Introduction
RSCH FPX 7860 Assessment 3 The majority of first-generation college students do not have the necessary resources to excel in college compared to their non-first-generation peers. First-generation students will have fewer reading, math, and critical thinking skills and learn a less rigorous high school curriculum, especially in science and math, compared to non-first-generation students. First-generation students are less likely to enroll in Advanced Placement courses, SAT and ACT exams due to their inability to afford the fees or time.
The goal of this qualitative phenomenological case study is to investigate the perceived shortage of resources most first-generation college students face at a four-year university based in the community within the Northwest United States. At this juncture, the perceived shortage of resources will generally be categorized as family, money, academic aid, and help given while attending college (Roksa, J. & Kinsley, P., 2019).
Research Questions
• What are the major challenges FGCS face during their transition to and through a 4-year University?
• What are suggestions that university administrators can help FGCS make to lower the dropout rate?
• What are the relationships between challenges faced by FGCS and the fact that they are unable to leverage available resources when it comes to their academic determination and professional ambitions?
• What are the FGCS recommendations for change based on their experience?
• How do FGCS in a public, minority-classified, US higher education institution describe the financial resource support they receive?
• How do FGCS in a public, minority-classified, US higher education institution describe the academic resource support they receive?
• How do FGCS in a public, minority-classified, US higher education institution describe the social resource support they receive?
Procedures
Philosophical Assumptions or Worldview
The term first-generation college students (FGCS) was used since the 1980s to assist researchers in knowing how FGS differ from their peers and how to best assist them to succeed in college. The majority of FGS pre-college values and beliefs promoted hard work and college attendance as a means of achieving economic success. The overall college transition brought disequilibrium to the students’ social class worldviews through which they were interviewed, and they reacted by trying to fit into the new culture, highlighting their social class background, or denying social class a role in their lives together.
RSCH FPX 7860 Assessment 3 Our research will be able to concentrate on particular questions and concerns such as empowerment, inequality, oppression, domination, suppression, and alienation under the advocacy/participatory worldview. It is an important worldview since politics and political agenda have impacted cultural and societal norms over centuries. The norms have had an impact on the ability of some minorities along their journey of becoming the first-generation college students (FGCS) in their families because possessing and acquiring finance/financial aids has been very complicated. This means that the researcher will be capable of addressing some issues that count regarding social issues of contemporary and historical alienation.
Qualitative Design
We will employ ethnographic research design in this study since it will make it possible for researchers to observe and/or engage with participants in the study within 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 carried out as a conversational method which will allow us to receive accurate information on each respondent. These studies will allow us to research human experiences through the descriptions provided by the concerned individuals. The objective of this research method is to present the significance that experiences possess for each subject.
Role of the Researcher
It is the responsibility of a qualitative researcher to be capable of distinguishing individual experience that will be obtained by attempting to gain access to the thoughts and feelings of the study participants. They will secure ethical clearance and permission from all stakeholders before research can commence. They will negotiate with targeted groups in an effort to negotiate the role of all the parties involved in the research process. The researcher will be able to understand the lived experience from the subject’s perspective; the researcher will also need to reflect on his/her own beliefs and feelings. The researcher will then have to first become aware of what she or he expects to learn and then to deliberately put these ideas aside. All this is done through a process called bracketing which is feasible only if the researcher puts aside his/her own ideas is it possible to see it from the perspective of the person who has undergone the experience.
Procedures Continued
Data Collection Procedures
The subjects will be asked to describe their experiences as they perceive it. They can put their experiences in writing, but data is usually obtained through interviews. As the data is qualitative, not numerical but descriptive it looks for context because it is more interested in what people perceive. Data collection will be done during the summer months between June and September of 2022. This would also include bi-monthly 45-minute two-hour recorded interviews using the same initial interview questions.
The four-phase process to interview protocol refinement (IPR) will be used in the study which involves to make 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 earned a bachelor’s degree, or a student whose only parent has not earned a bachelor’s degree if raised by a single parent.
RSCH FPX 7860 Assessment 3 Qualitative Research Proposal
Informed consent shall be obtained after the participant has been provided with the information pertaining to the study. Consent shall also be obtained prior to procedures unique to the study and ascertain that participant privacy and the setting are not subject to undue pressure and coercion from the research staff.
Data Analysis Procedures
In all the forms of analysis like the phenomenological approach to examine, there are some steps which need to be done prior to carrying out analysis. This shall be done through safe storage of original documents. Then by preparing written-up interviews or otherwise rephrase raw data into usable formats. Preparation of master copies and working copies of all documents. Making sure passwords or other safeguarding for any electronic data and copies. Last but not least, once ready to begin by reading the complete set of transcripts a number of times for an idea of the big picture.
Data analysis in qualitative research typically involves at least a five-stage process – preparation and assembling the data which actually is done through printing out transcripts, gathering up notes, papers, or other materials. Reading and questioning through the gathered data. Creating initial codes using highlighters, margin comments, sticky notes, concept maps or whatever can be used to help relate to the data. Examining the codes and narrowing or combining them into themes by finding repeating themes, words, 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 whereby 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 in collecting data. Check for consistency of the sources of data by verifying them at different points in time, the settings that they formed out of such as private vs. public. We will use different researchers to analyze the data in an attempt to take into account the results. Build a theoretical understanding of the research, with all the cross-validation strategies outlined above.
Procedures Continued
Population, Sample, and Participants
For the purpose of this study, we will utilize purposive sampling and therefore we will seek participants with specific traits. These participants will be students who are first-generation college students from various ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds in order that the necessary traits for our sample are obtained successfully. These participants will be at a local four-year university in the Northwest United States.
Anticipated Ethical Issues
The ethical issues that will be encompassed in the research study were anonymity, voluntary involvement, and informed consent. The study will apply three values: integrity, competence, and dignity and worth of an individual. We will adhere to the rules of informed consent by issuing a consent form to the participants and explaining the aim of the research and the pledge involved in participation verbally. We will consider the notion of fairness in survey distribution. All participants will be made aware of the negligible risks involved with the study: time and responding to questions regarding the educational background of family members.
Expected Findings
200 total participants will be surveyed. Most of the subjects will be in the age bracket of 18 to 34. The determined races of the subjects were Native American, White, Hispanic, and African American. Our hypothesis for the first one is that first-generation students will struggle with support networks chiefly due to lack of use of available resources. Our second hypothesis is that the first-generation students lack the assistance of family, peers, etc. and find it more difficult in the department of financial help, and preparedness academically than those first-generation students who reported stronger support from the family.
References
Azmitia, M., Sumabat Estrada, G., Cheong, Y., & Covarrubias, R. (2018). “Dropping out is not an option”: How educationally resilient First ‐ ‐ Generation students see the future. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2018(160), 89-100. https://doi.org/10.1002/cad.20240
Bogdan, R., & Taylor, S. J. (1975). Introduction to qualitative research methods: A phenomenological approach (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Wiley.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (5th Edition). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://capella.vitalsource.com/books/9781506386683
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
