The occupational knowledge of high school students

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NAME AND ADDRESS

DATE

3 7;

..

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY-

THE OCCUPATIONAL KNOWLEDGE OP HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OP THE REQUIREMENTS for the degree DOCTOR OP PHILOSOPHY

DEPARTMENT OP EDUCATION

BY EDWARD CHARLES ROEBER

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS AUGUST

1942

ProQuest Number: 10101901

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TABLE OP CONTENTS LIST OF T A B L E S .................. . . .. ..............

Page v

LIST OF I L L U S T R A T I O N S ...............................

xii

Chapter I« OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION OF HIGH SCHOOL STU­ DENTS .......................................

1

The Problem Previous Studies The Method II.

THE INSTRUMENTS ITS CONSTRUCTION AND USE . . .

20

Construction of Instrument Determination of Answers to Questions in Part IV of Instrument Reliability and Validity of the Instrument Conclusion III.

DESCRIPTION OF PUPILS IN S T U D Y ..............

51

Data concerning Students Data concerning Parents Summary IV.

THE STUDENTS* CHOICES OF OCCUPATIONS........

78

Certainty with Which Occupations Were Chosen Occupations Chosen by Students Summary V.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VARIOUS CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDENTS AND AN INDEX OF OCCUPATIONAL IN­ FORMATION .................. Personal Data of Students in Relation to Occupational Information Experiences of Students in Relation to Occupational Information Choosing an Occupation in Relation to Occu­ pational Information Summary ii

H9

iii

Chapter VI.

Page THE KNOWLEDGE OP ALL STUDENTS ON THE MAJOR OCCUPATIONS .................................

143

Hours of Work Most Useful School Subjects Salary Expectations for Experienced Workers Salary Expectation for the Beginner Necessary Educational Level for Ten Occupa­ tions Necessary Abilities for Ten Occupations Workers Less than 25 Years of Age Trend of Employment Per Cent of Women Workers in Each Occupation Leadership Necessary for Ten Occupations A Comparison of the Occupational Information of the Students with the Most and the Least Knowledge Summary VII.

STUDENTS 1 KNOWLEDGE OF OCCUPATIONS CHOSEN

. .

188

Time Since Choice of Occupation Was Made Salary Expected by Students Use of Occupational Materials by Students Most Popular Advantages Most Popular Disadvantages Necessary Abilities Necessary Educational Level Social Prestige of Chosen Occupations Influence of Certain Factors upon the Choice of Occupation Summary VIII.

SOCIAL PRESTIGE RATING OF TWENTY-FIVE OCCU­ PATIONS .................. ..................

233

Social Prestige of Twenty-Five Occupations Social Prestige Ratings by Students with the Most and the Least Occupational Knowledge Comparison with Previous Research Summary IX.

MAJOR FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS

........

259

Summary of Major Findings The Interpretations Continuation of Present Study BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . .

..............................

APPENDIX A .........................................

273

283

iv

Page APPENDIX B ............................................. 337 APPENDIX C ..........

343

APPENDIX D ............................................. 349 APPENDIX E ..........

376

APPENDIX P . . . * ..................................... 392 APPENDIX G ............................................. 405 APPENDIX H ............................................. 464

LIST OP TABLES Table

Page I. II*

III* IV. V. VI# VII. VIII. IX. X# XI. XII. XIII.

XIV. XV.

Description of Cooperating Schools ♦ . . .

10

The Number of Schools Selected for Each Group of Schools Classified by Size of En­ rollments .................................

IS

Sizes of Schools as Distributed according to the Population of the Community .. . .

13

I^rpes of Communities in Relation to the Size of S c h o o l s .................... . .

13

Summary of School S e r v i c e s ............

17

.

School Situations for the Administration of the Inventory........................... Descriptive Data of the Achievement on the Inventory for All SecondarySchool Students Per Cent of Students Receiving Numerical Scores on Part IV of the Instrument . . . Per Cent of Boys and Girls in the Pour Grades of the Sample by Size of Schools

19 45 48

.

52

Ages of Students by Grades for All Schools

55

Number of Localities in Which Students Have L i v e d .................................

56

Ten Occupations in Which Students Have Been Employed Most Frequently . . . . . .

58

The Most Popular Hobbies, School Activities and Out-of-School Activities of the Boys and G i r l s ............ .. ................

61

Five Most Popular School Courses Which Stress Different Occupations .............. Comparison of Groups of Workers by Percen­ tages in the Sample and in the 1930 Census v

66 68

vi

Table

Page XVI*

XVII. XVIII,

Xix.

XX,

XXI*

XXII,

XXIII,

XXIV. XXV,

XXVI*

XXVII. XXVIII.

Per Cent of Fathers in Occupational Clas­ sification by Size of S c h o o l s ..............

70

Education of Students* Parents for All S c h o o l s ............ ♦ . . ................

73

Per Cent of Students Indicating Different Degrees of Certainty in Choosing an Occupa­ tion ......... , .........................

81

Per Cent of Students Expressing Different Degrees of Certainty for Each Occupational Classification of F a t h e r s ................

85

Per Cent of Students Indicating Different Degrees of Certainty in Choosing an Occupa­ tion for the Kind of Work Experienced by the Students . . . , ............ . ♦ . . .

87

Per Cent of Students Expressing Different Degrees of Certainty in Choosing an Occupa­ tion for Each Year since Choice Was Made .

90

Per Cent of Students Indicating Different Degrees of Certainty for Each Occupational Classification of Their Choices ..........

92

The Kumber of Occupations Chosen for Each Degree of Certainty by Grade, School Size and S e x ............................... 95 The Occupational Classification of Student Choices by Sex and Degree of Certainty . .

98

Occupations Chosen by Students and a Com­ parison with the Number Who Would Choose the Occupation if They Could Enter Any Oc­ cupation ..........................

100

Percentage of Students Choosing the Six Most Popular Occupations in Comparison to Other S t u d i e s ..................

102

Occupational Classification of Students* Choices

.

The Occupational Classification of Student Choices by Grades according to the Degrees of C e r t a i n t y .......................... 105

104

vii

Table

Page

XXIX,

XXX. XXXI.

XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVII. XXXVIII.

XXXIX.

XL.

XLI.

XLII.

XLIII.

The Occupational Classification of Student Choices by School Size and Degree of Cer­ tainty ...................................

107

Occupations Chosen by Boys and Girls in Different School Sizes ..................

108

Percentage of Student Choices for Each Classification of Their Fathers 1 Occupa­ tions ................

Ill

Means and Standard Deviations of the Means for Four Age Groups ..............

120

Means and Standard Deviations for All Grades and Both Sexes for Each School Size

122

Tabulation of Scores of Students for the Occupational Classification of the Parents

123

Educational Level of Both Parents for All Grades and S c h o o l s ............

125

Number of Occupations in Which Students Found Employment........................

127

Work Experience of Students versus Their Scores on General Occupational Information

128

Average Scores, Standard Deviations and Standard Error of Means for Students ................131 Grouped by Hobbles Means, Standard Deviations and Standard Error of Means for Students in Different School A c t i v i t i e s ......................

133

Means, Standard Deviations and Standard Error of Means for Students Having Courses on Occupations..........................

134

Means, Standard Deviations, Standard Error of Means for the Degree of Certainty in the Choice of an Occupation . ..............

136

Means for Occupational Classification of All Students 1 Choices for Degrees of Cer­ tainty ..........................

138

Means for All Students Grouped according to Reasons for ChoosingTheir Occupations

140

viii

Table

Page

XLIV.

The Most Useful School Subjects for Ten Occupations as Indicated by the High School S t u d e n t s .................................

