CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research protocols that are being and will be used

by the researchers to obtain the needed data to gain insights into the development

of adult personal resilience in overseas Filipino domestic helpers.

Research Design

The researchers will be gathering information on the demographic and

employment profile of the respondents and aim to understand coping and resilience

according to the respondents’ perspectives through the factors or variables identified

in Chapter 1. To gather the needed data in understanding adult personal resilience

of respondents, this study will adopt a descriptive-correlational under quantitative

research approach.

Through the principles of descriptive research approach, the researchers will

systematically collect information on the respondents’ demographic and employment

profiles, on their perspectives on the relevance of the three factors previously

identified that could possibly have significant effects on their coping, and on their

level of adult personal resilience, and the researchers will use the will-be gathered

data to describe the phenomenon the present study will be working on. In addition,

by means of the principles of correlational quantitative research approach, the

researchers will use appropriate statistical tools to determine the extent of the

relationships, if there are any, between variables and use such statistical information

to describe, analyze, and interpret the patterns or relationships that will arise from

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the will-be gathered data on demographics and employment profiles, perspective on

the three factors, and level of personal resilience.

The researchers are considering the three previously identified factors,

namely (i) presence and company of other OFWs, which includes support or

religious groups in the area, etc., (ii) availability of communication technologies such

as cellphones and the Internet which allow local and overseas communication, and

(iii) positive characteristics of employers, as independent variables that could

possibly significantly affect the respondents’ coping mechanisms and, consequently,

their personal resilience development, which is considered the dependent variable.

In addition, the researchers are keeping an eye on the possibility that resilience

could be affected by certain demographic and employment factors such as age and

length of employment. For these reasons, the researchers are also considering the

likelihood that the present study is quasi-experimental and will be utilizing

appropriate statistical tools to determine any possible cause-effect relationships, if

there are any, between the independent variables and the dependent variable.

Establishing cause-effect relationships between variables, however, is not the main

objective of the researchers since this process requires more data and possibly

more research tools.

Data Collection

The researchers have conceived the idea that led to the conception of the

present study because they themselves are OFWs. Some OFWs were, therefore,

initially interviewed as regards their coping mechanisms. The information gathered

became the basis of the three previously mentioned factors being eyed on by the

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researchers as possible independent variables that could have significant effects on

the dependent variable which is the level of personal resilience. During the conduct

of the study, the researchers will first formulate a survey questionnaire. It will be the

study’s only research tool or instrument. The questionnaire will then be presented to

the research adviser for approval or revisal. Revisions will be made according to the

adviser’s suggestions. Once the questionnaire is approved, the researchers will

provide letters of intent (LOIs) to prospect respondents which contain information on

the nature of the study and the significance of their participation. Questionnaires will

be attached to LOIs. If the respondents complete the questionnaires and return

them, the researchers will accept it as a confirmation of the respondents’

participation. The respondents will be given sufficient time to answer the

questionnaires. This shall be done to reduce as much bias as possible since too little

amount of time allotted for answering the questionnaires might lead to unreliable

results.

Completed questionnaires will later be collected. The data contained in the

answered questionnaires will then be summarized and/or tabulated; after which, the

summarized data will be treated with appropriate statistical tools that shall help in the

data analysis and interpretation stage. Consulting a statistician is hindered by

financial constraints; instead, the researchers will seek guidance from a professional

who has background knowledge in statistics being used in the social sciences. The

chosen statistical tools are, however, subject to the research adviser’s approval.

The whole process of sampling, data gathering, and data treatment, analysis

and interpretation is expected to last at most one month after the approval of the

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research panel. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, giving of LOIs and questionnaires in

person is not recommended or discouraged. Therefore, the researchers will resort to

technology by utilizing electronic mail (email) or Facebook to distribute the said

documents to prospect respondents. Collection of accomplished questionnaires from

respondents will be done in the same manner.

Respondents and Sampling Locations

Due to the limitations brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack

of data in PSA and POEA websites regarding the recent total number of domestic

helpers working abroad, statistical determination of sample size is unfortunately

hindered. Furthermore, the researchers have no means to obtain the personal

contact information of all overseas domestic helpers and will, therefore, rely on the

help of other Filipinos known to the researchers personally. This does not allow for

random sampling. Therefore, the researchers will conduct purposive sampling only.

