Causes of Absenteeism or Lateness to University Classes - Research Proposal Example

PROPOSAL FOR RESEARCH ON CAUSES OF ABSENTEEISM OR LATENESS TO ES Research question “What causes absenteeism or lateness to university classes?” I have observed with increasing concern that university students are fond of ducking classes. This has for long bogged the minds of lecturers and teaching practitioners. It has been a subject of debate in university boardrooms. It has engaged university senates and even councils. In fact in most universities, as a measure towards mitigating the impact of this problem, a threshold for the minimum number of classes that a student is meant to attend for a particular course has been set. There is a class attendance list where students are supposed to sign against their names to ascertain that they have attended class. This research question leads to a series of other questions that are inevitably conjoined with it. These are; “Is there a relationship between the degree of absenteeism and lateness to class and the performance of university students?” “Is it necessary for university students to avoid absenteeism and lateness to class?” “Whose responsibility is it to ensure that university students are not fond of absenteeism and lateness to class?” “What are the positive and negative impacts of absenteeism and lateness to class by university students?” In my venture to seek the causes of lateness and absenteeism to class by university students, I shall find it hard to evade these conjoined questions (Cohen, Mannion and Morrison 2000, p88). There might actually be no specific causes of absenteeism and lateness to class. Students might just fall victims of this ‘vice’ simply because there is actually no relationship between being absent from class and their performance. It might also be because it is not necessary for them to avoid it in the first place. It is also possible that the obliged parties are failing in their path of duty. It is even possible that there are more positive impacts of being late or absent to class than there are negative ones. Contextual background Every now and then, university lecturers have been questioning the degree of lateness by students to class. This extended to the authentic nature of the number of students in class. At first it did not bother me much. However, by and by, it became more up close and candid. I came to learn that not only the lecturers in class were complaining but also the university management was concerned. I now understand that university students all over the globe are fond of getting to class late and failing to attend other classes. Students in primary schools and in high schools are restricted with very stringent time rules (Kellett 2005a, p12). There are strict rules that prevent these students from coming to class late. Failing to attend class in primary school or high school is such a serious offence. Unlike primary schools and high schools, there are very relaxed rules in universities regarding class attendance. This with no doubt has been exploited extensively and intensively by university students. They have taken full advantage of these relaxed rules. They are notably and significantly coming to class late and even failing to attend class completely. Coming to think of it, university students are mainly grown ups(Cohen, Mannion and Morrison 2000, p33). They take care of their relationships, their homes, their diets, their items of clothing, their finances and some even their families. They are responsible people. They do not need rules to guide them around. They are nevertheless attending class late and even failing to attend others completely. This leads to the big question; “What causes absenteeism or lateness to university classes?” Theoretical framework University students are the future of the world. They are directly charged with taking the mantle from the current world leaders. However, university students all over the globe currently take it as a trivial issue that they attend classes late and some even fail to attend the classes at all. It is however causing ripples among the university administrators and the teaching fraternity in the universities. It is inevitable that the root cause of this aspect is unearthed. I shall find out whether or not the world should grow concerned with this rising cases of lateness and absenteeism to class by university students. I shall postulate the main causes of this phenomenon. I shall also come up with recommendations and the way forward to all the stakeholders of this aspect Another option to this study is finding the solution to the absenteeism and lateness to class by university students. Taking this approach would ultimately lead to searching for the causes of absenteeism and lateness. It is therefore necessary to start the journey from the starting point. Being a university student myself, I shall apply methodological literature aspects in solving this challenge that is looming large in the university setting. Epistemology is a philosophy branch that is concerned with the extent, cons and nature of knowledge. I shall explore this to the fullest in my quest to obtain knowledge regarding the trends of university students’ attendance to class. Ontology on the other hand is studying philosophically the aspect of existence. I shall be seeking to establish the nature of existence of reasons behind university students attending class late or not attending at all. The literature review In order to come up with a concrete solution to this menace, I shall need to consult with recorded literature (Kellett 2005a, p53). There is a lot of information that has been recorded in regard to the lifestyle of university students. While others are sheer works of fiction, others are born out of thorough research. Others are accounts of real life story. Others are works of fiction which are based on real life story. They all form a huge base of reliable information. I am almost certainly obliged to reach out to this data base and uproot its wealth of information. Recorded literature is in a wide range of forms. In order to fish out information from it appropriately, I need to get my self very well acquainted to all or most of these forms. These forms include published books, journals, newspaper articles, internet websites, biographies, movies, documentaries among others. I need to peruse through all or most of these I pursuit of valuable information to help sort out this mystery in the name of research question. I need to consult them in order to learn no just the approach of getting but also actually getting some of the causes of absenteeism and lateness to class of university students. I shall begin by consulting with library assistants (Fielding 2004, p4). These are in a good position to direct me to the most appropriate literature for my research. I shall have to visit different libraries in order to access the best literature from the wide array. On obtaining the literature, I shall skim read through