Running head: SIX SIGMA GENERATION FOUR 1

Impact of The Great Discovery® (Six Sigma Generation Four) on Undergraduate Student

Success: A Test of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

David Fried

University of Phoenix

Six Sigma Generation Four for Undergraduate Student Success 2

Impact of The Great Discovery® (Six Sigma Generation Four) on Undergraduate Student

Success: A Test of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Haveman and Smeeding (2006) state that, though more students qualify to attend college,

the gap between the socio-economic status (SES) of college students is growing, as is the gap

between student SES and student success at college with the almost 75% of new college students

classified as high-income. Mamiseishvili (2010) indicated that, access to a college education has

increased for low-income individuals, yet the likelihood of low-income students return following

their freshman year is only 25% of the number of students who come from financially

advantageous backgrounds. Only 11% of low-income students finish their undergraduate degree

in a six year period compared to a 55% completion rate for students from higher income

situations (Mamiseishvili, 2010). Haveman and Smeeding (2006) stated that completing a

secondary education is the catalyst for social mobility; however, that ―contrary to its stated goals

and repeated claims, the U.S. higher education system fails to equalize opportunities among

students from high- and low-income families‖ (p. 128).

Environment and Language.

Human understanding of the world and individual thought processes are the result of the

language and cultural environment as stated by linguistic scholars Johann Herder and Wilhelm

von Humboldt (Liang, 2011). Applying this to education, students in low socio-economic status

(SES) environments experience a reduction in confidence, literacy, and academic achievement.

Chu (2011) stated that culturally and linguistically diverse students may lack the knowledge and

abilities needed for academic success. The lack of goal setting, process planning, force-field

analysis, and process execution knowledge is not beyond understanding of any SES provided

individuals are willing to overcome their self-doubt (Reboul, 2011). At one point students enter

Six Sigma Generation Four for Undergraduate Student Success 3

the workforce, some even after attending college, but will they understand the values necessary

for advancement through organizations and be able to change their environmental conditions and

SES?

Communication and Language.

Janicki (2011) described the speaker’s role in the process of idea communication as the

creation of a set of words representing the concept, then sent to the receiver who is responsible

for not only understanding the words but the context surrounding them. Reboul (2011) added

that communication barriers exist between individuals from different cultures, separating

students within schools and employees within organizations. The misunderstanding of language

not only causes confusion surrounding the subject matter but also often creates conflict between

the speaker and receiver because of misinterpretations (Janicki, 2011).

The Great Discovery®, Six Sigma Generation Four

The original Six Sigma methodology was created to reduce manufacturing defects,

however, it contains defects of its own such as limited reach within an organization because of

the complicated and technical nature of the tools (Sanders, 2010). Twenty years after

conception, Six Sigma co-architect Dr. Mikel Harry and one of the original Six Sigma Master

Black Belts, Catherine Lawson, published How to Get Out of the Box and Win introducing the

fourth generation of Six Sigma, referred to as The Great Discovery®, discussing higher quality

decision-making using the foundational concepts of Six Sigma (Harry & Lawson, 2010). The

function of The Great Discovery is to make the proven quality methods of Six Sigma available to

individuals, in order that they may change their approach to goal setting and problem solving

without needing to learn complex statistical analysis (Harry & Lawson, 2010).

Six Sigma Generation Four for Undergraduate Student Success 4

The Great Discovery on Changing Socio-economic Status.

The Great Discovery is the Six Sigma way of thinking in that it focuses practitioners on

constructing dynamic processes for the prevention of error before beginning the process rather

than trying to prevent it under situational constraint or fix processes after the error has occurred

(Harry & Lawson, 2010). The Six Sigma way of thinking is a function of quality language such

as goals, catalyst, process, driving force, restraining force, leverage, divergent thinking,

convergent thinking, and milestones.

Definitions

6 sigma – is a quantitative metric from an analysis of variance (ANOVA) where a given data

point is six standard deviations away from the average on a normal distribution where 99.74% of

the data set resides under the normal distribution (Caulcutt, 2001). 6 sigma is used in

determining the consistency or reliability of data.

