Inquiry Proposal Form

1. Research question: How has the digital divide impacted the amount of access homeless communities
have to job opportunities within post-quarantine society in Contra Costa County? The primary purpose
of this research is to fill a gap of knowledge regarding whether homeless communities have access to
technology required to obtain some jobs in a post quarantine society. The secondary purpose of this
research question is to explore the connection between lacking connection to technology and the ability
to obtain a job.

2. I chose this topic because of how relevant it is in my life as a Californian since California has the
largest number of homeless communities in the U.S. and because I have been regularly seen homeless
communities with my own travelling in urban areas. I also chose this topic because I have a personal
interest in the spread of technology and its impact on society. Seeing as how my topic is the perfect
bridge between these two of my interests, this topic seemed perfect for me to research since I would
have an interest in it.

3. I will have to collect interviews from several varying homeless shelters with different backgrounds. I
then must ensure that these interviews obtain the opinions of people because my research question
seeks to understand what problems they experience, not what people could theoretically achieve if they
do everything right. I will be using the data, themes, and interview questions of previous researchers to
compare my own findings and maintain consistency between studies.

4. MOSS, HALEY. “Screened out Onscreen: Disability Discrimination, Hiring Bias, and Artificial
Intelligence.” Denver Law Review, vol. 98, no. 4, July 2021, pp. 775–805. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=151985754&site=ehost-live.

-I have several sources like this that reveal the kinds of biases that can prevent potential employees
from being hired. Example biases include discriminating against the currently or previously homeless
and people who have had generally unstable housing in the past.
Milburn, Norweeta G., et al. “Cross-National Variations in Behavioral Profiles Among Homeless Youth.”
American Journal of Community Psychology, vol. 37, no. 1/2, Mar. 2006, pp. 63–27. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1007/s10464-005-9005-4.

-There are several sources that provide examples of similar research done in the past with similar
methodologies that I will be implementing in my own research. The geographical locations of each study
also vary from close to my area of study and in different countries.

Pollitzer, Elizabeth. “Creating a Better Future: Four Scenarios for How Digital Technologies
Could Change the World.” Journal of International Affairs, vol. 72, no. 1, Fall/Winter2019 2019,
pp. 75–90. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=134748794&site=ehost-live.
-These are several sources that give background on the changing and developing technology that can be
currently offered. This background information also extends to situations in the past that have had
similar circumstances to the problem that I am researching.

MARTIN, ERYK. “Drawn to Change: Graphic Histories of Working-Class Struggle/Storming the

Digital Divide: The PovNet Story.” BC Studies, no. 196, Winter2017/2018 2017, pp. 163–165.
EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=128514090&site=ehost-live.
-And several sources that reveal the general hardships that specifically expanding technology
has already brought to homeless communities in recent years and in the past. Examples include
the recent computer chip shortage that has raised the price of various products and the use of
artificial intelligence to screen out potential employees who have lived in or near any homeless
shelters.

5. For the methodology of my research question, I have chosen a mix of qualitative interviews
and comparative analysis. As I have mentioned before, I need qualitative interviews to obtain
the opinions and experiences of those I interview because I am researching their current
circumstances and not the best- or worst-case circumstances. Before my list of interview
questions, I would have a brief description of what I hope to do with their responses and what
the main idea of my research is about. Of the 17 shelters in Contra Costa County, I will be
choosing 5 and asking each to provide interview results from people at each shelter. A
questionnaire will be submitted to each shelter so that the interviewees can answer each
question at their own pace. Prior to the deciding of my interview questions, I will be asking my
expert advisor and several of my peers to review them to ensure that none may serve as a
trigger for my participants. I have also chosen comparative analysis as a method because
comparing my research to the past will complete the answer to my research question since I am
asking about to change from before and after California’s quarantine. Since these responses are
qualitative, I will be looking for various patterns that emerge in the responses and then rank the
prevalence of each pattern from most common to least common. I will then compare my
patterns to the recorded patterns of past research findings. Every interview will be anonymous
to help further protect those who will be participating in my survey by preventing myself from
learning any participants’ identity. In case any locations refuse to implement my survey or
cannot respond to me in time, I can always ask from any of the other shelters within Contra
Costa County. On the chance that every shelter in the area either doesn’t wish to respond or
doesn’t have the time to respond, I will have a modified survey prepared that I can submit to
different retailers and local businesses that I can then compare to the business practices of the
past. This way I don’t have to change much of my methodology, and I can still get an answer to
my research question. The only changes I will have to make will be to switch my information
label from anonymous to confidential, and I will have to change the format of my survey
introduction to better address businesses.

6. The equipment and resources needed to conduct my research include a computer to contact
homeless shelters, to store my interviews, to store past interviews, and to help streamline the
process of comparing data between the past and the present. I will also need a research
database with access to the results of past research. An unformatted version of my survey
would look something like this...
Thank you for agreeing to take my survey, I understand that this will be taking some time out of
your day. Before you begin, it is important that you understand that you have the right to back
out of this survey at any time with no penalty. All your answers will be completely anonymous
and will in no way be traced back to you, so please do not write down your name.
I am a high school student participating in an advanced placement research class where I am
asked to explore and write a report about a topic that has never been explored before. With
the pandemic putting a pause on the world, many practices and circumstances have changed
compared to the past. This means that some past research efforts need to be repeated to gain
a better understanding of the world with these new circumstances. I have decided to explore
how the ability to obtain a job has changed, and to observe whether having access to consistent
internet resources has had an impact or not. In order to answer this question, I believe
receiving responses from groups of people who have had the most difficulty in obtaining a job
in the past and may be more sensitive to job requirements would help me progress in my
research. The structure of this survey is open ended in nature so feel free to answer the
questions with responses as long as you like, there is no word limit. Once again, I’d like to
remind you that you can refuse to answer my questions at any time you like.

Do you feel as though you lack access to sources of information for job opportunities in your
daily life?
What sources of information do you have access to?
Does lacking access to the internet have a negative impact on job seeking efforts? Explain why.

Does lacking access to the internet have a negative impact on your ability to communicate with
potential employers? Explain why.
How has COVID-19 changed your amount of internet access compared to before quarantine
efforts?

What has been the most difficult part of your job seeking process? Explain why.
How has the job seeking process changed from before the pandemic to after?
Once again, I thank you for your time and your willingness to participate in my research project

The survey that I will be submitting will look different than this but will still contain the same
information. It is important to note that I purposely limit myself to 8 questions because I feel
that any more would discourage people from taking my survey and would push the limits of the
amount of time I need to analyze each response.
These questions vary from being based off past researchers and being modified or entirely new
to accommodate new circumstances like COVID-19 that hasn’t been seen in past research. If
improved security precautions become a necessity in my research, I will avoid using cloud
systems to store data like office and use my computers direct storage.
7.A challenge that I expect to encounter with my research is shelters not accepting my
interview requests. I also expect various lapses in communication or extended time between
communications because I am sure homeless shelters have other important roles to fulfil
before contacting me.
8. The approvals that I will need to conduct my research will be from the IRB and the
management of homeless shelters and food drives across Contra Costa County.