QUALITATIVE STUDY

QUALITATIVE STUDY DESIGN ACTIVITIES

Cookie Cutting Students: the Effects of Forcing Students to Attend College
Ashley Allgood
EDRS8000: Applied Quantitative & Qualitative Research
Qiana M. Cutts, Ph.D., Instructor
Kennesaw State University

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High school students have always been encouraged to attend college. Parents, teachers,
and counselors have told students that college will result in better jobs and a higher quality of
life. However, many student chose not to go to college and followed a different path, e.g. joining
the military, pursuing vocational training, or seeking employment. However, recently due to
various changes in societal attitudes, students have been more aggressively pressured to attend
college. One of these changes is due to the method in which high schools are evaluated. High
schools receive ranking and scores based on the number of graduates who attend post-secondary
schools. Therefore, in order to improve their ranking and receive recognition, school staff
emphasizes the necessity of college to all students without considering the individual's abilities,
goals, needs, and interests. It is in the schools best interest for all students to follow the college
path; therefore, schools are trying to have students fit that mold instead of finding the mold that
best fits the students. Since many students are unaware of all the choices, they follow the advice
of their teachers and counselors and attend college. However, not all students are meant to seek
advanced post-secondary degrees. Due to their individual differences, there are a large number of
students who are more suited for vocational schools and training programs. These programs are
not emphasized to students because vocational training programs do not reflect as well on the
high schools. Therefore, students are being advised to enroll in college, even if they are not
academically or financially prepared. Additionally, vocational degrees and programs are being
cut across the nation due to a lack of funding and/or a lower level of participants. The dwindling
vocational options also results in students enrolling in college, since they did not have a
vocational option. This poor choice of path results in students struggling through classes, failing
classes and dropping out of college. Studies indicate that only fifty-six percent of undergraduate

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students complete their degree (https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cva.asp).

Researchers have attributed this staggering amount of dropouts to a number of reasons including
financial difficulties, lack of emotional maturity, and lack of preparedness (Tinto, 2001). Some of
these drop outs could have been avoided if these factor would have been considered by high
school counselors before the students were encouraged to attend a college. The purpose of this
goal is to delve into the effects of encouraging all students to follow the same path leading to
college.

Worldview
This study falls into the category of post-positivism. In post-positivism, research is
intertwined with politics and policy, and in this study of researching whether a lack of vocational
options in high school affects undergraduate dropout rates (Creswell, 2007). Educational
policies, like methods of evaluating high schools and lack of funding for vocational programs,
are resulting in fewer students pursing vocational training. Additionally, post-positivism focuses
on the needs of smaller groups that are being marginalized and focuses to bring about change to
help these groups (Creswell, 2007). The group being researched in this study comes from the
forty-four percent of undergraduate students who drop out of college. A number of factors are
the causing students to drop out; however, this study focuses are a smaller portion of that group:
the students who dropped out since they did not feel that college was a suitable fit for them. This
small group is being ignored by society since society is telling students that college is the best
optional for all students. The aim of post-positivism is to bring about change, and the aim of this
study is to lower undergraduate dropout rate by changing high school educational policy
(Creswell, 2007). This study hopes to explore the effects of pressuring students to attend college

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and find a way to help students follow the most appropriate path based on their abilities, goals,
interests, and needs.
Goals
The goal of this study is to determine whether the pressure of schools for students to
attend college has an effect on the undergraduate dropout rate. Due to this pressure, more
students are attending college, which has led to the decline of vocational training programs and
degrees. Another goal of this study is to determine if the dwindling vocational options for
students has an impact on first-year undergraduate dropout rate. It is hypothesized that students
attend universities due to pressure from the high school to direct student on the college path.
Many factors, like socioeconomic status, emotional maturity, college readiness, etc., are listed as
reasons students drop out (Tinto, 2001). Other studies discuss the lack of preparedness of
students that can lead to their withdrawal from college; however, the discussion stops there.
Lack of college readiness is a broad category, and this study examines whether lack of a
vocational degree option and an overemphasis on college affect student dropout rate. These
studies lack information and an understanding of the pressures of high school students to enroll
in college, and therefore, deeper research is needed. The aim of this study is to expand and alter
the category of lack of preparedness to inappropriately place in college for I believe that
many students enroll in college event though they are not academically or financially able to be
successful there.
This study has personal interest for me. As a high school teacher, I have witnessed
students being unsure about what to do after graduation. They seek guidance from the media,
their peers, parents, teachers, and counselors. However, each of these groups is not always
considering what is best for the individual student. The media and peers tell students that they

