Humanised Statistics: An investigation of social values in a senior secondary school milieu. B.R.Astill, University of Adelaide Abstract. This paper reports on a pilot study designed to determine whether it was possible to examine the social values associated with a Christian high school with a diverse student intake, and to what extent some statistical procedures might be helpful in the examination. 95 final year students, 45 parents, and 17 teachers were involved in this investigation, as a preliminary to a major study of 14 schools in metropolitan Adelaide, selected to provide a cross-section of school types and social groupings. Results suggest that use of a brief socio- demographic survey, and an internationally established Values Questionnaire, processed using Cluster, Multi-Dimensional, Factor and Smallest Space analysis, as well as more commonplace statistical techniques, gives a useful and valid picture of a group's value orientation. ----------------------------------------- Discussion Jacoby(1991) points out that there is no such thing as "nobody's data". He correctly brings to our attention that it is the researcher who first selects the data, determining what data to collect, and what to ignore. The researcher then decides what processing technique(s) will be applied, and finally how the results of this processing should be interpreted. The validity of the published results can be challenged if any one of these three researcher choices of selection, processing, or interpretation is seen to be inappropriate. In the area of social research there is further complication in that the data we are seeking already 'belongs' to another. Whereas the reseacher of factual things can use objective measures such as temperature, length, mass, velocity, and so on, the social researcher is invariably asking about an individual or group opinion of, or response to, a social condition or situation. It is therefore particularly important for the social researcher to test their data gathering technique, their selection of what data is relevant to their study, their processing, and where possible their interpretation. One useful way of doing this is to conduct a pilot study where a comparison can be made of the results, to some established theory or to other studies using different techniques. It is of interest to this research that currently accepted psychological theories concerning adolescent development suggest that young people's social value patterns are likely to show a tendency towards egocentricity. Studies of adolescence (Marcia, 1966; Elkind, 1967, 1968, 1978; Enright Lupsey & Sukla, 1979) have suggested that the dramatic hormonal and social changes occurring within the individual young person force a necessary focus on the self, a move towards an empathetic peer group, and an emphasis on short term goals and satisfactions. While we might hope that this research data, and the techniques applied to it, might add a further dimension to existing knowledge, we would be disappointed if there appeared to be any direct contradiction of that knowledge, because that might indicate that either the data was inadequate, or improperly gathered, or that the techniques were incorrectly applied, or are unsuitable for the data being examined. In other words, very unexpected results would raise questions needing to be answered, which might or might not prove that the research methodology was valid. Accordingly, for the pilot study to be immediately useful in validating the research methodology, results should at least be consistent with the best knowledge currently available. In this case, the student group should be placing short term satisfactions, friendships, and personal freedom among their more preferred values, and should tend to reject constricting, compliance, and impersonal values. The choice of a Values Questionnaire In 1992, Shalom Schwartz and his collaborators at the Hebrew University reported the design and application of a Values Questionnaire intended to investigate the universality of social values across many cultures. It covered a wide range of values across the major value groupings, of Power, Spirituality, Achievement, Universality, Benevolence, Self-Actualisation, Stimulation, Conformity, Hedonism, Security and Tradition. The questionnaire had been used effectively in twenty countries by 1992 (Schwartz, 1992). Use of Schwartz questionnaire therefore tests across the necessary value spectrum, and its inter cultural nature promises wide understanding and applicability. An additional benefit offered is comparative simplicity and ease of application; there are only 56 value items for the respondent to consider, and rate on a scale of -1 to 7, according to the importance each item is considered to have, as a guiding principle in the person's life. This means that senior high school students should have little difficulty understanding what is asked of them, and that administration should be possible within a normal class lesson time. Administration. Instruments were issued to students during class time. A verbal explanation was given to the students about the survey instrument and its purpose, and they were asked to complete this and a brief socio-demographic survey, voluntarily and anonymously, 'on the spot'. The administrator stayed with the classroom group to assist with interpretation where necessary, to guide students where their survey answering indicated they had misunderstood the introduction and written instructions, and to help avoid students influencing each other's responses. Completed questionnaires were collected as they were finished, and taken away for processing. Method Responses were recorded using a custom-designed