Qualitative Research Framework

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Study Title: Will Work for Food: Structural Unemployment in Denton, Texas

Author Name(s): Jennie Larry Johnson

. Abstract from the Study

The goal of this phenomenological study is to explore the world as experienced by adults that seek job search and placement assistance from the Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas because they lack the skills currently in demand by local employers. The broader context for the study is that the labor force participation rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 62.8 percent in April but was unchanged from a year earlier. The local context is that despite statistic reflect that the residents in Denton, Texas with a Bachelor’s degree are 10.5% above the national average, 201,350 of Denton County’s working-age population were not in the workforce in 2018. The study will provide a narrative of the pre-given essences and structure regarding how participants make meaning from their assisted job search activities. The settings will be the Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas located at 1300 Teasley Ln, Denton, TX 76205. A purposeful sampling of 10 unemployed adults, aged 18 to 35, will be interviewed. The study will answer the research question: What are the lived experiences of the structurally unemployed adults that seek job search assistance at the Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas? The study is relevant because it will use the COREQ 32-item checklist to create a thematic report of the study, its findings, analysis, and interpretations. The study will add to the body of knowledge by providing greater insight into the structured unemployment phenomenon for decision-making and public policy considerations.

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Research main topic of inquiry

The topic of inquiry to be explored are the lived experiences of the unemployed men and women that use job search and career planning resources at the Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas (Center).

Subtopic(s) of inquiry

The subtopic of inquiry is to examine the prevalence of structurally unemployed adults that seek job search assistance at the Center during the study period.

Main Literature in Support of Conducting this Study

As cited by Johnson (2018), U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, 2018) reported that America payrolls increased by 201,000 workers in August 2018. However, the BLS Labor Force Statistics’ Current Population Survey revealed the U.S. Labor Participation was only 62.7%. Furthermore, the U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey (CPS) indicates that 96,157,000 adult Americans did not work in August 2018. The unemployed included 5,534,000 individuals that wanted a job but could not find one and 1,443,000 reported they were available for work, wanted a job and had searched for a position the prior 12 months. However, disturbingly, 598,000 working-aged Americans said they are not available to work even though they worked the prior year. The latter included individuals whose reasons for not working were “not ascertained (Johnson, 2018). Locally, statistics indicate only 70.6% of Denton County’s working- age population are in the workforce. The purpose of this study is to interview and observe the remaining 29.4% of Denton County adults that do not work to gain greater insight into this national and regional phenomenon.

General Theoretical Framework Supporting Method

While the United States has entered a period of historically low unemployment rates, the methods used to measure unemployment do not account for all persons not currently in the workforce. Department of Labor statistics indicates over 96 million non-working Americans remain unemployed from month-to-month but were not included in the unemployment counts. Structural unemployment is a type of unemployment caused when there is a mismatch between the knowledge, skills, and abilities employers want and the availability of those qualifications in the local workforce. Often referred to as the skill gap, this chasm between in- demand skills and America’s unskilled labor is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade because of advances in technologies and the increasing rise in sophistication and utility of artificial intelligence. Structural unemployment is like cyclical unemployment in that these two forms of unemployment are sensitive to economic conditions. Structural unemployment is different P a g e | 3 from cyclical unemployment in that workers that become cyclically unemployed can usually find jobs again once the economy improves. Structurally unemployed workers tend to be out of work for prolonged periods and are at risk of becoming chronically unemployed which has been documented to create a host of societal issues.

Structural unemployment is like frictional unemployment in that in both are usually last- employer-driven. Structural unemployment is different from frictional unemployment in that the frictionally unemployed usually have in-demand skills and can usually transition from one job to a better one. The structurally unemployed usually lack marketable job skills or have specialized job skills that make it difficult for them to find new jobs after being let go by a previous employer.

The theoretical framework supporting this study is the need to record the lived experiences of adults that seek assistance with finding employment because they lack marketable skills and how their perceptions are affecting their families and community.

