Nicholas Roeder
IDST 4114
Henderson
24 April 2011
Design and Methodology
Goal
This research has several goals in addressing the question how does financial
aid effect students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and how their resulting decisions
because of aid they do or do not receive, manifest over the course of their lives? (1)
First this research will seek to determine how the amount of financial aid influenced
students’ decisions to attend Virginia Tech. (2) Secondly, this research will
determine reasons if and why there is a gap between students with different award
packages and how they are represented. (3) Lastly, this research will determine how
financial aid to, low income students, effects a students decision to pursue higher
education and their success is contingent on what financial aid they receive so they
can stay in school.
Methodological Approaches
This research will use qualitative methods to address the research question.
This research is subjective in nature and quantitative methods would not find a
solution to this interdisciplinary problem. For this topic the human element and
personal experiences are more important than cold stat sheets of numbers. For the
research question to be personal, the research will use ethnography and
phenomenological studies. Ethnographies will allow an up close view of the low-
income community at Virginia Tech, and how financial aid is valued. The
phenomenological approach will allow insight into how recipients of financial are
perceived, and how it is viewed in the community. Both approaches, by putting a
face and name, to the research is crucial for recognition by the larger community of
the issue and how it is truly is an interdisciplinary problem, and will require input
and desire from many sides of the issue. Also it would be prudent to include a
survey of students to supplement the other methods, and fill in any discrepancies.
Ethical Considerations
Ethical considerations need to be taken into account when conducting this
research, because of sensitivity to financial situations and depending on people’s
backgrounds could be hurtful. Also the research should not discriminate and focus
on a specific group because of race, color, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.
Questions should remain neutral as not to offend. People may feel uncomfortable in
discussing questions brought up in this research, and they should not feel pressured
and cornered. It is common courtesy to respect someone’s privacy if they refuse to
answer a question. This research should be rooted in common courtesy and
treating everyone with respect, and ultimately form an interdisciplinary solution.
Limitations
While keeping ethical concerns in back of mind, recognition needs to be
given to the limitations to the research. Since this research is reliant on the human
element along with that the researcher has to taken to account inherent data that
does not match up. The reason is people may not always give truthful answers as a
way to deflect in an uncomfortable situation. If the research questions remain
neutral as possible, data variations should be minimal but existent. Human error by
the researcher also needs to be recognized as potential limitation to the research.
Recording errors and being unprepared are responsibility of the researcher to keep
to minimum to capture most accurate data and information.
Disciplinary Conflict
Interdisciplinary research by its nature has to sort out and create common
ground for the inevitable conflict of each discipline. Each discipline from
psychology, sociology, biology, and political science, will want to assert each own
discipline has the solution. Both psychology and sociology have similar views, since
they are from the same family of studies. Differences lay in sociology and biology in
that one is a human science the other a natural. This difference means to a
researcher, that sociology looks for qualitative research, whereas biology looks for
quantitative data. Each has its strong points, but need to be balanced and
compliment one another. By crossbreeding sociology theory with biology know how
a unique answer can be reached. Similarities are higher between biology and
political science, because politicians prefer to use hard data for arguments.
Endstate
This research is intended to bring awareness to how financial aid effects
people from lower economic status in attaining higher education. Hopefully through
this research faults in the system will be recognized, and implement changes that
can assure everyone has a fair chance at higher education.