A CRITICA EVALUATIOL ONF TH BELE L ADJUSTMENT …

A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE BELL ADJUSTMENT INVENTORY:

STUDENT FORM

By

E l v e t Glyn Jones

A Thesis Submitted i n P a r t i a l F u l f i l m e n t of

The Requirements f o r the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

In the Department

of

PSYCHOLOGY

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

October 1949

ABSTRACT OF THESIS

A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE BELL ADJUSTMENT INVENTORY: STUDENT FORM

by

B l v e t Glyn Jones

A b s t r a c t of T h e s i s Submitted ia P a r t i a l F u l

f i l l m e n t of the Requirements f o r

the Degree of

MASTER OF AR2S

In the Department

of

PSYCHOLOGY

4PHE UNIVERSITY OP BRITISH COLUMBIA

October 1949

ABSTRACT OF THESIS

A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE BELL ADJUSTMENT INVENTORY?

During the course of t h i s study, an attempt was made

t o e s t a b l i s h evidence c o n c e r n i n g the r e l i a b i l i t y and v a l i d

i t y of the f o u r adjustment s u b s e c t i o n s i n c l u d e d w i t h i n the

Student Form of the Adjustment Inventory,. The f o u r aubsec*

t i o n s are? Hone Adjustment; H e a l t h Adjustment,;. S o c i a l Ad

justment ; and Emotional Adjustment*

The t o t a l sample used, in, t h i a , s t u d y c o n s i s t e d of

103 grade twelve boye and 104 grade twelve g i r l s from t h e

K i t s i l a n o J u n i o r - S e n i o r High S c h o o l , Vancouver., B r i t i s h C o l

umbia.

Wi t h i n the l i m i t a t i o n s of the study, the s a l i e n t

f i n d i n g s may be s t a t e d a s f o l l o w s :

1* C e r t a i n of the s u b s e c t i o n s y i e l d e d d i s t r i b u t i o n s

f o r the samples used t h a t d i v e r g e d G i g n i f i c a n t l y from norm*

a l i t y r e s u l t i n g from an accumulation of scores at the w e l l -

a d j u s t e d end of the s c a l e .

2, S i g n i f i c a n t sex d i f f e r e n c e s w i t h i n the s c o r e s of

the boy8 and g i r l s were o b t a i n e d i n the c a s e o f the Emotion

a l s e c t i o n and the S o c i a l s e c t i o n .

3* S t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e between mean s c o r e s was

o b t a i n e d f o r t h e sample of grade twelve boys used i n t h i s

study and the o r i g i n a l s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n sample of h i g h s c h o o l

boys ( s e l e c t e d from a l l grades) i n the case of the H e a l t h

s e c t i o n and the S o c i a l s e c t i o n . Comparing the o r i g i n a l

s t a n d a r d i s a t i o n sample of g i r l s w ith the preeent grade twelve

sample, s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s were found between t h e i r

group scores f o r the Home, H e a l t h , and S o c i a l s e c t i o n s •

These r e s u l t s suggest t h a t a r e v i s i o n of norms i s p o s s i b l y

r e q u i r e d i n c e r t a i n c a s e s *

4. Prom an item a n a l y s i s , i t was noted t h a t f o r each

s e c t i o n c e r t a i n items f e l l below s t a t i s t i c a l requirements

f o r acceptance* In the c a s e o f the Health s e c t i o n , f o r the

boys,, 1? of the 35 items f e l l below requirements, i n d i c a t i n g

weak i n t e r v a l c o n s i s t e n c y . The S o c i a l s e c t i o n proved t o

have the fewest number of poor items, f o u r i n the case of

the boys and t h r o e f o r the g i r l s *

5. The obtained r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s f o r the Home

and S o c i a l s e c t i o n s were found t o be above the .80 l e v e l i n

a l l c a s e s , r a n g i n g from .86 t o .91. For tho H e a l t h and Emot

i o n a l s e c t i o n s the r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s i n c e r t a i n c a s e s

f e l l below .80, the Health s e c t i o n producing a low of .701

ae c a l c u l a t e d f o r the boys on the b a s i s of the Hlchar d s o n ^

K\xder f o r m u l a .

6. Although l a most eases the c o e f f i c i e n t s of I n t e r

c o r r e l a t i o n s were low, c e r t a i n of the s u b s e c t i o n s c o r r e l a t e d

s u f f i c i e n t l y h i g h enough t o suggest the p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t

euch s u b s e c t i o n s were measuring r e l a t e d f a c t o r s ,

7 . On the b a s i s of r a t i n g s a r r i v e d a t by means of a

prolonged i n t e r v i e w , the v a l i d a t i n g o f the Home Adjustment

s e c t i o n was s u b s t a n t i a t e d . The r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t the

Home s e c t i o n of the Inventory i s capable of y i e l d i n g r e s u l t s

s i g n i f i c a n t l y s i m i l a r t o those o b t a i n e d by means o f a l e n g t h y

i n t e r v i e w .

8. The f i n d i n g s of the study suggest t h a t tho seores

made on the S o c i a l Adjustment s e c t i o n a r e s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e

l a t e d t o a c t i v e s o c i a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n . Ho s t a t i s t i c a l l y

s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p was found between s c o r e s mads on

the S o c i a l s e c t i o n and s o c i a l " popular i t y 1 ' a r r i v e d a t by

means of a p o p u l a r i t y v o t e . Suggestion i s made tfchat the

S o c i a l s e c t i o n might w e l l be used i n c o u n s e l l i n g f o r d e t e c t

in g those who a r e s e r i o u s l y withdrawing from s o c i a l p a r t i c

i p a t i o n .

9. The v a l i d i t y o f the H e a l t h s e c t i o n f a i l e d t o be

s u b s t a n t i a t e d on the b a s i s of h e a l t h r a t i n g s g i v e n t o 98

grade twelve boys by the School Nurse.

10. The v a l i d i t y of the Emotional Adjustment s e c t i o n

f a i l e d to be s u b s t a n t i a t e d on the b a s i s of composite emot

i o n a l adjustment r a t i n g s a r r i v e d a t by means o f t h e r a t i n g s

o f the School Nurse and the w r i t e r , t o g e t h e r w i t h i n f o r m

a t i o n g i v e n by each s t u d e n t d u r i n g an i n t e r v i e w .

11. To more s a t i s f a c t o r i l y e v a l u a t e the Adjustment I n

ve n t o r y as a t o o l f o r use i n a guidance and c o u n s e l l i n g pro

gramme i n hig h s c h o o l s , a s p e c i a l l y d e v i s e d Student Problem

P o l l was c o n s t r u c t e d w i t h the view of determining where the

f o u r problem a r e a s i n c l u d e d w l t M f t the Inventory f e l l i n

r e l a t i o n s h i p t o o t h e r f i e l d s c o n s i d e r e d important by grade

twelve s t u d e n t s . A c c o r d i n g t o the e s t i m a t i o n s of the s t u d -

ents, other a r e a s of problems a r e c o n s i d e r e d t o bo more im

p o r t a n t than, or as e q u a l l y as important as t h e f o u r a r e a s

i n c l u d e d i n t n e Inventory*

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to express acknowledgments and

thanks to the v a r i o u s members of the S t a f f of the K i t s i l a n o

J u n i o r - S e n i o r High S c h o o l , Vancouver, B.C., who so generous

l y gave-of t h e i r time and a s s i s t a n c e .

The author i s e s p e c i a l l y indebted to M i l t o n Gordon

and W i l l i a m McCormach who so w i l l i n g l y o f f e r e d t h e i r pro

f e s s i o n a l a s s i s t a n c e i n the o b t a i n i n g of r a t i n g s used f o r

e v a l u a t i n g the Home Adjustment s e c t i o n of the Adjustment

Inventory.

A p p r e c i a t i o n i s expressed t o Robert E. Jones who

reviewed and checked the s t a t i s t i c a l r e s u l t s .

For t h e i r guidance and p r o f e s s i o n a l a d v i c e , g r a t e

f u l acknowledgments are extended to E.S.W.Belyea and

F . T . T y l e r .

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I INTRODUCTION 1 F a c t o r s l e a d i n g to present study 1 The statement of the problem.... 6

I I THE BELL ADJUSTMENT INVENTORY 9 General information 9 C o n s t r u c t i o n and s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n of the Inventory 10

R e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s 12 V a l i d a t i o n - 12

The s t a t e d c l aims f o r the Adjustment Invent o r y 18

I I I A SURVEY AND REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE 2 0 Studies on the r e l i a b i l i t y of the Invent o r y 20 V a l i d a t i n g s t u d i e s 22 Summary of v a l i d a t i n g s t u d i e s . . . . 26 Other s t u d i e s u s i n g the Adjustment Invent o r y 27

IV METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF PERSONALITY MEASUREMENT 29 The problem d e f i n i t i o n 30 The problem of equal u n i t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Problems of i n d i v i d u a l d i f f e r e n c e s 32 The e f f e c t of t e s t items 33 The concept of " t r a i t " 34 Problems r e l a t e d to the establishment of r e l i a b i l i t y and v a l i d i t y 35

V EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES 39 Procedures used i n v a l i d a t i n g the Home Adjustment s e c t i o n of the Inventory 41

The c o n s t r u c t i o n of i n t e r v i e w questions f o r e v a l u a t i n g home adjustment 42 Method used to r a t e student on Home adjustment * 46

Procedures used i n v a l i d a t i n g the s o c i a l adjustment s e c t i o n 52

S o c i a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n as a c r i t e r i o n 52 S o c i a l " p o p u l a r i t y " as a c r i t e r i o n 54

Procedures used i n v a l i d a t i n g the Emotional s e c t i o n 55

TABLE OF CONTENTS (con't)

CHAPTER PAGE

V Teachers' r a t i n g s * 55 Composite r a t i n g on Emotional adjustment.. 56

Procedures used i n v a l i d a t i n g the Hea l t h adjustment s e c t i o n . . . . . . 57 S e l f - r a t i n g s 58

VI THE TREATMENT OF DATA AND EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE.. 60 D i s t r i b u t i o n of scores 60

Skewness and K u r t o s i s • 60 Sex d i f f e r e n c e s . . . 64 Comparison of scores of o r i g i n a l s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n samples with scores of present samples. 67 Item A n a l y s i s 70 R e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s 74 Subtest i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s 77 Result s of the v a l i d a t i o n of the s u b s e c t i o n s . 79 Home Adjustment s e c t i o n . . . . . . . . 79 S o c i a l Adjustment s e c t i o n . 83 Health Adjustment s e c t i o n 37 Emotional Adjustment s e c t i o n 89

S e l f - r a t i n g s 92

V I I THE STUDENT PROBLEM POLL 95 Purpose of the P o l l 95 C o n s t r u c t i o n of the P o l l . . . . . 95 Re s u l t s of the P o l l 98

V I I I SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 110

Appendix A 118 Specimen copy of the B e l l Adjustment Invent o r y and Manual.

Appendix B 119 Specimen copy of set of Interview Questions Interview Form Information Form.

Appendix C 120 Specimen copy of emotional adjustment r a t i n g form

Appendix D.......... 121 Specimen copy of s e l f - r a t i n g form

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Con't)

CHAPTER PAGE

Appendix E .. 122 Specimen copy of Student Problem P o l l

Appendix T a b l e s . . . . 123

B i b l i o g r a p h y 125

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE PAGE

I C o e f f i c i e n t s of R e l i a b i l i t y f o r the A d j u s t ment Inventory as Reported by B e l l . 13

I I Data Concerning the O r i g i n a l V a l i d a t i n g Groups of the B e l l Adjustment Inventory.... 16

I I I C o e f f i c i e n t s of I n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s f o r the Adjustment Inventory as Reported by B e l l . . . 17

IV C o e f f i c i e n t s of R e l i a b i l i t y f o r the A d j u s t ment Inventory as'Reported by V a r i o u s St u d i e s 21

V Range of Scores, Mean, Standard E r r o r Of the Mean, Standard D e v i a t i o n , and Measures of Skewness and K u r t o s i s of Scores Made on the Inventory by 100 Grade X I I Boys and 104 Grade XII G i r l s 61

VI Extent of K u r t o s i s and Skewness of D i s t r i b u t i o n s f o r 100 Grade X I I Boys and 104 Grade XII G i r l s 62

V I I Extent of Sex D i f f e r e n c e s w i t h i n Scores made on the Adjustment Inventory by sample of 104 Grade XII G i r l s and 100 Grade XII Boys 65

V I I I Extent of D i f f e r e n c e s Between Mean Scores of O r i g i n a l S t a n d a r d i z a t i o n Sample of 161 High School Boys and PresBnt Sample of 100 Grade X I I Boys 68

IX Extent of D i f f e r e n c e s between Mean Scores of O r i g i n a l S t a n d a r d i z a t i o n Sample of 190 High School G i r l s and Present Sample of 104 Grade XII G i r l s 69

X Number of Item i n each of the Subsections found to be S i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 L e v e l and .05 L e v e l of Confidence and Number Found Below .05 L e v e l 73

LIST OF TABLES (Con't)

TABLE

XI C o e f f i c i e n t s of C o r r e l a t i o n f o r the Sub s e c t i o n s of the Inventory f o r Grade X I I Boys and Grade XII G i r l s

XII C o e f f i c i e n t s of Subsection I n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n .

X I I I Comparison of the Home Adjustment Ratings-of the Inventory with Interview Ratings of Home Adjustment f o r 100 Grade XII Boys. 80

XIV Data Concerning the S o c i a l Adjustment V a l i d a t i n g Group S e l e c t e d on the B a s i s of S o c i a l P a r t i c i p a t i o n 84

XV Data Concerning the S o c i a l Adjustment V a l i d a t i n g Groups S e l e c t e d on the B a s i s of a P o p u l a r i t y Vote 86

XVI Data Concerning the He a l t h Adjustment V a l i d a t i n g Groups S e l e c t e d on the B a s i s of Ratings by the School Nurse 88

XVII Data Concerning the Emotional Adjustment V a l i d a t i n g Groups S e l e c t e d on the B a s i s of Composite Ratings 91

XVIII Data Concerning the C r i t e r i o n Groups S e l ected on the Ba s i s of S e l f - R a t i n g s 93

XIX P r o p o r t i o n pf Times 103 Grade XII Boys Marked the Problem F i e l d at the Top over the Problem F i e l d at the L e f t i n importance.. 99

XX P r o p o r t i o n of Times 63 Grade XII G i r l s Marked the Problem F i e l d at the Top ever the Problem F i e l d at the L e f t i n importance 100

XXI S i g n i f i c a n c e of the Estimated P r o p p r t i p n s pf 103 Grade X I I Bpys as L i s t e d i n Table XIX 103

X 11

PAGE

75

78

LIST OF TABLES (con»t)

TABLE PAGE

XXII S i g n i f i c a n c e of the E s t i m a t e d P r o p o r t i o n s of 62 Grade XII G i r l s L i s t e d i n Table XX. 104

Appendix Table I: P h i C o e f f i c i e n t s f o r Each Item of the Adjustment Inventory f o r 100 Grade XII Boys and 100 Grade XII G i r l s ."... 134

A CRITICAL EVALUATION OP THE BELL ADJUSTMENT INVENTORY: STUDENT FORM

Chapter I INTRODUCTION

F a c t o r s l e a d i n g t o the present study

During the past t h i r t y years c o n s i d e r a b l e progress

has been made i n the f i e l d of c o u n s e l l i n g . T h i s progress

has been p a r t l y the r e s u l t of the e x i g e n c i e s growing out

of the accumulating need f o r c o n s t r u c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e t o

help the i n d i v i d u a l i n h i s p e r s o n a l development, and p a r t l y

the r e s u l t of the wide i n t e r e s t t h at has developed i n t h i s

a r e a . Workers i n the c l i n i c a l and c o u n s e l l i n g f i e l d s soon

d i s c o v e r e d t h a t exuberated i n t e r e s t a l o n e c o u l d not estab

l i s h a p o s i t i v e programme that would be widely a p p l i c a b l e

i n d e a l i n g adequately with adjustment problems... However,

the growing i n t e r e s t d i d l e a d subsequently t o the r e a l i z

a t i o n of a need f o r new and improved methods of f a c i l i t a t

ing i n d i v i d u a l c o u n s e l l i n g .

During the past t h i r t y years t h e r e a l s o have been

great s t r i d e s i n two other aspects of p s y c h o l o g i c a l

s c i e n c e ; one of these being the movement which can be r e

f e r r e d t o as the "psychology of p e r s o n a l i t y " , and the

other being the impetus that has occutred i n the f i e l d of

measurement. Even though ^progress i n each of the t h r e e

areas progressed p a r t l y independently whether i t be the

f i e l d of c o u n s e l l i n g , the f i e l d of measurement, or the

t h e o r e t i c a l area of the "psychology of p e r s o n a l i t y " , i t

would be sa f e t o say th a t each of these areas s t i m u l a t e d

and i n t u r n was s t i m u l a t e d by the others* The advancement

i n these two l a t t e r f i e l d s brought f o r t h t h e o r i e s , methods,

and devices t h a t have been o f f e r e d i n pa r t t o meet the de

mands of the c o u n s e l l o r and the c l i n i c i a n * .

At times some of the expounded t h e o r i e s have con

f l i c t e d , as i s seen i n the view expressed by Lewin (36)

that what occurs i n a person's immediate environment i s

a l l - i m p o r t a n t , and the seemingly d i v e r g e n t view of

Gu t h r i e (28) that i t i s not the immediate s i t u a t i o n but

the e f f e c t of e a r l y t r a i n i n g and experience t h a t should

be c o n s i d e r e d paramount. Some t h e o r i e s presented concepts

that have been openly c r i t i o i z e d (14) f o r l a c k of s c i e n

t i f i c v e r i f i c a t i o n , such as the view of the psychoanalysts

that p e r s o n a l i t y i s the outward m a n i f e s t a t i o n s of the con

f l i c t s between c e r t a i n " i n t e r n a l segments" present w i t h i n

the i n d i v i d u a l * Some s p e c u l a t i o n s , however, were noted

f o r s i m i l a r i t i e s of concepts as i s evidenced i n the view

h e l d by those p s y c h o l o g i s t s who co n s i d e r e d that any i n

f l u e n c e a f f e c t i n g a system of energy a f f e c t s . i t through

out, and the view of those p s y c h o l o g i s t s who s t r e s s e d the

"dynamic" nature of p e r s o n a l i t y , both views having among

t h e i r b a s i c p r i n c i p l e s the concept of i n t e g r a t i o n and

i n t e r a c t i o n of t o t a l f a c t o r s .

http://affects.it

~ -3-

At the present time as one reads through the

l i t e r a t u r e he observes that t h e r e are two f a i r l y d i s t i n c t

and extreme approaches t o the study of p e r s o n a l i t y . The

word "extreme" i s used here i n the sense t h a t these two

extreme groups can be c o n s i d e r e d as the two opposite

p o i n t s on the "continuum" of present-day approaches to the

study of p e r s o n a l i t y . One of these extreme approaches

deals with the i n d i v i d u a l as an "unique whole", as i s

e x e m p l i f i e d i n w r i t i n g s of men such as A l l p o r t ( l ) , Murray

(38), and K l o p f e r (33), and i t i s e s s e n t i a l l y the same as

the " g l o b a l " view of p e r s o n a l i t y encompassed w i t h i n the

p r o j e c t i v e t e c hniques. The other extreme approach i s ev

idenced i n the w r i t i n g s - o f such men as C a t t e l l (9),

G u i l f o r d (25), and Thurstone (55), who h o l d t h a t p e r s o n a l

i t y can be d e s c r i b e d i n terms of d i s c r e t e , i f not indep

endent, t r a i t s . V a r i o u s s t a n d a r d i z e d measuring d e v i c e s ,

such as the p e r s o n a l i t y q u e s t i o n n a i r e , a re based essen

t i a l l y upon the l a t t e r p o i n t of view, whereby the i n d i v

i d u a l i s compared with others i n terms a r r i v e d at by means

of s t a t i s t i c a l methods.

These many concepts suggested by the v a r i o u s

r e s t r i c t e d schools of thought emphasize the f a c t t h a t

such i s o l a t e d views are determined t o a great extent by

the s p e c i a l o b j e c t i v e s t h a t the p a r t i c u l a r group d e s i r e s

to accomplish, as mentioned by Rosenzweig (48, p.540).

Having t h i s f a c t i n a t t e n t i o n , the e c l e c t i c p s y c h o l o g i s t

need not be d i s t u r b e d about the v a r i o u s d i v e r s e and, at

times, seemingly a n t a g o n i s t i c v i e w p o i n t s , f o r i t i s t o h i s

advantage to have the o p p o r t u n i t y t o s e l e c t t h a t approach

or those approaches t h a t most adequately supply the bes t

s o l u t i o n to h i s needs of the s p e c i f i c c i r c u m s t a n c e .

Today as the r e s u l t of the progress i n the v a r i o u s

areas of study mentioned, the worker s t u d y i n g p e r s o n a l i t y

has, b e s i d e s b a s i c t h e o r i e s , many methods and devices from

which t o choose. These methods and devices can be a r b i t r

a r i l y d i v i d e d , although not without c e r t a i n o v e r l a p p i n g ,

i n t o the f o l l o w i n g t h r e e groups: the " s u b j e c t i v e " i n c l u d

ing among many, the i n t e r v i e w , the p e r s o n a l case h i s t o r y ,

the q u e s t i o n n a i r e , the use of a u t o b i o g r a p h i e s , and other

methods whereby the su b j e c t g i v e s d i r e c t l y i n f o r m a t i o n

about h i m s e l f ; the " o b j e c t i v e " i n c l u d i n g the technique of

a c t u a l l y observing and r e c o r d i n g behaviour of the i n d i v i d

u a l i n a r e a l l i f e s i t u a t i o n and the use of p h y s i o l o g i c a l

measurement, to name but two examples w i t h i n t h i s group;

the " p r o j e c t i v e " which i n c l u d e s those t e c h n i q u e s i n which

the i n d i v i d u a l r e v e a l s c e r t a i n unique f e a t u r e s of h i s per

s o n a l i t y by p r o j e c t i n g h i s meanings and f e e l i n g s i n t o some

c o n f i g u r a t i o n .

One of the r e l a t i v e l y new d i v i c e s t h a t has come

to the fore i n the f i e l d of p e r s o n a l i t y e v a l u a t i o n i s the

-5-

q u e s t i o n n a i r e or i n v e n t o r y . A c c o r d i n g to B e l l (5.P.15)

the beginnings of the use of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e can be

t r a c e d to the e a r l y p s y c h i a t r i c i n t e r v i e w during which the

s u b j e c t was asked t o answer a l i s t of predetermined ques

t i o n s d e a l i n g with h i s a f f e c t i v e . r e a c t i o n s . The e a r l i e s t

p u b l i s h e d l i s t of such que s t i o n s appeared i n 1905 when

two medical workers (Heymans and Wiersma) prepared a l i s t

of n i n e t y items. I t was not long b e f o r e s e v e r a l s i m i l a r

l i s t s of questions were p u b l i s h e d (5, p.17), some of which

con t a i n e d m o d i f i c a t i o n s , such as the use of a coarse

weighting s c a l e , i n an attempt to evaluate the responses

more ad e q u a t e l y . With the coming of World War I there

was c r e a t e d a need f o r some e f f i c i e n t and speedy method

by which e n l i s t e d men c o u l d be evaluated i n terms of the

adequacy of t h e i r adjustment. I t was during t h i s c r i s i s ,

i n 1917, that R.S.Woodworth developed h i s well-known Per

sonal Data Sheet, which was to become the b a s i s f o r the

development of many s i m i l a r q u e s t i o n n a i r e s , some of which

are i n use today.

A c c o r d i n g t o many r e p o r t s (51;53;55) among the

more w i d e l y used q u e s t i o n n a i r e s of today i s the B e l l Ad

justment Inventory (Appendix A ) . T y l e r (61,p.356) s t a t e s

t h a t i t i s c o n s i d e r e d one of the b e s t i n the f i e l d and

i s used e x t e n s i v e l y i n both c l i n i c a l and c o u n s e l l i n g a r e a s .

T h i s Inventory i s b e i n g used i n some sc h o o l s i n Vancouver

-5-

as p a r t of the c o u n s e l l i n g programme f o r the s c h o o l . How

ever, evidence to support the wide a p p l i c a t i o n of d e v i c e s ,

such as the Adjustment Inventory, i s l a c k i n g and a t the

present time t h e i r worth i s only i n the i n v e s t i g a t i v e stage,

as i s r e f l e c t e d by the repeated comment found i n the l i t

e r a t u r e that more a n a l y t i c a l s t u d i e s upon them i s i m p e r a t i v e .

T h e r e f o r e , c o n s i d e r i n g t h i s l a t t e r p o i n t of the need f o r

f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h , t o g e t h e r with the growing demands of the

c l i n i c i a n and c o u n s e l l o r , i t i s one of the main aims of

t h i s study t o present f u r t h e r evidence concerning the ade

quacy of such means of measurement.

The Statement of the Problem

The problem which w i l l be the nucleus of t h i s

study can be s t a t e d as f o l l o w s : on the f o u n d a t i o n of c e r

t a i n s e l e c t e d c r i t e r i a , to what degree i s the B e l l A d j u s t

ment Inventory a r e l i a b l e , v a l i d and u s e f u l measure of

grade twelve students* adjustments, with s p e c i f i c r e f e r e n c e

to those f a c t o r s t h a t the Inventory i s c o n s t r u c t e d to

evaluate? The problem, as s t a t e d , d e l i m i t s the study and

yet i s f l e x i b l e enough to permit a comprehensive i n v e s t i g

a t i o n w i t h i n c e r t a i n boundaries.. In e v a l u a t i n g the worth

of any measuring instrument one of the f i r s t e s s e n t i a l s

i s t o have a d e f i n i t e understanding of i t s o r i g i n a l d e s i g n .

A c e r t a i n thermometer, i n way of example, might be q u i t e

inadequate f o r measuring minute temperature g r a d a t i o n s ,

and i f i t were used beyond i t s c o n s t r u c t e d c a p a c i t i e s

then any r e s u l t a n t e r r o r s of measurement would be the

f a u l t of i t s m i s a p p l i c a t i o n r a t h e r than the d e v i c e i t s e l f .

T h e r e f o r e , any study of instruments such as the B e l l A d j u s t

ment Inventory must be preceded by a knowledge of the de

c l a r e d claims of the t e s t which d i r e c t s and s e t s l i m i t s

t o the i n v e s t i g a t i o n . However, with instruments l i k e the

B e l l Inventory, the s t a t e d claims are o f t e n g i v e n i n gen

e r a l r a t h e r than s p e c i f i c terms and the minimal and max

imal measuring p o t e n t i a l s remain vague. In such c a s e s ,

where the c a p a c i t i e s of a measuring device are not c l e a r l y

known, then the study as an i n v e s t i g a t i o n develops, per

haps i m p e r c e p t i b l y at times, i n t o a r e s e a r c h problem with

the aim of s u p p l y i n g e m p i r i c a l evidence r e g a r d i n g the de

f i n i n g of the test's l i m i t s .

The statement of the problem i m p l i e s t h a t t h i s

study w i l l be, i n p a r t , a s t a t i s t i c a l a n a l y s i s . However,

as A l l p o r t (l,p.382) s t a t e s : "The v a l u e of s t a t i s t i c a l

a n a l y s i s i n s o r t i n g , comparing, and determining the r e l i a b

i l i t y of accumulated data i s unquestionable; but so too

i s i t s power f o r m i s c h i e f when the p s y c h o l o g i c a l aim and

s i g n i f i c a n c e of the i n v e s t i g a t i o n become obscured i n the

sheer exuberance of d i g i t s " . T h e r e f o r e , c o n s i d e r i n g t h i s

l a t t e r p o i n t , i f any evidence f o r the worth or f o r the

i n e f f e c t i v e n e s s of the Inventory p r e s e n t s i t s e l f o u t s i d e

-8-

of the s t a t i s t i c a l a n a l y s i s , of the t e s t i t s e l f , these

f i n d i n g s w i l l be i n c o r p o r a t e d a c c o r d i n g l y . In a d d i t i o n ,

the s t a t i s t i c s r e s u l t i n g from any study of t h i s nature

are not s e l f - i n t e r p r e t i v e . T h e r e f o r e , i t i s of the u t

most importan&e when i n t e r p r e t i n g the s t a t i s t i c a l r e s u l t s

t h a t a l l important f a c t o r s , such as the reason f o r the

use of c e r t a i n c r i t e r i a and the adequacy pf the c r i t e r i a ,

be e x p l a i n e d as c l e a r l y as p c s s i b l e .

During the course of the study other o b j e c t i v e s

besides t h a t of p r e s e n t i n g evidence concerning the Inven

tor y w i l l be sought. Since i t i s obvious t h a t the prob

lems i n the f i e l d of p e r s o n a l i t y measurement are m u l t i p l e

and complex, i t would seem on l y l o g i c a l t h a t a review of

such problems would be commanding. I t i s important to be

acquainted with these problems not only f o r the purpose

of g e t t i n g a t r u e r p e r s p e c t i v e of the d i f f i c u l t i e s t h a t

beset those r e s e a r c h e r s who attempt to c o n s t r u c t measur

ing d e v i c e s , but a l s o f o r f u r n i s h i n g a background of i n

formation to a s s i s t i n making sound i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s .

CHAPTER I I

THE BELL ADJUSTMENT INVENTORY: STUDENT FORM

General Information

The B e l l Adjustment Inventory Is a q u e s t i o n n a i r e

approach t o the measurement of p e r s o n a l i t y . The Inven

t o r y , adapted t o group t e s t i n g , c o n s i s t s of a t o t a l of

140 items d i v i d e d i n t o f o u r s e c t i o n s known as Home, H e a l t h ,

S o c i a l , and Emotional, each s e c t i o n c o n t a i n i n g t h i r t y - f i v e

q u e s t i o n s . Rather than have a l l the questions of one sec

t i o n c l u s t e r e d t ogether, which has the disadvantage of

tending t o develop a " s e t " w i t h i n the s u b j e c t t a k i n g the

t e s t , the questions are randomly d i s t r i b u t e d throughout.

For purposes of s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n i n the adminis

t r a t i o n of the t e s t , the students are given i n i t i a l i n

s t r u c t i o n s , p r i n t e d on the f r o n t sheet of each Inventory

blank, which are read aloud t o them while they read sub-

v o c a l l y . Within these d i r e c t i o n s the students are t o l d

how to mark t h e i r answers, t h a t t h e r e are no " r i g h t " or

"wrong" answers, and t h a t i f the questions are answered

" h o n e s t l y " and " t h o u g h t f u l l y " the r e s u l t s w i l l g i v e the

student a b e t t e r understanding of h i m s e l f . B e l l (5,p.30)

b e l i e v e s t h a t t h i s l a t t e r p o i n t i s important f o r g e t t i n g

the student's c o - o p e r a t i o n s i n c e i t s t i m u l a t e s c u r i o s i t y

and leads to g r e a t e r I n t e r e s t i n the r e s u l t s . In a d d i t i o n ,

B e l l b e l i e v e s t h a t the Inventory should be g i v e n t o the

students with t h e i r understanding t h a t the r e s u l t s w i l l

- l p -

be d i s c u s s e d with them.

