Name of Student: Shaneiqua Morrison

Candidate Number: 1001310000

School Code: 100131

Name Of School: Vere Technical High

Teacher Name: Ms Halsted

Territory: Jamaica
 TABLE OF CONTENT
Acknowledgement...................................................................................................................................1

Introduction.............................................................................................................................................2

Problem Statement ................................................................................................................................3

Reason for Selecting Topic.......................................................................................................................4

Method of Investigation..........................................................................................................................5

Instrument used to collect data ...............................................................................................................6

Procedure for data collection……………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………….7

Presentation of data………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………8-15

Analysis Interpretation of data…………………………………………………………………………………………………….……16

Statement of Findings………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………17

Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………18

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..19
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to thank all those who participated in aiding to the successful completion of my School
Based Assignment. If it was not for the help and guidance I acquired in the process of doing this S.B.A I
do not know what I would have done.
I would like to thank my mom for her support and taking time off work to assist in getting me around
my community to gather data and research material.
Special thanks to all who took part in the questionnaires , without their input I would not have
enough information on unemployment in my community.
 INTRODUCTION

The Alexander Drive community is a small community , which is located in Oliver Gordon , May-Pen .
This small community entails cook shops, wholesalers & retailers , bars & schools. I have been a
resident of Alexander Drive for the past 5 years, and during this time I have noticed an escalation in
the unemployment rate within this community.
Unemployment is a situation where a person actively searches for employment but is unable to find
work. As an result , I have decided to organize an assessment to investigate the level of
unemployment of persons in my community.
 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Topic: Unemployment

What are the causes and effects of unemployment on the residents in Alexander Drive.
 REASON FOR SELECTING TOPIC

The reason for selecting this topic is because it is the most common problem in my small community,
It is important that an investigation be carried out to discover the causes, effects and possible
solutions to this problem.Unemployment in my community seems to be the foundation of a variety of
social problems. The crisis created when parents lose their jobs that had an effect in providing the
basic needs of food,clothing , shelter and education for their families, in addition, young people
leaving high school and universities have been finding it more difficult to find jobs.The activity of an
idle hands has caused an upsurge in loitering , increased poverty , crime, psychological stress, and
social unrest.There is also the sense of hopelessness and health related problems such as
depression,when persons who should be employed are not working.However, the education system
must also take responsibility for providing skills and training for young people and the
unemployed.Training and retraining for available jobs needs to be accessible to all who should be
working,in order to decrease unemployment.
 METHOD OF INVESTIGATION

To investigate the problem,I have selected a assemble printed questionnaires , in order to put
together information for the survey.

The questionnaires as a tool for collecting data has a number of advantages:

- It requires little time to be completed

- It can be done at the accessibility of the persons required to have it completed

 INSTRUMENT USED TO COLLECT DATA

Dear citizens ,

I have prepared a survey which is being carried out in this community, to find out the level of
unemployment within this area. This survey is being conducted as an assignment for my Social Studies
SBA that I am currently undertaking . I have decided to use an questionnaire , which requires no
personal information from citizen. You are advised to answer the following questions honestly, there
are no wrong or right answers. All of the questions can be answered by a simple tick in the box,thanks
for your assistance. Example. Sex Female£ Male £

Shaneiqua Morrison
Student,
Vere technical high
 QUESTIONAIRE

INSTRUCTION:Please place a tick in the box (I.e.R according to your answer.Your participation will be
kept confidential.Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability.

1. Age
18-22£ 23-27£
18£ 19£

2. Sex
Male £ Female £

3. How long have you been living in Alexander Drive?

1-4 years £ 4-7 years £
10 years & over £

4. Are you currently seeking a job ?

Yes £ No £

5. Which institution did you last attend ?

Elementary £ Primary £
High School £ Skills Training £

6. Did you complete school ?

Yes £ No £

7. If no, why ?
Lack of resources £ Financial problems £
Peer pressure £ Other problems £

8. Do you have any CXC subjects ? if so how many ?

1-3 £ 4-6 £
6 & over £

9. Do you have any child / children ?

Yes £ No £

10. If so , how do you maintain the child / children needs ?

Begging £ Hustling £
Help from the government £ Family Assistance £

11. Have you ever been employed ?

Yes £ No £
12. How has unemployment affected you ?

Not meeting basic needs £ Not providing for my family £

13. What do you think are the causes of the unemployment in the community ?

Lack of parental control £ Absences of educational opportunities £

14 . What can be done by the government to reduce unemployment in our community ?

Provide more skill training £ Offer small business loans £

Place extra emphasis on agriculture £

15 . How much job search effort have you made in the past 4 weeks ?

No effort £ Minimal Effort £

Moderate Effort £
 PROCEDDURES FOR DATACOLLECTION

The community of Alexander Drive has approximately 50 households . it was calculated that 100%
was necessary in order to acquire a precise conclusion on the ratio of employed to unemployed
persons in the entire community ( 100% of 50 =50).

The instrument that was use is printed questionnaire. The questionnaire had 15 questions including
the demographic data. The total of 50 questionnaires were organized and distributed among
members of the community . The person who collected the data was me with the assistance of my
mother,I therefore decided to choose the households by the process of random selection . 50 slips
were prepared each was distributed among all households. Theses persons were given one week to
complete the questionnaires that were issued. The data was collected from Alexander Drive. A total
of 50 questionnaires were collected at the end of the one week period by hand.
 PRESENTATION OF DATA

A total of 50 questionnaires were distributed to the citizens , in which all were returned Of these
respondents , 62% were males and 38% were females.