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1. The Conceptual Model

The study will provide a thematic description of the pre-given essences and structure of lived experiences of this population. The study is relevant and will add to the body of knowledge by providing greater insight into the structured unemployment phenomenon for decision-making and public policy considerations. P a g e | 4

Study goals

Delimitations

The expected limitations of the scope of the study that might result from the researcher’s positionality, participant questions, theoretical perspectives and framework, methodologies, and participant choices (Simon & Goes, 2013)

Setting

The settings for the study will be the Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas located at 1300 Teasley Ln, Denton, TX 76205.

Broad contextual framing

The broad contextual framing is that, by all appearances, the United States economy is booming. The Gross National Product in Quarter 1, 2019 increased by 3.2% and personal income is up by 0.1% as well. The unemployment rate for persons 16 years and over was 3.6%, and Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates declined in April for adult men (3.4 percent), adult women (3.1 percent), Whites (3.1 percent), Asians (2.2 percent), and Hispanics (4.2 percent). The jobless rates for teenagers (13.0 percent) and Blacks (6.7 percent) showed little or no change. However, the labor force participation rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 62.8 percent in April but was unchanged from a year earlier. The employment-population ratio was unchanged at 60.6 percent in April and has been either 60.6 percent or 60.7 percent since October 2018. ("Employment Situation Summary," n.d.)

Local contextual framing

The contextual framing is that there exists an essential, perceived reality behind structural unemployed in Denton, Texas. According to its annual Economic Overview, Denton County’s population has increased by 17.9% since 2013, and the county is now home to 683,947 working-age adults. The county reports 468,716 of adults employed in 2018. However, disturbingly, despite statistic reflect that the residents in Denton, Texas with a Bachelor’s degree are 10.5% above the national average, 201,350 of Denton County’s working-age population were not in the workforce in 2018. P a g e | 5

The physical or virtual setting of the study

According to their website, the Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas (Center) help job seekers find employment, financial assistance, and new careers. The primary tool used is the WorkInTexas.com online job-matching system. Job seekers are instructed to create an account and a general online job application matched with Texas employers with current job openings. The website also offers job search support tools including resume builders, career tools, and job availability notices. The Center is also the local host for the U.S. Department of Labor’s CareerOnestop career, training, and job search website, which also offers free online job search tools, information, and resources ("Career Seekers," 2019). This setting was selected because it matches the goals of the research and is relevant to the issue to be studied. The Center is also where the human subjects to be studied will be visible and accessible. Other situations that would influence this as the appropriate setting is that this is the designated location where job seekers can apply for Unemployment benefits.

Population in focus

The purposeful sampling of 10 unemployed adults, aged 18 to 35 that come to the Center during the study period requesting assistance with job search activities. Participants will be purposely picked from a wide range of job seekers willing to provide detailed accounts of their experiences to get variations on dimensions and to document comparisons between structural, cyclical, and frictional unemployed. The structurally unemployed will be asked five additional questions to explore in-depth their experiences looking for work with mismatched skills. This study will interview a purposeful sampling of unemployed adults that seek job search assistance to provide insight into understanding why they have been unable to find work on their own and how that has shaped their individual experiences

Projected Data Collection Methods

The phenomenology methods described by Starks and Trinidad (2007) will be used. The primary data collection method will be semi-structured interview techniques with probing questions intended to encourage participants to tell their stories. Participants will also be observed to record how they act within the Center’s natural job search assistance environment. The study will seek to interview and capture the shared experiences of this category of unemployed workers to obtain comprehensive descriptions that provide the basis for a reflective structural analysis that portrays the essences of the experiences (Starks & Trinidad, 2007).

Type of qualitative approach

The interviews will be conducted with individuals that visit the Centers over five days and are willing to tell their stories and share how they create subjective meanings and constructed realities from embodied fruitless job searching (Sokolowski, 2000; Steward & Mickunas, 1974). The researcher will present herself as a listener while asking participants probing questions regarding their experiences looking for jobs at the Center. When needed, the interview will use P a g e | 6 some aspects of discourse analysis to pursue clarity and keep the interview focused. Gee’s (2005) seven “building tasks” of language will be used to analyze data gathered during interviews including points of significance, activity, identity, relationship, politics, connections, and sign system to increase awareness regarding how knowledge, meaning, and social norms can create personal and group identities for the chronically unemployed (Gee, 2005).

