Henry S. Merrill and Cynthia Proffitt

Henry S. Merrill and Cynthia Proffitt

Case study research on adult development: a midwestern USA perspective

Henry S. Merrill and Cynthia Proffitt

Indiana University, USA

Paper presented at the 36th Annual SCUTREA Conference, 4-6 July 2006, Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of two different, but methodologically related, investigations of adult development. The study of adult development as a focus of investigation is shifting from the 20th Century focus on individual, normative psycho-social development to a focus on how adults make intentional changes and transitions, and adapt to unintentional changes and transitions, within the individual’s life course in a broader cultural-historical context (Merriam, 2005; Butler, 2005). Many contemporary adult and life span development theorists call for the use of these integrative, multidisciplinary perspectives to advance our understanding of adult development. One important focus is the demonstration of the life course events perspective as a lens to investigate adult development, agency and the experience of change.

The methodological similarities in these investigations are:

1)Primary method for data collection is semi-structured interviews;

2)Case study method is the naturalistic research methodology used to frame the research;

3)Focus on using the life course events perspective as a lens to investigate adult development and the experience of change.

Part I - BGS alumni research

The first study, Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) Alumni Research (BGS-AR), is in two parts. The first, BGS-AR1, was conducted as dissertation research in 1992-93 (Merrill, 1993). The purpose of this study was, first, to examine types of employment and career patterns of Indiana University (IU) Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) graduates and, second, to assess their experience and satisfaction with the degree. BGS-AR2, conducted in 2005, is the continuation of the original study to add to the understanding of the outcomes of the BGS for institutional assessment study.

This research is guided by the assumptions and principles of naturalistic inquiry. There were no predetermined hypotheses so that theoretical assumptions are grounded in the data collected (Merriam, 1988). The data collection was guided by the following research questions:

1. What were the educational patterns and levels of attainment of the BGS graduates prior to enrollment in the GS program?

2. What were the types of employment of the BGS graduates prior to enrollment in the degree program?

3. In what ways did attainment of the BGS degree change the types of employment of GS graduates?

4. In what ways did attainment of the BGS degree change the career patterns of the graduates?

5. Was completion of the BGS part of an intentional life change strategy?

Methodology

A semi-structured interview was conducted with BGS alumni to learn what changes may have occurred and to what extent the changes may be attributed to completing the degree. Participants in 1992 were selected randomly from graduates who had earned the degree at least three years earlier from the IU East campus in Richmond, Indiana. In 2005, a total of 29 additional Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) General Studies Alumni were interviewed using a semi-structured interview format of 27 open-ended questions. These participants were selected randomly from a list of BGS graduates who had current addresses on file with the IU Alumni Association or who volunteered as a result of an invitation in a mailed paper survey. The interviews were conducted either face-to-face or via telephone. This continuation enabled the addition of 29 additional cases to the original 12, for a total of 41 interviews. The average age of respondents at completion of the BGS degree was 39 years old, with an age range of 19 – 67 years old. Sixty-two percent of respondents were born in Indiana.

Concurrently, a paper survey was mailed to the list of graduates who had current addresses on file with the IU Alumni Association. A total of 382 usable survey resonses were received from BGS graduates. Summary of selected results of this survey are described after presenting results of the interviews.

1. What were the educational patterns and levels of attainment of the graduates prior to enrollment in the degree ?

Forty participants in both studies graduated from high school in a traditional pattern and one completed via a GED. Twenty-two of these graduates chose work, military service, or marriage right after high school rather going directly to college. Fifteen of these graduates began coursework immediately following graduation from high school, although only four of these completed their degrees within a traditional timeframe after high school. Twenty-nine completed coursework at one or more other institutions that transferred to the BGS program. Twenty are in the first generation of his or her family to graduate from college.

2. What were the types of employment of the graduates prior to enrollment in the degree program?

The participants had worked in varied employment, with fourteen in labor and service industry jobs for the majority of their employment history. Eighteen were employed in technical or professional positions. Seven were employed in administrative positions. Five of the younger participants (in their 20s) were still establishing their careers.

3. In what ways did attainment of the degree change their types of employment?

In the 2005 interviews, respondents had graduated from the BGS program 1-16 years ago, 25 graduates were employed full-time, three were employed part-time, and one was retired. In the 1992 study, all had graduated at least three years before,10 were employed full-time and two who were graduate students were working part-time.

- The result of combining the data from both studies indicate that prior to completing the degree 18 were employed in executive, management or professional specialty occupations, using U.S. Department of Labor occupational code categories. After degree completion 32 were employed in these occupations (increased from 44% to 78%).

- Data from both studies indicate that prior to completing the degree 11 were employed in service or labor occupations. After degree completion five were employed in these occupations (decreased from 27% to 12%).

- Data from both studies indicate that prior to completing the degree seven were employed in administrative support occupations. After degree completion three were employed in these occupations (decreased from 17% to 7%).

