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Authors: Alison Munsch
Keywords: college choice, parents of college bound students, one-on-one interviews, qualitative research
Abstract: College/university enrollments are not as robust as they were in previous decades. This is due to shifts in demographics but also the opportunity cost of higher education. Specifically, tuition costs are rising in colleges and universities across the United States and are likely a contributing factor to the trend of lower enrollments (Fain, 2017). Moreover, the incomes of many families in the United States are not growing at a rapid enough pace to offset the burden of high tuitions that are often not fully supplemented by institutional, private, or governmental financial aid opportunities (Flint, 1993), (Paulsen, 2002). These realities pose a challenge to lower to middle-income families to support the higher education goals of their college-bound high school upperclassman (Heath, 1993). In order to understand the choice criteria for selecting an institution of higher education, a research study was conducted among a representative sample of high school upperclassmen and parents of this respondent segment (Munsch, 2019). The research explored the cost and other factors as key choice criteria for college selection. The data collection and analysis were accomplished using an information management technology platform leveraging a statistical technique; “choice-based conjoint analysis (CBC)”. Key themes discovered in the research in terms of choice criteria for a college/university are a relatively low cost but also the importance of college/university campus racial and ethnic diversity as indicated by parents of college-bound high school students and college-bound high school students. Like students, parents preferred the less costly options associated with college/university choice and a more diverse college campus. However, parents of college-bound high school students preferred the ivy league college type to public and other private options and this differed from students (Munsch, 2019). This is a possible paradox because the ivy league college type is typically the more expensive college/university option associated with college choice. In addition, the ivy league college type typically has lower campus diversity (College Board, 2018), (Ashkenas, et. al. 2017). Problem Statement and Research Questions: Paradoxical findings surfaced in the quantitative inquiry around college choice in a previous study (Munsch, 2019) where diversity and lower cost were indicated as key choice criteria among parents of college-bound students. However, the ivy league choice is preferred by this group and this option is often more expensive and less diverse. Therefore, greater insight into this finding is needed. As such, the primary research question for this study is: In addition to lower cost and diversity, what other important choice criteria factor into the decision for college/university selection? A secondary research question is: When important choice criteria are identified, under what conditions would this be overlooked and why especially if lower cost and diversity are important choice criteria? Methodology: One-on-One In-Depth Interviews (IDIs). Qualitative methods of research differ from quantitative methods in their means of inquiry. Qualitative methods seek to describe a phenomenon in a rich and holistic manner to understand how people interpret their experiences (Creswell, 2009; Merriam, 2009; Robson, 2002). Whereas, quantitative methods are more suited to reducing data to measurable variables that can be generalized to larger populations or statistically measuring cause and effect. One method of obtaining qualitative data is using semi-structured interviews in the form of one-on-one in-depth interviews (IDIs). This is the qualitative methodology that is being used to explore the research questions in this study. The one-on-one in-depth interview (IDIs) methodology is one of many qualitative approaches, including grounded theory, narrative theory, and communication theory. The grounded theory approach guided the development of this current study. The goal of grounded theory is to generate innovative and substantive theoretical frameworks that emerge from the data (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Most hypotheses are not a priori, but are rooted in the data, with themes and categories emerging throughout the course of data analysis. Grounded theorists seek to understand people’s experiences in a rigorous and detailed manner and to gain a deeper understanding of how the social phenomenon being studied operates (Ryan & Bernard, 2010). In line with the current study’s goals, grounded theory is being used to understand college choice criteria. As part of the grounded theory process, the goal is to generate rich, detailed, and meaningful themes from discussions during the qualitative sessions. This is part of the process known as an inductive analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The inductive analysis will be used to generate themes from the parents of college-bound high school student’s responses, developing conceptual categories or themes, and then integrating the themes into a larger theoretical framework. As a qualitative methodology, IDIs allow the researcher to effectively elicit candid responses in a private setting regarding personal and/or professional topics of discussion in a shorter amount of time than other qualitative methodologies such as focus groups (Creswell, 2009). Moreover, rapport with respondents and the quality of the information is enriched with this approach because the researcher can devote complete attention to each research participant easily, listening actively as compared with non-response that can sometimes occur among focus group members (Creswell,2009). As such, there are relatively few unproductive IDIs because of the one-on-one interview approach (Miriampolski, 2008). For these reasons, IDIs as a qualitative approach was selected for this study. To this end, twelve (12) one-on-one in-Depth Interviews (IDIs) are in progress for this study among parents of college-bound high school students. The researcher will determine the ending sample size when the point of saturation has been achieved during the interviews. Expected Outcomes and Theoretical Implications: Behavioral economics draws on psychology and economics to explore why people make choice decisions that are sometimes irrational. The discipline explores why and how consumer behavior does not always follow the predictions of quantitative economic models. This research will explore the cross-sectionalism of rational choice theory with behavioral economics to uncover the psychological insights into human behavior associated with college/university choice.