KHOẢNG CÁCH QUYỀN lực TRONG môi TRƯỜNG đại học, TIẾP NHẬN bởi SINH VIÊN úc và SINH VIÊN VIỆT NAM

ABSTRACT
The development of mankind history requires international, thus intercultural
communication. Among such communication, Power distance, one of six cultural
dimensions introduced by Hofstede, has been playing the role in showing how societies
handle unequal distribution of power. Since there has been little research on this in
Vietnam, this paper was carried out to investigate power distance manifestation in the
university environment, taking undergraduate students from Vietnam and Australia as
research participants. Hopefully, the research would be a source of reference for
students and teachers of English in general and cultural studies in particular.
Qualitative research design was applied to discover the manifestation of power
distance by students from University of Languages and International Studies VNU
(Vietnam) and Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne (Australia). Fifty
students from both countries were chosen to take part in the research, which purposive
sampling method was utilized. Structured questionnaire of 20 questions and semi-
structured interview were employed to collect data, studying two main aspects namely
group work and classroom environment; meanwhile, content analysis was the main
data analysis method. The findings indicated that Australian students were likely to
behave in low power distance way in both group work and classroom atmosphere;
whereas, Vietnamese students only followed high power distance behaviors in
classroom environment while they manifested low power distance behaviors in group
work. This finding suggests that students who schedule for overseas study should
understand beforehand the working style of targeted environment. In addition, teachers
are also advised to be careful with their foreign student evaluation, and should also
negotiate working style with their students in the first lesson.
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ii
LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS iii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 16
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 28
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 44
LIST OF REFERENCES 49
APPENDICES 57
ii
LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: The differences between a large power distance marketing department and a
small power distance one 9
Table 2: Power distance differences in general norms, family, school and workplace
issue 11
Table 3: Power distance in classroom environment 12
Table 4: Construction of data instrument 20
Table 5: Data analysis units 26
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: A comparison of cultural dimension index between Vietnam and Australia
(Hofstede, n.d.) 13
Figure 2: Data collection procedure 25
Figure 3: Vietnamese students’ perceptions of group work 29
Figure 4: Vietnamese students’ perceptions of classroom environment 32
Figure 5: Australian students’ perceptions of group work 34
Figure 6: Australian students’ perceptions of classroom environment 37
iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Exp. Explanation
HPD High power distance
LPD Low power distance
MOET Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam
Q. Question No.

ULIS University of Languages and International Studies
VNU Vietnam National University, Hanoi
iv
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
This initial chapter justified the reasons for this research to be carried out.
Research questions, significant of the research, scope of the study and the thesis
structure would be presented.
1. Statement of research problem and rationale
“Our entire repertory of communicative behaviors is dependent largely on the
culture in which we have been raised” (Zhang & Zhou, 2008:1). In addition, to achieve
any goals, no matter public or private, it is a must for everyone to “communicate with
each other verbally” and in many circumstances people come from a variety of cultural
backgrounds (Tannen, 1985:280). Therefore, in the modern time, the appropriate
behaviors in many situations require not only suitable domestic-cultural but also fitting
cross-cultural comportments.
In such circumstance, thanks to the comprehensive studies of how values in the
workplace are influenced by culture, Hofstede cultural dimension analysis plays the
role as an effective tool for researchers and communicators to behave interculturally
well. There are six dimensions in Hofstede’s view, namely power distance,
individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty
avoidance, long-term versus short-term orientation, and indulgence versus restraint. Of
the six dimensions, Power distance seems to be a worth-investigating one since it
discusses fundamental issue of how the society handles inequalities between people
(Hofstede, n.d.). Especially in modern university environment, since student-student
and student-teacher communications present as an important aspect, power distance
ascertains its significance in research purpose.
2. Research questions
The research was carried out with the hope of setting up tentative answers to the
two following questions:
1