Defect – is an occurrence outside the allowable limits of a process such as a student not knowing

what or restaurant customers who receive food they did not order.

Sigma – noted as the Greek symbol σ, this is the value of one standard deviation from the mean

of a normal distribution (Caulcutt, 2001).

Six Sigma – ―is a business process that allows companies to drastically improve their bottom line

by designing and monitoring everyday business activities in ways that minimize waste and

resources while increasing customer satisfaction‖ (Harry & Schroeder, 2000)

Standard Deviation – known as a sigma (σ), is a statistical measurement of the variation within a

set of data (Ha, 2005).

Six Sigma Generation Four for Undergraduate Student Success 5

Problem Formulation

The problem is, though individuals living within poverty conditions may want to attend

and successfully complete college as a means of escaping their current financial situation, they

cannot because of a limited ability to perceive an alternate reality caused by a lack of language.

This is described by the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that states an individual’s language provides the

structure for a person’s conceptualization of thought. Without the language needed to properly

describe the new outcomes or the processes for arriving at them, people are unable to change

their socio-economic status. The relationship of language and a human’s ability to conceive an

idea was first conceptualized in fourth century Greece by Aristotle. It has been discussed since

by individuals such as linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt in the eighteen hundreds who postulated

that language was responsible for framing an individual’s perception, to Edward Sapir and

Benjamin Lee Whorf who, in 1929 identified language as the navigation system for social

perception (Jing, 2011). Applying von Wumboldt’s understanding and the Sapir-Whorf

hypothesis, individuals lacking language that extends beyond their situation of poverty cannot

conceptualize the methods or practices necessary to make changes to escape their economic

condition. An example of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is the hypothetical story of an

archeologist searching through the uncharted jungle of southeastern Peru for lost ancient

temples. After breaking through some brush the archeologist finds himself at the edge of a

primitive village and face-to-face with six of its inhabitants. The archeologist raises his camera

and begins snapping pictures to document his discovery when the men of the group lunge at him

with spears. Held captive by the villagers, the archeologist frantically attempts to explain what

his camera does but with no word for photograph or camera, the villagers are unable to

understand his explanations and kill the archeologist. Jing explains the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Six Sigma Generation Four for Undergraduate Student Success 6

using European languages and the native American language of the Hopi tribe by stating that

from a European language perspective, time is a quantifiable aspect of life whereas the Hopi use

time as a relationship to before or after an event. Whorf understood that the language an

individual uses is a direct reflection of the individual’s perception of the world, according to

Jing, which can be expanded to include the environment that an individual exists within as a

direct cause of the barriers that exist surrounding education. The language of the neighborhood

becomes the language of the individual, even if unintentionally, framing the perception of

thought conception (Jing, 2011).

Study Purpose

The purpose of the proposed research is to perform a timeline study measuring the affects

of The Great Discovery (Six Sigma Generation Four) via the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis on the

lowest income undergraduate students at an institution for post-secondary education on Native

American tribal land to determine if training in The Great Discovery methods of goal setting,

process planning, force field analysis, and execution strategies raises low-income students’ grade

in comparison to students of higher income status. The benchmark data from research study

participants will then be compared to same data for the entire student population of the same

university.

Study Research Questions

Q1: Do the participant’s report a change in the methods of goal setting and process

execution following The Great Discovery training?

Q2: Do the participant’s report a change in their language surrounding goal setting and

goal achievement following The Great Discovery training?

Q4: Do the participant’s feel they are more following The Great Discovery training?

Six Sigma Generation Four for Undergraduate Student Success 7

Quantitative Research Questions and Hypotheses

Q5: Was the average participant’s score for the class affected by The Great Discovery

training?

H10: The Great Discovery training will not affect participant’s class grades.

H1a: The Great Discovery training will positively affect participant’s class grades as

measured by a greater grade increase than students of the same socio-economic

status.

