1.0 Introduction Dress code is a standard of dress establish for
a given environment, as in the military, in a school or business,
or in a cultural group. It is also one of the symbols of formality.
The definition of dress code is a set of rules specifying the
correct manner of dress while on the premises of the institution
(Word Web Online,1999). Example of dress code is a combination of
smart casual such as dressing that the officers wear when they want
to go to work. Many races in Malaysia have their own dress code to
compare 1 race with another races and its symbol of their own
personality. For example Malay has baju kurung and kebaya, for
Chinese they have cheongsam and for Indian they have sari. For many
events in Western cultures, a dress code is specified, and the
invitee should wear clothes at the specified level, and, at his
discretion and more formal (Wikipedia, n.d.). 1.1 Background of
Problem Nowadays, dress codes ethics in public universities become
something that students can take lightly. Almost of students in
Institut Pengajian Tinggi (IPT) ignore the dress codes ethics
everyday. Basically, public universities have their own dress codes
ethics for students to dress modestly. Thus, students should put on
suitable dressing according to occasions. However, some students
are stubborn and not know of this etiquette. Universitys
administration did not have other choice but to take action in
order to control students dressing by sending the students out of
classroom, or fine them. If the universitys administration did not
take action, this problem become worse than it does and can effect
the universitys dignity and students future life. It also give
students more freedom in dressing, and students will dress with
immature dress that conservative, not suitable and too sexy to
attend class.
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1.2 Statement of Problem Dress code is known at all
institutions. Each school, university or other institution have
their own dress code. Several, when some the student of University
Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) did not follow the dress code due to some
reason. We can say that by observing the UTM student on how their
dressing during lecture time. The students did not dress properly
and did not follow the dress code due to the effect of overslept.
They do not have enough of time to wear properly and follow the
dress code because they have late to go to their lecture.
Sometimes, the student did not follow the dress code because they
feel uncomfortable with the dress code that had been set by
University Administration. It is also because of the student
attitude. The students take easy dress code for graduated. They did
not bother at all about the dress code. They enjoy on how they are
wearing. Rarely, the student from village or rural area is also
cannot follow the dress code because they do not fell comfortable
with the dress code. They feel uncomfortable to wear something that
they rarely do. Therefore, it is indeed to find and identify the
reason and the ways to overcome this problem. 1.3 Purpose of Study
The purpose of this research was to investigate the undergraduates
in UTM, specifically the second year Chemical Engineering (2SKK)
undergraduates of the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Natural
Resources (FKKKSA) dressing style during attending their classes.
Thus, this research is to analyze the number of students which
follow the dress code, students excuses for not following the dress
code ethics, and the benefits of dress code ethics towards
students.
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1.4 Objectives of Study The objectives of this research were:
(a) To investigate the number of 2SKK-FKKKSA student who obey the
dress code that has been set by the administration (b) To find out
the 2SKK-FKKKSA students excuses for not obeying the dress code
ethics (c) To identify the benefits of dress code ethics towards
undergraduates
1.5 Research Questions This research seeks to answer the
following research questions: Research Question 1: How many
2SKK-FKKKSA undergraduates in UTM obey the dress code? Research
Question 2: Why the students disobey to the dress code? Research
Question 3: What are the benefits of dress code ethics among
undergraduates?
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1.6 Scope of Study The study involved all the 2SKK-FKKKSA of the
2008/2009 undergraduates in UTM. The participants involved in this
study are consisted of Malay, Indian, and Chinese students. The
number of the participants is 50 students. Besides, the data was
collected through questionnaires which were distributed among all
2SKK-FKKKSA students, and also through some random interviews and
observations. 1.7 Significance of Study The significance of this
study is important because this finding can discover students
prevalence towards the dress code ethics. Besides that, this
research can identify students excuses that make them disobey dress
code ethics. Thus, the result of this research can emphasizes the
benefit of dress code ethics towards student.
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2.0 Literature Review 2.1 Introduction
This chapter discusses the benefits of dress code to students,
disadvantages of dress code and students opinions about dress code.
