Social Science Research Midterm

By Author: Henry Ford
Total Articles: 189
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Essay 1
Conceptualization and operationalization
A. What is the relationship between socioeconomic status and education?
In this research questions, there are two main variables that need to be conceptualized and operationalized. The two variables are socioeconomic status and education. Conceptualization mainly involves putting boundaries in the definition of the two terms while operationalization is expressing indicators that can be measured for a given variable. The following is a conceptualization and operationalization of socioeconomic status and education:
a. Socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status refers to the economic and sociologic total measures of an individuals experience and individual’s economic wellbeing based on different factors like income, education, occupation, and others. It is a sociological classification that indicates the close relationship between individual’s relative wealth and the social status. Therefore, in defining individual’s socioeconomic status, there are different factors that must be put into consideration. These are important variables that indicate ...
... the economic and social status of an individual relative to other people in the society. For this study, definition of socioeconomic status will be limited to the following factors:
The first indicator is individual income. Individual income refers to the level of wages, salaries, profits, rents, and any other flow of income that a person receives. To capture the individual’s economic well-being, definition of income will include both employable and unemployable incomes. To operationalize this indicator, the World Health Organization’s measurement below or above poverty line will be considered. The poverty line will be set at $1 per day.
The second indicator is occupation. This factor involves both individuals income and education attainment. Individual income will vary greatly with their occupation, which depends on the level of education. Occupation is also important in defining individual’s social statues, a factor that is closely tied to socioeconomic wellbeing. For the purpose of this study, occupation will be measured through individual level of skills to give three main categories of unskilled, skilled manual labor, and professional.
The last indicator to be considered in defining socioeconomic status is individual wealth. Individual wealth helps to meet emergencies, absorb shocks, and live comfortable life. It also reflects a saving culture and intergeneration transition of accumulated income and savings. This indicator is difficult to measure but for the purpose of this study, it will be measured through the level of savings and value of assets in terms of dollars.
b. Education
Education can be defined as any act or any experience that results to formative effect on the mind, character and physical ability. It is a process through which individuals acquire knowledge, skills, and values and are passed on from one generation to another. In general definition, education includes both formal and informal education. Formal education is that which takes place in classrooms while informal education is that which takes place outside classroom. For both formal and informal education, it is important to consider the process of transfer of knowledge, skills and values. For this study, education definition of education will be limited to formal education. Because the study wants to assess the relationship between socioeconomic statues and education, it will define education as a formal process that inculcates knowledge, skills, and values to the individuals and how they relate to individuals socioeconomic status. Therefore, this study will limit definition of education to the process of learning that takes place in the classrooms.
To operationalize this variable, this study will concentrate on the level of education attained. The interest of the study is on the relationship between the level of education and individual’s socioeconomic status. Therefore, socioeconomic status will be correlated to the level of education attained by the individual. Instead of looking at whether the individuals goes through formal or informal education, the study will consider the level of education but in each level, there will be different sublevel considered. The level of education is likely to be a determinant of individual occupation and hence the socioeconomic status. The basic indicator here will be the level of certification of the individual. The following are the main levels of education that will be considered:
1. None - No formal training
2. Preschool
3. Elementary education
4. Secondary Education – High school graduate and high school diploma will be considered.
5. Higher education - Five levels will be considering including Associate, Bachelors, Masters, Professional, and Doctoral degrees
The above fives levels of education will be used to asses individual education attainment. Although this may be related to the number of years the individual spends in education, education certification will be the most important indicator of the level of education they have achieved considering that there are individuals who go to school but they do not complete.
Essay 2
Constructing scales for education
a. Likert scale
Likert scale usually provides different options from which individuals have to choose one option. The options are usually related to individual’s perception or feelings. To measure education using likert scale, the study can use a question like “Do you feel your level of education is related to your level of income?’. Individuals will then chose their options from the below five point likert scale.
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree or disagree Disagree Strongly disagree
Do you think you level of education is related to your level of income?

Administration of likert scale is easier. Individuals are provided with a chance to red the question and express their feelings through the provided scales. In this case, participants should chose one option for how they feel about the relationship between their education and level of income. Some of the advantages of using likert scale are that it shows the strength of person’s feeling to the questions asked. They are easy to analyze compared to other scales. In addition, it is easy to collect data using the likert scale and it provides for more expansive means of data collection. Likert scale is also quick to administer and hence can be used to collect data from a large sample. There are some disadvantages of likert scale. People are likely to be influenced by the way they answered the previous questions and continue the same trend. In addition, provision of more choices makes it difficult for the participants to chose.
b. Thurston scale
In Thurston scale, individuals are supposed to agree or disagree with different statements. Taking just one statement from this case, it would be constructed as follows:
Agree Disagree
I think my level of education correlates to my level of income
In Thurston scale, individuals are likely to either agree or disagree to the statement given. Advantage of this scale is that it is easy to administer, simple, and easy to analyze. Disadvantages of this scale include limitations of choices provided and do not give room for participants to expound his or her choice.
c. Guttmann scale
This scale provides participants with different questions where they tick the ones they agree with. For example:
Check-mark against statements you agree with
I hold this position because I have needed skills {}
The amount of money I earn correlates with my qualifications {}

In administration, participants either agree or disagree with the statements. Advantages of this scale includes: it is easy to administer and quite efficient, it is inexpensive and it takes little time to complete. However, one of the disadvantages is that because they deal with predetermined questions and problems, they may not bring out specific characteristics of the problem faced. They are also broad banded and hence not a direct measures of the problem. They also have response set effect and assumptions that individuals know which traits are important.
Essay 3
The following ethical issues might influence study in different ways:
(i) Voluntary participation
The principle of voluntary participation is one of the most important ethical considerations in any research. This is the principle of autonomy which argues that individuals have the ability to make their decision based on the wide range of information that has been provided. This principle asserts that individuals should not be coerced to participate in the research. They should decide whether to participate or not participate in the research in the light of information that has been provided.
The principle of autonomy is important in methodology and design of the research. This is because the research must define in the methodology the sample selection method and how ethics in the research will be adhered to. In the design, the research must stipulate how the research will be carried out adhering to main ethical principles of research. The most important premise of this principle is that individuals must be given full information about the research and then allowed to make their own decision based on the information given. They must give their consent of participation rather than being coerced to take part in the study.

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