- Data from both studies indicate that prior to completing the degree four were employed in sales occupations. After degree completion one was employed in this occupation (decreased from almost 10% to 2%).

- Twelve participants reported significant increases in their income within one year after completing the degree. After completing the degree, 23 reported a significant increase in their income. The income increases ranged from 4-400% over what they had been earning just before enrolling in the degree.

- Eleven graduates in the 2005 study and two in the 1992 study (32%) continued to complete additional degree work, while six more continued on for additional post-secondary education.

4. In what ways did attainment of the degree change their career patterns?

Two-thirds of participants reported that getting a degree had allowed them to change career path. Only a few respondents specifically attributed this change to the General Studies curriculum or program. Completing a degree opened the door to career paths and job opportunities not available to study participants previously. Leadership and promotional opportunities were also cited as career path changes since graduation. Several cited going on for graduate education as an outcome of completing a General Studies degree. Three individuals achieved a full-time, rather than part-time, position. Several graduates described discovering new careers as a result of classes or an internship experience while they were completing their BGS degree.

5. Was completion of the degree part of an intentional life change strategy?

Participants reported that earning a degree was part of a larger intentional change process. Respondents in both studies cited the following reasons as being most important to them when completing a degree in General Studies:

- Desired to have a degree (37 of 41 = 90%);

- Desired for personal interest in learning (31 of 41 = 76%);

- Convenience of location and times (24 of 41 = 59%);

- Needed degree for a career change (23 of 41 = 56%).

While career change was cited as an important driving force for over half of the study respondents, satisfaction factors of completing a degree, the desire to learn, and having accessible education were ranked as generally being more important to graduates. In the 1992 study, most participants reported they had not set educational or career goals while in high school. Setting some goals became important in their 20s or 30s to find more satisfying work and life patterns, complete a college degree as a long deferred goal, or simply because they personally enjoyed learning.

The findings of this research demonstrate the value of the BGS degree. Completion of the program opened the door to desired career changes, engaged respondents in continuous learning, and empowered graduates by satisfying previously unmet educational goals.

Brief summary of mailed survey

The concurrent paper survey was sent to the list of GS graduates who had current addresses in the IU Alumni Association database. A total of 487 usable surveys (319 females and 159 males) were returned for a 10.7% return rate. There were 382 BGS graduates in this sample who earned their degrees from any of the eight IU campuses.

The occupational categories reported show similarities to those interviewed in the BGS-AR 1 and 2 studies: Executive, management and professional was 40%, administrative support was 11%, sales was 3%, and the “other” category (including service and labor occupations) was 19%.

Additional post-secondary degrees were earned by 74 BGS graduates (19%) who indicated completion of a range of masters and doctoral degrees in disciplines such as law, business, education, information and library science, nursing, public affairs, psychology and theology. These degrees were completed at IndianaUniversity campuses and many other respected colleges and universities.

In response to the question ‘What contributed to their successful completion of the degree?’, graduates reported these as the most important factors: support of academic advisors and instructors, desire for a degree, flexibility of degree, self-discipline and persistence.

Part II - Multi-Generational Life Course Events Study

The second investigation, a Multi-Generational Life Course Events Study, is ongoing research conducted with masters-level graduate students as a course project. This study has been conducted each fall semester from 2002 through 2005. This research uses the life course events perspective as a lens to investigate the patterns and timing of life events in multiple generations within extended family. The guiding framework is Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1995) ecology of human development, a conceptual systems framework to investigate how lives evolve during the life course. Life course research by nature and design uses an interdisciplinary focus, incorporating perspectives from sociology, psychology, history and demography. This paradigm investigates the complex questions of constancy, agency and change in human development.

G. H. Elder (1995, 2003) defined the life course as a set of interdependent careers. Each career relates to a life domain (family, work, education, etc.) and describes the changes that occur as the person grows (and ages). According to Elder, there are three unique concepts involved in life course study. These are identified as the life span, life history and life cycle. The life span is the perspective delimited by the years of an individual’s life and development, similar to the developmental psychology perspective. Life history incorporates the chronology of events and activities across the individual’s life domains. The life cycle describes the sequence of events across lives which link generations through having and raising children, those children departing from their family of origin and having children, thus describing a pattern of generational succession. Some individuals choose not to have children and opt out of this intergenerational pattern. (Elder, 2003)

In the Multi-Generation Life Course Events research, these questions guide the analysis of the 71 life histories:

What does qualitative analysis of life history data reveal about the:

1. Life patterns of individuals during the end of the 20th and early 21st Centuries?

2. Life patterns of family members in a multi-generational context during the end of the 20th and early 21st Centuries?

3. Nature and impact of life transitions on individuals during the end of the 20th and early 21st Centuries?

4. Nature and impact of life transitions on family members in a multi-generational context during the end of the 20th and early 21st Centuries?