Many researchers have piloted this subject of study. First of all,
the benefits of obeying dress code are briefly explained. Then,
disadvantages of dress code will be discussed about side effects if
we disobey dress code ethics. After that, we included students
perception about dress code that they applied. Finally, this
chapter ends with a conclusive statement.
2.2 Benefit of dress code This part discussed about the benefits
of dress code.
2.2.1 Reduce Violence By recent studies that had been done in
the past, application of dress code in certain venue can overcome
certain problems. Application of dress code can reduce outrage that
can occur among students like lowering student victimization
(Scherer 1991), decreasing gang activity and fights (Kennedy, 1995;
Loesch, 1995), and differentiating strangers from students in the
school building (Department of Justice, 1996; Gursky, 1996). Safety
is one reason for a dress code; however, many educators believe
that a dress code also promotes a positive educational environment.
In an attempt to counter violence, many public schools implement a
dress code or require students to wear uniforms. The idea of
uniforms even reached the halls of Congress when then-
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President Clinton endorsed them in his 1996 State of the Union
address. After this speech, the U.S. Department of Education
disseminated the Manual of School Uniforms to all 16,000 school
districts in the nation. The manual stated potential benefits, such
as decreasing violence and theft, preventing students from wearing
gang-related colors to school, instilling student discipline,
helping to resist peer pressure, helping students concentrate on
academics and aiding in recognition of intruders.
2.2.2 Increase Student Learning and Attitudes Uniforms are
asserted to increase student learning and attitudes towards school
through enhancing the learning environment (Stover, 1990), raising
school pride (Jarchow, 1992), increasing student achievement
(Thomas, 1994), raising levels of preparedness (Thomas, 1994), and
promoting conformity to organizational goals (LaPointe, Holloman,
and Alleyne, 1992; Workman & Johnson, 1994). According to Larry
Wilder (November 12, 2007), other results of the research revealed
that 68 percent of the parents believed the uniform policy improved
overall academic performance. Eighty-eight percent of the parents
thought the code reduced teasing between boys and girls.
Eighty-four percent felt the uniform code promoted equality between
the sexes. Perhaps most revealing was the fact that 80 percent of
the girls and 62 percent of the boys reported liking to wear
uniforms.
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2.2.3 Decrease Behavior Problems Uniforms are attributed to
decreasing behavior problems by increasing attendance rates,
lowering suspension rates, and decreasing substance use among the
student body (Gursky, 1996).
2.2.4 Psychological Outcome Many psychological outcomes are
attributed to wearing uniforms including: increased self-esteem
(Thomas, 1994), increased spirit (Jarchow, 1992), and increased
feelings of "oneness" among students (LaPointe, Holoman, &
Alleyne, 1992). Nathan Joseph (1986) has formulated an analysis of
clothing as communication which provides a framework within which
uniform proponents claims can be better understood. He asserts that
clothing can be considered a sign, which he defines as "anything
that stands for something else." Clothing, as a sign, coveys
information about values, beliefs and emotions. If the clothing
that adolescents wear can be considered a sign, then that which
they freely choose as individuals can be seen as conveying an
expression of their personal identity. School uniforms, by
contrast, are clothing which is selected by school officials and
mandated to students. It is simple in style and color and it is
intended to convey the institutional values of the school. Joseph
suggests that for clothing to be considered a 'uniform' it must
fulfill the following criteria: 1) it must serve as a group emblem,
2) it must certify the institution's legitimacy by revealing an
actor's status position, and 3) it must suppress individuality
(1986). Within the context of an educational institution,
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school uniforms clearly function as a symbol of membership to
the school community. The presence of a uniform in schools
automatically implies a two-tiered hierarchical structure, those
that wear uniforms (subordinates) and those that do not wear
uniforms (superiors). School uniforms serve as a clear sign of this
status distinction between students and faculty and therefore,
certify the legitimacy of that distinction by all members. School
uniforms act as suppressers of students' individuality by mandating
standardization of appearance and removing student expression
through clothing.