XLV • The Per Cent of Students Indicating the Least Amount of Education Necessary for Ten O c c u p a t i o n s ........................ XLVI. XLVII.

XLVIII. XLIX.

L. LI. LII.

LIII.

LIV.

LV.

LVI. LVI I.

The ^er Cent of Students Indicating the Most Essential Ability forTen Occupations

148

158 162

Per Gent of Students Indicating the Percen­ tage of Workers in Ten Occupations that Are less than 25 Years of Age . . . . . .

165

The Per Cent of Students Indicating Dif­ ferent Trends of Employment.............

167

The Per Cent of Students Indicating the Per Cent of Women Workers in Ten Occupa­ tions ................ ..................

169

The Per Cent of Students Indicating the Necessary Leadership for Ten Occupations .

172

Limits of the Lower and Upper Quarters for Boys and Girls in Each G r a d e .

174

The Per Cent of the Student Population with the Least and the Most Occupational Information in Relation to Other Descrip­ tive Factors . . . . . ........ . . . . .

175

Comparison of Occupational Information for Students with the Least and the Most Know­ ledge ........ ..........................

180

The Per Gent of Students Indicating the Number of Years since They Had Made Their Choice of Occupation....................

190

The Per Cent of Students Choosing the Twenty-Two Most Popular Occupations and Indicating the Use of Occupational Mate­ rials ....

201

The Most Important Advantages of the Twenty-Two Most Popular Occupations

. . .

205

The Most Important Disadvantages of the Twenty-Two Most Popular Occupations . . .

212

lx

Table

Page

LVIII* LIX.

LX. LXI.

LXII.

LXIII.

LXIV •

The Most Necessary Abilities for the Twenty-Two Most Popular Occupations . . . .

217

The Per Gent of Students Indicating the Educational Level Necessary for Entering the Occupation of Their Choice . . . . . .

222

The Per Cent of Students Ranking the Occu­ pations of Their Choice by Social Prestige

225

The Factors Considered Most and Least In­ fluential by All Students Choosing an Oc­ cupation .................................226 The Factors that Influenced the Choices of Students Who Chose the Twenty-Two Most Popular Occupations................... .

229

Interquartile Ranges for the Rank Order of Social Prestige in Twenty-Five Occupations by the Students of Different School Sizes . 244 Interquartile Ranges for the Rank Order of Prestige in Twenty-Five Occupations by Stu­ dents with the Most and the Least Occupa­ tional Knowledge . . . . .

243

LXV*

Rank (Median) Order of Prestige of TwentyFive Occupations for Different School Sizes by the Students with the Most and the Least Occupational K n o w l e d g e ............. 250

LXVT.

The Interquartile Ranges for the Rank Order of Prestige in Twenty-Five Occupations by Students with the Most and the Least Occu­ pational Knowledge for Different School S i z e s .................................. 252

LXVII.

Comparison of High and Low Ranking Occupa­ tions as to Social Prestige in Most Signif­ icant S t u d i e s ..........

255

Number of Schools Employing Various Guid­ ance Services . . . . ........ . . . . . .

371

Workers Who Assist in the Guidance of Stu­ dents by Size ofSchools . . . . . . . . .

374

Items Included In Records Kept for Each Student in Schools Grouped by Size of En­ rollment ..................

375

LXVIII. LXIX. LXX.

Tabid LXXI.

DOCII. LXXIII. LXXIV. LXXV. LXXVI. LXXVII.

LXXVIII. LXXX. LXXXI.

LXXXII. LXXXIII. LXXXIV. LXXXV. LXXXVI. LXXXVII.

Page Ages of Boys and Girls in All Schools . . .

377

Number of Different Localities in Which Students Have Lived

378

Percentage of Students Indicating Experi­ ence in Various Occupations.............. *

379

Percentage of Students Receiving Employment in Occupations under Supervision of Schools

382

Hobbies and Activities of Secondary School Students . . . . ........ . . . . . . . .

383

Percentage of Students Engaged in Out-ofSchool Activities ........................

385

Percentage of Students Indicating Study of Occupations in a Course or in a Unit of a Course .................... . . . . . . .

386

Percentage of Students Indicating Courses Which Stressed Different Occupations . . .

387

Percentage of Students Indicating Partici­ pation in School Activities . . . . . . . .

388

Per Cent of Fathers in Occupational Clas­ sifications by Size of Schools and for Each Grade . . ................................

389

Education of Students 1 Parents for the Four Grades ............ ......................

391

The Occupations Chosen or Considered by All Students and the Certainty of Their Choice

393

Choices of Students If the Students Could Enter Any O c c u p a t i o n .......... ..

399

Occupations Chosen by Boys and Girls in the Four Grades of High School . . . . . . . .

403

Percentage of Students Taking Different Courses for Each Choice of Occupation . . .

404

The Median and Quartile Number of Hours per Week as Indicated by Students with the Least and the Most Occupational Knowledge .

465

xi

Table

Page

LXXXVTII«

LXXXIX.

XG.

XCI.

Percentage of Students with Least and Most Occupational Knowledge Indicating School Subjects Related to Ten Occupations . . •

466

The Median and Quartile Salaries of Begin­ ners in Ten Occupations as Indicated by the Students with the Least and the Most Occupational I n f o r m a t i o n ..............

468

The Median Salary and Quartile Salary of Experienced Workers as Indicated by the Students with the Least and the Most Oc­ cupational Information

469

The Per Cent of Students with the Least and the Most Occupational Information In­ dicating the Necessary Educational Levels for Ten Occupations....................

470

XCII^ The Per Cent of Students with the Least and the Most Occupational Information In­ dicating the Ability Necessary for Ten Occupations . . . . . . . . ............

472

XCIII.

XCIV.

XCV.

XCVI.

Per Cent of the Students with the Least and the Most Occupational Information In­ dicating the Percentage of Workers less than 25 Years of A g e ..................

474

The Trends of Employment as Indicated by the Students with the Least and the Most Occupational Information . ..........

475

The Percentage of Women in Ten Occupations as Indicated by Students with the Least and the Most Occupational Information • .

476

Necessary Degree of Leadership for Ten Occupations as Indicated by the Students with the Least and the Most Occupational Knowledge . ..........

477

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1.

2.

3«

Page The Median and Quartile Number of Hours Which Students Indicated as Regular Hours for Ten Occupations ..............

144

The Median Salary and Range of Salaries Which Students Expect Experienced Persons to Earn in Ten Occupations . • ................ ..

152

The Median and Range of Salaries for Beginners in Ten Occupations as Estimated by High School Students * .......................... ..

155

4*

The Median and the Interquartile Range of Years Since the Twenty-Two Most Popular Occupations Were Chosen * ................... *... 192

5.

The Salaries Expected in the First, Fifth, Tenth Years by Those Choosing the Twenty-Two Most Popular Occupations . * , ..............

194

Rank Order of Social Prestige of Twenty-Five Occupations by All Students ..................

235

Rank Order of Prestige of Twenty-Five Occupa­ tions by the Students for Each School Grade * .

238

Rank Order of Prestige of Twenty-Five Occupa­ tions by the Students of Different School Sizes . * .............. * ....................

242

Rank Order of Prestige of Twenty-Five Occupa­ tions by the Students with the Least and the Most Occupational Knowledge............ . . . •

246

6.

7• 8*

9.

xii

CHAPTER I OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS How much occupational Information do high school stu­ dents possess concerning occupations in general as well as occupations in which they profess an interest?

The importance

of the study of occupations by high school students has as­ sumed a prominent position in vocational guidance.

Semester

courses on occupations have been offered to students in some schools, while units on occupations have been added to the traditional courses by still other schools.

