OPEN DOORS 1
Case Study: Open Doors
Olen C. Appleton
Master of Business Administration in Finance of Liberty University
BUSI 600: Business Research Methods
Dr. Michael Walker
Author Note
Olen Appleton
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Olen Appleton
Email: oappleton@liberty.edu
OPEN DOORS 2
Open Doors
1. How did ODO operationalize the definition of an adult with a disability? What
arguments could you make that the definition was too inclusive or too narrow?
The ODO and the U.S. Census definitions of an adult with a disability were markedly
different. The ODO had the idea that it wanted a narrower definition than the U.S. Census about
what a disabled person was. The ODO said in narrowing its definition of an adult with a
disability, “we wanted the disability to be permanent, and we wanted to cover the full range of
physically limiting disabilities, but we didn’t want to include those with mental or emotional
disorders” (Schindler, pg. 2) The U.S Census defined disability as, “blindness, deafness, or a
condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities such as walking, climbing
stairs, reaching, lifting, or carrying” (Schindler, pg. 2)
The ODO knew that the ideal definition for this study of disabled would not be able to
include everyone that identified as disabled across reporting types. This study was to be a
precise and controlled study that could account for exactly the parameters that they set in the
research design. It was not the ODO’s desire to make any group feel like they were left out by
not including them in this study. The ODO did do a good job of describing why this definition
