An Inquiry Based Research Paper on Education and its Effects on Society

Bailey Hobbs
Bullitt Central High School
9 May 2016
Abstract:

This will be an inquiry based research paper on education and its effects on society . We

will be examining education's social and economic benefits, the correlations between race and

educational achievements, education's effect on civic and political participation, and the effect on

health from education. I am writing this paper to examine the importance of education and its

effects on society in the United States. People should take note of this research because it will

show you how important education is to our society and will demonstrate how education affects

everyday life.

1st Research question: Education's Social and Economic Benefits.

Education has many social and economic benefits that come with it. For a long time,

many researchers arguments on education have been stationed around economic effects. But

education also has social benefits for both individuals and society overall. An economic benefit

from education would be employment. Dana Mitra, Associate professor of education at

pennsylvania state university, states that, In 2009 the unemployment rate was much lower and

average earnings were higher for individuals who did not drop out of highschool and had

achieved some level of college education (Mitra). This quote is saying that the more education

the have the less likely it is for you to be unemployed or to have a low paying job. This is

important and ties back into the overall topic because it shows that if more of our society gets an

education then there will be a lower rate of unemployment and a higher rate of pay. A social

benefit would be that education allows one of the finest opportunities to reduce crime and its

effect on society. Dana Mitra declares that, In 1999, Caucasian men aged 30-34 who had not
completed high school were four times more likely to have a prison record than Caucasian men

of the same age who had completed high school; African American male dropouts aged 30-34

were two times as likely as those with a high school degree to have a prison record (Mitra). This

quote means that with and education there would be less men with a prison record then with men

who have less or no education at all. This shows that education affects society because it shows

that education helps people to gain knowledge, skills, and character that help them avoid

criminal activity, and without it crime rates like ones in the quote would just keep going up.

2nd Research question: Correlations between diversity and educational achievements.

Diversity is in all schools, it's what makes school a school. Helliwell and Putnam say that,

Public schools represent a crucial opportunity for the development of social cohesion in American

communities, especially between diverse groups (helliwell and Putnam). This is saying that schools have

tremendous opportunities to do so many thing with students and teach them so much because of how

diverse they are. This is important because school is one of the only places in which people of diverse

ethnic, racial, and economic backgrounds come together and interact so closely and for a long period of

time. Also education builds trust between diverse groups, which is hard to do anywhere else. Dana Mitra

states that, School provides an essential place in which trust between groups can be fostered and

relationships strengthened (Mirta). What she is saying is that education is a place where trust is

encouraged and built. Also that during education relationships are built no matter how diverse it is. This

show that education has an effect on society because without it everything would be separated, there

would be no place for people to be diverse because there would be no need. With education our society

has become more diverse and accepting to all ethnic, racial, and economic backgrounds.

3rd Research question: Education's effect on Civic and Political participation.

 The impact of education on civic and political participation has been examined by political

scientists for a decades. More education is also corresponding with greater charitable giving and more

volunteerism. Milligan, Moretti and Oreopoulos, a paper written to examine if education improves

citizenship states that, Having a higher level of education does raise the probability of voting in the

U.S. (O'Neill). This quote shows that the more education you have the more involved you will be with

our country and its politics. Being involved is important because everyone have a say in what happens in

our country, most countries do not have a say like that and with education people learn that. So in our

more people will want to be more involved in our society. Going along with voting, people who are more

educated also are more likely to participate in other civic activities, such as involvement in religious and

community groups. Dana Mitra declares that, Civic activities in high school also increase the likelihood

of college graduation by 19 percent with an even larger impact on minority groups such as African

American males (Mitra). In this quote it says that the more people who are involved in civic activities in

high school will have a large percent rate of graduating college. This goes along with the overall view

because it shows that with education comes individuality in society because choosing to be in religious

and community/ civic groups you show individuality.

4th Research question: The effect of health from education.

People with more education tend to live longer, healthier lives and depend less on

government-funded health programs than people with less to no education at all. Research by

Lleras-Muney states that, An extra year of schooling results in a decline in mortality of at least 3.6%

over a ten-year period (Muney). This quote means that each additional year of education reduces the risk

of death in the next decade by 3.6 percent. If you dont think that 3.6 percent is a good amount then think

of it this way, if 56 million people die a year then you multiply that by then thats 560 million people that

die every decade. Now with a 3.6 percent reduce rate that would be 20,160,000 less people who die in that
decade just because they had an additional year of education. As you can see this affects society because

it keeps people alive to be in society. W. Craig Riddell, Department of Economics at the University of

British Columbia, declares that, In a widely cited study, Kenkel (1991) found that education is not only

associated with better health outcomes but also superior health behaviours such as reduced smoking, more

exercise and lower incidence of heavy drinking (Riddell). This quote is stating that people with more

education are more likely to have healthy diets and exercise frequently, and are less likely to smoke, be

obese, or engage in binge drinking. So as you can see education benefits health levels for both

individuals and the broader society as a whole.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, this shows you that education has a significant effect on society. We examined

education's social and economic benefits, such as employment rates and lower crime rates. We

analyzed the correlations between race and educational achievements and saw that education

builds trust and gives people the opportunity to be diverse and build relationships. We evaluated

education's effect on civic and political participation and declared that education get people more

involved in our country's politics and provides them with civic activities. And lastly we looked at

the effect on health from education and revealed that more education means a longer life and it

makes people less likely to binge drink, smoke and overeat.

 Work Cited

1. Cleveland, Hannah. "The Positive Effects of Education - BORGEN." BORGEN.

11 Aug. 2014. Web. 09 May 2016.
2. Riddell, W. Craig. "The Impact of Education on Economic and Social Outcomes:
An Overview of Recent Advances in Economics." Impact of Education. Dec.
2005. Web. Apr.-May 2016.
3. Stacey, Nevzer. "The Social Benefits of Education." The University of Michigan
Press. University of Michigan Press, 2015. Web. 09 May 2016..