A MIXED-METHODS STUDY ON COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION AMONG ACADEMICS IN MALAYSIAN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL SECTOR
Khairunneezam Mohd Noor, Muhamad Zaki Mustafa & Siti Suriani Othman
Communication Program, Faculty of Leadership and Management, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia
Abstract
Spector (1997) asserts that communication in the organisation is a critical aspect that should be carefully promoted and monitored in any organisation; any occurrence of communication breakdown among the members in the organisation, will influence the way how each person interact with each other and how important information is shared among them. It will then influence the attitude and behaviour of each person in the organisation, including the level of job satisfaction. This article aims to analyze academics in higher education institutions satisfaction on communication at their workplace. The study implemented a sequential manner of collecting mixed methods data, which started with a qualitative study followed by a quantitative study. The first stage of the study took the form of semi-structured interviews with several key persons and focus group members in order to identify core implications of the identified discussion on communication satisfaction. A thematic analysis was employed to analyse each interview with respondents using NVivo. Quantitative data collection in the second stage involved an online survey conducted through a self-administered online survey tool- Survey Monkey. A total of 1078 academic staff from three participating public universities responded in this study, representing a total response rate of 5.7%. Descriptive and inferential analyses were employed to analyse the relationships between all variables using SPSS. The findings showed a consistent assertion among the respondents both in the qualitative and quantitative studies whereby they found that they were moderately satisfied with the communication at their workplace. The findings of this study theoretically and practically contribute in terms of understanding the state of communication satisfaction of academics.
Keywords: Communication Satisfaction, Academics, Malaysian Higher Education Institutions
Topic: Communication