Socioeconomic Status of University of Santo Tomas College of Fine Arts and Design

Students

A Thesis presented to

The Faculty of College of Fine Arts and Design

University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For Math600A (Statistics)

Submitted to:

Prof. Crisencio M. Paner, MSc.

Submitted by:

Kit Katrice Ang

Sherri Anne Costo

Kriselle Merabuena

2AD4

AY 2012-2013

INTRODUCTION

Socioeconomic status (SES) is an individual's or group's position within a

hierarchical social structure. (www.dictionary.com) Socioeconomic status indicates

the relationship between a person's social status and his financial standing. Assessing

one's socioeconomic status has three interrelated factors such as income, education

and occupation. When income tends to go up as the level of education increases, in

part because higher education provides an individual with skill that is necessary to be

able to enter jobs that can provide higher pay. When income goes down, educational

level drops. As a result, in general, those who have less education have less income.

Less education means less skill needed to enter a high paying job.

(www.wisegeek.com)

What social class do you belong to? Can one tell which class you belong by

the way you talk, dress and act? Most people classify Fine Arts students to belong to

upper socioeconomic classes. With the help of our survey, we are able to know which

social class majority of the students belong to. Socioeconomic status, sometimes

abbreviated to as SES, is a sociological classification indicating the close relationship

between someone’s relative wealth and that person’s social status. It is commonly

conceptualized as the social standing or class of an individual or group.

Socioeconomic status is one of the key indicators when looking at a number of

different community issues, including school performance, crime and housing. It is

most often determined by analyzing family income and assets. It also means the

aggregate value of their education, job status and living environment. Together, all

these things can play a crucial role in one’s life.

The researchers chose the said topic for according to ___, socioeconomic

status affects psychological and physical health and education of a person. (_____)

The researchers are concerned with their fellow UST-CFAD students' health and well-

being.

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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Can the present socioeconomic status of the students of University of Santo Tomas-

College of Fine Arts and Design affect their future behavior?

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. Determine which socio-economic status in the UST-CFAD is dominant.

2. Determine how their socioeconomic status will affect their willingness to work

after graduating.

3. Determine how their present socioeconomic status will affect their behavior

towards being the next provider for their own family.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study aims to show how influential socioeconomic status can be to a

behavior of a person.

The study will also benefit the researchers’ academe, The University of Santo

Tomas, College of Fine Arts and Design, Advertising Arts Department who taught the

researchers how to statistically interpret a data.

The researchers also benefitted because the study made them learn more about

Statistics and how to interpret a given data. The study will also aid the researchers to

grow and develop their skills, to be independent and more socially active.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION

The study will focus on the students of the University of Santo Tomas that

belongs to the College of Fine Arts and Design for the academic year 2012-2013. The

objectives will be attained as the instrument for research (survey) conveys the result.

The study will revolve with family's monthly household income, parent's

occupation, parent's highest education attained and student's behavior towards saving

money and buying habits and student's willingness to work after graduating and their

expected salary.

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DEFINITION OF TERMS

Assets Property owned by a person or company, regarded as

having value and available to meet debts, commitments, or legacies.

Crucial Decisive or critical, of great importance.

Economy The wealth and resources of a country or region, esp. in

terms of the production and consumption of goods and services.

Hierarchical Of the nature of a hierarchy; arranged in order of rank.

Socioeconomic Status An individual's or group's position within a hierarchical

social structure. (www.dictionary.com)

Lifestyle A way of life or style of living that reflects the attitudes

and values of a person or group.

Salary A fixed regular payment made by an employer, often

monthly, for professional or office work as opposed to manual work.

Tuition fee A fee paid for instruction; especially for higher

education.

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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The review of the literature for this study focuses on how influential

socioeconomic status can be to a behavior of a person.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is often measured as a combination of education,

income, and occupation. It is commonly conceptualized as the social standing or class

of an individual or group. When viewed through a social class lens, privilege, power,

and control are emphasized. Furthermore, an examination of SES as a gradient or

continuous variable reveals inequities in access to and distribution of resources. SES

is relevant to all realms of behavioral and social science including research, practice,

education, and advocacy. (academia.edu)

Education plays a major role in skill sets for acquiring jobs, as well as specific

qualities that stratify people with higher SES from lower SES. An article on

studymode.com speaks on the idea of concerted cultivation, where middle

class parents take an active role in their children’s education and development by

using controlled organized activities and fostering a sense of entitlement through

encouraged discussion. It argues that families with lower income do not participate in

this movement, causing their children to have a sense of constraint. An interesting

observation that studies have noted is that parents from lower SES households are

more likely to give orders to their children in their interactions while parents with a

higher SES are more likely to interact and play with their children. A division in

education attainment is thus born out of these two differences in child rearing.