Specifically, the interview questions will probe for individualized (micro-social), and environmental/systematic (macro-social) contexts of the participant lived experience. Participant interview questions will record their relevance to the research study; specifics surrounding places, times, positions, and circumstances while capturing the participants’ lived experiences; assumptions the participant is making regarding what the interviewer or society knows about the phenomena; and implicit cultural or economic aspects of the participant’s thoughts, opinions, attitudes, and beliefs about the topic and the participant’s views related to the suitability of their feelings (Ravitch & Carl, 2015, p. 153-154).

Instrumentation

The semi-structured interview questions are included as Appendix B.

Length of study and reason for the length

The study will be conducted over five days beginning on Monday, October 7, 2019, and ending on Friday, October 11, 2019.

Projected Data Analysis Methods

An iterative and inductive interpretive analysis process will be used to decontextualize the data from the original context of individual cases.

Coding

The cases will then be coded into units of meaning and recontextualized to look for patterns and themes. The recontextualized data groups will be organized around central themes and relationships for relationships to be drawn across cases and to build an interpretive narrative. A final product will then be created from fundamental concepts and categories (Starks & Trinidad, 2007, p. 1375).

Correctly, the eight steps recommended by Zhang and Wildermuth for qualitative coding data will be used. The data will be converted into various types of text for examination. The text will be converted into “chunks” or units of information based on content or context. The chunks of information will be organized into categories using context and content then coded according to a scheme. A sample of the coded data will be used to validate the levels of consistency and sufficiency. The process is iterative until all doubts about the accuracy of coding are satisfied and create a manual. The sample coding will be applied to the complete dataset collected using P a g e | 7 the coding manual as a guide. The coding will be rechecked for consistency to ensure all mistakes and problems have been addressed or mitigated. Themes and patterns are drawn to allow exploration of properties to make sense of the data using at least three different approaches (triangulation) and by examining relationships between categories, uncovering patterns, and testing categories. The inferences are drawn from data, implications, limitations, and reported with recommendations (Zhang & Wildermuth, 2009, p. 2-5).

Creditability and Trustworthiness

Triangulation will be used to establish creditability and trustworthiness for the study. The triangulation efforts will include using different strategies and methods during data evaluation; searching for and collecting data from as many data sources as possible using different sampling strategies and individuals at varying times and places; involving multiple researcher perspectives during interpretation of data, identification of themes and patterns, and reporting findings and conclusions; framing the theoretical underpinnings of the study and noting how it compares or contrasts with previous works and why; and intentionally and systematically including a wide range of participants and diverse groups (Ravitch & Carl, 2015, p. 186-200).

Specifically, the researcher will video record the participant interviews as evidence to support her interpretations as well as confirm her understandings regarding each participant’s story for the validity of implications and inferences. Next, as a faithful witness to the gathering and recording of the data, the researcher will make subjective, but honest and vigilant judgments during coding, categorizing, decontextualizing, and recontextualizing activities. The researcher will disclose their perspectives, preexisting thoughts, beliefs, and hypothesis in a subjectivity statement, which will become a part of the research. The researcher will also describe the persistent efforts made to manage their biases during data collection to ensure the open and accurate recording of participant stories. The intent will be to create a historical record of how links were made between data and analysis so that the reader can recreate the line of reasoning. Finally, the researcher will keep careful field notes that will be shared with a mentor or colleague regarding their positionality and the soundness of the processes used to the study adhered to its theoretical framework and underpinnings (p. 1376).

Projected Audience for the Research Outcomes

The projected audience for the research outcome will include the clinicians, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders that read Human Resource Development Quarterly scholarly journal and that attend the Academy of Human Resource Development in February 2020.

