CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHOD
1

Introduction

This chapter presents the Research Method which is divided into Research Design,
Population and Sample, Research Instruments, Procedure for Data Collection, Procedure
for Data Analyses, Pilot Study, and Summary. This research used experimental design to
investigate the effects of prerequisite mathematics ability, English language skills, and
teaching method on mathematics achievement.
2

Research Design

A factorial experimental design was used to investigate the effects of three independent
variables; namely, prerequisite mathematics ability, English language skills, and teaching
method; on the dependent variable of mathematics achievement. This section will explain
the factorial design with each of the independent variable having two levels. The two
levels of prerequisite mathematics ability were low and high; the two levels of English
language skills were low and high; and the two levels of teaching method were direct
instruction and cooperative learning. A (2x2x2) factorial design was used in this research
with a total of eight groups/cells. The factorial design is shown in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1: (2x2x2) Factorial Design on Mathematics Achievement
Prerequisite Mathematics
Ability
English Language Skills: Low
English Language Skills: High
Prerequisite Mathematics
Ability
English Language Skills: Low
English Language Skills: High
4

Low

High

Direct Instruction
Direct Instruction
Low

Direct Instruction
Direct Instruction
High

Cooperative
Learning
Cooperative
Learning

Cooperative
Learning
Cooperative
Learning

Population and Sample

This was a part of an action research planned for a public secondary school in Petaling
Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The research population comprised of all the Form 4 students in
the school for the school year of 2009. A total of 240 Form 4 students were randomly
selected as research sample. Other population and sample were not considered in this
research, since it was an action research for the school.

Research Instruments
There were four instruments used in this research, namely: (a) Backgrounds Questionnaire
to collect data on backgrounds of respondents; (b) Prerequisite Mathematics Pretest to
measure students prerequisite mathematics ability; (c) English Language Pretest to
measure students English language skills; and (d) Mathematics Posttest to measure
students mathematics achievement. The four research instruments were developed by two
mathematics teachers and two English Language teachers from the school. The
Backgrounds Questionnaire was focused on students gender, ethnic, stream, and PMR
Mathematics grade. The Mathematics Pretest and Posttest were developed based on the
topic of Probability and Statistics, while the English Language Pretest was developed
based on Form 4 syllabus.

Procedure for Data Collection

The 240 Form 4 students were called to meet the School Principal and researchers at the
schools hall. They were briefed about the research and were given the Backgrounds
Questionnaire, Prerequisite Mathematics Pretest, and English Language Pretest. After the
results of the Prerequisite Mathematics Pretest and English Language Pretest were
obtained, the students were classified into four groups of 60 students each, namely: (a)
students with low Prerequisite Mathematics scores and low in English Language
scores; (b) students with low Prerequisite Mathematics scores and high in English
Language scores; (c) students with high Prerequisite Mathematics scores and low in
English Language scores; and (d) students with high Prerequisite Mathematics scores
and high in English Language scores.
Each of the four groups of students was later assigned randomly to two groups of 30
students each to form a total of eight groups. One mathematics teacher was trained on how
to teach mathematics using Direct Instruction, and another mathematics teacher was
trained to teach mathematics using Cooperative Learning. After the training, one of the
mathematics teachers taught four of groups of students on the topic of Probability and
Statistics for a period of three weeks using Direct Instruction. The other four groups of
students were taught by the other mathematics teacher on the topic of Probability and
Statistics also for a period of three weeks using Cooperative Learning. At the end of three
weeks, all students were given the Mathematics Posttest.

Procedure for Data Analyses

One English language teacher was asked to mark the English Language Pretest answer
scripts, one mathematics teacher was asked to mark the Prerequisite Mathematics Pretest
answer scripts, and another mathematics teacher was asked to mark the Mathematics
Posttest answer scripts, based on the marking schemes provided by the researcher. The
backgrounds information of the students and their Prerequisite Mathematics Pretest scores,
English Language Pretest scores, and Mathematics Posttest scores were entered into a
computer file for analyses. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to

analyze the research data. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the
backgrounds of students who participated in the research.
The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the following null hypotheses on the
main effects of the independent variables investigated at 0.05 level of significant. The
following null hypotheses were formulated to answer the research questions:
(a) There is no difference in mathematics achievement between students with low and high
prerequisite mathematics abilities.
(b) There is no difference in mathematics achievement between students who are taught
using lecture method and cooperative method.
(c) There is no difference in mathematics achievement between students with low and high
English language skills.
8

Pilot Study
A pilot study for the research was carried out in the same school when the two
mathematics teachers were given the training on how to teach mathematics using Direct
Instruction and Cooperative Learning. A small sample of 20 students was used in the pilot
study, whereby the students were given the Backgrounds Questionnaire, English Language
Pretest, Prerequisite Mathematics Pretest, and Mathematics Posttest. The students were
interviewed by the researcher on their understanding of the Questionnaire, Pretests, and
Posttest. The researcher had refined the Questionnaire, and a new set of equivalent English
Language Pretest, Prerequisite Mathematics Pretest, and Mathematics Posttest were
developed by the same two mathematics teachers and two English Language teachers
based on the comments from students.
3.8 Summary
This chapter presented the Research Method that was focused on the Research Design,
Population and Sample, Research Instruments, Procedure for Data Collection, Procedure
for Data Analyses and Pilot Study. The research was carried out on 240 Form 4 students
from a public secondary school in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. A Backgrounds Questionnaire,
an English Language Pretest, a Prerequisite Mathematics Pretest, and a Mathematics
Posttest were used as research instruments. A pilot study was carried out at the same
school and the instruments were refined based on students comments. Descriptive
statistics were used to explain the backgrounds of respondents, while ANOVA was used to
test the null hypotheses of the research.