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should go to college in order to party and act foolish. Many of their parents tell students that
they should go to college because that is the only way to get a good job and earn more money.
The same reasons for attending college are given by counselors; however, they are motivated by
high school rankings to push kids to college. It comes down to the teacher to try to help students
see all of their options, and some teachers are not willing to take the time. In my career, I have
sought to help each student weigh all the options and consider each ones costs, benefits, and
downfalls in order to help students make informed decisions on what is the best choice for them.

Conceptual Framework
I believe that the undergraduate dropout rate is high due to the lack of vocational training
and degree programs for students. A lack of funding has led to sharp declines in the number of
available vocational programs. Additionally, states, like Georgia, have done away with technical
degrees for high school students. If there are available programs, students are being heavily
encouraged by high school teachers and counselors to go to college. Since high schools are
ranked based on the number of their graduates that attend college, I suspect the high school
counselors are under emphasizing or failing to mention vocational options to students in order to
have students enroll in college. I believe that a number of the undergraduate dropout students
are a result of this strong emphasis on college. These students enroll in college, but then are not
academically or financially prepared to be successful; therefore, they drop out. The goal of this
study is threefold; a) to understand the experience of high school students as they are advised on
their next step after high school graduation; b) to understand what led to their drop out; c)
whether a vocation option would have been a more successful option. The understanding will be
gained through interviews with participants, who have dropped out of college. Hopefully, this

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study will result in the changing of educational policy when it comes to funding for vocational
programs and when advising students of their future path.

Research Questions
Research Questions:
1) Does the emphasis on college and the dwindling vocational options have an impact on
undergraduate dropout rate?
2) What policy changes can be made to lower the undergraduate dropout rate?

Interview Questions:
1.
a.
b.
2.

What did high school students experience as they decide the next step after high school?
Who provided the students with guidance?
What advice was given?
To what extent are high school students made aware of or are advised on options other than

a.
b.
c.
3.
a.
b.
4.
a.
b.
c.
5.
a.
b.
c.
6.

attending college?
How were they made aware?
Who advised the students?
Did the students feel that all options were explored equally?
Why did the students decide to go to college?
What/who influenced their decision?
What other options did they consider?
If the student dropped out of college, why was the reason?
How does the student feel about his/her decision to withdrawal from college?
What path does the student want to pursue now?
How does the student feel about his/her original decision to go to college?
Did undergraduate students who dropped out have vocational program or degree options?
If so, were they made aware of these options?
If so, why did they not pursue these options?
If not, would they have been interested in pursuing these types of programs? Why?
Does a lack of vocational programs or degree options affect the undergraduate student dropout
rate?

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Research Design

Qualitative research aim is to explore an issue or a phenomenon and develop a detailed

understanding. The phenomenon is explored through the views and experience of the
participants. Data is collected based from multiple sources, mostly on participants words,
behaviors, and documents. Many times this data is collected in the participants natural setting in
order to give the researcher a chance to observe the participants behavior in their natural
environment (Creswell, 2007). Researchers have to interpret what they observe, hear, and read
in order to gain an understanding of the phenomenon. The data collected is analyzed for themes,
which can then be used to create a description of the experience (Creswell, 2012). This bottomup method of creating a narrative based on themes found within the participants experiences is
called inductive data analysis (Creswell, 2007).
This study will use the phenomenological approach. The study aims to create a
description of the experience of undergraduate drop out students. In order to gain a complete
understanding of the experience, the participants will need to be interviewed one-on-one in order
to discover what the experienced leading up to enrolling in college as well as leading up to their
decision to drop out. The feelings of undergraduates resulting from their withdrawal from
college will help the researcher describe the essence of the experience. It is important to
understand the experience and feelings in order to create better policy and procedures to help
students successfully select the next step after high school graduation. Data will be collected
through deep one-on-one interviews until saturation has been met (Creswell, 2007).