PIE CHART SHOWING # OF PERSONS THAT ARE

EMPLOYED / UNEMPLOYED

employed
38%

unemployed
62%

Figure 1. It can be observed that 62% of the respondents in the Alexander Drive community are
unemployed , while the other 38 % are employed.
 BAR GRAPH SHOWING HOW PERSONS THAT ARE
UNEMPLOYED MAINTAIN THEIR CHILD / CHIL-
DREN NEEDS
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45

Help from the government family assistance

begging hustling

FIGURE2. In this representation it can be said that 40% sustained the needs of their child / children by
the aid of family members. 30% responded that they had to hustle to maintain their child / children
needs.20% had to turned to begging.
 % of persons whom
are not seeking a job
20%

% of persons seeking a
job
80%

Figure 3. in this figure the numbers of persons currently seeking a job shown and those who aren’t are
shown out of 100% , while 80% said they are seeking a job, while the remaining 20% are not seeking a
job.
 PIE CHART SHOWING % OF MALES WHO ARE
EMPLOYED AND THOSE WHO ARE UNEMPLOYED

30%

70%

employed unemployed
Figure 4. In this pie chart is can be seen that 70% which is included most males are currently
unemployed, while 30% of males are employed.
 Pie chart showing % of females who are
employed and those who are unemployed

20%
unemployed
employed

80%

Figure 5. This shows the relationship between employed and unemployed females 80% of females are
employed , while 20% are left unemployed.
 Chart showing age group of persons
who have responded ( in percent-
age)

46%

30%
14%

10%
1 8 -2 2 y r s 2 3 -2 7 y r s 18 yrs 19 yrs

Figure 6. It can be seen that 46% are from ages 23-27 , 30% from ages 18 yrs, 14% are from ages 18-
22 and 10% from 19 yrs.
 Percentage
Reasons why person did not complete school
Amount
Lack of resources 16%
Financial problems 26%
Peer pressure 40%
Other problems 14%
Figure 7. 16% of the respondents said lack of resources was their answer for not completing
school,26% of respondents said financial problems was their answer for not completing school,40% of
the respondents said peer pressure was the biggest problems for not completing school , while other
problems accumulated 14% of the respondents.
 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

In doing my survey of Alexander Drive , out of 50 persons, 31 males while the other 19 are females.
The information that was gathered stated that 75% of respondents did not complete school;this was
because of a number of factors. These factors include:peer pressure,financial problems,lack of
resources and other problems. Peer pressure is one of the major factors why persons did not
complete school out of the 50 persons, 20 persons succumbed to peer pressure,which involved :
smoking,drinking,fighting,caring illegal weapons etc. 13 persons had difficulty with financial
problems,these include:difficulty with lunch money and paying school fees. 2 person had different
responsibilities to take care of such as : disabled relatives, pregnancy and a child or children.8 persons
were lack in resources such as stationery , a pair of shoe , uniforms, and a school bag. Then lastly the
remaining 7 had other problems.

Age group of persons who are involved in the questionnaire, out of 100% of the
respondents , the highest amount respondents came from the ages 23-27 yrs which accounted for
46%(23person). The second highest count came from the ages 18yrs which accounted for 46%
(15persons) responding,between the ages 18-22 yrs 14% (7persons) responded , and 10% (5persons)
were between the age 19 yrs.It can be concluded that the ages between 23-27 yrs received and
answered the questionnaire mostly and the ages between 19 received and answered it least.

Figure 5 shows the relationship between employed and unemployed females,out of

100%. 80% (40persons) showed that most females are employed , and 20% (10persons) shows that
the least number of females are unemployed females, than there are employed females.

The relationship shown between employed and unemployed males,out of

100%, 70%(35persons)the majority portrays unemployed males , the remaining 30%
(15persons)shows employed males.It is indicated that most males are either having difficulty finding a
job.
 STATEMENT OF FINDINGS

During my research I have acquired a compilation of information with which regards to

unemployment in Alexander Drive , These are the following:

- 58% or 29 of the respondents from the questionnaire are males

- Most unemployed persons maintain their child/children needs ,primarily with the aid of family
members.
-40% of persons who have responded are from the age of 23-27. This means that the mean age of
unemployment persons are from these age groups.
 RECOMMENDATIONS

The importance of persons being employed plays a major part in our society today ; it simply means
that less persons would be unemployed , hence resulting in a significant drop in the unemployment
rate within the community and the country at large . Community members should see to it that both
parents and children are educated , so as to have a better chance of being employed in the future.

Unemployment is one of the leading causes of crime and violence , this is because
peoples time is not being occupied by some sort of activity (job), and therefore I recommend more
jobs for person who are illiterate , skilled and unskilled and those who haven’t completed school.

I strongly recommend the local government and the necessary authorities be

notified about the lack of jobs within out economy and also to inform the public about the causes and
effects of unemployment . This can be achieved by broadcasting the information via the media which
includes:
1. The television
2. Newspaper
3. Radio
 BIBLOGRAPHY

Gray-son,M.C.(2010).Social Studies Essentials New Edition.Kingston , Jamaica : Car-long Publishers