 What are the manifestations of power distance in university environment
perceived by Vietnamese students?
 What are the manifestations of power distance in university environment
perceived by Australian students?
3. Significance of the research
There are some reasons that urge this research to be conducted. Firstly, in
Vietnamese context, it is seen that there has been little research and few articles and/or
journals distinctly discussing this dimension in university environment. In addition,
studying the similarities and differences in accordance with power distance dimension
between the perceptions of Vietnamese and Australian students is hoped to be one of
the useful information resources for students who are going to schedule overseas study
in these countries. Moreover, this research also plays an important role as a reference
material for teachers in both countries since it investigates university environment,
especially the classroom atmosphere. Last but not least, this study is carried out to help
researchers investigate the cross-cultural dimensions of the two societies.
4. Scope of the study
Since manifestations of Power distance stretch in a large social area, this study
concentrates only on its manifestation in university environment. Since in university
environment, there are a lot of communication and relationship types, this research
concentrates only on the manifestations of Power distance between students and
students (group leader – group members) and between students and teachers.
Meanwhile, the research has the characteristics relatively similar to a case study,
carried out with just a small number of 50 participants from both countries; hence, no
generalization to any bigger scope would be made, as the researcher would like to
investigate to see whether in that small-sized group of students there are any
differences between the findings of this research and the reviewed literature. Moreover,
2
the study would likely to focus on the two aspects that relate directly to the research
purpose, namely group work and classroom atmosphere.
5. Thesis structure

This research consists of five chapters:
Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter aims at stating the research problems, the significance of the study
and proposing questions to answer.
Chapter 2: Literature review
This includes the explanation of key definitions as well as the review on
different previous works on the definition of culture and communication, an overview
of Hofstede’s cultural dimension and Power distance – definition & manifestations.
Chapter 3: Methodology
This chapter comprises of the description of research participants, population
and sampling method; data collection method and data analysis method.
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion
In this chapter, research findings will be presented. Also, discussion on
comparison between two groups of participants (Australian and Vietnamese students)
and between the findings and reviewed literature will be delivered in this chapter.
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Summary of the research, implication of the findings, the limitation of the study
and suggestion for further research will be presented in this chapter.
3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter was constructed to set the theoretical background for the whole
research. In this chapter, key concepts of culture, communication and a review on
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions would be thoroughly discussed. Most importantly,
previous related studies on definition and manifestation of Power distance would be
conferred; hence, the gap for this research to fill in would be indicated.
1. Definition of key concepts
1.1 Culture
There are many different definitions and perceptions of cultures. Mulholland
(1991, cited in Belshek, 2006) views culture as a complicated concept and states that
there is hardly a definition that is commonly agreed among researchers.

As defined by Tylor (1871, cited in Kipuri, 2008:52), culture is “that complex
whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other
capacities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” He also notes that
culture is an efficient tool for people to survive, but this tool is fragile, which culture is
“constantly changing and easily lost because it exists in our mind” (p.52). Zhang &
Zhou (2008) adapts a more specific perception of culture in which culture is defined as
a set of beliefs, habits, living patterns, and behaviors commonly agreed by people who
settle at a certain geographic region. Hofstede (1980, cited in Belshek, 2006:21)
understands culture in a broader and more abstract sense, as in his opinion, culture is
“the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one
group from another.” No matter concrete or abstract, these above definitions all
forward to a common idea, which culture is a set of standard that helps behave
appropriately in a society and to distinguish different communities. Moreover, the
specific culture can be inherited by later generations from previous ones via education.
In agreement with these remarks, Sue & Sue (2003:9) summarize and give out the
following definition of culture, which will be adapted and used in this paper as:
4
Culture is the system of shared beliefs; values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts
that the members of society embrace. Culture is transmitted from generation to
generation through learning, a process known as enculturation. Our culture
helps to shape and influence our perceptions and behaviors.
1.2 Communication
Communication, as defined by the online Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary 8th edition, is the activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of
giving people information. Anaeto et al (2008) perceive communication as an
exchange of meaning, which each person comes into the communication situation with
his or her own experiences which he or she is going to exchange with other
communication participants. Whereas, Savic (2002) sees communication the
transference of information to other people who are interested in the situation.
According to this opinion, communication is only limited to the scope of the people

