CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter clarifies the process of researching this topic adopted in this
study. It identifies its analytical framework beginning with its
methodology and nature, location of the sample, population and sampling,
instruments used, and data collection and procedures. Specifically, the
researcher uses mixed methods by combining qualitative and quantitative
tools. The key concern of this method was the compilation, analysis, and
combination of qualitative and quantitative data in a single study, as stated
by Creswell & Plano Clark (2007).

In incorporating both methods, the effect has been greater awareness of

research objectives than the use of a single approach. Interestingly, the
features have given much of the advantages related to the work performed
by the researcher. In addition, it incorporates two data sources in several
ways to generate the best results for analysis.

3.2 Research Approach and Design

Combined methods research has been described as a philosophic model of

research incorporating qualitative and quantitative models of research so
that evidence can be combined, and information increased in a more
meaningful way than either model could accomplish on its own (Creswell
& Clark, 2007). The researcher uses a mixed analysis referred to as the
terminology used to interpret data in mixed research. So far as
Onwuegbuzie and Combs are concerned, the mixed analysis integrated the
definitions and classifications within the context of the methodologies used.
To build this analysis, the researcher used the Exploratory Sequential
Method.

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According to Creswell & Plano (2011), exploratory design pinpointed on a
two-phase sequential process as the researcher used the qualitative phase in
exploring a subject before continued the qualitative phase. Moreover, the
exploratory design intensified the qualitative data and expanded the
quantitative information through the gathering process. The advantage of
selecting this design was effortless to be implemented as it ornamented the
separate stages, and qualitative data was tolerated as well.

The study has attempted to use the Exploratory Sequential Model. In the
first place, it stressed the discovery of knowledge. The aim of this design
was to generalise the qualitative results, based on the few participants that
began in the first phase, to a large sample collected in the second phase.
Second, it emphasises triangulation. This approach required more than one
method of resolving research questions. Third, the approach was
complementarity, where the researcher uses a qualitative process to
examine key variables in promoting student self-efficiency in the
integration of both Islamic and scientific knowledge. At the same time, the
researcher has enhanced the quantitative process to create a survey
questionnaire that deliberately identifies the level of student comprehension
of information integration, the gap in skills integration reflected on the
courses taken and the effect of the instructor and the subject on the
students. Fourth, as regards progress, the researcher reiterated the
qualitative approach to the production of the survey questionnaire, which
was carried out during the quantitative process.

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The researcher has divided the methodology into two phases, as in Figure
20 below:

Phase Ⅰ : Qualitative Phase ⅠⅠ : Quantitative

Research Approach & Design Research Approach & Design

Location of the Study Location of the Study

Population & Sampling Population & Sampling

Data Collection & Procedures Data Collection & Procedures

Data Analysis
Validity & Reliability
for Qualitative Phase

Data Analysis for

Quantitive Phase

Figure 20: Mixed methods division

The researcher uses the qualitative method to evaluate the results of the
semi-structured interview to discover the skills required to combine
Islamic and scientific expertise. In the meantime, the quantitative
approach is used to evaluate the survey questionnaire administered between
final-year students to measure their level of integration of Islamic and
scientific knowledge.

49
The researcher divides the research questions into three phases. Data
collection of this study would be arranged based on the research questions
that illustrated as below:

• In order to fulfill the first research question, the researcher used

literature review which were articles, theses, books and databases to
Phase 1 explore the meaning of integration of knowledge

• The second research question used the results of the experts in

Phase 2 finding the skills, supplemented by the library research as well

• The third question addressed by using of a survey questionnaire that

measured the level of the student’s skills in integrating Islamic and
Phase 3 Scientific knowledge.

Figure 21: Data collection for Mixed- methods

The data were obtained from the sources categorised below:

Literature Review
• Articles, books, theses and databases such as SAGE Journals, ACM
Digital Library and Research Gate, Pro-quest, Jostor and Google
Scholar

Semi-Structured Interview
• Experts from top positions from different faculties in USIM
Survey Questionnaire
• Distribute among final-year students at selected faculties

Figure 22: The data sources

In collecting the data and information related to the research topic, data
would be collected from multiple sources such as document analysis,
interviews, and a survey questionnaire.