computer program, and then transferred to SPSS for Windows(v.6; SPSS Inc, 1993) and Facetted Smallest Space Analysis (Shye, 1991) for statistical investigation. The Values information was processed using Frequencies and Descriptives procedures, plus Cluster Analysis and Multidimensional Scaling on the standardised variables, Factor Analysis, and Smallest Space Analysis. Those who are thoroughly familiar with the statistical terms used are invited to proceed directly to the 'Results' section. The remainder might find it helpful to consider a brief explanation of the processing tools used in this research. Frequencies and Descriptives In this context, we are referring to simple analysis with which many people are familiar. Among outputs produced is a listing of the number of answers of a particular type, for example to determine how many people live in a particular postcode, or how many people answered 'strongly agree' to a particular question. If the answers are, or can be considered as, numeric we can find the mean or average response ('the average of all responses is 3.4') the median('half of all responses are above 4') the range('responses range from 2 to 5') the standard deviation (a measure of the degree to which all responses differ from each other), and can place the values of the responses in a preference order - usually listing the highest scoring answers first, grading through less preferred answers to the lowest scoring or least preferred. Cluster Analysis This technique (Anderberg, 1973; Romesberg, 1984) attempts to provide more information than simple techniques can provide, by finding patterns of responses, indicating which responses appear to be linked in the group being examined. For example, cluster analysis might discover that 'spiritual' and 'devout' are linked - respondents who rate 'spiritual' highly also rate 'devout' highly; those who rate 'spiritual' poorly also do so for 'devout'. The mathematical procedures used to find such links and clusters of response types ('variables') are, of course rather more complex than can be described here. A useful way of presenting the results of cluster analysis is by dendrogram. This is like a tree with trunks, limbs, and branches of various sizes determined by the analysis. Those variables which are found to belong together are on adjacent twigs on the same small branch; those which are far apart will appear on totally different trunks, on (usually) quite distant branches. Invariably, the 'tree' is presented horizontally, to facilitate printing. Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) It is helpful for the layman to consider this as a more highly-developed form of Cluster Analysis. The technique aims to produce a spatial representation ('Derived Stimulus Configuration') of the variables (Jacoby, 1991; Young & Hamer, 1987); one aims to produce a picture which is as simple - has as few dimensions - as possible, while properly describing the variables' relative positions. Obviously there are all sorts of patterns of variables which one can seek to represent in this way. Similarly, many different measurement techniques (algorithms or 'measures') have been developed to enable clear representation of these different patterns. The researcher chooses that 'measure' which seems most likely to be successful in representing the data. Determining whether or not a 'true' diagram has been produced is indicated mathematically by calculating a 'stress factor' or a Squared Correlation (r² or RSQ). A stress of less than 0.1 and an RSQ of better than .95 would imply that the chosen model fitted the data used, quite well. When, as in this case, only two or three dimensions are needed to produce a 'good fit', a diagram can be very helpful in understanding the data. Usually, a clear link can be seen between the spatial representation from MDS and a cluster analysis of the same data. The particular form of MDS used in this research takes into account the popularity of a variable (how highly rated it is by respondents, generally) and its unanimity (how narrow or wide is the range of responses) as well as performing mathematic algorithms to determine relationships between the variables, as the group appears to see them. This means that where MDS is applied to raw data it tends to produce a diagrammatic representation of the studied group's value system. Factor analysis This examines the data in order to discover patterns which might reveal some underlying stance, or factor, is at work (Harman, 1967; Kim & Mueller, 1978). Several lists of variables and 'correlation coefficients' are produced which indicate for each list, in effect, that the data is consistent with a factor which emphasises high-scoring variables (coefficients nearing 1.0) and de-emphasises low scoring variables (coefficients nearing -1.0). It is for the researcher to interpret the information and identify the factor which might be operating in each list the analysis produces. Factor analysis can be very useful in suggesting the underlying principles which might be operating within a group, in their determination of their social value system. It is essential to recognise that the limits of a factor are not necessarily indicative of their importance in the group value system. For example a group could embrace a factor ranging from 'boiling hot' at one end to 'freezing cold' at the other, whereas their preferred value might be 'pleasantly warm'. This emphasises that factor analysis produces continua revealing the criteria underlying value choices, rather than being particularly indicative of the choices themselves. Standardising variables It is well known that people do not use a universal scoring schedule in answering