interested in the conversation, not the others, which is quite more narrow view in
comparison with the definition given out by the Oxford dictionary or Anaeto et al. On
the other hand, Micheal (2012) introduces a broader and more general description of
communication, in which “communication is giving, receiving or exchanging ideas,
information, signals or messages through appropriate media, enabling individuals or
groups to persuade, to seek information, to give information or to express emotions”
(para. 10). He also emphasizes that this broad definition also includes body language,
skills of speaking and writing and stresses on listening as a significant part of
communication. This research uses definition stated by Micheal (2012), as the
definition is systematically presented in details and moreover, harmonious with the
previous introduced definitions.
There are a number of different ways to classify communication. Aarti (2011)
categorizes communication into four types, namely verbal communication, non-verbal
communication, written communication and visual communication. Verbal
communication regards spoken language as its outstanding feature, which concerns
sounds, words, language and speaking. Non-verbal communication involves physical
5
ways of communication, for example, smell and body language. Written
communication receives written language for its highlighted feature, while visual
communication is of visual display of information. Of these four types, verbal
communication and non-verbal communication are the main ones. Unlike Aarti, Dubey
& Burman (n.d.) have a different method to classify communication, which bases on
the number of communication participants, namely intra-personal communication,
interpersonal communication and mass communication. The first type implies
individual reflection, contemplation and meditation. The second one is commonly
agreed as direct communication between two or more people, while the last one deals
with communicating with a large number of people, often a community or populace;
and is generally identified with tools of modern mass media.
Regarding intercultural communication, there are a number of different
definitions and perceptions for the term. Ting-Toomey (1999) claims that intercultural

communication is the communication of people from different cultural communities.
This definition is narrowed down by Gudykunst (2003), as the scholar views
intercultural communication only in the sense of interaction between people from
different nationalities. On the other hand, Martin & Nakayama (2007) broaden the
definition introduced by Ting-Toomey (1999) into the sense of interaction between
individuals from ethnic, religious and/or regional background. Despite having different
approaches to the term, all definitions above commonly mention the interaction
between people from different cultural backgrounds. Arent (2009:2), therefore, defines
intercultural communication in a more holistic way, thus will be adapted in this
research as “Intercultural communication is the sending and receiving of messages
across languages and cultures. It is also a negotiated understanding of meaning in
human experiences across social systems and societies.”
1.3 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
6
According to Hofstede (n.d.), six cultural dimensions include Power Distance,
Individualism versus collectivism, Masculinity versus femininity, Uncertainty
avoidance, Long-term versus short-term orientation, and Indulgence versus Restraint.
Power distance regards the acceptance of less powerful individuals to the fact
that power is unequally distributed. Hofstede (n.d.) concerns the society’s inequality
handling the most important issue. There are a number of adversarial characteristics
between LPD and HPD communities. According to this viewpoint, people in HPD
societies accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place without the need to
have explanation, while in communities with LPD, people try to balance the
distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power.
The next dimension is individualism versus collectivism. Hofstede (1991, cited
in Bassett, 2004) views individualism the preference for a loosely-knit social
framework. Societies with individualism see people take care of themselves and their
immediate families only. In contrast, collectivism represents the choice towards a
close-knit social framework. People can expect affection and protection from their
relatives or certain cohesive in-group members for the exchange of undoubted loyalty.

The third cultural dimension is called masculinity versus femininity. The
masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in society for achievement,
heroism, assertiveness and material reward for success; hence, masculine society is
more competitive than feminine one (Hofstede, n.d.). Its opposite, femininity, stands
for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life, thus
the society is more consensus-oriented than masculine one. According to Hofstede
(1991, cited in Bassett, 2004), masculinity refers to societies in which social gender
roles are clearly distinct while femininity pertains to societies in which social gender
roles overlap each other.
The degree of ambiguity and uncertainty that can be tolerated is perceived by
Hofstede as uncertainty avoidance, the fourth dimension. Hofstede (n.d.) believes that
7
countries with strong uncertainty avoidance maintain rigid codes of belief and
behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviours and ideas; while in weak
uncertainty avoidance societies, a more relaxed attitude in which practices count more
than principles is maintained.
Long-term versus short-term orientation constitutes the fifth dimension. For
Hofstede (n.d.), “the long-term orientation dimension can be interpreted as dealing
with society’s search for virtue”, while “societies with a short-term orientation
generally have a strong concern with establishing the absolute Truth”. He called this
cultural value “Confucian dynamism” (cited in Bassett, 2004:3).
Last but not least, the pair of indulgence versus restrain is the sixth and newest-
introduced dimension. In Hofstede’s opinion (n.d.), while indulgence stands in society
that witnesses quite free complacence of basic and natural human drives that are
related to enjoying life and having fun, restraint society prevents gratification of needs
and regulates it by means of strict social norms.
As this paper investigate the manifestation of power distance in Australian and
Vietnamese university environment, this dimension is discussed more thoroughly in
the next section.
2. Related studies on the definition and manifestations of Power distance

