An Analysis of Research Methods Undertaken by UPLIFT: Singapore

This report analyzes the research methods employed by UPLIFT, a Singaporean government taskforce addressing social inequality and supporting disadvantaged groups. The paper explores two research philosophies: positivist social science and interpretive social science, ultimately arguing for the adoption of interpretivism due to its focus on understanding the lived experiences of the target population. The analysis highlights the importance of in-depth study and empathy in understanding the challenges faced by children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The report also addresses ethical considerations, emphasizing the need for confidentiality, trust, and sensitivity when conducting research with vulnerable populations. The conclusion reinforces the significance of interpretivist research in informing UPLIFT's initiatives and promoting social mobility and educational equity. The report emphasizes that the research should focus on the internal aspects of the issues faced by the children and their families to address the root cause of their problems. The use of interpretivism helps to go deep into the problem, address the root causes, and find solutions for the disadvantaged groups to attain education and grow up to be better human beings.

RUNNING HEAD: RESEARCH METHODS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
An analysis of research methods undertaken by UPLIFT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1An analysis of research methods undertaken by UPLIFT
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Research Philosophy..................................................................................................................2
Positivist Social Science Research (PPS)..............................................................................3
Interpretive Social Science (ISS)...........................................................................................3
Analysis of Research Method....................................................................................................3
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

2An analysis of research methods undertaken by UPLIFT
Introduction
Due to the social inequality taking place in Singapore, social mobility towards some
disadvantaged groups can be seen. Possessing a disadvantage because of birth in a
disadvantaged family affects the academic prospects of students and their self-esteem.
Reciprocating to that, the government of Singapore has formed the Uplifting Pupils in Life
and Inspiring Families Taskforce (UPLIFT) in late 2018 (Osman, 2019) UPLIFT was a task
force initiated by the second minister of education, Indranee Rajah. She aims to focus on
pupils in early primary and preschools because researches have shown it gets critical more to
intervene into early years of any child for providing them with a good start in life (Ali &
Mustapha, 2019). In this paper, two types of research philosophy will be discussed along an
analysis of how UPLIFT choses one of them and addresses the issue.
Research Philosophy
Research Philosophy deals with the development of knowledge with the study of its
nature. When a research is conducted, understanding the principles that are philosophical is
very important, as it might have an influence on the choice of strategy for research in
developing the new knowledge (Padilla- Diaz, 2015). There are two types of research that are
in option for undertaking by UPLIFT. They are as follows:
Positivist Social Science Research (PPS)
In contemporary sociology there is a strong current for positivism theory of
philosophy. According to that, all the good intellects have been found to repeat that there is
no knowledge, which is real but based on facts that are observed (Fuchs, 2017) This
statement consists of two assumptions, first being ontological, which says the reality is

3An analysis of research methods undertaken by UPLIFT
something objective and external, the second is epistemological hypothesis, which says
knowledge is significant if based on facts observed in reality (Meissner, 2016).
Interpretive Social Science (ISS)
Interpretive Social Science is the understanding of insights that are rich in areas of
complex subject of the living experience. It further states the importance of researcher in
understanding to differentiate between the social actors and behaviors of human beings (Blue,
2016). It has been found that in interpretivist philosophy, the researchers tends to become
empathetic towards the issue. This includes to study the daily life of the people being studied.
Analysis of Research Method
Considering the above two research philosophy, the proper research method to go
with UPLIFT will be Interpretivist social theory. To address the problems faced by the
disadvantaged social group, the researcher needs to study the root of the issues (Yanow,
2015). For that, a thorough study of the daily life of the children needs to get studied. The
umbrella issue is the indifferences and social mobility the minor social group face, which
might be because of their different culture, skin color, and so on. The theory of interpretivism
will help the researcher to get into complexities of these groups and figure out the agenda
behind their state of living. To know that, the researcher has to be capable of identifying and
differentiate between the factors that influence humans behaviors of both the majorities and
minorities and why the society acts in a way it does (Horrigan-Kelly, Millar & Dowling,
2016) There can be no better way than going for Interpretivism theory for this issue. It is
better to avoid the positivism theory because in positivism, the philosophy is about studying
the external object considered as a reality that will only address a part of the children under
UPLIFT. On the other hand, the philosophy of interpretive theory is structured in a way that
the first step is to get inside the issue and address the core problem itself. Now, it is of no use