questions. If they are asked to allot a score of (say) -1 to +7 to a group of questions, one person might centre their answers around 3, another might centre around 5, yet another around 4, and so on. This causes little difficulty in simple statistical analysis because, after all, the preference order is unchanged. If all respondents give their highest mark to 'variable a' the actual score each allocates is not of particular interest. An inconsistent scoring schedule is, however, highly undesirable in more complex analyses. To compensate in such cases, answers are 'standardised' in some way or another; for example we can correct for the errors described above by changing all respondents answers so that they centre around a common number - say, 3.5. There are other scoring problems and other means of compensating for them, but it is important to note that the texture of the original data is preserved intact, in any effective standardising procedure. Standardisation, measure, and 'Fit' in this research Statisticians involved in designing analytical techniques are aware of the difficulty of easily determining whether results obtained are truly representative of the source data. To assist the user, a mathematical comparison is made between calculations based on a standard ('perfect') model, and the real data. This is called 'fit', and is usually expressed as a 'stress factor' or 'coefficient of alienation' with a value of 0 to 1.0; in both cases a figure below 0.1 suggests a good 'fit'. In this research the closest general fit of raw to processed data was obtained using a standardised range (±1) for the variables, and (in MDS) the City Block allocation of distance measures. S-Stress values ranged from 0.065 to 0.095, and RSQ values (see discussion on MDS, above) were 0.942 to 0.988. Most RSQ values were around 0.97, which means that the spatial representation of the variables accounted for about 97% of the total variance for the sample; this is regarded as a good fit of the data. Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) This is a special variation of Multidimensional Scaling (described above), which uses correlation coefficients rather than standardised raw scores as the input to the scaling algorithms. The survey instrument used in this research was designed and used by Schwartz(1992), who processed the results from several different cultural groups in various parts of the world, using Faceted Smallest Space Analysis (FSSA) (Shye, 1991) to reveal underlying social value groupings. The major difference between this and the MDS described above is that in SSA the emphasis is upon the variables, rather than upon the group's value system. It is immaterial to the SSA technique applied in this research whether a variable is popular or rejected; what matters is whether the respondents appear to see the variables as belonging to a particular group or type. For example, if one examined the responses from a number of priests, one might find that 'devout' rated very highly, and that 'social power', 'authority', and 'public image' rated very poorly. Nevertheless all these value might be quite closely correlated, and therefore shown together in a Smallest Space Analysis, if the priests saw 'devout' as power-giving and as a public demonstration of faith in the supreme Authority. Results. In comparing different groups' social values, those values which they hold or reject most strongly are those which are most likely to be revealing. Preferred values Figure 1A is a summary of the raw data rankings of the preferred social values in the Values Questionnaire. Figure 1A STUDENTS overall n=95 PARENTS N=45 TEACHERS n=17 Mean Rank Label Mean Rank Label Mean Rank Label 5.89 1 enjoy life 6.18 1 family secure 5.71 1 honest 5.68 2 fam security 6.09 2 healthy 5.71 2 family secure 5.63 3 true friend 5.91 3 honest 5.41 3 harmony 5.63 4 healthy 5.80 4 self respect 5.35 4 true friend 5.48 5 freedom 5.69 5 world peace 5.29 5 social justice 5.38 6 own goals 5.47 6 responsible 5.18 6 capable 5.35 7 honest 5.44 7 honour parent 5.18 7 mature love 5.26 8 successful 5.24 8 politeness 5.18 8 freedom 5.19 9 loyal 5.22 9 harmony 5.12 9 own goals 5.09 10 self respect 5.22 10 capable 5.12 10 self respect 4.94 11 capable 5.20 11 true friend 5.06 11 healthy 4.93 12 world peace 5.20 12 meaning in life 5.00 12 responsible 4.87 13 exciting 5.16 13 loyal 5.00 13 meaning in life 4.82 14 meaning in life 5.02 14 freedom 5.00 14 belonging 4.79 15 ambitious 4.98 15 social justice 5.00 15 spiritual In the most preferred list, nearly all of the values considered very important by teachers, and/or by parents, are also considered important by the students. This would tend to support the view that school and home values are very important in the formation of children's value systems, as the children grow into adulthood. However, the two values 'enjoy life' and 'successful' definitely do not support this view. 