**2. Methods**

#### **2.1 Participants**

The participants of the study were 230 undergraduate students who were majoring in different fields at Takhar University located in Takhar, a northeastern province of Afghanistan. They were between 18 and 26 years old at the time of the study. Around 36% (82) of the participants were female while 64% (148) were male. Most of the participants (67%) of the participants were Tajik followed by Uzbek participants (21%). Pashtuns formed around 10% of the participants while a small percentage (3%) of the participants were Hazara.

#### **2.2 Instrument**

The authors used a survey questionnaire to collect data for the study. The questionnaire was developed after conducting focus group discussions and literature review. The researchers conducted focus group discussions with 10 students to identify questionnaire items. They discussed the positive and negative effects of coeducation and made a list of them. The authors developed 15 items of the questionnaire from the focus group discussions. They adapted 9 items from other studies [24, 39, 46, 47]. The questionnaire consisted of three sections. The first part sought the respondents' demographic information, i.e., gender, age, and ethnicity. The second part consisted of 14 items that aimed to elicit the participants' response about their attitudes towards coeducation and its positive effects. The third part with 10 items inquired the participants' views about negative effects of mixed-sex education. They were required to respond to the questionnaire items on a four Point-Likert scale (Strongly disagree = 1, Disagree = 2, Agree = 3, Strongly agree = 4).

The authors conducted a pilot test with 10 purposely selected students with English proficiency from Takhar University to measure the reliability of the questionnaire items and ensure their consistency. They were required to respond to 24 items on a 4-point Likert Scale. The reliability analysis was carried out on SPSS version 26.0. The results demonstrated that the value of Cronbach's alpha is over 0.85 coefficient for each section (**Table 1**), which indicates high internal consistency of the items in each section. Thus, the items were considered appropriate for the study. The questionnaire was translated into Dari (the lingua franca of Afghanistan) since English is a foreign language and many people cannot speak English in Afghanistan [48, 49]. The Dari questionnaire was given


**Table 1.**

*Reliability value of questionnaire items.*

to three faculty members in the Dari Department for improvement and the problematic items were identified and revised based on their comments.

#### **2.3 Procedure and analysis**

The authors collected data from 230 randomly selected students who were majoring in different fields at seven faculties at Takhar University. They wrote the names of classes in each faculty and picked two classes from a bowl. Using each class's attendance sheet, the authors selected 18 students; they selected every other student. They explained the study and its purposes to the participants in seven sessions in prearranged times and places. They were required to read and sign a consent letter, which aimed to ensure them that their participation was voluntary and their responses were confidential. They were requested to read the instruction for each section and respond to the items accordingly. The authors encouraged them to inquire about any unclear items in the questionnaire.

The authors closely examined the questionnaires to ensure that the participants completed them appropriately. They discarded 20 questionnaires since they were completed inappropriately. They numerically coded the data in an excel spread sheet and imported them to SPSS version 26.0 for analysis. The authors used descriptive statistics to determine the frequency, mean and stand deviation of the data. Furthermore, they used inferential statistics such as Independent Samples *T*-test and One-Way ANOVA test to examine the differences between participants' responses by their gender and ethnicity.
