integrate feedback and revise research

Please follow the instructions below, and no plagerism. Please provide 3 pages 1 page for each topic the problem statement, purpose statement, and research questions.

Instructions

Your assignment is to combine the problem statement, purpose statement, and research questions into a single document and apply all requested changes and integrate improvements based on feedback from your professor.

Length: 3 pages, not including title and reference pages

Your work should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards.

#1 the Problem Statement,

Part one

Statistics indicate that 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the US, which translates to one student every 26 seconds. It reflects a dangerous trend that has continued unaddressed because in the last two decades, the US has dropped from being the country that had the highest rate of college graduation among developed nations to 22^nd among the 27 most developed countries. It shows the sorry state of the American education system, one which the policymakers and relevant authorities have been indifferent to, if not totally neglected. The figure becomes significant when one looks at the social statistics that show that 75% of all crimes committed in the US, the school dropouts are culpable (Lauritsen & Rezey, 2013). Of course, this is a reflection of the value of education in ensuring higher earnings and better opportunities. One out of three high school drop outs is from the minority race, and this shows an unequal and unjust America. The idea of high school drop outs in the US is varied, and the main focus is to look why minorities are account for such a significant segment of the dropout rates.

Part two

In the US, the proportion of high school dropouts among Hispanics and African-Americans, the two largest minority groups is higher compared to other races, even the dominant white race. The number of Hispanics who graduate out of high school stands at 54%, with the African-Americans slightly higher at 56%. There is a significant different with the whites who have a 78% graduation rate, and this has been attributed to systematic historical injustices, low income levels and a lack of policy framework to address the needs of the minority people. Coupled with the continued correlation between education and access to opportunities, with people without college education earning $1,000,000 less over their lifetime compared to those with those a college education (Maynard et al., 2015). Past research alludes to parental care, income levels and background of the students as the main reasons that determine the educational trajectory of children. Ironically, the idea of school resources and student achievement has been found to be divisive because it does not have a clear empirical impact. In an extensive research, it was found that the family income differences, background and neighborhood caused the black-white educational gap, and this more or less confirms the disparity in the distribution of income and opportunities which favors the whites. It is a reverberating challenge that shows why the US needs to rethink its capitalistic paradigm, at least for its future generations.

Part three

Therefore, due to a denial of opportunities, either intentionally, historically or by default, the minority races in the US find themselves disadvantaged, and without any viable means to generate income. It is indeed astounding when one looks at statistics from the Bureau of Justice Statistics which indicate that blacks commit more than half of all homicides in the US, while they constitute approximately 13% of the total population (Lee, 2018). While this may be a wide-ranging and incessant debate, there have also been findings that white police officers disproportionally target black people with lethal force. The denial of educational opportunities is one of the driving factors towards the substance abuse, increased in crime rates and the disproportional representation of minority races even in the US prisons. All these inclinations vindicate the importance and value of education in the US, and the need to minimize the dropout rates, especially among the minority races.

References

Lauritsen, J. L., & Rezey, M. L. (2013). Measuring the prevalence of crime with the national crime victimization survey. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Lee, J. (2018). Racial and ethnic achievement gap trends: Reversing the progress toward equity?. Educational researcher, 31(1), 3-12.

Maynard, B. R., Salas-Wright, C. P., & Vaughn, M. G. (2015). High school dropouts in emerging adulthood: Substance use, mental health problems, and crime. Community mental health journal, 51(3), 289-299

the problem statement feedback from your professor.

none

# 2 Purpose Statement

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this qualitative study is to determine why racial minorities account for a disproportionately large number of high school dropouts. The main study method to be used will be an analysis of secondary data. The study design will be a systematic review of the literature on the topic. The choice of systematic review of literature is guided by the need to understand the opinions of scholars and experts in the field about high school dropout rates and why they are high among racial minorities. The target population for this study is high school students and especially racial minorities.

The research sample and setting are diverse and based on the studies accessed for the systematic review of the literature. Primarily, the setting of the study is the experts who handle matters of high school dropout rates and racial trends in education. The main sampling approach will be snowballing sampling where cross-referencing is useful in finding credible studies (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). Snowballing starts with a narrow number of studies their references can be used to find more credible studies, especially the ones that have been cross-referenced. The sample size, according to Creswell & Creswell (2017), should not be limited since a systematic review should include a majority of the most relevant studies. Therefore, the sample size is left open for the sampling process.

Data collection and analysis will be through access to studies through databases on education and analysis using a systematic review tool. Studies will be accessed from research databases such as Academic Research Ultimate, Education Full Text, EBSCO, and governmental databases. These studies will be fed into Covidence systematic review management program which is provided by Cochrane (Covidence, n.d.). Data analysis will be thematic and it will seek to outline the major causes of the disproportionately high dropout rates of racial minority high school students. The study results will inform policies in education that will enhance school retention and graduation rates for high school students.

References

Covidence: World-class systematic review management. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.covidence.org/home

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage publications.

Purpose Statement Feedback from your Professor.