'Enjoy life' was rated as only twenty-second in importance (out of a total of fifty- six values considered) by the teachers, and only as twenty-seventh by parents. Its position at the head of the overall student preference list is not explainable from home or school influences. Similarly, 'successful' is eighth on the overall student list, but rates only at thirty-one and thirty-four, respectively, for parents and teachers. The values 'loyal', 'responsible', 'ambitious', and 'social justice' also show some noticeable differences of opinion between students and their adult mentors. Least preferred values Figure 1B is a listing of the lowest raw data rankings of the social values in the Values Questionnaire. Figure 1B STUDENTS overall n=95 PARENTS N=45 TEACHERS n=17 Mean Rank Label Mean Rank Label Mean Rank Label 3.38 45 spiritual 2.94 45 pleasure 3.22 46 wealth 2.88 46 reciprocity 3.56 47 unity:nature 3.16 47 devout 2.65 47 tradition 3.47 48 influential 3.16 48 humble 2.59 48 influential 3.23 49 accepting 2.80 49 influential 2.53 49 public image 3.13 50 public image 2.71 50 moderate 2.12 50 moderate 2.47 51 authority 2.47 51 acceptance 2.06 51 daring 2.38 52 detachment 2.36 52 authority 2.06 52 wealth 2.38 53 moderate 2.31 53 public image 1.93 53 detachment 2.21 54 spiritual 1.84 54 daring 1.71 54 acceptance 2.13 55 devout 1.80 55 detachment 1.71 55 authority 1.59 56 social power .73 56 social power .06 56 social power In the least preferred (or rejected) list there is a somewhat greater level of unanimity. Seven of the bottom ten values are common to all groups, and parents and students are in general agreement that 'devout' and 'spiritual' are both unimportant (see later discussion on spirituality). 'Daring' and 'wealth' are both slightly more acceptable to the students than to the adult group. On spirituality The raw score summary shows that "Meaning in Life" is quite important to all groups; however the low rating of the overtly religious values of "spiritual" and "devout" among students and parents was quite unexpected from the school environment which is unashamedly Christian in posture. It appears that a variant of a "Sunday School Syndrome" might be operating here. It was quite common for families to enjoy a sumptuous Sunday luncheon, after which 'father' would enjoy an afternoon nap. At this time the children were sent off to Sunday School at the local church, to become properly versed in the Scriptures. Neither parent actually attended the church, themselves. What was therefore being taught by example, of course, was that religion is only of value to children. In the context of this pilot study, perhaps a lack of parental involvement in matters spiritual is suggesting that religion (particularly Christianity) is something promulgated by the school without practical validity - a rule like 'school uniform' which has no applicability outside school. The Environment The position of 'Unity with Nature' and of 'Protecting the Environment', which are lowly regarded by all groups, is quite unexpected bearing in mind media interest in matters 'green' and the wonderfully natural setting of the subject school. One explanation might be that environmental quality is 'taken for granted' in this setting. Comments on the students and enjoying life Cluster analysis is useful in detecting group associations between variables, and the first dendrogram produced was that for the students overall, using standardised variables (range ±1) and the City Block measure (Figure 2). Dendrogram using Average Linkage (Between Groups) Figure 2 STUDENTS OVERALL Block Measure; Standardised Range ±1 C A S E 0 5 10 15 20 25 Label Type Rank +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ V06 spiritual spir 54 ---------------------+ V51 devout trad/spir 55 -+ ¦ V03 social power pow 56 -----------------+ +-------+Most rejected V27 authority pow 51 -----------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ values V32 moderate trad/secu 53 -----------+ +---+ ¦ V44 accepting trad/spir 49 ---------+ +-+ ¦ ¦ V46 public image pow/secu 50 -----------+ +---+ ¦ V21 detachment spir 52 -------------+ ¦ V26 wisdom univ 29 ---------+ ¦ V34 ambitious pow 15 -------+ +-+ ¦ V09 exciting stim 13 ---------+ +-+ ¦ V04 pleasure hedo 28 -----------+ ¦ ¦ V11 politeness conf 17 -----------+ +-+ ¦Less important V40 honour parent conf/trad 16 -------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ +-------------------+ V31 independent self 19 -----------+-+ +---+ ¦ concepts ¦ V41 own goals self 6 -------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V22 fam security secu 2 -----------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V25 varied life stim 27 ---------------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ V24 unity:nature univ/spir 47 -------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ V29 beauty univ 45 -----+ +---+ ¦ ¦ ¦ V38 environment univ 37 -------+ +-+ ¦ ¦ ¦ V02 inner harmony spir/univ 30 -----------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V16 creativity self 35 ---------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V28 true friend bene 3 -------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V33 loyal bene/conf 9 -+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V19 mature love bene/conf 18 ---------+ ¦ +---------+ Acceptable Values ¦ V20 self-discipline conf 22 -------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V52 responsible bene/conf 21 -----+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V43 capable ach 11 -------+ ¦ +---+ ¦ ¦ V48 intelligent ach/self 25 -----+ +-+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V30 social justice univ 24 -----+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V49 helpful bene 33 ---+ +-+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V01 equality univ 23 -----+ +-¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V07 belonging secu 20 -------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V54 forgiving bene 26 -----+ ¦ +-¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V17 world peace univ 12 ---------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V10 meaning spir/univ 14 -----------¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V53 curious self 34 -----------+ ¦ +-+ ¦ V36 humble trad/conf 44 -----------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ V47 obedient conf 42 ---------+ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V08 social order secu 38 -----------¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ V35 broadminded univ 32 -------+ +-+ ¦ ¦ V23 soc recognition pow/ach 36 -----------¦ ¦ ¦ V56 clean secu/conf 31 -----------+ ¦ ¦ V12 wealth pow 41 -------------+ ¦ ¦ V13 nat security secu 46 -------+ +-+ ¦ Less accepted values ¦ V18 tradition trad 40 -------------+ +-+ ¦ V37 daring stim 39 -------------+ ¦ ¦ V39 influential ach/pow 48 -----------+ +-+ ¦ V15 reciprocity secu/conf 43 -------------+ ¦ V05 freedom self 5 -----------+ ¦ V45 honest bene 7 ---------+ +-+ ¦ V14 self respect self/ach 10 -----------+ +---------------+ Important Values ¦ V42 healthy secu/hedo 4 -------------+ +-------------------+ V50 enjoy life hedo 1 -----------------------------+ Special Values V55 successful ach 8 -------------------+ At the bottom of the diagram, 'Enjoy life' is shown as not particularly closely linked with any other social value. The relationship with 'success' is sufficiently remote to suggest that it is seen by the students simply as a valuable adjunct to the enjoyment of life, or perhaps that in enjoying life one has been successful, rather than there being any intrinsic commitment to achievement. The most adjacent cluster, which contains 'freedom', 'honest', 'self-respect', and 'healthy' tends to confirm those interpretations. This is consistent with the student group having an overwhelming desire to enjoy life to the exclusion of any other objective; such a group might tend to resist any difficult, stressful, or strenuous activity unless it was considered enjoyable. It can be seen that the Cluster Analysis is adding a further dimension to the picture of the students social values given by the simpler statistical examination of 'frequencies and descriptives'. Figure 3 The Spatial Representation (Figure 3) produced by Multi-dimensional Scaling presents the same information more clearly. In general terms one might suggest that the student values are placed on the 'X' axis, from personal happiness on the left, to solemn society on the right. The 'Y' axis seems to be associated with spiritual and group values at the bottom, through inter-personal values in the middle, to individual values at the top. Notice that the clusters of values associated in the dendrogram, tend to occupy the same vertical bands in the spatial representation. The two techniques are clearly consistent, one with the other; additionally, the more pictorial representation of MDS enables a further level of interpretation. One might imagine an observer on the extreme left-hand edge of the diagram, at '0,0', looking towards the students' values. The first value they would encounter would be the most popular value, 'enjoy life'. As they delved deeper they would see 'successful', and deeper still 'healthy', 'freedom', 'honest', and 'self-respect'. Only after these somewhat self-centred values had been passed, would the first sociable value - 'family security' appear; soon thereafter to be followed by the self-centred 'own goals'. This could well induce our hypothetical observer to believe that the student required family security to be supplied, rather than seeing this as a participatory venture. If this pattern is typical of contemporary young adult thinking, and the observer's view is somewhat as described, this would help to explain the complaints of many teachers, lecturers, and counsellors involved with young adults, who assert that 'Young people are very selfish these days. All they seem to be interested in, is enjoying themselves'. Factors in Student value choices STUDENT data analysis: Factor Matrix (edited to show major correlations) Figure 4 <------------------ FACTORS ----------------> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 equality V01 .57476 inner harmony V02 .43002 social power V03 .50597 .40675 pleasure V04 .47762 freedom V05 .47023 spiritual V06 .30441 .31327 belonging V07 .57246 social order V08 exciting V09 .46610 meaning V10 politeness V11 .58065 wealth V12 .69875 nat security V13 .58260 self respect V14 .53363 reciprocity V15 creativity V16 .46724 .45974 world peace V17 .55865 .42256 tradition V18 (-).34416 mature love V19 .43777 (-).48281 self-discipl V20 .42019 detachment V21 fam security V22 .50768 (-).39029 soc recog V23 .40415 unity:nature V24 .49049 .50522 varied life V25 wisdom V26 .46350 .49190 authority V27 .59323 .36927 true friend V28 .50789 (-).42086 beauty V29 .57297 soc justice V30 .57495 independent V31 .44721 moderate V32 .44178 (-).42533 loyal V33 .57375 ambitious V34 .50377 .40760 broadminded V35 .51527 humble V36 daring V37 .50932 environment V38 .52408 influential V39 .31557 honour parent V40 .46324 own goals V41 .59063 healthy V42 .43790 (-).37939 capable V43 (-).34899 accepting V44 (-).45009 honest V45 .66291 public image V46 .45923 obedient V47 .49059 (-).42805 intelligent V48 .49961 helpful V49 .63544 enjoy life V50 .49911 (-).48135 devout V51 .48961 responsible V52 curious V53 forgiving V54 .56517 successful V55 .52223 clean V56 .41691 The factor analysis correlation listings (Figure 4) suggest seven value continua: 1. The extent to which mutual consideration is evident 2.The extent of wealth and power 3.A 'hippy' culture (unity with nature, beauty, peace, individual creativity, etc) v/s obedience 4.National security opposed to mature love 5.'devout' & 'social power' opposed to true friendship 6.Wisdom v/s enjoying life 7.Self respect opposed to accepting one's portion in life. The results from this fourth type of analysis are consistent with those from the earlier three. For example, factor 5 places 'devout' and 'social power' in the same relationship to 'true friend' as they occupy in all the other analyses. As in the previous examples, consistency is presented