2.3 Disadvantages of Dress Code
Besides the benefits of following the dress code, there are also
negative effects of dress code. Based on answer.yahoo.com, dress
code stifles students' creativity in dressing. Besides that, for
some students who do not agree with dress code will rebel to
express how they feel. On the other hand, students will make
unacceptable addition or deletion on their formal dress and this
reaction will make the dress code awkward. In addition, school
uniforms are transparent, where we can see through their body
shape. If this type of school uniforms been apply on school girls,
it will passionate another students and lecturers. This may
attracts male students from concentrating in class and it will lead
to sexual criminal.
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2.4 Student Opinions Some people like the idea of a dress code,
other people don't. Based on online magazine (topics-mag.com), some
people say a dress code is bad because there is no freedom or
individuality. Students like to wear simple attire and they hate to
be burden by too many rules. In addition, some students feel that
the dress code were irritating because certain attire in dress code
will make them uncomfortable. But some students think when they
wear uniforms, they don't need extra money for buying clothes. For
example, if they have a school uniform, they have to wear it every
day, so they don't need to buy other dresses to wear to attend
class. To wear the same clothes is an effective way to unite people
into one way of thinking. In some societies, they want to increase
their unity and power by making people wear the same clothes.
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3.0 Methodology
This chapter discusses the research design of the study. As the
study objectives were to investigate whether the students obey the
dress code, the benefits of dress code and the students opinion
about this issue. A pilot study was conducted to gain information
from a group of respondents.
3.1 Selection of respondents
The respondents selection was conducted based on non-random
(non-probability) purposive sampling technique. This method was
chosen because it is easier to collect the data needed from the
respondents due to the relevant knowledge and experience of the
respondents. Moreover, it is more convenient to interact directly
to the respondents. The respondents involve in this research were
from Second year undergraduate Chemical Engineering course (2-SKK)
in Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Natural Resources University
Technology Malaysia (UTM).
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3.2 Research instrument
Three methods were chosen in order to collect the data for this
research, which were questionnaire, interview and observation. This
study emphasizes on the quantitative approaches in gathering and
analyzing data. Questionnaire was selected as the main data method.
Interviews were conducted to make sure the validity and reliability
of the gathered information from the questionnaire. On the other
hand, observations were made in order to identify the real problem
that occurred in real situation.
3.2.1 Questionnaire As discussed earlier, in order to gather the
information, a set of questionnaire was designed. The questionnaire
was really beneficial to our investigation and study. The
questionnaire contain of a number of close-ended questions. It was
also consisting of yes/no, scale, listing, ranking, and category
questions. By doing the questionnaire, it would be easier to
collect data, analyses and collate data in quantitative form.
Nevertheless, some open-ended were also included as more useful
information could be gathered.
11
3.2.2 Interview Besides the questionnaire, interview was used to
support the data collected from the questionnaire. Interview has
been doing via Yahoo Messenger. The respondent was selected
randomly to be interviewed. The interview was conducted by asking
the respondent via Yahoo Messenger. The interview was done by
recording the whole interview via chatting in Yahoo Messenger,
through the respondent emoticon, the respondent react and how the
respondent answering the question. The interview was carried out on
the same day after the questionnaire was distributed to the all
respondents. The researchers also make and add some other questions
during the interview session to acquire more data to complete the
objective of the research.
3.2.3 Observations Other than questionnaire and interview,
observation also has been used to collect more data. The
observation was done by observing all of the respondents on how
they all dressing. This method will acquire more specific data by
observing the respondents. The respondents could not hide their
dressing because the researchers were observed all the respondents
on how they all dressing. The researchers could know whether the
respondents follow the dress code or not. The observations were
made while the respondents go to their lectures on weekdays. The
information obtained were noted down and being analyzed in Chapter
4, Data Analysis.
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3.3 Data collection process The data collection process of this
research involved two stages that are the pilot study and the
actual study.