Data Collection

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Data collection in qualitative research has a five step process. The first step is to identify
the individuals that will be studied. Individual must be purposefully selected in order to gain
data that will answer the research questions. Secondly, the researcher must obtain the
participants permission, since the researcher will be exploring the participants feelings,
experiences, or site. Next, the researcher must decide what type of information is needed to
answer the research questions. Open-ended questions are necessary in qualitative research since
they do not restrict the participants responses. Additionally, the researcher must identify the
appropriate protocols or instruments for collecting, recording, and organizing the data. Lastly,
data collection begins, but the researcher stays vigilant of emerging ethic issues due to the
personal interaction of qualitative research (Creswell, 2012).
In order to collect data for this study, personal interviews will be conducted.
Undergraduate students, both those who dropped out as well as those who continued in college,
will be interviewed one-on-one. These students will be found with the help of a local college.
Potential participants will be emailed an introductory questionnaire to see if they are appropriate
individuals for the student. If the students respond and are suitable, a permission form will be
emailed to them for their perusal and signature. Then a time, date, and location will be set for
the interview. At the interview, the participant will turn in the permission form. Then they will
be asked open-ended questions regarding their decision to pursue a post-secondary degree and
their experiences their first year. During the interview, the researcher may need to probe the
participant in order to get the questions thoroughly answered and to gain a deeper understand of
the participants experience. Since this study will need in depth information, individual
interviews will be the best method of data collection. The interviews will be videotaped and
recorded for later analysis and reflection (Creswell, 2012).

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Data Analysis
Qualitative data is analyzed through coding. Since this study is using a
phenomenological approach, data analysis will begin by reviewing the interviews and
highlighting significant statements that enable the researcher to understand each participants
experience. The first step in the coding process will be reading through the data gathered and
making notes on initial thoughts. Next the researcher will read through the data again and will
identify segments, which s/he will bracket and label with a code (Creswell, 2012). The code
will be whatever the researcher decides is appropriate; therefore, in this study codes like advice
regarding next step, participants knowledge of options, and participants feelings about
dropping out are just examples of titles of codes. After the initial codes are created, the
researcher will look through the codes to find redundancies or overlap as well as mislabeled
sections. The codes will be complied into a manageable list of 25-30 codes. Then the codes will
be grouped together into five to seven themes or categories. The researcher will identify the
themes based on what the participants discuss the most frequently (Creswell, 2012). The
description of the event, known as the textural description, will be formed from statements and
themes (Creswell, 2007).

Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness in qualitative research is making sure that the study is reliable and
supported. Typically, researchers speak in terms of validity and reliability; however,
trustworthiness incorporates both of these aspects in addition to another. According to Guba
(1981), there are four criteria in determining trustworthiness. These aspects include credibility,

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transferability, dependability, and confirmability. In the research community, these aspects are
sometimes referred to by names differing than those of Guba (1981): internal validity is
credibility, external validity and naturalistic generalization are transferability, reliability is
dependability, and objectivity is confirmability.
In this study, five provisions will be made to ensure the credibility. First, established
research methods and procedures will be used. Additionally, some participants will be randomly
selected in order to have the study more accurately represent a larger group. Next, in order to
support that data gathered during one-on-one interviews, the data will be triangulated via
obtained documents and verifying participants stories with others, in this case teachers,
counselors, and peers (Shenton, 2004). Moreover, the researcher will ensure the participants
answer honestly by encouraging them to speak frankly and openly and by telling them about the
option to leave the study at any time with no reason necessary. Lastly, during the interview the
researcher will ask iterative questions in order to perceive participants deception as they answer
the question a second time. Together these steps should prove that the data collected was done
so in a trustworthy manner and represents the honest views and experiences of the participants.
(Shenton, 2004).
In order to ensure this studys transferability, the participants selected for the study will
be done so purposefully, for the most part. A purposeful sampling will maximize the range of
collected data and will create a thicker narrative. A dense collection of descriptive data will
enable the context of this study to be compared to others. Drawing comparisons between
situation and studies can lead to generalizations (Guba, 1981). Naturalistic generalizations
commonly occur in qualitative research since qualitative studies usually describe small groups,
and it can be difficult to conclusions that apply to society as a whole. In naturalistic

