Effects of Parental Divorce on Children - Essay Example

There is no difference in academic performance between children whose parents are divorced and children whose parents are not divorced.

Null Hypotheses: Mean score of experimental groups = Mean score of the control group.
Children of divorced couples show poor academic success as compared to those of couples living together.
Alternate Hypothesis: Mean scores of the experimental group will be less than the mean score of the control group.

This project requires cause and effect hypothesis testing and therefore the design chosen is experimental (Srinagesh, 2006), with a quantitative research methodology.

The sample for this research will consist of two groups of college students. The sample will be drawn from among college students. The sample will consist of 40 college students in all. Twenty of these will be those whose parents have been divorced while twenty will be those whose parents are both alive and living together. To control the variable of gender, each group of participants will be composed of ten males and ten females. The students will be approached along with a briefing letter about the experiment and they will be asked to sign an informed consent form if they are willing to participate in the research.

The independent variable in this study will be the divorced or not divorced status of the participants’ parents while the dependent variable will be the scores obtained on the questionnaire titled: ‘Student Readiness Inventory’ (ACT, 2011).

This experiment involves hypothesis testing and is based on quantitative methods. Drawing on quantitative research methods, using basic hypothesis testing techniques for analysis, the research method will fall in the category of quantitative, experimental hypothesis testing. Since the purpose is to study the impact of divorce on children’s academic performance, there is a need to study two groups, one will consist of children whose parents have been divorced and the other will consist of children whose parents are living together, therefore, an independent groups design fits the aim of the study. This design will also remove the threats to validity due to order effects (Brian, 2002). This methodology was chosen because the nature of the study is experimental rather than exploratory. The hypothesis was devised after a quick review of literature and theory. It is expected that the null hypothesis will be rejected.

After reviewing a considerable number of studies that attempted to focus on the effects of divorce on academic achievement, it was decided that questionnaires be used as a research tool (Anderson & Taylor, 2008). The ‘Student Readiness Inventory’ was selected to be used as a research tool. Student Readiness Inventory is a questionnaire that was developed by a non-profit organization called ‘ACT’, to identify at-risk students in the field of academics.

The rationale for selecting this inventory is twofold: first, if Grade Point Average would have been used to gauge academic success, it would not have taken into account the psychosocial factors that affect academic performance in children of divorced couples. Secondly, the Student readiness inventory was preferred over the Grade point average because different individuals’ parents got divorced in different years. Tracking down the Grade Point Average of the students in the year following the divorce would have been a challenging task. Therefore, it was decided to run the Student readiness inventory, which is a short inventory and is very easy to score.

Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze the data. According to Kazmier (2004), descriptive statistics summarize numerical data and make it easy to understand via graphs. The mean (average) will be calculated from the scores of the two groups of participants obtained on the questionnaire and will be compared to accept or reject the hypothesis.

The stepwise procedure to be followed for this study is listed below in points and is followed by a timeline:
- Literature review and theoretical framework, ethical approval, and permission.
- Drawing the sample and obtaining consent and data collection.
- Analysis of data.
- Data presentation and report writing.

The results of the quantitative analysis will be presented in the form of a table. The mean scores of both groups on the questionnaire will be compared in the table. To supplement the data presentation, bar graphs will be used. Graphical presentation of data makes it easier to understand findings (Connaway & Powell, 2010). The mean scores of the two groups on the Student Readiness Inventory will be compared and contrasted in the form of bars on a graph to present the difference in scores.

Divorce of parents is a disturbing event in a child’s life (Weiss, 1976) therefore some students might not be willing to participate in a research study related to divorce. For this purpose, the students will be assured that their information and personal details will be kept strictly confidential and they will be allowed to cancel their participation in the research at any point if the questions make them uncomfortable by any means. All participants will be required to sign an informed consent form. Obtaining ethical approval and documented consent is a must in research (Social Research Association, 2003). Ethical approval will be obtained from the research department of the college before conducting the research. This will be obtained based on a written letter, addressed to the head of the department, explaining the purpose and nature of the research study.