3.3.1 The pilot study The pilot study has been made by
distributing the questionnaire to all the respondents. The pilot
study was conducted by giving the questionnaire to UHB2422
lecturer. The lecturer was guided the researchers at the same time.
The lecturer was also corrected the errors in the questionnaire.
The lecturer was asked something from the questionnaire because she
does not understand about the questionnaire. At the same time, the
questionnaire was corrected.
3.3.2 The actual study The actual study was divided into three
part; the distribution of questionnaire, interview session, and the
observations.
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3.3.2.1 The distribution of questionnaire
There were fifty respondents who were involved in the actual
study. The respondents were picked randomly. The questionnaires
were being distributed during the lectures period to all the
respondents. It was taking about almost two hours for the
respondents to answer the questionnaire. After that, the
questionnaires were collected by the researchers. If the
respondents got any problems while answering the questions, the
researchers will guide and help them to understand the
questionnaire. The questionnaire was bringing a lot of information
to the researchers. The responses were analyzed by the researchers
as well as to get information through the questionnaire.
3.3.2.2 The Interview sessions
One of the respondents who answered the questionnaire was
selected randomly by the researchers. The respondent was
interviewed by the researchers. The interview sessions was made via
Yahoo Messenger. The conversation session was taken about half an
hour. From the interview, the researchers could extract some other
information about the dress code issue among the undergraduates
second year SKK.
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3.3.2.3 The Observations
The observation was done at FKKKSA during before and after
lecture period. The researchers were observed some other
respondents during the observation session. Furthermore,
observation session could help the researchers to obtain more
information. It was also become easier to analyze the results.
3.4 Analysis of Data
The analysis of the research from the interview, questionnaire,
and observation involved some stages. The questionnaire involved
three stages that are sorting; coding and recording the data that
were obtained from the questionnaire. The data that the researchers
obtain from the questionnaire were being arranged based on the
question in the questionnaire. After that, the data were being
coded manually by the researcher. Then, the data were transferred
to Microsoft Windows Excel. The graph and chart from the Excel was
used to represent all the data. Besides that, the analysis data
from the interview involved four stages. First is transcribing the
interview to a simple data. Then, the data were being sorted. After
that, the data was coded and the last stage was recorded the data
in Excel. All the responds that were obtain from the respondent
being analysis by the researcher. The observations also involve
some stages like the interview. Data that the researchers get from
the observation were changed to simple data. This method was used
because the researchers could easily sort the data.
15
4.0 Data Analysis
This chapter discusses the analysis of data collection from
questionnaires, interview and observations of the study. The data
were plotted in graphs and pie charts. This data consisted of
number of respondents who were comfortable with dress code ethics,
the number of students displayed their matric card, the way of the
students dressed when attended their classes, number of students
who followed the dress code based on days, the factors why the
students followed dress code, and factors why the students cannot
follow the Smart Day (Monday) attire. This chapter also includes
the analysis of the interview session via Yahoo Messenger.
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4.1 Findings and Discussions
No 17 Yes 33
Figure 4.1: Number of Respondent Who Comfortable With Dress
Code
Figure 4.1 shows the number of students from 2-SKK from Faculty
of Chemical Engineering and Natural Resource (FKKKSA) who are
comfortable with dress code. This chart shows that 33 respondents
are comfortable with dress code and 17 respondents are
uncomfortable with dress code.
Some of the students were trained to follow dress codes since
they were in schools and matriculation. Therefore, they felt quite
comfortable to obey the dress code because they used to wear it. On
the other hand, the respondents who are uncomfortable with the
dress code think that it were a burden to them.
17
50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
Respondents
46
4
Yes
No
Figure 4.2: The Graph of Students Who Displayed Their Matric
Card
Figure 4.2 shows the number of students from 2-SKK from Faculty
of Chemical Engineering and Natural Resource (FKKKSA) who displayed
their matric card during attending their classes. The graph shows
that 46 students did not display their matric card during their
classes while four students displayed their matric card.