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3.3 Location of the Study

For this analysis, the qualitative research involved a semi-structured

interview conducted at four separate faculties in USIM. The quantitative
study also took place among the final students of the respective faculties in
the same university. The faculties involved in this research were the Faculty
of Quranic and Sunnah Studies, the Faculty of Law and Syariah, and the
Faculty of Science and Technology and Faculty of Economy and
Muamalat. The participants involved were the top positions including
Dean of the Faculty and Deputy of Dean, Head of Programme and senior
lecturers who have been appointed in leadership positions at respected
faculties. This research aimed to acquire a variety of approaches and
viewpoints from different faculties. These faculties were selected by
considering the divergence of academic settings and the necessity of the
students to integrate both Islamic and scientific knowledge. The four
faculties were favoured by the researcher to make it multidisciplinary.

3.4 Population and Sampling

Ⅰ) Qualitative Study

According to Patton (1990), qualitative research prefers smaller, targeted

samples. This is supported by Creswell (1998), who asserted that
conducting an interview was the preferable process for collecting data. The
population in this study was favored by the fact that these participants
were in current leadership roles, through which they had a great deal of
experience in the respective academic sector, especially related to student
growth. In qualitative research, the population included in this study were
those currently serving in various positions at the respective faculties
located in USIM. There was a total of eight participants.

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There are eight faculties in USIM. The faculties are the Faculty of Quranic
and Sunnah Studies, the Faculty of Leadership and Management, the
Faculty of Syariah and Law, the Faculty of Economics and Muamalat, the
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, the Faculty of Major Language
Studies, the Faculty of Dentistry, and the Faculty of Engineering and Built
Environment. However, the researcher selected only four faculties which
are the Faculty of Quranic and Sunnah Studies, the Faculty of Law and
Syariah, and the Faculty of Science and Technology, and Faculty of
Economy and Muamalat that closely related to theoretical approaches
relevant to the integration of knowledge.

The selection of the four faculties is chosen based on the nature of their
area and epistemological background. The researcher had the intention of
distinguishing the pure background of Islamic studies and the pure science
background. Knowledge integration can take place between two elements
of Islamic and Scientific knowledge. As far as the pure background of
Islamic studies is concerned, the researcher found it better adapted and
clarified the Faculty of Quranic and Sunnah Studies methods and the
Faculty of Law and Syariah. The syllabus and the direct comparison of the
subjects are based on the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah. Therefore, it is
essential to incorporate scientific expertise to give it a holistic method for
learning purposes. However, integration is not even that varied since the
terminology used is the same. As a result, the researcher chose to pick only
two faculties from the Islamic sector. The researcher has also selected the
Faculty of Science and Technology and the Faculty of Economics and
Muamalat for a pure science background. The researcher noticed that the
terms and techniques used by scientists are always the same. Therefore,
the researcher chose to select only two faculties with a scientific
background. Nevertheless, the responses were saturated among the expert.

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Ⅱ) Quantitative Study
The researcher uses the stratified quota sampling, which provides the
researcher versatility in accessing the sample population is focused on the
use of a quota system. The survey will be driven by evidence of the
presence of character and population of interest. Besides, non-proportional
quota sampling is a technique with a slight constraint of the minimum
sample number of units in each group. It is not interested in making a
number that fits the proportions of the population. The approach is a non-
probabilistic sampling that is usually used to ensure that small groups of
samples are sufficiently represented (Etican et al., 2017).

Stratified sampling is used when the population from which the sample to
be obtained from the group does not have a homogeneous set of stratified
sampling techniques and is widely used to represent a strong sample.
Stratified sampling provides more accurate and comprehensive
information on the sample (Etican et al., 2017). For the quantitative
analysis, the survey questionnaire was completed by a total of 285
students. This study aimed to obtain sampling among final-year students
from the respective faculties which are the Faculty of Quranic and Sunnah
Studies, the Faculty of Law and Syariah, and the Faculty of Science and
Technology and Faculty of Economy and Muamalat, to understand and
how they approach integrating Islamic and scientific knowledge.

The researcher discovered a fair amount of sampling as the results of the

quantitative analysis were intended to support the conclusions of the
qualitative study to investigate the skills needed to integrate Islamic and
Scientific knowledge. The overall number of students enrolled since
December 2020 is 10733. In addition, the data gathered showed that the
responses were sufficient as it stratified quota sampling.

