Training Programs and Leadership Methodology Chapter

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adolescents lack the necessary skills needed for solving-problems, self-esteem, and communication skills (Fertman & Linden, 1999; Sullivan & Larson, 2010). Moreover, adolescents tend to lack self-esteem, motivation, moral value, and a positive outlook on life (Sullivan & Larson, 2010). However, to be competitive in the world of business, adolescents must learn and be trained on way to effectively manage their emotions. Moreover, James Heckman states that investing in children's education to enhance "non-cognitive" skills such as motivation, perseverance, and self-control -- is a cost-effective approach to increasing the quality and productivity of the workforce (Brackett, Divecha & Stern, 2015, p.2).

According to the National Alliance for Secondary Education and Transition (2010), youth leadership development helps encourage healthy adolescent growth by providing young people the ability to analyze their own strengths and weaknesses while being able to set their own personal and vocational goals; and to gain the self-esteem, confidence, motivation, and abilities to carry out those personal goals. Most importantly, adolescents learn how to guide and direct others on a course of action, acting as a leader, which are skills most business want to see in its employees (Wehmeyer, Agran, & Hughes, 1998).

As a result, researchers have found that promoting these skills will empower adolescents economically and socially. Development of the aforementioned skills encourages adolescents to develop resistance to negative influences, build self-esteem and the self-confidence required for a successful adult life (Zacharatos, Barling, & Kelloway, 2000). More importantly, the development of these non-cognitive skills will better prepare adolescents to be future leaders in the workforce.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this qualitative embedded case study is to explore the perceptions of participants who previously participated in youth leadership training program on how the program impacted their self-esteem building, communication skills, and problem-solving skills within Charleston County in South Carolina. The participants for this study, ages 20 and above, previously participated in a youth leadership training program. The curriculum consisted of participatory workshops on personal growth, building resiliency, leadership development, academic success, career awareness, community involvement, cultural awareness, financial literacy, and public policy and leadership. The researcher will conduct semi-structured interviews with previous participants of youth leadership training programs. The sample for this study will consist of eight participants now employed with various agencies in management positions.

In an effort, to prepare adolescents to be leaders in their communities and societies, this qualitative case study will explore if early leadership training for adolescents could be a vehicle to address these problems among adolescents. According to Nelson (2010), after 48 hours of leadership training, adult coaches and classroom teachers reported noted changes in adolescent participants' self-esteem, communication skills, and problem solving skills. Exposure to leadership training for children significantly enhanced problem-solving skills, self-awareness and self-esteem, and communication skills (Murphy & Johnson, 2011). In addition, adolescents benefited socially as a result of participation in the leadership program. Avolio and Gibbons (1988) researched the life span of leaders, yet there was no continuous research to determine the correlation between adolescents and adult leadership skills. No follow-up studies were conducted to determine if there is a relationship between certain childhood characteristics and adult leadership skills (Amit, Popper, Gal, Levy, & Lisak, 2009). Well-organized and planned adolescents development training programs is predicted to improve life skills such as communication, self-esteem, team building, and problem solving for adolescents (Sun & Shek, 2010, 2012).

This chapter will discuss the research methodology and design and include a statement of the research questions. It will also include a discussion of the population, sample size, and materials/instruments. The chapter will also discuss data collection methods, processing, and analysis, which will be followed by an explanation of the assumptions, limitations, and delimitations of the study. The final segments of this chapter will be ethical considerations of the study and a summary of the chapter.

Research Questions

A qualitative embedded case study will be conducted to explore the perceptions of past participants of youth leadership training programs impact on problem-solving skills, communication skills, and the building of self-esteem. Leadership training should transform adolescents' abilities to communicate effectively by encouraging them to practice active listening and communications skills (Bell & Smith, 2010). Adolescents leadership programs that are inclusive of decision-making activities, encourages the participants to communicate with each other and employ critical analysis for solving problems (Larson and Angus, 2011). To explore the perspectives of past participants of youth leadership training programs and its' impact on effective communication abilities, the following research questions will be considered:

Q1.What are the perceptions and experiences of past participants of youth leadership training programs?

Q2. What are the perceptions of past participants on how the youth leadership training program impacted their communication skills?

Q3.

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What are the perceptions of past participants on how the youth leadership training program impacted their self-esteem?

Q4. What are the perceptions of past participants on how the youth leadership training program impacted their problem-solving skills?

Research Method and Design

A qualitative approach for research was selected for this study because of its compelling reasons vis-a-vis the nature of the study, research questions, and purpose of the study. Qualitative research methods are suitable for this study because they are beneficial in discovering the meaning people associate with the events they experience (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003; Denzin & London, 2000). The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of participants who previously participated in youth leadership training program on how the program impacted their self-esteem building, communication skills, and problem-solving skills within Charleston County in South Carolina. Since this study focuses on exploring perceptions of participants of a youth leadership training program, a qualitative research approach will be useful in detecting the meanings participants give to their experiences in the program.

According to Stake (1995), qualitative research approaches are necessary when the nature of the research problem and questions require exploration. The research questions begin with "what" in order for the researcher to obtain in-depth understanding of issues relating to the phenomenon under investigation. For this study, I will explore the perceptions of participants of a youth leadership program in relation to communication skills, problem-solving skills, and self-esteem. In addition, qualitative research approaches enables researchers to explore thought processes, which is usually difficult to detect using other research approaches. Therefore, a qualitative research was suitable because I will explore the lived experiences or perceptions of participants of the early leadership training program.

The qualitative research method to be utilized for this study is embedded case study whose motive was exploration of perceptions of participants. Yin (2012), states that exploration is one of the motives of using case study method for a qualitative research. An embedded case study should be utilized when the focus of the researcher is to answer "what," "how," and "why" questions on the phenomena under investigation (Yin, 2003). Moreover, this approach is suitable when the researcher cannot manipulate the behavior of study participants, when contextual conditions that are relevant to study are considered, and when the boundaries of the study are not obvious. This research design is appropriate because the researcher cannot influence the perceptions of participants of the youth leadership programs and the fact that contextual conditions that shape these perceptions are also covered. Embedded case study will also be utilized because the start and end point of this research design is gaining understanding of the case as a whole in its real-world context (Scholz & Tietje, 2002).

Yin (2009) stated that an effective case study research design comprises five components i.e. research questions, study propositions or purpose, unit of analysis, logic that create a relationship between data and propositions, and criteria for interpreting findings. Some of these components were utilized as the steps in this qualitative case study approach. First, the researcher identified the purpose of the study, which is a crucial component for effective qualitative case study. My purpose for this research is to understand the perceptions of past participants of youth leadership training programs impact on problem-solving skills, communication skills, and the building of self-esteem.

Secondly, the researcher determined the research questions that will be considered to achieve the purpose of the study. In this case, the most suitable questions were "what" forms of questions. The researcher specifically asked what the perceptions of past participants of youth leadership training programs were in relation to communication skills, self-esteem, and problem-solving skills. Additionally, the experiences of these participants of youth leadership training programs were also examined.

Third, the researcher identified the units of analysis, which according to Yin (2009) is directly linked to the research questions developed in the previous step. A unit of analysis is defined as the area of focus that a case study analyzes and is identified after primary research is accurately specified (Baxter & Jack, 2008). An embedded case study was selected for this research problem because it's useful when there are different units of analysis. Since this study focuses on investigating a current phenomenon in depth and based on its real-life context, it comprises different units of….....

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