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Poverty vs wealth
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Theory and Research
Introduction
This paper will focus on the quantitative correlation study method used in survey based researches such as the attached article entitled "Horatio Alger lives". Social research is a collection of methods people use to systematically combine theories and ideas to produce knowledge. Because of it's complexity, researchers must be able to carefully select a method or methods that will best suit their study objectives. Quantitative research method consists of: experiment, content analysis, existing statistics (correlation), and survey.
The correlation and survey will be the two main methods that will be emphasized.
In a survey research, people are asked questions either through the use of questionnaires or during an interview. Unlike the experiment approach, the condition and situation in a survey requires no manipulation. All the subject have to do is to answer questions. Good quantitative research is determined by validity and reliability of the research method used (Teevan, 1995:161).
Therefo re, the straight correlation study method used in the survey research of
"Horatio Alger lives" lack components of validity and reliability.
News Article Summary
This article entitled "Horatio Alger lives" is basically a survey correlation study done on two distinct social classes; sons of wealthy fathers and sons of lower income fathers. The goal in this research was to determine which sons of the two distinct social groups mentioned, were to likely make more money in the future. Therefore, they surveyed 400,000 males age 16 and 19 that was still living with their fathers. After the eleven year period the same groups of men were again surveyed, and their incomes was correlated with their fathers. The research revealed that overall sons of wealthy fathers was more likely to earn higher salaries than their dads. Based on this fact the researcher further generalized that sons of wealthy fathers was more than likely to obtain a higher income than those sons of lower income fathers. Despite the overall results a small percentage of sons of fathers in the lower income families made more money than their father.
Class Discussion
The class discussion evolved around two questions. The first question was; do you agree with the researcher's angle in which he derived a general assumption that, sons of wealthy fathers will make more money than sons of lower income fathers? Before allowing anyone to answer I quickly brought up the third variable which was attitude, in addition to the previous question. This question had two very interesting but opposing points of views brought to light by two very different opinionated classmates. One classmate (female) agreed with the researchers measures and assumptions, arguing on the bases that if your
Three major types of methods used for this study are “Longitudinal Research Method”, “Cross- sectional Research Method” and “Cross Sequential Method” (A cohort form of Longitudinal and cross-sectional method). “Case Study Method” and “Survey Method” also have been used (Baltes, 1968).
Data generated by the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Reserve and other nonpartisan sources oppose claims commonly made. For example, data from such agencies show that differences in family income largely reflect differences in how many members of a family actually work and how hard they work. Americans in all income groups have prospered, or have failed to prosper, together. Gains by upper-income Americans have not come at the expense of middle or lower-income Americans. Nor has anyone else gained in those periods when higher-income families have lost ground.
The second state I have chosen to write about is the beautiful state of Yucatan. It has been a pleasure living here and although Yucatan is considered to be part of Mexico it has developed as if it was its own country. Having so many different cultures influencing it you can see the European, American and Mexican influences in the food, architecture and History that Yucatan has. Yucatan has been in the middle of many great battles, diplomatic situations and conquest. It has been a privilege to see the Mayan, Spanish and Mexican influences collide with each other. I have seen how indigenous people still fight to preserve their language but understand that the world is evolving with or without them, which forces many to learn multiple languages. Yucatan is filled with a different amount of languages you have French, English, Spanish, Mayan and a whole bunch of many different languages mostly having to do with Having one of the seven wonders of the modern world which is Chichen itza.
Roy’s Adaptation Model, by Sister Callista Roy, is a conceptual nursing model that views humans as biopsychosocial adaptive systems who cope with environmental change through the process of adaptation (Roy & Andrews, 1999; Roy & Zhan, 2006; Tomey & Alligood, 2006). The process of adaptation may be either an adaptive (positive) or an ineffective (negative) response and adaptation occurs when the person responds positively to environmental changes (Roy, 1984). The person receives stimuli from both the self and the environment and the adaptive level is determined by the combined effect of the focal, residual and contextual stimuli (Roy, 1984). Focal stimulus is the “internal or external stimulus most immediately confronting the human system”; contextual stimulus “are all other stimuli present in the situation that contribute to the effect of the focal stimulus”; and residual stimulus “are environmental factors within or without the human system with effects in the current situation that are unclear” (Roy & Andrews, 1999).