In s c o r i n g the Inventory, which can be done i n

approximately t h r e e minutes by the use of s p e c i a l s c o r i n g

s t e n c i l s , o n l y those responses i n d i c a t i v e of maladjustment

are given a score, and each of these r e c e i v e a s c o r e of

"one" p o i n t . T h e r e f o r e , the h i g h e r the numerical score

the more i n d i c a t i v e i s i t of adjustment d i s t u r b a n c e s .

For i n t e r p r e t i v e purposes a separate set of norms

(see Manual of D i r e c t i o n , Appendix A.) are a v a i l a b l e f o r

both high s c h o o l men and women and f o r both c o l l e g e men

and women. A l s o f o r i n t e r p r e t i v e purposes, d e s c r i p t i v e

terms are Included i n the Manual whereby each student i s

c l a s s e d , a c c o r d i n g to h i s s c o r e , i n t o one of f i v e r a t i n g s ,

i n c l u d i n g : " e x c e l l e n t ; " "good;" "average;" " u n s a t i s f a c t o r y ; "

and "very u n s a t i s f a c t o r y " .

Norms are a l s o a v a i l a b l e f o r t o t a l s c o r e s , t h a t

i s , f o r the sum of the scores made on the f o u r s e c t i o n s .

However, s i n c e the t o t a l scores are of l i t t l e or no mean

ing i n themselves, i t would appear t h a t i n c l u d i n g norms

f o r them i s unsound, e s p e c i a l l y s i n c e the Inventory has

been p u b l i s h e d f o r wide use which o b v i o u s l y i n c r e a s e s the

p o s s i b i l i t y of the misuse of such s c o r e s .

C o n s t r u c t i o n and S t a n d a r d i z a t i o n of the Inventory

The i n i t i a l stage i n the c o n s t r u c t i o n of the In

ventory began i n 1930 when the Thurstone P e r s o n a l i t y

Schedule was a d m i n i s t e r e d to the e n t e r i n g freshman c l a s s

at Chico S t a t e C o l l e g e , C a l i f o r n i a . The students who took

the Thurstone P e r s o n a l i t y Schedule were i n t e r v i e w e d d u r i n g

the course of the year with the view of a s c e r t a i n i n g the

v a l u e of the Schedule f o r c o u n s e l l i n g , and to attempt to

u t i l i z e the i n f o r m a t i o n i n order t o c o n s t r u c t a new t e s t

t h a t would have more value f o r c o u n s e l l i n g . The 223 ques

t i o n s i n the Thurstone Schedule were used t o commence an

item study. To these q u e s t i o n s were added 188 o r i g i n a l

items. These 411 questions were d i v i d e d a r b i t r a r i l y i n t o

the f o l l o w i n g groups: Home L i f e ; H e a l t h ; Use of Time;

Emotional C o n t r o l ; S e l f - P e e l i n g ; A t t i t u d e Toward Others;

S o c i a l Reaction; A t t i t u d e Towards L i f e ; A t t i t u d e Towards

Sex; P a t h o l o g i c a l Tendencies. The purpose of the item

study was t o e l i m i n a t e those questions which were not

s u i t a b l e . The c r i t e r i a used i n the item e v a l u a t i o n were

as f o l l o w s : i n t e r n a l c o n s i s t e n c y , " a p p l i c a b i l i t y " and am

b i g u i t y . With r e f e r e n c e to i n t e r n a l c o n s i s t e n c y , o n l y

those items were r e t a i n e d c l e a r l y d i f f e r e n t i a t e d between

the upper and the lower 15 per c e n t . w i t h i n each c a t e g o r y .

" A p p l i c a b i l i t y " , as a c r i t e r i o n , r e f e r s t o the requirement

t h a t an item be marked by approximately 25 per cent of the

maladjusted group. The t h i r d c r i t e r i o n was ambiguity

which r e f e r s t o the e l i m i n a t i o n of items t h a t proved to be

misunderstood o f t e n , by the s t u d e n t . Another c o n s i d e r a t i o n

was t h a t of p r a c t i c a l i t y , f o r i t was found, t h a t c e r t a i n

q u e s t i o n s , f o r example, aroused embarrassment and so were

-12-

e l i m i n a t e d i n order to get f u l l e s t c o - o p e r a t i o n of the

stud e n t s .

At the completion of the s t a t i s t i c a l a n a l y s i s of

the items, 140 items were r e t a i n e d , 35 d e a l i n g with each

of the f o l l o w i n g areas; home, h e a l t h , s o c i a l , and emotional

adjustment. These f o u r c a t e g o r i e s were combined to form

the present Adjustment Inventory.

R e l i a b i l i t y C o e f f i c i e n t s

The r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s and probable e r r o r s

f o r the subsections of the Inventory as r e p o r t e d by B e l l

are t a b u l a t e d i n T a b l e l . The sample used c o n s i s t e d of

258 c o l l e g e freshmen and j u n i o r s , i n c l u d i n g both sexes.

The c o e f f i c i e n t s were ob t a i n e d by c o r r e l a t i n g the odd and

even items and a p p l y i n g the Spearman-Brown prophecy f o r

mula f o r c o r r e c t i o n . I t w i l l be seen t h a t these c o r r e c t e d

r e l i a b i l i t i e s range from .80 f o r the Health s e c t i o n t o .89

f o r both the S o c i a l and the Home s e c t i o n s .

V a l i d a t i o n

B e l l used s e v e r a l methods i n an attempt t o estab

l i s h v a l i d i t y f o r the v a r i o u s s u b s e c t i o n s of the Inventory.

As has a l r e a d y been mentioned, an item a n a l y s i s was done

with the aim of e s t a b l i s h i n g i n t e r n a l c o n s i s t e n c y w i t h i n

the s u b t e s t s . Of course, a high degree of i n t e r n a l con

s i s t e n c y among the items does not n e c e s s a r i l y i n d i c a t e

v a l i d i t y f o r what the t e s t claims to measure, but i t i s

v e r y u n l i k e l y t h a t a t e s t w i l l be h i g h l y v a l i d i f th e r e

-13-

TABLE I

C o e f f i c i e n t s of R e l i a b i l i t y f o r the Adjust ment Inventory as r e p o r t e d by B e l l

N r 258 hig h s c h o o l students

Adjustment s e c t i o n r P E r

Emotional Adjustment... .93

d.008 1.015 i.008 ±.012

-14-

i s low " I n t e r n a l c o n s i s t e n c y " with r e f e r e n c e to the items.

B e l l (5,p.81) c i t e s as evidence of v a l i d i t y the

c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s obtained between c e r t a i n other

p e r s o n a l i t y q u e s t i o n n a i r e s and the S o c i a l and Emotional

s e c t i o n s . The other t e s t s used were the A l l p o r t Ascend

ance-Submission t e s t , the Thurstone P e r s o n a l i t y Schedule,

and the Bernreuter B4-D ( s o c i a l ) s e c t i o n . The S o c i a l

s e c t i o n of the B e l l Inventory c o r r e l a t e d .73*.051 with the

A l l p o r t t e s t u s i n g 46 male students and .811:.034 when us i n g

a sample of 50 female s t u d e n t s . The S o c i a l s e c t i o n and

the B e r n r e u t e r B4-D c o r r e l a t e d *90±.018 with a sample of

39 s t u d e n t s . The Emotional s e c t i o n , u sing 96 students,

c o r r e l a t e d .93±".010 with the Thurstone. I n t e r e s t i n g as

these c o r r e l a t i o n s ( c o r r e c t e d f o r a t t e n u a t i o n ) a r e , i t

would appear that l i t t l e i s accomplished by t h i s p a r t of

the study s i n c e the v a l i d i t y of these other t e s t s remains

q u e s t i o n a b l e (16). In a d d i t i o n , i t i s o n l y to be expected

t h a t such t e s t s as these w i l l produce f a i r l y high c o r r e l

a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s because of the e s s e n t i a l l y s i m i l a r de

s i g n used i n t h e i r c o n s t r u c t i o n .

Each of the f o u r sections, of the Adjustment In

ve n t o r y was evaluated by means of v a l i d a t i n g groups s e l

ected by c o u n s e l l o r s . In each case, the groups c o n s i s t e d

of two extremes, a w e l l - a d j u s t e d group and a p o o r l y ad

j u s t e d group. These groups were g i v e n the Adjustment In

ve n t o r y and the c r i t i c a l r a t i o computed t o determine the

extent of any d i f f e r e n c e i n mean s c o r e s . The data r e

gardi n g these v a l i d a t i n g groups are to be found i n Table

I I . I t w i l l be observed t h a t f o r e v a l u a t i n g the Home Ad

justment s e c t i o n the two extreme groups, c o n s i s t i n g of 51

students each, d i f f e r e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y , on the b a s i s of the

d i f f e r e n c e between mean s c o r e s , at the .01 l e v e l of con

f i d e n c e with a CR of 7.G2. S i m i l a r l y each of the two

groups f o r the other three s e c t i o n s d i f f e r e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y

at the .01 l e v e l , the CR f o r the v a r i o u s s e c t i o n s b e i n g :

S o c i a l , 8.40; Emotional, 5.29; H e a l t h , 6.59. These CR»s

i n d i c a t e that on the evidence g i v e n , the Inventory i s

c l e a r l y d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g between the extremes of a d j u s t

ment as s e l e c t e d by c o u n s e l l o r s . It should be added, in'

p a s s i n g , t h a t these groups were s e l e c t e d from the r e p o r t s

of many c o u n s e l l o r s over a p e r i o d of more than a year, so

tha t the groups chosen were e v i d e n t l y w e l l - d e f i n e d .

The c o e f f i c i e n t s of i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n as r e p o r t e d

by B e l l are l i s t e d i n Table I I I . An examination of t h i s

t a b l e shows t h a t although the i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s are low

ther e i s a p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t c e r t a i n of the s u b s e c t i o n s

have elements i n common and such r e s u l t s as the r of .53

between Health and Emotional s e c t i o n s tend t o i n d i c a t e

t h a t v a r i o u s s e c t i o n s are not measuring separate and

c l e a r l y - d e f i n e d f a c t o r s .

Concerning sex d i f f e r e n c e s , B e l l (5,p.l48) found

s i g n i f i c a n c e between the mean scores of 161 high s c h o o l

-16-

TABLE I I

Data Concerning the O r i g i n a l V a l i d a t i n g Groups of the B e l l Adjustment Inventory

Type of A d j u s t ment

Well-ad j u s t e d Group

P o o r l y a d j u s t e d Group

Mean Diff.

Sigma Di f f . OR

Type of A d j u s t ment Wean Sigma Mean I Sigma

Mean Diff.

Sigma Di f f . OR

Home (51 i n each Group

4.65 3.18 10.27 4.67 5.62 .80 7.03

He a l t h (42 i n each Group

5.40 3.11 11.53 5.22 6.13 .93 6.59

S o c i a l (24 i n each Group

8.40 4.59 16.80 5.89 8.40 1.52 5.53

Emotional (36 i n each Group

8.28 4.88 16.28 7.08 7.50 1.42 5.32 o

-17-

TABLE I I I

C o e f f i c i e n t s of I n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s f o r the A d j u s t ment Inventory as r e p o r t e d by B e l l

Inventory Subsections r P E r

.43 .04

.04 .05

.38 .04

.24 .04 He a l t h and Emotional.... .53 .03 S o c i a l and Emotional.... .47 .04

-18-

boys and 190 high s c h o o l g i r l s , on a l l except the H e a l t h

s e c t i o n . The CR's were as f o l l o w s : Home, 3.67; H e a l t h ,

1.58; S o c i a l , 2.03; Emotional, 8.51.

The S t a t e d Claims For The Adjustment Inventory

The Adjustment Inventory was c o n s t r u c t e d with the

view of g i v i n g c o u n s e l l o r s a means of f a c i l i t a t i n g the

pe r s o n a l guidance of s t u d e n t s . B e l l (5,p.29) does not

make any extravagant claims f o r the Inventory but he does

s t a t e that i t has been developed p r i m a r i l y f o r p e r s o n a l

c o u n s e l l i n g with the aim of g i v i n g t o the c o u n s e l l o r v a l i d

and r e l i a b l e knowledge concerning the s u b j e c t i n f o u r im

portant areas of adjustment. In a d d i t i o n , he claims t h a t

the r e l i a b i l i t i e s are s u f f i c i e n t l y h i g h enough t h a t the

Inventory can be used f o r r e s e a r c h s t u d i e s .

At the b a s i s of the Inventory i s the view that

the concept of adjustment i s the soundest p r i n c i p l e f o r the

measurement of aspects of p e r s o n a l i t y , f o r as B e l l ( 5 , p . l )

s t a t e s :

The concept of adjustment as a g u i d i n g p r i n c i p l e f o r measurement i n c o u n s e l i n g i s o f f e r e d as p r o v i d i n g a dynamic and meaningful d e s c r i p t i o n of the student's p e r s o n a l i t y . Instead of t i c k e t i n g the student as " i n t r o v e r t e d " or " n e u r o t i c " , t h i s concept permits d e s c r i b i n g b e h a v i o r i n terms of how s a t i s f a c t o r i l y or u n s a t i s f a c t o r i l y he i s a d j u s t e d to c e r t a i n p e r s o n a l and s o c i a l s i t u a t i o n s .

S e l l f u r t h e r s t a t e s t h a t adjustment can be con

s i d e r e d i n terms of some o b j e c t i v e e v a l u a t i o n of the i n

d i v i d u a l or i n terms of the i n d i v i d u a l s own e v a l u a t i o n

-19-of h i s behavior* In i n t e r p r e t i n g the scores of the Ad

justment Inventory, t h i s l a t t e r view i s to be used, and

the scores made by the su b j e c t should be c o n s i d e r e d as the

i n d i v i d u a l ' s own " • • • e v a l u a t i o n of h i s home, h e a l t h , and

other adjustments" ( 5 , p . 2 9 ) .

CHAPTER I I I

A SURVEY AND REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

It would appear t h a t the p u b l i s h e d l i t e r a t u r e r e

l a t e d t o the B e l l Adjustment Inventory d i s p l a y s two main

types of s t u d i e s . One of these groups of s t u d i e s c o n s i s t s

of those that are concerned with determining the v a l i d i t y

and r e l i a b i l i t y of the Inventory i t s e l f , w h i le the other

main group i n c l u d e s those s t u d i e s t h a t have used the In

ventory assuming, with or without l i m i t a t i o n s , t h a t the

Inventory measures those f a c t o r s i n c l u d e d i n the t e s t ade

q u a t e l y enough f o r p r a c t i c a l and experimental purposes*

S i n c e t h i s paper i s more concerned with the former aspect

the g r e a t e r p a r t of t h i s s e c t i o n w i l l d e a l with the im

p o r t a n t a r t i c l e s that have attempted to make a s t a t i s t i c a l

e v a l u a t i o n of the s u b s e c t i o n s of the Adjustment Inventory*

S t u d i e s on the R e l i a b i l i t y of the Inventory

A comparison of the r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s r e

ported by v a r i o u s s t u d i e s can be made by r e f e r r i n g to

Table IV..

Among the f i r s t s t u d i e s of the B e l l Inventory r e

ported i n the l i t e r a t u r e was t h a t made i n 1936 by Turney

and -Fee (60) who were i n v e s t i g a t i n g the use of the Inven

t o r y f o r high s c h o o l guidance. In t h i s study the authors

sought to determine the s u b t e s t r e l i a b i l i t i e s on the b a s i s

of r e t e s t i n g a f t e r a six-month i n t e r i m . The r e l i a b i l i t y

c o e f f i c i e n t s f o r the v a r i o u s s u b t e s t s as obtained by

21-

TABLE IV

C o e f f i c i e n t s of R e l i a b i l i t y f o r the Adjustment Inventory as Reported by V a r i o u s Independ-

ent S t u d i e s

Name of

Study

Number of

Students

Method of

C o r r e l a t i o n Adjustment S e c t i on

Name of

Study

Number of

Students

Method of

C o r r e l a t i o n Home Health S o c i a l Emot i o n

T r a x l e r 43 s p l i t - h a l f .838 .831 .932 .875

T y l e r 348(Male) s p l i t - h a l f .796 .717 .850 .789 T y l e r 392(Fern.) s p l i t - h a l f .827 .797 .876 .839

Turney and Fee 78 r e t e s t ( 6 moj .851 .741 .832 .823

-22-

Turney and Fee u s i n g a sample of 78 high s c h o o l students

were as f o l l o w s : home .851; h e a l t h .741; s o c i a l .832; and

emotional .788.

Within the same year (1936) T y l e r (61) made a

study of the v a r i o u s s u b t e s t s and u s i n g the s p l i t - h a l f meth

od and the Spearmen-Brown formula, obtained the f o l l o w i n g

c o e f f i c i e n t s f o r 392 male high s c h o o l s t u d e n t s : Home .796;

He a l t h .717; S o c i a l .850; and Emotional .789. For 348

females T y l e r obtained t h e f o l l o w i n g c o e f f i c i e n t s : Home

.827; H e a l t h .797; S o c i a l .876 and Emotional .839.

In 1941 A . E . T r a x l e r (56) made a study with a

small sample of 43 hig h s c h o o l p u p i l s and a l l h i s r e l i a b

i l i t i e s were over .80 ranging from .831 f o r the Health

s e c t i o n t o .932 f o r the S o c i a l s e c t i o n . As oan be noted

i n Table I I I a l l three s t u d i e s p l a c e d the H e a l t h S e c t i o n

as the l e a s t r e l i a b l e while the S o c i a l s e c t i o n was r a t e d

most r e l i a b l e by both T r a x l e r and T y l e r while the Home sec

t i o n was most r e l i a b l e a c c o r d i n g t o Turney and Fee.

From these r e s u l t s i t would appear t h a t the Soc

i a l s e c t i o n tends t o be the most r e l i a b l e , with the Emot

i o n a l and Home s e c t i o n s f o l l o w i n g ; w hile the H e a l t h s e c

t i o n shows evidence of being the l e a s t r e l i a b l e . A com

p a r i s o n can be made with B e l l ' s own r e s u l t s by r e f e r r i n g

t o Table I.

V a l i d i t y S t u d i e s of the B e l l Inventory

T r a x l e r (56) and Turney and Fee (60) made v a l -

-23-

i d i t y e v a l u a t i o n s w i t h i n t h e i r s t u d i e s , and i n both cases

the o u t s i d e c r i t e r i o n used was t e a c h e r s ' r a t i n g s * In

n e i t h e r case d i d the obtained c o e f f i c i e n t s s u b s t a n t i a t e

the v a l i d i t y of any of the s e c t i o n s * However, the l a c k of

v a l i d i t y might p o s s i b l y be the r e s u l t of the c r i t e r i o n

used. Turney and Fee (60, p*197) made r e f e r e n c e t o the

f a c t t h a t the teachers used i n t h e i r study showed a l a c k

of s u f f i c i e n t t r a i n i n g i n the task t h a t was presented to

them.

One study t h a t d e a l t s o l e l y with the v a l i d i t y of

the Inventory was t h a t by Pederson (45) who used a t o t a l of

380 freshmen women from the U n i v e r s i t y of Rochester. In

t h i s study the v a l i d i t y i n d i c e s were c a l c u l a t e d by u s i n g

the f o l l o w i n g f o u r c r i t e r i a : (1) a u t o b i o g r a p h i e s ,

(2) r e c o r d s from the Dean's p e r s o n a l f i l e s , (3) r a t i n g s

of the g i r l s ' S o c i a l A d v i s o r f o r each student on s o c i a l

adjustment, and (4) r a t i n g s of the P h y s i c a l Education

I n s t r u c t o r who r a t e d the s u b j e c t s on h e a l t h adjustment.

On the b a s i s of one or more of the c r i t e r i a mentioned

Pederson d i v i d e d the group i n t o v a r i o u s l e v e l s of a d j u s t

ment and then noted any s i g n i f i c a n c e between the d i f f e r

ences of the mean s c o r e s . In determining the v a l i d i t y of

the Home Adjustment s e c t i o n Pederson used 57 students who

were c l a s s i f i e d as having home d i f f i c u l t i e s , a c c o r d i n g to

the Dean's f i l e s and other i n f o r m a t i o n , and 323 others

who d i d not show such d i f f i c u l t i e s . The d i f f e r e n c e ob-

-24-

t a i n e d between the means of the two groups was 3.6 times

the standard e r r o r of the d i f f e r e n c e , and t h i s was i n t e r

p r e t e d as i n d i c a t i v e of s i g n i f i c a n c e at the one per cent

l e v e l of con f i d e n c e *

For the S o c i a l Adjustment s e c t i o n the students

were d i v i d e d a c c o r d i n g t o r a t i n g s by the S o c i a l A d v i s o r

i n t o three groups, namely: " e x c e l l e n t " ; "average"; and

"poor"* S t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e was found between the

" e x c e l l e n t " and "average", and the " e x c e l l e n t " and "poor",

but s i g n i f i c a n c e was l a c k i n g between the "average" and

"poor" groups. Pederson s t a t e d t h a t t h i s p a r t i a l l y i n d i c

ated t h a t e i t h e r the t e s t or the S o c i a l A d v i s o r was un

able t o d i s t i n g u i s h between the moderately a d j u s t e d and

those who were v e r y r e t i r i n g (45, p.234). I t would a l s o

seem reasonable t o s t a t e that i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t both

the t e s t and the A d v i s o r were unable t o d i s t i n g u i s h between

these two groups, or t h a t i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t the A d v i s o r

and the t e s t a re e v a l u a t i n g d i f f e r e n t aspects of s o c i a l

adjustment. No mention was made i n the study of the b a s i s

used by the S o c i a l A d v i s o r t o c l a s s i f y the s t u d e n t s .

No s i g n i f i c a n c e i n any case was noted by Pederson

between groups of th r e e l e v e l s of adjustment when d i v i d e d

on the b a s i s of a u t o b i o g r a p h i e s . I t would appear that

using a c r i t e r i o n such as a u t o b i o g r a p h i e s i s e x p e r i m e n t a l l y

unsound because of the v e r y nature of the method of p r e

s e n t i n g evidence which Is almost e n t i r e l y u n c o n t r o l l e d .

-25-

In e v a l u a t i n g the Hea l t h s e c t i o n the r a t i n g s of

the P h y s i c a l Education I n s t r u c t o r were used, a g a i n d i v i d

ing the groups i n t o t h r e e l e v e l s * In t h i s case s i g n i f i c

ance was found only between the two extremes " e x c e l l e n t "

and "poor"*

For the Emotional s e c t i o n Pederson found no s i g

n i f i c a n c e between any of the groups d i v i d e d f i r s t on the

b a s i s of r e p o r t s from the Dean's f i l e s , and then on the

b a s i s of a u t o b i o g r a p h i e s * From Pederson's study, then,

the Home Adjustment s e c t i o n stands v a l i d as f a r as her an

a l y s i s went, while the Hea l t h and S o c i a l s e c t i o n s are

c l a s s e d as p a r t i a l l y i n v a l i d s i n c e they are i n c a p a b l e of

d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g between c e r t a i n l e v e l s of adjustment, and

the Emotional s e c t i o n showed no v a l i d i t y a c c o r d i n g to

her r e s u l t s .

In 1943 Marsh (38) p u b l i s h e d a r e p o r t on the d i a g -

n o s t i c v a l u e of the B e l l A a n d used, as d i d Pederson, groups

of freshmen women* It was the p o l i c y at the s c h o o l ( S t e

phens C o l l e g e ) where t h i s study was done t o r e f e r s t u d

ents appearing t o have problems t o a Guidance Committee*

From the r e p o r t s of the Guidance Committee groups were

s e l e c t e d f o r those having home, s o c i a l , and emotional d i f

f i c u l t i e s * S i nce the numbers i n these groups were excep

t i o n a l l y small (ranging from f i v e t o t w e n t y - f i v e ) the

value of the r e s u l t s i s somewhat dubious* However, Marsh

found s i g n i f i c a n c e between the mean scores of the home

-26-

maladjusted group and the normal group. No other s t a t i s

t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e was o b t a i n e d . From the p o i n t of view

of the p r e d i c t i v e v a l u e of the s u b t e s t s , Marsh found t h a t

the S o c i a l and Emotional s e c t i o n s were of d o u b t f u l v a l u e

f o r p r e d i c t i n g student maladjustment during the c o l l e g e

year.

A c c o r d i n g t o a study made by H.P.Smith (50,p.16)

i n 1947, "Confidence i n the s o c i a l s e c t i o n of the Inven

t o r y i s i n c r e a s e d as i t i s found to d i f f e r e n t i a t e between

students who p a r t i c i p a t e i n s o c i a l a c t i v i t i e s and those

who do n o t " . In t h i s study Smith used 1700 students i n

grades t e n , eleven and twelve. Smith d i v i d e d these s t u d

ents i n t o 31 d i f f e r e n t a c t i v i t y groups and a " n o n - a c t i v i t y "

group which was composed of members who d i d not belong t o

any s c h o o l group. When comparing the scores made on the

B e l l Inventory by the members of these v a r i o u s groups with

the group of students who d i d not belong to any a c t i v i t y ,

Smith found t h a t i n 12 of the 31 cases the mean d i f f e r

ences were s i g n i f i c a n t at the one per cent l e v e l of con

f i d e n c e , 5 more were s i g n i f i c a n t a t the f i v e per cent

l e v e l and i n a l l but 3 cases the a c t i v i t y groups had h i g h e r

mean scores than the " n o n - a c t i v i t y " group.

Summary of v a l i d i t y s t u d i e s

Reviewing these r e p o r t e d s t u d i e s i n b r i e f , i t

would appear t h a t adequate experimental i n f o r m a t i o n i s

l a c k i n g concerning the v a l i d i t y of the s u b s e c t i o n s of the

-27-

B e l l Adjustment Inventory. In many cases i t would seem

th a t the experimental design used f o r the purpose of e s t a b

l i s h i n g evidence of v a l i d i t y was i t s e l f of d o u b t f u l auth

e n t i c i t y . In some cases the samples used were e i t h e r v e r y

small or p o o r l y d e f i n e d . However, c o n s i d e r i n g the ade

quacy of the experimental procedures used, the p o s i t i v e

r e s u l t s r e p o r t e d by Pederson (45) and Marsh (38) f o r the

Home s e c t i o n , as f a r as t h e i r s t u d i e s went, and the i n

f o r m a t i o n presented by Smith's (50) study concerning the

r e l a t i o n s h i p found between s o c i a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n and s o c i a l

adjustment scores made on the Inventory appear h i g h l y

f r u i t f u l and i t i s the i n t e n t i o n of t h i s study to supply

f u r t h e r evidence along these l i n e s .

Other S t u d i e s Using the B e l l Adjustment Inventory

The B e l l Adjustment Inventory has been used by

many r e s e a r c h e r s f o r v a r i o u s experimental s t u d i e s not

d i r e c t l y concerned with a s t a t i s t i c a l e v a l u a t i o n of the In

v e n t o r y i t s e l f .

S t u d i e s by C l a r k and Smith (11), Drought (13),

Young et a l . (63j), and G r i f f i t h s (22) attempted t o show

the r e l a t i o n s h i p between p e r s o n a l adjustment as measured

by the Inventory and s c h o l a s t i c achievement. L i t t l e or

no r e l a t i o n s h i p was shown as i s u s u a l l y the case i n such

s t u d i e s (51). The r e s u l t s of these s t u d i e s d e a l i n g with

the r e l a t i o n s h i p between s c h o o l p r o f i c i e n c y and Inventory

scores can be summed up i n the statement from Drought (13,

-28-

p.604) t h a t , "The B e l l Adjustment Inventory is of l i t t l e

v a l u e f o r the purpose of d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g between students

who w i l l o b t a i n grades above p r e d i c t i o n and those who

w i l l f a l l markedly below p r e d i c t i o n . "

Other s t u d i e s have used the Inventory f o r the

purpose of comparing one s e l e c t e d group with another. One

study (15), f o r example, attempted to compare the a d j u s t

ment of o n l y - c h i l d r e n with c h i l d r e n who had s i b l i n g s ,

u s i n g as the b a s i s of comparison the scores obtained by

the two groups on the Inventory. Such s t u d i e s as t h i s

are d i r e c t l y dependent upon the degree of e x a c t i t u d e t o

which the Inventory measures the f a c t o r s concerned. There

f o r e , the c o n c l u s i o n s of such r e p o r t s by n e c e s s i t y must

be t e n t a t i v e only, u n t i l evidence i s present to support

a s u f f i c i e n t l y high degree of v a l i d i t y f o r the Inventory

i t s e l f .

CHAPTER IV

METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF PERSONALITY • MEASUREMENT

Evidence of Problems of Measurement

The f i e l d of p e r s o n a l i t y measurement, and t h a t of

the e v a l u a t i o n of human behaviour, have been c h a r a c t e r i z e d

by a l a r g e number of complex and seemingly unsurmountable

problems* The l a c k of obtained success i n e v a l u a t i n g be

h a v i o u r by means of the p e r s o n a l i t y q u e s t i o n n a i r e i s r e

f l e c t e d i n the g e n e r a l d i s a p p o i n t e d r e a c t i o n of many workers

in the v a r i o u s p s y c h o l o g i c a l f i e l d s who have attempted t o

use them* A recent study by Kornhauser (34) g i v e s f a i r l y

p o s i t i v e evidence of the l a c k of enthusiasm that has dev

eloped among p s y c h o l o g i s t s concerning the u s e f u l n e s s of the

q u e s t i o n n a i r e * Kornhauser's study was, i n essence, a s u r

vey of the o p i n i o n pf well-known p s y c h o l o g i s t s . T h i s study

showed that with a sample of 67 s p e c i a l i s t s i n v a r i o u s

f i e l d s of psychology, l e s s than two per cent c o n s i d e r e d

these devices as " h i g h l y s a t i s f a c t o r y " , about t h i r t e e n per

cent f e l t t h a t they were "moderately s a t i s f a c t o r y " , w h ile

the remaining e i g h t y - f i v e per cent c o n s i d e r e d t h a t they

were of " d o u b t f u l " v a l u e . When using a sample of 30 c l i n

i c a l p s y c h o l o g i s t s the r e s u l t s were s l i g h t l y more f a v o r a b l e

towards the q u e s t i o n n a i r e , as t h i r t y per cent f e l t t h a t

they were " s a t i s f a c t o r y " or "very s a t i s f a c t o r y " while sev

enty per cent c l a s s e d them as " d o u b t f u l " i n v a l u e .

-30

Even more concrete proof of the e x i s t e n c e of prob

lems of measurement i n the f i e l d of p e r s o n a l i t y i s mani

fested, i n the l a c k of experimental evidence to support the

v a l i d i t y of the v a r i o u s devices t h a t have been o f f e r e d f o r

use (16).

It i s the aim of t h i s s e c t i o n to review these prob

lems of measurement t h a t make the q u a n t i f i c a t i o n of aspects

of behaviour a d i f f i c u l t t a s k .

