Research proposal on Adult Literacy: What is the correlation between the socio-economic status of minority women and adult literacy?

Adult Literacy: What is the correlation between the socio-economic status of minority women and adult literacy?

 

Introduction           

It is a man’s nature to undergo learning as an essential process of survival. Robbins & Judge, (2007) believes the process of learning is fundamental to human life. The ability to learn differentiates human beings from the rest of creation. It is a distinct ability that constantly develops regardless of exceptional cases. Most, if not all, management experts consider that an organization can achieve competitive position in the niche market and global marketplace if there is a definite and appropriate management system and strategy that sustains its capabilities, strengths, and competitive position (Thompson & Strickland 2003). Allowing learning to take place within the bounds of the organization and its people is among the most valuable management strategies with lasting and proven effective impact. Today, the adult learning and education classes strive to grant adult learners an opportunity to use and apply what they have learned. It encourages the adult learners to think critically and to constantly redefine the content and process of the learning experience. Adult learning and education is also expected to heighten individual awareness of community issues, motivate learners to create opportunities, embrace new ideas and give direction to positive change. Adult learning and education is certainly affected by the uncertainty that characterizes today’s contemporary global situation. Increasingly, there are difficult questions posed about what constitutes the field of adult education and what are its values and purposes (Snell, 2002). In times when a greater number of adults coming from a diversity of backgrounds enter an increasing variety of programmes, another set of problems is emerging. The difficulty in coping with the current uncertainty is compounded by the nature of the contemporary situation, which itself is difficult to characterize and interpret. Whilst there is general agreement that the world is extremely witnessing profound economic, technological and cultural changes, there is less agreement on whether these constitute a continuation of quality adult education.

This research proposal intends to explore the correlation between the socio-economic status of minority women and adult literacy. It will collect information to explain the socio-economic status of minority women and its importance in learning process particularly on adult learning. Similarly, the barriers that may affect its effectiveness are sought after.

Research Objectives

This study mainly focuses on leadership and learning. It specifically tackles the subject of socio-economic status of minority women and adult learning within the organization. The following specific objectives are to be achieved:

• To explore the relationship between socio-economic status of minority women and adult learning improvement.


• To collect information to explain socio-economic status of minority women and its importance in learning process particularly on adult learning.


• To identify the barriers that may affect its effectiveness.

Statement of the Problem

This research study will work on the following research questions as problems:

What is the relationship between socio-economic status of minority women and adult learning improvement?

How is socio-economic status of minority women and important in learning process particularly on adult learning improvement?

What are the barriers that may affect its effectiveness?

Research Design and Instrument

In order to come up with the most suitable research approaches and strategies for this study, the research process “onion” is undertaken. This is because conducting a research is like peeling the back layers of an onion – in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the necessary data needed to answer the research questions and objectives, important layers should be first peeled away. With the said process, the researcher was able to create an outline on what measures are most appropriate to be applied in the study.

The researcher uses the qualitative research design utilizing the descriptive research method, which is primarily concerned with describing the nature or conditions of the current situation in detail (Creswell, 1994). According to Kumar (2005), the qualitative research approach is most appropriate when conducting descriptive and exploratory study in order to quantify data that seem immeasurable, such as feelings, beliefs, and thoughts. Qualitative research is defined by Collis & Hussey (2003) as “a subjective approach which includes examining and reflecting on perceptions in order to gain an understanding of social and human activities” (p. 353). The emphasis is on describing rather than on judging. This study employs qualitative research method, since it intends to find and build theories that would explain the relationship of one variable with another variable through qualitative elements. These qualitative elements does not have standard measures, rather they are behavior, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs. So, the goals of qualitative research are primarily to advance new theory, interpret the significance of individual events and giving voice to particular groups.

So, the goals of qualitative research are primarily to advance new theory, interpret the significance of individual events and giving voice to particular groups. In contrast quantitative research is primarily about testing theory, identifying broad patterns and making predictions. Quantitative researchers are interested in how variables co-vary across cases. Therefore, they seek a limited amount of information about many cases. Qualitative research, on the other hand, seeks a lot of information about a limited number of cases. In this case, the choice of research strategy depends at least in which part and what the researcher wants to achieve.

References

Collis, J. & Hussey, R. (2003). Business Research, 2nd Edition, New York: Palgrave.

Creswell, J. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Kumar, R. (2005). Research Methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners, 2nd Edition, New York: Sage.

Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A. (2007). Organizational Behavior, 12th ed., Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ

Snell, R.S. (2002). ‘The Learning Organization, sensegiving and psychological contracts: a Hong Kong case’, Organization Studies, July 7 issue

Thompson, A.A. & Strickland, A.J. (2003). Strategic management: Concepts and cases, International Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York

 

Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com