The reason for

this emphasis upon the study of occupations apparently rests upon the assumption that a wise choice of occupation depends partially upon an adequate knowledge of the world of work. An examination of the occupational knowledge of high school students, therefore, assumes significance if schools are to in­ crease the effectiveness of their vocational guidance programs. The Problem The problem may be defined as the analysis of infor­ mation or knowledge possessed by high school students concern­ ing a group of major-*- occupations and concerning the occupa•^'Major11 refers to those occupations with the largest number of workers.

2

tions actually chosen by students.

Actually the problem In­

volves the examination of two types of knowledge for each high school student: (1 ) knowledge of one hundred major occupations in which a majority of all high school students will eventu­ ally find employment, and (2 ) knowledge concerning the occu­ pation in which the student professes an interest. The occupational knowledge possessed by high school students concerning the one hundred major occupations will be analyzed as to quantity as well as quality.

The quantity of

information refers to a numerical score,-*- while the quality of information refers to the comparison of student responses with actual conditions in the world of work.

The quantity of

information or the numerical scores will be compared with the 2 7 students 1 personal data, their choice of occupation, their experiences,

4

and their attitudes

toward selected occupations.

iThe numerical score refers to the total number of correct answers to a set of questions concerning occupations. ^The students' personal data concerns their sex, age, grade, size of school, occupation of father, educational level of father and mother, and the number of different communities in which the family units have lived. ®The students' choice of occupation includes his de­ gree of certainty in choosing, the time at which the occupa­ tion was chosen, their utopian choice of occupation, and their reasons for choosing the occupation. ^The students' experiences include courses on occupa­ tions, hobbies, in-school activities, out-of-school activities, and work experience. SThe students' attitudes concerns a social prestige ranking of selected occupations. In this respect the students with the most occupational information will be compared with the rankings of the students with the least information.

3

The occupational information possessed by high school students concerning the occupations in which they express an interest will be examined in terms of its accuracy.

In addi­

tion the responses of students interested in one particular occupation will be contrasted with the responses of other groups of students interested in still other occupations. Previous Studies There are many studies which are related to one aspect of the present problem.

Bergman

and Calvert

have made gen­

eral attempts at measuring the vocational knowledge of boys. Rider

studied the information possessed by high school stu­

dents concerning the occupations in which they had indicated an interest.

Sparling,^ on the college level, suggested means

of examining student information concerning the occupations chosen by students. More than two degrees of certainty in studying the *4i. M. Bergman, "The Vocational Interests and Know­ ledge of the Male Population of a High School,*1 Unpublished Master*s thesis, Department of Education, Northwestern University, 1935. ^Leonard Calvert, "The Vocational Interests and Know­ ledge of Boys In a Junior High School," UnpublishedMas ter* s thesis, Department of Education, Northwestern University, 1935. ®Gus X. Eider, "Experimental Test in Vocational Guid­ ance and Information, Unpublished Mas ter* s thesis, New York City College, 1929. ^Edward J. Sparling, Do College Students Choose Vocations Wisely?, New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, Contributions to Education No. 561, 1933.

4

vocational choices of high school students were used by Endicott.

1

Koos and Kekauver

2

have summarized the studies which

gave the students only two degrees of certainty for choosing an occupation# Much research has dealt with the reasons why high school students choose their occupations*

Crapullo,3 study­

ing rural and urban students, found that they were influenced in their choices by the income, the conditions of work, and their interest in the occupation. found the income influential.

Richie4 and Eberhardt5 also

The students indicated their

interest or ability in occupations as especially influential in the studies of Bedford,6 Beckington,7 and Mitchell .8

The

■**Frank S. Endicott, "Factors Influencing High School Students in the Choice of a Vocation,” The Vocational Guidance Magazine. 10, (December, 1931), 99-101• 2

Leonard V# Koos and Grayson N. Kefauver, Guidance in Secondary Schools, p. 204. Hew York: Macmillan Co.7 1932.---3 G. A. Crapullo, "Factors Influencing High School Stu­ dents in Choice of Occupation," Vocational Guidance Magazine. S, Ho. 2, (Hovember, 1929), 51-531---------- ---------- ----4 F. M. Richie, "An Enquiry as to the Reasons for the Choice of Occupations among Secondary School students,*1 Forum of Education, 8 (1930), 42-54 & 81-90. ----5 hT"G. Eberhardt, "Vocational Interest of Junior High School Boys," Industrial Arts and Vocational Education, 28 (December, 1939), 403-4. “ ” g J. H* Bedford, “A Study of Vocational Interests of California High School Students Based on a Survey of 12 Rural High Schools," California Quarterly of Secondary Education. 5 (1929), 47-66“ ------------ ----------7 ii 'Lulu B. Beckington, "Experiences with a Vocations Program in Home-Room Organization," Teachers College Record. 28 (February, 1927), 571. -------------- -------

®Claud Mitchell, "Pupils* Vocational Choices," Occu­ pations, 11 (May, 1933), 363-367.

5

conditions of work were regarded as important reasons in the reports of Douglass

and Haugen.

The parents of students

were regarded as important factors in the selection of occupa3 4 c tions in the studies of Endicott, Powers, Beeson and Tope. The question of what occupations are chosen by high school students has been investigated by a large number of persons.

The author has selected for special recognition only

those studies which seem to have a definite relationship with this study.

Powers

6

reported the student choices of occupa7 tions for ninth graders. Beekington studied a group of tenth 8 o graders. Crapullo, as well as Gooch and Keller, investigated the vocational choices of rural students.

Other studies that

have contributed to an understanding of what occupations are 1 A. A. Douglass, "Vocational Interests of High School Seniors," School and Society, 16 (July, 1922), 79-82,

% e l v i n Haugen, "The Effect of a Course in Occupations on the Vocational and Educational Plans of 9th Grade Children," School Review, 45 (October, 1937), 585-7. 3Endicott, op. cit». pp. 99-101.

4

J. 0, Powers, The Junior High School, p. 100 Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1927. 3M. F. Beeson and R. E. Tope, "A Study of Vocational Preferences of High School Students," The Vocational Guidance Magazine, 7 (December, 1928), 115-119 &TT39"

^Powers, op. cit., p. 100. 7

Beekington, op. cit., p. 571.

g Crapullo, op. cit., pp. 51-53. %f. 0. Gooch and F. J. Keller, "Breathitt County in the Southern Appalachians: Building a Guidance-Grounded Cur­ riculum," Occupations, 14 (June, 1936), 1101.

6

most frequently chosen by high school students are those of Alberty ,1 Coxe ,2 Garretson,3 and Beeson and Tope .4 5

Counts

studied the social prestige ratings by high

school students for forty occupations.

His methodology was

particularly helpful in developing the present study. In 6 7 addition Hartman0 and Menger studied the social prestige of occupations• At this point it is evident that many persons have studied certain aspects of the present problem; but there are not any investigations that have attempted to study all of the relationships that are discussed in later chapters, such rei lationships include a comparison of the amount of students1 3-H. B. Alberty. “The Permanence of Vocational Choices of High School Pupils/* Industrial Arts Magazine, 14 (June, 1925), 203. 2W. W. Coxe, "Reliability of Vocational Choices of Hiptfi School Students,” School and Society, 32 (December 12. 1930), 816-818. 3 0. K. Garretson, Relationships Between Expressed Preferences and Chirricular“~5bilitles of the 9 th Grade feoys, New Yorks Teachers College, Columbia University, Contributions to Education No. 396, 1930. 4 M. F. Beeson and R. E. Tope, op. cit., pp. 115-119.

