Essay One
Choose one (1) of the research questions below and conceptualize and operationalize the variables in that sentence. Make sure to be very clear and thorough. Anyone reading your response should know exactly what you "mean" and how you will measure the variables. Remember what it means to "conceptualize" and to "operationalize" variables.
• What is the relationship between socioeconomic status and education?
Idea/Interest: Identify your interest in the relationship between socioeconomic status and education in a southern rural area.
Conceptualize: Indicate what you mean by socioeconomic status: factors such as family income, education, and occupation play a major role in the academic achievement of all students.
Operationalize
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Sampling is the bread and butter of social science research the type of sampling that is used is dependent on the type of information, time constraints, and cost the researcher is trying to garner. There are two types of sampling methods: probability sampling and non-probability. Probability sampling is used when statistical generalizations will be applied to the to results and probability sampling also reduces any biases on the part of the researcher.
1. A probability sample is one in which each person in the population at least known chance (probability) of being selected, and an example of this is the US Census. The three most common probability models used are simple random sample whereby all members of a population or elements have an equal chance of being selected and sampling is done in a single stage time frame where each member is selected individually.
2. Systematic samples were taken by starting with a randomly selected member of population or element and then selecting every nth member of the population. For example, selecting ever 50th name on a list of community
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When conducting research, anonymity means that any personal information attained through research, cannot be connected to the individual that participated. Confidentiality in research means that personal information can be associated with an individual, but only to the research team. In both cases, it is unethical to release names and information about individuals to anyone without their consent. Additional, no one should ever be fired because of information they gave while they were participating in a research study.
Researchers do studies to gain information and there are set guidelines for reporting their findings. Flawed research sometimes is not reported for many reasons, pride and ego being foremost. The true results of a research project would be too dangerous to allow a new drug on the market, etc., or the drug did not perform as was anticipated, but the findings were falsified. Unfortunately, millions of dollars are involved in research and development of products such as cars and medical science, and one of the results has been harm to the end
Two sampling methods include mail surveys and convenience sampling, a variation of a nonprobability sample. Mail surveys, inexpensive way to contact individuals over a large geographical area, provide anonymity to the respondent, and eliminate interview bias. Convenience sampling, a nonprobability sample, the only criteria is the convenience of the unit to the researcher, fast and uncomplicated, but the sampling error not determined.
The first scholarly essay I am going to discuss is Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work by Jean Anyon. Anyon believed that students of different economical statuses and the schools in their communities taught differently. She used schools in four different types of communities. The four types of communities are working class, middle-class, affluent professional and executive elite. She studied the students, teachers, principals, and staff as well as
Random representative sampling is a method of sampling that uses random selection to obtain its samples. By making sure that everybody has an equal chance at being selected, random representative sampling ensures diverse samples. Using the example in paragraph one, a random representative sample allows you find the statistics on all the company’s employees without interviewing all them. Random representative sampling is important for getting accurate poll results because it allows you to find the view of a population while making sure that the poll is not biased in any way.
Social and economic circumstances: The capacity of an individual to develop and flourish is profoundly influenced by their immediate social surroundings – including their opportunity to engage positively with family members, friends or colleagues, and earn a living for themselves and their families – and also by the socio-economic circumstances in which they find themselves. Restricted or lost opportunities to gain an education and income are especially pertinent socio-economic factors. (WHO, 2012, p. 3)
Race is just one of many factors that have been shown to have an effect on a student’s academic achievement. Factors commonly researched include socioeconomic status, race, gender, and location. Of all mentioned factors, socioeconomic factors has been shown to be the strongest indicator of academic achievement (Lee et all.,2008). Only 7% of students with low socioeconomic success are expected to...
...ristics such as age, race, gender, education etc. The only way to use this sample is if other methods are not available. In order for a purposive sampling approach to be successful, researchers need to be careful and not use results from previous convenience samples (Purposive sampling, 2012).
Schmitt-Wilson, Sarah (2013). Social Class and Expectations of Rural Adolescents: The Role of Parental Expectations, Career Development Quarterly. Volume 61, pages 226-239.
In order to understand how these sociological concepts have an impact on the education of the children of Lowell as well as their future success, it is important to understand exactly what these sociological concepts are and what their presence entails. Firstly, we must define the concept of stratification- in the case of the education systems in Lowell there is a clear case of social stratification. Social stratification is “the structured inequality between groups, this can be based on economic status, gender, race,...
Through research, I will examine if there is a correlation, be it direct or indirect, between a person’s race and their educational attainment. In order to answer this question, it is important to consider other variables, such as a sex, socioeconomic status, culture, and religion. How do these variables influence a racial group’s access to education? Numerous studies have been done to answer questions like these. I am curious to find out what intrinsic characteristics of a racial/ethnic group impact their success. My research will include collection of existing data and analysis of several case studies. Some of the sociological questions that I would use to answer my hypothesis are: What are some factors that affect a person’s education level? Or how does sex affect the success of a person? Also I will explain the meaning of socioeconomic status? And is culture the foundation of educational levels? I will use these questions to help me write my research paper.
Sampling bias (pg. 112) – a sampling method can be called biased if the results of the research found favors the outcome the researcher is looking for. The researcher ultimately controls/influences whether the results are biased and potentially misleading. If a researcher thinks that football players are more susceptible to concussions, the researcher may only look at specific positions where the players take more hits to the head for their research which could affect the results looking at football players as a whole.
The purpose of this literature review is to examine the relation between students’ socioeconomic status and their academic achievement. To be more specific, the goals are to determine (a) what defines low income; (b) review identified student characteristics (e.g. parental involvement, ethnicity, and school location) that have an effect on student achievement; and (c) what current research is saying about the best practices are for addressing the needs of low income students within the school setting. This literature review is not intended to provide a comprehensive review of the available literature, but to serve as a starting point for future directions for research and policy.
There are many different factors that affect education. One such factor is, socioeconomic status. Children who attend school in a wealthier community receive a better education than those students in poor communities. In poor communities, student’s education is not only affected by a lack of resources, but also from teaching methods and philosophies. Urban and poor schools’ students do not receive as equal of an education as their more affluent and suburban counterparts do.
The Relationship Between Social Class and Educational Achievement Many sociologists have tried to explore the link between social class and educational achievement, measuring the effects of one element upon the other. In order to maintain a definite correlation between the two, there are a number of views, explanations, social statistics and perspectives which must be taken into account. The initial idea would be to define the key terms which are associated with how "social class" affects "educational achievement." "Social class" is the identity of people, according to the work they do and the community in which they live in. "Educational achievement" is the tendency for some groups to do better or worse in terms of educational success.
2. Determining the Sample Frame: A sample frame is a representation of the target population.
As I started out researching for the paper, I realized that most importantly, data would need to be collected comparing the educational opportunities and achievement of the rural youth and those of urban youth. For instance, high school grades and SAT scores could be compared, as well as college applications and attendance. Beyond this, the actual school systems of rural and urban areas would be compared - the differences in funding, ideology, resources, etc., would grant insight into the students’ experiences and goals there.