprise/ (accessed 8 April 2015)

Creswell, J. (2002). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed

Approaches. 2nd ed. (London, Sage)

Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude

Measurement. (London, Pinter)

Bryman, A. (2004). Social Research Method. 2nd ed., Oxford. (Oxford University
Press)

from

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APPENDICES

Questionnaire

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Turnitin Report