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3.5 Research Instruments

In this analysis, the researcher splits the data sources into primary and
secondary sources. The instruments used rely on the analysis of the data
used in Figure 23.

Primary Source Secondary Source

Interview Theses
Survey
Questions Books

Articles

Figure 23: The types of data used in this study

Ⅰ) Primary Source

a) Semi-Structured Interview
The researcher prefers conducting a semi-structured interview
consisting of elements of both structured and non-structured
interviews. The researcher prepared the formal question and used
the freedom to develop the questions and explored them in
advance. The researcher uses the qualitative research method
promoted by Creswell’s (2003) definition, which illustrated the
interactive qualitative research which required the researcher to
collect data by face-to-face approach.

According to Gay & Airasian (2003), the all-important

component in sampling was to decide on the participants who
could provide the information to fulfil the research questions. As
mentioned above, the data collection approach for this study was
a semi-structured interview, which indicated the fundamental
methods of qualitative research design. A qualitative research

54
 design is sensible for the participants to react freely using their
own words and standpoints. Mitchell & Jolley (2001) stated that
this arrangement would give more freedom to participants in
answering the questions. The researcher conducted each interview
separately to respect the privacy of the participants.

b) Survey Questionnaire
The researcher uses a survey questionnaire to address the
questions regarding the level of skills integration among USIM
students. For Burn & Grove (1993), a questionnaire was used as
a data collection tool. A questionnaire is a typed self-report form
intended to collect information that can be gathered from the
written responses of the subjects. The details gathered by means
of a questionnaire is like that obtained from the survey, but the
questions appear to be less detailed.

Ⅱ) Secondary Source

The researcher directly reviewed and cited the documents for

printed documents such as Al-Quran and printed books whereas,
for the electronic materials, the researcher collected the
information from various sources of databases such as Sage
Journals, ACM Digital Library and Research Gate, Pro-quest,
Jostor, and Google Scholar.

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3.6 Data Analysis

a) Document Analysis
The document analysis acted as the foremost method for data
collection in this research. Furthermore, various kinds of
documents were collected to acquire the overview and
information pertaining to research such as journals, theses, books,
proceedings, and websites.

b) Qualitative Study Analysis

As mentioned above, the data collection approach for this study
was a semi-structured interview, which indicated the fundamental
methods of qualitative research. A qualitative research design
allows participants to react freely using their own words and
standpoints. The researcher has chosen semi-structured interviews
as it will be conducted for one respondent at a time, include a
combination of closed-ended and open-ended questions,
frequently followed with a follow-up on whether or how
questions can be answered. The results of the interviews could
fulfil the expectation of the research questions which discovering
the skills needed in integrating Islamic and scientific knowledge.
Dialogue may be about the subjects on the agenda — rather than
sticking slavishly to verbatim questions as with a structured
survey — and may be addressing potentially unknown problems.

c) Quantitative Study Analysis

A quantitative methodology attempted to fulfil the research
questions stated in Chapter 1. A survey questionnaire was carried
out among the selected students from the respective faculties. The
data for this analysis were analysed using a statistical tool known
as the SPSS. SPSS is a software application that is used for

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 statistical analysis. It is capable of handling vast volumes of data
and can perform all the analyses covered by the text and much
more.

3.7 Data Collection and Procedures

Ⅰ) Qualitative Study
Besides that, the interviews were scheduled for the most convenient
date and time. Moreover, the interviews conducted in-person at a place
convenient for the participants. All participants were informed earlier
by the researcher that the interview could last between 30 and 45
minutes and would be recorded by a mobile phone. This indicated a
backup for the researcher if one of the recorders failed during the
interview session. The interview protocol and interview questions were
sent to the participants at least a week before the day of the interviews
so that they could make some preparation and thoughtful insights for
the study. Before each interview, the interview questions were modified
according to the participant’s position and responsibilities. The
questions were rearranged during the interview and adjusted from what
was planned to suit the flexibility of the participants. The researcher
added and dropped the questions according to the needs of subjects. All
the interview sessions recorded using a mobile phone and the audio data
transcribed into a verbatim format.

