Date of Graduation

2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Leadership Studies

Program

Organization & Leadership EdD

First Advisor

Ellen Herda

Second Advisor

Patricia Mitchell

Third Advisor

Betty Taylor

Abstract

Research Topic

This study addresses how the economic narratives of conversation participants in Ecuador after dollarization permeates the concepts of self, and quality of life, binding both into a personal economic story that describes a person's economic narrative towards a definition of economic literacy.

Research Theory and Protocol

Through critical hermeneutic theory formulated by Paul Ricoeur (1992) and the inquiry protocol developed by Ellen Herda (1999), the interpretive categories of narrative identi-ty, text, and imagination were applied to this study.

Research Categories

The narratives describe the stories of the people of Ecuador pursuing daily tasks in their economy. The text refers to meaningful activity associated with the economic sphere, which is later defined as economic text. Imagination provides the medium for the people of Ecuador to realize their economic goals through entrepreneurship.

Findings

The study revealed the following four findings: dollarization promotes suspicion towards nefarious activities such as money laundering; in the course of daily cash transactions, the lack of smaller coin denominations creates challenges; the people of Ecuador still yearn for and identify with their prior currency, the sucre; lastly, imagination plays an active role in the development of entrepreneurship. This study provides a perspective on how economic literacy influences quality of life and the need for people to become economically literate. This study also substantiates how the influence of economic activities on the quality of life is of such magnitude that some people are driven to poverty while others continue to thrive.

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