Article Memo
The research is aimed at answering the question: Does Hard Work Help Students to "Make the Grade"?
Does the article use nomothetic or idiographic explanations? Explain how it does this to show that you understand the concepts.
The article uses nomothetic explanations; this is because the explanations seem to be based on the statistical concepts and laws that govern the fields of both qualitative and quantitative research. It uses the concepts of regression and correlation as in the statistical analysis to determine whether hard work help the students make the grade. The nomothetic methods as used in the research are aimed at emulating both the methodology and the logic of natural sciences. There are some laws in the statistical analysis that if there is correlation between dependent and independent variables then the independent variable is likely to affect the dependent variable. This makes it evident that the article uses nomothetic explanations.
Does it use inductive or deductive reasoning? Explain how it does this to show that you understand the concept
The reasoning used in the research is deductive reasoning; this is because in the deductive reasoning there are statements that tend to give an explanation that hard work helps the students to make grades, the research goes ahead therefore to prove whether this is really the case by collecting data and doing some analysis to prove whether that hard work helps the students to make grades. In all the reasoning of the research, there is an already developed assumption that in the real life, it is believed that hard work and students performances are related in the sense that when one works hard, he or she is expected to have high performance in terms of the grades.
What are the key dependent variables and independent variables? Explain the difference between an independent variable and a dependent variable.
The dependent variable is the grade point average (GPA) while the independent variables are the collegiate and high school variables. These collegiate and high school variables include HPR, ACT, Academic ethic, Class standing, Campus friends< job hours, Locus of control and GPA perspective.
Dependent variable can described as a variable that relies on other factors, it can also be called the response variable in a research. In the regression model the dependent variable is denoted by the letter y. take for example in the research conducted to establish whether hard work helps the students to make grades, in this context the dependent variable is the grade, this is because the grades acquired by the students depend on the level of the hard work.
Independent variable can be described as a variable that do not rely on any other factor, it does not depend on anything. It can also be called the explanatory variable in a research. In the regression model the independent variable is denoted by the letter x. the independent variable can be one or more in any regression model. Take for example in the research conducted to establish whether hard work helps the students to make grades, in this context the independent variable is the hard work, this is because the hard work is an explanatory variable explaining the grades acquired by the students.
Research method used
The type of research method used in this study or research is qualitative type of research. Qualitative type of research is primarily an exploratory type of research. This type of research is used mainly in understanding of the reasons why some things happen. This kind of research method provides more of the insights into a problem and it normally help people develop ideas. Qualitative research mainly is used to know more about something or uncover trends which have been occurring. It makes a research to know why some things happen. In qualitative research, data collection methods mainly vary using mostly unstructured or even semi-structure techniques. Some of the commonly used methods include interviews, observations and questionnaires. In most cases in qualitative research, the sample size is normally very small and the respondents are always selected to fill a given quota (Rau & Durand, 2000)
In this research data were gathered during a year-long project I graduate and undergraduate courses on sociology. Students played a very big role in collection of data using questionnaires. In this study, random were drawn from students who resided within the university house of residence. Students who were the respondents in this study were asked various questions. They were asked whether they spent time studying during the week or even weekends. The students were also asked how many hours they spend in studying and how they spend their social life away from books.
Time dimension of the research design
This cross-sectional study because it does not have time dimension and group is selected from a sample. Cross-sectional study gives a clear picture of the outcome. It also entails collecting data at one point in time as oppose to longitudinal studies. It is mainly used when the research wants to find out about something or a trend.
Main findings of the research
The main aim of the study was to find out if there was evidence that there was relationship between drinking and study behavior. Does it mean that if a student drinks a lot then his or her performance will reduce or it is not true since according to the research these were very key indicators of academic ethic. There were two scales of measure the alcohol consumption scale and the study behavior scale. The alcohol consumption scale contained four items. The first two alcohol consumption scale was measuring the frequency of drinking mainly during the week and weekends and the other two were measuring the amount of alcohol consumption. The study behavior scale also contained four main items. The first study behavior scale was checking whether the students were studying during the week or weekend. The other scale was measuring the time that the student spends during their study. Lastly, the study behavior scale as also measuring the study patterns of students.
The study found out that there is very solid evidence that there exist an academic ethic. It was clear that students who take more hours to study during the week days and during the weekends perform well compared to those who do not take more hours to study. The study also discovered that those students who have good study patterns perform well compared to those who do not have good study pattern. Finally the study revealed that those who consume a lot or drinks a lot have very poor performance.
Saeed, Muhammad, Bashir G. Muhammad and Bushra. 2005. "Assessing Achievement of Primary Grader Students and Factors Affecting Achievement in Pakistan." The International Journal of Educational Management 19(6):486-499 (http://search.proquest.com/docview/229171587?accountid=45049).
Another study of the same kind was done by Saheed and Muhammad (2005) which aims to explore the aspects that influence the achievement of students with regards to the different subjects taught. The most outstanding factor studied is hard work and its relation to achievement of the student. This paper is much in line with the purpose of the article since it is also deductive and focus on finding out the relationship which might exist between hard work and achievement.
Chalker, Eric. 2006. "There is always Merit in Hard Work but Achievement does Not always Follow." Financial Times, Feb 11, (http://search.proquest.com/docview/249825816?accountid=45049).
For the article by Chalker (2006), the researcher studies about the relationship which might exist between hard work and achievement. However, the article brings a clear difference between achievement and hard work by asserting that hard work might lead to a dead end which achievement is something already accomplished. As the result, the relationship with the primary article comes out because it also talks about the same factor.
References
Saeed, Muhammad, Bashir G. Muhammad and Bushra. 2005. "Assessing Achievement of Primary Grader Students and Factors Affecting Achievement in Pakistan." The International Journal of Educational Management 19(6):486-499 (http://search.proquest.com/docview/229171587?accountid=45049).
Chalker, Eric. 2006. "There is always Merit in Hard Work but Achievement does Not always Follow." Financial Times, Feb 11, (http://search.proquest.com/docview/249825816?accountid=45049).
Rau, William & Durand, Ann. 2000. The Academic Ethic and College Grades: Does Hard Work Help Students to "Make the Grade"?. Sociology of Education, Vol. 73, No. 1, pp. 19-3