The Problem of D e f i n i t i o n

Perhaps the most commonly s t a t e d d i f f i c u l t y i n the

f i e l d of p e r s o n a l i t y measurement i s the f a c t , which we have

a l r e a d y n o t i c e d i n Chapter I, that t h e r e i s no c o n s i s t e n t

agreement as to j u s t what the term " p e r s o n a l i t y " c o n s t i t

u t e s . The l a c k of agreement i n d e f i n i t i o n i s evidenced

not only i n i t s popular usage compared to i t s more s c i e n t i f

i c meaning but a l s o i n the disagreement of viewpoints p r e s

ent i n the realm of p s y c h o l o g i c a l s c i e n c e . I t appears t h a t

at the present time i n the f i e l d of psychology the term

" p e r s o n a l i t y " i s being used both by those who b e l i e v e t h a t

i t can be measured and by those who b e l i e v e t h a t i t i s not

a measurable e n t i t y . I t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t a c e r t a i n amount

of the divergence and, at l e a s t , ambiguity c o u l d be over

come by r e s t r i c t i n g the term " p e r s o n a l i t y " , as suggested

by Anderson (2,p.399), to r e f e r , f o r example, to the unique

i n t e g r a t i o n of a l l the behaviour r e a c t i o n s and c o n d i t i o n s

t h a t make the person the i n d i v i d u a l t h a t he i s . Such a view

-31-would imply that " p e r s o n a l i t y " , as d e f i n e d , c o u l d not be

measured s i n c e the s i n g l e case i s meaningless i n a s t r i c t l y

s t a t i s t i c a l sense. However, Anderson (2,p.401) f u r t h e r

s t a t e s t h a t the v a r i o u s components of p e r s o n a l i t y develop

w i t h i n a s i m i l a r framework and each i n d i v i d u a l possesses

some degree of v a r i o u s common t r a i t s , implying t h a t c e r t a i n

t r a i t s are q u a n t i t a t i v e even i f they a r e not d i r e c t l y meas

u r a b l e . Then a f t e r r e s t r i c t i n g the meaning of the term

" p e r s o n a l i t y " , another term should be s e l e c t e d or d e v i s e d

to r e f e r t o the i n d i v i d u a l as a composite of these s o - c a l l e d

g e n e r a l i z e d or common t r a i t s t h a t are present i n some degree

i n a l l i n d i v i d u a l s . Although, t h i s suggested "Appeasement"

does not overcome the problems of measuring these common

t r a i t s , i t does suggest a p o s s i b l e means of overcoming

c e r t a i n a m b i g u i t i e s inherent i n inadequate d e f i n i t i o n .

The Problem of Equal U n i t s

One of the main problems of p e r s o n a l i t y measurement

by means of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e l i e s w i t h i n the fundamental

p r i n c i p l e s of t r u e measurement which i n c l u d e t h a t the u n i t s

of measurement be equal and d i r e c t l y comparable. Obviously

such d e v i c e s as the q u e s t i o n n a i r e do not meet these r i g i d

s tandards. The problem of equal u n i t s has become a d i f

f i c u l t one i n the measurement of p e r s o n a l i t y f o r u n l e s s the

u n i t s can be assumed equal then i t i s not p o s s i b l e to add

these u n i t s d i r e c t l y or, of course, t o compare them d i r

e c t l y one with the o t h e r . S i n c e most p e r s o n a l i t y t e s t s

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are c o n s t r u c t e d t o y i e l d a statement of t h e i n d i v i d u a l i n

the form of a sco r e , then c o n s i d e r i n g t h e i r t h e o r e t i c a l

l i m i t a t i o n s , these s c o r e s , a t bes t , can be c o n s i d e r e d o n l y

as rough estimates, and t h e i r u t i l i t y w i l l be dependent

upon whether or not they make p o s s i b l e a b e t t e r d e s c r i p t i o n

of the v a r i a b l e whioh they are designed to measure.

Problems of I n d i v i d u a l D i f f e r e n c e s

A l s o i n the p h y s i c a l s c i e n c e s t h e r e i s , f o r pur

poses of v e r i f i c a t i o n , the p r i n c i p l e of u n i v e r s a l agreement

and i n some cases a u n i t standard f o r which t h e r e i s an

a c t u a l r e f e r e n t . However, i n p e r s o n a l i t y measurement, no

u n i v e r s a l agreement i s p r e s e n t , and e v a l u a t i o n s of behav

i o u r become based upon v a r i o u s a r b i t r a r y s t a n d a r d s . The

i n d i v i d u a l t a k i n g a p e r s o n a l i t y t e s t l i k e t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e ,

i s e v a l u a t e d i n terms of standards t h a t are a r r i v e d a t f o r

a c e r t a i n group. At times, because of p a r t i c u l a r circum

stances, these a r b i t r a r y standards do not a p p l y to a spec

i f i c i n d i v i d u a l . Here, then, enter those e r r o r s of meas

urement that occur because the t e s t u s i n g f i x e d and a r b i t

r a r y standards i s not designed to make allowances f o r the

r e l a t i v e nature of adjustment.

This l a s t paragraph suggests those d i f f i c u l t i e s of

p e r s o n a l i t y measurement t h a t a r i s e from the " u n c o n t r o l l e d

v a r i a b l e " of the i n d i v i d u a l . Many e r r o r s of measurement

are the r e s u l t of the f a c t t h a t the I n d i v i d u a l i s o f t e n

asked t o make judgments t h a t a r e beyond h i s d i s c r i m i n a t i v e

- 3 3 -

a b i l i t y . The maladjusted i n d i v i d u a l , f o r example, i s o f t e n

unaware of the t r u e nature of h i s c o n d i t i o n , and i s t h e r e

f o r e unable t o answer a c c o r d i n g l y . Then again, t h e r e i s

always the problem i n q u e s t i o n n a i r e measurement of d e t e r

mining whether the s u b j e c t i s answering h o n e s t l y or whether

he i s g i v i n g " d e c e i v i n g " answers, w i t t i n g l y or otherwise.

The importance of these two f a c t o r s upon the r e s u l t i n g

v a l i d i t y and r e l i a b i l i t y of the t e s t r e s u l t s i s evidenced

i n the f a c t that some re s e a r c h e r s ( S 3 ; 4 7 ) c o n s i d e r them to

be c h i e f reasons f o r the l a c k of the success of q u e s t i o n

n a i r e s .

The E f f e c t of Test Items

McQuitty ( 3 9 ) attempted to deal with the problems

of p e r s o n a l i t y measurement by comparing the nature of per

s o n a l i t y t e s t c o n t r u c t i o n with t h a t of the i n t e l l i g e n c e

t e s t . He assumed on the b a s i s of present day evidence

t h a t i n t e l l i g e n c e t e s t s are more v a l i d . One main f a c t o r ,

that McQuitty r e p o r t s that r e s u l t s i n lower v a l i d i t y and

r e l i a b i l i t y of the p e r s o n a l i t y t e s t s compared to i n t e l l i g

ence t e s t s i s inherent i n the nature of the items. In the

case of i n t e l l i g e n c e t e s t s the items are as McQuitty ( 3 9 ,

p.35) s t a t e s "...an object to object r e l a t i o n s h i p " w h i l e

i n the case of p e r s o n a l i t y t e s t items, the r e l a t i o n s h i p i s

one of " . . . o b j e c t to s e l f " . Consequently, i n answering

the questions the i n d i v i d u a l has, i n the case of i n t e l l i g

ence t e s t q u e stions, o n l y one c o r r e c t answer while i n

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p e r s o n a l i t y t e s t s there i s no " r i g h t or wrong answer" but

i n s t e a d an answer t h a t i s dependent upon a v a r i e t y of s i t

u a t i o n a l f a c t o r s a f f e c t i n g the i n d i v i d u a l , which may or

may not remain constant from one t e s t i n g t o another. In

a d d i t i o n , when s c o r i n g the responses t o the items of i n

t e l l i g e n c e t e s t s we know e x a c t l y what i s the c o r r e c t answer,

however, i n the case of p e r s o n a l i t y t e s t s there i s always

the element of doubt concerning whether the answer gi v e n

i s " c o r r e c t " i n l i g h t of a c e r t a i n i n d i v i d u a l ' s b e h a v i o u r .

Consequently t h e r e i s a much g r e a t e r p o s s i b i l i t y of chance

and systematic e r r o r s of measurement t o occur i n the answer

ing and s c o r i n g of p e r s o n a l i t y t e s t items t h a t w i l l , of

course, l e a d t o lower r e l i a b i l i t y and v a l i d i t y .

The Concept of " t r a i t "

Another d i f f i c u l t y i n p e r s o n a l i t y measurement men

t i o n e d by McQuitty (39,p.44) p e r t a i n s t o the concept of

" t r a i t s " , and he g i v e s evidence t o show t h a t f a c t o r i a l an

a l y s i s s t u d i e s on p e r s o n a l i t y t e s t s f a i l t o r e v e a l indep

endent t r a i t s t o the same extent t h a t s t u d i e s r e v e a l indep

endent f a c t o r s w i t h i n i n t e l l i g e n c e t e s t s .

Such men as C a t t e l l (9;10) h o l d t o the view t h a t

p e r s o n a l i t y can and should be d e s c r i b e d i n terms of d i s

c r e t e and independent t r a i t s . However, C a t t e l l agrees

with A l l p o r t (1) over the view t h a t no two persons ever

have e x a c t l y the same combination of t r a i t s , but he de

l i m i t s t h i s view by s t a t i n g (9,p.56): " H e r e d i t y and e n v i r -

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onment are s u f f i c i e n t l y a l i k e f o r most people i n one c u l

t u re t o g i v e s u b s t a n t i a l l y the same form of beh a v i o r of

mature a d u l t s " . C a t t e l l makes a d i s t i n c t i o n between what

he c a l l s "common t r a i t s " which can be measured, and "unique

t r a i t s " (cf.p.31) which can not be measured. In a d d i t i o n ,

he d i s p u t e s the d e f i n i n g of a t r a i t merely as a mathematical

f a c t o r , or as a simple c l u s t e r of c o r r e l a t i n g elements ob

t a i n e d by means of a f a c t o r i a l a n a l y s i s . Instead, C a t t e l l

(9,p.580) s t a t e s :

The determining of t r a i t s must proceed by the u n i v e r s a l method of d i s c o v e r i n g covari a t i o n and i n e v i t a b l e sequence among observed events. F a c t o r s which represent sources Of c o v a r i a t i o n r a t h e r than h i g h -c l u s t e r s correspond t o t r a i t s .

He a l s o p o i n t s out that other, methods, such as that of an

a l y s i s of v a r i a n c e , should be used along with f a c t o r a n a l

y s i s which alone can not be c o n s i d e r e d s u f f i c i e n t i n the

determining of t r a i t s . The purpose of the v a r i o u s methods

i s to seek common v a r i a t i o n among v a r i a b l e s of behaviour.

Problems R e l a t e d t o the Establishment of R e l i a b i l i t y and V a l i d i t y .

In r e f e r e n c e t o the e s t a b l i s h i n g of evidence f o r

the r e l i a b i l i t y of a t e s t , the problem here i s t o show

the degree to which a t e s t produces c o n s i s t e n t l y s i m i l a r

scores f o r i n d i v i d u a l s over a p e r i o d of time. The th r e e

t r a d i t i o n a l methods used t o determine r e l i a b i l i t y are the

t e s t - r e t e s t method, the a l t e r n a t e - f o r m s method, and the

s p l i t - h a l f method. Each of these t h r e e methods g i v e some

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estimate of the t e s t ' s r e l i a b i l i t y , but they are not i d e n

t i c a l and each has i t s own u n d e r l y i n g assumptions and each

s u b j e c t to c e r t a i n l i m i t a t i o n s . I t i s important t h e r e f o r e

that a knowledge be had of these methods when i n t e r p r e t i n g

the c o e f f i c i e n t s of c o r r e l a t i o n . C o n s i d e r i n g the t e s t - r e -

t e s t method, whereby the s u b j e c t s take the same t e s t over

again, t h e r e i s the d i f f i c u l t y of determining the e f f e c t

of the f i r s t t e s t i n g upon the second as w e l l as the e f f e c t

of the a c t i v i t i e s of the v a r i o u s s u b j e c t s d u r i n g the i n

t e r i m . T h e r e f o r e , t h i s method i s not s u f f i c i e n t when these

u n c o n t r o l l e d f a c t o r s a re known to o p e r a t i v e t o such an ex

tent t h a t the r e s u l t s w i l l be d i f f i c u l t t o i n t e r p r e t . In

the s p l i t - h a l f method the t e s t i s d i v i d e d i n t o two s e c t i o n s

which are assumed t o be two s t r i c t l y comparable h a l v e s .

A c r i t i c i s m (24,p.276) of t h i s method i s t h a t there are

many ways i n which a t e s t can be d i v i d e d i n t o h a l v e s and

which are capable of producing q u i t e d i f f e r e n t r e l i a b i l i t y

c o e f f i c i e n t s . I f , however, th e r e i s every reason to b e l i e v e

that the two halve s c o n t a i n a random sample of s i m i l a r

items, then the method y i e l d s a good i n d i c a t i o n of c o n s i s

tency and i s c o n s i d e r e d under such c o n d i t i o n s the best of

the t r a d i t i o n a l procedures (24,p.275). The a l t e r n a t e - f o r m s

method assumes t h a t the two t e s t s are comparable forms.

Obviously, here, as i n the case of the s p l i t - h a l f method,

i s the problem of determining i f th e r e i s any s i g n i f i c a n t

a f f e c t of the f i r s t t e s t i n g upon the second, as w e l l as

e s t a b l i s h i n g evidence that the two forms are eq u a l .

Concerning the e s t a b l i s h i n g of the v a l i d i t y of a

t e s t , t h e main d i f f i c u l t y i s that of f i n d i n g adequate c r i t

e r i a , t h a t are i n themselves r e l i a b l e , with which t o c o r

r e l a t e w i t h the t e s t r e s u l t s . T h i s d i f f i c u l t y i s , of course,

d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d t o the problem of d e f i n i t i o n t h a t was

di s c u s s e d e a r l i e r (see p.30). To e l u c i d a t e , and i n way of

example, the qu e s t i o n of f i n d i n g the v a l i d i t y of a "person

a l i t y t e s t " becomes a meaningless problem when at the on

set we are a d m i t t e d l y measuring but a few phases of a poor

l y d e f i n e d whole, and i n a d d i t i o n have weak s u p p o r t i n g

evidence f o r the r e l i a b i l i t y of the c r i t e r i o n used. Con

sequently, i n the f i e l d of " p e r s o n a l i t y " measurement i t

would seem onl y l o g i c a l t h a t measurement be preceded by

the exact d e f i n i t i o n of q u a l i t a t i v e behaviour c h a r a c t e r i s

t i c s t h a t i n t u r n can be converted t o q u a n t i t a t i v e d e s c r i p

t i o n .

In the chapter we have d i s c u s s e d the problem of

measurement i n the l i g h t of p o i n t s such as, the t h e o r e t i c a l

assumptions u n d e r l y i n g measurement, the f a c t o r of i n d i v i d

u a l d i f f e r e n c e s , t h e lack of s a t i s f a c t o r y d e f i n i t i o n of

terms, the a f f e c t of the nature of t e s t items, and the gen

e r a l problems p e r t a i n i n g t o the g a t h e r i n g of s u p p o r t i n g ev

idence concerning r e l i a b i l i t y and v a l i d i t y . Although t h i s

has not been a comprehensive review, i t i s s u f f i c i e n t to

i n d i c a t e the import of the problems t h a t remain unsolved

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i n the f i e l d of p e r s o n a l i t y measurement*

CHAPTER V

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES

This chapter w i l l o u t l i n e the procedures f o l l o w e d

i n c a r r y i n g out the i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the problem, and w i l l

d e s c r i b e the sample of s u b j e c t s employed, and e x p l a i n any

form or s p e c i a l d e v i c e used i n the study.

D e s c r i p t i o n of s u b j e c t s

The t o t a l number of s u b j e c t s used were 207 grade

twelve students from the K i t s i l a n o S e n i o r High School, Van

couver, B r i t i s h Columbia. T h i s group c o n s i s t e d of 104

g i r l s and 103 boys, who ranged from 16 years t o 19 years

i n age, with a mean age of 17.7 y e a r s .

The s c h o o l from which the students were s e l e c t e d

neighbours upon a wide socio-economic a r e a . Consequently,

i t i s assumed t h a t the group used i s f a i r l y r e p r e s e n t a t i v e

of grade twelve students throughout the c i t y .

A d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the Inventory

The B e l l Adjustment Inventory was ad m i n i s t e r e d by

the w r i t e r , a c c o r d i n g t o the d i r e c t i o n s c o n t a i n e d w i t h i n

the Manual of I n s t r u c t i o n s (see Appendix A ) , to 104 g i r l s

and 103 boys. A f t e r an i n t e r i m of approximately s i x t y days

the Inventory was a g a i n a d m i n i s t e r e d . The r e t e s t group

c o n s i s t e d of 100 boys and 82 g i r l s , used f o r o b t a i n i n g t e s t -

r e t e s t r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s .

The Interview

One of the procedures used i n t h i s study was th a t

-40-

of i n t e r v i e w i n g 102 grade twelve boys.

P r i o r to the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the Inventory and

the conducting of the i n t e r v i e w , the students were t o l d

by the Boys' Head C o u n s e l l o r t h a t they would be asked to

take p a r t i n a study and t h a t i n a d d i t i o n those who d e s i r e d

c o u l d take any problem t h a t they might have t o t h e i n t e r

viewer and have i t d i s c u s s e d * T h i s p r e l i m i n a r y announce

ment to the students accomplished the purpose of p r e p a r i n g

them f o r the i n t e r v i e w s and of a r o u s i n g t h e i r i n t e r e s t * I t

may be s t a t e d , i n p a s s i n g , t h a t the c o - o p e r a t i o n obtained

from the students was e x c e l l e n t .

The i n t e r v i e w technique served t o f u l f i l s e v e r a l

c o n d i t i o n s t h a t were advantageous t o the s t u d y as a whole.

F i r s t , i t helped i n meeting the suggestion given by B e l l

(5,p.30) t h a t the Inventory should be g i v e n t o the students

with t h e i r understanding t h a t the r e s u l t s w i l l be d i s c u s s e d

with them. (Because of the time f a c t o r i t was p o s s i b l e to

i n t e r v i e w only 102 boys. The w r i t e r used boys i n p r e f e r

ence to g i r l s i n the b e l i e f t h a t b e t t e r r a p p o r t c o u l d be

e s t a b l i s h e d with the boys. However, the g i r l s were i n t e r

viewed by the v a r i o u s g i r l s ' c o u n s e l l o r s during t h e course

of the term which complied with the s u g g e s t i o n by B e l l

j u s t r e f e r r e d t o ) . Secondly, the i n t e r v i e w served as a

means of g a t h e r i n g data f o r purposes of o b t a i n i n g v a l i d a t

ing evidence f o r the Home, S o c i a l , and Emotional s e o t i o n s

of the Adjustment Inventory. T h i r d l y , the i n t e r v i e w p r o v i d -

-41-

ed the o p p o r t u n i t y f o r the a c t u a l use of the Inventory i n

the c o u n s e l l i n g s i t u a t i o n .

So t h a t each student would be made t o f e e l at ease

and so t h a t good c o - o p e r a t i o n would ensue, each s u b j e c t

was g r e e t e d c o r d i a l l y and e x p l a i n e d the purpose -of the i n t e r

view. It was c l e a r l y brought to the students a t t e n t i o n that

the i n t e r v i e w s were co m p l e t e l y c o n f i d e n t i a l .

I n t e r v i e w i n g time ranged from f o r t y t o n i n e t y min

ute s , with a median time of app r o x i m a t e l y f i f t y minutes.

Procedures Used i n V a l i d a t i n g the Home Adjustment S e c t i o n of the Inventory

Next to a c t u a l l y v i s i t i n g the students* homes, the

i n t e r v i e w technique was co n s i d e r e d t o be the most e x a c t i n g

means a v a i l a b l e whereby the home adjustment of the students

c o u l d be s t u d i e d . In a d d i t i o n , to the obvious f a c t o r s of

the i m p r a c t i c a l i t y and inconvenience of making p e r s o n a l

home v i s i t s , the i n t e r v i e w method was chosen because i t

appeared to have the advantage of a f f o r d i n g a means of d i s

c e r n i n g the student*s own a t t i t u d e t o h i s home environment

which i s of major importance i n the f i n a l e v a l u a t i o n of the

student's adjustment i n t h i s a r e a .

The i n t e r v i e w technique presented s e v e r a l problems

i n t r i n s i c a l l y concerned with the establishment of c o n t r o l s .

I t was decided a t the onset t h a t the pa r t of the i n t e r v i e w

concerned with the e v a l u a t i n g of the student's home a d j u s t

ment, would be a " c o n t r o l l e d i n t e r v i e w " so t h a t the separate

-42-

r e s u l t s would have comparative meaning. It s h a l l be noted

t h a t although c o n t r o l s are necessary, r i g i d i t y and extreme

f o r m a l i t y w i l l o f t e n produce n e g a t i v e a f f e c t s such as r e

t i c e n c e and poor c o - o p e r a t i o n , as mentioned c o n s i s t e n t l y

by r e s e a r c h e r s i n the f i e l d of i n t e r v i e w i n g (6;19;29).

Consequently, with t h i s i n mind, an attempt was made to con

duct the i n t e r v i e w s with a c e r t a i n degree of i n f o r m a l i t y

but w i t h i n c e r t a i n l i m i t s so that the main o b j e c t i v e s would

not s u f f e r .

The c o n t r o l s p e r t a i n i n g to t h e i n t e r v i e w may be

summarized as f o l l o w s : (a) each i n d i v i d u a l was asked the

same q u e s t i o n s ; (b) the wording and sequence of questions

remained the same f o r a l l s t u d e n t s ; (c) a l l the i n t e r v i e w s

were c a r r i e d out by the same i n t e r v i e w e r ; (d) the complete

set of i n t e r v i e w s were h e l d i n a p r i v a t e o f f i c e f r e e from

d i s t u r b a n c e s ; (e) the e s t a b l i s h i n g and m a i n t a i n i n g of good

rap p o r t was attempted throughout; ( f ) the responses, as

f a r as p o s s i b l e , were rec o r d e d v e r b a t i m .

The C o n s t r u c t i o n of Interview Questions f o r E v a l u a t i n g Student Home Adjustment '

The procedure used to s e l e c t s u i t a b l e q u e s t i o n s

r e l a t e d to home adjustment commenced by l i s t i n g from the

l i t e r a t u r e (5; 7;17;31;37;40;41;54) those home f a c t o r s con

s i d e r e d important by l e a d i n g p s y c h o l o g i s t s and s o c i o l o g i s t s .

A f t e r these v a r i o u s p o i n t s were gathered from the l i t e r a t u r e

i t was observed t h a t they c o u l d be d i v i d e d f o r purposes of

o r g a n i z a t i o n i n t o the f o l l o w i n g i n t e r r e l a t e d a r e a s :

-43-

1. "Confidence i n Parents", which i n c l u d e s questions a t

tempting t o determine the f e e l i n g s of s e c u r i t y or i n s e c

u r i t y t h a t the s u b j e c t has i n h i s r e l a t i o n s with h i s p a r

ents, whether there is a f e e l i n g of " c l o s e n e s s " or " d i s t a n c e "

i n these r e l a t i o n s , and to d i s c e r n the extent to which the

student a c t u a l l y does c o n f i d e i n h i s p a r e n t s .

2. "Father and Mother R e l a t i o n s h i p s " , deals with the mar

i t a l adjustments t h a t the parents have made t o each other

as observed i n matters such as t h e i r mutual i n t e r e s t s ,

a f f e c t i o n , c o - o p e r a t i o n , and g e n e r a l c o m p a t a b i l i t y .

3. "General Harmony Between Student and Fath e r " , i n c l u d e s

questions seeking to d i s c o v e r the amount of d i s c o r d t h a t

e x i s t s between the f a t h e r and the student, the types of

circumstances that produce d i s p u t e s , and the extent to

which disagreements cause unpleasantness i n the home*

4. "General Harmony Between Student and Mother", which i s

i d e n t i c a l t o the previous s e c t i o n but d e a l i n g w i t h the

mother and student r e l a t i o n s h i p s *

5. "Sense of Home's Worth", p e r t a i n s t o t h e s o c i a l and

economic s u f f i c i e n c y of the home and the student's g e n e r a l

a t t i t u d e towards, and e s t i m a t i o n o f , the home i t s e l f *

6 . " S o c i a l P a r t i c i p a t i o n of Student with P a r e n t s " , c o n t a i n s

questions r e l a t i n g t o the nature of the stu d e n t - p a r e n t

s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s , assuming that a c t i v e and c o n g e n i a l

p a r t i c i p a t i o n between members of the f a m i l y i s an i n d i c a t

ion of s a t i s f a c t o r y home c o n d i t i o n s , while the l a c k of such

-44-

p a r t i c i p a t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y when circumstances a f f o r d i t , i s

i n d i c a t i v e of an u n s a t i s f a c t o r y home environment,

7, "Harmony Between Student and Other Members of the Family",

which deals with both the general atmosphere of the r e l a t

ions between the student with h i s b r o t h e r s , s i s t e r s , and

other members and seeks i n f o r m a t i o n concerning how adequat

e l y the other members themselves get along with each o t h e r .

8, A " m i s c e l l a n e o u s " s e c t i o n was a l s o i n c l u d e d , mainly

as a supplementary check. Since the i n t e r v i e w questions do

not cover a l l the p o s s i b l e f a c t o r s and c o n d i t i o n s , t h i s

e i g h t h s e c t i o n was i n c l u d e d so as t o g i v e each s u b j e c t

the o p p o r t u n i t y of s t a t i n g any a d d i t i o n a l :circumstances

that he c o n s i d e r e d p e r t i n e n t t o the f u r t h e r understanding

of h i s p a r t i c u l a r home s i t u a t i o n .

A f t e r determining the content f o r the q u e s t i o n s t o

gether with a plan f o r o r g a n i z a t i o n , the next c o n s i d e r a t i o n

was t h a t of the a c t u a l s t a t i n g of the q u e s t i o n s . The prob

lem here was to word the q u e s t i o n s so t h a t t h e responses

would y i e l d a s u f f i c i e n t number of examples of behaviour

r e a c t i o n s , as w e l l as f a c t s about the home, and i n such a

way that l e v e l s of comparison between the students c o u l d

be estimated from these responses. Some of the questions

c o u l d be answered by e i t h e r "yes" or "no" which, of course,

would y i e l d only one of two extremes to any s i n g l e a s p e c t ,

but i n the m a j o r i t y of cases the s u b j e c t ' s r e p l i e s were

d i r e c t e d by q u a l i f y i n g phrases such as "how o f t e n i n a week?1*

-45-

"could you gi v e an example?" which,should r e q u i r e d e l i m i t a t

ion and e x p l a n a t i o n and which would make f o r f i n e r d i s c r i m

i n a t i o n i n the task of r a t i n g . In b r i e f , the questions

were chosen i n an attempt t o sample behaviour and circum

stances r e f l e c t i v e of home c o n d i t i o n s and home a t t i t u d e s ,

and were worded so t h a t q u a l i t a t i v e d i f f e r e n c e s between

the students c o u l d be determined on the b a s i s of the r e s

ponses.

Before the f i n a l l i s t of quest i o n s was prepared, the

o r i g i n a l l i s t , which c o n s i s t e d of e i g h t y - f o u r questions

prepared by the author, was submitted t o seven persons con

s i s t i n g of f i v e psychology major s t u d e n t s , and two h i g h -

school c o u n s e l l o r s , who reviewed the que s t i o n s and marked

each as e i t h e r " e x c e l l e n t " , "good", or " f a i r " depending

upon t h e i r own o p i n i o n of the s u i t a b i l i t y of each q u e s t i o n .

In a d d i t i o n , they were asked to i n d i c a t e i f any qu e s t i o n

appeared p o o r l y worded or ambiguous and to i n c l u d e any ques

t i o n s t hat they c o n s i d e r e d p o t e n t i a l l y u s e f u l . The new

que s t i o n s , e i g h t i n a l l , were i n tu r n submitted f o r c o n s i d

e r a t i o n . On the b a s i s of these r a t i n g s and sug g e s t i o n s ,

eight of the e i g h t y - f o u r o r i g i n a l questions were omitted,

f o u r new ones added, and s i x r e v i s e d g i v i n g a t o t a l of

eig h t y questions which comprised the f i n a l s e t of home ad

justment i n t e r v i e w q u e s t i o n s (see Appendix B ) . These

ei g h t y questions b e f o r e being used i n the i n t e r v i e w proper

were p r e - t e s t e d on f o u r grade twelve students t o determine

-46-i f any questions were not s u i t a b l e d u r i n g the a c t u a l i n t e r

view s i t u a t i o n . Although a l l of the questions were r e t a i n

ed some minor r e v i s i o n s were made t o assure both c l a r i t y

and c o n c i s e n e s s .

Method Used to Rate Student on Home Adjustment

During the i n t e r v i e w the responses of the students

to the questions on home adjustment were r e c o r d e d on a

s p e c i a l l y prepared form (see Appendix B ) . Since t h e f i n a l

r a t i n g s t o be g i v e n were t o be made at a l a t e r date i t was

of prime importance t h a t the comments be recor d e d verbatim

as f a r as p o s s i b l e *

For c l a r i t y of d i s c u s s i o n , i t i s important t o r e

view the f a c t t h a t the i n t e r v i e w q u e s t i o n s p e r t a i n i n g t o

home adjustment were d i v i d e d i n t o seven broad a r e a s . I t

i s agreed (21;57) that g r e a t e r v a l i d i t y of r a t i n g s a r e ob

t a i n e d i f the i n d i v i d u a l i s gi v e n s e v e r a l p a r t r a t i n g s on

v a r i o u s f a c t o r s c o n t a i n e d w i t h i n the main f a c t o r t h a t i s

being r a t e d . In t h i s c ase i t would be p o s s i b l e t o ra t e the

i n d i v i d u a l on each of the seven separate s e c t i o n s , and

then by using these r a t i n g s o b t a i n an o v e r a l l r a t i n g on

home adjustment* In a d d i t i o n , another method t h a t c o u l d be

used would be t o a s s i g n weights t o t h e i n d i v i d u a l items

and then o b t a i n an o v e r a l l r a t i n g on the b a s i s of the sum

of these weighted v a l u e s . A c t u a l l y , both procedures were

used i n o b t a i n i n g a f i n a l composite r a t i n g f o r each s t u d

ent.

-47-

The f i n a l r a t i n g given t o each student was a com

p o s i t e r a t i n g made by the w r i t e r with the c o - o p e r a t i o n of

two members* of the Department of Psychology, Oregon S t a t e

C o l l e g e , both of whom have had c o n s i d e r a b l e experience i n

methods of r a t i n g .

Although 102 boys were i n t e r v i e w e d , the f i n a l v a l

i d a t i n g group c o n s i s t e d of 100 students, two of the s t u d

ents being omitted because of circumstances t h a t prevented

adhering to the experimental c o n t r o l s . One of these s t u d

ents was omitted because of h i s r e t i c e n c e i n answering

c e r t a i n q u e s t i o n s . The second student was omitted because

he presented a p e r s o n a l problem at the be g i n n i n g of t h e

i n t e r v i e w of such a nature t h a t i t d i d not appear c l i n i c a l l y

sound to conduct the f o r m a l i n t e r v i e w . In t h i s case, the

student's immediate p e r s o n a l problem was d e a l t w i t h o n l y .