Power distance, in Hofstede’s viewpoint, is defined as the extent to which the
less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and
accept that power is distributed unequally (1991). A review on the Hofstede’s 1991
book retrieved from psychicsahar.com (2003) adds with notice that Power distance
index only measures the individual's perception of the degree of inequality in a society,
not the degree of wealth. Another opinion towards power distance is from European
Commission (2006:10), which “the Power Distance index Hofstede defines does not
reflect an objective difference in power distribution but rather the way people perceive
power differences.” Archer (2011:para. 2) sees Power distance in the angle of the
8
extent to which “major differences between the most powerful and the least powerful
(the “haves and have-nots”) are accepted within the culture.” Although the wordings of
the three concepts’ ways of understanding are different, the content delivered is almost
the same. Nguyen (2010), therefore, views power distance the issue of whether or not
status is important to a society.
Regarding the manifestation, Hofstede (n.d.) raises some differences between
societies of HPD and ones of LPD. He sees that people in large power distance
societies, people “accept a hierarchical order” in which everyone has a certain place
which further justification is not necessary (para.1). Andersen (2003, cited in Nguyen,
2010) clarifies this as in large power distance societies, employees consider employers
to be mentors and will not question or doubt the given orders. In societies with LPD,
residents strive to equalise the distribution of power and demand justification for
inequalities of power.
Archer (2011) provides examples for this. He points out the lowest Power
distance index scored by countries strongly giving emphasis to equality, opportunities
to rise in society, et cetera. Some countries in this list are Austria, Israel, Denmark,
New Zealand, and Ireland. On the other hand, the highest Power distance scores belong
to countries “where massive differences between the powerful and the powerless are
normal and accepted parts of life” (para. 4). Some of the countries scoring high index
in Power distance cultural dimension include Malaysia, Guatemala, Panama, the

Philippines, and Mexico.
In addition, Archer (2011) also presents some differences in detail between
large power distance communities and small power distance ones. He takes the
example contextualized from a marketing department (See Table 1).
Table 1: The differences between a large power distance marketing department
and a small power distance one
Large power distance Small power distance
9
The powerful feel they have so much to
lose that they instinctively go on the
defense, only approving safe,
comfortable, familiar solutions.
Executives understand the dangers of
comfort and monotony, and they
demonstrate their willingness to attempt
bold and innovative solution.
Apart from numbers in spreadsheets,
employees rarely notice any observable
difference created by their actions.
Employees see the results of their
actions, and can really feel the difference
between what works and what doesn’t.
Employees are expected to stay in their
place and not make waves.
Creative ideas can come from anyone.
Employees are encouraged to speak up
instead of sitting quietly.
People who can actually make important
decisions are inaccessible, protected by
layers of middle management.

Lower-level employees are empowered
to make important decisions, allowing
them to happen quickly and with more
context.
Managers view employees who
challenge norms or questioning
decisions as disrespecting their
authority.
The company culture values employees
who question decisions and challenge
accepted norms.
Priority is placed on never making
embarrassing mistakes, making it
difficult to take a stand on anything.
Employees are encouraged to try new
ideas and allowed to fail gracefully,
helping them feel [that] it’s safe
environment for innovation (which leads
to the big game-changing ideas).
Managers are looking for immediately
demonstrable results, leading to a focus
on tactics over strategy.
Decision-makers understand that the
day-to-day execution of a long-term
vision isn’t always easily measurable.
The culture encourages gut instincts,
trust, and a willingness to let a strategy
play out before killing it.
Source: Archer, 2011
Greer & Kleef (2008) mention another aspect of Power distance, which relates