together with some further insights. It is interesting that National security is seen as in opposition to mature love; do the students associate the one with armed aggression and the other with loving gentleness? Similarly, one wonders whether the opposition of 'wisdom' and 'enjoying life' is connected with students' experience of school (wisdom = learning; this is NOT fun). Student social value groupings SPACE DIAGRAM FOR STUDENT VALUE CRITERIA in 2 dimensions Figure 5 +----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------+ 100.. ¦ KEY ¦ ¦ ACHievement ¦ ¦ BENEvolence ¦ ¦ CONFormity ¦ ¦ HEDOnism ¦ ¦ POWer ¦ ¦ SECUrity ¦ ¦ SELF-direction ¦ ¦ SPIRituality ¦ ¦ STIMulation ¦ ¦ UNIVersalism ¦ -------------------- * * tradition nation TRAD SECU humble clean image wealth TRAD SECU POW POW hon parents soc order CONF SECU recognition self-discipline POW self respect CONF family 50.. ACH/SELF obedient SECU enjoy life CONF success healthy HEDO pleasure SPIRitual loyal ACH SECU HEDO SPIR devout BENE ambitious SPIR true friend belong polite POW meaning BENE SECU CONF * forgiving BENE BENE honest ACH intelligent exciting authority BENE helpful UNIV wisdom STIM POW UNIV soc justice own goals soc power SELF moderate influential POW world peace TRAD ACH daring equality UNIVUNIV STIM UNIV beauty SELF freedom varied life environment UNIV UNIV STIM harmony SPIR broadminded BENE mature love ACH capable UNIV SELF creativity reciprocity unity:nature SECU TRAD responsible accepting BENE detachment SPIR * * curious * independent SELF 0.. SELF +----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------+ 0 50 100 * TRADITION and SECURITY * UNIVERSALISM * POWER and the benefits of power * SPIRITUALITY * "The Ideal Self" * INTERPERSONAL WELLBEING Figure 5 is a space diagram derived from Smallest Space Analysis of the variable correlations. The contents of segment 2 suggest that enjoying life is seen by the students as associated with wealth and prestige. One might think that logically, in their pursuit of enjoyment, which they appear to value very highly, the students would be seeking and valuing such things as social power and wealth; but our earlier analyses show that this is not the case. Is it possible that students are rejecting the sequential nature of power and enjoyment, or are linking power and wealth with dishonesty and/or disloyalty which they abhor? This apparent dissimilarity from earlier findings is more than offset by some striking confirmations. For example, segment 6 and some adjacent variables are all centred around the central point (0,0) of the MDS Spatial Representation. The 'universal' variables of segment 4 are found together at the lower central part of the MDS diagram, and the segment 5 variables are nearby. There are some odd 'placements' in the SSA space diagram, but it must be noted that the coefficient of alienation for this two-dimensional representation is 0.384, i.e. quite high. To obtain a more desirable coefficient, below 0.1, one needs to consider eight dimensions, which is of course impossible to draw! It is interesting, however, that the indication of the need for eight dimensions suggests that there are eight factors influencing value placement, whereas factor analysis offered seven interpretable factors. This can be considered as further evidence of appropriate statistical investigations of data being mutually confirming, each adding their own level of information for the researcher. Observations on student value patterns It is not the purpose of this paper to attempt to confirm, deny or amplify existing knowledge of adolescent development. A larger and more representative study is currently being undertaken, and this might be able to offer some useful insights. However, it is of interest that, as discussed earlier, current psychological theories concerning adolescent development suggest that the social value patterns this research reveals, are not surprising. Some conclusions which might be drawn. It seems clear that students in this study have many values consistent with those of their parents; school values seem to be effective only in reinforcing parental teaching and/or example. If the school projects values contrary to those of the parents (such as 'devout' and 'spiritual', in this study), the tendency is for those values to be rejected by the students. The complaints of observers who describe adolescents as rather determinedly egocentric are justified to the extent that this is what would be observed, according to our findings. Adults have different value patterns from students, and have either lost their original partiality for enjoying life, or come from a cohort which did not have this preference. It is not known whether the value differences between generations are permanent, or transitory; a longitudinal study which re-tested the students at their age 21 and again at their age 24, in each case asking what life changes (marriage, employment, study, children, etc) had occured in the intervening period, would be most interesting. Such a study might also reveal that the school has a longer term influence upon the students, who initially reject the school ambience. Cautionary note: A conclusion which should NOT be drawn. It is tempting to say that there is 'obviously', another influence apart from parents and school, upon student values, which must be present to explain the dominance of 'enjoy life'. It might be considered that the most obvious source of this value is advertising media, which promotes sales by offering instant gratification and enjoyment by the ownership or consumption of the advertised goods without any concommitant involvement or commitment of the purchaser. Even financial cost