CHAPTER - IV

METHODOLOGY

4.0 Introduction:

Methodology of research refers to the plan of action to examine the research

problems from various possible angles, so that the objectives of the study could be

accomplished. The meaning of methodology is the set of methods used in a

particular area of activity. It may be understood as a science of studying how the

research is undertaken based on logically derived empirical evidence from the

environment the prime necessity of the research is not only to follow all the steps of

research methods or techniques, but also to consider its methodology carefully.

Thus, the research methodology includes research design, and statistical design. The

logic behind these designs used by the researcher must be relevant to his or her

study.

There is tremendous expansion of human knowledge. This knowledge needs

to be organized, understood, and analyzed for getting clarified the facts. For this

purpose, appropriate methods are adopted for acquiring the existing knowledge. It

was recognized during the ancient period that some types of knowledge could be

obtained only through empirical studies. Scholars used empirical approach and made

enormous contributions in the fields of medicines, architecture, agriculture, etc.

Similarly, the Greek philosopher seemed to accept the notion that human nature also

comes under the scope of systematic empirical scrutiny. Protagoras (480-410 BC)

claim that "Man is the measure of all things" implied that human nature is different

from rest of nature. But, the rational approach to human nature flourished almost

unchallenged until the late sixteenth century, when it fell under the scrutiny of

Francis Bacon (1561-1626). Bacon set himself the goal of systematizing an

empirical approach to all knowledge. It was Bacon who established the groundwork

for the scientific method of inquiry. Bacon advocated that human judgment is not

infallible and it is not to be accepted straight until or unless it is examined critically.

Human behavior needs to be studied empirically. Bacon (1603) came out with an

idea of social science research, which included psychology and education too.

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Further, several educationists and scholars came out with the concept and

meaning of research. According to C.R. McClure and P. Herson (1991) 'Research is

an inquiry process that has clearly defined parameters and has as its aim the

discovery or creation of knowledge, or theory building, testing, confirmation,

revision, refutation of knowledge and theory or investigation of a problem for local

decision-making. Similarly, Francis Rummel puts the views on research that it is a

careful inquiry or examination to discover new information or relationships and to

expand and verify existing knowledge. J.W. Best (1970) stated that research is

considered to be the more formal, systematic, intensive process of carrying on

scientific method of analysis. It involves a more systematic structure of investigation

usually resulting in some sort of formal record of procedures and a report of results

or conclusions. In view of these statements or definitions, scientific research is

systematic, controlled, empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical

prepositions about presumed relations among natural and human phenomena as

considered by Kerlinger (1978).

The present research study is neither historical nor experimental in nature

rather it is descriptive cum normative survey type of research as the researcher is to

investigate the access to school education: a study of scheduled caste in Kamrup

district of Assam. This study aims at discovering of facts based on the empirically

gathered primary data. Hence, the researcher adopted descriptive cum normative

method of educational research to complete this piece of research work. The

descriptive research studies are designed to obtain pertinent and precise information

concerning the current status of phenomenon and whenever possible, to draw valid

general conclusion from the fact discovered. They are restricted not only to fact

findings but may often result in the formulation of important principles of

knowledge and solution of significant problems concerning local, state, national and

international issues. Descriptive studies are more than just a collection of data they

involve measurement, classification, analysis, comparison, and interpretation.

Descriptive studies investigate phenomenon in their natural setting. Their purpose is

both immediate and long range. It helps to explain educational phenomenon in terms

of the conditions or relationship that exist, opinion that are held by the students,

teachers, parents and experts. Process that are going on, effects, that arc evident or

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trends that are developing. Because of their apparent care and directness of this

method, a researcher can gather information in terms of one's opinion about some

issue, by a simple questionnaire. At time descriptive survey is the only means

through which opinions, attitudes, suggestions for improvement of educational

practices and instruction and data can be obtained.

Descriptive research, sometimes icnown as non experimental research deals

with the relationship between or among variables, testing hypothesis and

generalizing the findings that have universal validity. Descriptive research stripes to

improve our understanding of a specific problem with the intent of contributing to

the solution of the problem.