to conflict resolution. They see that HPD helps justify the roles of each member in a
group, which may facilitate conflict resolution in the team. By making clear of roles
and positions, power distance may play the role as an experience to guide conflict
resolution in teams where members have a low level of power. On the contrary, the
two authors see the downside of power distance in resolving conflict if the average
level of member’s power is high, as members with high organizational power may also
10
be more competitive due to the fact that they are so close to the top. Therefore, it is
best for the group if its members both include high and low level of power. This is also
agreed by Nahapiet & Ghoshal (1998, cited in Greer & Kleef, 2008), as teams with
both HPD and LPD may be best for conflict resolution.
Hofstede (1991) also draws out thoroughly the differences between high and LPD
societies in terms of general norms, family, school and workplace issue. Regarding this
aspect, the differences can be summarized as the following table (See Table 2).
Table 2: Power distance differences in general norms, family, school and
workplace issue
Small power distance Large power distance
Inequalities among people should be
minimized.
Inequalities among people are both
expected and desired.
There should be, and there is to some
extent, interdependence between less
and more powerful people.
Less powerful people should be
dependent on the more powerful; in
practice, less powerful people are
polarized between dependence and
counterdependence.
Parents treat children as equals. Parents teach children obedience.

Children treat parents as equals. Children treat parents with respect.
Teachers expect initiatives from students
in class.
Teachers are expected to take all
initiatives in class.
Teachers are experts who transfer
impersonal truths.
Teachers are gurus who transfer personal
wisdom.
Students treat teachers as equals. Students treat teachers with respect.
More educated persons hold less
authoritarian values than less educated
persons.
Both more and less educated persons
show almost equally authoritarian
values.
Hierarchy in organizations means an
inequality of roles, established for
convenience.
Hierarchy in organizations reflects the
existential inequality between higher-ups
and lower-downs.
Decentralization is popular. Centralization is popular.
Subordinates expect to be consulted. Subordinates expect to be told what to
do.
The ideal boss is a resourceful democrat. The ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat
or good father.
11
Privileges and status symbols are
frowned upon.

Privileges and status symbols for
managers are both expected and popular.
Source: Hofstede, 1991
Meanwhile, power distance is said to have enormous impact on the learner’s
outcome result (Paulus et al., 2005 & Wang, 2006). Before that, Hofstede (2001)
figured out the exactly the same findings, as he concludes that power distance has been
affecting the academic performance of student teams (cited in Koh & Lim 2007).
Later, this is once again concerned by Hofstede (2008, cited in Li & Guo, 2012); but
this time, he concentrates particularly to the classroom environment. In this work,
Hofstede gives out a number of differences of teaching and learning styles as well as
teacher-student relations and interaction. Similarly, Tananuraksakul (2009) discusses a
number of impacts on students created by power distance. She finds out a resembling
result in comparison with Hofstede’s. The research findings of these two scholars can
be synthesized and summarized as the following table (See Table 3).
Table 3: Power distance in classroom environment
Small power distance Large power distance
Teachers are as equal as students.
Teachers treat students as equal and they
expect to receive the same treatment
from students.
Teachers are treated with respect (Older
teachers more than younger ones).
Student initiation is “premium”. A strict order is established, as teacher
always initiate first.
Uninvited interventions in class are
expected and questions can be raised at
any time.
Students are supposed to speak only if
they are allowed and invited. In other
words, “students were required to listen

to the teacher quietly and wait until they
were allowed to raise their hands
politely.”
Teachers are supposed to cope with
disagreement and criticism from
students.
Teachers are never publicly contradicted
or criticized.
The aforementioned manifestation leads
to “informality”.
The aforementioned manifestation leads
to “formality”.
12
The education process is student-
centered. Therefore, the learners are
subject to “find their own intellectual
path”.
The education process is teacher-
centered. In other words, teachers
“outline the intellectual paths to be
followed.”
Teachers expect their students to engage
themselves in an active participatory-
interactive environment.
In some lessons, students are selected to
ask questions which are very structured.
Students never call teachers by first
name.
Teachers encourage a first-name basis.
In modern education, the idea of communicative language teaching and learning

