Sociometric interaction and personal and social adjustment of nontransported pupils in grades IV, V and VI

Gill, C. Lloyd. (1971) Sociometric interaction and personal and social adjustment of nontransported pupils in grades IV, V and VI. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The present study examined (1) the nature of sociometric choice and rejection patterns, and (2) the differences in adjustment of nontransported and transported pupils who have been brought together in centralized elementary school classrooms. More specifically: 1. An analysis of the sociometric data indicated to what extent nontransported and transported pupils chose friends from within and rejected members from outside their respective groups, and 2. An analysis of the adjustment data provided information on differences in the personal and social adjustment of transported and nontransported pupils. -- The sample used in this study consisted of 194 Grade IV, 169 Grade V, and 169 Grade VI pupils in elementary schools in three rural school districts. In the total sample there were 271 nontransported and 261 transported pupils. -- Data for the study was obtained from a specially developed sociometric test and from the standardized California Test of Personality (CTP). The criteria of the sociometric test permitted each pupil to name 5 classmates whom he would choose, and 5 classmates he would not choose, if he were moving to a new classroom. The California Test of Personality provided adjustment data for the following sub-tests: (a) self-reliance, (b) sense of personal worth, (c) feeling of belonging, (d) withdrawing tendencies, (e) social skills, (f) anti-social tendencies, and (g) school relations. -- A chi-square .analysis of the sociometric choice data was carried out separately for boys and girls. This meant four different groups in each grade: nontransported boys and girls, and transported boys and girls. The results of the analysis indicated that in nearly all of these groups, transported pupils chose transported pupils, and nontransported pupils chose nontransported pupils at frequencies significantly greater than those expected by chance. The only exceptions were Grade IV nontransported and transported boys - these two groups exhibited no biased tendency to choose members within their own nontransported and transported groups. -- A chi-square analysis of the sociometric rejection data was also carried out separately for boys and girls. This analysis did not suggest that nontransported and transported pupils were inclined to reject each other to any great extent. More specifically of 24 possible combinations only the five cases below were statistically significant: 1. Grade IV nontransported boys rejected transported girls; 2. Grade V nontransported boys rejected transported girls; 3. Grade V transported boys rejected nontransported boys; 4. Grade V nontransported girls rejected transported girls; and 5. Grade VI nontransported girls rejected transported boys. A disquieting factor here is that in four of the five cases, nontransported pupils rejected transported pupils, while the reverse occurred only once. In all the above cases, the significant probability level was P<.05. -- A two-way analysis of variance of the California Test of Personality scores resulted in only one significant difference between the mean scores of nontransported and transported pupils: in Grade IV the nontransported pupils scored significantly higher than transported pupils on the “feeling of belonging” component. All other CTP components extracted no differences between adjustments of nontransported and transported pupils. Also, division of the sample into (1) groups of high and low sociometric status, and (2) groups of boys and girls did not elicit any significant interactions between (1) the transportation treatment and sociometric status, and (2) the transportation treatment and sex. -- In view of the fact that the analysis of sociometric rejection data resulted in relatively few significant cases, the strong within-group choice data should probably not be viewed with alarm. Also, the lack of significant differences in personal and social adjustment of nontransported and transported pupils suggests no new administrative provisions for the incoming transported pupils.

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