The term normative survey is used for the type of research, where a specific

or typical conclusion or practice in the present situation is estimated. Survey refers

to an assessment for which standardized tools were used to collect data's from a

specified population. This method of research is preferred in the field of education

for the following reasons:

i. The approach of research chosen enables the researcher to recognize the

present condition and trends that exist during a particular period of time.

ii. It assists the researcher to identify the problems prevailing in the system,

and to find solution of those problems at an appropriate time,

iii. It provides a historical perspective since a good number of studies are

conducted on the problem,

iv. It gives an insight for the course of future plans.

V. It adds an organized form of information in a well recorded format that

may be used for further studies by the scholars interested to pursue their

research activities.

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Table 4.1: Objectives wise methodological chart

Objectives of the

study

To study the access of

school education for

the scheduled caste

students in Kamrup

district of Assam

To examine the

problem faced by them

in school education.

To look into the socio­

economic status of

parents of SC students

To study the attitudes

towards school

education among the

SC communities.

To study the facilities

available for scheduled

caste students in school

education of Kamrup

district.

To provide some

equitable suggestion

for improving

enrolment of schedule

caste students in school

education

Description of

tools/techniques

Office of SSA,

Chhatribari, Guwahati

and office of RMSA,

Kahilipara, Guwahati.

Self-developed

questionnaire

Socio-economic status

scale of

Dr.Kuppuswamy with

some modifications.

Self-developed

attitudes scale

Information scheduled

Research observation

Sources of

data

Secondary

data

Primary data.

Primary data

Primary data

Primary data

Researcher's

view

Nature of data

Quantitative in

nature.

Qualitative/

Quantitative.

Quantitative

data/

qualitative in

nature

Quantitative

data/

qualitative in

nature

Qualitative/

Quantitative

data

Qualitative

data

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By looking into the nature of the problem taken for the study, quantitative

approach and the normative survey method has been chosen. The present chapter

has been limited to the following steps.

(A) Selection of sample.

(B) Data and its sources

(C) Selection of tools.

(D) Administration of tools.

(E) Scoring.

(F) Tabulation and organization of data.

4.1 (A) Selection of Sample:

It is accepted by the researchers, experts and educationists that it is not

possible for an investigator to collect data's from each and every individual of the

selected area of research. The term population refers to collection of any specified

group of human beings or non-human entities such as objects, educational

institutions, time units, geographical areas, individual, etc. The term 'Population"

signifies the total number of aspects for which the information are collected and the

investigations conducted. As it is impossible to collect information's or data from

the whole population, a sample is selected from the total population. The process of

selecting the true representative is termed as sampling.

To consider the sample of the present study, the researcher took up the

school going scheduled castes students their parents and community members

belongs to scheduled caste in Kamrup district of Assam separately by adopting

purposive sampling technique. The sample of the study comprised of 300 school-

going scheduled caste students 100 from Malo community, 100 from Namosudra

community and 100 from Kaiborta community and 300 parents and 300 community

members.

4.2 (B) Data and its sources

The required data for the study were obtained from the sources classified as

follows:

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> Exploration of the field.

> Exploration of the documents.

> Correlation with the experts.

Exploration of the field: The field of the study was explored through direct

communication with the Principal/Headmaster of the school and respective students,

scheduled caste parents and community members in selected area of the study.

Exploration of the documents: To drive the study in its proper direction to

search the objectives, the following documents had been explored in addition to the

research literature, to acquire data:

1) Census report: On scheduled caste and scheduled tribe population; series

I of 1993 and all other back volumes; published by the registrar general and

census commission Govt, of India (1993 and preceding years).

2) Primary census report abstract for general population,

scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, published by the registrar general

and census commission. Govt, of India (1991, 2001 and 2011

Provisional).

3) Report of the scheduled area commission (Dhebar

commission) Vol-I).

