During the course of a pilot study designed to determine the effect of basic education instruction on the attitudes of disadvan taged adults, problems were experienced in the use of standardized noncognitive measures. This paper outlines some of the problems of the reliability of these standardized instruments and makes recommendations about their utility. First, there are few standard ized noncognitive measures available for this population, and second, the standardized measures that were used in the study appear to have limited utility for investigating the effects of basic education on disadvantaged adults.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adair, J.B.A Study of Illiteracy in Texas as Related to Vocational Education in Texas (Austin, Texas : Texas Education Agency, 1964).
2.
Bakke, E.W., et al. Labor Mobility and Economic Opportunity ( Cambridge, Massachusetts: Technology Press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1954).
3.
Bell, W. "Anomia, Social Isolation and the Class Structure." Sociometry, XX, No. 2 (1957), pp. 105-116.
4.
Bouge, Donald J.Residential Mobility and Migration of Workers (Manpower in the United States . Washington, D. C.: Industrial Relations Research Association, 1964).
5.
Boyd, V.A., and Morgan, C.A.Factors in the Adjustments of Families and Individuals in Low-Income Rural Areas of the South. Synthesis of Findings from Southern Regional Cooperative Research Project S-44 (Clemson, South Carolina: Clemson University, 1966).
6.
Boyce, V. Milton. "The Effect of Adult Basic Education on Selected Noncognitive Attributes " (Unpublished Ed.D. thesis, Department of Adult and Community College Education, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, 1970).
7.
Browning, M.A.A Report of the Educational Needs of Migrant Workers ( Austin, Texas: Texas Educational Agency, 1962).
8.
Cleland, Charles L., ed. Scaling Social Data: A Comparison of Scales Developed Using Various Techniques ( Southern Cooperative Series, Bulletin No. 108. Knoxville: Tennessee Agriculture Experiment Station, 1965).
9.
DeHoyos, Arturo. "Occupational Education Levels of Aspiration of Mexican-American Youth " (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Michigan State University, 1961).
10.
Fitts, W.H.Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (Nashville: Counselor Recordings and Tests, 1965).
11.
Franklin, R.D. "Youth's Expectancies About Internal Versus External Control of Reinforcement Related to N Variables" ( Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Purdue University, 1963).
12.
Guilford, J.P.Psychometric Methods (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1954).
13.
Haller, A.O.The MSU Work Beliefs Checklist (East Lansing, Michigan : Michigan State University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, 1957).
14.
Hammonds, A.D. "Socio-economic Status and Anomia: An Interpretation and Specifications of the Relationships" (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Department of Agriculture, Economic, and Rural Sociology, University of Tennessee , 1963).
15.
Hodgkins, B. "Religion, Socio-economic Status, and Work Value Orientations of Lenawee County Adolescent Males" (Unpublished master's thesis, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Michigan State University, 1961).
16.
Hoyt, C. "Test Reliability Estimated by Analysis of Variance" Psychometrika, VI (1941), pp. 153-160.
17.
Kerlinger, F.N.Foundations of Behavioral Research (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., 1964).
18.
Lewis, C.E. "Some Correlates of Anomia Among Rural Negroes" Unpublished master's thesis, Department of Rural Sociology, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, 1966).
19.
McClosky, H. , and Schaar, J.H. "Psychological Dimensions of Anomy," American Sociological Review, XXX ( 1965), pp. 14-40.
20.
Meier, D.L. , and Bell, W. "Anomia and Differential Access to the Achievement of Life's Goals," American Sociological Review, XXIV ( 1959 ) , pp. 189-202.
21.
Miller, Delbert C.Handbook of Research Design and Social Measurement (New York: David McKay, 1968).
22.
Moon, S.C., and McCann, G.C. "Anomia Scales," Scaling Social Data. Edited by L. Cleland (Knoxville, Tennessee Agriculture Experiment Station, 1965).
23.
Moore, A.B. "Noncognitive Attributes of Participants and Non-participants in Selected Adult Basic Education Programs" (Unpuhlished Ed.D. thesis, Department of Adult and Community College Education, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, 1970).
24.
Peters, J.M.Effect of Internal-External Control on Learning and Participation in Occupational Education, Center Research Monograph No. 1 (Raleigh, North Carolina: Center for Occupational Education, 1968).
25.
Robinson, J.P. ; Rush, J.G.; and Head, K.B.Measures of Political Attitude including Appendices A and B (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan, Survey Research Institute, 1968).
26.
Rotter, J.B. "General Expectancies and Internal Versus External Control of Reinforcement," Psychological Monographs, LXXX, No. 1 (1966), pp. 1-28.
27.
Rundquist, E.A. , and Sletto, R.F.Personality in the Depression. Child Welfare Monograph Series No. 12 (Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 1963).
28.
Shaw, M.E., and Wright, J.M.Scales for the Measurement of Attitudes ( New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1967).
29.
Simpson, R.L. , and Miller, H.M. "Social Status and Anomia," Social Problems, X (1963), pp. 256-264.
30.
Srole, L. "Social Integration and Certain Corollaries: An Exploratory Study," American Sociological Review, XXI, No. 6 (1956), pp. 709-716.
31.
Stern, G.G. "Measuring Noncognitive Variables in Research and Teaching," Handbook of Research on Teaching, Edited by N. L. Gage (Chicago: Rand McNally and Company , 1963).
32.
Thorndike, R.L.Personal Selection (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1949).
33.
Tumin, M.M. , and Collins, R.C. "Status, Mobility and Anomie: A Study in Readiness for Desegregation," British Journal of Sociology , X (1959, pp. 253-267.
34.
Watts, H.J. "Methodological Problems in the Measurement of Values" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Michigan State University, 1962).
35.
Whitson, S.M. "An Analysis of Economic and Social Adjustment Patterns of Rural Families in a Selected Low-Income County of Texas" (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Department of Sociology, Texas A & M University, 1961).
