The procedures that will be observed in the conduct of this research are described and explained in this section. The procedures are addressed within the contexts of subjects, measurement, research methodology, research implementation, and an action plan.
The target populations for this research are instructors (teachers and aides) at the children's center, parents of children who use the center, and the children themselves. The parent and student populations are predominately Hispanic (65 percent), while Hispanics represent only 31.6 percent of the population of instructors. African-Americans and Asian-Americans are over represented among the population of instructors in relation to the proportions of these ethnic groups among parents and students. By contrast, European-Americans are under represented among the population of instructors in relation to the proportion of this ethnic group among parents and students. Establishment of perceptual differences between these populations is essential.
Parents are generally inaccessible for the conduct of research involving the children's center. Therefore, the research sample will be selected from among the populations of instructors and children. A sample of 10 instructors and 30 children will be selected. Random procedures will be applied in the selection of subjects for the two sample groups (Borg and Gall, 1989, pp. 220-224).
This research will seek to measure the differences in perceptions of the multicultural approach to education among the population of children/parents and the population of instructors through the responses to a survey of the samples of children and instructors (Borg and Gall, 1989, pp. 397-399). Ethnographic interviews will be administered to the sample of children, while key-informant interviews will be conducted among the sample of instructors.
A wide...