4) Enrolment of scheduled caste and total no. of primary and

secondary school in Kamrup district of Assam in 2008-2012. I.S. office,

Guwahati, Sarva sikhsa abhiyan, Chhatribari, guwahati, Rastriy

madhyamik Abhiyan, Kahilipara , Guwahati.

Consultation with the experts: Essential data as well as information,

required to carry out the study was creamed out by the way of formal consultation

and arising opinion to the experts and scholars, particularly knowledge in scheduled

castes and education.

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4.3 (C) Selections of Tools

For any research activities there is a need of certain instruments to gather

new facts. The instruments thus employed as means are called tools. The selection

of suitable tools is of vital important for successful research work. The collection of

data is an important segment of any research study. The researcher draws the

conclusions and generalizations on the basis of the collected data. These conclusions

and generalizations will be authentic and valid if the data are collected by making

use of reliable and valid tools. It means the exactness of the conclusions and

generalizations of any research study depends upon the tools of the research study.

Therefore, in the present study, the researcher has selected carefully and judiciously

the following tools for collection of required data:

1. Questionnaire: Related to the problem faced by scheduled caste

students in school education.

2. Socio-economic status scale of Dr. Kuppuswamy with some

modifications.

3. A self developed attitudes scale was used to study the attitudes of

scheduled caste students, parents and community members towards

education.

4. Information scheduled related to the facilities available to the

scheduled caste students in school education.

The description of the above-cited tools is put as under:

Questionnaire for Students

Good and Hatt says that in general the word "Questionnaire" refers to a

device for securing answers to a series of questions by using a form which the

respondents filled in himself Barr et al, define "questionnaire' as a systematic

compilation of questions that are administer to a sample of population from which

information is desired.

A questionnaire is a list of questions sent to a number of persons for them to

answer. It serves standardized results that can be tabulated and treated statistically.

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The questionnaire can be administered to a group of individuals at a time.

The person administering the instrument has an opportunity to explain the purpose

of the study and explain the item that may not be clear. The availability of a number

of respondents in the place makes possible economy of time and expresses. A good

questionnaire must serve two major purposes. First, it must translate the objectives

of the investigation into specific statements or questions. Secondly, it must motive

the respondents to communicate the required information.

1. Development of Questionnaire:

A questionnaire is developed to identify the problems of scheduled castes

student's educational problems. Problems are varied and come out from different

sources. So the investigator of the study prepares the questionnaire by including

problems from the following aspects:

i. Family related problems: To identify the problems that arise from the

family background in pursuing education, there are 11 items have

been kept in the questionnaire,

ii. School related problems: Nine (9) items have been kept for identify

the school related problems of SC students,

iii. Personal related problems: To find out the personal problems of

students that affects the educational attainment of the SC students;

and

iv. Society related problems: Total four (04) items have been kept to find

out the society related problems that have been faced by the SC

students.

So, total 45 items have been kept in the questionnaire to find out the

problems of SC students in pursuing educational problems.

2. Socio-economic Status Scale of Dr. Kuppuswamy with some modifications:

To measure the socio-economic status of scheduled castes student's parents,

the researcher used the socio-economic status scale. This scale was developed by the

researcher on the pattern of B. Kuppuswamy's Socio-Economic Status Scale. .This

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scale consist of four main areas of an individual, these are income of the family

members, educational attainment of the family, professional status and possession of

property in the family.

i) Reliability: As it has been stated that the scale has been developed on the

pattern of B. Kuppuswamy's scale but even then the researcher established the

reliability of this scale by adopting Test-Retest method and the coefficient of

reliability came out to be 0.73 which is having considered satisfactory to serve the

purpose.

(ii) Validity: The researcher ensured the content validity through the content

experts.

The copy of the Socio-Economic Status Scale has been placed as

appendix - B.

3. Three separate self developed attitude scales were used to study the attitude

of scheduled caste students, parents and community members towards

education

A Five-point attitude scale was constructed by adopting the step given by

Likert (1932) and standardized to measure the attitude of scheduled caste students,

parents and community members towards education.