®G. S. Counts, "The Social Status of Occupations: A Problem in Vocational Guidance," School and Society, 33 (January, 1925), 16-27• ^G. W. Hartmann, "The Prestige of Occupations,** Person­ nel Journal, 13 (1934), 146. ^Clara Menger, The Significance of Vocational Choice, 167-168. New York: Privately Printed, 1932. Clara Menger, "Social Status of Occupations for Women,” Teachers College Record, 33 (May, 1932), 696-704.

7

occupational knowledge with their personal data, their choice i of occupations, and so on. The Method A sample of 1995 boys and girls from the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades in twenty-two different high schools of Illinois and Wisconsin were studied by the questionnaire method.

The Instrument or questionnaire was administered during

the last two week of school (Spring, 1941). This seemed espe­ cially desirable when it was noted that the unit on occupations in many schools is undertaken during the latter part of the semester. The method involved three selections upon the part of the author 5 namely, the selection of a means for gathering data, the selection of schools, and the selection of students. •The selection of a means for gathering data*

A ques­

tionnaire of the llpaper-pencil,t variety was selected as the most appropriate technique for gathering the necessary data. Three factors influenced the choice of such a method.

First,

the time required for the administration of such a question­ naire could be held at a minimum by this method.

An interview

technique would require years for completion if any consider­ able number of students were to be contacted.

On the other

hand, the questionnaire could be administered during a period of one hour’s duration.

Second, the questionnaire method was

3-These relationships have been discussed on page 2 of this chapter.

8

easily adaptable to the convenience of the schools.

The data

could be collected whenever the program of the school would allow Interruptions.

Third, the cost of collecting the data

could be held at a minimum by the use of the questionnaire, since the procedure used the facilities already present in each school* There are many disadvantages in the use of question­ naires; but these were anticipated, and steps were taken to minimize their effects as much as possible.

First, differ­

ences in the administration of the questionnaire might easily give data that was misleading.

Second, the validity and re­

liability of a questionnaire is difficult to determine.

Re­

liance must be placed upon the written words of the students. They may not understand the terminology used.

There are ways

In which their responses may be checked for accuracy, but such a procedure would lead to an intricate method, such as inter­ viewing each student. With the adoption of the questionnaire method of col­ lecting data, the procedure involved the construction of an instrument which would bring out the possible advantages and minimize the disadvantages.

The procedure of evolving the

questionnaire consequently assumed a position of major impor­ tance • The four objectives of the inventory were as follows: (1 ) to discover the general occupational information possessed by secondary school students; (2 ) to discover the specific occupational information possessed by secondary school students

9

concerning their choice of occupation; (3) to discover the attitude of secondary school students toward twenty-five se­ lected occupations; and (4) to collect personal data concern­ ing each student. The selection of schools•

The schools in which the

questionnaire was administered were selected upon the follow­ ing bases: (1 ) the enrollment of the school, (2 ) the type of community, such as agricultural, residential or industrial, (3) the vocational and related guidance services offered by the school, such as courses in occupation, work experience or the absence of these services, and (4) the willingness of school authorities to cooperate in the study. n ©ates the results of the final selection.

Table I indi-

The enrollments of schools were investigated before any choice was made.

It seemed advisable to include schools

with small enrollments as well as schools with a thousand or more students. This conclusion was reached after careful ex% amination of other studies, most of which were concerned with the schools in large cities.

Assuming that the students of

very small schools would also exhibit some interest in occu­ pations, the author carefully selected schools with small en­ rollments as well as schools with a large number of students. The school enrollments were divided into the following three

^In addition to Table I, a resume of each school may be found in Appendix D, pp. 350-370, There was no reason for identifying each school by name, so letters have been assigned to each city.

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11

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•H

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TABLE

1 —

•H

pH

•H

•H

*H *rl

•H

*H

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H Pi 0O o

•H

H

rH «rl

•H

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a0ne of two junior high schools was used in this study. bOne of four junior high schools was used in this study

10

12

classifications :**■

(1) schools enrolling from 50 to 199 stu­

dents, (2 ) schools enrolling from 200 to 499 students, and (3) schools enrolling 500 or more students•

Table II indi­

cates the number of schools in each classification* TABLE II THE NUMBER OP SCHOOLS SELECTED FOR EACH GROUP OP SCHOOLS CLASSIFIED BY oIZE OP ENROLLMENT

Number of Students Enrolled 50-199

Number of Schools Selected

................. 7

200-499 ................

7

500 and u p ................... S Total • • • • • • • • * 2 2 The number of schools for each classification was approximately equal although this does not mean that there was an equal number of students in each group.

The school

sizes varied from a school with 55 students to a school with 5800 students*

The size of the school was related to the pop

ulation of the community as indicated in Table III.

The size

of the city did not directly influence the selection of the sample since the emphasis was upon the size of the school. In directly the population of the community Influenced the selec tion since there was a desire to distribute the sample among schools of all sizes. •^-Schools with less than fifty students were excluded because they did not include the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades - instead in most cases they had only the ninth and tenth grades.

13

TABLE III SIZES OP SCHOOLS AS DISTRIBUTED ACCORDING TO THE POPULATION OP THE COMMUNITY

Size cf Schools Size of Community

Village (under 2,500)

50-199 Pupils

200-499 Pupils

7

500 & over Pupils

Total Pupils 9

2

Town (2,500 to 15,000)

5

City (15,000 & over)

1

6

7

7

Another important criterion for choosing schools was the type of community in which the school was located.

Table

IV reveals the types of cities in relation to the size of the TABLE IV TYPES OP COMMUNITIES IN RELATION TO THE SIZE OF SCHOOLS

Size of Schools Types of Community

Agricultural.•••••»

50-199 Pupils 4

Industrial.•••••••* Residential AgriculturalIndustrial....... schools.

3

200-499 Pupils

500 & over Pupils

Total Pupils

6

1

11

1

4

5

2

2

1

4

Upon the evidence of the principal or superintendent

of the school each community was classified as to whether it

14

was agricultural, residential or industrial.

Some of the com­

munities were a combination of these three types.

As expected,

the smallest communities were agricultural and the largest were mostly industrial.

Strictly residential cities were

rather difficult to discover, but two communities in this sample may be safely considered as residential.

The prepon­

derance of agricultural communities was offset in the study by the smaller number of students included in schools with 50-199 students and 200-499 students. The third criterion for selecting schools was the vo­ cational guidance services, or lack of the same, offered by the schools. manner:

These services were determined in the following

(1 ) conferences with members of the School of Educa­

tion, Northwestern University, (2 ) reports in the journals of education, (3) conferences with salesman of companies who sell occupational informational materials, (4 ) discussions with C. A. Weber^ who conducted a study of the assistance given to secondary schools by the Rotary International for the promo­ tion of work experience programs, and (5) personal experience with or knowledge of the programs of vocational guidance in some of the schools after conferences with school officials. In most cases these contacts were made prior to the final selection.

In a few cases certain schools were selected for

^C. A. Weber, "The Contributions Made by Rotary Clubs of the 147th District of Rotary International to the Problem of Providing Work Experience for Youth," A Preliminary Report to the Work Study Committee of the 147th District of Rotary International. Mimeographed Report, May 7, 1941.

15

the sole purpose of filling out the total picture so that all types of programs would be represented. To assist in the portrayal of services rendered by the different schools, a questionnaire research of Rosecrance

2

was developed.

The

was especially helpful in construc­

ting a questionnaire that would quickly and efficiently gather the data on school services. The principals or superintendents supplied the answers to the questionnaire.

Their responses may represent wishful

thinking, but the quality of their replies may indicate that under-estimation was far more prevalent than the other extreme. To

emphasize this point, an examination of the different an­

swers to the question, "What attempts are made to follow occu­ pational trends in the community and otherwise?”, revealed these frank answers: "Each case is handled in a special way. definite program."