Research Method and Design

The researcher has selected a timeline study using a Solomon four-group design to

determine if The Great Discovery intervention affects student’s performance in class apart from

the natural proficiency gained with increased topic familiarity. In a Solomon four-group design,

each sample of students is divided into four groups; the first receiving no pretest or treatment, the

second receiving a pretest but no treatment, the third receiving no pretest but the study treatment,

and the fourth receiving the pretest and treatment. This method should identify the change, if

any, attributed to The Great Discovery training. The proposed research will be conducted within

a single class, facilitated by one instructor to ensure the validity of the potential change following

The Great Discovery training.

Study Population

The study sample will be undergraduate students at an institution for post-secondary

education on Native American tribal land scheduled on roster for entry into the study course.

Each student of the study sample will be randomly assigned to one of the four groups (no pretest

or treatment, pretest but no treatment, no pretest but the study treatment, pretest and treatment)

so necessary pretesting can be done with time for participant completion of The Great Discovery

Six Sigma Generation Four for Undergraduate Student Success 8

training. Following participant’s assignment to study group and prior to the beginning of the

course, The Great Discovery training will be provided to participants of groups three and four via

internet-based training program.

Conclusion

Zailani and Sasthriyar (2011) indicate that Six Sigma has been used as a quality

improvement tool and a management tool, though traditional Six Sigma deployments rely on the

highly trained practitioners executing the complex statistical investigations seeking to eliminate

defect (Tarantino, 2009). The proposed research study aims to determine if The Great

Discovery, is a valid strategy for improving goal setting techniques, process planning, force-field

analysis, and process execution in undergraduate students at the University of Phoenix.

Six Sigma Generation Four for Undergraduate Student Success 9

References

Caulcutt, R. (2001). Why is Six Sigma so successful? Journal of Applied Sciences, 28(3&4),

301-306. doi 10.1080/02664760120034045

Chu, S. Y. (2011). Perspectives in understanding the schooling and achievement of students from

culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Journal of Instructional Psychology,

38(3), 201-209. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.

Ha, S. M. (2005). Above the curve: Six Sigma learning begins at home. Industrial Engineer: IE,

37(11), 36-41. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.

Harry, M. J. & Lawson, C. (2010). How to get out of the box and win. Scottsdale AZ: The Great

Discovery Publishing L.L.C.

Harry, M. J., & Schroeder, R. (2000). Six Sigma: The breakthrough management strategy

revolutionizing the world’s top corporations. New York, NY: Currency Publishing

Haveman, R., & Smeeding, T. (2006). The role of higher education in social mobility. The

Future of Children, 16(2), 179-203. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.

Janicki, K. (2011). Communication and understanding. AILA Review, 24(1), 68-77. Retrieved

from EBSCOHost.

Jing, H. (2011). The validity of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis-Rethinking the relationship among

language, thought and culture. US-China Foreign Language, 9(9), 560-568. Retrieved

from EBSCOHost.

Liang, H. Y., (2011). The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and foreign language teaching and learning.

US-China Foreign Language, 9(9), 569-574. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.

Six Sigma Generation Four for Undergraduate Student Success 10

Mamiseishvilli, K. (2010). Effects of employment on persistence of low-income, first generation

college students. College Student Affairs Journal, 29(1), 65-74. Retrieved from

EBSCOHost.

Reboul, A. (2011). Language—Of freedom and human bondage. Social Science Information,

50(1), 128-141. doi: 10.1177/053901841038836

Sanders, J. H. (2010). Six Sigma myths busted. Industrial Engineer, 42(3), 41-46. Retrieved

from ProQuest.

Tatantino, A. (2009). Risk management for the next generation. Industrial Management, 51(1),

14-17. doi: 10.1080-00207543.2010.508952

Zailani, S., & Sasthriyar, S. (2011). Investigation on the Six Sigma critical success factors.

European Journal of Scientific Research, 57(1), 124-132. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.