In addition, the researcher collected data by using creativity and

initiatives such as jotting down notes during and after the interview.
The interview sessions were recorded by using a mobile phone, as
suggested by Gay & Airasian (2000). In this study, the responses of
each of the participants were recorded and used for the research only.
The advantage of conducting the interview was that the researcher
could benefit from the opportunity to gain more understanding from the
participants as contemplated by Seidman (2006). Bogdan & Biklen

57
(2007) illustrated that conducting the interviews could benefit the
researcher by using their words so that more insights could be dispersed
in the data collection. When all eight interviews were accomplished, the
researcher saved all the recordings. The recordings were transcribed and
revised thoroughly by the researcher. After that, the researcher reviewed,
coded, and analysed the recordings. The researcher took approximately
five weeks to complete the data collection process, including the
transcription.

a) Transcription
The researcher interviewed and transcribed the recorded files of all
the participants. The transcription process was time-consuming as
the focus needed to capture the delivered words of the participant’s
viewpoints. In qualitative research, the transcription process was an
essential element for data analysis. Therefore, the researcher
reviewed the transcripts of each interview several times while
listening to the audio recording to reinforce the common senses of
information as noted by Creswell (2003). The researcher verified the
accuracy of all transcriptions, the researcher would re-read each
transcript thoroughly, then make notes of diverging patterns,
keywords, questions, and common themes.

b) Data Reduction and Data Display

In this study, the researcher reviewed, removed, categorised, and
trimmed to investigate which responses from the participants should
be kept for coding purposes. Apart from that, the researcher reviewed,
highlighted, and identified as part of the coding process. The
responses from the participants would be grouped accordingly based
on the themes or variables. In this study, five variables have been
highlighted, which were self-efficacy, integration of knowledge, the
GIINA Model, Islamisation of knowledge, skills integration as the
main variables.
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Berg (2001) stipulated that the data reduction promoted the
accessible, understandable of a variety of themes. Sato (2007)
remarked that the analysis is done if the data reduction was executed.
Indeed, data reduction should go through the analysis of transcripts
as is a significant process to select, focus, simplify, and transform the
data. From the data reduction, the researcher managed to draw
conclusions based on the common themes. The purpose of the
interview was to uncover the people’s viewpoints as mentioned by
Wallen & Fraenkel, (2001) in their study that displayed how they
would think or feel about a specific issue. Creswell found that the
qualitative interview visualised the salient characteristics as below:
ⅰ. Allowing researchers to acquire important data they could
not obtain from the observation.
ⅱ. Exploring and examining the participant’s responses to gather
the collective opinions and viewpoints in-depth.
ⅲ. Free-flowing and open in settings.
ⅳ. Allowing the researcher to control over the questions.

McMillan & Schumacher (2001) advocated trustworthiness, genuine,

eye contact, proper and clear words during the interview session.
According to Gay & Airasian (2000), the essential principles to
organise the data are as follows:

1. Tend to listen more than talk.

2. Follow-up on the statement and ask questions when you lose

the points.

3. Better to avoid the leading questions but preferably ask the

open-ended questions.

4. Do not interrupt the session.

5. Ensure the focus of participants.

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 6. Respect the moment when there is silence. Perhaps the participant is
thinking.

7. Do not simply judge the participants’ perceptions and ideas.

8. Do not argue with the participant’s ideas.

c) The Researcher’s Role

According to Creswell (2003), the researcher plays a pivotal role in
the process of qualitative research. Additionally, it reinforced the
introspection and acknowledgement of biases, values, and interests of
the researcher. The researcher should avoid unfairness and prejudice.
In qualitative research, the population for this study were the
participants who were currently working in various positions at
respective faculties located in USIM.

There were eight participants in total. These universities have an

enrolment between 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students. In
this study, the researcher opted for semi-structured interviews as it
promoted a variety of results from the respective representatives
from different faculties in USIM. As a result, the data were collected
from diverse perspectives and current approaches in finding the best
approach to integrating Islamic and scientific knowledge.

The researcher highlighted the relevant steps that were modified to

accomplish this qualitative study:

1. The set of semi-structured questions were set up accordingly.

2. The researcher contacted the participants to set an

appointment time for the interviews.

3. The researcher interviewed selected participants from the

respective faculties to know the skills needed by students
in integrating Islamic and scientific knowledge. These

60
 interviews were recorded manually by using a Mobile
Phone.

4. The interview recordings were transcribed and grouped

into the main variables.

5. The responses of the participants were cited, compared,

interpreted, analysed, and synthesised to fulfil the
research questions.

6. The conclusions from the findings would be used

to offer recommendations.