(We have no

"None. You have the information regarding present conditions. However, I hope within a year to see quite a difference. Will you please mail me one of these sheets for my own use." "in keeping the counseling (vocational) up to date; also,the occupations course up to date." "Have good program, including work experience program." "Follow graduates from high school." ■^Appendix A, pp. 335-336,

"Pertinent Data on Schools."

^F. C. Rosecrance, "The Organization and Administra­ tion of Personnel and Guidance Services in Larger City School Systems," (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Graduate School, Northwestern University, 1936).

16

"Different departments handle this in different ways. The commercial and drafting departments make considerable effort along this line* Other teachers do it as individ­ uals •” "None." "Residential section." "Contact with w o m e n s clubs, Legion, etc. We are a residential community. Our occupational outlet is Chi cago•" None of the responses from school authorities indicate any desire to exaggerate existing conditions even though some of the schools might be classified as definitely superior to the average school regarding the dissemination of occupational information. The questionnaire1 which was answered by. the school officials contained a list of forty-seven services which might be employed regularly in the process of guiding second­ ary school students.

Many of the schools were selected on

the basis of their utilizing these services.

But all of these

features could not be examined so the results were summarized in the form of Table V.

From the materials tabulated in

Table V, a sample of the services which are common to one half or more of the schools may be examined.

The table is based

upon the frequency with which these services made their appear ance in the data. The majority of the schools provided assembly talks or programs for guidance purposes.

The new students were

treated to an orientation program of which the school manual 1Appendix A, pp. 353-336,

"Pertinent Data on Schools.

17

TABLE V SUMMARY OP SCHOOL SERVICES

Guidance Services Assembly programs • • . • • • • • • ........ Advisor for each student. . . . .......... . Club activities • • • • • .................. Counseling for academic failures. • • • • • • College interviews. ................ . . Conferences as to future plans. . . . . . . . Cumulative record for each students • . • • • Student council • . . • • • • • • • • • • • • Counseling for socially maladjusted........ Occupational units in courses . . . • • • • • Accumulation of vocational materials........ School handbook . • • • • • • » • • • . . . • Career d a y s ............ Each student counseled twice a semester . . . Orientation program • « • • • . • • • • • , . Radios used in classrooms..................

21 iffi 18 18 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 11

Items on Cumulative Records Attendance record • • • • • • • . . Academic record • • • • • • • . ........ . ♦ Scholastic aptitude scores. • • • • • • • • • Health. ........................... Reading test scores .............. Achievement test scores • » • • • • • • . • • Abilities or interests (expressed).......... Vocational interests. • • • • • • .......... Activities of students. ••• •

22 22 22 16 16 14 12 12 12

Guidance workers Class adviser • • . • • • • • • Nurse • • • • • • • • • • • « • • •

13 13

aThis summary is based upon services which are used by one half or more of the schools in the study. The com­ plete tabulations may be found in Tables LXVIII, LXIX, LXX, Appendix D, pp. 371-375.

18

or handbook formed a prominent part*

The student council

played some part In the activities of the school (although its effectiveness was not ascertainted). cumulative record for each student*

The schools kept a

The following records

were kept, not necessarily upon the cumulative record: (1) attendance, (2) academic record, (3) scholastic aptitude scores, (4) health, (5) reading test scores, (6) abilities and interests (expressed), (7) vocational Interests, (8) achievement test scores, and (9) participation in school activities* Vocationally, the sample of schools through their library collected occupational information materials.

The

social science courses usually included one unit in the ninth grade during which time occupations were studied generally. In addition, local civic groups provided the impetus for career days or vocational conferences, while those students planning to attend college were also interviewed by college representatives. The last criterion was the willingness of school authorities to cooperate in this study. a major factor in selection.

This was of course

It was assumed that anyone who

was reluctant to administer the inventory would not emphasize the desire for reliable answers* Failure to gain whole-hearted support in all Instances could be traced to two factors: (1) the requested date for ad­ ministration, and (2) the length of the inventory.

The twenty-

two schools in the sample were able to administer the inventory

19

without disrupting their entire school program.

Since the

inventory was given during the last month of the school cal­ endar and since it took over one class period for administra­ tion, the cooperative attitude of school officials was an important factor in the selection of schools. The selection of students.

In all cases the school

authorities were responsible for the selection of the students. There was no effort made to bring in superior or inferior groups of students.

(In one school the instrument was admin­

istered upon the basis of homogeneous groups. cular school average groups were used.)

In this parti­

Table VI shows the

school situations in1which the instrument was administered. TABLE VI SCHOOL SITUATIONS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE INVENTORY Size of Schools Groups in Which Instrument Was Administered

50-199 Pupils

200-499 Pupils

500 & over Pupils

Total Pupil

Entire School.

4

4

Study Hall Groups....

2

.2

Required Courses•••••

1

Homerooms•••••«.•••*•

7

7

15

1

1

As far as school officials were concerned, the stu­ dents of these classes or groups were representative of the school population.^ ■^The adequacy of the student sample is discussed in Chapter III.

CHAPTER II THE INSTRUMENTS ITS CONSTRUCTION AND USE To meet the objectives which were enumerated in the first chapter, the instrument1 was composed of four parts: Introduction and Part I - Personal data. Part II - Information on the occupations chosen. Part III - Attitudes toward selected occupations. Part IV - Information concerning occupations in general. It is necessary to examine the instruments construc­ tion and use because the validity of the study will depend upon the validity of the instrument.

This precaution is espe­

cially important since the instrument was designed solely for the present study. Construction of Instrument The first three parts of the inventory dealt with the collection of personal data concerning the students, their knowledge of chosen occupations, and their attitudes toward twenty-five selected occupations.

It was necessary, there­

fore, to list the questions which were essential for an under­ standing of a student*s background, as well as his information Appendix A, pp. 284-289. 20

21

and attitudes toward occupations.

The final form of the first

three parts was evolved from a long list of items which were tested experimentally before their inclusion in the instrument. Precedents in the form of similar instruments were not avail­ able so the evolution of these parts, as well as the last part, was principally a matter of trial-and-error.

The fourth

and final part of the instrument dealt with the measurement of general occupational knowledge. ently of the other parts.

It was developed independ­

It was revised and tested experi­

mentally more frequently than the first three parts. The first attempt at constructing a suitable instru­ ment for actual use was a mimeographed form'*’ which summarized all of the author*s preliminary study and experimentation. To ascertain its effectiveness, it was administered to groups of ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade students in Racine, Wisconsin (a total of 142 students were used). from these students were studied.

The responses

Comments from the students

were solicited by the teachers after the inventory had been administered. sible to

From these reactions to the items it was pos­ ambiguous questions.

The final and printed2

form of the instrument was, therefore, the result of improve­ ments suggested by a close examination of the mimeographed form. Construction of the first part of instrument.

The In­

troductory questions^ are included in this discussion of the

^Appendix A, pp. 290-309. 2Ibid., pp. 284-289. 3xbid., pp. 284 and 290.

22

first part of the inventory on personal data. The mimeographed 1 2 form and the printed form were concerned with the following information:

(1) name, (2) sex, (3) address, (4) date, (5)

date of birth, (6) place of birth, (7) age, (8) nationality, (9) race, (10) school, (11) grade, (12) hobbies, (13) work ex­ perience, (14) school activities, (15) out-of-school activities, (16) course on occupations, (17) courses stressing occupations, (18) father’s or mother’s occupation, and (19) education of father and mother.

The answers to this material seemed essen­

tial in order to study the sample of students. The mimeographed form also inquired as to the number of brothers and sisters, but this item was discarded in the printed form.

The number of brothers or sisters offered little

to the general picture in comparison to the space it required in the printed form.

One addition for the printed form over

the mimeographed form was the number of localities in which the student had lived.

