The research instruments are the tools used to gather specific data from the target population. This could take the form of a structured questionnaire, or any other scale designed to obtain the necessary information to achieve the overall research goals (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016; Kumar, 2019).
Parents Peers Social Media
Financial Knowledge Numeracy Skills Financial Attitudes Personal Characteristics Professional Skills
Financial behavior
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Based on the nature of this study, primary data was gathered using a carefully structured questionnaire to obtain the required information, as none was previously available to achieve the research goals.
Questionnaires that require respondents to answer the same questions in predetermined order are widely used to gather primary data (Gray, 2013). They enable the researcher to collect first-hand, fresh, tailor-made information on a topic from a specific population.
Gray (2013) notes the following benefits of using a questionnaire:
Cost and time-efficient: questionnaires are a relatively inexpensive means of data collection and often require minimal time for respondents to complete.
Questionnaires are best suited to collecting a large volume of data from many people.
The required data can be collected from the respondents on the spot (at a specific location and time) and clarification of questions can be provided if necessary.
Questionnaires promote confidentiality as it is easy to protect the identity of the respondents.
Questionnaires eliminate potential interviewer bias that can influence respondents’
objectivity.
However, the following disadvantages are associated with questionnaires:
Long questionnaires may have a low/poor response rate (Gray, 2013).
They may take time to administer and be expensive (Kumar, 2019).
If the questionnaire is too long, respondents might not be motivated to participate (Neuman, 2013).
Questionnaires often require clarification and some degree of literacy (Kumar, 2019).
Respondents may provide inaccurate / misleading / flippant responses (Gray, 2013).
These possible demerits were dealt with by adopting the following safeguards:
The questionnaire was as concise as possible while covering all the necessary areas.
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The researcher personally administered all the questionnaires in order to ensure that clarification was provided when required.
During interactions with respondents, the researcher was very polite and friendly, thus creating positive engagement and a pleasant atmosphere.
2.4.1 The research questionnaire – Construction and measurement
The purpose of the questionnaire was to measure the level of the accounting students’
financial capability, financial socialisation and professional skills.
Construction of the research questionnaire
According to Gray (2013), questionnaires should only be used if they fit the goals the researcher seeks to achieve. The construction of the questionnaire is of great importance in achieving the set goals. The questionnaire used for this study was reviewed by experts and revised before it was considered fit for the study. While this study utilised closed- ended questions to measure the accounting students’ financial capability, socialisation and professional skills, Bell et al. (2018) note that questionnaires can use either open- ended questions, or closed-ended questions, or both. The authors add that open-ended questions allow respondents to freely express their views in response to the questions posed.
Closed-ended questions: This type of question provides a list of potential answers to the questions asked of the respondents. Wagner et al. (2012) note that it is statistically easier to analyse closed-ended questions. Such questions also offer the following advantages:
It is easier and faster to answer this type of question.
It is easy to compare responses.
It is easy to replicate responses.
However, (Wagner et al., 2012: 109) note that closed-ended questions involve either tick boxes or rating scales. While tick boxes require respondents to tick or make a cross as an indication of their response, rating scales measure attitudes in linear or tabulated rating dimensions.
50 Measurement of the research questionnaire
Measurement is a crucial part of any inquiry. While qualitative research designs often use descriptive statements to answer questions, quantitative studies are more likely to employ measures involving answers obtained from the interview questions, using a scale (Kumar, 2019). This study used a summated rating scale (Likert scale) to measure the students’
behavioural attitudes.
Kumar (2019) describes attitude scales as measures to evaluate respondents' attitudes through open- or closed-ended questions. He categorises these into summated rating scales, a scale of Thurstone, or a scale of Guttman:
Summated rating scale: A measurement scale sometimes referred to as a Likert scale that is based on each item on the scale having equal weight, equal importance or attitudinal value that reflects the respondents’ attitude to the statement (Kumar, 2019).
Kumar (2019) is of the view that the Likert scale is the easiest type of scale to build and is,, therefore, the most widely adopted by researchers and academics.
Thurstone scale: Widely known as the 'equal-appearing interval', this scale calculates each item or statement's ‘weights’ or attitudinal values. This type of scale facilitates the assessment of the importance of each item/statement by a group of judges on the basis of the respondents' absolute rather than relative attitudes. This is a kind of scale of intervals.
Guttman scale: The Guttman scale is the hardest scale to build, and is therefore rarely used in research. This is a kind of scale ratio.
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Kumar (2014) also divides measurement scales into four categories:
Nominal scale: This measurement scale uses shared attributes to classify objects within the data set. Also known as the classification scale, it employs a discrete classification of the distinctive categories based on the data, whereby items are neither measured nor ordered. An example would be gender.
Ordinal scale: This scale has all the characteristics of a nominal scale, but it also classifies items within the dataset based on the order of magnitude. It is widely referred to as a ranking scale because it ranks items within subgroups based on a logical ascending or descending order reflecting the magnitude of variation between subgroups (Kumar, 2019).
Interval scale: The interval scale is a measurement scale with ordinal scale attributes, but it also classifies subgroup rankings within equally defined spaced units or intervals. The interval scale is, therefore, a relatively designed scale with the attributes of an ordinal scale with an arbitrarily determined starting and endpoint of measurement (Kumar, 2019).
Ratio scale: A ratio scale has all the characteristics of nominal, ordinal, and interval scales, but is distinct from an interval scale, as it has a zero starting point. The scale is therefore an absolute scale that assists in the questionnaire's refinement and finalisation. This was necessary in order to adjust the questionnaire structure and the question coding for SPSS analysis (Kumar, 2019).
More than 70% of previous studies on financial capability used self-administered surveys (Taylor, 2011). After carefully considering the study’s objectives and the measurement tools, a questionnaire was selected to gather primary data.
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The questionnaire was developed following (Welman et al., 2005) guidelines, viz.:
“What the person knows: factual information and general information;
What the person likes or dislikes: tastes, preferences;
What the person thinks: attitudes, beliefs;
What the person has experienced or what happens currently; and
Persons typical behaviour”.
Individual questions were formulated using the questionnaire frame as discussed above.
See Annexure 1 for the Questionnaire matrix, that deals with where the question was sourced and the objective of each question. The questionnaire was made up of 65 questions including demographic characteristics. It was divided into seven broad categories, namely: Part A – Socio-demographic characteristics; Part B – Financial Knowledge; Part C – Numeracy Skills; Part D – Financial Attitudes; Part E – Financial Behaviour, Part F – Financial Socialisation and Part G – Professional Skills. A copy of the completed questionnaire is attached to this thesis as Annexure 2, and the detailed questionnaire matrix is attached as Annexure 1.
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The questionnaire was arranged under the following main themes:
Table 2. 1 Content of the research questionnaire
Section Area Number of
questions
Question no
A Demographic information 11 1 -11
B Financial Knowledge
a) Savings and Investment
b) Spending and Credit c) Income
d) Money management
16 12-27
a) 13,14,17 and 19 b) 15,18,26 and 27 c) 12, 16, 21, 24 and
25
d) 20,22 and 23
C Numeracy Skills 6 28 – 33
D Financial Attitudes 11 34(a) - (m)
E Financial Behaviour 10 35(a) –(j)
F Financial Socialisation 7 36(a) –(g)
G Professional Skills (a) Lifelong learning (b) Communication
Skills
(c) Problem-solving sills (d) Critical Skills
(e) ICT skills
5 37(a) – (e)
Source: Constructed by the researcher
a) 4 b) 4 c) 5 d) 3
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