The effects of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on Tennessee Department of Transportation disadvantaged business enterprise
Abstract
This study evaluated Title VI awareness by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) prime contractors in an effort to determine what effect their level of awareness has on Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE). Specifically, the study attempted to assess whether there was a correlation between the Title VI knowledge of prime contractors and the number of contracts awarded to DBEs. The research utilized a cross-sectional design to evaluate the hypotheses of the study. The research question, does the varying degree of active prime contractors' knowledge of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 have an effect on the amount of contracts awarded to DBEs, was analyzed. A questionnaire was sent to TDOT active prime contractors in an effort to determine their awareness of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Active prime contractors, for the sake of this study, were defined as an entity that received a prime contract in the period 1998 to 2000. This study's independent variable addressed TDOT's prime contractors' awareness of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This study attempted to evaluate if prime contractors are aware of their Title VI responsibilities and how their knowledge of the law affects DBEs. The researcher proposed two hypotheses to test the research question. A negative correlation was found in the test for correlation between prime contractor awareness and the percentage of TDOT prime contracts. The test found that as the Title VI awareness increased, the percentage of contracts awarded to DBEs decreased. Additionally, no significant differences were found in tests for the average number of contracts awarded to DBEs as well as the total number of contracts for prime contractors based upon prime contractors' awareness level. The second hypothesis was analyzed to determine if an increase in the Tittle VI awareness of prime contractors, who subcontract, results in an increase in the total number of dollars awarded to prime contractors. The 1999 analysis found that a negative correlation exists between the level of awareness and the amount of contracts awarded to prime contractors. The test found that as the level of awareness of Title VI increases, the amount of contracts awarded to prime contractors decreases. However, in 2000, the test found that as the level of awareness increases, the dollars awarded to prime contractors increases. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Subject Area
Public administration
Recommended Citation
Adrian Dexter Samuels,
"The effects of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on Tennessee Department of Transportation disadvantaged business enterprise"
(2001).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3024632.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3024632