Research has shown how children who are born in lower SES households have

weaker language skills compared to children raised in higher SES households. These

language skills affect their abilities to learn and thus exacerbate the problem of

education disparity between low and high SES neighborhoods. Lower income

families can have children who do not succeed to the levels of the middle income

children, who can have a greater sense of entitlement, be more argumentative, or be

better prepared for adult life.

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According to an article from apa.org, parents with high socioeconomic status

have more time, energy, resources, knowledge, and patience to teach their children

than the parents with low socioeconomic status. Most parents who have lower

socioeconomic status are stressed from trying too hard to provide basic needs that

they may not have time and energy to provide stimulating activities, or money for

many opportunities that can enhance their children’s learning. Students with low

socioeconomic status may be under diagnosed for behavioral and learning problems,

in part due to parents' stress and poor health services.

Low socioeconomic status not only affects dropout rates but it affects parental

involvement in a student's education. Parental involvement can be defined as parental

participation in the educational processes and experiences of their children (Jeynes,

2007). If there is little parental involvement in a child's education, there is more of a

likelihood that the student will not succeed. When a parent is not involved or

interested in his or her child's education, there is a greater chance that the child will

not be interested in his or her own education. This directly affects whether or not the

student will finish school. It is not uncommon to see little parental involvement in the

education of children from low-income households. This, in turn, leads to an increase

in behavioral problems. Parental involvement does not independently improve

children's learning, but some involvement activities do prevent behavioral problems.

Interaction analysis suggests that the involvement of parents with low socioeconomic

status may be more effective than that of parents with high socioeconomic status

(Domina, 2005). Parental involvement means not only helping with homework but

also becoming involved and active in other aspects of a child's education. Academic

achievement requires both student and parent involvement.

Research indicates that children from low-SES households and communities

develop academic skills more slowly compared to children from higher SES groups

(Morgan, Farkas, Hillemeier, & Maczuga, 2009). Initial academic skills are

correlated with the home environment, where low literacy environments and chronic

stress negatively affect a child’s pre-academic skills.

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CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research will begin with the present status of the country’s economy, the

University of Santo Tomas’ profile and the college’s. This will serve as background

for the study.

A survey of 100 respondents with ages ranging from 18-21 years old that

studies in the University of Santo Tomas under the College of Fine Arts and Design

whose majors were: Advertising Arts, Painting, Industrial and Interior Design was

also conducted to access the current status of some of the students. The survey served

as a foundation of the study.

The wide-range of Internet search helped a lot in giving the researcher updated

information regarding the present situation of the economy of the Philippines in year

2012 and defining a lot of unfamiliar words.

The gathered data is used as a reference and basis in declaring which is the

most dominant socio economic class among the students.

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SURVEY FORM

Socioeconomic status of UST-CFAD students

Good day! We are students from 2AD4 taking Math600A. We are conducting a study regarding the socioeconomic status of UST-CFAD students for AY 2013-2014. We will highly appreciate your help by answering the questions honestly and correctly. Please select the best answer. Thank you! * Required

Name ______________ Age *

18-20 21-25 26-30

Gender * Male Female

Marital status * Single Married Widowed

School/College * ___________________Example: UST-CFAD Department *

Advertising Arts Interior Design Industrial Design Painting

1. I am currently a * Full-time student Working student

2. Highest educational attainment of FATHER * Master degree College graduate High school graduate Grade school graduate

3. Highest educational attainment of MOTHER * Master degree College graduate

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High school graduate Grade school graduate

4. Which category best describes your monthly household income? * P50,001 and above P30,001-P50,000 P15,001-P30,000 P8,001-P15,000 P8,000 and below

5. Occupation of FATHER * 6. Occupation of MOTHER * 7. Enrollment status *

Regular Irregular

8. Payment of tuition fee category * Full Installment

9. Mode of payment of tuition fee * Cash Credit card Cheque

10. How much is your daily allowance? * P551 and above P451-P550 P351-P450 P201-P350 P200 and below

11. Are you able to save enough money from your daily allowance? *If no, please proceed to question #13.

Yes No

12. How much can you save out of your daily allowance? P401 and above P301-P400 P201-P300 P151-P200 P150 and below

13. Do you plan to work right after you graduate? * Yes No

15. Why or why not? *

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___________________________________ 16. How much is your expected salary? *

P30,001 and above P20,001-P30,000 P15,001-P20,000 P15,000 and below

17. Will you willingly help with the household expenses? * Yes No

18. Why or why not? *____________________________________

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

The researchers conducted a survey with 100 respondents. All respondents

were students of UST-CFAD. The survey was equally divided for the 4 departments

present in the said college namely: Advertising Arts, Industrial Design, Interior

Design and Painting department.

