This document discusses a research study exploring MSU Denver BSW students' knowledge about the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on children. It begins with an introduction stating the problem of growing socioeconomic gaps and lack of public knowledge about SES effects. A literature review found SES impacts emotional awareness and parenting skills. The study aims to examine student attitudes and beliefs. A survey was administered to 26 students, finding most acknowledged low SES negatively impacts children's academics. Limitations included a small sample size. The conclusion determined flexibility and consideration of reliability and validity are needed to improve research execution and results analysis.

1. AWARENESS OF LOW
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
AND SOCIALIZATION IN
CHILDREN
Dani Krause, Cassidy Meehan, David Saperstone, Miranda Al-Mouradi

2. Introduction/Problem Statement
Problem:
• Socioeconomic Gap is increasing
• Socioeconomic Status effects families & children
• Public knowledge about the effects of SES is lacking
Implications for the field of Social Work:
• Include research and data analysis to effectively address social issues and raise awareness.
• “Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that, contribute to, and
address social problems in living.”
(Huang & Sebastian, 2015), (NASW, 2008)

3. Literature Review
• Socioeconomic Status impacts the amount of emotional awareness that adults have on issues
relating to SES and socialization in children.
• SES’s overarching effects, information about next steps and the awareness people have is scarce
• Lack of studies & research done about knowledge & beliefs
• Children coming from higher SES families participated more in physical activities
• Increase in neighborhood SES = decrease in negative behavior in adolescents
• Unstable and higher violence rates within families, increases the risk of poor parenting skills and
eventually leads to aggression & behavior problems in adolescents
• SES contributes to parenting and children’s knowledge before the even enter school
(Cheadle & Amato, 2011), (Church II, Jaggers & Taylor, 2012), (Coe, Peterson, Blair, Schutten, Peddie, 2013), (Dotterer, Iruka & Pungello,
2012), (Mankus, Boden & Thompson, 2015), (Sastry & Pebley, 2010), (Seabra, Mendonca, Maia, Brustad, & Fonseca, 2013), (Singh, 2012),
& (Stull, 2013).

4. Intent & Purpose
Importance of research: To explore consequences that low socioeconomic status (SES) has on
academic performance in children.
Learning goals: To examine attitudes and believes of MSU BSSW students and their awareness on
the effects that low SES has on children.
Exploratory Research: Used when a researcher is examining a new interest or when the subject of
study is relatively new.
• The effects of low SES on children has been studied thoroughly.
• Research on beliefs of these effects is limited.
(Rubin & Babbie, 2013)

5. Research Question & Hypothesis
Research Question: What is the knowledge that students in the Metropolitan State University
of Denver (MSU Denver) Bachelors of Social Work (BSW) program possess about the
socioeconomic status and socialization in children?
Hypothesis: The majority of BSW students acknowledge low socioeconomic negatively impacts
a child’s academic performance.

6. Population
Target Population:
• Undergraduate social work students who attend MSU Denver.
Sampling Procedure Used:
• Availability Sampling (Rubin & Babbie, 2013)
Sample Size:
• Needed: 179 at a confidence level of 95.
• Surveys Collected: 26
• Barriers: Volunteer Bias
Demographics:
• Gender: 3/26 male
• Ethnicity: 21/26 identified as white/Caucasian
(Rubin & Babbie, 2013)

7. Data Collection
• Collected using Survey Monkey
Informed Consent – Before survey questions
• Clicking “Next” implied consent of the terms
Participants in Data Collection:
• Metropolitan State University of Denver- Bachelor of Social Work students
Instructions: Survey gave instructions
• Likert Scale Questions
• Close-ended Questions
• Contingency Questions
• Support people will not be necessary, but will be available
• MSU Denver Counseling Center

8. Definition & Measurement
Socioeconomic Status (SES): A measure that incorporates economic, social and work status.
Low SES: Poverty level or below
Poverty Level: $24,008 for a family of four
Childhood Academics: Child socialization, academic performance and peer aggression.
Child: Individuals between the ages of 4-18.
Socialization: The process in which a person is taught basic norms, values, beliefs, attitudes and
way of doing.
(Socioeconomic Status, 2014), (Doda, 2005)

9. Measures - Survey
Question Type:
• Likert Scale
• Close-Ended
Levels of Measurement:
• Independent Variable: Ordinal
• Dependent Variable: Nominal
Why:
• The questions are formatted in order to gain the best understanding of the students’
knowledge regarding the issues.
Survey Length:
• 10 Questions
• 5-15 Minutes