The a c t u a l procedure used i n o b t a i n i n g the f i n a l

composite r a t i n g f o r each of the 100 boys was as f o l l o w s :

1. The two r a t e r s , j u s t mentioned, together with the

w r i t e r , commenced by g i v i n g a weighted v a l u e to each of

the home adjustment questions i n c l u d e d i n the i n t e r v i e w .

This was done i n an attempt to overcome, at l e a s t i n p a r t ,

the f a c t t h a t the questions a r e not of equal import as i n

d i c a t o r s of u n s a t i s f a c t o r y home c o n d i t i o n s . At f i r s t i t

was decided that a t h r e e - p o i n t weighting system be used,

but t h i s proved to be too f i n e a d i s c r i m i n a t i o n f o r the

t. M i l t o n Gordon, D i r e o t o r of the Oregon S t a t e C o l l e g e , Couns e l i n g Bureau, and I n s t r u c t o r i n Psychology. W i l l i a m F.McCormach, I n s t r u c t o r i n Psychology, Oregon S t a t e C o l l e g e .

-48-

r a t e r s , and i t was decided t h a t a two-point system be used*

The r e f o r e , each que s t i o n was given a weight of e i t h e r one

or two p o i n t s by each r a t e r and the f i n a l weighted v a l u e

g i v e n t o a question was a r b i t r a r i l y taicen to be t h a t v a l u e

agreed upon by two of the judges.

2. The next step was to devise some q u a n t i t a t i v e meth

od which c o u l d be used f o r d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g between the

students' responses. In t h i s case, a convenient t h r e e - p o i n t

s c a l e , from zero to two, was used. A weight of "ze r o "

given t o a response t o a qu e s t i o n was t o mean t h a t , i n the

e s t i m a t i o n of the r a t e r , the r e p l y gave no i n d i c a t i o n of

any u n s a t i s f a c t o r y home c o n d i t i o n . A weight of one p o i n t

was to be i n t e r p r e t e d as meaning t h a t the r e p l y i n d i c a t e d

t h at a minor degree of home inadequacy or d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n

was p r e s e n t . A weight of two p o i n t s was t o be used f o r

those responses t h a t showed a major or severe inadequacy*

The r e f o r e , both the q u e s t i o n and the response were weighted,

and the va l u e given to any one q u e s t i o n by a r a t e r was taken

to be the product of these two v a l u e s , which we s h a l l r e f e r

to as the "Minus Score" f o r the q u e s t i o n . Each of the t h r e e

r a t e r s , independently gave a Minus Score to each que s t i o n

f o r each of the s t u d e n t s . By summing the t o t a l of thes e

Minus Scores f o r any one s u b j e c t , and d i v i d i n g by t h r e e ,

i t was p o s s i b l e to o b t a i n f o r him what we s h a l l c a l l , an

average " T o t a l Minus Score". I t w i l l be noted t h a t f o r

some students a l l the s e c t i o n s d i d not a p p l y , t h e r e f o r e ,

-49-

i t was necessary, i n such cases, to m u l t i p l y by a simple

c o r r e c t i o n f a c t o r i n order to have a s i m i l a r denominator

throughout.

3. A f t e r each i n d i v i d u a l student was gi v e n a T o t a l

Minus Score, the complete set of i n t e r v i e w s were again r e

viewed by the three r a t e r s u s i n g another method as the b a s i s

of r a t i n g . T h i s f o l l o w i n g method of r a t i n g was done one

week l a t e r without r e f e r e n c e t o any of the r e s u l t s of the

f i r s t r a t i n g . The procedure here, as b e f o r e , was a review

of the responses, by the th r e e judges who took notes and,

using the f i v e - p o i n t d e s c r i p t i v e s c a l e r anging from " E x c e l

l e n t " to "Very Poor" r e f e r r e d to e a r l i e r (see p.10), r a t e d

the i n d i v i d u a l student on each of the seven s e c t i o n s . A f t e r

each r a t e r had independently given h i s r a t i n g f o r the s e c

t i o n , the three judges by mutual agreement decided upon a

s i n g l e r a t i n g f o r each s e c t i o n , and then on the b a s i s of

the seven separate s e c t i o n a l r a t i n g s agreed upon an o v e r a l l

r a t i n g of home adjustment f o r the i n d i v i d u a l . T h i s o v e r a l l

r a t i n g a r r i v e d at by u s i n g the separate s e c t i o n a l r a t i n g s ,

w i l l be r e f e r r e d t o as the "Composite S e c t i o n a l E a t i n g " .

It should be noted that when making these s e c t i o n a l r a t i n g s ,

the t h r e e judges r a t e d a l l the students on each s e c t i o n at

a time r a t h e r than r a t e one i n d i v i d u a l on a l l seven s e c t i o n s

one a f t e r the other. For example, a l l 100 boys were r a t e d

on the f i r s t s e c t i o n of the i n t e r v i e w questions ( i . e . "Con

f i d e n c e i n Parents") b e f o r e r a t i n g anyone on the next sec-

-50-

t i o n . T h i s was done with the view of p r e v e n t i n g any pos

s i b l e "halo" e f f e c t .

T h e r e f o r e , at t h i s p o i n t , each student c o u l d be com--s.

pared with the t o t a l group on the b a s i s of a q u a n t i t a t i v e

measure ( i . e . h i s T o t a l Minus Score) and a q u a l i t a t i v e term

( i . e . h i s Composite S e c t i o n a l R a t i n g ) . The reason f o r us

ing both of these measures was mainly f o r purposes of a

supplementary check, f o r i f the r a t i n g s by the t h r e e judges

were c o n s i s t e n t there should be a c o n s i d e r a b l e amount of

r e l a t i o n s h i p between the two methods. In a d d i t i o n , i t was

f e l t t h a t each of the methods had c e r t a i n l i m i t a t i o n s t h a t

would not j u s t i f y i t s use a l o n e . C o n s i d e r i n g the T o t a l

Minus Score i t was q u i t e w i t h i n p o s s i b i l i t y that a c e r t a i n

student c o u l d on one s e c t i o n of the i n t e r v i e w questions r e

c e i v e s e v e r a l high Minus Scores t h a t would g i v e a f i n a l

r a t i n g that i n a c t u a l i t y was not a good i n d i c a t i o n of h i s

general home adjustment. In a d d i t i o n , the T o t a l Minus

Scores c o u l d be used to put the i n d i v i d u a l i n a rank order,

but i t c o u l d not be d i r e c t l y i n t e r p r e t e d i n terms of the

q u a l i t y of the adjustment. The use of the Composite S e c t i o n

a l Rating alone d i d not seem j u s t i f i a b l e s i n c e t h e r e was

a g r e a t e r element of s u b j e c t i v i t y than i n the method u s i n g

the Minus Scores.

5. Using the T o t a l Minus Score f o r each i n d i v i d u a l ,

the group of 100 boys were p l a c e d i n t o a rank order from

the h i g h e s t T o t a l Minus Score, down to the lowest. Then

-51-

as the students were arranged i n t h i s order they were d i v

ided i n t o f i v e subgroups, v i z . "Very U n s a t i s f a c t o r y " ,

" U n s a t i s f a c t o r y " , "Average", "Good", " E x c e l l e n t " * T h i s a r b

i t r a r y d i v i s i o n of the group was done by simply n o t i n g the

number of i n d i v i d u a l s who were so r a t e d on t h e b a s i s of

t h e i r Composite S e c t i o n a l R a t i n g , For example, a c c o r d i n g

to the Composite S e c t i o n a l Ratings nine boys were r a t e d as

"Very U n s a t i s f a c t o r y " , t h e r e f o r e , the nine students with

the h i g h e s t T o t a l Minus Scores were p l a c e d i n t o one group

and l a b e l l e d "Very U n s a t i s f a c t o r y " . The other f o u r groups

were d i v i d e d i n the same way and a l l those who f e l l w i t h i n

the group on the b a s i s of t h e i r T o t a l Minus Scores were

given the group r a t i n g .

6 . F i n a l l y , the complete set of data on each i n d i v i d

u a l was reviewed i n t o t a l by the th r e e judges t o g e t h e r .

At t h i s p o i n t the procedure was t o compare the d e s c r i p t i o n

r a t i n g t h at the i n d i v i d u a l r e c e i v e d from the group i n t o

which he f e l l with h i s Composite S e c t i o n a l R a t i n g . If

these two r a t i n g s agreed, then t h i s r a t i n g was c o n s i d e r e d

as the students f i n a l r a t i n g on home adjustment. However,

where th e r e was any di s c r e p a n c y between the two r a t i n g s

the t h r e e judges reviewed such a case u n t i l a f i n a l r a t i n g

was e s t a b l i s h e d by agreement.

Once each student was g i v e n a f i n a l r a t i n g on the

b a s i s of the i n t e r v i e w r e s u l t s , i t was p o s s i b l e to note

the degree of r e l a t i o n s h i p between these r a t i n g s and the

-52-

descriptive ratings received by the students on the Home Aijustment

section of the .Adjustment Inventory.

Although the questions used in the interview attempt to

evaluate both the positive as well as the negative aspect of home

adjustment, the emphasis has been placed on the negative aspect.

This was done i n an attempt to differentiate clearly at the c r i t i c a l

or unsatisfactory end of the scale-, since from the counselling

viewpoint i t is more pertinent to discover those who have home

d i f f i c u l t i e s than i t is to discover those who have no seriously

disturbing conditions in the home.

Procedures Used in Validating the Social Adjustment Section

Social Participation as a criterion

In order to establish further information con- •

earning the Social section of the Inventory, an attempt was made

to relate the scores made on the section with actual social partic

ipation. Therefore, using 100 boys as a sample, i t was necess

ary to determine to what social groups each student belonged both

at school and outside of school.1 In order to accomplish th i s , the

students were asked to complete a section of a form, referred to

as the "Information Form" (see Appendix B) in which the students

listed the groups to which they belonged, and indicated what

offices they held and what duties they performed. Then, during

the interview ( see p, 39 ) this information was reviewed with

the student, considering the following points:

1. Were-the groups included by the student good examples

of s o c i a l f u n c t i o n s ? Some of the s o - c a l l e d s o c i a l groups

i n c l u d e d by the students were not r e a l l y s o c i a l - p a r t i c i p a

t i o n groups, such as c l a s s e s g i v i n g s p e c i a l i n s t r u c t i o n i n

school s u b j e c t s .

2. To what extent d i d the student take p a r t i n t h e

group? At times a student i n c l u d e d an o r g a n i z a t i o n i n which

he had never taken any a c t i v e p a r t .

3. Did the student belong to any h e t e r o s e x u a l group?

The assumption was made t h a t , f o r grade twelve s t u d e n t s , be

l o n g i n g t o h e t e r o s e x u a l groups i n d i c a t e s a g r e a t e r degree

of s o c i a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n and shows g r e a t e r s o c i a l adjustment

than does be l o n g i n g o n l y to groups of the same sex.

Using the obtained i n f o r m a t i o n the 100 students were

d i v i d e d i n t o the f o l l o w i n g three groups:

1. The f i r s t group (Group SP I) c o n s i s t e d of those s t u d

ents who d i d not a c t i v e l y belong to any s o c i a l - p a r t i c i p a t i o n

gro up•

2. The second group (Group SP II) c o n s i s t e d of t h o s e

who a c t i v e l y belonged t o one or two groups, as w e l l as those

students who belonged to more than two but d i d not belong

to any he t e r o s e x u a l group.

3. The t h i r d group (Group SP I I I ) . i n c l u d e d those who

belonged t o three or more s o c i a l - p a r t i c i p a t i o n groups i n c l u d

ing at l e a s t one h e t e r o s e x u a l group.

A f t e r the students were p l a c e d i n t o one of the three

groups i t was p o s s i b l e t o determine i f t h e r e was any e v i d -

-54-

ence of r e l a t i o n s h i p between p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n s o c i a l groups

and scores made on the s o c i a l s e c t i o n of the Inventory*

S o c i a l " P o p u l a r i t y " as a C r i t e r i o n of S o c i a l Adjustment

Si n c e s o c i a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n group a c t i v i t i e s i s

but one way of e v a l u a t i n g s o c i a l adjustment i t was decided

t h a t another c r i t e r i o n t h a t of " s o c i a l p o p u l a r i t y " would

be used. In t h i s case the students were asked to vote f o r

the t h r e e boys i n grade twelve t h a t they l i k e d the b e s t *

The a c t u a l procedure used was as f o l l o w s :

1. At the t e r m i n a t i o n of the i n t e r v i e w each student

was asked i f he would w r i t e down the names of "the t h r e e

boys i n your grade twelve c l a s s e s whom you c o n s i d e r as your

best f r i e n d s , or boys with whom you would l i k e t o be f r i e n d s " *

2. The students were a l s o t o l d , t h a t i t was not imper

a t i v e t h a t they put down t h r e e names, one or two would, do,

or none i f t h e r e was no person whom they p a r t i c u l a r l y l i k e d .

3. The students were told, not t o w r i t e t h e i r own names

on the answer sheet.

4. The students were a f f o r d e d complete p r i v a c y while

w r i t i n g . When f i n i s h e d , they dropped t h e i r answers i n t o a

c l o s e d box that was p r o v i d e d f o r the purpose.

T h e r e f o r e , at the end of the i n t e r v i e w s i t was pos

s i b l e , t o o b t a i n a p o p u l a r i t y vote f o r each s t u d e n t . Using

these r e s u l t s , the 100 boys were d i v i d e d i n t o t h r e e d i s

t i n c t groups. The f i r s t group based upon the v o t i n g (Group

ST I) c o n s i s t e d of those students who d i d not r e c e i v e any

-55-votes or who r e c e i v e d one v o t e . The second group (Group

SV II) c o n s i s t e d of those who r e c e i v e d from two to f o u r v o t e s .

The t h i r d group (Group SV I I I ) c o n s i s t e d of those who r e

c e i v e d f i v e votes and over.

Using these three groups i t was p o s s i b l e to d e t e r

mine i f there was any r e l a t i o n s h i p between s o c i a l p o p u l a r i t y

and the scores made on the Inventory.

Procedures Used i n V a l i d a t i n g the Emotional S e c t i o n

Teach Ratings

The procedures used to ev a l u a t e the Emotional s e c

t i o n i n c l u d e d the c o n s t r u c t i n g of an "emotional adjustment"

r a t i n g s c a l e (see Appendix C) which was used i n o b t a i n i n g

teacher's r a t i n g s of 90 boys. The r a t i n g s c a l e was con

s t r u c t e d i n such a way t h a t the r a t e r s were a i d e d i n d e f i n

ing the type of behaviour that they were r a t i n g . On the

emotional r a t i n g form are to be found a l i s t of ten s i g n s

r e l a t e d t o emotional behaviour problems which the t e a c h e r s

were asked t o check f o r each of the students r a t e d . The

a c t u a l r a t i n g s by the teachers were made on a graphic

s c a l e p r i n t e d below these t en emotional behaviour c h a r a c

t e r i s t i c s . D i v i d i n g t h i s s c a l e , which the t e a c h e r s were

asked to c o n s i d e r as a continuum, i n t o seven p a r t s , a score

ranging from one to seven c o u l d be obtained f o r each s t u d

ent r a t e d . Symonds {52) found that optimum r e l i a b i l i t y

f o r r a t i n g s c a l e s i s obtained with a seven-point s c a l e .

Each student was r a t e d by t h r e e teachers independ

e n t l y , s i n c e i t i s g e n e r a l l y agreed (23) t h a t , with c e r t a i n

f a c t o r s c o n t r o l l e d , v a l i d i t y of r a t i n g s i n c r e a s e w i t h an

i n c r e a s e i n the number of r a t e r s used. Averaging the th r e e

r a t i n g s g i v e n , i t would be p o s s i b l e t o o b t a i n a s i n g l e

r a t i n g f o r each s t u d e n t , and the r e s u l t s obtained c o u l d be

oompared with those of the Inventory.

Composite Ratings of Emotional Adjustment

Concerning the Emotional s e c t i o n , the w r i t e r , i n

a d d i t i o n to the above, gathered the f o l l o w i n g i n f o r m a t i o n

concerning 98 students on emotional adjustment:

1. During one s e c t i o n of the i n t e r v i e w the student

was asked i f he had any p e r s o n a l problems and s p e c i f i c a l l y

any emotional problems, which were d e f i n e d t o him by way

of examples.

2. Each student was r a t e d by the w r i t e r on g e n e r a l em

o t i o n a l s t a b i l i t y as d i s p l a y e d by h i s behaviour during the

i n t e r v i e w . The emotional r a t i n g form, d e s c r i b e d e a r l i e r

(see p.55), was used f o r t h i s purpose.

3. The School Nurse was asked to group the students

i n t o three l e v e l s of emotional adjustment on the b a s i s of

the h e a l t h r e c o r d s which made p r o v i s i o n f o r r e c o r d i n g

"nervous symptoms" t h a t were d e t e c t e d by the p h y s i c i a n or

nurse during the p h y s i o a l examinations. The School Nurse

p l a c e d the students i n t o t h r e e groups: (a) those who showed

"marked emotional i n s t a b i l i t y " a c c o r d i n g to the r e c o r d s ;

(b) those who showed signs of minor emotional t r o u b l e s ;

(c) those who showed no emotional d i f f i c u l t i e s .

-57-TTsing the Information as s u p p l i e d by "the student,

by the School Nurse, and by the w r i t e r ' s own r a t i n g s , the

students were d i v i d e d i n t o t h r e e groups. The f i r s t group

(Group E I) was composed of those who on the agreement of

at l e a s t two of the above r e p o r t s showed major emotional

d i f f i c u l t i e s . The second group (Group E I I ) were those

students who were shown to have emotional d i f f i c u l t i e s on

but one of the s e t s of i n f o r m a t i o n mentioned above. The

t h i r d group (Group E I I I ) was composed of those students

who showed no signs of emotional d i s t u r b a n c e s on any of the

s e t s of i n f o r m a t i o n . Once the students were d i v i d e d i n t o

one of the t h r e e groups, i t was p o s s i b l e t o compare the

group scores made on the Emotional s e c t i o n of the Inventory

and note any agreement between the Inventory scores and

the c r i t e r i o n r a t i n g s .

The number of boys used i n the v a l i d a t i n g groups

f o r the Emotional s e c t i o n t o t a l l e d 98. An attempt was made

to keep the same sample of 100 students throughout, however

s i n c e two students were r e l a t i v e l y new to the s c h o o l t h e i r

h e a l t h r e c o r d s were not s u f f i c i e n t l y complete f o r t h e

School Nurse to use f o r c l a s s i f y i n g these two s t u d e n t s .

S i m i l a r l y , i t w i l l be noted t h a t the sample used f o r the

v a l i d a t i o n of the H e a l t h s e c t i o n a l s o c o n s i s t e d of 98.

Procedures Used i n V a l i d a t i n g the H e a l t h Adjustment S e c t i o n

The H e a l t h Adjustment s e c t i o n was e v a l u a t e d by com

pa r i n g the r e s u l t s of the Inventory with r a t i n g s , made by

-58-

t h 9 School Nurse, of the h e a l t h of the s t u d e n t s .

I t should be e x p l a i n e d t h a t i n the school i n Van

couver each student i s g i v e n a y e a r l y p h y s i c a l examination

by a q u a l i f i e d p h y s i c i a n and the r e s u l t s are r e c o r d e d * In

a d d i t i o n , at the K i t s i l a n o High School each student who i s

away because of i l l n e s s must r e p o r t to the School Nurse be

f o r e r e t u r n i n g to c l a s s e s , and a r e c o r d i s kept of these

v i s i t s *

The School Nurse d i v i d e d 98 male students i n t o

three groups on the b a s i s of t h e i r h e a l t h r e c o r d s . The

f i r s t group (Group H I) was composed of students who a c c o r d

ing to the h e a l t h r e c o r d s had a h i s t o r y of i l l n e s s e s and

whose present h e a l t h i s c l a s s i f i e d as poor. The second

group (Group H II) c o n s i s t e d of those students who were des

c r i b e d from " f a i r " to "good" on the b a s i s of t h e i r h e a l t h

r e c o r d s . The t h i r d group (Group H I I I ) c o n s i s t e d of those

students whose p h y s i c a l h e a l t h on the b a s i s of the h e a l t h

records was e x c e l l e n t * I t should be made c l e a r t h a t the

r a t i n g s given by the School Nurse was of the stu d e n t s '

present h e a l t h s t a t u s i n terms of t h e i r past h e a l t h h i s t o r y *

A f t e r the students were d i v i d e d i n t o the v a r i o u s

groups i t was p o s s i b l e t o compare the r e s u l t s of the Inven

t o r y w i t h the r a t i n g s made by the School Nurse.

S e l f - R a t i n g s

In a d d i t i o n t o the v a r i o u s procedures used to ob t a i n

v a l i d a t i n g evidence f o r the sepa r a t e s e c t i o n s , 100 grade

-59-twelve g i r l s were a d m i n i s t e r e d a set of s e l f - r a t i n g s c a l e s

and asked to make r a t i n g of themselves on home, s o c i a l ,

emotional, and h e a l t h adjustment. A copy of the s e l f - r a t i n g

s c a l e s c o n s t r u c t e d f o r t h i s purpose can be seen i n Appendix

D.

This p a r t of the study was i n c l u d e d t o o b t a i n e v i d

ence concerning the f o l l o w i n g statement made by B e l l (5,p.29)

The score on the measures of adjustment r e presents the i n d i v i d u a l ' s own f e e l i n g s with r e g a r d t o the q u e s t i o n s . It i s h i s own eva l u a t i o n of h i s home, h e a l t h , and other adjustment .... • The score on the Adjustment Inventory r e p r e s e n t s h i s own e v a l u a t i o n of h i s conduct.

It w i l l be n o t i c e d that i n the " d e s c r i p t i o n " or ex

p l a n a t i o n g i v e n on the s e l f - r a t i n g form, s o c i a l adjustment

was d e f i n e d i n terms of a c t i v e l y b e l o n g i n g to and t a k i n g

p a r t i n s o c i a l groups. Emotional adjustment was d e f i n e d by

way of examples. He a l t h and home adjustment were d e f i n e d

i n g eneral terms s i n c e t h e i r meanings appear s e l f - e x p l a n a t o r y .

By having the students p l a c e themselves i n t o one

of t h r e e d i s t i n c t groups f o r each of the f o u r areas con

cerned i t was p o s s i b l e t o determine i f t h e r e was any c o r

respondence between the scores made on the Inventory and

t h e i r own ge n e r a l e v a l u a t i o n of t h e i r behaviour.

CHAPTER VI

THE TREATMENT OP DATA AND EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE

D i s t r i b u t i o n of Scores

The range of s c o r e s , mean, standard d e v i a t i o n , s t a n

dard e r r o r of the mean, and measures of skewness and k u r t o s

i s f o r the v a r i o u s s u b s e c t i o n s of the Adjustment Inventory

f o r 100 boys and 104 g i r l s can be seen i n Table V,

Skewness and K u r t o s i s

It i s of c o n s i d e r a b l e importance t o note the degree

to which the obtained d i s t r i b u t i o n s vary from n o r m a l i t y .

To determine t h i s , measures of skewness and k u r t o s i s were

obtained f o r the d i s t r i b u t i o n s of the boys and g i r l s on each

of the Inventory s u b s e c t i o n s . Table VI shows the extent

to which the v a r i o u s d i s t r i b u t i o n s d e v i a t e d from n o r m a l i t y .

In i n t e r p r e t i n g the r e s u l t s , skewness i s c o n s i d e r e d s i g n i f

i c a n t a t the .01 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e i f our o b t a i n e d t - r a t i o

(Sk/o"sc) equals 2.58, and i s s i g n i f i c a n t at the .05 l e v e l

i f the t - r a t i o equals 1.96. For k u r t o s i s , these same valu e s

f o r the t - r a t i o (Ku^/Ku) are r e q u i r e d f o r s t a t i s t i c a l s i g

n i f i c a n c e at e i t h e r the .01 or .05 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e .

It w i l l be observed t h a t f o r the boys, a l l d i s t r i b u t i o n s

except t h a t f o r the S o c i a l s e c t i o n were s i g n i f i c a n t l y

skewed at e i t h e r the .01 or .05 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e . In a l l

eases the skewness was p o s i t i v e , i n d i c a t i n g a p i l i n g up of

scores at the low end ( i . e . " b e t t e r adjustment" end) of the

-61-

TABLE V

Range of Scores, Mean, Standard E r r o r of the Mean. Standard D e v i a t i o n , and Measures of Skewness

and K u r t o s i s of Scores made on the A d j u s t ment Inventory f o r 100 Grade X I I Boys

and 100 Grade X I I G i r l s

SECTION Sample Range Mean M SD Sk Sk Ku Ku d

HOME Boys 0-25 6.04 .599 5.99 3.47 .94 .398 .135

G i r l s 0-20 6.35 .488 4.98 2.60 .78 .298 .03 5

HEALTH Boys 0-16 5.58 .354 3.54 1.12 .46 .454 .191 G i r l s 0-17 6.36 .388 3.96 1,59 .64 .200 .063 Boys 0-30 11.56 .7 53 7.53 1.81 1.02 .295 .032

SOCIAL G i r l s 0-30 13.78 .694 7.08 .87 .73 .292 .029 Boys 0-25 7.42 .546 5.56 1.59 .69 .465 .202

EMOTIONAL G i r l s 0-26 11.95 .565 5.76 1.04 .87 .313 .050

-62-

TABLE V I

Extent of K u r t o s i s and Skewness of D i s t r i b u t i o n of Scores f o r 100 Grade X I I Boys and 104 Grade

X I I G i r l s on Each of the Subsections of the Adjustment Inventory

Adjustment S e c t i o n

Sk/6"Sk ( t ) Ku d/Ku(t) Adjustment S e c t i o n Boys G i r l s Boys G i r l s

3.69 3.33 2.43 2.48 1.77 1.19 3.49 1.19

4.82 1.29 6.82 2.33 1.14 1.07 7.21 1.85

3.69 3.33 2.43 2.48 1.77 1.19 3.49 1.19

4.82 1.29 6.82 2.33 1.14 1.07 7.21 1.85

3.69 3.33 2.43 2.48 1.77 1.19 3.49 1.19

4.82 1.29 6.82 2.33 1.14 1.07 7.21 1.85 Emotional*.

3.69 3.33 2.43 2.48 1.77 1.19 3.49 1.19

4.82 1.29 6.82 2.33 1.14 1.07 7.21 1.85

-63-

s c a l e . In terms of k u r t o s i s , a l l d i s t r i b u t i o n s f o r the

boys, except that f o r the S o c i a l s e c t i o n d e v i a t e d s i g n i f i c

a n t l y and were p l a t y k u r t i c , i n d i c a t i n g '•flatness'* of the

d i s t r i b u t i o n s •

For the g i r l s , the d i s t r i b u t i o n s of the scores made

on the Home and Hea l t h s e c t i o n s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y skewed

i n the p o s i t i v e d i r e c t i o n , and a l s o d e v i a t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y

i n terms of k u r t o s i s . However, f o r the g i r l s the S o c i a l

and Emotional s e c t i o n d i s t r i b u t i o n s are w i t h i n normal s t a t

i s t i c a l l i m i t s .

By r e f e r r i n g to Table V I i t w i l l be seen t h a t

marked d e v i a t i o n was present i n the d i s t r i b u t i o n s of the

Home Adjustment s c o r e s and Health Adjustment s c o r e s f o r

both the boys and the g i r l s . The Emotional s e c t i o n although

w i t h i n normal l i m i t s f o r the g i r l s d e v i a t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y

f o r the boys. The S o c i a l s e c t i o n was the o n l y s e c t i o n which

produced d i s t r i b u t i o n s i n the case of both the boys and the

g i r l s t h a t were w i t h i n normal l i m i t s .

Among the p o s s i b l e reasons why the d i s t r i b u t i o n s

d i v e rge from n o r m a l i t y are the f o l l o w i n g : (a) th a t the sam

p l e used i s a s e l e c t group; (b) th a t the t e s t b e i n g used

i s not d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g between v a r i o u s l e v e l s of adjustment;

(c) t h a t the " t r a i t " being measured i s not norma l l y d i s t r i b

uted and (d) that there has been some undetected systematic

e r r o r s during the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the Inventory, such as

the g i v i n g of f a u l t y i n s t r u c t i o n s .

Taking a l l the f a c t s i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n , we might

s t a t e t h a t e x p l a n a t i o n s " c " and "d" probably don't h o l d f o r

t h i s t e s t i n g s i t u a t i o n * E x p l a n a t i o n "c", while p o s s i b l e ,

would be extremely hard t o demonstrate and i n the absence

of evidence t o the ne g a t i v e i t would seem nec e s s a r y t o a s

sume that aspects of p e r s o n a l i t y are normally d i s t r i b u t e d *

There i s no evidence t h a t e x p l a n a t i o n "d" holds i n t h i s case

s i n c e extreme care was taken i n the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of t h e

t e s t and the i n s t r u c t i o n s were f o l l o w e d e x p l i c i t l y .

E x p l a n a t i o n s "a" and n b " both seem p l a u s i b l e . Doubt

l e s s l y , students i n grade twelve may w e l l d i f f e r from a

group t h e i r own age l e v e l who have l e f t s c h o o l . C e r t a i n s e l

e c t i v e f a c t o r s , such as good home c o n d i t i o n s , may cause i n

d i v i d u a l s to remain i n s c h o o l * Thus, the students i n t h i s

t e s t i n g group, i f t h i s f a c t were t r u e , would be expected

to show b e t t e r home adjustment*

E x p l a n a t i o n "b" would h o l d t h a t t h e r e i s not enough

d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g items w i t h i n the t e s t * I t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t

both e x p l a n a t i o n s a r e mutu a l l y at work t o a f f e c t the d i s

t r i b u t i o n s * The degree to which each i s a f f e c t i n g t h e de

v i a t i o n s of these d i s t r i b u t i o n s from n o r m a l i t y would r e q u i r e

c o n s i d e r a b l e f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h .

Sex D i f f e r e n c e s

The extent of sex d i f f e r e n c e s found between the

scores made by the boys with the s c o r e s made by the g i r l s

j . S o to be found i n Table V I I . By c a l c u l a t i n g the mean d i f -

TABLE V I I

Extent of Sex D i f f e r e n c e s Within scores Made.-on.the Adjustment Inventory Between Sample of 104

Grade X I I G i r l s and Sample of 100 Grade XII Boys

ADJUSTMENT SECTION

Boys G i r l s Mean D i f f , tfbiff. CR

ADJUSTMENT SECTION Mean Sigma OM Mean Sigma &M

Mean D i f f , tfbiff. CR

HOME 6.04 5.99 .599 6.35 4.98 .488 .31 .76 .04

HEALTH 5.58 3.54 .354 6.36 3.96 .388 .78 .51 1.53

SOCIAL 11.56 7.53 .753 13.78 7.08 .694 2.23 1.01 2.20

EMOTIONAL 7.42 5.56 .546 11.95 5.76 .565 4.53 .77 5.88

-6 6-

f e r e n c e and the s t a n d a r d e r r o r of the d i f f e r e n c e to o b t a i n

the c r i t i c a l r a t i o we can determine f o r each of the subsec

t i o n s whether any d i f f e r e n c e e x i s t i n g between the means

scores i s s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t . In t h i s case, i t i s

necessary to have a CR of 2.58 f o r s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c

ance a t the .01 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e and a CR of 1.96 f o r

s i g n i f i c a n c e a t the .05 l e v e l . C o n s u l t i n g the data found i n

Table T i l i t w i l l be seen that s i g n i f i c a n t sex d i f f e r e n c e s

were found f o r the S o c i a l s e c t i o n at the .05 l e v e l of con

f i d e n c e and f o r the Emotional s e c t i o n at the .01 l e v e l of

c o n f i d e n c e . No s i g n i f i c a n t sex d i f f e r e n c e was i n d i c a t e d ,

on the b a s i s of the r e s u l t s , f o r e i t h e r the Home s e c t i o n

or H e a l t h s e c t i o n .