Your chapter two will be a systematic review of the literature. For dissertaiton however as well as this course, you need to plan a quantitative, qualitative, mixed-method study. For example, if choosing a quanitative design, you might consider won of the designs by deiscussed in by a quantitative textbook authors, for they have intrduced a number of ways to categorize research designs For example, Shaughnessy et al. (2012) says that all designs can be categorized in terms of four goals: (a) description, (b) prediction, (c) explanation, and (d) application. Kazdin (2003) delineates between experimental and observational studies. He purports that the distinguishing characteristic between these two types of studies is manipulation. In an experimental study, a researcher manipulates a variable of interest; whereas, in an observational study, a researcher observes the variable of interest and its associations. For example, causal comparative and correlational research designs are considered observational research as the researcher does not manipulate any variables. Other quantitative textbook writers suggest that there are two primary categories of quantitative research: a) descriptive (which asks, “What is going on?”) and b) explanatory (which asks, “Why is it going on?”) (Bartos & LaFountain, 2002; Campbell & Stanley, 1963; Crowl, 1993). Explanatory studies can be divided further into group comparison and correlational designs. Correlational designs include predictive and correlational designs. Group comparison designs include causal comparative, pre-experimental, quasi-experimental, and true experimental design. “The purpose statement should provide a specific and accurate synopsis of the overall purpose of the study” (Locke, Spirduso, & Silverman, 1987, p. 5) includng the method and design. It foreshadows the research question(s) and hypothesis(es), which are usually, presented immediately following. Note a qualitative research article only has questions; hypotheses are not applicable. I usually find Creswell’s templates useful to the development of a purpose statement. . Qualitative Template (Adapted from Creswell, 2013): The purpose of this _________ (phenomenological, grounded theory, ethnographic, historical, case) study is to _______________ (understand? describe? develop? discover?) the _____________ (central phenomenon of the study) for _____________ (the participants) at __________ (the site). At this stage in the research, ___________ (central phenomenon) will be generally defined as ________________ (a general definition of the central concept). The theory guiding this study is _______________ (identify theory and cite theorist) as it ________________________________ (explain the relationship between the theory and your focus of inquiry). Quantitative Template: The purpose of this _____________________(true experimental? Causal comparative? Correlational? Pretest-postest control group? ) study is to examine (compares? relates?) the ___________ (independent variable, variable of interest) to _________________________(dependent variable), controlling for _______________________ (control variables) for ___________________ (participants) at _________________________ (the research site). The independent variable(s)/ one of the variables of interest _____________________ will be generally defined as _______________________ (provide a general definition). The dependent variable(s)/ other variable of interest will be generally defined as _____________________ (provide a general definition), and the control and intervening variables(s), _________________ (identify the control and intervening variables) will be statistically controlled in this study. If you want to know what variables are associated with minority student’s high school dropout, you may consider a predicitve correlation design. If you desire to understand the extent in which two or more variables relate to one another, then a correlation design may be appropriate for your research. For example, a researcher would conduct a correlational study if he or she asked, “What relationship exists between high school GPA and College Board SAT scores?” or “Do SAT scores predict college GPA?” As the questions imply, correlational research designs include both prediction studies and correlational (relationship) studies. The variables in a prediction study are referred to as the predictor and criterion, and the researcher is concerned with whether one or more variables can predict another variable. The variables in a relationship study are referred to as variables of interest, and the researcher is concerned with how the variables under study relate.

So, your topic is on target, but you need to plan to conduct research not only do a review of the literature.

# 3 ResearchQuestions

Research Question 1

In this qualitative study, the focus is on a large number of high school dropouts based on the analysis of secondary data and the systematic review of the content concerning the topic on the high school dropout rate (Froehlich-Mueller, 2017). Based on the objective of this study and the purpose, it is vital that we narrow down our qualitative research into a more specific and understandable approach concerning the topic. This is to evaluate and determine as stated and required why there is an inordinate, excessive, and unequal high school dropout rate, especially and specifically among the racial minorities. In consideration of this study, it is vital to generate some essential research questions which will help us to precisely, concisely, clearly, and arguably focus on this qualitative study and to formulate a research question which is our center and basis of our research. To better address the purpose of this study, we are going to center our research around this research question: What causes the racial minorities to account for a large number of the excessive high school dropouts?

Research Question 2

It is imperative to consider and understand that in our study, the results are going to help to inform education policies, especially on the student-teacher relationship (Short, 2017). This, in turn, will help to improve, enhance, and develop strategies that favor school retention as well as higher turnout and rates in high school graduation, especially among students of racial minorities. This essential and critical study that helps to gather information and data that is useful to combat this phenomenon should not be a vague approach. Instead, it should have a bright, concise purpose and focus oriented guideline that will drive the cause, use, and objective of our qualitative study which is based on the dropout rates of high school students from racial minorities. This forms another critical research question to guide our focus and purpose in this study, which is; How does the student-teacher relationship influence the large disproportionate number of dropouts in high schools among the racial minorities students?

References

Short, L. A. (2017). How high school students’ perceptions of their teacher-student relationships

relate to their academic achievement (Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University).

Froehlich-Mueller, K. (2017). Why Did You Stay?: A Case Study of Male Student Persistence in

Technical College(Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University).

Research Questions Feedback from your Professor.

none

 

Looking for a similar assignment? Our writers will offer you original work free from plagiarism. We follow the assignment instructions to the letter and always deliver on time. Be assured of a quality paper that will raise your grade. Order now and Get a 15% Discount! Use Coupon Code "Newclient"