Walden UniversityCollege of Social and Behavioral Sciences

High Wire, No Net: Generational Poverty Emergence without Higher Education

Corey A. CaughertyProposal Oral Defense

September 1, 2015

Dr. Mary BoldCommittee Chairperson

Dr. Lilian ChenowethCommittee

Member© Copyright 2015, Corey A. Caugherty

A Word of Thanks

Chair: Dr. Mary Bold

2nd Committee Member: Dr. Lillian Chenoweth

URR: Dr. Tina Jaeckle

Program Director: Dr. William Barkley

Presentation Agenda

Introduction Background of Study Nature/Purpose of the

Study Research Design Research Question Conceptual Framework Assumptions

Limitations, Scope, & Delimitations

Overview of Literature Research Design Instrumentation Data Collection & Analysis Participant Rights Social Change

Introduction Researcher

Experience with Generational Poverty (GP) Experience with GP emergence through higher education

Background of the study Alternatives to poverty emergence Understanding some of the lived experiences of GP emergence

without higher education

Problem Statement

Children face numerous educational challenges when experiencing GP (Blanden & Gibbons, 2006; Blanden & Gregg, 2004; Ladd, 2012; Lee, Hill, & Hawkins, 2012; Noguera, 2011; Wrigley, 2012).

Without formal education beyond high school or obtaining a high school equivalency, how are individuals able to emerge from GP?

Nature of the StudyPurpose

This phenomenological qualitative study will center on the descriptions of participants’ experiences (Moustakas, 1994) as well as the

interpretations of the researcher (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009) in an attempt to understand as much as possible about GP emergence.

Research Design Multiple case studies

Narratological paradigm

Research QuestionHow do individuals born into generational

poverty that earn only a high school diploma or high school equivalency perceive their

emergence from generational poverty?

Conceptual Framework & Assumptions of the Study

Rutter’s theory of resilience Definition Contextual considerations The steeling effect Breaking negative chain reactions

Assumptions Correctly designated GP Participant honesty and worldview Participant similarities Researcher bracketing

Limitations & Scope/Delimitations Limitations

Complex process to assess Participants’ recall reliability Impact of genetic factors

Scope/Delimitations Small sample size Level of description Member checking Peer debriefing/external audit

Overview of the LiteratureTypes of poverty

Different types of poverty

Social aspects of poverty types

Theoretical framework of GP

Responses to poverty

Government programs

Education and GP emergence

Resilience and GP Emergence

Rutter’s (1995,1999,2006, 2011, 2012) theory of resilience

Understanding the “lived experience” of GP

Research Design & Instrumentation

This qualitative phenomenological study will be undertaken to examine the lived experiences of individuals who have emerged from GP without formal education beyond high school or obtaining a high school equivalency.

Data will be generated by researcher-created instruments: an initial screening survey and open-ended interview questions.

Data Collection and AnalysisInitial Screening Survey Instrument

Brief questionnaire designed to qualify volunteers

Qualified volunteers move on to interview stage

Open-ended Interview Questions

In-depth interviews Setting

collaboratively chosen

Audio recording Researcher’s

journal & field notes

Data Analysis

Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)

Follow-up meetings

Member checking Peer debriefing

Participant Rights & Protections Clearly explained information about procedures and processes Contact information Consent form/Opt-out NIH certification Anonymity & confidentiality

Removal of identifying information Secure electronic/non-electronic data storage

Password protection Physically securing non-digital data

Social Change

Better understanding of the lived experience of GP emergence

Potentially informs further research

Potentially informs policymakers and

educators

Questions Regarding the Proposed Study?

References for Proposal Defense PresentationBlanden, J. & Gibbons, S. (2006).The persistence of poverty across generations. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press.

Blanden J.& Gregg, P. (2004). Family income and educational attainment: a review of approaches and evidence for Britain. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, (20)2, 245-263. doi: 10.1093/oxrep/grh014.

Ladd, H. F. (2012). Education and poverty: Confronting the evidence. Journal of Policy Analysis & Management, 31(2), 203-227. doi:10.1002/pam.21615.

Lee, J. O., Hill, K. G., & Hawkins, J. D. (2012). The role of educational aspirations and expectations in the discontinuity of intergenerational low-income status. Social work research, 36(2), 141-151. doi: 10.1093/swr/svs025.

Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Noguera, P. A. (2011). A broader and bolder approach uses education to break the cycle of poverty. Phi Delta Kappan, 93(3), 8-14.

Retrieved from JSTOR database, accession number: 67225136.Rutter, M., Champion, L., Quinton, D., Maughan, B., & Pickles, A. (1995). Understanding individual differences in environmental-risk

exposure. In P. Moen, G. R. Elder, K. Lüscher (Eds.), Examining lives in context: Perspectives on the ecology of human development (pp. 61-93). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/10176-002. Retrieved from PSYCBooks.

Rutter, M. (1999). Resilience concepts and findings: implications for family therapy. Journal of Family Therapy, 21(2), 119. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost.

Rutter, M. (2006). Implications of resilience concepts for scientific understanding. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1094(1), 1-12. doi:10.1196/annals.1376.002.

Rutter, M. (2011) Resilience: Causal pathways and social ecology. In Ungar, M. (Ed.), The social ecology of resilience: A handbook of theory and practice (pp 33-42). New York: Springer.

Rutter, M. (2012). Resilience as a dynamic concept. Development and psychopathology, 24(2), 335. doi: 10.1017/S0954579412000028.Smith, J.A., Flowers, P. and Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method, and Research. London, UK:

Sage.Wrigley, T. (2012) Poverty and education in an age of hypocrisy. Education Review, 24(2), 90-98. Accession number: 87604207.