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 .
~ -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
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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 -
-35-
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
-36-
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
-38-
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
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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 -
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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.
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
Average Unsatisfactory
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
Average Unsatisfactory
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
Average Unsatisfactory
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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T T T 12. 13« 14.
0 1 2 3 4 7. R e l of S w i t h o t h e r mem.
2. F-M R e l a t . 1. . 2_. "3i" 4o days a mo. 6. 7. days a week days a mo.
"_§_. " 9. " •
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
10,
0 1 2 3 4 6. Soc p a r t of s and p.
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3, a) a mo. b i . •
4. a) b)
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0 1 " 2 _ • 3 "4 3. a month 0 1 " 2 _ • 3 "4 4. 0 1 " 2 _ • 3 "4 5.
0 1 " 2 _ • 3 "4
6. 8 d M i s c . 7.
8 d M i s c .
8.
8 d M i s c .
0 1 2 3 4
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)
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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