This information provided the number

of students who had experienced the benefits or handicaps of a wide variety of different communities.

Another addition to

the printed form was an inquiry concerning the work experience for which students had received pay. suggested by students.

This latter addition was

They sensed that any work without pay

would be mostly chores at home. Since some schools indicated work experience as a 1Ibid., pp. 284-5. % b i d . , pp. 290-1.

23

school function, a question was added to the printed form con­ cerning this practice*

The last addition was a general ques­

tion concerning other ways in which the school stressed occu­ pations, ways not suggested by the inventory. All questions concerning the personal data were devel­ oped experimentally from a list of possible items.

Similar

studies were not available, so there is no research to report as contributing to the development of this material. Construction of the second part of the instrument. Part Two of the inventory was concerned with the choice of occupation, the degree of certainty with which the choice was made, and the information possessed by the student concerning his choice of occupation.

Beyond the arranging and wording

of questions, there were no major differences between the mimeographed-*- and printed^ forms. The degree of certainty in relation to the choice of occupation was not a purely original idea since the research of Endicott

suggested the procedure.

The students in the

present study were asked to indicate their choice in relation to any one of four degrees of certainty in the following manner s Answer one of the following questions: Appendix A, pp. 284-5. 2Ibid., pp. 291-2. 3Prank S. Endicott, TtPactors Influencing High School Students in the Choice of Vocation,11 The Vocational Guidance Magazine, 10 (December, 1931), 99-101^

24

a* What occupation do you feel certain that you will enter after you leave school? h* If you are not certain, what occupation do you think that you may enter after you leave school? c# If you have made no choice, what occupations have you been considering? d# Place a check (%/) in the blank space if you have neither chosen nor thought about your future occupation# ________ This procedure was designed to eliminate the difficulty ex­ perienced by some students when they are asked to indicate their choices of occupations#

It will be noted, when the

mimeographed and printed forms are compared, that the latter form included an additional question by which the students who had made no choice could indicate any occupation which they were considering.

This question was suggested by the

students1 responses to the questions of the mimeographed form. Since some students choose occupations which they really do not prefer, the students were given the opportunity to express their utopian choices (the occupations which the students would choose if they could meet all requirements). The students were also questioned as to when they had chosen their occupations# A major emphasis of the present study was the quality of information that students possess concerning their choices of occupations, i#e. how much did the students know about any occupations in which they expressed an interest#

The questions

which were suitable for examining student knowledge were devel­ oped from the study of many sources of occupational informa-

25

tion*1

Prom a group of twenty-six questions,2 gathered from

all available sources, the following types of occupational information were asked concerning their chosen occupations: (1) salaries first, fifth and tenth years, (2) materials read about occupations, (3) disadvantages, (4) advantages, (5) special abilities, (6) necessary education or training, and (7) the social prestige of the occupation. The students were asked to check the factors which influenced most or least their choices of occupations.

The

following factors seemed to have a definite influence upon the student choices of occupations:

(1) parents, (2) friends,

(3) teachers, (4) experience in occupation, (5) salary, (6) conditions of work, (7) requirements for entering occupation, (8) social prestige, (9) interest or ability in school sub­ jects related to occupation, (10) desire to serve mankind, 3-The following sources were invaluable: John M. Brewer, Occupations, pp. 162-65. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1936. M. E. Bennett and H. C. Hand, Designs for Personality, p. 13. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1938. E. F. Detjen and E. W. Detjen, Home Room Guidance Pro­ grams for Junior High School, pp. 336-338. Boston: kougjiton Mifflin Company, 1940. P. W. Chapman, Occupational Guidance, pp. 41-3. Atlanta: Smith & Company, 1937. K. L. Heaton, "Outline of the Important Points to be Considered in Giving or Securing Information Regarding an Occupation,” (Mimeographed page of material). J. Anthony Humphries, How to Choose a Career, pp. 13-17. Chicago: Science Research Associates, 1940. Mildred E. Lincoln, Teaching About Vocational LifS, Scranton: International Textbook Company, 193?. Sparling, op. cit., appendix. 2These may be found in Appendix B, pp. 341-2.

26

(11) lack of money for further training after high school. These factors were obtained from research on the subject.-*Construction of part three of instrument.

The third

part of the instrument was concerned with the attitudes which students possessed toward occupations, as well as their re­ actions toward certain advantages and disadvantages of occu2 % pations. Both the mimeographed and the printed forms were similar except for an attempt by the author to more clearly state the questions in the printed form.

In spite of all pre­

cautions, though* the students* reactions to the advantages and disadvantages of occupations had to be discarded since some students were confused as to the means for answering the questions. Twenty-five occupations’ were selected for the study of the social prestige ranking by the students, as well as their likes and dislikes of the same occupations. pations were chosen on the following bases:

(1) the number of

***The following articles were used: Beckington, op. cit., p. 571. Beeson and Tope, op. cit.» pp. 115-9 & 139. Crapullo, op. cit.. pp. 51-53. Douglass, op. cit.. 79-82. Endicott, op. cit'., pp. 99-101. Eberhardt, op. cit., pp. 402-4. Haugen, op. cit., pp. 585-7. Mitchell, op. cit.. pp. 363-367. Richie, op. cit., pp. 42-54 & 81-90. Bedford, op. cit., pp. 47-66. ^Appendix A, pp. 293-295. SIbid., pp. 286-287. Appendix B, pp. 338-340.

The occu­

27

workers employed in the occupations, (2) the desire that all types of occupations be represented from professions to un­ skilled occupations, (3) the probability that the occupations would not be too difficult to judge as to social prestige, and (4) a group of occupations that would offer an opportunity for expression by boys and girls,

The twenty-five selected

occupations were followed by approximately fifty per cent of the workers in the United States on the basis of the 1930 -i

Census.

This group of occupations, moreover, represented

the seven major classifications, as outlined by the United States Employment Service:

(1) managerial and professional,

(2) clerical and sales, (3) service, (4) agricultural and kin­ dred occupations, (5) skilled, (6) semiskilled, and (7) un­ skilled occupations.

The last basis upon which the occupa­

tions were selected was the ease with which the boys and girls could rank the occupations; and it was for this reason that these twenty-five occupations were chosen when perhaps others in the same classification might have been pursued by even more workers. and Menger

5

The previous research of Counts,

Hartmann,

A

was especially helpful in the present study.

fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930. Occupational Statistics: Abstract Summary l^r the ‘United States, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1932. o Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Part I. Defini­ tions of Titles. United StatesDepartmentof Labor• Washington: Government JPrinting Office, June 1939. n.

^Counts, op. cit., pp. 16-27. ^Hartmann, op. cit., p. 146. g

Menger, op. cit.. pp. 167-8.

28

Since the social prestige ranking was confusing to some students unless accompanied by further comment by the administrator, a mimeographed set of instructions^ was pre­ pared to aid the persons administering the inventory* Construction of part four of the instrument*

The

fourth part of the inventory was designed to test the infor­ mation of students concerning one hundred major occupations* To accomplish this task, it was necessary to select a group of pertinent questions and a representative group of occupa­ tions • The selection of questions even in objective-type of instrument must always remain subjective.

The process, in

other words, must always involve a sample which is based upon the judgement of the sampler,

bince this is a source of o possible injustice, many sources of occupational information were studied for crucial questions which might serve as suit­ able means for evaluating occupational knowledge.

Any one of

these sources might have provided many questions; but after close study twenty-six questions® seemed to be the fairest and most representative sampling of the questions proposed by these sources. Prom the above group of twenty-six questions the author selected a much smaller number of questions upon the following 3-Appendix A, p. 332. ^These sources have already been enumerated on page 25 of this chapter. ^Bibliography, pp. 273-281.

