Suppose the dropout rate in your local high school increased dramatically. Faced with such a serious problem, the school board offers you a $500,000 grant to study the sudden increase. Explain how you would conduct your research. What hypotheses might you test? How would you prove or disprove them? The first step I would take to answering this question is to first define the problem. The problem at hand is what is leading the students to drop out at high rates. The why is just the final push making them jump ship. Just like in a puzzle there are multiple pieces needed to make the picture clear and like this there is not just one thing, but multiple problems leading the students to drop out in large numbers. The second step I would take would …show more content…
The third step would be to formulate a hypothesis or multiple hypotheses. Hypotheses are just educated guesses about what is going on, and they needed because once the factual material is collected it can lead to either proving or disproving it. The first hypothesis would be the treatment of the students of the faculty members is what is leading the students to drop out in such large numbers. The second hypothesis would be the students feel they no longer need to be in school anymore for reasons and have decided to drop out in large numbers to pursue something else. The third hypothesis would be the students are doing this in protest of something either happening to them in school or something being taken away from them, thus leading them to the decision that this is the best way to protest what is happening to them. However I must pick a research design. I must be careful in what I pick because I need to take into account the objective of the study as well as the aspects of behavior under the study. The best way to gather information and research would be to do an open-ended survey where the high school students can actually voice their opinions on what is going on and how they …show more content…
Whether it may be documentary research, surveys, experimentation, or even ethnographic research. Documentary research is the use of outside sources, documents, to support the viewpoint or argument of an academic work. One advantage is that when reviewing documents a sociologist is able to get both quantitative and qualitative data from what he/she is researching. Another advantage is that most documents are open to the public and can be viewed to whomever wishes to see them. A third advantage is that most of these documents are precise and hold accurate information if was done properly. On the other hand, there are disadvantages that come along with the advantages. One disadvantage is that the documents that could be viewed could be outdated and unfortunately will not help the research. Another disadvantage is that the document that is needed to be viewed in order to prove the thesis is not open to the public. A third disadvantage is that the documents s could be forged or even fake leading the sociologist to false findings and unusable data. It also has its strengths over the other research methods. For instance, while findings, through ethnography can only be used for select groups or communities and cannot be generalized. Document research can be generalized and used for multiple groups and communities if the rights documents are at hand. Surveys are a great and easy way to get quantitative
Do you ever feel like you want to just give up? In the video Dropout Nation there are a few students who don’t care anymore about how their lives go.That’s a problem,you see we all have something to look forward to in life. If we didn’t then most likely none of us would be here.Let’s go further into our topic we have here with us.
The top reason leading to most drop outs is financial issues. Most people in America can’t afford to pay for college on their own and need the help of grants or aids. The government makes it very difficult to obtain financial aid with such strict criteria that has to be met to be able to sufficiently pay for all of the student’s schooling. Applying for these aids and grants can be very time consuming and can cause you to miss deadlines and not receive the money that is needed to pay for school.
For some students it is difficult to get a good education. These students live in a poor community and are required to go to schools that have a low graduation rate. These schools have a certain reputation such that other students refer to it as the “ghetto school”, “where the pregnant girls go”, and the “dropout factory”. This
The study adopted correlational research method to aid collection of data to obtain reasonable data to investigate how and why poverty leads to criminal activity. I will conduct the research in west Baltimore area. I will be using high school students and college students around the area. I will be using a survey online and targeting high school and college students who grew up or currently live in west Baltimore. In order to take this survey online the student must be over the age of eighteen. I will get the survey out by using social media. My goal is to get a sample of a certain amount of adults both male and female. First, I will conduct the search by finding the schools that are located in west Baltimore. Since this survey will be conducted online, I will ask the student for their birth date and choose from a list what school they attend. The best question is how I will get the survey to the student. In order to get the survey to the students, I will use the school social media, every school has a social media page run by students itself. Since the instrument I will be using is going to be a survey, I will be asking students to answer certain questions. The
Since the early 70s theorists have pondered the causes of college dropout. Generally referred to as “student attrition,” this problem has spurred numerous causal theories and theoretical models. Vincent Tinto led the research with his revolutionary 1973 study, which he later revised (1987) amid criticism from other luminaries in the field, most notably Bean, Astin, Terenzini, and Pascarella. It is on the work of these scholars (including also Tinto) that all modern research in the student attrition field is based. I found and will review in brief some of the extensive research from Tinto to the present, including the basic criticisms therein. I will further explain the steps some colleges are currently taking to counteract this increasingly important issue.