Assuming that the t e s t i s measuring adequately the

f a c t o r s d e s c r i b e d as " s o c i a l adjustment" and "emotional ad

justment", the r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e t h a t the grade twelve g i r l s

as a group make s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r scores on these two

s u b s e c t i o n s of the Inventory i n d i c a t i n g a g r e a t e r degree of

maladjustment i n these areas compared with the boys. T h i s

f a c t , i f t r u e , would n e c e s s i t a t e t h e e s t a b l i s h i n g of sep

a r a t e norms f o r the boys and g i r l s f o r both the S o c i a l and

Emotional s e c t i o n s . A c t u a l l y , separate norms a r e given f o r

a l l f o u r s e c t i o n s i n the Manual f o r the Inventory.

These r e s u l t s agree c l o s e l y with B e l l ' s (5,p.148)

f i n d i n g s concerning sex d i f f e r e n c e s . He found s i g n i f i c a n t

sex d i f f e r e n c e s at the .01 l e v e l of c onfidence f o r the Em-

o t i o n a l and Home s e c t i o n , and at the .05 l e v e l f o r the Soc

i a l s e c t i o n , and found no sex d i f f e r e n c e s w i t h i n the scores

of the He a l t h s e c t i o n . T h e r e f o r e , the o n l y d i s c r e p a n c y be

tween the two s t u d i e s with r e f e r e n c e to sex d i f f e r e n c e s i s

i n the case of the Home s e c t i o n .

Comparison of Scores of O r i g i n a l S t a n d a r d i z a t i o n Samples with Scores of Samples Used i n Present Study

It should be noted t h a t the o r i g i n a l male st a n d a r d

i z a t i o n sample c o n s i s t e d of 161 high school boys i n c l u d i n g

students from grade nine to grade t w e l v e . The o r i g i n a l

female s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n group was composed of 190 g i r l s s e l

ected from a l l f o u r high school grades*

Comparing the r e s u l t s of. the scores made by the

o r i g i n a l group with the 100 grade twelve boys used i n t h i s

study, i t w i l l be seen from Table V I I I t h a t c e r t a i n s i g n i f

i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s e x i s t * It w i l l be observed that the mean

d i f f e r e n c e s were s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l between the

two male samples f o r the H e a l t h and S o c i a l s e c t i o n s . No

s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e at e i t h e r the .01 l e v e l or .05

l e v e l of confidence was present i n the case of the Home and

Emotional s e c t i o n s .

For the g i r l s , a comparison of the o r i g i n a l female

sample of 190 students and the sample of 104 grade twelve

g i r l s used i n the present study can be made by r e f e r r i n g to

Table IX. S t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e was obt a i n e d between

these two female samples at the .01 l e v e l of co n f i d e n c e on

the b a s i s of scores made on the Home and Hea l t h s e c t i o n s

-68-

TABLE V I I I

Extent of D i f f e r e n c e s Between Mean Spores' of O r i g i n a l S t a n d a r d i z a t i o n Sample of 161

High School Boys and Present Sample of 100 Grade X I I Boys

Type of Adjustment

S t a n d a r d i z a t i o n Group

Present Group Mean D i f f d b i f f . CR

Type of Adjustment MeanJSigma | 0M MeanjSigma 0M

Mean D i f f d b i f f . CR

Home 6.86 5.98 .39 6.04 5.99 .599 .82 .70 1.17

He a l t h 7.28 4.16 .33 5.58 3.54 .388 1.64 .50 3.28

S o c i a l 14.14 6.46 .51 11.56 7.53 .694 2.58 .81 3.19

Emoti onal 8.20 5.18 .41 7.42 5.56 .565. .78 .69 1.13

-69-

TABLE IX

Extent of D i f f e r e n c e s Between Mean Scores of O r i g i n a l S t a n d a r d i z a t i o n Sample of 190 High School

G i r l s and Present Sample of IPS Grade XII G i r l s

Type of Adjustment

S t a n d a r d i z a t ion Group

Present Group Mean D i f f . O D i f f . CR

Type of Adjustment Mean Sigma °M Mean Sigma CM

Mean D i f f . O D i f f . CR

Home 9.10 6.44 .47 6.35 4.98 .488 2.75 .67 4.10 Health 7.98 4.84 .35 6.36 3.96 .388 1.62 .51 3.16

S o c i a l L5.64 7.40 .54 13.78 7.08 .694 1.86 .87 2.13

Emoti onal 13.48 6.48 .47 11.95 5.76 .565 1.53 .79 1.93

-70-

and s i g n i f i c a n c e at the .05 l e v e l of co n f i d e n c e f o r the

S o c i a l s e c t i o n . Only i n the case of the Emotional s e c t i o n

was t h e r e no i n d i c a t i o n of a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e a t e i t h

er of the aocepted l e v e l s .

It should be understood that i n comparing the r e s

u l t s of the v a r i o u s samples used i n the two s t u d i e s that

s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s a r e h i g h l y p o s s i b l e i n l i g h t of the

nature of the samples used. Since the samples used i n the

o r i g i n a l study by B e l l were composed of students from a l l

hi g h school grades while the present study had groups com

posed only of grade twelve s t u d e n t s , i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t the

two samples are not e q u a l l y r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of the same

" p o p u l a t i o n " • I t would seem obvious that the samples used

i n the pres e n t study a r e more r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of grade twelve

s t u d e n t s . T h e r e f o r e , s i n c e t h e r e are c o n s i d e r a b l e d i f f e r

ences i n d i c a t e d by the r e s u l t s , i t i s h i g h l y p o s s i b l e the

norms given by B e l l a r e not s u f f i c i e n t f o r the v a r i o u s grade

l e v e l s . Consequently, the f i n d i n g s of t h i s study would

suggest t h a t at l e a s t a r e v i s i o n of the norms be made f o r

the H e a l t h and S o c i a l s e c t i o n s f o r grade twelve boys and

f o r the Home, H e a l t h , and S o c i a l s e c t i o n s f o r grade twelve

g i r l s . F u r t h e r r e s e a r c h would be necessary to determine i f

separate norms are r e q u i r e d at each of the other grade l e v

e l s .

Item A n a l y s i s •

In order t o determine the extent to which the v a r -

-71-

ioua items i n the Inventory d i f f e r e n t i a t e between the v a r

ious l e v e l i of adjustment an item a n a l y s i s was conducted*

To accomplish t h i s item a n a l y s i s , the students were

d i v i d e d i n t o upper and lower c r i t e r i o n groups on the b a s i s

of the scores obtained on the v a r i o u s s u b s e c t i o n s f o r both

the male and female samples used. I t has been determined

by K e l l e y (32) that maximum v a l i d i t y i s obtained when the

subgroups used i n c l u d e the top and bottom twenty-seven per

cent of the d i s t r i b u t i o n * T h i s d i v i s i o n was used i n t h i s

study.

A f t e r the upper and lower c r i t e r i o n groups were s e l

ected f o r each s e c t i o n , and the p r o p o r t i o n p a s s i n g and f a i l

ing each item determined, i t was p o s s i b l e to o b t a i n the

phi c o e f f i c i e n t f o r each que s t i o n by us i n g a s p e c i a l l y p r e

pared c h a r t c o n s t r u c t e d by G u i l f o r d (24).

To determine the s i z e of the p h i c o e f f i c i e n t necess

ary to e s t a b l i s h item acceptance use was made of c h i square

when the two c r i t e r i o n groups are equal i n p r o p o r t i o n a c h i

square of 3.841 i s c o n s i d e r e d s i g n i f i c a n t at the .05 l e v e l

of c onfidence and one of 6.635 i s s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01

l e v e l . A p h i c o e f f i c i e n t s i g n i f i c a n t a t the .05 l e v e l would

be equal t o

/5.841

and a p h i c o e f f i c i e n t s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l would be

equal to

-72-

T h e r e f o r e , f o r our purposes i t i s necessary to have a p h i

c o e f f i c i e n t equal to .26 to be c o n s i d e r e d s i g n i f i c a n t at

the .05 l e v e l of co n f i d e n c e , and .35 at the .01 leve} of

co n f i d e n c e .

The p h i c o e f f i c i e n t s , given s e p a r a t e l y f o r the boys

and g i r l s , f o r each item are l i s t e d i n Appendix Table I .

The a c t u a l number of items found to be s i g n i f i c a n t

at the .01 l e v e l and the .05 l e v e l of conf i d e n c e and the

number found to be below the .05 l e v e l can be seen i n Table

X. It w i l l be r e c a l l e d that t h e r e are 35 items i n each

s u b s e c t i o n .

A n a l y z i n g Table X we f i n d t h a t , f o r the boys, the

number of items f a i l i n g to reach s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e

at the .05 l e v e l of co n f i d e n c e f o r the separate s e c t i o n s

was as f o l l o w s : Home, 7 items; H e a l t h , 17 items; S o c i a l , 4

items; and Emotional, 8 items. For the g i r l s , the number

of items f o r each s e c t i o n f a i l i n g to reach the .05 l e v e l

were: Home, 5 items; H e a l t h , 8 items; S o c i a l , 4 items; and

Emotional, 5 items.

From these r e s u l t s we f i n d t h a t approximately h a l f

of the items of the Health s e c t i o n f o r the boys do not meet ,

the s t a t i s t i c a l requirement f o r acceptance which s t r o n g l y

supports the c o n c l u s i o n that t h i s s e c t i o n i s p o o r l y d i f f e r

e n t i a t i n g between l e v e l s of h e a l t h adjustment of the boys.

The H e a l t h s e c t i o n a l s o proved to have the l a r g e s t number

of p o o r l y d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g items i n the case of the g i r l s .

73

TABLE X

Number of Items i n Each of the Subtests Found to be S i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 L e v e l and

.05 L e v e l of Confidence and Number Found Below .05 L e v e l f o r 100

Boys and 104 G i r l s

L e v e l o f

Confidence

Adjustment S e c t i o n L e v e l o f

Confidence HOME HEALTH SOCIAL EMOTIONAL

L e v e l o f

Confidence uoya | i i i r J L s uoys u - i r x s iJoy,siu-ir±s Boys j u - i r J - s

.01 24 23 10 18 30 28 24 26

.05 4 7 8 9 1 4 3 3

Below.05 7 5 17 8 4 3 8 6

-74-

Th e number i n the H e a l t h s e c t i o n t h a t f a i l e d t o reach the

.05 l e v e l was 9 items.

For both the g i r l s and the boys the S o c i a l s e c t i o n

had the l a r g e s t number of h i g h l y a c c e p t a b l e (.01 l e v e l )

items, 30 f o r the boys and 28 f o r the g i r l s . The Home sec

t i o n had 24 h i g h l y a c c e p t a b l e items f o r the boys and 23 f o r

the g i r l s , while the Emotional s e c t i o n had 24 f o r the boys

and 26 f o r the g i r l s .

The items f a i l i n g below the acceptance l e v e l s were

not always the same items f o r both the boys and the g i r l s ,

i n d i c a t i n g the p o s s i b i l i t y , as noted p r e v i o u s l y , t h a t sex

d i f f e r e n c e s e x i s t w i t h i n the s u b s e c t i o n s .

R e l i a b i l i t i e s

The obtained r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s f o r each of

the f o u r s u b t e s t s f o r both the boys and the g i r l s are to

be found i n Table X I . I t w i l l be observed t h a t these c o e f f

i c i e n t s were c a l c u l a t e d by using d i f f e r e n t methods and form

u l a e , which i n c l u d e d : (a) the product-moment c o e f f i c i e n t by

means of the s p l i t - h a l f method (b) the product-moment co

e f f i c i e n t by means of the t e s t - r e t e s t method, and (c) t h e

c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t u s ing the f o l l o w i n g Richardson-

Kuder formula:

* - - A - x (f2 -

where r • r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t f o r the whole t e s t n a number of items i n the t e s t (j* a standard d e v i a t i o n of t o t a l t e s t scores p s p r o p o r t i o n of the group " p a s s i n g " an item q a p r o p o r t i o n f a i l i n g to pass the item

TABLE XI

C o e f f i c i e n t s of C o r r e l a t i o n (with PE r) f o r the Subsections of the Adjustment Inventory f o r Grade XII Boys and

Grade X I I G i r l s

Adjustment S e c t i o n

C o r r e l a t i o n Method Used

SPLIT- HALF Boys N - 100

G i r l s N = 104

RETEST (60 days) Boys N-100

G i r l s N=82

RICHARDS ON-KUDER Boys N»100

G i r l s N= 104

HOME HEALTH SOCIAL EMOTIONAL

912 ±.011 7811.030 899+.011 843i.019

.887 ± 6 1 4

.773 1.026

.851 +.018

.785 i.025

.8701:016 .884+.016

.843 ±.019 . 801 i . 02 6.

.881 +.014 .881+.016

.775±.026 .825ir.033

.897 1.011 .860+.016

.7011.034 ,72lf.032

.877 ±. 017 .802 +.024

.823±.021 .8471.017

-76-

Many r e s e a r c h e r s have c r i t i c i s e d the use of the

s p l i t - h a l f method because of the f a c t t h at t h e r e a re many-

ways of d i v i d i n g a t e s t i n t o two p a r t s . In an attempt to

overcome t h i s d i f f i c u l t y Richardson and Kuder (24,p.276) have

d e r i v e d other methods f o r c a l c u l a t i n g r e l i a b i l i t y . T h e i r

most u s e f u l and ac c u r a t e formula i s the one j u s t r e f e r r e d

t o . This formula emphasizes the i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s among

the items of the t e s t r a t h e r than t o t a l t e s t s c o r e s . The

c o e f f i c i e n t s y i e l d e d by t h i s Richardson-Kuder formula s l i g h t

l y underestimate those produced by the product-moment method

and when us i n g t h i s formula we can be a s s u r e d t h a t the a c t u a l

r e l i a b i l i t i e s a re a t l e a s t as high as those obtained (24,

p.278).

I f we f o l l o w the r a t h e r common and a r b i t r a r y p r a c

t i c e of a g r e e i n g t h a t t e s t s should have r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c

i e n t s of at l e a s t .90 f o r i n d i v i d u a l d i a g n o s i s , then we

might s t a t e t h at no subtest of the Adjustment Inventory,

with the p o s s i b l e e x c e p t i o n of the Home s e c t i o n , i s s u i t a b l e

f o r i n d i v i d u a l d i a g n o s i s . It w i l l be seen i n Table I I t h a t

the r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t f o r the Home s e c t i o n f o r the

boys was .912 as d e r i v e d by the s p l i t - h a l f method, which was

the h i g h e s t c o e f f i c i e n t o b t a i n e d . For t h i s same s e c t i o n

the Richardson-Kuder formula y i e l d e d a c o e f f i c i e n t of .897

while the r e t e s t method c o e f f i c i e n t was .870. S i m i l a r l y

h igh c o e f f i c i e n t s were obtained f o r the S o c i a l s e c t i o n and

although they do not meet the a r b i t r a r y requirement of .90

-77-

f o r i n d i v i d u a l p r e d i c t i o n , as was t r u e a l s o i n the case of

the Home s e c t i o n , i t i s saf e to s t a t e t h a t these h i g h c o e f

f i c i e n t s compare f a v o u r a b l y with those obtained by the more

widely accepted t e s t s i n the f i e l d of p e r s o n a l i t y measure

ment (16)• F o l l o w i n g the accepted demand t h a t a t e s t reach

•80 f o r group d i a g n o s i s , we might w e l l s t a t e t h a t these

two s e c t i o n s f a l l w e l l w i t h i n the accepted l i m i t s f o r group

p r e d i c t i v e use.

Co n s i d e r i n g the other two s e c t i o n s H e a l t h and Emot

i o n a l , i t w i l l be n o t i c e d t h a t , i n some i n s t a n c e s , the

r e l i a b i l i t i e s f o r these s e c t i o n s f a l l below .80. While the

Emotional s e c t i o n does tend to reach the .80 l e v e l , the co

e f f i c i e n t s f o r the He a l t h s e c t i o n f a l l c o n s i d e r a b l y below

i n c e r t a i n c a s e s . I t w i l l be n o t i c e d t h a t t h e c o e f f i c i e n t s

o b t ained f o r the He a l t h s e c t i o n by the Richardson-Kuder f o r

mula were .701 f o r the boys and .721 f o r the g i r l s , i n d i c a t

ing p o s s i b l e l a c k of i n t e r n a l c o n s i s t e n c y among the t e s t

items as was s i m i l a r l y n o t i c e d from the item a n a l y s i s study.

Subtest I n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n

The obtained c o e f f i c i e n t s of i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s f o r

the v a r i o u s s u b t e s t s can be seen i n Table X I I * In c e r t a i n

i n s t a n c e s the c o e f f i c i e n t s are s u f f i c i e n t l y low th a t we

might assume t h a t d i f f e r e n t a s p e c t s of behaviour a r e being

measured. However, some of the c o e f f i c i e n t s were f a i r l y

h i g h . The c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t (with the probable e r r o r

of r ) f o r the Emotional and Home s e c t i o n f o r the boys, was

.54± .047, and . 6 1 ± . 0 4 2 f o r the g i r l s . A l s o the c o e f f i c -

-78-

TABLE X I I

C o e f f i c i e n t s of Subsection I n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s For the Adjustment Inventory f o r 100

Grade X I I Boys and 104 Grade X I I G i r l s

S u b s e c t i o n of Inv ent or y

Boys G i r l s S u b s e c t i o n of Inv ent or y r PE

r r "PE r

Emotional'- Home..'. Emotional - H e a l t h . . Emotional - S o c i a l . .

.543 1.047

.541 ±.046

.453 ±.052

.316 ±.060

.272 ±.061

.014 ±.065

.619 ±-.041

.394 ±.056

.232 ±.056

.481 ±.051

.126 ±.065

.329 ±.053

.543 1.047

.541 ±.046

.453 ±.052

.316 ±.060

.272 ±.061

.014 ±.065

.619 ±-.041

.394 ±.056

.232 ±.056

.481 ±.051

.126 ±.065

.329 ±.053

.543 1.047

.541 ±.046

.453 ±.052

.316 ±.060

.272 ±.061

.014 ±.065

.619 ±-.041

.394 ±.056

.232 ±.056

.481 ±.051

.126 ±.065

.329 ±.053

.543 1.047

.541 ±.046

.453 ±.052

.316 ±.060

.272 ±.061

.014 ±.065

.619 ±-.041

.394 ±.056

.232 ±.056

.481 ±.051

.126 ±.065

.329 ±.053

l e n t f o r the Emotional and H e a l t h s e c t i o n was .541: #046,

f o r the boys, and .39± .056 f o r the g i r l s . These c o e f f i c

i e n t s are high enough t o suggest the p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t i n

c e r t a i n cases s i m i l a r and r e l a t e d components e x i s t w i t h i n

some of the subs e c t i o n s which would e x p l a i n the r a t h e r high

c o e f f i c i e n t s o b t a i n e d . However, to ob t a i n adequate i n f o r

mation concerning t h i s , a d e t a i l e d f a c t o r i a l a n a l y s i s

through the medium of the t e s t items would appear n e c e s s a r y .

R e s u l t s of the V a l i d a t i o n of the Subsections of the A d j u s t -ment Inventory

Home Adjustment S e c t i o n

As mentioned i n Chapter V the Home Adjustment s e c

t i o n of the Inventory was v a l i d a t e d by means of the i n t e r

view t e c h n i q u e . Table X I I I g i v e s a comparison of the r a t

ings a s s i g n e d by the i n t e r v i e w with those g i v e n on the b a s i s

of the i n t e r v i e w .

Using these r e s u l t s i t was p o s s i b l e to determine i f

any s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s e x i s t e d between the two s e t s

of r a t i n g s by means of the c h i square t e s t .

The c h i square t e s t i s a u s e f u l d e v i c e f o r d i s c o v

e r i n g i f any r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t s between v a r i a b l e s which

can be c l a s s i f i e d i n t o two or more c a t e g o r i e s .

For the problem under c o n s i d e r a t i o n , the hy p o t h e s i s

to be t e s t e d i s the n u l l h y p o t h e s i s , namely, that the r a t

ings of home adjustment g i v e n by the i n t e r v i e w procedure

are e s s e n t i a l l y u n r e l a t e d or independent to those g i v e n by

-80-

TABLE X I I I

Comparison of the Home Adjustment Ratings of the Inventory with Interview Rating of Home Ad

justment f o r 100 Grace X I I Boys

INTERVIEW RATINGS

Very Unsati s f a c t o r y

U n s a t i s f a c t o r y Average Good Excellent

Very Unsat i s -f actory

7 2 0 0 0

U n s a t i s -f a c t o r y

2 4 2 1 0

Average 2 3 12 7 2

Good 0 1 8 23 3

E x c e l l e n t 0 0 3 9 9

-81-

the Inventory.

The c a l c u l a t e d c h i square f o r t h i s problem was found

to be 121, which i s very h i g h l y s i g n i f i c a n t , i n d i c a t i n g

that the n u l l hypothesis can be r e j e c t e d and the c o n c l u s i o n

of a d e f i n i t e r e l a t i o n s h i p between the r e s u l t s of the two

methods of r a t i n g be e s t a b l i s h e d .

Furthermore, i t i s p o s s i b l e to c a l c u l a t e d i r e c t l y

from c h i square the contingency c o e f f i c i e n t (C) which gi v e s

an i n d i c a t i o n of the degree to which two v a r i a b l e s a r e r e

l a t e d and prov i d e s a measure of c o r r e l a t i o n t h a t under c e r

t a i n c o n d i t i o n s i s comparable t o the product-moment r .

In t h i s problem, C (with i t s s t a n d a r d e r r o r ) was

c a l c u l a t e d to be .721;..10. It i s p o s s i b l e t o c o r r e c t t h i s

c o e f f i c i e n t to make i t approximately equal t o the product-

moment r (20,p.362). A p p l y i n g the c o r r e c t i o n f a c t o r our

" c o r r e c t e d C" becomes .82. T h i s c o e f f i c i e n t i n d i c a t e s that

a s i g n i f i c a n t and f a i r l y high degree of r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t s

between the r a t i n g s obtained by the two separate methods.

These f i n d i n g s i n d i c a t e t h a t the Home Adjustment

s e c t i o n of the Inventory i s capable of y i e l d i n g r e s u l t s

s i g n i f i c a n t l y s i m i l a r to those obtained by means of a p r o

longed i n t e r v i e w . The Home s e c t i o n of the Inventory takes

approximately s i x minutes t o complete while the i n t e r v i e w s

as they were concerned s o l e l y with the e v a l u a t i o n of the

students' home adjustment, ranged from t w e n t y - f i v e t o f o r t y -

f i v e minutes i n d u r a t i o n . Therefore the r e s u l t s are en-

-82-

haneed i n the f a v o r of the Home s e c t i o n when t h i s time

element i s taken i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n .

R e f e r r i n g to Table X I I I i t w i l l be seen t h a t a l t h o u g h

a high degree of r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t s , c o n s i d e r a b l e v a r i a t i o n

occured between the two s e t a of r a t i n g s . Most important,

from the c o u n s e l l i n g and c l i n i c a l v i e w p o i n t , i s the amount

of v a r i a t i o n t h a t occured at the " c r i t i c a l " or below aver

age end. I t w i l l be n o t i c e d that 6 boys were r a t e d below

average by the i n t e r v i e w method who were c l a s s e d as e i t h e r

average or above by the Inventory. A l s o 3 boys were r a t e d

as below average by the Inventory who were given an average

or above average r a t i n g by the i n t e r v i e w . However., of the

21 s u b j e c t s who were r a t e d i n the c r i t i c a l group of below

average, 15 of these were s i m i l a r l y detected by the Inven

t o r y . In g e n e r a l , i t w i l l be n o t i c e d that the Inventory

r a t i n g s i n d i c a t e d g r e a t e r l e n i e n c y . That i s , there was a

g r e a t e r number of boys r a t e d as " e x o e l l e n t " and fewer r a t e d

"very u n s a t i s f a c t o r y " by the Inventory r a t i n g s i n comparison

with the i n t e r v i e w r a t i n g s .

One of the reasons why the r e l a t i v e l y high degree

of r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t e d between th e two s e t s of r a t i n g s

might p o s s i b l y be inherent i n the f a c t t h at the f a c t o r being

measured i s f a i r l y w e l l - d e f i n e d . I f so, t h i s would enable

measurement, to be more ex a c t i n g and c o n s i s t e n t . In a d d i t i o n ,

i f the f a c t o r being measured i s w e l l - d e f i n e d , the p r o b a b i l

i t y i n c r e a s e s that the s u b j e c t w i l l be a b l e to g i v e a c c u r a t e

-83-

answers s i n c e there would e x i s t some d e f i n i t e o b j e c t i v e

b a s i s f o r r e f e r e n c e .

Talcing i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n a l l the evidence obtained

i n t h i s study, i t appears that the use of the Home A d j u s t

ment s e c t i o n f o r c o u n s e l l i n g purposes i s s u b s t a n t i a t e d . Sug

g e s t i o n i s made t h a t the matter of p o s s i b l e r e v i s i o n of

norms be cons i d e r e d , as w e l l as the improvement of c e r t a i n

items found to be l i m i t e d i n d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n on the b a s i s of

the item a n a l y s i s .

S o c i a l Adjustment S e c t i o n

It w i l l be r e c a l l e d that i n order t o o b t a i n v a l i d

a t i n g evidence f o r the S o c i a l Adjustment s e c t i o n the 100

boys were d i v i d e d i n t o t h r e e c l e a r l y d e f i n e d groups, f i r s t

on the b a s i s of s o c i a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n and secondly on the

b a s i s of a " p o p u l a r i t y v o t e " .

The r e s u l t s of the c r i t e r i o n groups s e l e c t e d i n terms

of s o c i a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n are to be seen i n Table XIV. It

w i l l be n o t i c e d t h a t Group SP I, which we can d e s c r i b e as

the " r e t i r i n g " group, was composed of 25 boys; Group SP I I /

the "average" group, c o n s i s t e d of 48 boys; and Group SP I I I ,

the " a g g r e s s i v e " group co n t a i n e d 27 boys.

The extent of the d i f f e r e n c e s e x i s t i n g between the

mean scores of the thr e e groups a r e shown i n Table XIV,

and i t w i l l be seen t h a t without exoeption the CR's are

s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e . These r e s u l t s

i n d i c a t e that a c o n s i s t e n t s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t s

between the scores made on the S o c i a l s e c t i o n of the A d j u s t -

84-

TABLE XIV

Data concerning the S o c i a l Adjustment V a l i d a t i n g Groups s e l e c t e d on the

B a s i s of S o c i a l P a r t i c i p a t i o n

N s 100 Grade' XII Boys

V a l i d a t i n g Group K Mean Sigma tfMean Mean D i f f . (TD. Lf f . CR SPI ( r e t i r i n g ) 27 18.51 1.22 6.34 (M I-M I I I)12.45 1.42 8.76

SPII (average) 48 11.48 .78 5.39 ( M : - M N ) 7.03 1.44 4.88

SP I I I ( a g g r e s s i v e )

25 6.06 .73 3.60 (M I ; [-M I I : [)5.42 1.06, 5.11

-85-

ment Inventory with a c t u a l s o c i a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n which sup

p o r t s the f i n d i n g s r e p o r t e d by Smith (see p.25).

The r e s u l t s obtained f o r the v a l i d a t i n g groups d i v

ided on the b a s i s of the number of votes r e c e i v e d from t h e i r

f e l l o w students i s to be found i n Table XT.

Group ST I, which r e f e r s to the group of students

who r e c e i v e d e i t h e r no vote or one vote c o n t a i n e d 29 s t u d

ents; Group ST I I , the group c o n s i s t i n g of those who r e c e i v

ed from two to f o u r v o t e s , was composed of 41 boys; and

Group ST I I I , the group r e c e i v i n g f i v e votes or more, con

t a i n e d 30 boys. From the r e s u l t s obtained, i t was found

that none of these groups ...diff ered s i g n i f i c a n t l y . The CR's

obtained were: .29 f o r Group ST I and Group ST I I I ; 1.00 f o r

Group ST I I and Group ST I I I ; and 1.15 f o r Group ST I and

Group S T I I . We might conclude from these r e s u l t s t h a t the

scores obtained on the S o c i a l s e c t i o n of the Adjustment In

v e n t o r y by 100 grade twelve boys do not show any s i g n i f i c a n t

r e l a t i o n s h i p with the students' " p o p u l a r i t y " which, i n t h i s

study, i s d e f i n e d i n terms of f r i e n d l i n e s s and c o n g e n i a l i t y .

It i s p o s s i b l e , t h e r e f o r e , t h a t the s c o r e s on the S o c i a l

s e c t i o n of the Inventory bear l i t t l e r e l a t i o n s h i p t o the

i n d i v i d u a l ' s a b i l i t y to get a l o n g with o t h e r s . Consequently,

s i n c e t h i s " s o c i a l - s t i m u l u s " view of s o c i a l adjustment i s of

c o n s i d e r a b l e importance i n any t o t a l a p p r a i s a l of an i n d i v i d

u a l ' s s o c i a l adjustment i t i s imperative t h a t those who make

use of the Inventory be w e l l aware of the s e c t i o n ' s l i m i t s . How-

-86-

TABLE XV

Data Concerning the S o c i a l Adjustment V a l i d a t i n g Groups S e l e c t e d on the B a s i s of a P o p u l a r -

i t y Vote

N = 100 Grace X I I Boys

V a l i d a t i n g Group

N Mean Sigma 6"M Mean D i f f . tfbiff. CR

SVI(0-1 Votes)

29 11.61 7.82 1 .47 ( M J - M J J J ) .54 1.85 .29

SVIl(2-4 Votes )

41 9.97 7.44 1.17 (M-r-Mjj) 2.18 1.88 1.15

S V I l K o v e r 5 Votes)

30 12.15 6.09 1.13 (M I I-M I I I )1.64 1.63 1.00

ever, we can say, on the b a s i s of our obtained evidence,

that from the c o u n s e l l i n g and c l i n i c a l viewpoint the S o c i a l

Adjustment s e c t i o n s appear to be u s e f u l f o r d e t e c t i n g those

who a r e withdrawing from s o c i a l c o n t a c t s and t h e r e f o r e can

be u t i l i z e d f o r f a c i l i t a t i n g s o c i a l adjustment by d i r e c t i n g

these students i n t o s o c i a l a c t i v i t i e s *

H e a l t h Adjustment Section

In a r r i v i n g at the c r i t e r i o n groups f o r e v a l u a t i n g

the H e a l t h s e c t i o n , 98 boys were d i v i d e d into t h r e e l e v e l s

of adjustment by the School Nurse on the b a s i s of the st u d

ents* s c h o o l h e a l t h r e c o r d s * The th r e e groups i n c l u d e d :

Group H I which c o n s i s t e d of 11 boys who were r a t e d as poor

i n g e n e r a l h e a l t h ; Group H I I co n t a i n e d 39 boys who were

r a t e d as average i n h e a l t h ; and Group H I I I was composed of

48 students who were d e s c r i b e d as being i n e x c e l l e n t h e a l t h *

The r e s u l t s f o r these v a r i o u s c r i t e r i o n groups are

to be found i n Table XVI. The c r i t i c a l r a t i o f o r Groups

H I and H I I I , the two extremes as r a t e d by the School Nurse,

was computed to be .83, which i s c l e a r l y not s i g n i f i c a n t at

the .05 l e v e l of con f i d e n c e . The c r i t i c a l r a t i o f o r Group

H I and H I I was .24, and f o r Group H I I and H I I I , 1.20

n e i t h e r of which :.is s i g n i f i c a n t s t a t i s t i c a l l y .