29

bases:

(1) rewards offered by occupations, (2) requirements

for entering occupations, and (3) conditions of work.

With

these questions six different forms^ of Part IV were con­ structed and experimented with before a final form was pro­ duced.

The different forms varied principally as to the

manner in which the questions were to be stated, not as to the information to be tested (although there were a few ex­ ceptions) • The type of question assumed a position of major importance.

For example, a question concerning the number

of hours spent per week by a worker at his occupation could assume the following patterns: Check (✓) worker will 1. Baker

the occupations In which you think the spend over 50 hoursper week at his job.

Will the worker in each of the following occupations work more than 50 hours per week if he is steadily employed? Yes No ? 1* Baker About how many hours per week will the worker spend at his job if he is steadily employed? 1. Baker _____ A. Less than 48 hours B. 48 to 60 hours C. More than 60 hours About how many hours per week will the worker spend at his job if he is steadily employed? 1. Baker _____ (Students were to supply their own estimate) These types of questions were used in the different forms of Part IV of the instrument.

The last two types of questions,

on the basis of examining preliminary student responses, ■^■The two forms which were actually administered to pupils may be found in Appendix A, pp. 296-331.

30

yielded the best index of student occupational knowledge* They required more precise judgements upon the part of stu­ dents, and the answers of students were less influenced by suggestions from the author*

The following questions were

selected for the final form*** of Part IV: 1* Questions with no choice of answers: a) About how many hours per week will the worker spend at his job, if he is steadily employed? b) What school subject would be most useful in prepar­ ing for each of these occupations? c) About how much money do you think the beginner would earn his first year in each of these occupations? d) About how much money, on the average, would a person with experience earn every year in each of these occupations? 2* Questions with multiple choice answers: a) b) c) d) e) f)

What is the least amount of education required for these occupations, even though more education may be desirable? What special ability does each occupation require? About what per cent of the workers in these occu­ pations are less than 25 years of age? What Is happening to the number of workers employed in these occupations? About what per cent of the workers in each of these occupations are women? How much leadership do these occupations require?

Answers to the first four questions were vastly improved when no choices of answers were given.

Multiple choice answers

were provided for the last six questions so that the final tabulations could be uniform. The first sample of occupations was taken from the P Dictionary of Occupational Titles. These titles were not

■^Appendix A, Form 6, pp. 288-289. ^Dictionary of Occupational Titles, Part I. op. cit*

31

suitable*

First of all, the occupations were so specific that

very few people could recognize them*

”Airbag buffertf, the

first occupation selected, seemed to be exceedingly difficult to describe with respect to hours, wages, number of workers et cetera*

Another objection to this method of selection was

the inadvisability of using many occupations which employed small numbers of workers, i.e. not more than a thousand workers might be employed at any given time as airbag buffer.

The use

of the dictionary was, therefore, displaced by other sources. The next trial dealt with the one hundred occupations which were selected and outlined by the Science Research Associates.^

Although these outlines serve an excellent pur­

pose in acquainting students with occupations, they offered one serious drawback.

Some of the one hundred occupations cut

vertically through toomany other occupations.

Two occupations,

apprentices and operatives, selected from the list of Science Research Associates, will illustrate this point.

There are

many different types of apprentices and operatives.

Students

found the terms difficult even if the type of apprentice or operative was stated in the question.

Instead of any ready­

made list of occupations the selection was based upon the census statistics of occupations* After careful study of the statistics on occupations in the fifteenth census of the United States,^ one hundred ^Occupations Outline of America!s Major Occupations, Science Research Associates. Chicago, Illinois. ^Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1950. op. cit.

32

occupations’*' were chosen because each occupation employed 50,000 or more workers.

The only exception to this method

were a few occupations which have increased rapidly accord2 ing to reliable predictions for the sixteenth census. The one hundred occupations totaled 37,286,000 workers.

These

occupations are still general, are not applicable to specif­ ically one type of work; yet the occupations represent not only the government's classification but also terms in the vernacular of men and women in contemporary society. Since there were ten questions in the final form, the one hundred occupations were divided equally between the ten questions.

There was no attempt to place these occupa­

tions in any particular question; instead, the only restric­ tion was the desire to have all occupational classifications represented in each question. Determination of Answers to Questions in ^ar~k Instrument 4 The numerical scores of Part IV have a definite role to play in this study.

The quantitative aspect served as a

means of determining the reliability of Part IV and also the ■**Appendix B, pp. 338-340. In some of the forms other than the filial form a larger number of occupations were needed. This was accomplished by placing some of the occupations with a large number of workers in the forms more than once. 2

P. E. Davidson and H. D. Anderson, Occupational Mobility, Stanford University Press, 1937. ®Appendix A, pp. 288-289. 4 A numerical score is the total number of correct re­ sponses to the questions of Part IV of the instrument.

33

means of comparing the amount of occupational knowledge for different groups*

The determination of the most acceptable

answers to the questions was a problem which depended entirely upon research into all of the available literature upon occu­ pational information*

In passing, it should be noted that the

emphasis has been placed upon the concept of ^most acceptable answer11 and not upon 11the correct answer*11 This was necessary since the questions asked in most cases were such that there were no answers available which might be classified as abso­ lutely correct or infallible*

It was consequently a matter

of gathering information from every conceivable source.

The

result was the perusal of more than ninety sources of material**which were actually used in gathering information, while many other materials were reviewed and discarded when they had nothing to add to the problem* Data was gathered from these ninety sources for the one hundred occupations in the questions of Part IV.

After a

close examination of the information the most acceptable an­ swers were determined.

An example of the procedure will be

outlined for the occupation of accountant.

This particular

occupation was used for the question, "About how much money do you think the beginner would earn his first year in each /

of these occupations?"

The most acceptable answer to this

question in relation to the accountant was any answer ranging ^■The ninety-odd sources of occupational information were incorporated in the Bibliography, pp. 273-281. These materials'were actually used - those which were not appro­ priate were discarded*

34

from $800 to $ 1 8 0 0 'Eh© following data was collected upon this particular occupation for beginners:

(1) $1200-$1800 a

year,2 (2) $800-$1200 a year,3 (3) $20-$35 a week4 ($1000$1750 a year), and (4) $100-$125 a month5 ($1200-$1500 a year). The materials on beginning wages for accountants were consis­ tent if the chief emphasis was upon the “low11 or "high11 aspect of wages rather than upon the exact numerical amount.

The

range of salaries was $800 to $1800 and upon this basis $1300 was selected as average, while the most acceptable answer was any amount between $800 and $1800.

At first inspection this

may seem to be rather an arbitrary method; but the important feature of this question, as in the case of others, was not the knowledge of any precise salary.

Instead, the emphasis

was placed upon the high or low aspect of a salary.

The

method for the other questions and the other occupations was similar to the aforementioned example. 3-This acceptable answer and all of the others may be found in Appendix C, pp. 344-348. It must be understood that some of these answers were most acceptable in light of world conditions and the consequent repercussions upon occupations. P Chloris Shade (director), “Accountancy,*1 Success Vocational Series, p. 14. Chicago: Morgan-Dillon Co., 1937. Occupational Outlines on America!s Major Occupations. op. cit., pp. iv-v. 4 Harold F, Clark, Life Earnings in Selected Occupations in the United States, p. 365. Hew York: Harper & Brother, 1937. (Hiring rate in Hew York Metropolitan District, Current Condi­ tions, National Employment Exchange, New York.) 5 Vocational Guidance Record and Monographs. The Quarrie Reference Library. I, p. 4. Chicago: World Book Encyclopedia Co.

35

Reliability and Validity of the Instrument An inventory may be mechanically perfect and yet be entirely useless.

