Circulating East to East

Qualitative Research
The first phase of this study utilized qualitative analysis to better understand whether 
there are unique sources of information or factors that influence Chinese students’ 
choices to study abroad (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). Using snowball sampling methods 
(Merriam, 2009), this study conducted semistructured, in-depth interviews with six 
Chinese international students who were studying in Korea during the 2010-2011 aca-
demic year. Of these students, two were from language institutions and four were from 
undergraduate institutions. The goal of these interviews was to develop a better under-
standing of the factors that had influenced their choices to study abroad, particularly 
in Korea. The open-ended interactive interview asked the following questions:
1. What are the factors that influenced you to leave China (push factors)?
2. What are the factors that influenced you to study in Korea (pull factors)?
Interviews were conducted with individuals, pairs, or small groups of Chinese interna-
tional students who were studying in Korea. The interview, which lasted approxi-
mately an hour, was conducted in the language (Mandarin, Korean, or English) with 
which students felt most comfortable to yield more candid conversations. In addition, 
the interviews were attended by a Chinese translator whose native language was 
Mandarin. Interviews were transcribed into Korean and English and analyzed with the 
participants’ consent. To better understand the emerging themes, the study also con-
ducted follow-up interviews with the participants to examine their perspectives in 
more depth and to conduct member checks (Creswell, 2003).
Quantitative Research
In the second phase of the study, quantitative data were collected and analyzed to better 
understand the push–pull factors affecting Chinese students’ studying in Korea. A total of 
21 questions and two open-ended questions were developed and delivered to 670 interna-
tional students from China who were enrolled in 37 universities in Korea during the 2010-
2011 academic year. To account for regional differences, the study sampled students from 
different provinces of Korea. Of the surveys collected, 633 were utilized after eliminating 
37 defective forms. The reliability of the overall survey was .92. Internal consistency 
using Lee Cronbach’s (1951) coefficient alpha (Cronbach’s α) was computed at 0.89, sug-
gesting a high level of internal consistency (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994).
Descriptively, the data included 368 males (58.1%), 265 females (41.9%), 376 stu-
dents from the Seoul Metropolitan Area (59.4%), and 233 students from rural areas 

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Journal of Studies in International Education 21(2)
(36.8%). More than half of the participants (67.9%) used recruitment agencies. Of the 
students, 63.8% were undergraduate students, 9% were graduate students, and 18% 
were attending language institutions (see Table 1).