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generalizations, the reader find similarities in the study and in their own experiences and
determine whether there enough similarities are present to create a generalization (Shenton,
2004).
For dependability, this study will describe its methods and findings in detail so that they
can be repeated. A detailed research design will be created and followed methodically. Logs and
reports will be kept detailing what is done in the field (Shenton, 2004). Interviews will be
recorded, and researchers will take notes additionally. Reflections will describe the effectiveness
of the research design and the process. All of these notes, recordings, logs, and documentation
will create an audit trail for an external auditor to examine all the methods and steps of data
collection and analysis that led to the conclusions (Guba, 1981).
Lastly, in the matter of confirmability, the researchers must disclose his/her own
predispositions. Researchers must reveal his/her beliefs regarding the study, since these beliefs
affected the methods used and decisions made during the study. Additionally, the researcher will
need to be honest about the weaknesses in the methods and techniques. Detailed reports of the
methods are necessary so that the research results can be scrutinized (Shenton, 2004). Certain
steps in other aspects of trustworthiness have already been taken that will ensure confirmability.
Triangulation of information, which was done to ensure credibility, will also prove
confirmability. Creating an audit trail was used to establish dependability; however, it also
ensures confirmability (Guba, 1981).

Ethics
Since qualitative research involves understanding a participant's perception and
experiences, ethical issues can arise. Participants are frequently asked to discuss personal details

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about their lives, which will require trust on their part. In order to gain trust, the researcher must
convey the purpose of the study. Researchers must assure participants that confidentiality will be
maintained. Researchers must refrain from deceptive practices, which can undermine the study
as well as the trust of the participant (Creswell, 2012). Permission forms stating the purpose and
methods of the study should be given to individuals before they agree to participate in order that
they can give informed consent (Litchman, 2011). Even though trust is an important feature of
collecting qualitative data, the researcher cannot become too emotionally close to the participant.
The researchers must establish his/her role and maintain boundaries in order for the data to not
be compromised (Litchman, 2011). Compensation for the participants time is another ethical
concern. It must be considered whether or not rewards have an effect on the responses. Overall,
the researcher must find a way to obtain personal information honestly and ethically from the
participant while maintaining the participants rights and privacy (Creswell, 2012).
In this study, one-on-one interviews will be conducted, which have their own set of
ethical concerns. In order to maintain the validity of the data, field issues as well as ethic issues
must be anticipated and addressed. The researcher will prepare for the interview in advance by
setting up and testing the recording equipment and by having suitable, open-ended questions
ready for the participant to answer. The interview will be conducted in a meeting room at the
researchers facility, so that the participants do not feel that their personal space is being invaded.
The researcher will need to make the participants comfortable to ensure their willingness to
speak openly; therefore, the researcher might start the interview with ice-breaker questions
(Creswell, 2012). Additionally, the participants will be reminded of different parts of the
permission form, in order to put them at ease. The researcher will review the purpose of the
study and will assured that no names will ever be revealed in the study. When conducting the

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interview, the researcher will be an active listener, reserving comments or opinions. The
researcher will guide the participant, if s/he strays from the topic. The participant might need
probing to make sure that the questions are fully answered, but the researcher will not lead the
participant or insert personal opinions. The researchers will maintain appropriate boundaries and
his/her role as researcher, in order to avoid distorting the data by becoming personally involved
(Creswell, 2012). For this study, participants will be reimbursed for their time with small gift
cards, donated by local stores and restaurants.

References

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Creswell, J. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches
(2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Creswell, J. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative

and qualitative research (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.

Guba, E. (1981). Criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries, Educational
Communication and Technology Journal 29, 75-91.

Litchtman, M. (2011). Qualitative Research in Education: A User's Guide(3rd ed.).

Institutional Retention and Graduation Rates for Undergraduate Students. (2014, May 1).
Retrieved April 12, 2015, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cva.asp.

Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects.

Education For Information, 22(2), 63-75.

Tinto, V. (2001). Rethinking the First Year of College. Higher Education Monograph Series,
Syracuse University.