These r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e that t h e r e i s weak r e l a t i o n

s h i p between the scores of 98 boys made on the H e a l t h s e c

t i o n and the h e a l t h r a t i n g s given to these boys by the School

Nurse. Assuming t h a t the r a t i n g s of the School Nurse, on

-88

TABLE XVI

Data Concerning the Health Adjustment V a l i d a t i n g Groups S e l e c t e d on the B a s i s of Ratings by

the School Nurse

N = 98 Grade X I I Boys

VALIDATING GROUP N Mean Sigma ft Mean Mean D i f f . (fDif f . CR

HI (poor) 11 6.18 4.20 1.32 (Mj-MjnJl.16 1 .39 .83

HII(Average) 39 5.84 2.51 .40 (Mj-Mjj) .34 1.39 .24

H I I I ( E x c e l -l e n t )

48 5.02 3.11 .45 ( M I I-M I I I).82 .60 1.20

-89-the b a s i s of what appear to be f a i r l y d e t a i l e d and a c c u r a t e

r e c o r d s , are v a l i d estimates of the s t u d e n t s ' h e a l t h , i t i s

h i g h l y s u g g e s t i v e that the H e a l t h s e c t i o n serves l i t t l e

u t i l i t y f o r i n d i c a t i n g the r e l a t i v e h e a l t h s t a n d i n g of the

s t u d e n t s . Taking i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n the other f i n d i n g s per

t a i n i n g to the s e c t i o n , i n c l u d i n g the low r e l i a b i l i t i e s and

the i n d i c a t i o n of weak i n t e r n a l c o n s i s t e n c y , i t would appear

that t h i s s e c t i o n i s of l i t t l e v a l u e f o r use i n the c o u n s e l

l i n g of grade twelve s t u d e n t s .

The Emotional Ajustment S e c t i o n

In Chapter V the procedures used i n g a t h e r i n g e v i d

ence concerning the Emotional s e c t i o n were d i s c u s s e d . It

w i l l be remembered t h a t 90 boys were each r a t e d by three

teachers on "emotional adjustment". The second method of

g a t h e r i n g evidence was obtained by d i v i d i n g 96 boys i n t o

three c l e a r l y d e f i n e d groups of emotional adjustment*

The r e s u l t s of the t e a c h e r s ' r a t i n g s have not been

i n c l u d e d i n t h i s r e p o r t f o r v a l i d a t i n g purposes because of

the obvious u n r e l i a b i l i t y of the obtained r e s u l t s . The

i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s ( c a l c u l a t e d u s i n g Sheppard's c o r r e c t i o n

formula) between the r a t i n g s g i v e n by the t h r e e t e a c h e r s

together with t h e i r probable e r r o r s were .175 ± . 0 6 4 , .137i

• 066 and •^•034 ir,068 none of which i i S a s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f

i c a n t . Consequently, averaging the r a t i n g s of the t h r e e

judges d i d not seem d e f e n s i b l e . In a d d i t i o n , the r e s u l t s

were d i s c a r d e d a l s o i n view of the f a c t t h a t the teachers

-90-

expressed c o n s i d e r a b l e d i f f i c u l t y i n making the r a t i n g s and

i n many cases f e l t t h a t the r a t i n g s were of d o u b t f u l a c c u r

acy because of t h e i r l i m i t e d knowledge of some of the s t u d

ents. Consequently, s i n c e these r e s u l t s a r e h i g h l y u n r e l

i a b l e w i t h i n themselves nothing of any val u e could be o b t a i n

ed by using them f o r v a l i d a t i n g purposes.

The r e s u l t s of the v a l i d a t i n g groups s e l e c t e d on the

b a s i s of a composite emotional r a t i n g a r r i v e d at by u s i n g

i n f o r m a t i o n given by the student during the i n t e r v i e w , t o

gether with the r a t i n g s made by the School Nurse and the

w r i t e r , can be seen i n Table XVII. The 98 boys were d i v i d

ed i n t o the f o l l o w i n g t h r e e groups: Group E I c o n s i s t i n g

of 17 boys who were c l a s s e d as having d i f f i c u l t emotional

problems: Group E I I c o n s i s t i n g of 39 boys whom we may c a l l

the average group; and Group E I I I composed of 42 boys who

gave evidence of e x c e l l e n t emotional adjustment. The c r i t -

r a t i o of 1.90 f o r Group E I and Group E I I I i n d i c a t e s t h a t

the d i f f e r e n c e between the means i s not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f

i c a n t s i n c e i t f e l l s l i g h t l y short of the .05 l e v e l of con

f i d e n c e . S i m i l a r l y , the c r i t i c a l r a t i o of 1.12 f o r Group

E I and Group E I I and that of 1.06 f o r Group E I I and Group

E I I I are not s i g n i f i c a n t . We might conclude t h a t the scores

made on the Inventory are not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to the

composite r a t i n g s g i v e n t o the 98 boys. The problem a r i s i n g

here that prevents any d e f i n i t e c o n c l u s i o n s r e g a r d i n g the

Emotional s e c t i o n i s the lack of s u f f i c i e n t evidence to sup-

9 1 -

TABLE XVII .

Data Concerning the Emotional Adjustment V a l i d a t i n g Groups S e l e c t e d on the B a s i s

of Composite Ratings

N z 98 Grade X I I Boys

V a l i d a t i n g Group N Mean Sigma G"Mean Mean D i f f . i f f . CR

E I (poor) 1 7 9 . 6 4 6 . 1 7 1 . 5 4 ( M j - M j J J ) 3 . 8 2 1 . 7 5 1 . 9 0

E II(Average) 3 9 7 . 5 8 5 . 2 0 . 8 4 (Mj-Mjj) 2 . 0 6 1 . 7 4 1 . 1 2

E I I I ( E x c e l l e n t )

4 2 6 . 3 2 5 . 4 3 . 8 3 ( M J J - M J J J ) 1 . 2 6 1 . 1 8 1 . 0 6

-92-

port the v a l i d i t y of the c r i t e r i o n used f o r comparative

purposes.

However, the lack of p o s i t i v e evidence i n favour of

t h i s S e c t i o n makes i t s wide use of d o u b t f u l v a l u e . The

c h i e f l i m i t a t i o n of the Emotional s e c t i o n i s the f a c t that

i t i s d i f f i c u l t to determine j u s t what i t measures. Conse

quently, the scores and r a t i n g s g i v e n by the Inventory are-

ambiguous i n i n t e r p r e t a t i o n a t the present time and i t i s

u n l i k e l y t h a t t h i s s e c t i o n w i l l s e r v e any meaningful pur

pose f o r wide use i n c o u n s e l l i n g grade twelve s t u d e n t s *

S e l f - R a t i n g s

Table XVIII c o n t a i n s the data p e r t a i n i n g to the v a l

i d a t i n g groups s e l e c t e d on. the b a s i s of the s e l f - r a t i n g s

of 100 grade twelve g i r l s .

A n a l y z i n g the r e s u l t s we see that f o r the Home Ad

justment s e c t i o n the d i f f e r e n c e s between the mean s c o r e s

were a l l s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l * For the S o c i a l the

d i f f e r e n c e between the means of the "Ag r e s s i v e Group" and

the " R e t i r i n g Group" was s i g n i f i c a n t a t the .05 l e v e l of

conf i d e n c e , w h i l e the other groups f o r the S o c i a l s e c t i o n

d i f f e r e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y at the .01 l e v e l . For the Emotional

and H e a l t h s e c t i o n s , i t w i l l be noted t h a t t h e r e was no

s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e i n the mean of any of the compared

c r i t e r i o n groups.

These r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e t h at t h e r e i s c o n s i d e r a b l e

agreement between the students' own g e n e r a l e v a l u a t i o n of

-93-

TABLE XVIII

Data Concerning the C r i t e r i o n Groups Selected" on the B a s i s of S e l f - R a t i n g s

N = 100 Grade XII G i r l s

Type of Adjustment C r i t e r i o n Group N Mean Sigma (jMean

Above Average 37 4.02 3. 48 .58 HOME Average 43 7.52 4. 51 .69

Below Averag 20 10.83 4. 01 .92

Above Averag 5e 34 6.06 3. 11 .54 HEALTH Average 41 7.24 3. 41 .53

Below Averag 5© 25 7.61 3. 38 .68

A g r e s s i v e 24 8.13 4. 46 .93 SOCIAL Average 51 12.15 3. 97 .56

R e t i r i n g 25 15.01 5. 78 1.18

Above Average 19 10.61 5. 75 1.33 EMOTIONAL Average 48 11.79 4. 91 .71

Below Average 33 13.89 5. 96 1.05

- 9 4 -

t h e i r f s o c i a l and Home adjustment with t h e i r scores made on

the S o c i a l and Home s e c t i o n s of the Inventory. However,

i t would appear from the r e s u l t s t h a t the e v a l u a t i o n by

the students of t h e i r own h e a l t h and emotional adjustment i s

not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to the sc o r e s made on the H e a l t h

and Emotional s e c t i o n of the Inventory. Although t h e s e r e

s u l t s of the s e l f - r a t i n g s present l i t t l e knowledge concern

ing the Inventory they do supply a d d i t i o n a l p o s s i b l e support

f o r the view that the Emotional s e c t i o n i s l a c k i n g i n c l e a r

d e f i n i t i o n and the view t h a t the Health s e c t i o n i s not

c l e a r l y d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g between t h e extreme groups at t h e

grade twelve l e v e l .

I t should be noted t h a t the v a r i o u s v a l i d a t i n g groups

used i n t h i s study were, w i t h the e x c e p t i o n of the 100 g i r l s

used f o r the s e l f - r a t i n g s , grade twelve boys. T h e r e f o r e ,

the r e s u l t s should be i n t e r p r e t e d , as f a r as the v a l i d a t i o n

evidence i s concerned, o n l y f o r the group which these s t u d

ents r e p r e s e n t .

A summary of the v a r i o u s f i n d i n g s of t h i s study

w i l l f o l l o w i n Chapter V I I I .

CHAPTER V I I

THE STUDENT PROBLEM POLL

Purpose of tne P o l l

With the view of more s a t i s f a c t o r i l y e s t i m a t i n g the

worth of the B e l l Adjustment Inventory, e s p e c i a l l y as a t o o l

f o r a i d i n g i n a guidance and c o u n s e l l i n g programme i n the

s c h o o l s , the author f e l t t h a t I t would be p e r t i n e n t t o d i s

cover where the f o u r adjustment areas i n c l u d e d i n the Inven

t o r y f a l l i n the s t u d e n t s ' o p i n i o n i n r e l a t i o n to other im

p o r t a n t areas of adjustment. In order t o do t h i s i t was

necessary to determine what other areas of problems a r e con

s i d e r e d important to grade twelve students and then have the

students d e c i d e the r e l a t i v e importance of each of these

major problem a r e a s . In order to f i n d these r e l a t i o n s among

the v a r i o u s problem f i e l d s the "Student Problem P o l l " was

c o n s t r u c t e d (see Appendix E ) .

C o n s t r u c t i o n of the P o l l

The f i r s t s t e p i n the c o n s t r u c t i o n of the Student

Problem P o l l was a s e t of two f o r t y - m i n u t e classroom d i s

c u s s i o n p e r i o d s w i t h each of f o u r s e p a r a t e groups of grade

twelve s t u d e n t s . -There were approximately e i g h t y male and

f i f t y female students i n the combined f o u r groups. The pur

pose of these d i s c u s s i o n s was to get the students themselves

to suggest what problems are important t o grade twelve s t u d

ents as a group. Since most of the e a r l y responses p e r t a i n -

-96-

ed to s p e c i f i c problems, i t was necessary to suggest t o the

students t h a t they combine the s p e c i f i c problems under

more g e n e r a l i z e d headings. In a d d i t i o n , i n o r d e r to e l i m

i n a t e those f i e l d s which were suggested but which had l i t t l e

importance to the group as a whole, i t was decided a r b i t r a r

i l y t h a t only those f i e l d s would be r e t a i n e d t h a t were con

s i d e r e d important by at l e a s t f o r t y percent of the s t u d e n t s .

At the c o n c l u s i o n of the d i s c u s s i o n s the f o l l o w i n g n i n e gen

e r a l problem areas were obtained: Home, He a l t h , S o c i a l ,

ft

Emotional, F r i e n d s h i p , F i n a n c i a l , School, Future Occupation

and Sex*

U t i l i z i n g these n i n e problem f i e l d s the Student

Problem P o l l was c o n s t r u c t e d u s i n g as i t s s t a t i s t i c a l b a s i s

the method, of p a i r e d comparison. T h i s method was chosen

s i n c e , as noted by G u i l f o r d (23, p.240) and Greene (21, p.694),

i t has been found to be more p r e c i s e than any other m o d i f i c

a t i o n of the p s y c h o t e p h y s i c a l methods which would be ap

p l i c a b l e t o problems such as the one presented here.

The main task i n u s i n g the method of p a i r e d compar

isons i s to present each item with every other item and

have the s u b j e c t s make a choice between each p a i r . In t h i s

problem t h e r e were t h i r t y - s i x such comparisons. I t should ft In the Student Problem P o l l , the Emotional problem f i e l d

i s r e f e r r e d t o as "Nervousness and Emotional" s i n c e the students during the d i s c u s s i o n s f e l t t h a t t h i s term had more meaning to them. However, w i t h i n the t e x t , the term "emotional" w i l l be used f o r the sake of s i m p l i c i t y . The other terms are used as they were suggested by the s t u d e n t s .

be noted that i n the d i r e c t i o n s g i v e n w i t h i n the Student

Problem P o l l the students were t o l d t o guess i f i t became

d i f f i c u l t f o r them to decide between any p a i r . T h i s was a

necessary c o n d i t i o n r e s u l t i n g from the l i m i t a t i o n of the

method of p a i r e d comparisons which r e q u i r e s t h a t no p a i r be

l e f t undecided, an e s s e n t i a l p r e c a u t i o n f o r f a c i l i t a t i n g

the s t a t i s t i c a l treatment of the r e s u l t s . F o r c i n g the s t u d

ents to make a c h o i c e i n t h i s way i s l i k e l y to l e a d to d i s

t o r t i o n of i n d i v i d u a l o p i n i o n , but i s j u s t i f i a b l e to the

extent t h a t i t i s the r e s u l t of the group as a whole t h a t

i s being sought. In using a s u f f i c i e n t l y l a r g e group i t i s

assumed t h a t chance f a c t o r s would be o p e r a t i v e e q u a l l y i n

a l l d i r e c t i o n s , and consequently l e a d to no s e r i o u s d i s t o r

t i o n of the r e s u l t s f o r the group as a whole.

A l s o i n the d i r e c t i o n s i t w i l l be noted t h a t the

students were t o l d not to s i g n t h e i r names to the Problem

P o l l . T h i s was done simply to overcome any d i s t o r t i o n of

the r e s u l t s that might occur i f there was any f a c t o r oper

a t i v e t h a t would l e a d the s t u d e n t s to d e s i r e to c o n c e a l t h e i r

a c t u a l o p i n i o n s .

Within the d i r e c t i o n s of the Problem P o l l o n l y f o u r

of the nine problem f i e l d s were e x p l a i n e d . At f i r s t i t was

not c o n s i d e r e d necessary to e x p l a i n a l l of the f i e l d s on

the a c t u a l form s i n c e i t was assumed that after" having r e

viewed them during the d i s c u s s i o n p e r i o d s the students

would be s u f f i c i e n t l y a c quainted with t h e i r d e s c r i p t i o n s .

-98-

However, during the a c t u a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the P o l l , as

an added p r e c a u t i o n , a l l the f i e l d s were e x p l a i n e d and the

d i s t i n c t i o n s between them noted i n order t o overcome any

ambiguity. For example, the f r i e n d s h i p problems were made

d i s t i n c t from the s o c i a l problems i n t h a t the former r e f e r

r e d t o r e l a t i o n s h i p s with one's c l o s e f r i e n d s , and the l a t t e r

t o r e l a t i o n s h i p s with people i n g e n e r a l . In order t o over

come any ambiguity t h a t might e x i s t i n the comparison of

sexual problems with h e a l t h problems, i t was e x p l a i n e d t o

the students that the former r e f e r r e d to problems a r i s i n g

out of a l a c k of knowledge concerning t h e i r s e x u a l develop

ment tog e t h e r with any w o r r i e s c o n c e r n i n g t h e i r s e x u a l be

h a v i o u r , whereas any a c t u a l s i c k n e s s or i l l n e s s r e s u l t i n g

from the f u n c t i o n i n g of the sexual system would be c o n s i d

ered a h e a l t h problem. One of the most d i f f i c u l t d i s t i n c

t i o n s was t h a t between f i n a n c i a l problems and s o c i a l prob

lems. In t h i s case, i t was emphasized t o the students t h a t

the s o c i a l problems r e f e r r e d to r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h people

whereas f i n a n c i a l problems were r e s t r i c t e d t o d i f f i c u l t i e s

a r i s i n g out of having i n s u f f i c i e n t funds to have, or to do,

the things that one would wish.

R e s u l t s

The Student Problem P o l l was a d m i n i s t e r e d to 103

grade twelve boys, and 62 grade twelve g i r l s . The r e s u l t s

of the P o l l are shown i n . T a b l e XIX f o r the boys and Table

XX f o r the g i r l s i n which the v a r i o u s p r o p o r t i o n s a r e given

TABLE XIX

P r o p o r t i o n of Times 105 Grade X I I Boys Marked the Problem F i e l d at the Top over the Problem F i e l d at the L e f t i n Importance

Pro b1em F i e l d

F i n a n -c i a l School

Future Occup-t ion

Emotion. Soc i a l Home Health Sex F r i e n d s h i p

F i n a n c i a l .500 .417 .544 .311 .301 .272 .224 .156 .194

School .583 .500 .525 .496 .331 .321 .166 .204 .204

Future Occupation .456 .475 .500 .379 .301 .393 .272 .283 .283

Emotional .689 .504 .621 .500 .417 .417 .'360 .340 .166

S o c i a l .699 .669 .699 .583 .500 .475 .369 .417 .204

Home .728 .679 .607 .583 .52 5 .500 .428 .408 .379

H e a l t h .776 .834 .728 .640 .631 .572 .500 .428 .574

Sex .844 .796 .717 .660 .583 .592 .572 .500 .560

Fr i e n d s h ip .806 .796 .717 .834 .796 .621 .525 .440 .500

6.081 5.670 5.658 4.986 4.375 4.163 3.416 3.176 2.965

Mp .675 .630 .627 .5.54 .486 .462 .379 .352 .329 Rank ^ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

TABLE XX P r o p o r t i o n of Times 62 Grade XII G i r l s Marked the Problem F i e l d at the Top over

the Problem F i e l d on the L e f t i n Importance

Problem F i e l d

Future Occupa-t ion

School Emotion, Finan-c i a l

S o c i a l Home Heal t h F r i e n d s h i p

Sex

Future Occupa t i o n .500 .456 .368 .352 .235 .323 .235 .206 .176 School .544 .500 .442 .500 .352 .441 .309 .250 .147

Emot ion .632 .558 .500 .485 .309 .323 .379 .250 .147

F i n a n c i a l .648 .500 .515 .500 .352 .426 .323 .265 .147

S o c i a l .765 .648 .691 .648 .500 .426 .456 .309 .368

Home .677 .559 .677 .574 .574 .500 .471 .442 .383

H e a l t h .765 .691 .603 .677 .544 .529 .500 .442 .338

F r i e n d s h i p .794 .750 .750 .735 .691 .558 .558 .500 .397

Sex .824 .853 .853 .853 .632 .617 .662 .603 .500

6.149 5.515 5.399 5.324 4.189 4.143 3.911 3.267 2.603

Mp .683 .613 .599 .591 .465 .460 .434 .363 .289

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

-101-r e g a r d i n g the c a l c u l a t e d c h o i c e s of the st u d e n t s * The r e

s u l t s f o r the boys and g i r l s were handled s e p a r a t e l y s i n c e

a s i g n i f i c a n t sex d i f f e r e n c e was d i s c o v e r e d i n the order of

the importance of the problem f i e l d s as i n d i c a t e d by the

choic e s of the two groups.

For the boys the order of importance c a l c u l a t e d on

the b a s i s of the average of the mean p r o p o r t i o n s , was:

F i n a n c i a l , School, Future Occupation, Emotional, S o c i a l ,

Home, H e a l t h , Sex and F r i e n d s h i p . For the g i r l s the order

was: Future Occupation, School, Emotional, F i n a n c i a l , S o c i a

Home, H e a l t h , F r i e n d s h i p and Sex. I t w i l l be noted t h a t

n e i t h e r the boys nor the g i r l s , as a group, p l a c e d any one

of the f o u r problem areas i n c l u d e d i n the Adjustment Inven

t o r y at the t o p of the l i s t i n importance.

In d e a l i n g with estimated d i f f e r e n c e s , as a r e p r e s

ented here, i t i s necessary to determine s t a t i s t i c a l l y

whether or not the d i f f e r e n c e s c o u l d have occured on the

b a s i s of chance a l o n e .

I t i s p o s s i b l e t o a p p l y the t - t e s t i n order t o det

ermine whether these d i f f e r e n c e s depart s i g n i f i c a n t l y from

some given h y p o t h e s i s . In t h i s case, t e s t i n g t he n u l l hy

po t h e s i s we assume t h a t t h e r e i s no d i f f e r e n c e between the

v a r i o u s problem a r e a s , i n importance, a c c o r d i n g t o the stud

ents* o p i n i o n s .

The standard e r r o r of a p r o p o r t i o n can be computed

hy means of the f o l l o w i n g formula:

-102-

where (fp s the standard e r r o r of the p r o p o r t i o n p m the p r o p o r t i o n i n one category q s 1-p, or the p r o p o r t i o n i n the second category N a the number of cases.

If the n u l l h y p o thesis were t r u e , the standard e r r o r

of the p r o p o r t i o n when N - 103( i . e . the number of boys)

would be . / ( . 5 ) ( . 5 ) of .049

V 103

and the standard e r r o r of the p r o p o r t i o n when N a 62 (the

number of g i r l s t a k i n g the P o l l ) would be .063. Using these

two v a l u e s , .049 f o r the boys, and .063 f o r the g i r l s , we

can d i s c o v e r i f any of the a c t u a l p r o p o r t i o n s obtained d i f

f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y from the h y p o t h e t i c a l p r o p o r t i o n .

In t h i s problem, f o r the boys i t was necessary to

have a t - r a t i o of 2.58 t o be a s s u r e d of s i g n i f i c a n c e a t the

.01 l e v e l of confidence and a t - r a t i o of 1.96 f o r s i g n i f i c

ance at the .01 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e . For the g i r l s , a

t - r a t i o of 2.66 was r e q u i r e d a t the .01 l e v e l and 2.00 at

the .05 l e v e l . Table XXI presents a l i s t of the t - v a l u e s

f o r the v a r i o u s p r o p o r t i o n s f o r each of the t h i r t y - s i x p a i r s

of problem f i e l d s f o r the boys, and Table XXII g i v e s s i m i

l a r data f o r the g i r l s .

These r e s u l t s show t h a t , f o r the boys, the estimated

p r o p o r t i o n s f o r the F i n a n c i a l problem f i e l d i n comparison

with each of the f o u r problem f i e l d s i n c l u d e d i n the A d j u s t

ment Inventory ( i . e . H e a l t h , Home, S o c i a l , Emotional) were

a l l s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l of confidence, i n d i c a t i n g

that the male stude n t s , as a group, c o n s i d e r e d t h a t the F i n -

TABLE XXI S i g n i f i c a n c e ( t - r a t i o s ) of the Estimated P r o p o r t i o n s of 105 Grade X I I Boys

L i s t e d i n Table XIX

Problem F i e l d

F i n a n -c i a l School

Future Occupat i o n Emotional S o c i a l Home Health Sex F r i e n d s h i p

F i n a n c i a l .00

School 1.69 .00

Future Occupation .89 .51 .00 Emot i o n a l 3 .85 .08 2.46 .00

S o c i a l 4.06 3.44 4.06 1.69 .00

Home 4.65 3.65 2.38 1.69 .51 .00

H e a l t h 5.63 6.81 4.65 2.85 2.67 1.46 .00

Sex 7.02 6.04 4.42 3.28 1.69 1.87 1.42 .00

F r i e n d s h i p 6.24 6.04 4.42 6.81 6.04 3.46 .51 1.22 .00

TABLE XXII

S i g n i f i c a n c e ( t - r a t i o s ) of the Estimated P r o p o r t i o n s of 62 Grade X I I G i r l s L i s t e d i n Table XX

Problem F i e l d

Future Occupation School Emotional

F i n a n c i a l Soc i a l Home Health

F r i e n d s h i p Sex

Future Occup a t i o n .00

School .69 .00

Emotional 2.09 .09 .00

F i n a n c i a l 2.34 .00 .02 .00

S o c i a l 4.36 2.34 3.03 2.34 .00

Home 2.80 .09 2.80 1.17 1.17 .00

He a l t h 4.36 3.03 1.63 2.80 .07 .03 .00

F r i e n d s h i p 4.66 3.96 3.96 3.73 3.03 .09 .09 .00

Sex 5.14 5.60 5.60 5.60 2.09 1.85 2.57 1.63 .00

-105-

a n c i a l problem f i e l d presented more p e r s o n a l problems than

any of the problem areas i n c l u d e d w i t h i n the Inventory. The

estimated p r o p o r t i o n s f o r the School problem f i e l d compared

with the S o c i a l , Home, and Hea l t h f i e l d s were a l l s i g n i f i c

ant a t the .01 l e v e l of confidence but the t - r a t i o i n d i c a t e d

no s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e between the School problem f i e l d

and the Emotional problem f i e l d . For the Future Occupation

f i e l d , the estimated p r o p o r t i o n s of the boys were s i g n i f

i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e compared wi t h the S o c i a l

and H e a l t h f i e l d s , and at the .05 l e v e l i n r e l a t i o n t o the

Emotional and Home f i e l d s . Consequently, both the F i n a n c i a l

f i e l d and the Future Occupation f i e l d were c o n s i d e r e d more

important ( i . e . s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e was obtained) than

any of the areas covered by the Adjustment Inventory while

the School problem f i e l d was c o n s i d e r e d more important than

the f o u r areas covered by the Inventory w i t h the exception

of the Emotional f i e l d . In a d d i t i o n , of the f o u r f i e l d s

i n c l u d e d w i t h i n the Inventory, the Emotional f i e l d was the

only f i e l d to d i f f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y from the Sex problem

f i e l d . A l l the problem areas i n c l u d e d i n the Inventory with

the exception of the H e a l t h f i e l d produced s i g n i f i c a n t t r

r a t i o s at e i t h e r the .01 or .05 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e compared

with the F r i e n d s h i p problem f i e l d f o r the boys.

S i m i l a r r e s u l t s a r e n o t i c e d f o r t h e g i r l s . I t w i l l

be observed t h a t the t - r a t i o s i n c l u d e d i n Table XXII i n d i c

ate t h a t the Future Occupation, School, and F i n a n c i a l prob-

-106-

lem f i e l d s were c o n s i d e r e d e i t h e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y more impor

tant than, or as important as, the f o u r problem areas i n c l u d

ed i n the Inventory. The F r i e n d s h i p f i e l d was c o n s i d e r e d ,

s t a t i s t i c a l l y , as important as the Home f i e l d and Hea l t h

f i e l d , and the Sex f i e l d was as important as the Home f i e l d

i n the est i m a t i o n s of the g i r l s .

These r e s u l t s would i n d i c a t e t h a t the Adjustment In

ventory f a i l s to cover areas of p e r s o n a l problems that in-

the e s t i m a t i o n of grade twelve students are more t r o u b l e

some to them than .the a c t u a l areas i n c l u d e d i n the Inventory.

In order t o have some check on the c o n s i s t e n c y of

the r e s u l t s as e s t a b l i s h e d by the Problem P o l l , the students

ware asked, a f t e r an i n t e r i m of approximately s i x t y - o n e days,

to rank the nine problem f i e l d s i n t h e i r order of importance.

The rank order f o r the group was determined on the b a s i s of

the mean rank f o r each f i e l d .

The r e s u l t s of t h i s simple r a n k i n g method, f o r the

boys, p l a c e d the f i e l d s i n the i d e n t i c a l order as d i d the

p a i r e d comparison method, with the exce p t i o n that t h e Hea l t h

problem f i e l d and Sex problem f i e l d were i n t e r c h a n g e d . On

the b a s i s of the rankin g method the Sex f i e l d ranked s i x t h

and the He a l t h f i e l d was seventh whereas t h e i r order was r e

ve r s e d i n the case of the p a i r e d comparison method.

For the g i r l s the order remained i d e n t i c a l w i t h the

exception that the Emotional and F i n a n c i a l f i e l d s were i n t e r

changed i n p o s i t i o n s . N e i t h e r of the p a i r s of problem

-107-

f i e l d s t h a t were changed i n order-sequence f o r the boys or

the g i r l s were c o n s i d e r e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t a t the

.01 l e v e l or .05 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e on the b a s i s of the

r e s u l t s of the p a i r e d comparison method so t h a t t h e i r v a r

i a t i o n i n p o s i t i o n c o u l d be expected on the b a s i s of chance

f a c t o r s a l o n e .

These r e s u l t s show that a f t e r a p e r i o d of approx

imately two months the r e l a t i v e order of the problem f i e l d s

remained p r a c t i c a l l y i d e n t i c a l , On the b a s i s of the two

methods used, f o r t h i s group of grade twelve s t u d e n t s .

It should be brought t o the a t t e n t i o n of the r e a d e r

that these r e s u l t s i n no way d e t r a c t from the a c t u a l worth

of the problem s e c t i o n s i n c l u d e d i n the Inventory. In ad

d i t i o n , no c l a i m i s made that the problem f i e l d s i n c l u d e d

i n the P o l l are u n r e l a t e d or unique w i t h i n themselves.