There were several factors that students did not display their
matric card. Some of the students claimed that wearing the matric
card did not affect in their academic achievement. This is fact
supported by David Brunsma, and Rockquemore, (1998) who say there
are no relationships between wearing uniform and increased academic
preparation. Besides that, the students felt that they were senior
if they were not displaying their matric card because normally,
only juniors like to display their matric card. 18
30 25 20 15
St ud en ts27
14 9
10 5 0 Sandals Shoes Slippers
Figure 4.3: Students Attire When Attend Classes Figure 4.3 shows
the number of students from 2-SKK from Faculty of Chemical
Engineering and Natural Resource (FKKKSA) who wore sandals, shoes
and slippers while attending classes. From Figure 3, there are 27
students wearing sandals, 14 students wearing slippers and nine
students wearing shoes during classes.
Most of them preferred to wear sandals while attending classes
because it is simple, comfortable, fashionable (articlesbase.com,
January 2008), and it is still obeying dress code. On the other
hand, students felt more comfortable to wear slippers when they
attended their classes because it is simple, easy to wear and
flexible. Meanwhile, the students who wore shoes were the least
compared to the others. However, wearing shoes is officially
following the dress code ethics.
19
Practice for Future Career Discipline 15 16
8 University good perspective
5 Enhance confidence in public
6 Look Cool
Figure 4.4: Factors Why the Students Followed Dress Code Figure
4.4 shows the number of students from 2-SKK from Faculty of
Chemical Engineering and Natural Resource (FKKKSA) who follow the
dress code ethics upon some reasons. The factors that encouraged
them to follow the dress code ethics are discipline, university
good perspective, enhance confidence in public, look cool and
practice for future career. From the figure, 16 students followed
the dress code as a practice for future career, 15 students thought
by following the dress code it can help to build their discipline,
eight students want to maintain their institutions good
perspective, six students follow the dress code because they want
to look cool while five students believe that by following the
dress code they can enhance their confidence in public.
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Chemical Engineering students will have career that requires
them to wear formal attire. Therefore, following dress code was a
practice for their future career. Besides that, by obeying the
dress code students could help to maintain the university
perspective (shsu.edu, June 2001). University will be respected in
producing the best graduates to generate economy of the country as
well as to discipline the students. Employers also will be
attracted to hire the students who have good personality in term of
their attire besides their academic achievement. In addition,
students who followed the dress code are look more confident.
Worthless 6 Rushing 9
Irritating 6
20 Uncomfortable
30 Lazy
Figure 4.5: The Factors That Students Cannot Follow the Smart
Day Attire Figure 4.5 shows the number of students from 2-SKK from
Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Neutral Resource (FKKKSA) that
cannot follow the Smart Day (Monday) attire. This chart shows that
30 respondents were lazy, 20 respondents were uncomfortable, nine
respondents were rushing to class, six respondents thought that
21
following dress code were worthless and six respondents thought
that following dress code were irritating to them. Students were
lazy to follow dress code because they did not want to be burdened
by too many rules and they love to dress simple. Most of the
students did not follow the Smart Day attire because they were not
used to wear shirt, necktie, and black shoes that make their foot
smelly. While they were afraid if they displayed their matric card
it can be easily broken or lost. When the students overslept, they
had no time to prepare themselves with proper attire required
because they had to rush to class. Some of students believed that
following Smart Day attire were worthless and were not effecting
their study while some of them believed it was irritating.
16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
Number of Students
15 13 9 7 3 3
0 day
1 day
2 days Days
3 days
4 days
5 days
Figure 4.6: The Number of Students vs Days of following Dress
Code in a Week Figure 4.6 shows the number of students from 2-SKK
from Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Neutral Resource (FKKKSA)
follow the dress code in a week. There are
22
seven respondents that did not follow dress code for the entire
week, while 15 respondents follow dress code for a day, and 13
respondents follow dress code for two days only. Respondents who
follow dress code in three and four days both are three
respondents. Meanwhile, nine respondents follow the dress code for
entire week.
