Latino/A Retention Rates in American

Latino/A Retention Rates in American Universities

In the text by Creswell, we are offered some strategies for framing a research problem that can help researchers to better understand the relationship between certain constructs or variables. So denotes the theorist in encouraging researchers to consider a visual model which helps to present the relationship between independent and dependent variables, thus elucidating ways to frame control and experimental groups in a future research investigation. Accordingly, the text indicates that "Blalock (1969, 1985, 1991) advocates causal modeling and recasts verbal theories into causal models so that a reader can visualize the interconnections of variables." (Creswell 2009; 51)

A context for demonstration might be a research investigation into the problem of Latino retention in an American academic context. Particularly, the likelihood that a wide array of factors enter into this discussion makes it desirable to attempt a simplification through the type of triangulating design offered in the Creswell text. Here, we may consider that the dependent variable is the duration of college terms for a sample population of Latinos across a wide array of school contexts. The school context variable could be considered an independent variable of a primary level of importance. And given that this independent variable might also be influenced by the independent variable indicating the legal status of the individual's citizenship, a way of distinguishing these differing roles of independent variable would be through the causal model diagram.

In this visual add, a horizontal triangle would list the causal independent variable of the individual's legal status along the baseline. A divider moving vertically through the center of the triangle would list the independent variable of the academic context. The point of the triangle would delineate the dependent variable of the tenure of stay in the institution. Ultimately, this diagram could be used to quantify distinctions in retention rate between different Latino categories as a way of understanding the factors which are most demonstrably at play in their poor university retention rates.

The study provided by Hernandez & Lopez (2005) proceeds from a combination of statistical evidence and a priori knowledge, with an examination of Latino retention rates at universities throughout the United States reflecting both social and practical causes. The study is clearly motivated by the a priori understanding of Latinos as a particularly disadvantaged group in the United States, suspecting that educational patterns may be a decisive factor in this disadvantage. Here, Hernandez & Lopez contend that "many are the first their family to attend college; may come from low income households where Spanish is the primary spoken language; may be academically under prepared; and may combat feelings of isolation, especially at predominantly White institutions." (Hernandez & Lopez 2005; 38)

This set of general descriptors which may not necessarily apply universally, nonetheless helps to warrant the theory driving the research. Such is to say that this contributes to the argument that "retention is a complex and multidimensional issue [that] cannot be quickly or easily understood" and continues to suggest that "personal, involvement, environmental, and socio-cultural influences" all devise the experience of Latinos in America's schools. It suggests that intervention must consider a broad array causes extending from American society as a whole in order to improve graduation rates.

This theory is decidedly unempirical because the study by Hernandez & Lopez is largely preoccupied with descriptive imperatives for its study. The frame of the study is non-experimental, with an examination instead qualitative elaboration on the various features of the Latino experience that are likely to have had an impact on their retention rates in the United States.

The use of Mixed Methods as a way of approaching a research subject indicates an interest in retaining flexibility of research methods. Often, these methods are not predetermined but are driven by the lens selected for research investigation. In the case of a study by Torres (2006) which continues our examination on the subject of Latino retention rates in American universities, the lens is a racial one. The interest in understanding the experience of Hispanics as a function of their race is cited by the research.

Torres indicates an interest in "the unique characteristics of diverse populations, such as Latino/a, and the effect culturally oriented characteristics have on retention; and the need to further investigate non-traditional institutional environments, such as commuter urban universities." (Torres 2006; 299) Here, Torres points to clear racial implications in predicting a set of cultural differences which are likely to have played a part in the educational inequality of Hispanics in the American university system.