has placed the learners into center, it would be quite subjective to conclude in every
large power distance society, none of the small power distance manifestation is
applied. As a result, to see whether there are differences or not, surveys need to be
done in order to get evidence to comprehend.
3. Power distance index of Vietnam and Australia
Figure 1: A comparison of cultural dimension index between Vietnam and
Australia (Hofstede, n.d.)
No. Abbreviation Explanation
1 PDI Power distance
2 IDV Individualism
3 MAS Masculinity vs Femininity
4 UAI Uncertainty avoidance
5 LTO Long-termed vs short-termed orientation
13
As can be seen from the chart, Vietnam scores 70 for power distance index and
Australia scores 36. According to Hofstede, 70 is a high score for power distance index,
thus places Vietnam into the group of HPD countries. On the other hand, Australia
scores just 36, which, according to Hofstede, is a low power distance country.
In Vietnamese context, Truong & Nguyen (2002) study thoroughly on the
power distance aspect. According to them, the HPD characteristic manifests in the
daily life as well as in business of Vietnamese people. In family, children have to obey
parents’ orders. In any organisations, no matter business or administrative-career, there
is a clear subordinate-superior relationship. Titles, status, and formality are very
important in Vietnamese society. Nguyen (2010) adds more details and indicates
Vietnam’s special situation. The scholar sees that the combination between Communist
philosophy and traditional values makes up the specialty of Vietnam. Communism
views everyone to be equal in every walk of life, while traditional values, strongly
influenced by Confucianism (Hoang & Dung, 2009, cited in Cao, 2012), shows the
opposite. Therefore, complicated social interaction and communication style is formed.
As a result, LPD manifestation can be found in macro socio-political situations (i.e.

law), whereas HPD presents in micro daily social situations as those in family, school,
and workplace. Sharing the same opinion, Gudykunst (2001) and Heymer (2008)
specify the certain criteria of hierarchy which can be identified, namely gender
(male/female), age (older/younger, parents/children), qualification (teachers/
students, superior/subordinates), and money status (rich/poor). These criteria are
important, in Heymer’s opinion, as each position is associated with specific roles,
norms and expectation, which Vietnamese people always find a way to display.
Whereas in Australian context, the people’s perception of power distance can be
summarized as follows (Bassett, 2004). Theoretically, the issue is assessed and
discussed with the participant of the subordinates, who are given an opportunity to
make suggestions in an attempt to resolve the situation. Last but not least, conflicts,
which cannot be solved internally between organization and staffs, will most likely be
14
solved by getting the union. In addition, Taylor (n.d:para.4) views some manifestations
of the Australia’s low power distance index: “This is indicative of a greater equality
between societal levels, including government, organizations, and even within families.
This orientation reinforces a cooperative interaction across power levels and creates a
more stable cultural environment.” Samovar, Porter & McDaniel (2009) believe that a
low power distance implies the power in Australia being spread out to everyone instead
of being reserved to a few groups. As a result, Australian people trust that they are
close and should have access to power. The powerful and the powerless should try to
coexist in harmony with each other. Last but not least, a hierarchy is an inequality of
roles established for convenience.
4. Chapter conclusion
In short, this chapter has raised a number of related studies on the symptom of
high and low power distance societies, especially in working environment. Since
previous Hofstede studies have shown that Vietnam scored 70 for Power distance
index while Australia scored 36, the researcher situated a hypothesis here that
Vietnamese students would behave in a way that a typical high power distance
environment would follow, whereas Australian students would be likely to manifest the

LPD behaviors. Therefore, this research was hoped to yield evidence to support or
protest that hypothesis.
In addition, since there was little research on this topic in Vietnamese university
environment, this gap opened a path for the researcher to work on. In such
circumstance, the researcher would base on the comparison between the two types of
cultures raised by scholars to design questionnaire as an instrument in this research.
Hopefully, the findings could contribute to fill in the indicated gap.
15
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
This chapter was written in order to present the methodology that the research
employed. Critical analysis and discussion on choosing research participants as well as
sampling method would be thoroughly discussed. Moreover, data collection methods
and data analysis methods would be mentioned and justified.
1. Discussion of participants
1.1 Selection of participants
As mentioned in the research title, manifestations of power distance in university
environment perceived by Vietnamese and Australian students were investigated;
therefore, students from both countries were chosen to participate in research. In order
for the comparison between the two nations to be balance and to enhance the reliability
of the research, students chosen in Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne was
Australian-European native speakers; while in Vietnam, the researcher engaged native
Vietnamese students from ULIS, VNU to be the research participants.
In order to be involved in the research, participants had to satisfy two
compulsory conditions: native nationality and age.
First of all, they had to be native speakers in either two countries. As stated by
Julia Gillard (n.d.), the current Prime Minister of Australia, it should be noticed that
this country is a multicultural one. Therefore, it should be understood that in Australian
universities, there could be many overseas students of various nationalities. Under such
circumstance, in order to get most trustworthy information and fit the research purpose,
it was best to take native-speaker students from this country as the research