In this qualitative research, the researcher used a semi-structured

interview to collect the data. The interviews involved several
faculties in USIM such as the Faculty of Quranic and Sunnah Studies,
Faculty of Syariah and Law, Faculty of science and technology and
Faculty of Economics and Muamalat. The interview would be
comprised of the top position of the respected faculties such as Dean,
Deputy of Dean, Head of Programme, and Lecturers.

The transcriptions of the interviews were then validated. The results

of the interview were supposed to address the research questions to
discover the skills needed to combine Islamic and scientific
knowledge. Such faculties were selected by recognising the
distinction between academic settings in their respective fields and
were thus encouraged in this study to be multidisciplinary.

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The set of questions are listed below:

1) What is the best method to channel Islamic and scientific

knowledge (Naqli and Aqli) among the students in the classroom?

2) What is the skill required by lecturers to integrate knowledge of

Islamic and scientific knowledge (Naqli and Aqli)?

3) Do you think that the students have enough capacity or capability

to integrate Islamic and scientific knowledge (Naqli and Aqli)
knowledge?

4) How can the skills help the student towards the integration of
Islamic and scientific knowledge (Naqli and Aqli)?

5) Do you think that Islamic and scientific knowledge (Naqli and

Aqli) integration is highlighted in the classroom?

6) What kind of knowledge is required to integrate Islamic and

scientific knowledge (Naqli and Aqli)?

7) How the lecturers spark the idea of integration of Islamic and

scientific knowledge (Naqli and Aqli) knowledge in the classroom?

8) Do you think there is a limit of knowledge in integrating Islamic

and scientific knowledge (Naqli and Aqli) among the students?

9) How can the lecturers create a conducive learning environment to

attract the students?

10) What are the problems in integrating Islamic and scientific

knowledge (Naqli and Aqli) in the classroom?

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d) Validity and Reliability
McMillan & Schumacher (2001) asserted that the measurement of
validity should highlight the purpose, population, and
environmental attributes. This was supported by Bryman & Bell,
(2003) as well as Schwab (2005) who remarked that integrity and
truth of the conclusion were part of validity. This agreed with
McMillan and Schumacher (2006), who stated that the
interpretation which resulted in mutual meanings between the
interviewer and interviewee was a sign of validity. Creswell
(2003) pointed out that validity was an indicator to determine the
accuracy of the findings between the researcher, participants, and
reader.

In addition, McMillan & Schumacher (1989) explained that

reliability referred to the consistency of the data analysis and
interpretation of the data. Moreover, Suter (2006) said, reliability
described how well the instrument measured whatever was
supposed to measure. This was concurred by Kumar (1996) that if
the instrument was consistent and stable, that is how the
reliability defined.

Merriam (2002) stated that reliability highlighted the extent of the

research findings until it could be replicated. Indeed, Morse &
Richards (2002) remarked that reliability showed the same results.
Patton (2002) claimed that validity and reliability were significant
under the investigation of the study and not only the imagination
“to be”. Therefore, the researcher followed the following rules to
assure reliability in this research:

1. The researcher structured interview questions that were

clear and oriented.

63
 2. The researcher created a precise and detailed interview
protocol.
3. The researcher interviewed in a convenient place and the
participants were given the freedom to express their
viewpoints and experiences.
4. The researcher used a mobile phone and took some notes
which then reviewed and concurred by the participant.

e) Limitations

In summary, the researcher concludes that there were limitations to

the qualitative study. The limitations were sensed when the
selected faculties were favoured. The diversity of the participant’s
curriculum background affected the result of the findings. It was
predicted that limited experiences, PIINA training, especially in
USIM in integrating Islamic and scientific knowledge, and the
target goal by each participant from the programme.

Ⅱ) Quantitative Study
The researcher used a survey questionnaire to address questions
regarding the level of skills integration among USIM students. The
research established a survey questionnaire to identify the level of
demanded skills in integrating Islamic and scientific knowledge. The
listing skills were obtained from the qualitative findings that
involved the semi-structured interviews among the experts and
supplemented by the library research. The questionnaire comprised
all the main variables which were self-efficacy, integration of
knowledge, the GIINA Model, Islamisation of knowledge and the
skills of integration.