to spot the relevant material. Following this, I shall segregate the sources with the richest information from the less rich sources. I shall then read intensely the richest sources. I shall record the information appropriately. I shall finally go through the sources with limited information and pull out the important bits. Methods Other than the recorded literature, there are many other sources of information (Cohen, Mannion and Morrison 2000, p28).. All these are capable of helping me to answer the research question(s). I have to employ the best ways of collecting data from these sources. These methods have to be effective, cheap, less time consuming and less labor intensive. I have to balance all these aspects without disregard to any one of them. These other sources of information are varied in scope and reliability. They are; Information from university students Information from university lecturers Information from university administration Information from experts. These are the main sources of information other than recorded literature that I shall seek data from. They are very reliable if they are solicited appropriately. I shall take it upon my self to ensure that the information is appropriate and reliable. The main modes of collecting information that I shall use are; Conducting interviews Using questionnaires Carrying out observations Through interviews, I am capable of building a good interpersonal relationship with the interviewees. This shall make the interviewees free to talk to me without any fear regarding lateness and absenteeism. They shall open up and reveal what is at the bottom of their hearts (Punch 2005, p67). This shall ensure that I receive reliable information. Through interviews, I shall also be able to read the mood of the interviewees. I shall be able to tell whether or not the interviewee is lying. Using questionnaires, I shall be able to reach out to a wide range and huge number of respondents. This widens the scope of the research. It leads to a more conclusive solution. I shall make my own observations on the trend and causes of students attending class late. This is first hand information. It is the most reliable. I shall begin by sourcing for information from recorded literature. This shall give me the general background of the research question. I shall have foundational base on which to make my research around. Following this, I shall use both questionnaires and conducting of interviews concurrently. This shall help in saving time. I shall then make observations to ascertain the correspondence from the interviews and questionnaires. Finally I shall conduct interviews with the experts to share with them my findings and get recommendations from them. These experts include psychologists, sociologists and criminologists. The main instrument that I shall use in this research is the questionnaire (Fielding 2004, p4). I shall personally writ it up to enhance its effectiveness to my research. The questionnaire shall not require the correspondent to reveal his or her identity. People feel freer to say the truth anonymously. I shall make most of the parts a yes or no question to simplify the work of the correspondents. Most people do not like to do a lot of writing or have little time to spare. I shall also make the questions short and to the point to avoid compelling the respondents to do a lot of reading. I shall use simple language which is understandable by every Tom, Dick and Hurry. I shall finally leave a space at the bottom that directs and allows the respondents to give whatever information they deem relevant to the subject that is not covered by the questionnaire. There are quite a number of risks to the collection of data. These might lead to the collection of wrong data which eventually lead to the drawing of wrong conclusions. These risks are mainly: Intentional lying by respondents Language barriers especially regarding accents Poor handwriting of respondents Contradicting views of the experts These challenges may cause a great threat to the authentic nature of the research. In order to curb these challenges, I shall employ a number of measures. I shall collect data from several respondents in order to dilute off the information from the lying respondents. I shall also record interviews in order to seek a third party’s help in areas where the accent is a barrier to effective communication. Third parties will also help in making out what twisted handwritings are saying. To sort out the contradicting views of the experts, I hall use the evidence that I shall gather from the other sources of data. Some people argue that collecting information from a given class of people in the society is unethical. They say that conducting interviews, handing questionnaires to or conducting observations on the trends of these people is disregard to ethics. These people include university administrators, lecturers and renowned experts in the society. I do not agree with this because the ethical nature of these actions is purely based on the manner in which they are conducted. I shall conduct these actions with utmost respect and professionalism. This shall alleviate all aspects of immorality and unethical nature of data collection. Data analysis Following the collection of data, I shall analyze the data in order to come up with comprehensible information (Punch 2005, p67). I shall tally all the causes of absenteeism or lateness to university classes. This shall reveal the order of intensity of the causes. I shall also draw a graph of the degree of absenteeism and lateness to the level of performance of the students. This shall establish whether or not there is a relationship between these two phenomenons. I shall put the experts’ views against each other in order to come up with the most suitable conclusion. I shall finally avail the information in a proper manner which anybody can read and get the findings of the research. I shall tabulate the reasons for lateness and absenteeism to class by university students. I shall draw pie charts to show the degrees of the various causes. I shall also draw graphs that reveal the relationship between the performance of the students and their level of lateness or absenteeism from class. I shall finally compile a comprehensive report that concludes the study and stipulates the specific answers to the research questions and all its small sub-questions. I shall take proper caution to ensure that ethical aspects are observed. References Cohen, L., L. Mannion, and K. Morrison. 2000 Research methods in education. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Kellett, M. 2005a. How to develop children as researchers: A step-by-step guide to teaching the research process. London: Paul Chapman Publishers. Punch, K.F. 2005. Introduction to social research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. London: Sage. Fielding, M. 2004. Transformative approaches to student voice. British Educational Research Journal 30, no. 2: 295–312. Read More