participants. Similarly, and in order for the comparison to be balance and reliable,
Vietnamese native students were taken as participants as well.
The second condition was age. As aforementioned in the scope of the study
section, this research only sought answer from undergraduate students. Therefore, the
16
students had to be certainly at the common undergraduate age, which depended on the
two countries’ education system. According to the Working in Australia website,
young people aged 17 or 18 and older may choose continue with formal further study
(university and higher education). Meanwhile, in Vietnam, the age for higher education
system falls into 18 and older (MOET, 1993). Therefore, the age of participants ranges
from 17 to 24, since the undergraduate programs last for four to five years in both
countries.
1.2 Sampling method
In this research, purposive sampling method was employed. As mentioned by
Tongco (2007:151), this method is used when “information is held by only certain
members of the community.” Oliver (2006:para.1) expresses an agreement with this
opinion, but further notifies that this method is “based upon a variety of criteria which
may include specialist knowledge of the research issue, or capacity and willingness to
participate in the research.” Black (1999) justifies one benefit of this sampling
technique, which is the ability to balance the number of participants in each group
when multiple groups are to be selected.
Therefore, a total of 50 students from both countries (25 from Australia and 25
from Vietnam) were chosen to be the sample for this research. 25 students from
Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne were engaged in this research
because the researcher had friends currently studying in this university. Thanks to this
relationship, it was easier to administer the questionnaires since the researcher’s
financial and time conditions were not plentiful enough. Similarly and for convenience
reason, 25 Vietnamese students from ULIS, VNU were taken as research participants.
2. Research design
According to Mackey and Gass (2005:163), qualitative research presents the

investigated phenomena in a natural and holistic way. Fewer participants are involved
in the research process than a quantitative study; therefore, generalization is less
17
concerned. In this type of research, scholars study the research context with the aim of
“observing whatever may be present there, and letting further questions emerge from
context.” As a result, researchers can become more flexible to unexpected situations
during the research process and this enhances the capability to “develop empirically
supported new ideas and theories” (Ospina, 2004:2). Sandin (2003) adds more that
individual being studied will be paid more attention to his or her actions, as well as the
relation with the other participants and the community in which the study is carried out
(cited in Aneas & Sandin, 2009).
Therefore, being aware of these advantages, the researcher decided to choose
qualitative research as research design, as this research aimed at exploiting the
manifestation of power distance in a part of university students only. In other word, no
generalization would be made. This was because the researcher would like to see
whether in this small group of students, the manifestation was different from what
Hofstede and other researchers mentioned or not. Additionally, time and financial
condition would be a disturbing trouble if this research were carried out to generalize
its findings.
3. Data collection method
3.1 Data collection instruments
3.1.1 Structured questionnaire
Ackroyd & Hughes (1981) list some main advantages of questionnaire. This
instrument can be carried out by the researcher or by any number of people with limited
affect to its validity and reliability. Moreover, the results can usually be quickly and
easily processed by the researcher. In addition, it is possible for analyzer to study the
data in a more scientific and objective manner than other forms of research. Milne
(1999) & Evidence Base website (2006) add more that this instrument is regarded as
relatively quick to get response and the responses are of a standardized way; therefore,
this helps researchers save time and energy while studying data (Anderson, 2007). She