However, i n d e a l i n g w i t h problems of students from the coun

s e l l i n g viewpoint i t i s imperative that the c o u n s e l o r have

a good knowledge of the r e l a t i v e importance of adjustment

areas as they stand i n r e l a t i o n s h i p t o one another. In ad

d i t i o n , the r e s u l t s of the P o l l do not n e c e s s a r i l y e s t a b l i s h

i n any a b s o l u t e way the order of these adjustment f i e l d s as

they a c t u a l l y e x i s t i n importance. The o p i n i o n of the s t u d

ents themselves c o n s t i t u t e but one b a s i s f o r the e s t a b l i s h

ment of an order of importance f o r the v a r i o u s a r e a s . Never

t h e l e s s , f o r the c o u n s e l l i n g s i t u a t i o n i t would appear only

l o g i c a l t h a t the problems as set f o r t h by the students be

-1 OS-

d e a l t with a t l e a s t ss thoroughly as t h o s e determined on

t h e b a s i s o f some oth e r c r i t e r i o n . A l s o , t h e r e s u l t s of

the P o l l s h o u l d be i n t e r p r e t e d o n l y f o r gnade twelve s t u d

ents s i n c e I t i s h i g h l y probable t h a t the r e l a t i v e importune

of the problem a r e a s i s a f f e c t e d by age and grade l e v e l .

Another important f a c t o r which sh o u l d be c o n s i d e r e d as a f

f e c t i n g t h e e s t a b l i s h e d order of the problem f i e l d s i s t h e

p r e v a i l i n g c u l t u r a l p a t t e r n s and s o c i e t a l c o n d i t i o n s , which

would n e c e s s i t a t e a p e r i o d i c r e v i s i o n of the e s t a b l i s h e d

order from time t o t i m e .

S e v e r a l competent persons who independently reviewed

the e a r l y r e s u l t s o f the Problem P o l l expressed doubts con

c e r n i n g t h e r e l a t i v e l y low rank g i v e n t o the Sex problem

f i e l d by both the g i r l s and the boys. I t i s h i g h l y p o s s i b l e

t h a t s i n c e t h i s f i e l d r e f e r s t o matters t h a t o f t e n produce

embarrassment, t h a t the accumulated a f f e c t of s o c i a l i n h i b

i t i o n s a c t u a l l y produced a s y s t e m a t i c e r r o r w i t h i n the r e

s u l t s . However^ the w r i t e r has no e v i d e n c e t o o f f e r t o

s u b s t a n t i a t e t h i s view, b u t suggests t h a t t h e r e s u l t s be

i n t e r p r e t e d with t h i s p o s s i b l e l i m i t a t i o n i n c o n s i d e r a t i o n .

The r e s u l t s of the Problem P o l l c e r t a i n l y warrant the

e x p r e s s i n g of c a u t i o n i n the use of any s i n g l e t e s t such as

the Adjustment Inventory to e v a l u a t e i a f u l l the adjustment

problems of i n d i v i d u a l s . In a d d i t i o n , i t would appear t h a t ,

at l e a s t f o r grade twelve s t u d e n t s , o t h e r areas are c o n s i d

ered t o c o n t a i n more problems than t h o s e a r e a s which t h e

-109-

Inventory samples.

Consequently, any attempt to use the Adjustment In

ventory f o r making a t o t a l a p p r a i s a l of p e r s o n a l adjustment

„ would be a m i s a p p l i c a t i o n of the t e s t . B e l l (5,p.108) him

s e l f gave warning about such o v e r - a p p l i c a t i o n when he made

re f e r e n c e to the f a c t t h a t i n order t o do c o n s t r u c t i v e i n

d i v i d u a l work i n the f i e l d of c o u n s e l l i n g i t i s necessary

to have r e l i a b l e and v a l i d measures of student adjustment

i n more than j u s t those f i e l d s i n c l u d e d w i t h i n the Inventory.

Indeed, to f i n d v a l i d and r e l i a b l e measures of the v a r i o u s

phases of adjustment i s the e s s e n t i a l problem. At l e a s t

the problem has been i s o l a t e d , even though as yet the s o l

u t i o n i s undertermined.

CHAPTER V I I I

Summary and Conclusions

During the course of t h i s study an attempt has been

made to e s t a b l i s h evidence concerning the r e l i a b i l i t y and

v a l i d i t y of the s u b s e c t i o n s of the B e l l Adjustment Inventory.

In c o n c l u d i n g , we may s t a t e t h a t w i t h i n the l i m i t a t i o n s of

the study i t s e l f , the s a l i e n t f i n d i n g s were as f o l l o w s :

1. For the sample of 100 grade twelve boys used, the

d i s t r i b u t i o n of sco r e s f o r the Home Adjustment, Health Ad

justment, and Emotional Adjustment s e c t i o n s of the Inventory

were a l l s i g n i f i c a n t l y skewed i n the p o s i t i v e d i r e c t i o n at

e i t h e r the .01 or .05 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e . In terms of

k u r t o s i s , these t h r e e s e c t i o n s d e v i a t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y from

n o r m a l i t y and were p l a t y k u r t i c .

2. The divergence from n o r m a l i t y of these s e c t i o n s

i n d i c a t e d a p i l i n g up of scores at the w e l l - a d j u s t e d end

of the s c a l e .

3. The d i s t r i b u t i o n of scores f o r the boys on the Soc

i a l Adjustment s e c t i o n was s t a t i s t i c a l l y w i t h i n normal

l i m i t s i n terms of skewness and k u r t o s i s .

4. For the g i r l s , the d i s t r i b u t i o n s of s c o r e s made oh

the Home Adjustment and He a l t h Adjustment s e c t i o n s d e v i a t e d

s i g n i f i c a n t l y i n terms of both skewness and k u r t o s i s ,

5. For the g i r l s , the d i s t r i b u t i o n s f o r the S o c i a l and

Emotional s e c t i o n s were w i t h i n normal s t a t i s t i c a l l i m i t s .

-111-6. The s i g n i f i c a n t d e v i a t i o n s found i n c e r t a i n of the

d i s t r i b u t i o n s i n d i c a t e the p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t the Adjustment

Inventory might not be d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g c l e a r l y between the

v a r i o u s l e v e l s of adjustment.

7. S i g n i f i c a n t sex d i f f e r e n c e s were found between the

100 grade twelve boys and 104 grade twelve g i r l s f o r the

Emotional s e c t i o n at the .01 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e and f o r the

S o c i a l s e c t i o n at the .05 l e v e l of c o n f i d e n c e . No s t a t i s

t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t sex d i f f e r e n c e s were found f o r the Home

or Health s e c t i o n s .

8. The presence of the noted sex d i f f e r e n c e s would sug

gest t h a t the establishment of separate norms f o r grade

twelve boys and g i r l s i s warranted f o r the Emotional and

S o c i a l s e c t i o n s of the Inventory.

9. Concerning sex d i f f e r e n c e s the onl y d i s c r e p a n c y

between the present study and the o r i g i n a l study by B e l l i s

i n the case of the Home s e c t i o n f o r which the o r i g i n a l

study noted s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e a t the .01 l e v e l of con

f i d e n c e .

10. Comparing the s c o r e s made by the 100 grade twelve

boys with the scores made by the o r i g i n a l s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n

sample of 161 high school boys s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e was

noted at the .01 l e v e l i n the case of both the Health and

S o c i a l s e c t i o n s . It is h i g h l y p o s s i b l e , t h e r e f o r e , t h a t

the present norms f o r the Health and S o c i a l s e c t i o n s of the

Inventory are not adequate f o r grade twelve boys as r e p r e s -

-112-

ented by the sample used w i t h i n t h i s study.

11. Comparing the scores made by the o r i g i n a l s t andard

i z a t i o n sample of 190 high s c h o o l g i r l s with the sample of

104 grade twelve g i r l s used i n t h i s study s i g n i f i c a n t d i f

f e r e n c e was obtained f o r the Home, He a l t h , and S o c i a l sec

t i o n s , suggesting t h a t the presen t norms of these s e c t i o n s

are inadequate f o r grade twelve g i r l s as r e p r e s e n t e d by the

sample used i n t h i s study.

12. From an item a n a l y s i s , f o r the boys, 7 items on the

Home s e c t i o n s , 17 items on the Health s e c t i o n s , 4 items on

the S o c i a l s e c t i o n , and 8 items on the Emotional s e c t i o n

f a i l e d t o meet the s t a t i s t i c a l requirements f o r acceptance.

These r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e the p o s s i b i l i t y of low " i n t e r n a l con

s i s t e n c y " of the H e a l t h s e c t i o n , and suggests t h a t the items

are not c l e a r l y d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g between v a r i o u s l e v e l s of

h e a l t h adjustment. These r e s u l t s a l s o suggest that improve

ment of the v a r i o u s s e c t i o n s might be made by s u b s t i t u t i n g

new items f o r those found t o be below the acceptance l e v e l . "

13. S i m i l a r r e s u l t s were found f o r the g i r l s from t h e

item a n a l y s i s . In a d d i t i o n , i t was noted that the items

f a l l i n g below the acceptance l e v e l were not always the same

f o r both the g i r l s and the boys, g i v i n g f u r t h e r i n d i c a t i o n

of the p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t sex d i f f e r e n c e e x i s t w i t h i n c e r t a i n

s u b s e c t i o n s .

14. Concerning the obtained r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s ,

no s u b s e c t i o n , with the p o s s i b l e e x c e p t i o n of the Home s e c -

-113-

t i o n , gave i n d i c a t i o n of use f o r i n d i v i d u a l d i a g n o s i s . The

high c o e f f i c i e n t s obtained f o r the Home and S o c i a l s e c t i o n s

ranging from .860 t o .913 compare f a v o u r a b l y with those

e s t a b l i s h e d f o r the more widely-accepted t e s t s i n the f i e l d

of p e r s o n a l i t y measurement, and i n d i c a t e that these s e c t i o n s

are adequate f o r group p r e d i c t i v e use i n terms of r e l i a b i l

i t y .

15. The obtained r e l i a b i l i t i e s f o r the H e a l t h and Emot

i o n a l s e c t i o n s f e l l below the .80 l e v e l i n c e r t a i n c a s e s .

The Emotional s e c t i o n tended to reach t h i s l e v e l but the

H e a l t h s e c t i o n on the b a s i s of the Richardson-Kuder formula

dropped to .701 f o r the boys. This low r e l i a b i l i t y c a l c u l

ated by the Richardson-Kuder formula i n d i c a t e s the p o s s i b i l

i t y of low i n t e r n a l c o n s i s t e n c y w i t h i n the items. These

low r e l i a b i l i t i e s obtained f o r the H e a l t h s e c t i o n make i t s

use, even f o r group p r e d i c t i v e purposes, appear d o u b t f u l .

16. The r e s u l t s of the subtest i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s i n d i c a t e

the p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t c e r t a i n s e c t i o n s may w e l l be measuring

r e l a t e d f a c t o r s , i n as much as the Emotional and Home s e c

t i o n produced a c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t of .54 f o r the boys

and .61 f o r the g i r l s , w h i le the Emotional and H e a l t h s e c

t i o n s produced a c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t of .54 f o r the

boys and .39 f o r t h e g i r l s .

17. Using the i n t e r v i e w technique f o r r a t i n g 100 boys

on home adjustment, the f i n d i n g s i n d i c a t e t h a t the Home Ad

justment s e c t i o n of the Inventory i s capable of y i e l d i n g r e -

-114-

s u l t s s i g n i f i c a n t l y s i m i l a r to those obtained by means of

a prolonged i n t e r v i e w . These i n t e r v i e w r a t i n g s were a r r i v e d

at by o b t a i n i n g a composite r a t i n g f o r each student on the

b a s i s of r a t i n g s g i v e n by thr e e independent r a t e r s . A

" c o r r e c t e d " contingency c o e f f i c i e n t of .82 was obtained be

tween the two s e t s of r a t i n g s .

18. A comparison of the r a t i n g s g i v e n by the Inventory

compared with the i n t e r v i e w r a t i n g s i n d i c a t e d that t h e r e

was a tendency f o r the Inventory t o r a t e more l e n i e n t l y .

However, of the 21 s u b j e c t s r a t e d below average on the b a s i s

of the i n t e r v i e w 15 of these were s i m i l a r l y r a t e d by the

Invent ory.

19. The r e s u l t s o btained p e r t a i n i n g t o the Home A d j u s t

ment s e c t i o n i n d i c a t e that i t s u s e f u l l n e s s f o r c o u n s e l l i n g

purposes i s s u b s t a n t i a t e d , but sugg e s t i o n i s made co n c e r n

ing the p o s s i b l e r e v i s i o n of norms and the m o d i f i c a t i o n of

c e r t a i n of the t e s t items found to be low v a l i d i t y .

20. The t e s t r e s u l t s of the S o c i a l Adjustment v a l i d a t i n g

groups which c o n s i s t e d of a t o t a l of 100 grade twelve boys

and which were s e l e c t e d on the b a s i s of the degree to which

the i n d i v i d u a l a c t i v e l y belonged to s o c i a l - p a r t i c i p a t i o n

groups, y i e l d e d s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e at the .01 l e v e l of

confidence between each of the t h r e e groups. The r e s u l t s

s t r o n g l y i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e r e i s c o n s i d e r a b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p

between scores made on the S o c i a l s e c t i o n of the Inventory

and a c t u a l s o c i a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n .

-115-

21. When these same 100 grade twelve boys were d i v i d e d

i n t o t h r e e groups on the b a s i s of " p o p u l a r i t y " vote, the

r e s u l t s f a i l e d t o r e v e a l s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e between

the v a r i o u s groups. This f i n d i n g suggests t h a t the scores

on the S o c i a l s e c t i o n of the Inventory a r e . s i g n i f i c a n t l y

r e l a t e d to the a b i l i t y t o get along with o t h e r s . I f t h i s

i s so, those using the Inventory should be made f u l l y aware

of t h i s d e l i m i t a t i o n of the s e c t i o n .

22. From the evidence presented i n the study the S o c i a l

s e c t i o n .appears t o serve a p o t e n t i a l l y u s e f u l r o l e i n the

c l i n i c a l and c o u n s e l l i n g s i t u a t i o n s f o r the purpose of detec

t i n g those, who are r e t i r i n g from s o c i a l c o n t a c t s and, con

sequently, a i d i n f a c i l i t a t i n g the s o c i a l adjustment of such

i n d i v i d u a l s by d i r e c t i n g them i n t o s o c i a l groups.

23. The c r i t e r i o n groups f o r e v a l u a t i n g the Health A d j u s t

ment s e c t i o n c o n s i s t e d of 98 boys d i v i d e d i n t o t h r e e l e v e l s

of h e a l t h adjustment by the School Nurse. The r e s u l t s i n d i c

a t e d t.hat there was no s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e between the

mean scores made on the Inventory f o r any of the groups.

Consequently there was l i t t l e agreement between the s c o r e s

made by the students on the H e a l t h s e c t i o n of the Inventory

and the h e a l t h r a t i n g s g i v e n by the School Nurse.,

24. C o n s i d e r i n g the v a r i o u s f i n d i n g s of .this study per

t a i n i n g to the Health s e c t i o n , i n c l u d i n g the low r e l i a b i l i t

i e s , the l a r g e number of p o o r l y d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g items, t o

gether w i t h the l a c k of v a l i d a t i n g evidence supported by the

-116-

n e g a t i v e r e s u l t s r e p o r t e d by other s t u d i e s , i t would appear

tha't t h i s s e c t i o n has ve r y l i m i t e d use i n c o u n s e l l i n g of

grade twelve s t u d e n t s .

25. The t e s t r e s u l t s f o r the Emotional s e c t i o n v a l i d a t

ing groups, s e l e c t e d on the b a s i s of a composite emotional

adjustment r a t i n g , f a i l e d t o support the v a l i d i t y of t h i s

s e c t i o n . Although the r e l i a b i l i t y and v a l i d i t y of the

v a l i d a t i n g c r i t e r i o n used was i n tu r n undertermined, the use

of t h i s s e c t i o n appears l i m i t e d f o r c o u n s e l l i n g purposes

because of the lack of meaning of i t s "measurements". Sim

i l a r n e g a tive r e s u l t s f o r t h i s s e c t i o n have been c o n s i s t e n t

l y r e p o r t e d by other s t u d i e s .

26. On the b a s i s of the s e l f - r a t i n g s of 100 grade twelve

g i r l s i t was noted t h a t there was s i g n i f i c a n t agreement be

tween the students' s e l f - e v a l u a t i o n s of t h e i r home a d j u s t

ment and s o c i a l adjustment with t h e i r s c o r e s made on the

Inventory. The h e a l t h and emotional s e l f - r a t i n g s of the

students d i d not show any s i g n i f i c a n t agreement with t h e i r

Inventory scores on the Hea l t h and Emotional s e c t i o n s .

27. A c c o r d i n g to the r e s u l t s of the Student Problem P o l l ,

the order of importance of nine problem f i e l d s f o r 103 grade

twelve boys was: F i n a n c i a l , School, Future Occupation, Emot

i o n a l , S o c i a l , Home, H e a l t h , Sex and F r i e n d s h i p .

28. For 62 grade twelve g i r l s the order was estimated

as: Future Occupation, School, Emotional, F i n a n c i a l , S o c i a l ,

Home, H e a l t h , F r i e n d s h i p , Sex.

-117-

29. For the boys both the F i n a n c i a l f i e l d and the F u t

ure Occupation f i e l d were c o n s i d e r e d more important ( i . e .

s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e was obtained) than any of the areas

i n c l u d e d in the Adjustment Inventory. The School problem

f i e l d was c o n s i d e r e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y more important than a l l

the areas i n c l u d e d i n the Inventory w i t h the e x c e p t i o n of

the Emotional f i e l d . S i m i l a r r e s u l t s were noted f o r the

g i r l s .

30.. For the boys, the Sex problem f i e l d was c o n s i d e r e d

s t a t i s t i c a l l y as important as a l l the areas covered by the

Inventory with the exception of the Emotional f i e l d .

31. The r e s u l t s of the Student Problem P o l l i n d i c a t e d

that the Adjustment Inventory f a i l s to cover areas of per

sonal problems that i n the e s t i m a t i o n s of the students are

more troublesome t o them than the a c t u a l areas covered by

the Adjustment Inventory. Consequently i t would appear that

any attempt to use the Inventory f o r making a t o t a l a p p r a i s

a l of per s o n a l adjustment problems would be a m i s a p p l i c a t i o n

of the Inventory.

-118-

APPENDIX A

Specimen copy of the B e l l

Adjustment Inventory

and Manual

THE ADJUSTMENT INVENTORY STUDENT FORM

(For students of high school and college age)

By HUGH M. BELL

Published by STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Stanford University, California

NAME AGE SEX

NAME OF SCHOOL SCHOOL CLASS

DATE

DIRECTIONS

Are you interested in knowing more about your own personality? If you will answer honestly and thoughtfully all of the questions on the pages that follow, it will be possible for you to obtain a better understanding of yourself.

There are no right or wrong answers. Indicate your answer to each question by drawing a circle around the "Yes," the "No," or the " ?" Use the question mark only when you are certain that you cannot answer "Yes" or "No." There is no time limit, but work rapidly.

If you have not been living with your parents, answer certain of the questions with regard to the people with whom you have been living.

NO. SCORE DESCRIPTION REMARKS

a

b

c

d

Copyright 1934 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University All rights reserved

Id Yes

2 No Do you day-dream frequently?

2 b Yes No ? Do you take cold rather easily from other people? 3C Yes No ? Do you enjoy social gatherings just to be with people ? 4d Yes No ? Does it frighten you when you have to see a doctor about some illness? 5C Yes No ? At a reception or tea do you seek to meet the important person present? Ob Yes No ? Are your eyes very sensitive to light? 7a Yes No ? Did you ever have a strong desire to run away from home? 8c Yes No ? Do you take responsibility for introducing people at a party? 9a Yes No ? Do you sometimes feel that your parents are disappointed in you ?

l O d Yes No ? Do you frequently have spells of the "blues"? l i b Yes No ? Are you subject to hay fever or asthma? 12c Yes No ? Do you often have much difficulty in thinking of an appropriate remark to make in group conversation ? 13a Yes No ? Have you been embarrassed because of the type of work your father does in order to support the family ? 14b Yes No ? Have you ever had scarlet fever or diphtheria? 15c Yes No ? Did you ever take the lead to enliven a dull party ? IGa Yes No ? Does your mother tend to dominate your home? 17d Yes No ? Have you ever felt that someone was hypnotizing you and making you act against your will? 18a Yes No ? Has either of your parents frequently criticized you unjustly? 19c Yes No ? Do you feel embarrassed when you have to enter a public assembly after everyone else has been seated ? 2 0 d Yes No ? Do you often feel lonesome, even when you are with people? Z l a Yes No ? Do you feel there has been a lack of real affection and love in your home ? 22c Yes No ? In school is it difficult for you to give an oral report before the class? 23b Yes No ? Do you have many headaches ? 24a Yes No ? Have your relationships with your father usually been pleasant ? 25b Yes No ? Do you sometimes have difficulty getting to sleep even when there are no noises to disturb you? 26c Yes No ? When riding on a train or a bus do you sometimes engage fellow-travelers in conversation? 27b Yes No ? Do you frequently feel very tired toward the end of the day ? 28d Yes No •? Does the thought of an earthquake or a fire frighten you ? 29b Yes No ?" Have you lost weight recently ? 30a Yes No ? Has either of your parents insisted on your obeying him or her regardless of whether or not the request

was reasonable? 31c Yes No ? Do you find it easy to ask others for help ? 32a Yes No ? Has illness or death among your immediate family tended to make home life unhappy for you ? 3 3 b Yes No ? Have you ever been seriously injured in any kind of an accident? 34a Yes No ? Has lack of money tended to make home unhappy for you? 35d Yes No ? Are you easily moved to tears ? 36C Yes No ? Are you troubled with shyness? 37a Yes No ? Has either of your parents frequently found fault with your conduct? 38b Yes No ? Have you ever had a surgical operation? 39c Yes No ? Would you feel very self-conscious if you had to volunteer an idea to start a discussion among a group

of people ? " 40d Yes No ? Do you dread the sight of a snake? 4 l a . Yes No ? Have your parents frequently objected to the kind of companions that you go around with? 4 2d Yes No ? Do things often go wrong for you from no fault of your own? 43b Yes No ? Do you have many colds? 44c Yes No ? Have you had experience in making plans for and directing the actions of other people? 45d Yes . No ? Are you frightened by lightning? 46a Yes No ? Is either of your parents very easily irritated? 47b Yes No ? Are you subject to attacks of influenza?

Yes

3 No ? Have you frequently been depressed because of low marks in school?

Yes No ? Do you have difficulty in starting conversation with a person to whom you have just been introduced? Yes No ? Have you had considerable illness during the last ten years? Yes No ?' Have you frequently disagreed with either of your parents about the way in which the work about the

home should be done? Yes No ? Do you sometimes envy the happiness that others seem to enjoy? Yes No ? Have you frequently known the answer to a question in class but failed when called upon because you

were afraid to speak out before the class ? Yes No ? Do you frequently suffer discomfort from gas in the stomach or intestines? Yes No ? Have there been frequent family quarrels among your near relatives? Yes No ? Do you find it easy to make friendly contacts with members of the opposite sex? Yes No ? Do you get discouraged easily ? Yes No ? Do you frequently have spells of dizziness? Yes No ? Have you frequently quarreled with your brothers or sisters? Yes No ? Are you often sorry for the things you do? Yes No ? If you were a guest at an important dinner would you do without something rather than ask to have it

passed to you? Yes No ? Do you think your parents fail to recognize that you are a mature person and hence treat you as if you

were still a child? Yes No 7 Are you subject to eye strain?" Yes No ? Have you ever been afraid that you might jump off when you were on a high place? Yes No ? Have you had a number of experiences in appearing before public gatherings? Yes No ? Do you often feel fatigued when you get up in the morning? Yes No ? Do you feel that your parents have been unduly strict with you? Yes No ? Do you get angry easily ? Yes No ? Has it been necessary for you to have frequent medical attention? Yes No ? Do you find it very difficult to speak in public ? Yes No ? Do you often feel just miserable? Yes No ? Has either of your parents certain personal habits which irritate you ? Yes No ? Are you troubled with feelings of inferiority? Yes No ? Do you feel tired most of the time? Yes No ? Do you consider yourself rather a nervous person? Yes No ? Do you enjoy social dancing a great deal? Yes No ? Do you often feel self-conscious because of your personal appearance? Yes No "? Do you love your mother more than your father? Yes 'No ? Are you subject to attacks of indigestion? Yes No ? When you want something from a person with whom you are not very well acquainted, would you

rather write a note or letter to the individual than go and ask him or her personally? Yes No ? Do you blush easily? Yes No ? Have you frequently had to keep quie t or leave the house in order to have peace at home ? Yes No ? Do you feel very self-conscious in the presence of people whom you greatly admire, but with whom you

are not well acquainted? Yes No ? Are you subject to tonsillitis or laryngitis? Yes No ? Are you ever bothered by the feeling that things are not real? Yes No ? Have the actions of either of your parents aroused a feeling of great fear in you at times? Yes No ? Do you frequently experience nausea or vomiting or diarrhea? Yes No ? Are you sometimes the leader at a social affair? Yes No ? Are your feelings easily hurt? Yes No ? Are you troubled much with constipation? Yes No ? Do you ever cross the street to avoid meeting somebody? Yes No Do you occasionally have conflicting moods of love and hate for members of your family?

3

03c Yes

4 No ? If you come late to a meeting would you rather stand or leave than take a front seat?

04b Yes No Were you ill much of the time during childhood? 95d Yes No ? Do you worry over possible misfortunes? OGC Yes No ? Do you make friends readily? OTa Yes No ? Have your relationships with your mother usually been pleasant? 98d Yes No j> Are you bothered by the feeling that people are reading your thoughts? 00b Yes No ? Do you frequently have difficulty in breathing through your nose?

1 0 0 c Yes No ? Are you often the center of favorable attention at a party? 101a Yes No ? Does either of your parents become angry easily? 1 0 2 b Yes No ? Do you sometimes have shooting pains in the head? 103a Yes No ? Was your home always supplied with the common necessities of life? 1 0 4 C Yes No ? Do you find that you tend to have a few very close friends rather than many casual acquaintances? 105a Yes No 5 Was your father what you would consider your ideal of manhood? l o o d Yes No ? Are you troubled with the idea that people are watching you on the street? 107b Yes No ? Are you considerably underweight? 108a Yes No ? Has either of your parents made you unhappy by criticizing your personal appearance? l u o d Yes No ? Does criticism disturb you greatly ? 1 IOC Yes No ? Do you feel embarrassed if you have to ask permission to leave a group of people? 111b Yes No ? Do you frequently come to your meals without really being hungry? 112a Yes No ? Are your parents permanently separated? 113d Yes No ? Are you often in a state of excitement ? 1 1 4 c Yes No ? Do you keep in the background on social occasions? 115b Yes No ? Do you wear eyeglasses ? l i e d Yes No ? Does some particular useless thought keep coming into your mind to bother you? 117a Yes No ? Did your parents frequently punish you when you were between 10 and 15 years of age? 118c Yes No ? Does it upset you considerably to have a teacher call on you unexpectedly? 119b Yes No ? Do you find it necessary to watch your health carefully? 120d Yes No ? Do you get upset easily? 121a Yes No ? Have you disagreed with your parents about your life work? 122c Yes No ? Do you find it difficult to start a conversation with a stranger? 123d Yes No ? Do you worry too long over humiliating experiences? 124b Yes No ? Have you frequently been absent from school because of illness? 125d Yes No ? Have you ever been extremely afraid of something that you knew could do you no harm? 126a Yes No ? Is either of your parents very nervous ? 127c Yes No ? Do you like to participate in festival gatherings and lively parties? 128d Yes No ? Do you have ups and downs in mood without apparent cause? 120b Yes No ? Do you have teeth that you know need dental attention? 130c Yes No ? Do you feel self-conscious when you recite in class ? 131a Yes No ? Has either of your parents dominated you too much? 1 3 2d Yes No ' ? Do ideas often run through your head so that you cannot sleep? 133b Yes No ? Have you had any trouble with your heart or your kidneys or your lungs? 134a Yes No ? Have you often felt that either of your parents did not understand you? 135c Yes No ?. Do you hesitate to volunteer in a class recitation ? 136d Yes No ? Does it frighten you to be alone in the dark? 137b Yes No ? Have you ever had a skin disease or skin eruption, such as athlete's foot, carbuncles, or boils? 138a Yes No ? Have you felt that your friends have had a happier home life than you? 139b Yes No ? Do you have difficulty in getting rid of a cold? 140c Yes No ? Do you hesitate to enter a room by yourself when a group of people are sitting around the room talking

together ?

4

M A N U A L FOR

T H E A D J U S T M E N T I N V E N T O R Y STUDENT FORM*

(For students of high school and college age)

B y H U C H M . B E L L

Published by S T A N F O R D U N I V E R S I T Y PRESS, Stanford University, Cal i fornia

The Adjustment Inventory provides tour separate measures of personal and social adjustment:

a. Home Adjustment. Individuals scoring high tend to be unsatisfactorily adjusted to their home surroundings. Low scores indicate satisfactory home adjustment.

b. Health Adjustment. High scores indicate unsatisfactory health adjustment; low scores, satisfactory adjustme.it.

c. Social Adjustment. Individuals scoring high tend to be submissive and retiring in their social contacts. Individuals with low scores arc aggressive in social contacts.

d. Emotional Adjustment. Individuals with high scores tend to bo unstable emotionally. Persons with low scores tend to be emotionally stable.

USE OF T H E INVENTORY The Inventory has been successful when used with persons of high-school

and college ages. It is suitable for use with both sexes. The high reliabilities ot the measures make possible comparisons of one individual with another. The measurement of four types of adjustment permits location of specific adjustment difficulties. The use of the small letters a, b, c, and d, corresponding to the four measures of adjustment, enables the counselor; to discover quickly the particular questions relating to each measure. The total score may be used to indicate the general adjustment status.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR GIVING 1. The Inventory is self-administering. To insure careful reading of the in

structions, the examiner should read the instructions appearing on the first page of the blank aloud while-the individuals being tested are reading them silently.

2. There is no time limit. Ordinarily not more than twenty-five minutes are required for all students to complete the Inventory.

3. Each individual being tested should interpret the questions for himself. However, questions about the meaning of words may be answered by the examiner.

4. The examiner should make every effort to secure complete co-operation of all persons filling in the blanks. He should indicate the value oi the results to the students, assuring them the scores will be treated with strictest confidence.

5. If questions concerning the purpose and use of the test arise, they should be answered frankly and honestly.

6. Unless students ask why the letters a, b, c, and d are placed before the questions, nothing need be said about them. If a question is raised, the examiner should state that they correspond to the letters on the first page of the inventory and are usecTTn analyzing the test results.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SCORING The Inventory can be accurately scored in three minutes. Thus, to obtain the

score on Home Adjustment, take the scoring stencil entitled ''Home" and lay the

* T h e Adjus tment Inventory is published in two forms—the Student Form for high s c h 6 o l and college students, and the Adult Form.

http://adjustme.it

column for page two on page two of the Inventory so that the "2" at the top and that at the bottom of the stencil are superimposed upon the corresponding figures of the test. Then count the number of instances where the vertical marks on the scoring stencil fall immediately over a circle on the test, writing this total at the bottom of page two or keeping it in memory. Then similarly apply the column of the stencil for page three to the third page of the Inventory and the column for page four to the fourth page. Write opposite "a" in the column entitled "Score" on the first page of the blank the total of the three pages thus derived. Obtain the scores for Health, Social and Emotional Adjustment in the same manner. Do not score the question marks. •

NORMS The interpretation of individual scores is made more meaningful by. the use

of certain descriptive designations. However, the difference between two descriptive terms should not be overemphasized, since a difference of only one point frequently determines whether a score falls under one heading or another.

