Financial literacy and social change among college students

Financial Literacy and Social Change

What is the relationship between financial literacy and social change?

Comparing change in financial literacy in post-college and non-college students

Quantitative

Hypothesis- There is a significant difference in financial literacy between college and non-college students.

Introduction- Financial literacy implies a number of things: understanding the basics of not only personal finance, but the broader approach to global finance. There is a distinction, however, between the intellectual world of college students and non-college students. College students, for instance, might be exposed to introductory economics, political science, business or other courses that would grant them access to a larger, more global perspective of finance. However, because they are often living in dorms, may be partially supported by loans or grants or funds from parents, their view of finances will be understandably skewed to the more intellectual approach. However, non-college bound students often must enter the workforce, fend for themselves, and take on numerous financial burdens and responsibilities at the micro level. Thus, there are two approaches to valid financial literacy within this topic: the micro version (home loans, banking, interest rates, taxation, etc.) and the macro version (global trade, housing, social issues, etc.).

Certainly, the research shows that the greater the financial literacy, the greater the chance that there will be more significant asset-building within moderate and low income families. Families, often need help to make informed and appropriate decisions; especially considering the Housing Fallout and not the numerous kinds of financial instruments available to almost every income level. By providing access to more fiscal information, not only can informed decision making occur, but in the long-term, there will be far greater impact on cultural and psychological factors within the community. What tends to happen, it seems, is that the greater the fiscal literacy and exposure to social and community issues, the greater the sense of social responsibility and desire and ability to help change society (Belland Lerman, 2005).

Approaches to Research Issues - While I have chosen a quantitative approach for this project, and will be measuring attitudes and believes using a predetermined scale, there is certainly room for qualitative and mix-methods without our hypothesis testing. The qualitative case study method was appropriate, as the current study examines the attitudes of college and non-college students within the context of learned facts or analyses of financial literacy. The participants were asked to respond to questions in an online or written interview; no attempt was made to control their behavior or responses. The purpose of the current study did not include examining differences or relationships among variables nor did the current study test hypothesis. Therefore, mixed method and quantitative approaches were not appropriate (Creswell, 2005).

Within social science, as well as pure research, there seems to be a continual and ongoing debate about qualitative and quantitative research. Some take the view that, "All research ultimately has a qualitative grounding," while others believe "There's no such thing as qualitative data. Everything is either 1 or 0" (Howe, 1988). In actuality, the debate should not be so black and white; both styles of research have their advantages and disadvantages. In general we can make a basic observation about the differences between the two that can impact the types of questions one asks in order to provide the most robust research answers possible:

Typical Paradigms About Qualitative Research