The utility of any instrument depends upon

its validity and reliability. curacy

The validity refers to the ac­

with which an instrument measures what it is intended

to measure, while the reliability refers to how well the in­ strument measures whatever it is intended to measure.

Any

instrument must be reliable if it is to possess validity, but it may be reliable and still not be valid.

The importance of

examining these two aspects of an instrument is, therefore, readily seen if the results are to be significant. Reliability of the instrument.

A group of thirty-one

ninth graders in Racine, Wisconsin were given a mimeographed 1 2 form and also the final edition of the first three parts of the instrument.

This was not in the original plan; but since

twenty-seven days had elapsed between the two forms, it seemed advisable to check the reliability of the complete instrument. It is not possible to evaluate the reliability of the first three' parts in terms of coefficients or numbers.

It was nec­

essary to check the responses In the mimeographed form against the answers in the printed form as to the Instances in which they did not agree completely. Reliability of first part of instrument.

On the first

.

9. .......... io;........... ii............ 12...........

49.4 51.5 53.7 55.2

9.5 9i4 8.45 9.15

•43 144 .38 .39

481 466 498 543

All Grades....

53.0

9.50

♦21

1988

No. of Students

This table indicates that the average scores on Part IV of the instrument progressed by fairly regular steps from the ninth grade through the twelfth grade.

The differences

between the grades do not appear to be as great as one would expect; but perhaps other factors than the grade level deter­ mine the extreme differences of scores of individual students (the scores ranged from twelve to seventy-six).

Between the

averages of the ninth and tenth grades there is a difference of 2.1 points.

This at first appearance may seem insignifi­

cant, but statistically there is only 0 chance in 100 that the true mean of the ninth grade lies out side of 49.4 and 51.5.

Thus, the mean of the tenth grade is practically cer­

tain not to be included within limits of the ninth grade.

Uhe

ratio between the obtained difference of means and the standard

46

error of the means substantiates the claim that there is a significant difference between the means of the ninth and tenth grades*

Any ratio above three is considered signifi­

cant, and in this case for the ninth and tenth grades the significance ratio equals 3*4.

The chances for all four

grades of their average score being included either in the grade above or below are all 0 in 100.

In addition, the sig­

nificance ratio for the difference between the tenth and eleventh grades is 3*8 and for the difference between the eleventh and twelfth grade is 2*8*

The significance ratio

for the difference between the eleventh and twelfth grades is the only one which falls below the standard by which the difference becomes statistically significant. To further ascertain whether Part IV of the inventory actually depended upon knowledge of occupations, it was ad1 ministered to sixty-four students enrolled in an evening class at the University College, Northwestern University* These students were enrolled in a class which stressed a working knowledge of occupational information and vocational guidance.

One might assume that the scores of these inter­

ested persons might be consistently higher than the scores of relatively uninformed secondary school students.

This con­

clusion was substantiated by the results since the mean was % o s t of these students were graduate students who were counselors and teachers dealing with the problems of distributing occupational information to secondary school students. Part IV of the Inventory was administered two weeks before the end of the second semester.

47

71*0 and the standard deviation was 7*7*

The mean for twelfth

graders was 55*2, the highest mean of all grades, so there was a significant difference between the two groups.

The group

of graduate students was more homogeneous than any grade in the secondary school.

Only two of the sixty-four graduate

students received a numerical score less than the highest mean of 55.2 for twelfth graders.

An examination of Table VIII

further substantiates the difference between the ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth and graduate students.

Perhaps these dif­

ferences may be caused by the increased maturity on the part of graduate students; but it seems more logical that these differences are due to added interest in, experience with, and knowledge of occupations. Two criticisms might be leveled at Part IV: namely, the inventory is an intelligence test, and the inventory is a reading test.

The Antigo Public Schools supplied the intel1 ligence quotients for 116 students from the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades.

These intelligence quotients,

when correlated with the scores on Part IV of the inventory, yielded a coefficient of .491.07.

This indicates that, on

the basis of this evidence, there was some relationship be­ tween the two instruments.

The relationship is not so high

that the inventory could be designated as a means of deter­ mining the intelligence level of individuals or even groups. i

^These intelligence quotients were derived from the Otis Group Intelligence Scale.

48

TABLE VIII PER CERT OP STUDENTS RECEIVING NUMERICAL SCORES ON PART IV OP THE INSTRUMENT

Numerical Scores on Part XV of Instrument

Per Cent of Students by Grades 9

0 6 12 23 23 15 10 6 3 1 0

12

0 2 7 16 25 21 15 8 5 1 0

0 2 11 22 24 16 13 8 2 1 0 1

0 1 7 14 23 21 14 10 5 2 1 1 0 0 1

5 11 26 32 17 5 2 2

1

0 1

0

Number of students. . •

484

469

499

543

1995

64

Mean score. . .

49.4

51.5

53.7

55.2

53.0

71.0

Standard deviation • .

9.5

9.4

8.5

9.2

9.5

7.7

CTm

.43

.44

.39

to H

4 7 19 25 16 13 8 5 1 1 0

11

Graduate Students

00 to •

80-84 . . * • • 75-79 ........ 70-74 ........ 65-69 « • • • • 60—64 « * « • « 55—59 « « * * * 50—54 • « * « • 45-49 • • • • • 40—44 • * * * • 35-39 ........ 30—34 * • • « * 25-89 « * « • « 20-24 • • • • « 15—19 « « • • • 10—14 • * « • • Omitted • • * •

10

All Grades

.96

• • • • • •

0

49

It seems logical to postulate that there should he some rela­ tionship between intelligence and occupational information if the latter is determined by the ,!paper-and-pencil,f variety of instruments • The median scores from the Iowa Reading Test were secured for fifty-two ninth and tenth graders.

The relia­

bility coefficient between these scores and those of Part IV was .521.10.

Again, there was a relationship between the two,

a relationship that was not totally unexpected.

Comprehension

scores and reading rates of sixty juniors and seniors on the Iowa Silent Reading Test were correlated with scores on Part IV of the Instrument.

The reliability coefficient for read­

ing comprehension and occupational information was .471.10; and for reading rate and occupational information the coeffi­ cient was .111.13.

There seemed to be little relationship be­

tween reading rate and Part IV of the instrument.

As expected

there was some relationship for comprehension and Part IV, but this relationship was not so great that the inventory could be classified as an instrument for measuring this aspect of read­ ing ability. Conclusion The reliability has been established as satisfactory for the study of group behavior.

For individual diagnosis

the inventory would have to be refined in light of the know­ ledge gleaned from its administration to 1995 secondary school students.

The validity has been assumed upon the basis of

50

circumstantial evidence since it cannot be established objec­ tively*

The validity, as in the case of reliability, seems

to be adequate for the study of group behavior and is not assumed to be adequate for individual diagnosis*

CHAPTER III DESCRIPTION OF PTJPILS IN STCD5T The twenty-two schools which were used in this study were selected carefully.

On the other hand, the 1995 stu­

dents who took part were a chance selection from these schools There was no attempt to choose intellectually superior stu­ dents, or to select any group that was characteristically dif­ ferent from the school population.

Consequently, it is rather

important that an examination be made of the pupils1 charac­ teristics.

The reliability of the data reported in later chap

ters will depend to a large degree upon the representativeness of the student sample. Data Concerning Students At the time that the inventory was administered, there was little or no desire to predetermine the total number of students for each grade for each school.

In the case of a

few small schools the entire body of students was used, while In most other instances groups of students in regularly sched­ uled classrooms were utilized.

This chance selection of stu­

dents yielded irregularities in the sample, (Table IX).

The

percentage of ninth and tenth grades was too large for the small schools.

The general trend for the small schools was a 51

52

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