Research Update

Since my last post, I have searched for different articles and studies regarding the correlation between poverty and a person's level of education. There is no doubt that someone's opportunity to get an education affects how they will succeed in the future. Much of this is due to the social class or status that one hold. If someone is not fortunate enough to come from a family that can afford to give them a good education, or even from a good neighborhood, they can easily be deprived of fundamental factors or knowledge that can give them hope for a good future.

I have found statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau having to do with poverty population in the U.S. in terms of different personal characteristics. These characteristics range from a person's age to a person's race, which are interrelated with their level of education. These are very interesting and provide an understanding of why people with less education usually end up living below the poverty line later in life, or are currently living below the poverty line. Of course, education is not the only factor that affects one's economic state, but it does make a significant difference.

I will continue to look for more studies and perhaps even videos regarding this material for my project.

Further Research Plans

I have decided to explore the correlation of poverty and education through case studies. Education is a major contributing factor to the type of job that a person acquires. Higher level education leads to more prestigious jobs and opportunities. People who have graduated college tend to have better paying jobs that require them to think abstractly. However, those who have had only some high school education are usually only hired for low-end jobs that do not have much prestige. These people to get paid much lower than people who have college degrees. The group of people that has had little education is also the group that is most likely to live in poverty.

Therefore, I will look through the online data collected by the Census Bureau about poverty and the possible factors that contribute to it.

My Choice of Research Method

I have decided to use archival research as my research method. I will analyze studies that sociologists have made in order to develop a better understanding of poverty and its impact on society as a whole. I think that this type of research method is perfect fit for me for a number of reasons: I would not be able conduct a survey because I do not know many people living in poverty, and those that are probably do not have access to participate in internet surveys. Secondly, naturalistic research may involve me watching others living in poverty, which is something that I do not come in contact with every day and I would not be comfortable asking complete strangers questions about their economic status. Through archival research, I will have access to information that I would not have been able to collect on my own, making it a lot easier for me to delve into the issue at hand.