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The structure of the questionnaire was divided into three which were:

• The meaning of the integration of knowledge

• The skills integration to integrate both Islamic and scientific
knowledge
• The student’s perceptions as the check and balance that would
be used as the recommendation in Chapter Five.

The research determined the methods that could be used to generate

and manage the survey questionnaire. The flows for the process are
illustrated as below:

1. The researcher identified the questions for the questionnaire.

These questions were expanded from the findings of the
qualitative findings. The set of questions was verified from
experts in the quantitative study.
2. The researcher selected the questionnaire subjects that intended to
address the research questions.
3. The researcher carried out the analysis using the SPSS and
interpreted the data and discussed the outcomes of the analysis.
4. The researcher investigated the links of the qualitative findings
and the quantitative findings to draw a conclusion as well as the
recommendation for further studies.

The researcher creates a designated instrument that categorised the

survey questions into integration knowledge in general, the
demanded skills in integrating Islamic and scientific knowledge and
the students’ perceptions. Fowler (1993) asserted that survey items
should be expanded for each category obtained from the interview
data and literature review. The researcher used the Likert-type scale
to address the specific constructs of interest in quantitative study.
Interestingly, this Likert scale was invented by Rensis Likert who

65
highlighted this tool for the attitude assessment purpose. Moreover,
Mclver and Carmines (1981) proclaimed that, generally, a dataset
comprised of an equivalent number to a statement whether it was
favourable or unfavourable or not.

Furthermore, the respondents were requested to give their responses

to the appointed statements and stated the degree of agreement or
disagreement. Generally, there would be a display of five responses
which were strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree or strongly
disagree. According to Edwards and Kenney (1946), a Likert scale
was opted for its straightforwardness and widely used on the
measurement of attitude and managed to achieve higher reliability
with small numbers of items. Therefore, respondents requested to
give their level of agreement or disagreement by using a five-point
Likert scale. Typically, in the quantitative study, the most favourable
attitudes would illustrate the highest scores, while the unfavourable
scores would visualise the lowest scores. The researcher designated
the scale as followed: 5 for Strongly Agree, 4 for Agree, 3 for
Neutral, 2 for Disagree and 1 for Strongly Disagree. Spector (1992)
contemplated that the characteristics relating to the summated scale
rating in the survey questionnaire. The characteristics were
illustrated as below:

1) The researcher should ensure multiple items on one scale.

2) The researcher should be aware of the purpose of each item
measured within the quantitative measurement.
3) The researcher should be aware that there is a current and
incorrect answer.
4) The researcher should display only the statement, and the
respondents were requested to give their appropriated rating
based on the preference.

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 In this study, the researcher used the self-administered survey to
distribute the questionnaire. The researcher used Google Form as a
tool for collecting information. Google Form is a free online tool
where most people could access the survey, and it easily used and
effective in collecting the data.

a) The List of Questions in the Survey Questionnaire

The researcher divided the questionnaire into three components. The
first component concerned the integration of knowledge and related
to the understanding part of the integration.

The list of questions for the first component are as follows:

• I understand well the concept of integration of Naqli and Aqli

knowledge.

• I am familiar with the methods of integration of Naqli and Aqli

knowledge.

• I am aware of the concept of Islamisation of knowledge.

• I am aware of the methods of Islamisation of knowledge.

• I know fundamental sources of reference related to the

integration of knowledge.

• I know the pioneers of the integration of knowledge.

• I am aware of the graduate in the integration of Naqli and Aqli

development.

67
The second component of the questionnaire highlighted the
demanded skills in integrating Islamic and scientific knowledge. The
questions for the second component are listed below:
• I understand the difference between Naqli knowledge and Aqli

knowledge.

• While reading the scientific (rational) writings, I understand

whether the idea supports Islam or not.

• The integration of knowledge combines the “two readings,”

reading of the Qur’an and the created universe.

• While reading the Islamic (revealed text) writings, I understand

their similarities and dissimilarities with any modern scientific
knowledge.

• I understand the interconnections between Allah, human beings,

and the universe.

• I understand the unity of themes of the Quran.

• I try to understand the universe and creation through the

Qur’anic perspective.

• I understand the relation between the methodology of revelation

and methodology of the universe, which are interconnected.

• I think the more knowledge we gain on revelation (wahyu), and the

universe, the more we grow our capacity to integrate between
revelation and science.

• I can distinguish between the methodology of revelation (wahyu)

and the methodology of natural sciences.