10. Survey1. Are you 18 or older? If yes, please continue to question 2. If no, please exit the survey.
Yes No
2. Are you a BSW student at MSU Denver? If yes, please continue to question 3. If no, please exit the survey.
Yes No
3. What is your gender?
Male Female Transgender Other Prefer Not to Answer
4. What is your race? Note: if you are biracial please select multiple answers.
White/Caucasian Hispanic/Latino Native American Asian/Pacific Islander Black/African American
Other
For questions 5-7 please answer based on the numbered scale. 1 = No knowledge, 5 = Some Knowledge, 10 = A lot of Knowledge.
5. What is your knowledge level about Socioeconomic Status (SES)?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
6. What is your knowledge about general children socialization patterns?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
7. What is your knowledge about the effects of SES on child socialization?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
For questions 8-10 please choose one answer.
8. What effect do you believe low SES has on families?
Negative Effect No Effect Positive Effect Positive & Negative Effect
9. What effect do you believe low SES has on children?
Negative Effect No Effect Positive Effect Positive & Negative Effect
10. What area of a child’s life do you think is most affected by low SES? Note: You may select multiple answers.
Grades Social Life Aggression Mood (Angry, Sad, etc) Other

11. Results - Demographics
0 5 10 15 20 25
1
2
3
23
Participants
Female=1Male=2
Gender Identity
Series1
0 5 10 15 20
1
2
3
2
5
19
Participants
Race1=biracial2=Latino3=Cacausion
Race
Series1

12. Results
0 2 4 6 8
7.44
6.44
6.08
Average Score
Question
Knowledge of SES and Families
Series1
3.06 3.08 3.1 3.12 3.14 3.16 3.18 3.2
3.192307692
3.115384615
Average Score
Querstion
Beliefs of SES and Families
Series1

13. Results Cont.
P Value = 0.0000000000000000000901058

14. Analysis - Reliability & Validity
Reliability
• No retaking survey
• Self-Reporting
• Social Desirability Bias
Validity
• Close-Ended Questions
• Social Work Students
• More knowledge of social issues

15. Limitations
• Research question had to be altered retrospectively
• Our survey did not answer our original research question
• Survey questions were all very similar
• One survey question was open-ended
• Could not include it in the results
• Small Sample Size
• Too few responses
• Non-Response Bias
• Not a Diverse Sample:
• Higher education levels
• Generally of higher Socioeconomic Status
• Lack of experience in the field of research
• Our data is inconclusive

16. Discussion
Group Process:
• Communication
• Planning
• Strengths
• Ambition
Strengths of Research:
• Understood the intent/subject
• Preliminary research
• Struggled to connect intent & results

17. Conclusion
What We Learned:
• Studies need to be refined several times during research.
• Flexibility
• Ethical Process
Areas of Improvement:
• More consideration for Reliability & Validity early in the research
• Consistency
• Results Analysis
• Execution of ideas
• What we intended to do & What we did were two different things

18. References
Cheadle, J., & Amato, P. (2011). A Quantitative Assessment of Lareau’s Qualitative Conclusions About Class, Race, and Parenting. Journal of Family Issues, 32, 679-706. doi: 10.1177/0192513X10386305
Church II, W., Jaggers, J., & Taylor, J. (2012). Neighborhood, poverty, and negative behavior: An examination of differential association and social control theory. Children and Youth Services Review, 34,
1035-1041. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.02.005
Coe, D., Peterson,T., Blair, C., Schutten, M., & Peddie, H. (2013). Physical Fitness, Academic Achievement, and Socioeconomic Status in School-Aged Youth. Journal of School Health, 83, 500-507. doi:
10.1111/josh.12058
Doda, Z., (2005). Introduction to Sociology. Retrieved from http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/pnaec401.pdf
Dotterer, A., Iruka, I., & Pungello, E. (2012). Parenting, Race, and Socioeconomic Status: Links to School Readiness. Family Relations, 61, 657-670. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2012.00716.x
Huang, H., & Sebastian, S. (2015). The role of schools in bridging within-school achievement gaps based on socioeconomic status: a cross-national comparative study. Compare: A Journal of
Comparative and International Education, 45, 501-525. doi: 10.1080/03057925.2014.905103
Mankus, A., Boden, M., & Thompson, R. (2015). Sources of variation in emotional awareness: Age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Personality and Individual Differences, 89, 28-33.
doi:10.1016/j.paid.2015.09.043
National Association of Social Workers (2008). Code of Ethics [data file]. Retrieved from http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.
Rubin, A. & Babbie, E. (2013). Research methods for social work (3rd ed). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole
Sastry, N. & Pebley, A. (2010). Family and Neighborhood Sources of Socioeconomic Inequality in Children’s Achievement, Demography, 47(3), 777-800. DOI:1353/dem.0.0114
Seabra, A., Mendonca, D., Maia, J., Welk, G., Brustad, R., Fonseca, A., & Seabra, A.F. (2013). Gender, weight status and socioeconomic differences in psychosocial correlates of physical activity in
schoolchildren. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 16, 320-326. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2012.07.008
Singh, A. (2012). Physical Activity and Performance at School A Systematic Review of the Literature Including a Methodological Quality Assessment. Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 166,
49-55. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.716
Socioeconomic Status. (2014). In Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/socialdeterminants/definitions.html
Stull, J. (2013). Family socioeconomic status, parent expectations, and a child’s achievement. Research in Education, 90, 53-67. http://0dx.doi.org.skyline.ucdenver.edu/10.7227/RIE.90.1.4