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Related Literature

(about tracer study)


 Definition
 Importance
 Advantages/Disadvantages
 Methods
 Gathering Procedure
 Findings

#DEFINITIONS
Tracers study is an approach which widely being used in most organization especially in the educational
institutions to track and to keep record of their students once they have graduated from the institution. It is the follow
up of graduates of higher education or institutes. Its Aim is to evaluate ones progress up to the time he or she gets a job.
This study assesses the availability and quality of graduates. It is develop to answer the change in industry and corporate
world by integrating the higher education institutions with labor market. There seen as a management tool for planning
and monitoring of training programs. A simple tool designed to measure the relevance of vocational training. They
provide information for grammatical changes and review of training curricula. It also help to monitor the delivery of
training.
This is used when one wants to follow up the development of certain conditions or particular sets of people.
Tracer study is a form of development or longitudinal study.

#IMPORTANCE
It is important it’s a way of understanding the relevance and quality of programs offered by the universities as
well as the labor market.
It constitute an important tool for educational planners, as they can provide valuable information for evaluating
the results of the higher education and training institutions. This information may be used for minimizing any possible
deficits in a given educational program in terms of content, delivery and relevance and for further development of the
institution in the context of quality assurance
Tracer study will benefit every institution most especially the DepEd and the schools because it will help them to
know what is the status of their products after graduating to their institution.
The importance of Tracer study is to measure the relevance of vocational training courses and documents, the
number of trainees finding employment in their trained occupations.
Gathering and documenting feedback from trainee graduates can help improve project planning, revise,
reinforce, interventions, demonstrate results and contributes towards improving public confidence in vocational
training.
Through tracer study, an institution able to evaluate the quality of education given to their graduates by
knowing the graduates placements and positions in the society which later can used as a benchmark in producing more
qualified and competitive graduates.

#ADVANTAGES
The main advantages of tracer study is that it provides complete up-to date information on for example: the
state of the employment of graduates of a teacher education program. Repeated tracer studies with different groups
may lead to discover of trends or effectiveness of programs and institutions.
Through tracer study, an institution able to evaluate the quality of education given to their graduates by
knowing the graduates placements and positions in the society which later can used as a benchmark in producing more
qualified and competitive graduates

#DISADVANTAGES
The main disadvantages of tracer study are low questionnaire response rate, attrition of respondents and huge
cost of collection of information. A review of the seven tracer studies quoted in this study. A low response rate from 45-
89%. This of course, could be increased at huge costs to the study. A low response rate means that analysis of the
employment status of the teacher graduates and the teaching context may not necessarily reflect the actual situation.
Also graduates may respond for various reasons, e.g. being frustrated with finding could be a reason for some not
wanting to respond and for some responding in a hope employment.

#METHODS
*Questionnaire Survey
Provided you can reach your ex-trainees by mail, questionnaires are a fairly cost effective method of data
collection. Questionnaires, though, have limitations. They are most appropriate for collecting quantitative data, e.g. the
employment status of your ex-trainee (yes/no answer). Much will depend on how you have designed your
questionnaire. Can the questions be easily understood? Can someone misinterpret them? (see below: rules for
designing questionnaires). Before your survey, test the questionnaire! Use a sample as an interview guide and
afterwards make the required corrections.
For gathering more “in-depth” information or verification of survey results we recommend to carry out
additional interview and/or group discussions (see next section).
*Interview and Group Discussions
Questionnaire surveys, as mentioned before, have limitations. The respondent may mis-understand the
questions, may not provide all the information you want to get. In-depth qualitative information can often only be
revealed by a personal talk. Interviews and group discussions with ex-trainees will give you better insights and help you
to verify the results of your questionnaire survey.
Many practitioners are of the opinion that site visits and interview are most effective method of carrying out a
tracer study. They recommend to utilize instructors and/or program planners for that exercise, in order to allow key staff
to experience “reality” and thus to help drawing valid conclusions.
By any means, we recommend not to limit a tracer study to questionnaire surveys but to add interviews and/or
group discussions at least as an additional source of information and for verification of survey results. We suggest to
pre-screen questionnaire responses first and then to select a limited number of ex-trainees (e.g. 25% of the number of
questionnaires distributed) for interviews or group discussions. Make sure, that all possible categories of respondents
are represented, e.g.:

The employed and unemployed,


The wage and self-employed,
Male and female,
Representatives of all trade groups trained at your institution
Different years of graduation

Additionally, you can use interviews to document case studies of your ex-trainees.

#Gathering Procedure

#Findings
What is related literature? – A review of articles or books written by authorities giving their opinions,
experiences, theories or ideas of what is good or bad desirable or undesirable within the problem area.
What is related studies? – A review of published and unpublished reports on actual researches done previously,
to know what have been done in the field in relation to your topic to pursue.
Local Literature: These are local materials usually printed and found in books professional journals and
magazines, newspapers and university publications published by the different colleges and universities in the Philippines
Foreign Literature: These are materials printed in other countries with information related to the current study
and are found in books, professionals journals, magazines and other publications.
Local Studies: These are studies or investigations already completed to which the present study isrealated. They
are usually unpublished materials such as manuscripts, these dissertations conducted in the Philippines other research
publications.
Foreign Studies: These are manuscripts, theses researches and dissertations conducted in other countries.

SOURCE: E,Gane

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