RSCH FPX 7860 Assessment 3

Introduction

A majority of the first-generation students lack crucial tools necessary to perform in college relative to their non-first-generation peers. Relative to the non-first-generation peers, the first-generation peers will be able to do less reading, mathematics, and critical thinking, as well as read a less rigorous high school course of study, especially sciences and math. Fewer first-generation students take Advanced Placement classes and SAT and ACT examinations on account of the inability to meet the costs of these examinations or the availability of time.

The aim of this qualitative phenomenological case study is to investigate the perceived lack of resources most first-generation college students face at a community-based four-year institution in the Northwest United States. The perceived lack of resources at this juncture will generally be understood as family, finances, academic help, and support received while in college (Roksa, J. & Kinsley, P., 2019).

Research Questions

• What are the foremost challenges FGCS face in their transition to and through a 4-year university?
• What are suggestions that university administrators can make to help FGCS so that they will decrease the dropout rate?
• What are the connections between challenges faced by FGCS and the fact that they are unable to take advantage of available resources as it relates to their academic perseverance and professional goals?
• What are the suggestions for change that come out of their experience for FGCS?
• How do FGCS in a public, minority-classified US college of higher learning describe the academic resource support that they get?
• How do FGCS in a public, minority-classified, US college of higher learning describe the financial resource support they get?
• How do FGCS in a public, minority-classified US college of higher learning describe the social resource support that they get?

Procedures

Philosophical Assumptions or Worldview

The term “first-generation college students” (FGCS) was used in the 1980s to assist researchers in understanding how FGS differ from their peers and how best to facilitate them in achieving college success. The vast majority of FGS pre-college values and beliefs promoted hard work and going to college as a means to economic success. The general move to college created disequilibrium in the social class worldviews of the interviewed students, and they responded by trying to accommodate the new culture, highlighting their social class origins, or suppressing the influence of social class in their lives altogether.

The advocacy/participatory worldview will enable our research to home in on particular questions and issues like empowerment, inequality, oppression, domination, suppression, and alienation. It is an important worldview because political agendas and politics have shaped cultural and societal norms across centuries. The norms have impacted the ability of some minorities in their journeys of becoming the first-generation college students (FGCS) in their families because possessing and gaining finance/financial aid has been very intricate. This means that the researcher will be able to address some issues that are relevant regarding social issues of recent and historical alienation.

Qualitative Design

We will employ ethnographic research design in this study since it will allow researchers to observe and/or engage with participants in the study in their natural setting. We will employ one-on-one interviews, which are in-depth personal interviews with a single respondent at a time. This will be done as a conversational method, which will allow us to get accurate information on each respondent. These studies will allow us to research human experiences based on the descriptions provided by the individuals in question. The objective of this method of study is to describe the meaning that experiences have for each subject.

Role of the Researcher

It is the responsibility of a qualitative researcher to be able to spot individual experiences, which will be accomplished by attempting to gain access to the thoughts and feelings of the study participants. They will receive ethical clearance and consent from all parties involved before research commences. They will negotiate with intended groups in trying to broker the roles of all actors within the process of investigation. The researcher will be able to understand the lived experience from the other person’s perspective; the researcher will also have to take into account his/her own belief and feeling. The researcher will then have to first realize what she or he wants to know and then consciously put aside these ideas. All this is done by a process called bracketing, which can only be done if the researcher puts aside his/her own ideas. Is it possible to see it in the eyes of the person who has lived through the experience?

Procedures Continued

Data Collection Procedures

The interviewees will be asked to describe their experiences as they perceive them. They can note down their experiences, but data is usually gathered through these interviews. As qualitative data is not numerical but descriptive, it looks for context because it is more interested in people’s perceptions. Data collection will be done during the summer months from June to September of 2022. This would also include bi-monthly 45-minute two-hour recorded interviews with the same initial interview questions.

The four-phase process of interview protocol refinement (IPR) will be used in the study that involves making sure that the interview questions align with the research questions, creating an inquiry-based conversation, receiving feedback on interview protocols, and piloting the interview protocol. The interview protocol matrix would include background, research questions 1-4, and interview questions 1-10. FGCS are defined by the Department of Education in the Higher Education Act of 1965 and 1998 as those whose parents have not received a bachelor’s degree or a student whose only parent has not received a bachelor’s degree if raised by a single parent.

RSCH FPX 7860 Assessment 3 Qualitative Research Proposal

Informed consent will be obtained after the participant has been informed of relevant information about the study. We will also obtain consent prior to procedures unique to the study and ensure that participant privacy and setting are not subject to undue pressure and coercion from the research team.

Data Analysis Procedures

In all analytical methods, like the phenomenological approach to research, there are some steps that must be followed prior to the analysis. This will be done by providing safe storage for original documents. Then by documenting interviews or otherwise transforming raw data into meaningful forms. Developing master copies and working copies of all documents. Ensuring that passwords or some other form of protection are put in place on all electronic information and copies. Lastly, begin preparation by reading through the entire set of transcripts three to four times for a sense of the general picture.

Analysis of data in qualitative research traditionally requires at least a five-step procedure—preparation and assembling the data, which in practice is carried out by printing transcripts, gathering notes, documents, or other documents. Reading and questioning across the data gathered. Creating initial codes by using highlighters, margin notes, sticky notes, concept maps, or anything else that can be used to help connect to the data. Examining the codes and refining or merging them into themes by finding recurring themes, language, opinions, and beliefs. Presenting those themes in a cohesive manner by considering your audience, the purpose of the study, and what content should be included to best tell the story of the collected data.

Strategies for Validating Findings

Cross-validation, also known as triangulation, is when multiple data sources are analyzed to form a final understanding and interpretation of a study’s results. Validating the methods used to collect the data by examining the data-collection methods. Question and confirm what techniques were used for data collection. Check the consistency of the data sources by verifying them at different points in time and the settings that they evolved from, like public versus private. We will use different researchers to analyze the data in an attempt to account for the findings. Build a theoretical understanding of the research, with all the cross-validation strategies outlined above.

Procedures Continued

Population, Sample, and Participants

We will utilize purposive sampling in this study, and therefore we will seek participants with specific traits. These participants will be of varying ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds and will be first-generation college students so that the desired traits for our sample are attained effectively. These participants will be located at a nearby four-year university in the Northwest United States.

Anticipated Ethical Issues

The ethical concerns that shall be included in the research study were anonymity, voluntary participation, and informed consent.

The research will utilize three values: integrity, competence, and an individual’s dignity and worth. We shall abide by the principles of informed consent through the issuance of a consent form to the participants and describing the purpose of the research and the commitment involved in participation verbally. We will take into account the concept of fairness in survey distribution. All subjects will be informed of the minimal risks associated with the study: time and answering questions about the educational history of family members. 

Expected Findings

200 total subjects will be surveyed.

A majority of the participants will be within the age range of 18 to 34. The races of the participants that were specified were Native American, White, Hispanic, and African American. Our hypothesis for the first one is that support networks will be a challenge for first-generation students primarily because of non-use of available resources. Our second hypothesis is that the first-generation students do not have the support of family, peers, etc., and get it harder in the department of financial assistance and preparation academically compared to those first-generation students who reported greater support from the family. 

RSCH FPX 7860 Assessment 3 Qualitative Research Proposal

LeBouef, S.; Dworkin, J. (2021) First-Generation College Students and Family Support: A Critical Review of Empirical Research Literature. Educ. Sci. 2021, 11, 294. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11060294

Roksa, J., & Kinsley, P. (2018; 2019). The role of family support in facilitating academic success of low-income students. Research in Higher Education, 60(4), 415-436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-018-9517-z