The survey yielded on student's lifestyle, daily allowance and savings, terms

of payment of tuition fees, buying patterns, how do they balance their wants and

needs and their dependency on their family members. The survey questionnaire

helped the researchers in achieving the objectives of the study.

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A wide-range of Internet search provided updated information and defined

terms used in the study.

CONSTRUCTION AND VALIDATION OF INSTRUMENT

The survey questionnaire was validated by the pre-test conducted with 10

respondents who are efficient enough to answer and give comments and suggestions

for a better understanding for both the respondents and the researchers so the study

can be done better.

STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF DATA

P = F/N x 100

Where:

P = Percentage

F = Frequency

N = Number of respondents

Where:

= Mean

Where:

= Median

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Where:

= Mode

Where:

=

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

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Most of the respondents who answered the survey are 18-20 years old.

Most of the respondents who took the survey are Female.

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The results from the survey show that all respondents are single.

The pie chart shows that all the respondents are from the University of Santo

Tomas College of Fine Arts and Design.

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Most of the respondents who answered the survey are from Advertising Arts,

followed by Interior Design, then Industrial Design and the least, Painting.

The results show that 90 percent of the respondents are Full-time Students.

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Most of the respondents’ Father has the highest educational attainment of a

College Graduate.

Most of the respondents’ Mother has the highest educational attainment of a

College Graduate.

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Results show that most of the respondents have a monthly household income of

P50, 001 and above.

Results show that most of the respondents’ father have different field of work

with a 36%; while 19% of the respondents’ father is either a businessman or an

engineer. Self-employed and manager ties up.

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Most of the respondents’ mother have different field of work, while 26% are

businesswomen, 22% of them are housewives, 14% are self-employed.

Most of the respondents are Regular students.

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Most of the respondents say that they pay their tuition with full payment than

installment.

Most of the respondents’ mode of payment is cast, followed by check while the

least is the credit.

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Most of the respondents say that their daily allowance ranges from P201-P350.

Only few of them have an allowance of P451-P550.

Most of the respondents say that they are able to save from their daily

allowances.

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Most of the respondents say that they can save P150 and below from their daily

allowances. While 25% of them can only save P151 - P200, followed by P401 and

above and only a little can save P201-P300.

Most of the respondents plan to work after they graduate right away because they want to have their own money. They want to be able to sustain their needs and not having to rely on their parents’ money anymore. Some of our respondents want to

work after they graduate to help their parents with their household expenses. A few respondents wanted to work simply for the experience.

Some of the respondents answered that they don’t plan to work after they graduate because they plan to take another course and have a higher degree. A few of our

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respondents don’t plan to work right away because they want to rest and take a break after studying in college for four years.

Most of the respondent expect that their salary will range from P30, 001

and above, followed by P15, 001-P20, 000 and P20, 001-P30, 000 then P15, 000

and below got the least.

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Most of the respondents are willing to help with the household expenses. They

say that they want to repay and help their parents financially.

ANALYSIS

After conducting research, the researchers found out that majority of the CFAD

students, no matter how big or small their household incomes are, are willing to

work after they graduate. Working for them is a necessity. It doesn't matter if

they belong to a higher or a lower class. Wanting to earn their own money is

what inspires them to work. They want to be able to spend their own money to

sustain their personal needs and not having to rely on their parents' money

anymore. They also want to work after they graduate to help their parents with

their household expenses.

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

The researchers therefore conclude that families that belong to high

socioeconomic class often have more success in preparing their young children for

school because they have access to a wide range of resources to promote and support

their children’s education and development. They are able to provide their children

with high quality childcare, toys, and books to encourage their children in different

learning activities at home. Moreover, they have easy access to information regarding

their children’s health, as well as social, emotional, and cognitive development. In

addition, families with high socioeconomic status often seek out information to help

them prepare their young children for school.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The researchers recommend using other forms of methodology; since our

research has an objective of fulfilling requirements for Math600A (Statistics), we

opted to use only survey as a form of methodology. We recommend that future

researchers use other forms of methodology such as interviews. This will help expand

your knowledge about your topic and will give other detailed insights, especially if

there are certain people involved, like our research paper.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.academia.edu

http://www.dictionary.com

http://www.docs.google.com

http://www.filecrop.com/spss-portable-17.html

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