Step - I: Collection and Editing of Statements: The investigator developed

45 statements for students, for parents 40 and for community members 40 towards

education. All the statements got edited by the subject and language experts of three

each of both the categories, since it is described as a criteria by Thurston and Chave

(1929), Wang (1932), Bird (1940), Edwards and Kilpatrick (1948). After the

completion of the editing 40, 37 and 35 statements respectively were retained in the

preliminary draft of these attitude scales.

Step - II: Try out: The preliminary draft of 40, 37 and 35 statements was

administered to a sample of 60 students, 50 parents and 50 community members

respectively. Each statement, in these attitude scale were followed by five responses

such as SA, A, U, D, and SD. The respondent was to put the tick () mark on any one

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option as per his/her willingness. The meaning of SA, A, U, D and SD are given as

under:-

SA = strongly agree, A = Agree U = Undecided,

D = Disagree, SD= strongly disagree.

The weightage for positive statements was given 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points to

SA, A, U, D and SD respectively. After try out the number of item selected for these

scales were 35, 34 and 32 for students, parents and community members. The

minimum score of a student on this attitude scale could be 30 (30 x 1 = 30), whereas

the maximum score on this attitude scale could be 150 (30x5 = 150). Like that the

minimum score of a parent on this attitude scale could be 30 (30 x 1 = 30), whereas

the maximum score on this attitude scale could be 150 (30x5 = 150). Likewise, the

minimum score of a community member on this attitude scale could be 26 (26 x I =

26), whereas the maximum score on this attitude scale could be 130 (26x5 = 130).

Step - III: Preparation of Final Draft: The preliminary draft of 35, 34 and

32 statements were administered on a sample of 60 students, 50 parents and 50

community members. The scoring work was done as per the weight age, which has

been reflected in the previous step. As per the procedure upper 25 percent and 25

percent lower cases in terms of attitude score were taken to compute the't' value of

statements of these three scales.. The't' value of 30 statements were found greater

than 1.75 therefore 30 statements were retained in the final draft of the attitude scale

which measuring the attitude of SC students towards education. On the other hand,

the't' value of 30 statements were found greater than 1.75 therefore 30 statements

were retained in the final draft of the attitude scale which measuring the attitude of

SC parents towards education. And the't' value of 26 statements were found greater

than 1.75 therefore 26 statements were retained in the final draft of the attitude scale

which measuring the attitude of SC community members towards education.

Step - IV: Reliability and Validity: For computing the reliability of the

attitude scales, the investigator used the 'Test-Re-Test' method. The co-efficient of

reliability came out to be 0.90, 0.93 and 0.88 in students, parents and community

members in these scales, which indicates a quite high amount of reliability of the

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constructed scales. The content validity was ensured by making used of the opinions

of the content experts. All the final draft of these three attitude scale has been

enclosed as an appendix - C-I, II, and III.

4. Information scheduled:

Questions in the information scheduled are related to the facilities available

for scheduled caste students at School level. This list presents 30 questions related to

educational facilities available for the scheduled castes students at School level.

Each items of question has given yes or no option and some alternative answers

have been given. The students are requested to read all the questions attentively and

give a tick mark in the right place against the each item. A copy of information

scheduled has been enclosed as an appendix -D

4.4 Administration of Tools:

It is understood that the quality of research depends upon the selection of

tools. The researcher has taken every care while selecting and developing the tools

for his research work. The researcher was careful about the reliability, validity,

objectivity and practicability of all the tools involved in this research study. But,

after selecting the tools, the research work also depends upon the careful

administration of the tools and the carefulness at the time of scoring work. First, the

researcher studied the manuals of the tests, which were to be administered for the

collection of data. The researcher became quite familiar with all the tools/tests to be

administered. Second, the direction of each tool were read carefully and followed as

instructed at the time of administration of each tool. Third, the researcher took every

care about the timings, which was prescribed for each test. Keeping in mind all

directions and nature of the tools the researcher visited various selected schools in

Kamrup district of Assam. The researcher was to administer a questionnaire for

students, information scheduled for students, a socio-economic status scale for

parents and three attitude scales for students, parents and community members.