Due to space considerations, the primary focus of the results reported in this paper is the life pattern of individuals and their families in relation to their educational achievement and career development.

Methodology

This research process is an active learning strategy for a group of graduate student volunteers who choose it for their final course project. The faculty facilitator, as principal investigator, defined the research focus and questions, created the instruments (adapted from ideas and samples found in the literature; Giele, 1995, Elder, 1995), provides guidance for the students to conduct the research, reviewed and assessed their research reports as final course projects. To date, the project involved 23 graduate students identifying at least two other family members (one life history could be the student’s own life event history) to gather life event data from three different generations of their family. The interviews of these three-generation spanning family members generated recorded life event history data in narrative form recorded with field notes. The 23 student interviewers have conducted a total of 71 life course histories by this purposive sampling process. Respondents are aggregated by birth year into cohort decades for analysis purposes. The 71 life course histories are located in cohorts from the 1900s to 1980s.

Life course dynamics and processes operate in multiple ways and at multiple levels in the context of individuals’ lives. This project uses individual life course events (their relative occurrence, timing and duration) and transitions as the units of analysis. It should be noted that the time limits of completing this research project within a 15-week course means that these are brief life histories. These interviews were conducted in one session, lasting typically 1.5 – 2.5 hours. In a few cases interviews with an older respondent were conducted in two shorter sessions.

Findings

Question 1. What does qualitative analysis of life history data reveal about life patterns of individuals during the 20th Century?

The life course events reported by respondents provide varied life histories with some similarities across the cohorts. One question asked at what age respondents considered themselves as adults or assuming adult responsibilities. The responses range from 14 to “late 30s.” Thirty-five respondents indicated it was in their teen years (ranging from 14 to 19 years old). Twenty-five stated it was in their early 20s, (ranging from 20 to 26 years old) and one indicated late 30s. This information was not reported in ten interviews. The 19Teens and 1920s Cohorts respondents all reported mostly late teen years. In the more recent cohorts, individual respondents reported either the late teens or early 20s.

Summary of findings of educational achievement by cohort:

1900s Cohort -- 3 respondents – all women (W); All graduated from high school; 2 completed post-secondary programs (1 bachelors degree, 1 nursing program) as traditional age students (<25 years old).

19Teens Cohort -- 7 respondents – 1 Man (M), 6 W; 4 graduated from high school; 2 earned bachelors degrees, both as traditional age students (<25 years old); 1 earned a masters degree in his 40s.

1920s Cohort -- 10 respondents – 4 M, 6 W; 5 graduated from high school; 1 earned associate degree as adult (>25 years old); 2 completed some college as traditional age students (<25 years old).

1930s Cohort -- 7 respondents – 4 M, 3 W; 5 graduated from high school; 2 earned bachelors degrees (1 at traditional age and 1 as adult); 1 completed some college at traditional age.

1940s Cohort -- 10 respondents – 3 M, 7 W; 7 graduated from high school; 3 earned bachelors degrees (2 at traditional age and 1 as adult); 1 earned associates degree as adult; 4 completed some college at traditional age; 2 completed some graduate work as adults.

1950s Cohort -- 10 respondents – 4 M, 6 W; 9 graduated from high school; 4 earned bachelors degrees (3 at traditional age and 1 as adult); 4 completed some college at traditional age; 3 completed some graduate work as adults.

1960s Cohort -- 8 respondents – 1 M, 7 W; 6 graduated from high school; 6 earned bachelors degrees (3 at traditional age and 3 as adult); 2 earned masters degrees and are enrolled in second masters degrees as adults.

1970s Cohort -- 11 respondents – 2 M, 9 W; 11 graduated from high school; 2 earned associates degrees at traditional age; 7 earned bachelors degrees (6 at traditional age and 1 as adult); 2 completed some college at traditional age.

1980s Cohort -- 5 respondents – 2 M, 3 W; 5 graduated from high school; 2 earned bachelors degrees at traditional age; 3 completed some college at traditional age; 1 earned masters degree at <25 years old.

There is an increase in the level of formal education attainment starting with the 1920s Cohort. The level of academic achievement, at both traditional age and as adults, increases as we progress through the cohorts. This increased level of education contributes to an increase in employment levels in the occupational categories.

Question 2. What does qualitative analysis of life history data reveal about life patterns of family members in a multi-generational context during the 20th Century?

As indicated earlier, most reported living and working the major part of their adult life in Indiana, with one interviewer identifying family members mostly living in adjacent counties. A total of 47 respondents (66%) were born in Indiana and 17 others reported contiguous states as their birthplace. This pattern appears more stable than expected.

Questions 3& 4. What does qualitative analysis of life history data reveal about the nature and impact of life transitions on individuals and on family members in a multi-generational context during the 20th Century?