Although subjective in nature, purposive sampling is the best option the researchers

have due to the abovementioned reasons.

The viable sample size is estimated to be fifty (50) respondents per sampling

location. The present study will, therefore, include 50 respondents from each country

of interest (100 respondents in total) who will satisfy the following criteria:

Male and female respondents

1. currently working as domestic helpers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or

the Republic of Singapore;

2. are living in the homes of their respective employers;

3. have worked for at least six (6) months as domestic helpers; and

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 4. are at least 18 years of age but not 60 years of age and above.

Non-satisfaction of any of the given criteria should result in the exclusion of prospect

respondent(s).

Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, officially

the Republic of Singapore, are chosen as sampling locations mainly because the

researchers are working in the said countries. This should allow for easier

distribution of the study’s research instrument. In addition, and more importantly, the

two sampling locations should provide insights into how culture could possibly affect

the coping of the respondents and, as a result, the development of personal

resilience in them.

Saudi Arabia is a country located in the Middle East region, particularly in the

southwestern part of the Asian continent. It is a predominantly Muslim country, which

is one of those considered to be a “close country” in terms of culture. This means

that the country is not as welcoming of other cultures and practices aside from

Islamic and Arabic cultures as compared to other countries. For comparison, the

United Arab Emirates or UAE is also a Muslim country located in the Middle East,

just next to Saudi Arabia. Although a predominantly Muslim country as well, it is not

as strict as Saudi Arabia; UAE welcomes other certain cultures and practices of its

foreign citizens such as sun bathing in bikinis. The Republic of Singapore, on the

other hand, is an island city-state located in the Far East, particularly in the

Southeast Asian region. As opposed to Saudi Arabia, Singapore is considered an

“open country” like UAE. It is home to several million citizens of different ethnicities;

therefore, the country is rich in cultural diversity.

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 Both countries are destinations of OFWs. The 2017 POEA “Deployment by

Country” summary, for example, shows that 433,567 OFWs worked in Saudi Arabia

while 162,223 OFWs worked in Singapore that year. Furthermore, the POEA 2010

data show that of the 96,583 newly hired Filipino domestic helpers, 11,582 worked in

Saudi Arabia while 2,848 worked in Singapore. With the general increasing trend in

the number of overseas Filipino domestic helpers, the researchers are positive that

the target sample size is obtainable.

Research Instrument

The present study will be utilizing a survey questionnaire as its research

instrument. This will only be the research tool that will be used by the researchers.

The questionnaire (Appendix A) will consist of three parts. The first part will contain

items that will gather data on the demographics and employment profile of the

respondents. This shall include age, gender, civil status, and educational attainment

for demographics and length of employment and country or place of employment for

employment profile.

The second part of the questionnaire will consist of items that shall gather

information on the perception of the respondents with regard to the relevance or

significance of each of the three factors previously mentioned. Scherpenzeel (2015),

a researcher of Max-Planck-Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, Munich,

Germany, pointed out that forms of number production scales, particularly the 11-

point scale (0–10), are favorable types of scale to measure respondents’ attitude or

perception because they prevent or minimize categorization effects, improve data

analysis, and increase reliability of gathered data. The researcher added that it is

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time-saving and prevents response-order effects. The fact that it can be time-saving

is important because the respondents of the present study have generally limited

amount of free time due to the nature of their work. Therefore, because of the

mentioned reasons, the present study will use the 11-point number production scale,

with the lowest point “0” being “not relevant/significant” and the highest point “10”

being “completely relevant/significant”.

Lastly, the third part of the questionnaire will consist of items from Taormina’s

Adult Personal Resilience Theory. The items in Taormina’s scale have been derived

from previous resilience theories and scales that have demonstrated validity and

reliability; therefore, one can safely consider such items to have content validity.

However, since the items are not repetitions or copies of the items already included

in other resilience scales, a validation test on the scale’s psychometric properties

was conducted by Taormina. Subsequent statistical tests proved the validity and

reliability of the items; therefore, for the purpose of the present study, and as stated

in the study limitations in Chapter 1, the researchers will not conduct reliability tests.

In addition, this part will employ a 5-point Likert scale system in grading the items,

namely 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neither Agree nor Disagree,

4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.