The students who did not follow the dress code for the entire
week because they strongly disagree with dress code ethics set by
the administration. Most of students just barely followed the dress
code for one to four days in a week. This was due to Smart Day
attire and rule of laboratory that emphasis the dress code such as
wearing shoes as a precaution while doing experiments. Meanwhile,
the students who followed the dress code for entire week strongly
believed the benefits of following the dress code.
4.2 The Interview Session The previous dialogue was an interview
session with one of the interviewee. From the previous method of
the study, the distribution of the questionnaire was to gain the
quantitative data. Meanwhile, the purpose of the interview session
was to obtain the qualitative data via Yahoo Messenger.
First of all, the interviewer greeted the interviewee to start
the conversation. Then the interviewer proceeded with the first
question. The interviewee was being asked about their opinion upon
the dress code issue among Second year student of Chemical
Engineering (2-SKK) in Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Natural
Resources (FKKKSA) of University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). The
interviewee thought that it
23
was really important to follow the dress code. The interviewee
also mentioned that students could get some benefits if they
followed the dress code ethics. Meanwhile, the interviewee said
that the ladies usually followed the dress code however gents were
the opposite. This scenario occurred because the dress code set by
the administrator gave some advantages to the ladies. Generally,
the attire for the ladies was baju kurung while for the gents were
shirt with necktie and long pants especially on Monday (Smart Day).
It was common for the ladies to wear baju kurung even if they were
not going to the classes or lectures. It was suitable for any
occasion or event. However, the disadvantage for the gent was the
attire set by the administrator only suitable for them during
attending to their classes. These phenomena caused the gents to
disobey the dress code. They feel more comfortable by wearing round
neck, jeans and slippers or sandals when attended to their
classes.
Next, the interviewer asked the interviewee on how to encourage
the students to follow the dress code set by the administrator.
First of all the interviewee suggested the authorities to be
stricter towards the students who disobey the dress code ethics.
They should fine the students who are not following the attire
rules. Other than that, the interviewee also recommended that the
staff or lecturer should be more strict with the students. They
should not allow the students who were not wore proper clothes
during attending the class. The staff should ignore and admonition
those who disobey the attire rules. Besides that, the interviewee
also suggested to set up a campaign about the benefits of following
the dress code ethics toward students. This campaign could give
some impacts to the students. Some of the students maybe did not
realize on how important the
24
dress code ethics. This interview session took about half an
hour. The interviewer thanked to the interviewee for the
information and the commitment.
4.3 Observations
Based on observations on Smart Day (Monday), most of 2-SKK
students follow the Smart Day attire because they did not want to
look awkward in front of bunch of students who followed the attire.
Besides that, the students who did not follow the attire would make
lecturers targeting them to ask questions because they look
obviously different from the other students who wore proper
attire.
Meanwhile, most of 2-SKK students did not follow the dress code
during Tuesday to Friday. They thought it was unnecessary to follow
the dress code ethics on the other days except Monday. In
additions, the observations method was more effective to observe
the way the students really dress while attending their classes
rather than questionnaire and interview methods.
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5.0 Conclusions
5.1 Overview of Study
This research was constructed to investigate the number of
2SKK-FKKKSA students who obey the dress code ethics that has been
set by the administration. The 2SKK-FKKKSA students excuses for not
obeying the dress code ethics were determined and the benefits of
dress code ethics towards undergraduates were identified. The
primary data were collected by designing and distributing a set of
questionnaire to 50 respondents from 2-SKK undergraduates randomly.
Other than that, an interview was conducted via Yahoo
Messenger.
5.2 The Objectives
From the research questions at the beginning of the study, it is
now possible to state that this study sets out to (1) investigate
the number of 2SKK-FKKKSA students who obey the dress code ethics
that has been set by the administration (2) find out the
2SKK-FKKKSA students excuses for not obeying the dress code ethics,
and (3) identify the benefits of dress code ethics towards
undergraduates.
