Data Collection Sources

The purpose of this research is to investigate the socioeconomic impact that poverty has

on the children of the families in Highgate, St. Mary. The primary data was collected in

Highgate, St. Mary with the students and the guidance counselor from the St. Mary High School

during the period of February 5 and 6,2019.

The mixed method approach was used to collect the information because this approach

properly acquired the information. The data collecting instruments used were questionnaire and

interview. Probability sampling was used for administering the questionnaire because the

researcher received a list from the grade supervisors of persons that were not meeting the

academic standards, had poor attendance and low levels of respect to authority, which were all

place in a bag, then selected using the lottery method.

A face to face interview was done, which allowed more detailed questions to be asked,

afford for clarity and accuracy in answering the questions, and garnered relevant information

which enabled the problem researched to be thoroughly analyzed. The interview was conducted

with Dr. Hylton, one of the school’s guidance counselor, on February 6,2019 at 3:30 pm at her

office at St. Mary High School. All the questions were structured questions targeted to find out if

poverty has a positive or negative impact on the academic performance, attendance, levels of

respect and cognitive readiness of students with poor families, and also to identify the possible

solutions to alleviate the impacts of poverty on such families. The information gathered from Dr.

Hylton was quiet easy for the researcher to understand, as answers were given in detail and

thoroughly explained. Dr. Hylton had encountered many students about their challenges faced
due to their financial status thus Dr. Hylton is an expert in the field, hence the information

garnered was deemed credible and reliable.

Questionnaires, as mentioned earlier, were also used to collect information. The

questionnaire was mainly used because it was able to gather large numbers of information from

several different individuals in a small amount of time and was cost effective. After collecting

and analyzing the data, the researcher was better able to understand the different perspective of

individuals who believe that poverty do impact children in areas such as academic performance,

attendance and levels of respect.

The sampling technique used was simple random sampling and the size of the sample

used in conducting this research was thirty (30) individuals. The sample group consisted of equal

numbers of male and females which ranged from the age of sixteen (16) years old and (19) years

old. These students were highlighted due to their low academic performance, poor attendance

and insubordination.

Questionnaires were issued on the 5th of February, 2019 and were answered and collected

the same day. The researcher ensured that all questions were answered before collecting the

questionnaires. The questionnaires consisted of twenty (20) questions which consisted of both

open ended and close- ended questions. The questions targeted the children affected in areas

such as academic performance, attendance, levels of respect and what further measures could be

implemented to help decrease the effects of their challenging situation. These would help make

the research more valid because the data collected truly represent the student population being

affected and ideas were given on how to decrease the effects of poverty on these children.
 The researcher also utilized secondary sources such as online articles, books and past

literature. Secondary sources address and explain the findings of researches that was done in the

past. Secondary sources allow the researchers to broaden the research by providing background

information, identify variables that can be used in collecting data and give the researchers a

variety of ways to utilize the strategies mentioned effectively. Secondary sources allow the

researchers to identify the gaps that were in the past research which would make the research

more accurate. All the sources that were used in the research were relevant, which would help

make the focus of the study relevant, and bring about valid results.