Synthesis Outline

Analysis of the Non-Correspondence between Central Luzon State University Business Administration sophomore students’ major field of study and their freshmen preferred accounting course

Title Page
Approval Sheet
Biographical Sketch
Acknowledgement
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Appendices

I. The Problem and its Background
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Objectives of the Study
Significance of the Study
Scope and Limitation
Definition of Terms
Conceptual Framework
II. Review of Related Literature
Local
Foreign
III. Research Methodology
Overview
Research Strategy
Respondent
Sampling Technique
Data Gathering Tool
Data Processing and Analysis
IV. Results and Discussion
V. Conclusions
VI. Recommendations
References
Appendices

The Problem and Its Background

Introduction

Statement of the Problem Generally, this study aims to answer the question “How does the CLSU BA Sophomore students’ major Field of study not correspond with their freshman preferred accounting course?” Specifically, it aims to seek to answer the following questions:
1. What are the factors considered by the CLSU BA Sophomore students in their choice of major field of study?

2. What are the sources of information that CLSU BA Sophomore students used in their major field of study selection process?

3. How do those factors and sources of information affect the CLSU BA Sophomore students’ decision of not choosing accounting as a major field of study?

Objectives of the Study
The general objective of this study is to analyze the non-correspondence between CLSU BA Sophomore students’ major field of study and their freshman preferred accounting course. The specific objectives are the following:
1. To determine factors considered by the CLSU BA Sophomore students in their choice of major field of study.

2. To determine the sources of information that CLSU BA Sophomore students used in their major field of study selection process.

3. To evaluate how those factors and sources of information affect the CLSU BA Sophomore students’ decision of not choosing accounting as a major.

Significance of the Study This study will provide significant contribution to the students, CLSU Department of Accountancy and accounting education. For the students, this study will guide them in their major field of study selection process. This may assist them for better decision-making. For the CLSU Department of Accountancy, this study may be of interest because it will give information of what underlies the non-correspondence between CLSU BA sophomore students’ major field of study and their freshmen preferred accounting course. In addition, it will help the department in more actively screening and recruiting students to major in accounting course. For the accounting education, this study will yield insights where the accounting educators may base the activities that can be undertaken to improve the accounting education in our country. Scope and Limitation The scope of the study will be the sophomore students of academic year 2011-2012 with major field of study other than accounting in the College of Business Administration and Accountancy in Central Luzon State University. In addition, these sophomore students have accounting as their preferred freshman accounting course. This study will not include those students whose preferred freshman accounting course is accounting but did not enroll in the College of Business Administration and Accountancy during their first year. Moreover, this study will not cover those students with preferred freshman accounting course that enrolled in College of Business Administration of Accountancy during their first year but did not take their second year in the same college and/or university.

Conceptual Framework

Independent variables Dependent Variable

The above figure provides the explanatory framework upon which the entire analysis of the non-correspondence between CLSU Business Administration sophomore students’ major field of study and their freshman preferred accounting course will rest. The framework shows the independent and dependent variables. It is based on the input-process-output relationship. This relationship reflects the decision-making process of the students in their major field of study selection. The decision-making process is shown within circle with broken lines. There will be no theoretical framework used on the study since it will focus only on determining the relative importance of criteria used to select a major not on the decision-making process itself. The factors and sources of information are considered as the key inputs present in the decision-making process of the students; hence, these elements are within the circle. These key inputs will be considered as the independent variables.
To guide the analysis, it is assumed that the students take into account all the relevant factors in their decision-making given three limitations: one year time frame, opportunity cost of choosing the wrong major is high and taking double major is not allowed. It is based on the premise that students maximize their resources given the three limitations. Furthermore, the analysis will be based on the premise that the students make decisions using the information from important referents and not on isolation. The dependent variable is the decision of not choosing accounting as a major field of study. It is related to the output of the decision-making process where the sophomore students chose majors which are not corresponding to their freshman preferred accounting course. As shown in the figure, the dependent variable is outside the circle with broken lines. This is because the decision of not choosing accounting is only indirect product of the selection process. Still, this decision is dependent on the key inputs because once the sophomore students chose business majors other than accounting they cannot choose accounting anymore. This is when the third limitation- taking double major is not allowed is present. Broken lines are used to show that decision of not choosing accounting as a major is not an isolated decision and to portray the association between the key inputs and the dependent variables.

Research Methodology

Overview

Research Strategy The research strategy that will be used for the study is Survey Approach. It will be used to view comprehensively and in detail the data that will be gathered to analyze the non-correspondence between CLSU BA sophomore students’ major field of study and their freshmen preferred accounting course. This approach will be adopted the survey approach to emphasize the quest for details of tangible data—data that can be measured and recorded. The research strategy will contain two (2) phases. In the first phase, the researchers will run focus groups of CLSU BA sophomore students with major field of study non-corresponds with their freshmen preferred accounting course. The focus group is a research in which students are informally interviewed in a group discussion setting. The researchers will gather together these students to discuss the issues affecting the research study. In addition, there will be a moderator, aside from the researchers, to facilitate free and open discussion in the group. In the second phase, the researchers will then use what they will learn in focus groups to design a questionnaire that will allow collecting systematic and quantitative data about the non-correspondence of the major field of study of CLSU BA sophomore students and their freshmen preferred accounting course. The questionnaire will be distributed in broader range of sample students.

Respondents The respondents of this study will be the CLSU Business Administration sophomore students whose major field of study does not correspond with their preferred freshman accounting course. These are the students whose first choice is accounting in their application for College Admission Test in Central Luzon State University but selected business major other than accounting in their sophomore year in College of Business Administration and Accountancy in the university.

Sampling Technique
The study will use purposive sampling wherein the respondents will be ‘hand picked’ for the research. The term is applied where the researcher already knows the names of CLSU BA sophomore students, whose major field of study did not correspond with their freshmen preferred accounting course, and will deliberately selects particular ones because they are seen as instances that are likely to produce the most valuable data.

Data Gathering Tools The research will use: documents containing the list of names of the respondents; tape-recorded conversation in the focus group; and questionnaires that will be distributed to the respondents.

Data Processing and Analysis
The data that will be gathered using the data gathering tools will be presented and analyzed to attain the objectives of the study.