26
5.3 The Findings
From this study, the following conclusions can be made:
i.
Most of the 2-SKK students did not follow the dress code ethics
that had been set by the administration.
ii.
The students who did not follow the dress code claimed that they
were lazy, uncomfortable, rushing to class, irritate and
worthless.
iii.
The benefits of following the dress code were as a practice for
future career, discipline, to maintain university good perspective,
look cool, and enhance confidence in public.
5.4 Implication of the Findings
As we know, most of the 2-SKK students did not follow the dress
code. It may affect to the students future career because employers
are more attracted to the candidates who have good appearance
instead of their academic achievement.
From this study, it shows that most of 2-SKK students did not
follow the dress code. However, these findings only valid for 2-SKK
students and cannot be generalized to other courses in UTM. A
larger sample in which similar methods should be used is needed to
better represent the entire university population.
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5.5 Limitation of the research
This research faced several limitations. One of them is the
research was conducted only among 2-SKK students and only 50
respondents from 2-SKK students. This result may vary if the
research was conducted with more samples because the result will be
more accurate.
Besides that, this research did not include the gender of the
respondents. This result may vary if we compare the respondents
gender. Generally, the attire for the ladies was baju kurung while
for the gents were shirt with necktie and long pants especially on
Monday (Smart Day). It was common for the ladies to wear baju
kurung even if they were not going to the classes or lectures.
Meanwhile, male students feel more comfortable by wearing round
neck, jeans and slippers or sandals when attended to their classes.
As a result, they refused to obey the dress code ethics.
28
6.0 Recommendations
6.1 Recommendation Based on Findings
Based on the implications of the findings, there were several
recommendations that could be considered. The following
recommendations could help to encourage the students to follow the
dress code such as:
1. The authorities should be more strict towards the students
who disobey the dress code ethics. They should fine the students
who are not following the attire rules. 2. Lecturers should be more
strict with the students. They should not allow the students who
disobey the attire rule and do not wear proper clothes to attend
class. 3. The staff should advise those students who disobey the
attire rules while doing official matter. 4. Campaigns about the
benefits of following the dress code ethics toward students should
be held. This campaign could give some impacts to the students.
29
6.2
Recommendations for future researches
Based on the research, there are some suggestions how to improve
the future research upon the dress code issue such as:
1. The obvious mistake made by the researchers is only specific
to the men dress code issue. The researchers also should emphasized
more on the ladies dress code in the future. 2. The observations
should be carried out more frequent to gain more accurate data and
to confirm the validity of the data collected. 3. Further
researches should be carried out on a larger sample which would
better represent the university or faculty population instead of
taking a small population as the sample. More accurate data can be
obtained by collecting the data from a bigger sample. The issue
upon the dress code can be observed not only limited to 2SKK FKKKSA
but also among all the FKKKSA students or perhaps the whole
university. 4. The interview session should be carried out on more
respondents. Therefore, the researchers will be able to get more
data from the respondents.
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6.3
Final remarks
The research was carried out to know whether the students obey
the dress code, the benefits of dress code and the students opinion
about this issue in 2SKK students. A total of 50 students of 2SKK
were selected to be the respondents of the research. The main
method of collecting data was distributed a set of questionnaires.
From the questionnaires, the information was analyzed. Meanwhile,
an interview was conducted to support the research. Other than
that, some observations were made during the class period to get
some additional data.
In a nutshell, the overall findings of the research signified
that most of the 2SKK undergraduates were not following the dress
code ethics. Therefore, some initiatives should be taken as
recommended earlier.
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Reference Wilder, L. & Key, S. (2007, November 12).Helping
students dress for safety and helping students dress for success.
