This document outlines Corey Caugherty's proposal for a qualitative phenomenological study examining how individuals emerge from generational poverty without higher education. The study will use interpretative phenomenological analysis to understand participants' lived experiences through open-ended interviews. Caugherty's conceptual framework draws on Rutter's theory of resilience. The proposal addresses the research question, design, data collection and analysis plans, and ensures participant rights and social change potential. It was presented to Caugherty's committee for review and approval.

1. Walden University
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
High Wire, No Net: Generational Poverty Emergence
without Higher Education
Corey A. Caugherty
Proposal Oral Defense
September 1, 2015
Dr. Mary Bold
Committee Chairperson
Dr. Lilian Chenoweth
Committee Member
© Copyright 2015, Corey A. Caugherty

2. A Word of Thanks
 Chair: Dr. Mary Bold
 2nd Committee Member: Dr. Lillian Chenoweth
 URR: Dr. Tina Jaeckle
 Program Director: Dr. William Barkley

3. Presentation Agenda
 Introduction
 Background of Study
 Nature/Purpose of the
Study
 Research Design
 Research Question
 Conceptual Framework
 Assumptions
 Limitations, Scope, &
Delimitations
 Overview of Literature
 Research Design
 Instrumentation
 Data Collection & Analysis
 Participant Rights
 Social Change

4. Introduction
 Researcher
 Experience with Generational Poverty (GP)
 Experience with GP emergence through higher education
 Background of the study
 Alternatives to poverty emergence
 Understanding some of the lived experiences of GP emergence without
higher education

5. Problem Statement
 Children face numerous educational challenges when
experiencing GP (Blanden & Gibbons, 2006; Blanden &
Gregg, 2004; Ladd, 2012; Lee, Hill, & Hawkins, 2012;
Noguera, 2011; Wrigley, 2012).
 Without formal education beyond high school or
obtaining a high school equivalency, how are individuals
able to emerge from GP?

6. Nature of the Study
Purpose
This phenomenological qualitative study will center on the
descriptions of participants’ experiences (Moustakas, 1994) as well
as the interpretations of the researcher (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin,
2009) in an attempt to understand as much as possible about GP
emergence.
Research Design
 Multiple case studies
 Narratological paradigm
Research Question
How do individuals born into generational poverty
that earn only a high school diploma or high
school equivalency perceive their emergence
from generational poverty?

7. Conceptual Framework &
Assumptions of the Study
 Rutter’s theory of resilience
 Definition
 Contextual considerations
 The steeling effect
 Breaking negative chain reactions
 Assumptions
 Correctly designated GP
 Participant honesty and worldview
 Participant similarities
 Researcher bracketing

8. Limitations & Scope/Delimitations
 Limitations
 Complex process to assess
 Participants’ recall reliability
 Impact of genetic factors
 Scope/Delimitations
 Small sample size
 Level of description
 Member checking
 Peer debriefing/external audit

9. Overview of the Literature
Types of poverty
Different types of
poverty
Social aspects of
poverty types
Theoretical framework
of GP
Responses to
poverty
 Government
programs
 Education and GP
emergence
Resilience and GP
Emergence
 Rutter’s
(1995,1999,2006,
2011, 2012) theory
of resilience
 Understanding the
“lived experience”
of GP

10. Research Design & Instrumentation
 This qualitative phenomenological study will be
undertaken to examine the lived experiences of
individuals who have emerged from GP without formal
education beyond high school or obtaining a high
school equivalency.
 Data will be generated by researcher-created
instruments: an initial screening survey and open-ended
interview questions.

11. Data Collection and Analysis
Initial Screening
Survey Instrument
Brief questionnaire
designed to qualify
volunteers
Qualified volunteers
move on to interview
stage
Open-ended
Interview
Questions
 In-depth interviews
 Setting
collaboratively
chosen
 Audio recording
 Researcher’s
journal & field notes
Data Analysis
 Interpretive
Phenomenological
Analysis (IPA)
 Follow-up meetings
 Member checking
 Peer debriefing

12. Participant Rights & Protections
 Clearly explained information about procedures and processes
 Contact information
 Consent form/Opt-out
 NIH certification
 Anonymity & confidentiality
 Removal of identifying information
 Secure electronic/non-electronic data storage
 Password protection
 Physically securing non-digital data

13. Social Change
 Better understanding of the lived experience of
GP emergence
 Potentially informs further research
 Potentially informs policymakers and educators

14. Questions Regarding the Proposed
Study?

15. References for Proposal Defense Presentation
Blanden, J. & Gibbons, S. (2006).The persistence of poverty across generations. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press.
Blanden J.& Gregg, P. (2004). Family income and educational attainment: a review of approaches and evidence for Britain.
Oxford Review of Economic Policy, (20)2, 245-263. doi: 10.1093/oxrep/grh014.
Ladd, H. F. (2012). Education and poverty: Confronting the evidence. Journal of Policy Analysis & Management, 31(2), 203-227.
doi:10.1002/pam.21615.
Lee, J. O., Hill, K. G., & Hawkins, J. D. (2012). The role of educational aspirations and expectations in the discontinuity of
intergenerational low-income status. Social work research, 36(2), 141-151. doi: 10.1093/swr/svs025.
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Noguera, P. A. (2011). A broader and bolder approach uses education to break the cycle of poverty. Phi Delta Kappan, 93(3), 8-
14. Retrieved from JSTOR database, accession number: 67225136.
Rutter, M., Champion, L., Quinton, D., Maughan, B., & Pickles, A. (1995). Understanding individual differences in environmental-risk
exposure. In P. Moen, G. R. Elder, K. Lüscher (Eds.), Examining lives in context: Perspectives on the ecology of human
development (pp. 61-93). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/10176-002. Retrieved from
PSYCBooks.
Rutter, M. (1999). Resilience concepts and findings: implications for family therapy. Journal of Family Therapy, 21(2), 119. Retrieved
from Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost.
Rutter, M. (2006). Implications of resilience concepts for scientific understanding. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,
1094(1), 1-12. doi:10.1196/annals.1376.002.
Rutter, M. (2011) Resilience: Causal pathways and social ecology. In Ungar, M. (Ed.), The social ecology of resilience: A handbook
of theory and practice (pp 33-42). New York: Springer.
Rutter, M. (2012). Resilience as a dynamic concept. Development and psychopathology, 24(2), 335. doi:
10.1017/S0954579412000028.
Smith, J.A., Flowers, P. and Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method, and Research. London,
UK: Sage.
Wrigley, T. (2012) Poverty and education in an age of hypocrisy. Education Review, 24(2), 90-98. Accession number: 87604207.