Therefore, it was planned that in the morning session of the first day in school, the

information scheduled would be administered on students and in the afternoon

session questionnaire would be administered on students. And next day morning

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session attitude scale would be administered on students. During this process the

researcher would be collected the household address of students to collect data from

parents. After completion of school works the researcher would go for meeting

parents and community members in the villages. Data related to parents and

community members would be collected either individually or in group situations.

The investigator as a first step of his research study established contacts with

the principals/headmasters of the selected schools in order to get effective co­

operation and smooth conducting of the research study. At first, with the approval

from the principals/headmasters concerned the investigator visited the selected

school under the Chhamaria block, Boko, Chhaygaon and Hajo block of Kamrup

district. Following the same procedure as stated above, the investigator collected

data from the parents and community members belongs to scheduled caste.

In the second step of research, the researcher went for collecting data from

parents and community members. At first researcher established rapport with the

parents and make them understood about the importance of the matter and requested

them to cooperate in the research process by answering the questions in the SES

scale and attitude scale. In case !f there was any illiterate parents than ;he

investigator himself read out the statement and recorded the answer they had replied.

In the third step to conduct attitude scale on community members belonging

to SC communities the investigator met leaders, social workers, teachers,

employees, village head, panchayat leaders, educational workers, NGOs members,

and women leader etc. to conduct attitude scale.

For administrating the tests and scales, the investigator took every care so

that the students, parents and community members did not find any difficulty in

attempting the tools of the study.

Secondary data related to access to education of SC students in schools was

collected from the schools, school education office of Kamrup district, SSA office of

Kamrup district. To get the overall picture of SC education data were collected from

the State elementary and secondary office, Kahilipara, Guwahati.

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4.5 Scoring Procedure:

(i) Socio-Economic Status Scale: The responses of socio-economic status

scale were scored in accordance with weightages given for each item of each aspect.

This socio-economic status scale has been divided into four aspects i.e. Educational

Qualifications: This section of the scale indicates the qualifications of

parents/guardians which may be Ph. D., M.A./M.Sc./B.A./B.Sc./B.C.A./B.Com.,

B.E., etc. plus two (SSC) matriculation, middle school certificate, primary school

certificate and illiterate. The weightages were given as under: illiterate - zero point,

below primary - 1, primary pass = 2, below middle - 3, middle pass = 4,below

matric = 5, matric = 6, below plus two = 7, plus two = 8, below graduation = 9,

graduation =1-, PG = 11, and Ph. D. = 12 points. Along with this if additional

qualification was found then one point was added.

The section of the scale is concerning to the occupations of parents. There

may be reflected various occupations like -primary occupation, secondary

occupation, and tertiary occupation. Within these there may be professional, semi-

professional, clerical business, skilled, semi-skilled and un-employed. The

weightages were given 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively. Further, additional

weightage to the children studying in school, college and university were also given

as 1, 2, 3 points respectively.

The section of the scale indicates the income of the family has been

categorized like Rs. 30,000/- or more per month (Rs. 3,60,000/- p.a.), Rs. 25,000-

29,999, Rs. 20,000-24,999, Rs. 15,000-19,999, Rs. 10,000-14,999, Rs. 5,000-9,999

and less than Rs. 5,000/-. The weightatges to these categories were given 7, 6, 5, 4,

3, 2 and 1 respectively.

Each section of the scale was scored by the researcher taking into account

the different weightages of each items of the scale.

4.6 Tabulation and Organization of Data:

The researcher collected the data from a selected sample of 300 school-going

students, 300 parents and 300 community members from Kamrup district of Assam.

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The collected data were tabulated and organized in a systematic manner. Then the

tabulated data were analysis and interpreted with the help of advance statistics such

as percentage, linear regression and graphical representation.

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