Although the research study is not a phenomenological one, it will still

welcome comments or written accounts from the respondents if they choose to

share their experiences or thoughts on the matter. Therefore, the researchers opted

to include a fourth part of the survey questionnaire that asks the respondents if there

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are any other factors that they could suggest to be included in the study or any

insights or ideas on the matter that they could share. This part shall be optional.

Statistical Treatment of Data

The data that will be gathered through the survey questionnaire will be

summarized and tabulated and later treated with the following statistical tools:

Student’s independent-group t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and chi-

square (χ2) test. Tabulation and summarization of survey data shall include the most

basic determination of frequencies, means, medians, and modes. All statistical tests

to be conducted will be at 95% confidence level.

Student’s Independent-Group t-Test

Student’s independent-group t-test is a statistical test used to compare two

separate groups whose means are independent to each other. This test provide

statistical information on whether there is or there is no significant difference in the

means of the two groups. The general equation used to perform Student’s

independent-group t-test is as follows:

X 1−X 2
t=
n 2 n 2

√ (∑ ) (∑ )
n
xi 1 n
x i2
2 i=1 2 i=1
∑x i1 −
n1
+∑ x − i2
n2
i=1 i=1

2
n1 n2 (1− )
n1 +n2

where t is the t statistic whose value(s) will later be compared against standard t

values; X 1 and X 2 are the means of the first and the second group, respectively; n1

and n2 are the sample sizes of the first and the second group, respectively; and

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 n n
2
∑x i1 and ∑ x 2i 2 are the sums of the scores of the first and the second group,
i=1 i=1

respectively.

This statistical test will be used by the researchers to check if the survey data

on personal resilience gathered from respondents working in Saudi Arabia will be

statistically significantly different from the same survey data that will be gathered

from respondents working in Singapore. Any statistically significant difference in the

means of the two groups can be indicator of the significant role played by culture

and traditions in the coping of the respondents and, subsequently, the development

of their personal resilience.

One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Student’s t-test, although a powerful statistical tool, is limited to only two

group means since testing significance for multiple groups using t-test will increase

the expected error. In addition, testing for significance for more than two groups of

means would be very arduous if Student’s t-test is to be used. One-way analysis of

variance (ANOVA) is the alternative. ANOVA is a different yet very closely related

statistical test to Student’s t-test. This test, just like t-test, is used to check for

statistically significant difference between means; however, ANOVA provides ways

to test several null hypotheses all at once. That is, ANOVA can check for significant

differences between means of more than two groups. Manual testing of significance

using ANOVA is quite complicated, so its equation(s) need not be shown here.

Instead, the researchers will be using MS Excel to conduct statistical test using one-

way ANOVA.

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 One-way ANOVA will be utilized in the present study to check for significant

differences in the perceived relevance or significance of the three factors previously

stated. The results of this test shall provide insights into the perception of the

respondents on how relevant or significant each of the three factors are on their

coping and resilience, that is one of the factors could be perceived as more helpful,

statistically speaking, in the respondents’ coping and resilience.

Chi-Square (χ2) Test

Since the researchers would like to determine if the demographic and

employment profiles of the respondents will significantly affect their perception on

the relevance of each of the three factors and if the said respondent profiles will also

have significant effects on the respondents’ state of personal resilience, the

researchers will then utilize the chi-square test for independence. Chi-square test is

basically a test to determine if there is a relationship between two variables, i.e. if

one variable affects the other. The general formula is as follows:

(O−E)2
χ 2=∑
E

where O is the observed frequency and E is the expected frequency. The results

from using the above equation will be compared against standard p values with

respect to degrees of freedom.

Pearson Product-Moment Correlation

To investigate on the relationship that may arise between perception on the

relevance of the three factors and the state of personal resilience and the extent of

such relationship if it does arise, Pearson product-moment correlation, also known

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as Pearson’s r, will be used. Pearson’s r is a simple method used to measure linear

relationships between variables and the extent of such relationship. For studies

involving relatively small sample sizes such as the present study, the following

formula will be used:

n ( ∑ XY )−( ∑ X )( ∑ Y )
r=
2 2
√ [ n(∑ X )−(∑ X ) ][ n (∑ Y )−(∑ Y ) ]
2 2

where r is the Pearson’s correlation coefficient, n is the number of paired scores, X

is the score of the first variable, and Y is the score of the second variable. The

results of this statistical treatment will provide insights into the how the three factors

could possibly be of significance to the development of the respondents’ personal

resilience.

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