Focusing on surveys and questionnaires, and quantitative research methods, it varies on the person getting questioned as to which method they prefer. Some individuals may prefer to fill in a questionnaire, as it is quick and simple for them, whereas someone else would rather have a face-to-face interview because they may find questionnaires to complicated. Giving people the choice gives the more chance of getting a response overall. It is important that the researchers are aware of the advantages and disadvantages because they will then be aware of what method to use, and will know what method is best to use. It is also an advantage to work with experienced researchers in order to find out the best results.
Expectations of today’s educational qualifications for high school students are different than it was in the past. It is not uncommon to hear about a student who did not graduate from school. As shown in table 1, 97 students from Stanly County dropped out of school in the 2011- 2012 school year (“Grade 7-13 Dropout Counts and Rates (pdf.62kb)”). Last school year 3.01 percent of North Carolina’s high school students dropped out of school according to the 2011-12 Consolidated Data Report, as a result the total number of students who dropped out of high school in the 2012 year is 13,488. It is also noted that the top five reasons NC students drop out of school are: 1. Attendance, 2. Enrollment in a Community College, 3. Unknown, 4. Moved, School status unknown, 5. Lack of Engagement. (“Dropout prevention and Intervention”) This number is very high considering that there are only five major high schools in the Stanly county district. This is why I think it is important that something should be done to reduce the high school dropout rate in Stanly County.
The Advantages and Limitations of Social Surveys in Sociological Research To survey something, is to carry out a systematic overview so that a researcher can produce a comprehensive general report on it. Survey method is often used by positivist sociologists seeking to test their hypotheses, and to investigate causes and examine variables. As with every other sociological research, survey has its own advantages and limitations. Positivist research, which is in the scientific tradition, begins with a hypothesis that can be either confirmed or rejected according to the data collected. One of the significant advantages of survey method is that, it can be used to collect data that is a representative of a larger population.
Some different forms of research can be conducted by using surveys, focus groups, case studies, Delphi method and content analysis. By using different research methods, you will be able to compare and contrast different findings. This will better help support the hypothesis you will
Every 26 seconds one of our kids drops out of high school, that's 1.3 million students each year. The main reason for dropping out, the failure to succeed. Society puts an insurmountable amount of pressure on these kids to succeed, however this can actually be extremely detrimental to the students and children.
Research can be defined as collecting data, information, and facts to gain knowledge. Research can be used as a tool to engage an efficient approach to one’s practice and provide them with effective data to make changes based on what he or she may have learned from the research. By conducting research, school administrators gain knowledge about not only their practice but their staff members, students, and district. Thus providing the administrator the abil-ity to make more effective decisions that can bring more success to the school or school district. When conducting research, one may decide to traditional research or action research. This paper will address the differences between action research and traditional research regarding their use in an educational environment, as well provide explanations and examples to delineate their uses in an education setting.
The causes are almost certainly many and consistent. What seems inescapable is the conclusion that dropping out of school is one of the important factors related to the difficulties of people. The causes of dropping out reveal families in trouble. All too often, families with areas of high pressure are characterized by single parents, lack of parenting skills, and substance abuse. The most common causes of dropping out are money, family, and time management.
I had so many teachers that made classes really boring and the worst thing is that they did not care about their students. I had to admit that I felt frustrated because they did not teach and most of the time they would put us to watch movies. One of the reasons of why I did not drop out of school (this was never an option for me) was because my parents always pushed me to be someone in this life. Therefore, I understand how these students did not feel interested to learn. As a prospective teacher, I want all my students to feel motivated so that they are always eager to learn something new. During my high school years, I saw so many students drop out because some students will gather with bad companies. It is really sad to see that smart students dropped out because of having bad influences around them. The way that I will address a student in my class who decide to drop out is by first talking to the student. I will try to convince or at least make them to see that is not a good idea to leave high school so early. I would also like to prevent and be aware of the students that need more
Research today has become a central part of Sociology. Research in Sociology faces numerous puzzles and suspicions; challenges blind faith and unravel the mystery that surrounds the truth. According to Pauline V. Young “...sociological research is a systematic method of exploring ,analysing and conceptualising social life in order to extend ,correct ,or verify knowledge,
The Importance and Appropriateness of Utilizing Different Methodologies for Research. Introduction The process of research entails the logical as well as systematic search for useful data and information with regard to a specific topic (Jha, 2008). It is also comprised of the investigation of the best, most cost effective and appropriate solutions to both social and scientific issues, following an objective and logical analysis. Jha, (2008) defines research as the search for knowledge and the discovery of the truth. During this process, the data can be gathered from a wide pool of sources among them interviews, books, nature among others.The data can then be analyzed with the appropriate data analysis tools, so as to report the findings