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Ethics

The researcher will observe the autonomy, beneficence, and justice provisions outline in the Common Rule for the Protection of Human Subjects outlined in the Belmont Report.

Protection of Human Participants

For the protection of human participants, before each interview, the researcher will ask participants to sign a participation agreement that explicitly states that the participant:

• Voluntarily agrees to be interviewed; • May withdraw their permission for up to two weeks after the interview; • Was provided with information concerning the purpose and nature of the research; • Received simple terms regarding what participation in the interview would involve; • Accepted that there would be direct benefit from participating in the interview; • Understands that the interview may be audio- or visually recorded; • Understands that the information shared during the interview would be treated confidentially; • Any reports or transcripts of the interview would ensure the participant remains anonymous; • Understands that the results of the participant’s interview may be extracted in whole or in part; • Acknowledges that the interviewer may have to report information to relevant authorities if there is a risk of harm to the participants or someone else; • Understand that the information about when, where, and how the audio or video recordings will be retained and that the transcript will be blinded of identifying information before retention; • Understands that the participant can gain access to the information under the freedom of information act; and • Understands that the interviewee is free to contact any person involved with the research for further clarifications and information (Pereira, Robinson, & McGuire, 2016).

Conflicts of Interest

There are no anticipated conflicts of interest between the researcher, participants, or any other party involved with the study.

Reduction of bias

The researcher provided her subjectivity statement that describes her bias control efforts as Appendix A.

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Research Team Roles

The principal investigator will be responsible for all activities outlined in the research design.

Projected Structure of Research Outcomes

The expected outcomes are that the audience will learn that adults that are structurally unemployment are not lazy individuals uninterested in work. The study is expected to reveal that these individuals do want jobs and are willing to complete training programs and access resources that will help them find employment.

The 32-item Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) checklist for interviews will be used to promote explicit and comprehensive reporting of the study’s findings and outcomes (Tong, Sainsbury, & Craig, 2007). The checklist is used to ensure all necessary components of a qualitative study’s design are reported in a standardized format to increase creditability and trustworthiness. Using the checklist also helps new researcher report the essential aspects and provide details related to the study, its findings, analysis, and interpretations.

Projected limitations of the study and threats to validity

The projected limitations of the study will include the principal investigator’s inexperience with conducted qualitative research reviews, interviewing human subjects, coding interview transcripts, and using the COREQ checklist while writing the final reports.

Threats to validity would be researcher bias related to the principal investigator’s knowledge, assumptions, prior studies of the topic of inquiry, or judgments during the design, analysis, sampling selection, and coding. Other threats include the reactivity of the researcher possible influence on the studied situation and participants and participant biased or untruthful answers (Jarekkriukow, 2018)

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Timeline

The projected timeline for the study is provided below.

Action Date Begins Expected Date Due Responsible Approval Completion Person(s) needed Date Research framework 6/1/19 6/30/19 7/15/19 Jennie L. Johnson Full methods with 5/15/19 6/15/19 7/1/19 Jennie L. Johnson instruments Letter of support 5/1/19 5/15/19 7/15/19 Jennie L. Johnson from Data Collection Site NIH certificates from 5/1/19 5/15/19 7/15/19 Jennie L. Johnson Team IRB Completion 6/1/19 7/8/19 8/1/19 Jennie L. Johnson Literature Review 5/1/19 7/1/19 7/15/19 Jennie L. Johnson IRB Approval 8/1/19 9/15/19 Varies Jennie L. Johnson IRB Data Collection – 10/7/19 10/11/19 10/11/19 Jennie L Johnson Survey Data Collection – 10/7/19 10/11/19 10/11/19 Jennie L Johnson Interviews Data Cleaning and 10/12/19 10/20/19 10/20/19 Jennie L Johnson Organization Data analysis – 10/21/19 10/26/19 10/26/19 Jennie L Johnson interviews and observations Data analysis – 10/27/19 11/2/19 11/2/19 Jennie L Johnson thematic generation Mentor/Colleague Write up findings for 11/3/19 11/15/19 11/15/19 Jennie L Johnson (dissertation, article, chapter, script, etc.) Submit article, etc. 11/18/19 11/22/19 11/22/19 Jennie L Johnson Submit IRB 12/1/19 12/13/19 12/13/19 Jennie L Johnson Conclusion/Extension Paperwork