Like any other science, psychology is concerned with theories and data. Psychologists use a wide range of research methods and techniques that allow them to gather and make sense of the data that they produce. The methods that psychologists use to research and analyse the experience and behaviours of individuals or groups are called psychological research methods. This essay will be investigating and analysing three research methods to include; experimental, observational and surveys, also, reflecting on their strengths and weaknesses of each in addition to their usefulness in the psychology field.
In this paper, I will define quantitative and qualitative research methods and provide examples in the context of social issues which will hopefully provide insight into how this methods are properly applied.
Sociological concepts can be applied to many parts of one’s life. The concepts that surround both consuming and gender are both exceedingly relevant in our society today, with our consumption being an integral part of our life and gender becoming more freely explored as our society becomes more comfortable with the idea that there are more than two categories of gender. In this socioautobiography I will analyse how sociological concepts surrounding consumption and gender have shaped my life. I will focus on commodity fetishism, how I learnt gender roles through socialisation, and ‘doing’ gender as I was growing up. Using a sociological imagination, I will interpret my life through a historical and structural lens in relation to consumption
In an education journal, Anyon (“Social”) provides the reader with the concept that there are four different types of schools, working class schools, middle-class schools, affluent professional schools, and executive elite schools, after observing five schools. The working class schools are made up of parents with blue-collar jobs, with less than a third of the fathers being skilled, and the majority of them being semiskilled or unskilled. “Approximately 15 percent of the fathers were unemployed… approximately 15 percent of the families in each school are at or below the federal ‘poverty’ level…the incomes of the majority of the families…are typical of 38.6 percent of the families in the United States” (Anyon, “Social”). In a more recent study conducted by Anyon (“What”, 69), she states that,
Qualitative and Quantitative study designs both can be beneficial in research design. They both provide valuable options for researchers in the field. These techniques can either be used separately in a research study or they can be combined to achieve maximum information. This paper will define the terms qualitative and quantitative; describe the similarities and differences between each; discuss how qualitative and/or quantitative research designs or techniques could be used in the evaluation of my proposed research; and discuss why linking analysis to study design is important.
In this chapter, the researcher discusses further on research methodology used in the current research to achieve the research objectives as previously highlighted in Chapter One. This chapter will discuss on research design, population, sampling design and data collection method.
Traditional research may use quantitative or qualitative research method. According to Hendricks (2009), quantitative research is a general conclusion based on hard data. Hen-dricks describe quantitativ...
To collect valid and reliable data for the investigation, the researcher combined qualitative and quantitative methods to conduct “mix methods research” (Creswell, Plano, Gutmann & Hanson, 2003, p.42) because Dörnyei (2007) claimed that qualitative and quantitative methods had equal contribution in theorising as they can support each other. Furthermore, the two methods were adopted to attain an entire understanding of a target phenomenon or to justify one series of results against the other (Sandelowski, 2003). As regards quantitative and qualitative methods, according to Conrad & Serlin (2011), qualitative research methods paid attention to exploring the experiences, perspectives, and mindsets of the participants. In other words, the qualitative
Research can be defined as an attempt to discover something (Wimmer and Dominick, 2014). Research design is about the methodology that will be used for the research. Hence, this section will be discussing about the method that is going to be used for this research that is qualitative method research. Qualitative research is also described as an unfolding model that occurs in a natural setting that enables the researcher to develop a level of detail from high involvement in the actual experiences (Carrie Williams, 2007).
Sociology and psychology is the study of the mind and the environment around us which makes us who we are. These theories assist us to understand behaviour from individual and societal levels.
Research philosophy, refers to the development of knowledge adopted by the researchers in their research (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). In other words, it is the theory that used to direct the researcher for conducting the procedure of research design, research strategy, questionnaire design and sampling (Malhotra, 2009). It is very important to have a clear understanding of the research philosophy so that we could examine the assumptions about the way we view the world, which are contained in the research philosophy we choose, knowing that whether they are appropriate or not (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009), three major ways of thinking about research philosophy are examined: ontology, epistemology and axiology. Each of them carries significant differences which will have an impact on the way we consider the research procedures. Ontology, “is concerned with nature of reality”, while epistemology “concerns what constitutes acceptable knowledge in a field of study and axiology “studies judgements about value” (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009, p110, p112, p116). This study is intent on creating some “facts” from objective evaluations which are made by the subjects. Therefore, epistemology will be chosen for this study as the way of thinking about the research philosophy.