Pros and Cons of School Dress Code from
http://www.fresno.edu/scholars_speak/key_and_wilder/
Taverner, A. (2008, January 29). 10 Reasons Why Sandals are Just
Better than Shoes Any Day from
http://www.articlesbase.com/clothing-articles/10-reasons-whysandals-are-just-better-than-shoes-any-day-318760.html
David L. Brunsma, D.L. and Rockquemore, K.A. (1998). Effects of
student uniforms on attendance, behavior problems, substance abuse,
and academic achievement. Journal of Education Research, 92(1),
53-62, from http://www.gate.net/~rwms/UniformBrunRock.html Creel,
J. & Stallings, A. (2001, June 15). Educators' Dress Code Study
Shows Numerous Positive Effects from
http://www.shsu.edu/~pin_www/T@S/2001/DressCode.html Mitchell,
Harold, W, Knechtle & John, C (2003, Fall). Uniforms in public
schools and the first amendment: a constitutional analysis. Journal
of Negro Education from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3626/is_200310/ai_n9248747
Writing assignments. (n.d.). Retrieved
http://www.lycos.com/info/uniform.html February 25, 2008 from
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Appendix Appendix A: Questionnaire
Research question 1:What are the student reactions toward the
implementation of smart day dress code? 1) Do you display your
matric card every day?YES NO
2) Do you wear tie every Monday?YES NO
3) When you attend lecture, do you wearA pair of sandals A pair
of shoes A pair of slippers
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Research question 2:What are the perceptions of student toward
the implementation of dress code?1) Do you find it comfortable to
wear the attire suggested by the dress code? YES NO
2) How often do you follow the dress code in a week (including
smart day) 0 day 1 day 2 days 3 days 4 days 5 days 6 days 7
days
3) Do you obey the smart day dress code perfectly? YES NO
4) In your opinion why students cannot follow the dress code
ethics? Irritating Lazy uncomfortable rushing worthless
5) Do you agree with the implementation of the dress code, why?
As a practice for future career Look cool Enhance confident in
public University good perspective discipline
Research question 3:34
What are your suggestions to encourage students to follow the
dress code ethics?1) What should the UTM administration do to
encourage student to follow the dress code : Strongly Agree Sue the
student that not follow the rule move advertisement about dress
code emphasise more on dress code towards students disallow
students that not follow dress code ethics from attending classes
organize the campaigns about advantages of dress code Agree Neutral
Disagree Strongly disagree
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Appendix B: Interview scripts Interviewer (IR): Ubaidullah
Interviewee (IE): Saifa IR: Assalamualaikum.. IR: Can I interview
you about the dress code? IE: ouwh, yes you can. IR: First of all,
I would like to thank you for your cooperation to be interviewed.
IR: Okay I would like to start to ask about your opinion upon dress
code in UTM? IE: You are welcome. IE: oo.. In my opinion, it is
good to have a dress code in UTM. IE: it is because the students
will wear the proper clothes to the class. IR: But, how far does it
work? IE: erm...so far from what I have see, I think it is work for
the girl. IE: For the boy, just a few of them wear according to the
dress code. IE: Especially on Monday. IR: Then, what do you think
the reason why most of them do not follow the dress code..? IE:
hmm.. It is so hard to answer this question because I followed the
code, but I think, boys dont like to wear formal clothes and it is
not comfortable. IR: ok... IR: what are your suggestions to
encourage all students to follow dress code ethic? IE: erm..I think
the guard should be everywhere to 'saman' the students who doesnt
wear according to the code and in the future, they will wear the
proper clothes IE: haha.
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IR: hooo.. IR: that is a good idea... IE: thanks IR:
hermmmm..... IE: this idea is base from my friends who study at
UITM Shah Alam IR: hahaokay, you may proceed. IE: The guards will
fine if they wear the improper clothes during the class time. IR:
then, any other suggestion.. IE: erm, other than that, the lecturer
should not allowed the students to enter the class IE: that all I
can give to u, I have no idea right now. IE: maybe campaign will
help IR: why do you think campaign will work? IE: because from
campaign, the UTM administrator can expose the students about the
important and the reason why the UTM do the dress code. It is for
their future especially to enter the interview and go to the work.
IR: ouwh, ok.. IE: ok IR: Thats all from me IR: thank you very much
for your cooperation IE: u r welcome...
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