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References

Allison Tong, Peter Sainsbury, Jonathan Craig, Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative

research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups, International

Journal for Quality in Health Care, Volume 19, Issue 6, December 2007, Pages 349–

357, https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzm042

Career Seekers. (2019, March 28). Retrieved from https://dfwjobs.com/job-seekers

Economic Overview: Denton, Texas. (2019). Retrieved from

http://reports.dfwjobs.com/LMI/Profiles/Denton.pdf

Employment Situation Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Gee, J. P. (2005). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method (2nd ed.). London:

Routledge.

Groenewald, T. (2004). A Phenomenological Research Design Illustrated. International Journal

of Qualitative Methods, 3(1), 42–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690400300104

Johnson, J.L. (2018). The Economics of Unemployment. Unpublished manuscript, University of

North Texas.

Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2015). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical,

and methodological. Sage Publications.

Simon, M. K., & Goes, J. (2013). Scope, limitations, and delimitations.

Sokolowski, R. (2000). Introduction to phenomenology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University

Press. P a g e | 12

Starks, H., & Brown Trinidad, S. (2007). Choose Your Method: A Comparison of

Phenomenology, Discourse Analysis, and Grounded Theory. Qualitative Health

Research, 17(10), 1372–1380. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732307307031

Stewart, D., & Mickunas, A. (1974). Exploring phenomenology: A guide to the field and its

literature. Chicago: American Library Association

Tong, A., Sainsbury, P., & Craig, J. (2007). Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research

(COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups. International journal for quality in

health care, 19(6), 349-357.

U.S. Economy at a Glance. (2019, April). Retrieved from https://www.bea.gov/news/glance

United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). Data. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/programs-

surveys/cps/data-detail.html

United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Census Bureau. (2018). Current population

survey: Design and methodology. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of

Labor Statistics.

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Appendices

Appendix A. Researcher subjectivity statement regarding topic, analysis

Appendix B. Participant Interview Questions

Appendix C. Semi-structured interview questions (if exists)

Appendix D. Researcher field notes schema (if exists)

Appendix E. Researcher checklist (if exists)

Appendix F. Other documents (if needed)

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Appendix A. Researcher subjectivity statement regarding topic, analysis

Topic of Inquiry: Structured Unemployment

What is structural unemployment?

Structural unemployment is a type of unemployment caused when there is a mismatch between the knowledge, skills, and abilities employers want and the availability of those qualifications in the local workforce. Often referred to as the skill gap, this chasm between in-demand skills and America’s unskilled labor is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade because of advances in technologies and the increasing rise in sophistication and utility of artificial intelligence.

Structural unemployment is like cyclical unemployment in that these two forms of unemployment are sensitive to economic conditions. Structural unemployment is different from cyclical unemployment in that workers that become cyclically unemployed can usually find jobs again once the economy improves. Structurally unemployed workers tend to be out of work for prolonged periods and are at risk of becoming chronically unemployed which has been documented to create a host of societal issues.

What does this mean for my reflection activities and design?

In reflection, I have a bias in favor of providing safety nets for workers at risk of structural unemployment because I feel chronic unemployment is the root cause of most of the social and political issues our country faces today. My religious beliefs and work ethics dictate every healthy adult should be gainfully employed and vested in the system that comprises America. However, I also believe that some of the obstacles the chronically unemployed face while trying to access job skills training or employment supports are systematic because some economists feel a natural unemployment rate of up to 6 percent is healthy for our country’s economy. This perception is based on Phillip’s Curve that theorizes a causation relationship between recession and unemployment which I feel is outdated and was only useful for a point in time in America’s history. I believe both the context of recession and unemployment had changed since the 1960s when America adopted Phillip’s Curve, and I am convinced it is time to retire this theory as the tool for managing unemployment in our nation.