• I understand how the supreme values of the Quran (tawhid,

tazkiyah and civilisation) correspond to each other.

• I think memorising skills needed to understand the integration of

Naqli and Aqli knowledge.

• I think skills in both Arabic and English languages are necessary to

integrate Naqli and Aqli.

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 • I am comfortable with the sources of knowledge written in Arabic.

• I am comfortable with the sources of knowledge written in English.

• In integrative teaching-learning, the process of self-transformation

happened when memorisation, understanding, thinking, and
internalising take place in teaching and learning processes.

The third component of the questionnaire concerned the student’s

perceptions. The questions for the last component are as follows:

• The subjects offered by my faculty focus enough on the integration

of Islamic and scientific knowledge.

• The lecturers help the students to gain more understanding about

integrating Naqli and Aqli by giving the related assignments.

• The lecturers combine Naqli and Aqli perspectives.

• The lecturers encourage the students to memorise related verses to

be attached in explaining modern knowledge.

b) Validity and Reliability of the Survey Instrument

Ary et. al (1990) explained that validity referred to the extent to
which a test measured what it attempted to measure. It allowed the
readers to evaluate the study’s validity and reliability, as asserted by
Kallet & Richard (2004). The researcher referred to experts
regarding the questionnaire made for discovering the skills needed in
integrating both Islamic and scientific knowledge. Furthermore, the
questionnaire was arranged into main skills and sub-questions to
strengthen the designated statements.

69
 However, the researcher noticed the limitation in which there would
be network coverage issues when using the online tool like Google
Form. Ary et. al (1990) asserted that the consistency of the
measuring instrument indicated reliability. For this study, the
researcher used Cronbach’s Alpha to qualify the reliability of this
research. Aron et. al (2005) mentioned in their research that the most
common measure of reliability was Cronbach’s Alpha. Therefore,
the researcher used SPSS to discover reliability and interpret the
findings.

c) Reliability of the Research

Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to evaluate whether the scales
were accurate or not. The variables included in the questionnaire
included integration knowledge in general, the listing skills required
to integrate Islamic and scientific knowledge and student
perceptions. Pallant (2005) remarked the ideal value for the
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient should be above 0.7.

The result of the reliability analysis captured that the value was
reliable which was 0.9. The reliability is more than 0.7, which means
the study was reliable with the data used by the researcher. The
reliability has shown the answers were true, and the questions were
not biased to any party.

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 Reliability Statistics
Cronbach’s Alpha Cronbach’s Alpha N of Items
Based on
Standardised Items

.962 .963 27

Figure 24: Result of Reliability Statistics

Based on Figure 24, column N referred to a list of questions used by

the researcher and the result obtained was 0.962, which is considered
reliable. The purpose of the study was to assess the level of student
skills required to combine Islamic and scientific knowledge. In other
words, it articulated the students’ self-efficacy to be accepted as
being capable of integrating Islamic and scientific knowledge.Data
Analysis for Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

3.8) Data Analysis

The researcher separates the analysis of data into two phases which are data
analysis for Qualitative study and quantitative study.

Ⅰ) Data Analysis for Qualitative Study

According to Morse & Richards (2002), the integration of research
questions obtained data and data analysis was the advantage of a
qualitative study. The researcher used the creativity, the variety of
standpoints and skilful writing for qualitative data analysis suggested
by Suter (2006). McMillan & Schumacher noted that the qualitative
data analysis was considered as an inductive process where the data
was organised and grouped into the same patterns.

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Moreover, in this study, the researcher classified all the responses
obtained into main themes, and then the data were interpreted and
analysed to suit the research questions. Marshall and Rossman (1999)
stressed that a researcher should know to do the content analysis
which involved identified the all-important themes and examples.

The researcher constructed the meaningful patterns then emerged from

the data, which made sense of them. According to Creswell (1998), the
process of analysing data, including the data arrangement and how to
read, memorise, describe, classify, interpret, and illustrate data. Gay
and Airasian (2003) claimed that analysing data was one of the
intimidating duties for the researchers. Hatch (2002) mentioned that a
researcher should engage with intellectuality to sense the investigation
for the qualitative data. Creswell (2003) that declared the specific
types of strategies for the data analysis.