If the counselor reports scores to persons who have taken the test, he should use caution in giving out results to those who have evidenced unsatisfactory adjustments. For unless something is done to help the student overcome his maladjustment, he will benefit little or none merely from being told of it.

The results of the Health Adjustment section should be considered not as taking the place of a medical examination but rather as a possible preliminary to such an examination. Unsatisfactory scores on this section of the Inventory may indicate the need for a physical examination by a physician.

In Table I tentative norms are given for high-school and college students of both sexes. The high-school scores were obtained from' freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors at Chico and at Redwood City, both in California. The college scores include freshmen and seniors from the State College at Chico,Xali-fornia, juniors from.the State College at San Jose, California, and freshmen and sophomores from Menlo.Junior College at Menlo Park, California.

T A B L E I . — N O R M S F O R H I G H - S C H O O L A N D C O L L E G E S T U D E N T S

H I G H S C H O O L S C O R E R A N G E , . C O L L E G E S C O R E R A N G E

Men (161)

. Women (190)

D E S C R I P T I O N Men (171)

Women (243)

0-1 2-4 5-9

10-16 Above 1 6

0-2 3-5 •' 6-13

14-20 Above 20

Excellent Good

Average Unsatisfactory

Very unsatisfactory

0-1 2-4 5-9

10-16, Above 16

0-1 2-4 5-9

10-15 Above 1 5

Health

0-1 2-4 5-9

10-15 Above 1 5

0-1 2-4 5-11

12-16 Above 16

Excellent Good


Very unsatisfactory

0-1 2-4 5-11

12-16 Above 16

0-1 2-4 5-9

10-15 Above 1 5

0-4 5-9

10-20 21-26

Above 26

0-4 5-10

11-21 22-30

Above 30

Very aggressive Aggressive

Average Retiring

Very retiring

0-3 4-7 8-17

18-25 Above 25

0-3 4-8 9 - 1 9

20-28 Above 2 8

0-2 3-5 6-11

12-18 Above 18

0-3 4-8 9-18

-19-24 Above 2 4

Excellent Good


Very unsatisfactory

0-2 3-5 6-13

14-19 Above 19

0-3 4-7 8 -15

16-21 Above 21

Total Score . .

0-12 13-24 25-44 45-60

Above 60

0-15 16-31 32-57 58-74

Aboye 7 4

Excellent Good


Very unsatisfactory

0-9 10-22 23-41 42-60

Above 60

0-12 1J-24 25-47 48-65

Above 65

R E L I A B I L I T Y The coefficients of reliability for each of the four sections of the Inventory

and for its total score are reported in Table II. These were determined by correlating the odd-even items and applying the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula. The subjects were college freshmen and juniors. . • «

T A B L E I I . — C O E F F I C I E N T S O F R E L I A B I L I T Y (N =. 258) . .

a. Home Adjustment 89 c. Social Adjustment . . . . . . 89 b. Health Adjustment .' 80 d. Emotional Adjustment .85

Total Score 93

V A L I D I T Y The Inventory has been validated in the following ways: First, the items for each of the sections in the Inventory were selected in

terms of the degree to which they differentiated between the upper and lower fifteen per cent of the individuals in a distribution of scores. Only those items which clearly differentiated between these extreme groups are included in the present form of the Inventory.

Second, the results of the various sections of the Inventory were checked during interviews with four hundred college students over a period of two years.

- Third, the Social Adjustment section, the Emotional Adjustment section, and the total score of the Inventory were validated by correlating the Social Adjustment section with the Allport Ascendance-Submission test and the Bernreuter Personality Inventory, B4-D, and by correlating the Emotional Adjustment section and the total similarly with the Thurstone Personality Schedule. These coefficients are reported in Table III.

T A B L E I I I . — C O E F F I C I E N T S O F V A L I D I T Y

N . Uncorr. Corr. Allport and Social Adjustment (Men) .' ". 46 .58 .72 Allport and Social Adjustment (Women) 50 .67 . 8 1 Thurstone Schedule and Emotional 96 .83 .93 Thurstone Schedule and Total Score 96 .89 .94 Bernreuter B4-D and Social . 3 9 .79 .90

Fourth, the Inventory has also been validated through the selection of "Very well" and "Very poorly" adjusted groups of students by counselors and school administrators in California and New Jersey and a determination of the degree to which the Inventory differentiates among them.

The groups used to validate the Home Adjustment section were selected by the counselors in the high schools at Chico, California, and Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey.

The groups used to validate the Health Adjustment section were selected in the high schools at Chico and Redwood City, California, and at Hasbrouck

• Heights, New Jersey. Students who had been absent from school three or more times during the school year on account of illness were included in the "Poorly adjusted" group. Students who had not been absent during the school year because of illness were included in the "Well adjusted" group.

The Social Adjustment section was validated by groups selected in the junior college at Sacramento, California. - Students who had been leaders in school ac^ tivities during their freshman and sophomore years were included in the "Well adjusted" group, and students who had participated in few or no school activities during these years were included in the "Poorly adjusted" group.

The Emotional Adjustment validating groups were selected by the counselors in the junior college at Pasadena, California. In Table IV (page 4) are summarized the means, the differences between the means, and the standard errors of the mean differences of all the groups used for validation purposes.

T A B L E I V . — V A L I D A T I N G G R O U P S S E L E C T E D B Y C O U N S E L O R S

Mean: "Well Mean: "Poorly Adjusted" Adjusted" Diff. Sigma of

Group Group Diff. Home Adjustment

(51 students in each group) 4.65 10.27 5.62 .80 Health Adjustment

(42 students in each group) 5.40 11.53 6.13 .93 ' Social Adjustment

(24 students in each group) 8.40 16.80 8.40 1.52 Emotional Adjustment

(36 students in each group) 8.28 15.78 7.50 1.41

PROBABLE ERRORS OF MEASUREMENT In Table V are listed the probable errors of measurement of the four types of

adjustment measured and for the total score of the Inventory for high-school and college students of both sexes.

T A B L E V . — P R O B A B L E E R R O R S O F M E A S U R E M E N T

H I G H S C H O O L C O L L E G E

Men Women Men Women Home 1.11 1.43 1.08 1.24 Health 1.26 1.47 1.30 1.40 ' Social 1.44 1.65 1.48 1.74 Emotional 1.36 1.70 1.44 1.69

Total Score 2.50 3.11 2.43 3.18

INTERCORRELATIONS In Table V I are reported the coefficients of intercorrelation of the four sec

tions of the Inventory.

T A B L E V I . — C O E F F I C I E N T S O F I N T E R C O R R E L A T I O N (N = 197)

Home and Health. . . Home and Social . . . . Home and Emotional

.43

.04

.38

Health and Soc ia l . . . . Health and Emotional Social and Emotional.

.24

. 5 3

.47

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author is greatly indebted to the following persons who have co-operated

in validating the Inventory: Dr. J. C. De Voss and Professor Harrison Heath of the State College at San Jose, California; Miss Isa D. Reed of the State College at Chico, California; Miss Margaret E . Bennett, Director of Guidance of the Pasadena City Schools, and Miss Ida E . Hawes, Dean of Guidance of the Pasadena Junior College, California; Miss Virginia Lee Block of the Hasbrouck Heights High School, New Jersey; Principal Frank Cummings and Mr. Carl Schreiter of the Chico High School, California; Principal A . C. Argo'and Miss Petra B. Cooper of the Sequoia High School, Redwood City, California; Dean Harry Tyler of the Sacramento Junior College, California; and Dean Charles T. Vandervort and Dr. Herbert Popenoe of the Menlo Junior College, California.

The author wishes also to acknowledge his obligation to Dr. Lewis M . Ter-man, Dr. Edward K. Strong, Jr., and Dr. C. Gilbert Wrenn for helpful criticisms during the construction of the Inventory.

REPORT TO AUTHOR In order that more extensive norms may be compiled the author will appre

ciate receiving scores obtained from the use of the Inventory. Communications should be addressed in care of the Chico State College, Chico, California.

PRICE SCALE Sample sets, 15 cents. Package lots: 25 copies, $1.75; 50 copies, $3.00; 100

copies, $5.50; 500 copies, $25.00; 1,000 copies, $40.00.

Printed in the United States of America

-119-

APPENDIX B

(a) Specimen Copy of set of Interview Quest i o n s •

(b) Interview Form

(c) Information Form

Interview Questions for Evaluating Home Adjustment

1. Confidence in parents 1 . If you had an important matter on your hands that you could not

solve yourself, what v/ould you do? 2. What important matters have you ever talked over with your parents? 3. Have you ever talked over (a) your future occupation with your par

ents to any great extent? (b) sex matters? 4. (a) Do you prefer to keep your problems to yourself? (b) Why? 5. (a) Have you ever had a problem that you f e l t you should have

talked over with your -parents but didn't? (b) Why? 6. (a) Do you prefer to go to someone else in preference to your

parents with most of your problems? (b) Why? 7. (a) Do you feel that you are not close to either of your parents?

(b) Mother or Father? 8* (a) Is either of your parents too curious about your personal

affairs? (b) In what way?

9. (a) In the past year or so has the behaviour of either of your parents embarrassed you before your friends? (b) How often does this occur?

10. (a) Do you feel that your parents are old fashioned in their ideas? (b) In what ways?

11. Do your parents give you the impression that they have l i t t l e confidence in you? How?

2. Father and Mother relationships 1. Do your mother and father enjoy the same type of movie and the

same kind of radio program between themselves? 2. Do they have similar tastes in most things? How do they differ? 3. Do they, agree on household matters? 4. How often do your mother and father go out socially in a month

together? 5. When they come home from going somewhere together, do they usually

appear to have enjoyed themselves? If not, why not? 6. Do you feel that one of your parents doesn't consider the feelings

of the other enough? In what ways? 7. How often do your parents quarrel in a week or in a month? 8. How long does i t usually take your parents to get over an argument?

Have you ever noticed that i t has taken several days for them to get 'over an argument? How often?

9. Does either of your parents have habits that annoy the other? 10. Are your mother and father close to each other or do they have l i t t l e

to do with each other? 11. Are things made unpleasant around your home because of constant

disagreement between your parents? 12. When you have a disagreement with one of your parents what does the

other parent do? 13. Do you feel that your parents could get along better than they do,

or do they get along as well as you would like?

Interview Questions for Evaluating Home Mjustment (cont'd, Page2)

3. General harraonv between student and father 1. (a) When was the last time that you had an argument with your father?

(b) what was i t about? 2. How often do you argue with your father in a month? 3. (a) Does i t sometimes take you and your father more than a day to

get over a disagreement? (b) How long does i t usually take? 4. Do you have to stay clear of your father in order to prevent ar

guments? 5. Do you have disagreements with your father over:

(a) your work around home? (b) how long you can stay out at night? (c) Where you can go at night? (d) your choice of friends? (e) matters regarding money? (f) matters concerning school work? (g) your future choice of occupation? (h) any other matters?

6. Do your disagreements with your father make things continually unpleasant around home for you?

7. Do you avoid disagreoing with your father because of what might happen? Why?

8. When he gets very angry with you does he resort to physical punishment? (b) i f not what does,he do?

9. Does your father get angry over l i t t l e unimportant things? What, for instance?

10. Do you feel that you could get along better with your dad, or do you feel that you get along very well?

4. General harmony between student and mother A repeat of section 3, with word "mother" replacing word "father".

5. Sense of home's worth 1. How often do your own friends come up to the house to see you? 2. Do your parents ever object because you bring i n friends? Why2 3. Do you usually go to your friends' houses rather than invite

them- to yours? 4. Do your folks own the house? 5. Do you have your own room or do you share a rooia? With whom? 6. Do you feel your home is over-crowded? 7. Does your home lack anything that you think i t should have? What

for example? 8. (a) Where do you l i v e in the city? (b) Do you l i k e the locality? 9. Do you have good conditions for studying? 10. (a) How many rooms are there in your home? (b) How many people

l i v e i n your home? 11. Are there many repairs needed on the house at present? Can you give

an example? 12. Are you troubled by the lack of money of your folks? How does i t

effect you? 13. Do most of your friends have homes that are better than your own in

appearance. 14. Do you have to get away from home before you can enjoy yourself?

Interview Questions for Evaluating Home Mjustment (con't, Page 3)

Social participation of student with parents 1. (a) When was the last time that you went out with your father

socially? (b) Where did you go? 2. (ra) When was the last time you went out with your mother soc

i a l l y ? (b) ¥ftiere did you go? 3. How often do you go out with your father in a month or year?

(b) How often with your mother in a month or year? 4. Does the conversation at the supper table usually interest you?

Do you join in the conversation? 5. When was the last tine that you and your parents joined each

other in a game or some other amusement at home? 6* How often do you spend evenings together at home for entertain

ment in a month? 7 a Do you usually enjoy yourself when you are with your parents

at home or when you go out with them? 8. (a) Have you ever gone on trips with your parents? (b) Where? 9. (a) Do you and your father make things or do things around the

house together? (b) Is he d i f f i c u l t to work with? 10, Do you help your mother around! the house? (b) Is she hard to

work w ith? 11» Do both your parents show considerable interest in your work

and play? ( As a check question- Is there any reason why you and your parents

are unable to go out together or spend evenings together at home?)

Harmony between student and other members of the family* 1« If you and your brother (sister, etc.) want something a.t home

but only one can have i t , who i s usually given the preference? 2. Do you feel that your parents tend to favor someone else in the

family over you? Who? 3. How often do you quarrel with your brother (etc.) in a week? 4a Does your brother (etc.) take advantage of you? 5. How often do you and your brother (etc.) go out together? 6* How often do you and your brother (etc.) join in games? 7. Do you have to try to stay away from your brother (etc.) so as

tp prevent quarreling? 8 . Do you find i t d i f f i c u l t to get along with any other member of

the house besides your parents, brothers and sisters? Explain? 9a Are there.any other members in the home who can not get along

with each other? .Explain? Miscellaneous l a Are there any conditions about your home that I have not men

tioned that make things unpleasant? 2a When you have your own home what are some of the things that

you w i l l change, i f any?

I n t e r v i e w Form HO. 1. Con. i n par.

1. 2.

"3. 4. a)

b)-5, a)

b) 6. a)

b l 7. a > bj

y. i-U. a) b) i i .

0 1 2 3 3. Gen Har w i t h F.

1. a) b)

2. a) Jal

3. a) b) 4. 5. a

b c) a)

TT f ) g) n)

6. "TV 8. a)

JLL 9 .

r o r

0 1 2 5. Sense of Hm's Worth

_1. _1 2.

. - ^

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11. 13.

0 1 2 5 4 4. Gen Har w i t h M.

1. a) i l )

2. a) b)

3. a) T : —

b)

'b. a b c) d)

If g) H)

6, 7_,_ '8.~aT

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0 1 2 3 4 6. Soc p a r t of s and p.

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Information Form ............. Age.........o oex

2, Underline a l l of the following who l i v e in the same house as you: father; mother; brother(s); sister(s;; step-parent; grandparent(s); and others.

3. Whr.t is your father's occupation?^ Mother's

4. How many brothers do you have? Their ages?, Kow many sisters do you have?_ Their ages?

1. (li'JS)

5, List below a l l the clubs and school organizations that you belong to.. This w i l l include clubs and organizations that are or were active for only part of the year, such as school plays or teams, and any group which has not yet commenced but which you are certain to join.

Club or organization Your duties Office held by you

6. List any clubs or organizations in the school to which you would l i k e to belong, but are unable, and explain why you are unable to join.

7. What clubs (etc.), i f any, do you belong to outside of school and what are your duties?

S. During the school term, what work do you do outside of school work? If possible, indicate when this work is done and time spent on i t .

APPENDIX C

Specimen Copy of Emotional Adjustment Rating Eorm

EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT RATING FORM

Name of student

Below i s a l i s t of t e n "emotional behavior 1' c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s each i n the form o f a q u e s t i o n , i t would, be a p p r e c i a t e d i f you would p l a c e a checkmark ( J ) i n t h a t column on the r i g h t which you f e e l best d e s c r i b e s the behavior of the above student i n each of the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s d e s c r i b e d on,the l e f t . I f the behavior c h a r a c t e r i s t i c on the l e f t does not a p p l y ' t o the above student, or i f i t has not been observed by you, ' i t should be l e f t unmarked.

• Emotional behavior c h a r a c t e r i s t i c C o n s i s t e n t l y

Often Observed, but not o f t e n

Does the student s t u t t e r or stammer? -I s S (student) e a s i l y d i s t u r b e d by

c r i t i c i s m ? -

Does S have i n v o l u n t a r y movements o f muscles, i . e . t i c s , f a c i a l grimaces, etc.? Does S b l u s h on the s l i g h t e s t provocation?

Is S nervous when spealcing.or answering b e f o r e the c l a s s ? Does S o s c i l l a t e between extremes i n mood, i . e . i s he e i t h e r e l a t e d or depressed? Does S become e x c i t e d or i r r i t a b l e

' e a s i l y ? Does S d i s p l a y o v e r a g g r e s s i v e o s t e n t a t i o u s behavior? Does S d i s p l a y extreme withdrawn behavior? !

i

Does S show s i g n s o f r e s t l e s s n e s s or j nervousness? i i—.. , — . .J

Below i s a graphic r a t i n g s c a l e of '''emotional adjustment' 1'. C o n s i d e r the scale' as a continuum measuring emotional adjustment from extreme maladjustment t o e x c e p t i o n a l l y good adjustment. P l e a s e p l a c e a v e r t i c a l mark ( j ) at the p o i n t on the s c a l e which you f e e l best d e s c r i b e s the emotional adjustment of the student. The f i v e d e s c r i p t i v e terms shown below should be used o n l y as guides to the r a t e r . I f , f o r example, a c e r t a i n student i n your o p i n i o n i s "below average", you w i l l be a b l e to i n d i c a t e , the degree t o which he i s below average by p l a c i n g the v e r t i c a l mark at the a p p r o p r i a t e p l a c e on the s c a l e .

U n s a t i s - Below Average Above C o n s i s t - • f a c t o r y Average Average e n t l y w e l l

a d j u s t e d

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APPENDIX D

Specimen Copy of S e l f - R a t i n g Form

STUDENT SELF-RATING FORM NAME

To the student:

You are going to be asked to r a t e y o u r s e l f on four d i f f e r e n t matters. Aa a suggest ionj t r y to ra t e ' y o u r s e l f on each of the f o u r matters sepa r a t e l y . Some people allow the r a t i n g that they put down f o r one to a f f e c t the way th a t they r a t e themselves on the f o l l o w i n g ones. The r e s u l t s of these r a t i n g s , of course, w i l l be s t r ic t l y conf i d e n t l a l . Before you r a t e y o u r s e l f on each matter, please read over the "desc r i p t i o n " f i r s t , f o r t h i s i s very important.

Rating I D e s c r i p t i o n : Consider your " s o c i a l l i f e " . You are asked to check one of the f o l l o w i n g : "engrossivy", "average", or " r e t i r i n g " . By an "aggrossiva" person we mean one who a c t i v e l y belongs t o many s o c i a l groups, both at school and out s i d e of s c h o o l ; a person who enjoys s o c i a l g a t h e r i n g s , and who l i k e s t o , and does, take a l e a d i n g p a r t i n them. By a " r e t i r i n g " person we mean one who belongs to ve r y few s o c i a l groups i f any, and who does not d e s i r e t o take part i n many s o c i a l a c t i v i t i e s . An "average" person would be one who does not f a l l i n e i t h e r of these other groups. Now co n s i d e r your own s i t u a t i o n and check ( ) one of the d e s c r i p t i o n s below that best f i t s you.

A^groasivo ( ,) R e t i r i n g ( ) Average ( )

Rating I I D e s c r i p t i o n : Consider your g e n e r a l h e a l t h . Be c a r e f u l not to r a t e y o u r s e l f on j u s t how you f e e l at the moment but r a t h e r on the u s u a l s t a t e of your h e a l t h as compared with most people. Check one of the terms below.

Average ( ) Below Average .{ ) Above Average ( )

Rating I I I D e s c r i p t i o n : Consider your home s i t u a t i o n , which i n c l u d o s e v e r y t h i n g about i t such as how everyone gets along and what you think of the home i t s e l f . Now i n d i c a t e which of the terms below best d e s c r i b e s your home l i f e .

Average ( ) Below Average ( ) Above Average ( )

Rating IV D e s c r i p t i o n : Consider your emotional s t a b i l i t y . A person who o f t e n d i s p l a y s behaviour such as becoming e x c i t e d or worried e a s i l y , g e t t i n g i n t e n s e l y angry, being very s e n s i t i v e to c r i t i c i s m , or who becomes extremely depressed e a s i l y would be c l a s s e d as "below average". A person who never experiences such behaviour and who i n s t e a d i s u s u a l l y very calm even under s t r e s s would be c l a s s e d as "above average" Those who do not f a l l i n e i t h e r of the two groups d e s c r i b e d would be "average". In your e s t i m a t i o n , check the term t h a t best f i t s you.

Above Average ( ) Below Average ( ) Average ( )

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A.PPENDIX E

Specimen Copy of the Student

Problem P o l l

o

THE STUDENT PROBLEM POLL

The purpose of this p o l l i s to find out just what problems students consider to be the most important and troublesome to them. Since we are interested, here, with the opinions of the students as a group, there w i l l be no need to sign your name on this sheet. However, we do want to have your personal opinions.

The fields, or areas, within which the most common problems of students are located, and which w i l l be considered here, include: health problems, home problems, school problems, sex problems, financial problems, future occupation problems, nervousness andemotional problems, friendship problems, and social problems. Most of these fields are self-explanatory, but, to make sure that you understand what i s meant, some of them vri.ll be explained more f u l l y . It i s important for you to realize that the following descriptions of the problem fields are i n no way complete, but are intended to give you a better idea of what type of problem to look for i n the various problem fi e l d s .

The "Friendship Problems" f i e l d , for example, refers specifically to problems and d i f f i c u l t i e s arising from your associations with your close friends. Perhaps you have many disagreements with your friends. ' Then again, you might find i t d i f f i c u l t to have the friends you want, or to keep the close friends you do have. This f i e l d includes your relations with both boy friends and g i r l friends.

The "Social Problems" f i e l d refers to problems and d i f f i c u l t i e s that might arise out of your associations with people in general. If you find i t d i f f i c u l t to get along with most people you would have problems in this f i e l d . This f i e l d also includes problems that you might have regarding social functions, such as parties and gatherings. Perhaps you are unable to join into social affairs like you would wish.

The "Nervousness & Emotional" f i e l d refers to personal d i f f i c u l t i e s , • such as: having tense feelings without any real cause, becoming over-excited frequently, having many fears, having nervous habits such as fingernail biting or restlessness, and becoming embarrassed easily.

The "Sex Problems" f i e l d refers to problems that you might have, for example, because of a lack of knowledge regarding sex. Perhaps you have d i f f i c u l t i e s and worries over certain phases of your sexual development. Then again, you might have d i f f i c u l t i e s concerning bodily changes. This f i e l d refers also to any personal problems related to sexual behavior.

The remaining problem fields are: home problems, health problems, future occupation problems, school problems, and financial problems. What these refer to i s f a i r l y evident, but i f you do not understand any one of them ask about i t immediately.

(Please turn to next sheet)

http://vri.ll

The Student Problem Pol l page 2

What you are to do now i s to read through a l l the pairs of problem fields listed' below, and underline the one in each pair which you think has contained the most difficult.problems for you in the past year. If you find a pair that i s hard to decide upon, then guess. Do not omit any pair. The letter "P" is used as an abbreviation for "Problems". Work- f a i r l y rapidly.

(1) Health P. - Home P. (19) School P. - Financial P.

(2) Financial P. - Friendship P. (20) Social P. - Home-P.

(3) School P. - Sex'P. (21) Friendship P. - Sex P.

(ii) Nervous "c Emotional P." - Social P. (22) Future Occupation P. - Home P.

(5) Home P. - School P. (23) School-P. - Nerv. & Emot. P.

(6) Sex P. - Financial*P. (2ii) Sex P. - Future Occupation P.

(7) Health P. - School P. ( 2 5 ) Health- P. - Friendship P.

(8) Friendship P. - Nervous & Emot. "P. (26) Financial P. - Social P.

(9) Social P. - Future Occupation P; (27) Home P. - Sex P.

(10) Home P. - Financial' P. (28) Friendship P - Future Occup.- P.

(11) Nervous & Emot.' P. - Health P. (29) Financial P. - Health P.

(12) Financial P. - Future Occupation P. (30) School P. - Social P.

(13) Friendship P. - Home P. ( 3 D Health P - Future Occupation P.

(H i ) Future Occupation P. - School P. (32) Sex P. - Social P.

(15) Health P. - Social P. (33) School P. - Friendship' P.

(16) Sex P, -r Health P. (3U) Nervous e"c Emot. P. - Sex P.

(17) Nervous & Smot. P. - Home P. ;(35) Friendship P. T Social P,

(18) Future Occup P. - Nervous & Emot P. (36) Financial P. - Nervous & Emot P

Of the following, underline the, one problem f i e l d which you think has caused you the most d i f f i c u l t y i n the past year: (l) Home P.; (2) Health P.; (3) Social P.j (k) Nervousness•and Emotional; (5) School P.; (6) Sex P.; (7) Financial P.; (8) Friendship P.;' and (9) Future Occupation P.

UNDERLINE ONLY ONE '

If you feel that you have important problems not covered by the above nine f i e l d s , indicate these problems below or on the reverse side.

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APPENDIX TABLES

-124-APPENDIX TABLE I

P h i C o e f f i c i e n t s f o r Each Item of the Adjustment Inven t o r y f o r 100 Grade XII Boys and 104 Grade X I I

G i r l s

Home Heal t h S o c i a l Emotional Item No.

Item No.

<P Item No.

0 Item <P Item No. Boys G i r l s

Item No. Boys j G i r l s

Item No. Boys G i r l s No. Boys G i r l s

7 .52 .63 2 .22 .49 3 .24 .25 1 .58 .47 9 .60 .59 6 .48 .50 5 .60 .21 4 .2-1 .4-6

13- .21 .22 11 .21 .32 8 .67 .30 10 .65 .68 16 .50 .33 14 .34 .12 12 .61 .41 17 .25 .31 18 .72 .51 23 .«3 .49 15 .85 20 .72 .73 21 .33 .41 25 .68 .58 19 .59 .66 28 .31 .22 24 .30 .12 27 .54 .64 22 .74 .79 35 .33 .58 30 .59 .49 29 .24 .34 26 .23 .34 40 .23 .24 32 .21 .37 33 .22 .00 31 .54 .4-9/ 42 .51 .60 34 .43 .42 38 .17 .21 36 .71 .66 45 .10 .21 37 .71 .52 43 .36 .56 39 .52 .83 48 .21 .08 41 .23 .42 47 .11 .30 44 .65 .59 52 .44 .50 46 .75 .67 50 .24 .51 49 .65 .71 57 .51 .47 51 .62 .62 54 .23 .31 53 - .50 .42 60 .58 .58 55 .51 .51 58 .20 .42 56 .86 .67 64 .24 .47 59 • 52 .34 63 .48 .44 61 .49 .40 68 .59 .48 62 • 44 .54 66 .68 .40 65 .54 .59 71 .51 .68 67 .25 .44 69 .31 .52 70 .71 .68 73 .50 .61 72 .71 .62 74 • 48 .45 76 .60 .41 75 .41 .34 78 .47 .23 79 .11 .30 80 .21 .37 77 .52 .50 82 .60 .71 84 .13 .32 83 .39 .43 81 .42 .21 86 .24 .31 87 .10 .24 88 .62 .58 85 .45 .47 92 .69 .71 90 .24 .21 91 • 45 .15 89 .69 .66 97 .10 .28 94 .33 .36 93 .34 .46 95 .45 .45

101 .82 .72 99 .31 .30 96 .51 .51 98 .11 .22 103 .34 .18 102 .25 .64 100 .62 .65 106 .43 .31 105 .53 .18 L07 .33 .20 104 .48 .33 109 .48 .76 108 .34 .46 111 .51 .38 110 .60 .39 113 .42 .54 112 .22 .30 115 .22 .06 114 .61 .61 116 .41 .52 117 .37 .45 119 .22 .41 118 .24 .46 120 .40 .60 121 .43 .60 124 .33 .61 122 .56 .78 123 .60 .53 186 .53 .35 129 .32 .33 127 .56 .30 125 .43 .39 131 .40 .51 133 .41 .30 130 .75 .79 128 .31 .61 134 .64 .81 137 .32 .21 135 .64 .73 132 .62 .57 138 .72 .51 139 .38 .81 140 .68 .68 136 .21 .41

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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5. B e l l , H.M., Theory and p r a c t i c e of p e r s o n a l c o u n s e l i n g , with s p e c i f i c r e f e r e n c e to the Adjustment Inventory. S t a n f o r d U n i v e r s i t y , S t a n f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1939.

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-L27-

14. Dunlap, Knight, M y s t i c i s m , f r e u d i a n i s m , and s c i e n t i f i c psychology. S t . L o u i s : The C.V.Mosby Co., 1920.

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18. Prank, B., " S t a b i l i t y of q u e s t i o n n a i r e response". J o u r n a l of Abnormal and S o c i a l Psychology, 193.5, 30, 320-324.

19. G a r r e t t , Annette Marie, I n t e r v i e w i n g : i t s p r i n c i p l e s and methods. New York:. Family Welfare of America, 1942

20. G a r r e t t , H.E., - S t a t i s t i c s i n psychology and educa t i o n , 3rd e d i t i o n . New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1947.

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22. G r i f f i t h s , George R., "The r e l a t i o n s h i p between s c h o l a s t i c achievement and p e r s o n a l i t y a d j u s t ment of men c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s " . J o u r n a l of A p p l i e d Psychology, 1945, 29, 360-67.

23. G u i l f o r d , J.P., Psychometric Methods. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1936.

24. G u i l f o r d , J.P., P h i c o e f f i c i e n t and c h i square as i n d i c i e s of item v a l i d i t y . Psyehometrica, 1941, 6, 11-19.

25. G u i l f o r d , J.P., Fundamental s t a t i s t i c s i n psychology and e d u c a t i o n . New York: McGraw-H i l l Book Company, Inc., 1942.

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29. Harvey, S.M., "A p r e l i m i n a r y i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the i n t e r v i e w " . B r i t i s h J o u r n a l of Psychology. 1938, 28, 263-87.

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47. P i o t r o w s k i , Z.A., " D i f f e r e n c e between cases g i v i n g v a l i d and i n v a l i d p e r s o n a l i t y responses". Annals of the New York Academy of S c i e n c e s , 1946 46, 633-642.

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