THE SIGNIFICANCE FOR EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE OF THE DATA ON THE APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION FORM IN USE AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

84 Pages·4.331 MB·English

by  PULTZ, FREDERICK DICKINSON

THE SIGNIFICANCE FOR EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE OF THE DATA
ON THE APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION FORM IN USE
AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY '
DISSERTATION
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
far the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the
Graduate School of the Ohio State
University
By
FREDERICK DICKINSON FULTZ. B.A., A.M.
* *
« i <>» • • t
The Ohio State University
19f?2
Approved by:
______
Advisseer
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research which is reported here is the result of
the cooperation of many persons. It would take too much space
to lis t a ll who have helped in some way. Some of the ones
who have been especially helpful are Dr. Alice Z. Seeman who
served as the writer's adviserj Dr. Robert J. Wherry who
worked very closely with and offered advice and counsel while
the analysis was being madej Mr. Wallace W. Stover and his
staff in the College Officej and Frances who offered constant
encouragement and help during the years of graduate study.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................... 1
Statement of Problem........................................................ . 2
D efin itio n s.................................................................................... 3
Basic Hypotheses with which the
Study is Concerned U
Basic Assumptions Underlying the Stucfy- . . . . h
Delim itations of the Problem ...................................... U
Limitations of the S t u ^ y ......................................... . 5
Source of D ata............................................................................. 5
Summary ...................................................................... 6
II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY.................................... 7
III. TREATMENT OF DATA ........................................................................17
S ta tistica l Procedure ........................................................ 18
IV. PRESENTATION OF D A T A ................................................. 23
V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . 59
Conclusions ....................................................... 6l
Recom m endations.................................. . . 6l
BIBLIOGRAPHY . 63
APPENDIX.......................................................................................................................65
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
I. Variables Used in the Preliminary Analysis . . . 2U
H . Intercorrelations, he si dual C oefficients,
and Factor Loadings for Variables in
Group 1 . . . . , , ................................................ 28
III. Intercorrelations, Residual C oefficients,
and Factor Loadings for Variables in
Group 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
IV. Intercorrelations, Residual C oefficients,
and Factor Loadings for Variables in
Group 3 .......................................................................... 33
V. Intercorrelations, Residual C oefficients,
and Factor Loadings for Variables in
Group I). . . 35
VI. Intercorrelations, Residual C oefficients,
and Factor Loadings for Variables in
Group 5 ....................................................... 38
VII. Intereorrelations, Residual C oefficients,
and Factor Loadings for Variables in
Group 6 . . . . ............................................... Ul
VIII. Intercorrelations, Residual C oefficients,
and Factor Loadings for Variables in
Group 7 ....................................................... h3
IX. Variables Used in Major Analysis . . . . . . 1*6
X. Intercorrelations, Residual C oefficients,
and Factor Loadings for the Major Analysis . . 1*8
XI. Variables Used in the Supplementary Analysis . . $h
XII. Intercorrelations, Residual C oefficients,
and Factor Loadings for the Supplementary
A nalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
XIII. Distribution of Variables by Categories . . . . 69
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THE SIGNIFICANCE FOR EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE OF THE DATA
ON THE APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION FORM IN USE
AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The ideal of free public education in America has contributed
g reatly to our in d u strial and sc ie n tific age with the attendant ris e in
the standard of liv in g and an increasingly complex society. This change
in turn requires a longer period of train in g in developing technical
and social sk ills required in our modern age. The unusual development
has created its problems in the schools as w ell as in other areas.
The greatly increasing number of young people who are seeking entrance
into our colleges, th eir expanding range of aptitudes and a b ilitie s,
and the greater p art th at colleges are expected to play in the to ta l
development c£ citizenship and personality of youth have made i t d if­
fic u lt for these in stitu tio n s to provide adequately for those who seek
adm ission.
Because of the expanding number of youth who seek admission to in ­
stitu tio n s of higher education, i t is constantly necessary to re-evaluate
the philosophy and purpose of higher education. However, i t is s till d iffi­
c u lt for some people to give up the concept of a college as an exclusive in ­
stitu tio n in which highly selected individuals are to receive concentrated
training in a very narrow curriculum . This theory prevails in deed, if
not in theory, in spite of mounting evidence th at some college entrance
requirem ents are invalid in th e ir attem pt to pred ict'co lleg e success.
The problem in some colleges is not dealt with as an admission
problem but rather one of selective retention. • •••: The problem is one
of discovering the tru e preparation and a b ility of an individual and then
doing everything possible to help each individual to receive the maximum
benefits from his trainin g .
Statement of the Problem. Prediction of success in college is
