II.

METHODOLOGY

This section presents the methods and procedures that were used in the conduct of this study.

Respondent Selection

The Respondents of the study will be the fifth year accountancy students of Saint Louis University, Baguio
City. The fifth year accountancy students were chosen as the respondents for they are the ones who have
already finished the internship program among the other year levels.
The data on population of this study was taken from Mr. Allan Frank Silva who is currently the head of the
Accountancy department of the School of Accountancy and Business Management, Saint Louis University.
The listing for the school year 2017-2018 of the School of Accountancy and Business Management of Saint
Louis University identified 431 fifth year Accountancy students. These 431 fifth year accountancy students
were then identified to be the population of the study.
The Slovin’s formula will be employed by the researchers to obtain the sample size. Slovin’s formula allows
a researcher to sample the population with a desired degree of accuracy. It gives the researcher an idea
of how large his sample size needs to be to ensure a reasonable accuracy results. (www.ehow.com)
The formula is given as follows:
𝑁
n=
(1 + 𝑁𝑒^2)
where: n = the sample size
N = the population size
E = desired margin of error (5%)
Employing the above formula, the sample size of the study will involve 400 respondents at 5% desired
margin of error.
The research study will make use of the descriptive-comparative method of research. As widely accepted,
the descriptive method of research is a fact-finding study that involves adequate and accurate
interpretation of findings, thus this method will be utilized. It describes with emphasis what actually exist
such as current conditions, practices, situations or any phenomena (Calderon and Gonzalez, 1993). The
researchers used this approach to assess respondents’ general awareness and to obtain direct information
from the respondents through questionnaire, to be able to formulate unbiased conclusions and
recommendations. The true meaning of the data that will be collected will be reported from the point of
view of the objective and the basic assumption of the research. Comparative research design will also be
utilized since the study will involve determining differences on the evaluation as well as the level of
valuable experience they received from the particular institutions where they conducted their internship
programs. The respondents were grouped according to their profiles.
Data Gathering Tool

The researchers will make use of both the primary and secondary sources of information.
On the primary data gathering tool, the study will make use of a questionnaire-checklist which will be
prepared based on the review of related literature. The questions formulated by the researchers were
derived from an unpublished thesis entitled “Accounting Students’ Evaluation of Internship Experiences
from a Skills Perspective”.
All the parts of the questionnaire will be conducted in such a way that the respondents will have four
possible options but can choose only one answer. The four options will serve as the quantification of the
participants’ agreement or disagreement on each question item. The checklist format was used in the
questionnaire. Checklists are items that encompass several questions on a topic that requires the same
response format.
The questionnaire-checklist will be subjected to validity and reliability test. To establish the validity of the
test, the researchers will consult authorities on the area of Internship Programs for their comments,
criticisms, and suggestions. These authorities who have expertise in making judgments about the
representativeness or relevance of the entries in the instrument will include the supervisors of the interns
and the professors who handle the course. Their suggestions, corrections, and criticisms will be
incorporated to improve and enrich the instrument.
The instrument, in its final form, will be tested for its reliability. It will be administered to a group of 65
respondents (or at least 15% of the population of the study) from the fifth year Accountancy students of
Saint Louis University. Comments and suggestions will be solicited from the pre-test respondents to
ascertain whether there are difficulties encountered in accomplishing the instrument. The Chronbach’s
Alpha Coefficient of Reliability will be utilized to test the reliability of the instrument.
The data gathered will be tallied, categorized and subjected to descriptive analyses. The descriptive
measures that will be used are frequency distribution, percentages, weighted mean, and arbitrary values.
In the interpretation of the data, the researchers will utilize the Likert four-point rating scale. The following
arbitrary values and their respective descriptive equivalents will be used:

Descriptive Equivalents
On the Level of Evaluation
Arbitrary Values Statistical Limits
1 3.50-4.00 Strongly Agree (SA)
2 2.00-3.49 Agree (A)
3 1.50-2.49 Disagree (D)
4 1.00-1.49 Strongly Disagree (SD)

The following statistical tools will be utilized in the study:

Chronbach’s Alpha Coefficient of Reliability: The instrument will be subjected to reliability analysis before
it will be used to gather the necessary data. Sixty-five (65) respondents (approximately 15% of the
population of the study) will be considered. Chronbach’s Alpha will be used to determine the reliability of
the questionnaire.
Percentage. Count (frequency) and percentage will be used for the presentation of the data. It seeks data
to answer the primary objective of the study which is to determine the profile of the students in terms of
their age, gender, and their institution of internship.
Weighted Mean. The weighted mean average will be used for the interpretation of the four-point Likert
scale based on the objectives 2 and 3 – i.e., The level of knowledge and experience the respondents gain
during their internship; and the extent to which the respondents’ accounting knowledge are applied.
T-TEST. The independent sample t-test (Walpole, p. 319, 1993) will be used to determine the significance
of the difference on the level of the evaluation of internship experiences of the fifth year Accountancy
students of Saint Louis University when they are grouped according to the institution where they
conducted their internship program as well as the significant differences when the students are grouped
according their age and gender respectively.
One-way Analysis of Variance (F-Test). To measure the significant difference among the evaluation of the
fifth year Accountancy students of Saint Louis University when they are grouped according to their
institution of internship, the Single-Factor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) will be used. This tool was used
to test the significant differences for more than two groups.