18
also reinforces that “straightforward written questions requiring an answer by ticking the
appropriate box are very efficient ways of collecting facts [perceptions]” (para. 8). In
addition, structured questionnaire is widely appreciated for its efficiencies. Bryant (n.d.)
lists out two main advantages of this type of questionnaire. First, it enables the
researchers to reach a large number of participants fast, easily and efficiently using a
“postal questionnaire.” Additionally, if closed questions are used, the questionnaire is
much likely to be easily created. Moreover, highly-structured, close-ended questions are
useful in the way that they focus on the point and enable comparisons to be made across
groups in the sample (Oppenheim, 1992, cited in Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2007).
Therefore, these factors are beneficial for this research’s author in a number of
ways. First and foremost, the questionnaire was sent to Australia with the help from
researcher’s acquaintance. Due to limited financial condition which the researcher
could not manage to travel to Australia to carry out this research, this was possibly the
best way to collect data. In addition, highly structured questions in the questionnaire
enhanced the response rate; thus would save much time and effort. Moreover and most
importantly, it was possible to make comparisons between the perception of
Vietnamese student group and Australian student group thanks to the characteristics of
this type of questionnaire.
3.1.2 Semi-structured interview
Bryman (2004:66) claims that interview enhances chances for the researchers to
“investigate phenomena that are not directly observable, such as learners’ self-reported
perceptions or attitudes.” It is also known that qualitative interview data often
witnesses more comprehensive understandings on participant attitudes, thoughts, and
actions (Kendall, 2008, cited in Harris & Brown, 2010). Semi-structured interview’s
benefits include “the ability to gain rapport and participants' trust, as well as a deeper
understanding of responses. Data sets obtained using this style will be larger than those
with structured interviews” (Santiago, 2009:para. 5). Kajornboon (2004) adds that in
19
this type of interview, the researchers may ask additional questions that have not been

planned before the interview, thus can collect more data.
Hence, in this research, semi-structured interview was used to elicit more
answer from the participants, as well as some of their indirect phenomena if possible.
Due to the aforementioned difficulties in financial and time condition, interview to
Australian students was carried out online via network applications (for example,
Yahoo! Messenger, Skype, Google+, Facebook, et cetera). Meanwhile, Vietnamese
students were interviewed face-to-face.
3.2 Construction of data collection instrument
In this research, structured questionnaire and semi-structured were employed.
This section provided a detailed justification of questionnaire items and interview
questions. In order to construct questionnaire, the researcher based on a number of
knowledge taken from literature review part to build up simulated situations which
needed solutions, which were of two different perceptions namely HPD and LPD.
Meanwhile, interview questions were brainstormed to investigate further
manifestations. These questions depended on the options that participants had chosen
in the questionnaire (See Table 4).
Table 4: Construction of data instrument
Q
Questions in
questionnaires
High power
distance option(s)
(HPD)
Low power
distance option(s)
(LPD)
Interview
1 In a group

project, your

group leader is
assigning
workload. How
a. You have to do
this/You must do
this/You’ve got this
work to do,…
b. It’s better for you
to do this/You are
suitable for this
work/…
Explanation (Exp.): Subordinates expect to
be consulted (LPD) / Subordinates expect to
be told what to do (HPD).
2 Your group is a. The group leader b. There will be
20
dividing the
workload among
members.
will assign the role
for each member.
discussion among
members so that
each one will choose
their most suitable
workload.
Exp.: Subordinates expect to be consulted
(LPD) / Subordinates expect to be told what
to do (HPD).
3 Your group is

choosing a
leader.
a. More
knowledgeable/more
experienced people
will be chosen.
b. Anyone can
become the leader,
regardless of
knowledgeable or
experienced level.
Interview
question
focused on the
reason(s) why
participants
chose their
Exp.: More educated persons hold less
authoritarian values than less educated
persons (HPD) / Both more and less
educated persons show almost equally
authoritarian values (LPD).
4 Your group is
carrying out the
assigned
workload.
b. Usual group
meetings are held to
get the group work
together.

a. Only few group
meetings are held
because each
member does their
individual work at
home.
Interview
question was
to find out
how group
meetings
affected the
group work
Exp.: Decentralization is popular (LPD) /
Centralization is popular (HPD).
5 There are
different
opinions toward
the group leader.
b. The group leader
reflects the
existential inequality
between the leader
him/herself and
group members.
a. The group leader
reflects the unequal
roles and chosen for
convenience.
Exp.: Hierarchy in organizations means an

inequality of roles, established for
convenience (LPD) / Hierarchy in
organizations reflects the existential
inequality between higher-ups and lower-
downs (HPD).
6 How do you
oppose the group
leader’s opinion?
b. No, it will
absolutely not
work/You mustn’t
do this/You had to
a. I think it’s better
not to do this/This is
more appropriate
if…
21