Besides, Patton (1990) found that thinking of both science and art
analysis leads to qualitative advancement. Ritchie and Spencer (2002)
proclaimed that the detection was essential in the qualitative study to
classify, explain, explore, and map accordingly. The researcher read
the interview transcripts and attempted to be familiar with them.

Furthermore, the researcher listened to the recordings of each

interview at the same timing of the reading and reviewing process.
Each interview transcript would be read multiple times by the
researcher to ensure data accuracy. Any irrelevant discussions with the
participants were removed. The researcher used the six strategies
suggested by Creswell (2003), where qualitative researchers should
follow the process of data analysis.

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 These strategies are listed below:

i. The researcher organised and prepared data for the analysis

process. This process involved to transcribe, scan, type, and
arrange into the related sources.
ii. The researcher read all the data thoroughly.
iii. The researcher began the coding process.
iv. The researcher used the coding to group the data into themes.
v. The researcher used a narrative passage to display the findings

of the analysis.

vi. The researcher extracted the lesson learned.

The researcher categorises the qualitative findings according to the skills

mentioned by Al-Alwani and synchronised them with the expected skills
listed by the participants. In this research, the researcher began the data
analysis and interpretation by the following process:

Formed some
Reviewed the Gathered the themes and
transcriptsfor detailed categories
several times information from the
responses

Figure 25: The data analysis and interpretation

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Ⅱ) Data Analysis for Quantitative Study
The researcher highlighted the descriptive statistics in the data
analysis of the quantitative study. Aron et. al (2005) propounded that
the descriptive statistics were promoted in reviewing and explaining
the data obtained from the respondents. SPSS was chosen because of
its compatibility with most other software packages and its ease of
use for data analysis. The researcher mentioned the central tendency
which used the value of the mean, central of dispersion which used
the value of the standard deviation and the frequency distribution
based on the preference from the respondents to discover the level of
skills in integrating Islamic and scientific knowledge.

The researcher tests the reliability of each element dependent on

Cronbach’s alpha value. The Cronbach’s alpha value determines the
internal consistency or average correlation of items in the survey
instrument to gauge its reliability. The Cronbach’s alpha value varies
from 0 to 1. The higher the ranking, the more accurate the scale
produced. Variable Descriptive Analysis of quantitative data analysis
was initially descriptive. Statistics including means, percentages,
medians, ranges and variances have been measured. This study
allowed researchers to establish an initial interpretation of the data
obtained during the quantitative process.

The researcher collects information on dataset variables in the data

analysis, such as averages and variable variances. In comparison, a
variety of summary or concise statistics can be found under the
descriptive method available from the analyse and descriptive
statistics menu in the SPSS. The object of the descriptive statistics
was to test the mean and the standard deviation of each variable.

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In addition, a connection between variables has also been explored.
When the differences between both variables are less than 0.90. This
implies that there is a small risk of multicollinearity problems, as
asserted by Tabachnick & Fidell (2007). The researcher uses the
following steps for the descriptive statistics:

i.To view the available descriptive data, press the Options tab.

ii.Clicking on the boxes next to the names of the statistics will

result in these figures being shown in the output for this
process. The main numbers, which are mean, standard
deviation, minimum and average, have therefore been chosen.

iii.Selecting all relevant statistics, the performance can be created

by first clicking the Continue button in the Options dialogue
box, then clicking the OK button in the Descriptions dialogue
box.

iv.The number of cases in the data set is reported in the column

called N. Data on the number of variables can be contained in
the Minimum and Maximum columns. The sum is seen in the
mean column. Variability can be measured by analysing the
Std. Deviation column.

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 The descriptive statistics could be summarised as below in Figure 26:

Measures of Tendency

•the researcher used thevalue of Mean to capture the most

stipulated responses from the respondents.

Measures of Dispersion

•the researcher used the value of Standard Deviation to spot

how the data spread out. Standard Deviation was the
average distance from the Mean.

Measures of Frequency

•the researcher used the Frequency distribution to mark

how often the responses were given by the respondents.

Figure 26: The descriptive statistics

3.9 Summary

Systematic methods have been used to address questions of research

relating to the skills required to integrate Islamic and scientific
knowledge. The researcher used expert insights to discover the skills
required to combine Islamic and scientific expertise. In addition, the
researcher created a survey questionnaire to measure the level of
competence of the respondents by using quantitative tools to measure
the findings.

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