Research Methodology, pdf - 2B2B.org

As I mentioned, I thought the most interesting subject for me to write about is the growing trend
in the world toward direct democracy through online voting and also the role of educational
institutions in its implementation (the other idea, based on ESL classes in the world, I think has
been written enough about -- I don't think we need, for example, another paper proving that,
fortunately for all of the native English speakers, English is becoming the international language
for world communication) . Even though direct voting via the Internet using computer
technology is a relatively new field as far as history is concerned, and the amount of studies
might be less than in other fields, there are still a significant amount of studies, either qualitative
or quantitative, that have been done that I can review and I can also propose some other possible
experiments that can be conducted (research methodology section of the paper). Also, I like the
idea of getting in on the (relative) ground floor, so to speak.
For my course paper I have thought about adding to the idea of the Action Plan paper which I did
for ED 5004 which involves direct democracy and this could be done with both the K-12 and the
post-secondary (as well as continuing education) in mind. The other possibility is something
involving ESL -- so I need to decide on them. I could possibly even mix them together in a
combined, coordinated and interconnected project. I'll keep you informed as other ideas come to
mind. Please let me know if you, or anyone, has any ideas about a possible project
Direct democracy is basically the public voting directly on issues rather than through elected
representatives who can, after elected, vote any way they choose.
In Adult Education for Social Change: From Center Stage to the Wings and Back Again, Thomas
Heaney views adult education as participatory and as a tool for social change and where
educational progressivism is the contemporay approach to educating the public. " 'Adult
education turns out to be the most reliable instrument for social actionists' since it assures that
any action undertaken would be authentically democratic" (Brookfield, 1984). Eduard
Lindeman, as influenced by John Dewey, considers adult education to be intertwined with
democracy, social action, and control by people over their daily lives. To Lindeman, adult
education equals social change, a method to create good and productive citizens. Even if
education is viewed as a "great selector" rather than a "great equalizer", each person can, as a
result of education, find their niche, based on their abilities and merits, within a democratic
society. The concept of using the educational system to implement a direct democracy is closely
connected with the ideas expressed by Heaney, Miles Horton, Paulo Freire, and Jack Mezirow
since their approach is to empower the populace through education in order to create a
democratic society. Since it is necessary to have an educated public in order to have democracy
function efficiently, democracy is dependent on the educational system to survive and prosper.
The study would involve both qualitative and quantitative aspects. The qualitative and more
subjective side of the research would involve a brief history of democracy, a brief discussion of
the definitions of and philosophy of democracy, the use of the educational system to prepare
learners for the use of direct democracy, and the contemporary uses of direct democracy in
countries such as Switzwerland and Sweden. The quantitative and more objective side of the
study would involve statistics and the numbers of people, governments, and institutions presently
using these concepts, how they were implemented, and the reliability and effectiveness of those
procedures.