becoming increasingly more im portant while the tools and techniques being
used are improving little if any. High school graduation is generally
required for admission to college. Along with th is some given pattern of
high school courses is usually expected i f not required. Average grade or
rank in class is quite often considered to be im portant. Scores on psy­
chological or subject m atter te sts count heavily, p articu larly in cases
where there is some doubt about other variables. Q uestionnaires are al­
most universally used to secure supposedly significant facts concerning
the environmental background of those who seek admission to college, but
few system atic studies have been made to determine whether the questions
asked are really significant.
Traxier in summarizing the needed research in student personnel
work comments thus:
I t would be d iffic u lt to name another area in the entire
educational program characterized by so much objective data
and so l i t t l e research as personnel reco rd s....
3
There is need for much more study sim ilar to W illiam son's
in vestig atio n of the pragmatic value of personal data. At­
ten tio n should be centered on those item s in records which
individually or in combination are predictive of success, but
no one can say what these item s are u n til a large number of
long range studies are available. (8, p. 1301)
The purpose of th is study was to analyze s ta tis tic a lly by factor
analysis the inform ation on the A pplication fo r Admission form used at
The Ohio State U niversity, a copy of which is presented in the Appendix.
This was a questionnaire designed to secure pertinent facts about such
things as home and school environment, work experience, and in tere sts
which are related to college success.
D efinitions. An understanding of the p articu lar items defined
in th is section is necessary for ease of reading throughout the study.
Only a few basic definitions are presented here, w ith further c la rific a ­
tio n of them and other terms appearing a t the point where they are f irs t
used in the te x t of th is report.
The A pplication fo r Admission form. A ll applicants for admission
to first-y e a r work at The Ohio S tate U niversity must f i l l out in th e ir
own handw riting P art I of the A pplication for Admission to The Ohio S tate
U niversity. This part of the form contains general inform ation about such
things as fam ily data, educational data, extra cu rricu lar a c tiv itie s, em­
ployment experience, vocational data, and financial plans.
Factor A nalysis is a s ta tis tic a l technique devised by Thurstone to
describe te s t correlations w ith the sm allest possible number of factors.
I t has since been applied to various kinds of psychological data. The
technique as used in th is stuc^y is a m odified version of the Thurstone
method.
Cumulative Point-Hour R atio, h ereafter referred to as CPHR, is de­
term ined by dividing to ta l grade-points earned by to ta l number of hours
carried. Each cred it hour of A earns four points; B, three points; C,
two points; D, one point; E, no points.
Basic Hypotheses w ith which the Study is Concerned. This analysis
centered upon the exam ination and testin g of these hypotheses:
(1) The A pplication for Admission form contains inform ation which
has s ta tis tic a l significance for predicting success in a given college.
(2) The inform ation contained in the form can be accounted fo r by
a sm all number of factors some of which are related to success in college.
Basic Assumptions Underlying the Study. C ertain basic assumptions
were made in connection w ith the A pplication for Admission forms, w ith
the college records used in th is study, and consequently w ith th is eval­
uation:
(1) That the inform ation found on the forms is relia b le .
(2) That the variables can be put into meaningful categories which
can be dichotom ized in such a way th at any re al differences w ill be appar­
ent.
(3) That some of the data has no s ta tis tic a l significance and
consequently is not included in the study.
D elim itation of th e Problem. This study was lim ited to a group of
2>9h students who entered the Ohio S tate U niversity College of Education
as beginning freshmen in the Autumn Quartep, l$>i|7. I t included no one
known ;iot -to be in the teacher tra in in g program at some time during his
or her enrollm ent in the College of Education.
The tim e lim it of the study extended from Autumn Q uarter, 19U7,
through the beginning of th e Autumn Q uarter, 1951. These lim its mean
th a t any students included in th e study would have had the opportunity to
attend college for a maximum of 15 quarters including Summer Q uarters.
Lim itations of the Study. The study is lim ited in the follow ing
ways:
(1) A few of the students who spent only a short tim e in college
and had not declared th e ir m ajors may not have been in the teacher tra in ­
ing program and thus should not have been included in the study.
(2) Some of the students who are c la ssifie d in th is study as drop­
outs may re-en ter the college a t a la te r time and complete th eir program.
(3) Some of the students c la ssifie d in th is study as not in school
may have continued th e ir train in g at other in stitu tio n s.
(U) Students who tran sferred to other colleges w ithin the U niversity
were lo st to the College of Education and consequently only the record the
student made w hile in the College of Education was used fo r purposes of
th is study.
Source of Data. The basic data for th is study were secured from
the A pplication fo r Admission forms in the College of Education O ffice.
In addition, the permanent record cards in the college office furnished
data on item s th a t were used as the c rite ria fo r success. The A pplication
for Admission forms of students who had tran sferred to other colleges in
the U niversity were not available in the College of Education o ffice,
but had to be traced to the college in which the student was la s t reg is­
tered .
Summary. This study has had as its purpose the fac to rial an­
aly sis of data secured from the A pplication for Admission form in order
to determ ine what item s and what facto rs were related to college success.
The 39k beginning freshmen who entered the College of Education
in the Autumn Quarter, 19U?j to secure teaching certificates constitute
the group studied.