4An analysis of research methods undertaken by UPLIFT
to choose the former one because according to the structure, the external reality is shaped by
a group of majority people who have assumed the opposite group to shape the way they are in
present, based on their own interest and ideology (Travers, 2017). Ideologies can be different
in various groups and humans are rational beings with versatile nature, but that does not mean
one will disrespect or discard the other based on their own interest. That is not only unethical
but also morally unfair. The main purpose of UPLIFT is to address the issue faced by
disadvantaged group of children and lessen that so they can attain school and grow up to be
better human beings (Antwi & Hamza, 2015). For doing that, research needs to be done
internally to figure out cause of the problem and why minorities are getting affected. This
criteria blindly suits the philosophical research theory of interpretivism. Probable causes can
be due to the indifferences faced in educational forums, the pupils choose to stay at home and
feel comfortable where it is not hard for them to survive but that again on a broader
perspective affects the educational growth of country. Through interpretivist theory, the
researcher needs to literally go and personally interact with the children facing the issues
along with their families. Conversing with the victims will provide more data and insights
about what hardships the children of preschool and early schools are facing. After the root
issue is known in details then it becomes comparatively easier to research on the outer
outlook because there is no biased or wrong hypothesis coming from the ones who are
suffering.
After the research method is fixated, malpractices will definitely occur when
addressing a subject as complex as UPLIFT has chosen. Two of the recognized ethical
malpractices that can occur while conducting the research are discussed below with
resolutions:
As the issue is sensitive and concerns with children mostly, safety measures and dignity of
the groups are to be kept in mind. There will always be some level of confidentiality that the

5An analysis of research methods undertaken by UPLIFT
victims will hesitate to share. Ensuring them the safety with privacy and their lives is the
prior assurance the researcher should provide to the victims. First, the victims and their
families might not allow to interrogate into their private and comfortable space. They may
see the researcher as a potential threat but the researcher shall be polite and empathetic
towards them so that potential data can be collected for conducting the research (Prosser,
2015). It is the responsibility of the researcher to make them comfortable and feel protected
for sharing confidential or private information. If the victims do not sense any sort of
assurance by the researcher then they will share broken information or no information at all,
which will make the productivity of the entire research vague or close to zero (Llyod &
Hopkins, 2015). There shall also be wrong information, misleading information or
manipulated information that the major groups might threat about. It is the duty of the
researcher to cross check and see through the transparency of the information provided by the
victims and their families. This can be obtained by cross questioning them with empathy and
making them comfortable to speak their truth and what problem they face that lead to their
social mobility. The one doing the research needs to be very calm and patient because dealing
with any sort of social minor groups is never an easy task. He or she may receive personal
threats by the opposite party too. Also, there is a probability of attack from the minor groups
as well. They might do such activity for defending themselves because they might see the
researcher as a threat and not trust him. Issue of trust is very crucial here because already the
minor groups face mobility and isolate themselves so they might lack trust and hesitate to
converse. It is duty of the researcher to make them comfortable and not take things personally
or exaggerate if anything as such occurs. The children of the disadvantaged groups can hold
on resentment with them that may lead to future chaos and dangers. They might form any sort
of underground or illegal group while growing up. These things are to be kept in mind while

6An analysis of research methods undertaken by UPLIFT
addressing such a sensitive issue and make sure that the kids go through a proper curriculum
of building their self-esteem and hold no negativity inside them for anyone.
Conclusion
Thus, it is concluded from the above discussion that UPLIFT has taken measures to
address issues faced by the preschool and middle age school children. Their families face
social mobility and they feel very inferior for the indifferences they face. For addressing this
issue, proper research needs to be conducted and uplift has chosen the research philosophy of
interpretivism theory to address this. It has been found that if the pupils feel accepted and
comfortable inside educational forums them the percentage of absentee decreases and also the
social mobility their families face can decrease and get discarded in future if the concept of
equality and acceptance gets instilled in the mind of majorities.

7An analysis of research methods undertaken by UPLIFT
References
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