What do I expect to see?

I expect to see that most structurally unemployed workers would take a job if they could get one. I also believe most structurally unemployed workers would keep their jobs if they are provided P a g e | 15 with the employment affordances provided to workers by most other industrialized western nations. What do I already know about this topic?

What I already know about this topic is that unemployment is being managed by America’s economist using the dictates and measures of Phillip’s Curve. I also believe policymakers may have been misled about the social, financial, and emotional impacts of chronic unemployment on both individuals and their family members. I know that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need, while challenged by some social scientists, is supported by others and that this theory could be used to support arguments for why crime against persons, prejudice and discrimination, and other social ills are plaguing our country today. Empirical and longitudinal data supports theories that explain idleness if not healthy for the human spirit or public finances. Therefore, I know there is a preponderance of evidence I could gather to support my position and my argument for increasing investments in workforce development and employment supports for our nation’s chronically unemployed.

Challenge of what I think I already know

As a result of my knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitude as an instructional designer and workforce development specialist, I expect to not only frame chronic structural unemployment as one of the most pressing and destructive phenomena of our generation. I expect I will be able to come to the table with practical solutions for mitigating this issue as well.

I expect that like-minded individuals more interested in safeguarding our futures then playing politics with such a sensitive issue. I expect to face some push back from the financial industry who are currently benefitting from the management of unemployment to suit their needs and sustain their profits.

By that same token, however, I expect to find myself in direct conflict with local leaders and public figures engaging in maintaining the status quo. I also expect to gain supporters from community-based and faith-based organizations who often are forced to carry the burden when a family’s breadwinner loses their job and is unable to find new employment for a prolonged period.

I expect to find a co-researcher willing to partner with me as I tackle this issue. I also hope and expect to gather support from among the University of North Texas faculty who stand to benefit once displaced workers can secure the funding necessary for them to enroll in our university to seek in-demand degrees that close their skills gaps and position to become contributing members of our communities again.

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Appendix B. Semi-structured interview questions (if exists)

1. I am going to ask a few questions about your employment search activities (THE WEEK BEFORE LAST). By (the week before last), I mean the week beginning on Sunday, (DATE), and ending on Saturday, (DATE). 2. Do you currently want a job, either full or part time? (DWWNT) 3. What is the main reason you want to work full time? (Question HRRSN2) 4. What are all the things you have done to find work during the last 4 weeks? (Question LKM) 5. You said have been trying to find work. How did you go about looking? (CPS:LKDK) 6. Can you tell me more about what you did to search for work? (CPS:LKPS) 7. What kind of work did you do when you last worked? (IO1OCC) 8. Did the work require you to have an active professional certification or license? (CPS: CERT2) 9. . What was the month and year that you last worked? (CPS: LKDATM) 10. Were you employed by government, by a private company, a nonprofit organization, or were you working in the family business? 11. (THE WEEK BEFORE LAST), could you have started a job if one had been offered? (CPS:LKAVL) 12. If not, why is that? (LKAVR) 13. BEFORE you started looking for work, what were you doing? (CPS LKLL1) 14. As of the end of (THE WEEK BEFORE LAST/LAST WEEK), how long had you been looking for work? (LKDRI) 15. Have you been looking for full time work of 35 hours or more per week? (LKFT) 16. What is the main reason you were not looking for work during the LAST 4 WEEKS? (DWRSN) 17. Did you lose or quit that job, or was it a temporary job that ended? (CPS: LKLL2) 18. When did you last work at a job or business? (CPS: LKLW) 19. If you were offered the opportunity to enroll in a free online job search and career planning course designed to help you find work, would be willing to enroll in the course? 20. If you are not willing to enroll in that course, what other strategies do you plan to use to find work?

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Appendix D. Researcher field notes schema (if exists)

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Appendix E. Researcher checklist (if exists)

Research Checklist.pdf

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Appendix F. Other documents: Job Search and Career Planning Intervention

Johnson-Final ID Treatment.pdf