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1 QuantitativeArticleCritique:FactorsAffectingtheSuccessfulEmploymentofTransition-AgeYouthswithVisualImpairmentsIntroductionThisarticleexaminedsomeoftheissuesthataffectyouthswithvisualimpairmentsastheytransitionfromhighschoolorcollegetoemployment.Theresearchersfirstmentionedthatthetransitionfromschooltoemploymentisatopicthatisoftendiscussed,butlittleresearchhasbeendonetoidentifythevariablesthatimpactthetransitionprocessforyouthswithvisualimpairments(Capella-McDonnall&Crudden,2009,p.329).Therationaleandthepurposeofthestudywereneverclearlystated.Perhapsthelackofresearchcouldbeconsideredtherationale,butitwouldhavebeenhelpfultohavemoreinformationjustifyingthisstudy.Alsoconcerningwasthatstatementoftheproblemwasneverclearlywritten.Inordertoidentifytheproblem,theauthorsshouldhavecitedinformationthatemphasizedthehighrateofunemploymentforyouthswithvisualimpairments.AstudybyNagle(2001)isanexcellentexampleofcitingunemploymentratesforyouthswithvisualimpairments.Thatinformationcouldhavenicelytransitionedintoapurposestatementforthisstudy.ReviewoftheLiteratureFollowingtheintroduction,theresearchersusedthereviewoftheliteraturetodefinethevariablesaswellasexplainhowthosevariableshavebeenpreviouslystudied.Thathelpedmegatherabetterunderstandingoftheamountofresearchthathadbeendoneoneachvariable.Ialsogainedanideaofthedirectionofthestudyandwhattheauthorswantedtoanalyze.Thiswasespeciallyhelpfulsincetheintroductiondidnotstatethepurposeofthestudy.2 Toorganizeaframework,theauthorsdiscussedtherelevanceofworkexperience,self-determination,locusofcontrol,academiccompetence,self-esteem,andtheroleofassistivetechnology(Capella-McDonnall&Crudden,2009,pp.329-331).Allofthesetopicsweredefined,althoughtheywerenotlabeledasvariablesuntillater.Informationfrompreviousresearchwascitedtoshowcorrelationsbetweeneachvariableandfindingemployment.Inoticed,however,thattheauthorscitedresearchthatstudiedyouthswithdisabilities,secondaryschoolstudents,anduniversitygraduates,butIwonderedifmoreresearchthatrelatedspecificallytostudentswithvisualimpairmentscouldhavebeencited.Ialsowonderedhowtheauthorsselectedtheirvariables.Werethevariablessimplytopicsthatinterestedtheauthorsordidthosevariablesrepeatedlyshowupinotherstudiesasthemostsignificantvariablesthatrelatedtoemployment?Theanswerwasneverclarified.Followingthesequestions,Ilookedforcounterargumentsthatmighthelponebettercomprehendtheoverallcircumstancesforyouthswithvisualimpairmentsthatseekemployment.Ididnotseeanycounterargumentsorcontradictingresearch.Thisinformationwouldhavehelpedmebetterunderstandwhytheauthorschosetotakeacloserlookatcertainvariables.Contradictingresearchcouldhavealsoservedasarationaleforperformingthisstudy.Lookingovertheconstructsofthestudy,thereviewoftheliteraturedefinedthevariablesthattheresearcherswishedtoevaluate,butthedefinitionofthedependentvariable(employment)wasvague(Capella-McDonnall&Crudden,2009,p.332).Did“employment”meanfull-time,part-time,orboth?Wasitlong-termortemporary?Whataboutminimumwages?Tome,thedefinitionofemploymentimposedathreattoconstructvaliditybecausesuchabroaddefinitioncouldhaveallowedvariablestobeoverlooked.Thatinturncouldhaveproducedmisleadingresults.3 Uponexaminingthesourcescitedinthereviewoftheliterature,InoticedthattheNationalLongitudinalTransitionStudiesofSpecialEducationStudents(NLTS1andNLTS2)werenotmentioned.AlthoughNLTS2wasreferencedinthediscussionsectionofthisarticle,Iexpectedtoseeitcitedsooner.OnestudythatcouldhavebeenhelpfultoreferencewasconductedbyKirchnerandSmith(2005).Inthatstudy,theresearchersreportedthewagesgenerallyearnedbyyouthswithvisualimpairmentsversusyouthswithotherdisabilities.Thatinformationcouldhavebeenusedtoimprovethedefinitionofemployment.Otherwise,Irecognizedalotofthenamesthattheresearcherscited.MethodologyAttheendofthereviewoftheliterature,theresearcherscreatedhypothesesandresearchquestions.Thehypotheseswereasfollows(Capella-McDonnall&Crudden,2009,p.331):1.Earlyworkexperienceswillbeassociatedwithemployment.2.Academiccompetencewillbeassociatedwithemployment.3.Self-determinationskillswillbeassociatedwithemployment.4.Higherlevelsofself-esteemwillbeassociatedwithemployment.Theresearchquestionswereasfollows(Capella-McDonnall&Crudden,2009,p.331):1.Istheuseofassistivetechnologyordevicesassociatedwithemployment?2.Isinvolvementwiththecounselorinthevocationalrehabilitationprocessassociatedwithemployment?3.Isaninternallocusofcontrolassociatedwithemployment?Followingthehypothesesandtheresearchquestions,theresearcherslistedthevariables.Thedependentvariablewasemploymentandtheindependentvariableswereworkexperience,self-determination,academiccompetence,self-esteem,locusofcontrol,levelofinvolvementwithacounselor,andtheuseofassistivetechnology(Capella-McDonnall&Crudden,2009,p.332).Theauthorsexplainedhoweachindependentvariablewouldbemeasuredandmadesomelimitationstocontrolthem(Capella-McDonnall&Crudden,2009,p.333).Afterdescribingthe4 dependentandindependentvariables,theresearchersdidnotidentifyanyinterveningorconfoundingvariables.Toreducethethreatstointerna