is missing from some advertising ('Freedom' 'Girls just want to have fun'; 'Coca-cola' - 'Things go better with coke'; and so on). It might be considered difficult to suggest any other material source which could explain the student value systems this study has discovered. This speculative 'conclusion' is NOT based on the data, but is an imaginative explanation of data the statistical techniques have revealed, but not explained. It is of course entirely acceptable to ask whether 'another influence' exists to explain the data, and investigate a source if such exists. Summary The purpose of the Pilot Study, which was to determine the suitability of the data gathering and processing technique, was fulfilled; it should be possible to proceed to the larger study with some confidence that information it might reveal, will be useful. This study further suggests that it is possible to apply some quantitative techniques to essentially qualitative data, without necessarily losing contact with the subject group's personality. It would also appear that some more complex statistical analyses are particularly useful in translating qualitative data expressed in quantitative terms, back into useful and cross-confirming qualitative information. The social researcher should therefore be open to some injection of quantitative techniques, even where the investigation appears based on qualitative assessments. While there are dangers of the researcher being tempted to read more into the statistical output than the data can reasonably provide, this is offset by the fact that in some situations, such as those which applied in this study, statistical examination can provide insights which might not have been forthcoming in any other way. It is particularly important to note that the use of some complex mathematical manipulations which are available in modern computer packages such as SPSS, is not precluded by the user's lack of detailed understanding of the algorithms and calculations involved. Bibliography Anderberg MR, Cluster Analysis for Applications, NY, Academic Press, 1973 Enright R Lapsley D Shukla D, Adolescent egocenticism in early and late adolescence, Adolescence, 14, 687-695, 1979 Elkind D, Egocentricism in Adolescence, Child Development, 38, 1025-34, 1967 , Adolescent cognitive Development, in Adam JF(Ed), Understanding Adolescence, Boston, Allyn & Bacon, 1968 , Egocentricism Redux, Developmental Review, 5, 218-226, 1985 Harman HH, Modern Factor Analysis, Chicago, Uni of Chicago, 1967, 2nd Ed Jacoby WG, Data Theory and Dimensional Analysis, Calif, Sage, 1991 Kim JO Mueller CW, Introduction to factor analysis, Beverley Hills, Sage, 1978 Marcia J, Development and validation of ego identity status, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 552-558, 1966 Romesberg HC, Cluster Analysis for Researchers, Belmont, Lifetime learning, 1984 Schwartz SH, Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1-65, 1992 Shye S, Smallest Space Analysis in Husen T & Postlethwaite TN (Eds) International Encyclopaedia of Education, Oxford, Pergammon, 1985 Young FW Hamer RM (Eds), Multidimensional Scaling: History, theory and applications, NJ, Erlbaum, 1987 APPENDIX : Questionnaire information. The SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC questionnaire asked for the STUDENTS': age, gender, suburb, postcode, birthplace, LOE, Religion and family's religious attendance, FATHER's and MOTHER's: birthplace, occupation, and education level. The VALUES questionnaire asked for ratings of fifty-six variables, on a scale of -1(abhor) to +7(adore), according to their importance as a guiding principle in the person's life.. In the table below, the number of the variable is the order in which they were presented to the respondent. Listing is in alphabetical order of the abbreviated label used in the text (eg 'beauty' is shown under 'b', rather than 'A WORLD OF BEAUTY' being shown under 'A' or 'W'). Variable Type(Typ) is taken from those suggested by Schwartz(1992): Ac=Achievement; Be=Benevolence; Cf=Conformity; HE=Hedonism; PO=Power; SE=Security; Sf=Self-actualisation; Sp=Spiritual; St=Stimulation; Tr=Tradition; Un=Universalism No. Abbrev. Typ Questionnaire description V44 accept Tr ACCEPTING MY PORTION IN LIFE (submitting to life's circumstances) V34 ambition PO AMBITIOUS (hard-working, aspiring) V27 authorit PO AUTHORITY (the right to lead or command) V29 beauty Un A WORLD OF BEAUTY (beauty of nature and the arts) V07 belong SE SENSE OF BELONGING (feeling that others care about me) V35 broadmnd Un BROADMINDED (tolerant of different ideas and beliefs) V43 capable Ac CAPABLE (competent, effective, efficient) V56 clean SE CLEAN (neat, tidy) V16 creative Sf CREATIVITY (uniqueness, imagination) V53 curious Sf CURIOUS (interested in everything, exploring) V37 daring St DARING (seeking adventure, risk) V21 detach Sp DETACHMENT (from worldly concerns) V51 devout Sp DEVOUT (holding to religious faith and belief) V20 discipl Cf SELF-DISCIPLINE (self-restraint, resistance to temptation) V50 enjoy HE ENJOYING LIFE (enjoying food, sex, leisure, etc.) V38 environ Un PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT (preserving nature) V01 equality Un EQUALITY (equal opportunity for all) V09 exciting St AN EXCITING LIFE (stimulating experience) V22 fam sec SE FAMILY SECURITY (safety for loved ones) V54 forgive Be FORGIVING (willing to pardon others) V05 freedom Sf FREEDOM (freedom of action and thought) V28 friend Be TRUE FRIENDSHIP (close, supportive friends) V02 harmony Sp INNER HARMONY (at peace with myself) V42 healthy SE HEALTHY (not being sick physically or mentally) V49 helpful Be HELPFUL (working for the welfare of others) V45 honest Be HONEST (genuine, sincere) V36 humble Tr HUMBLE (modest, self-effacing) V46 image PO PRESERVING MY PUBLIC IMAGE (protecting my "face") V31 independ Sf INDEPENDENT (self-reliant, self-sufficient) V39 influen Ac INFLUENTIAL (having an impact on people and events) No. Abbrev. Typ Questionnaire description V48 intellig Ac INTELLIGENT (logical, thinking) V30 justice Un SOCIAL JUSTICE (correcting injustice, care for the weak) V19 love Be MATURE LOVE (deep emotional and spiritual intimacy) V33 loyal Be LOYAL (faithful to my friends, group) V10 meaning Sp MEANING IN LIFE (a purpose in life) V32 moderate Tr MODERATE (avoiding extremes of feeling and action) V13 nat sec SE NATIONAL SECURITY (protection of my nation from enemies) V24 nature Un UNITY WITH NATURE (fitting into nature) V47 obedient Cf OBEDIENT (dutiful, meeting obligations) V08 order SE SOCIAL ORDER (stability of society) V41 own goal Sf CHOOSING OWN GOALS (selecting own purposes) V40 parents Cf HONOURING OF PARENTS AND ELDERS (showing respect) V17 peace Un A WORLD AT PEACE (free of war and conflict) V04 pleasure HE PLEASURE (gratification of desires) V11 polite Cf POLITENESS (courtesy, good manners) V03 power PO SOCIAL POWER (control over others, dominance) V15 reciproc SE RECIPROCATION OF FAVOURS (avoidance of indebtedness) V23 recognit PO SOCIAL RECOGNITION (respect, approval from others) V52 rspnsibl Be RESPONSIBLE (dependable, reliable) V14 slf resp Sf SELF RESPECT (belief in one's worth) V06 spiritul Sp A SPIRITUAL LIFE (emphasis on spiritual not material things) V55 success Ac SUCCESSFUL (achieving goals) V18 traditn Tr RESPECT FOR TRADITION (preservation of time-honoured customs) V25 varied St A VARIED LIFE (filled with challenge, novelty and change) V12 wealth PO WEALTH (material possessions, money) V26 wisdom Un WISDOM (a mature understanding of life) Humanised Statistics: Page 13 The SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC questionnaire asked for the STUDENTS': age, gender, suburb, postcode, birthplace, LOE, Religion and family's religious attendance, FATHER's and MOTHER's: birthplace, occupation, and education level. The VALUES questionnaire asked for ratings of fifty-six variables, on a scale of -1(abhor) to +7(adore), according to their importance as a guiding principle in the person's life.. In the table below, the number of the variable is the order in which they were presented to the respondent. Variable Type(Typ) is taken from those suggested by Schwartz(1992): Ac=Achievement; BE=Benevolence; Cf=Conformity; HE=Hedonism; PO=Power; SE=Security; Sf=Self-actualisation; Sp=Spiritual; St=Stimulation; Tr=Tradition; Un=Universalism The list is shown in alphabetical order of the abbreviated label used in the text (eg 'beauty' is shown under 'b', rather than 'A WORLD OF BEAUTY' being shown under 'A' or 'W'). No. Abbrev. Typ Questionnaire description V44 accept Tr ACCEPTING MY PORTION IN LIFE (submitting to life's circumstances) V34 ambition PO AMBITIOUS (hard-working, aspiring) V27 authorit PO AUTHORITY (the right to lead or command) V29 beauty Un A WORLD OF BEAUTY (beauty of nature and the arts) V07 belong SE SENSE OF BELONGING (feeling that others care about me) V35 broadmnd Un BROADMINDED (tolerant of different ideas and beliefs) V43 capable Ac CAPABLE (competent, effective, efficient) V56 clean SE CLEAN (neat, tidy) V16 creative Sf CREATIVITY (uniqueness, imagination) V53 curious Sf CURIOUS (interested in everything, exploring) V37 daring St DARING (seeking adventure, risk) V21 detach Sp DETACHMENT (from worldly concerns) V51 devout Sp DEVOUT (holding to religious faith and belief) V20 discipl Cf SELF-DISCIPLINE (self-restraint, resistance to temptation) V50 enjoy HE ENJOYING LIFE (enjoying food, sex, leisure, etc.) V38 environ Un PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT (preserving nature) V01 equality Un EQUALITY (equal opportunity for all) V09 exciting St AN EXCITING LIFE (stimulating experience) V22 fam sec SE FAMILY SECURITY (safety for loved ones) V54 forgive Be FORGIVING (willing to pardon others) V05 freedom Sf FREEDOM (freedom of action and thought) V28 friend Be TRUE FRIENDSHIP (close, supportive friends) V02 harmony Sp INNER HARMONY (at peace with myself) V42 healthy SE HEALTHY (not being sick physically or mentally) V49 helpful Be HELPFUL (working for the welfare of others) V45 honest Be HONEST (genuine, sincere) V36 humble Tr HUMBLE (modest, self-effacing) V46 image PO PRESERVING MY PUBLIC IMAGE (protecting my "face") V31 independ Sf INDEPENDENT (self-reliant, self-sufficient) V39 influen Ac INFLUENTIAL (having an impact on people and events) V48 intellig Ac INTELLIGENT (logical, thinking) V30 justice Un SOCIAL JUSTICE (correcting injustice, care for the weak) V19 love Be MATURE LOVE (deep emotional and spiritual intimacy) V33 loyal Be LOYAL (faithful to my friends, group) V10 meaning Sp MEANING IN LIFE (a purpose in life) V32 moderate Tr MODERATE (avoiding extremes of feeling and action) V13 nat sec SE NATIONAL SECURITY (protection of my nation from enemies) V24 nature Un UNITY WITH NATURE (fitting into nature) V47 obedient Cf OBEDIENT (dutiful, meeting obligations) V08 order SE SOCIAL ORDER (stability of society) V41 own goal Sf CHOOSING OWN GOALS (selecting own purposes) V40 parents Cf HONOURING OF PARENTS AND ELDERS (showing respect) V17 peace Un A WORLD AT PEACE (free of war and conflict) V04 pleasure HE PLEASURE (gratification of desires) V11 polite Cf POLITENESS (courtesy, good manners) V03 power PO SOCIAL POWER (control over others, dominance) V15 reciproc SE RECIPROCATION OF FAVOURS (avoidance of indebtedness) V23 recognit PO SOCIAL RECOGNITION (respect, approval from others) V52 rspnsibl Be RESPONSIBLE (dependable, reliable) V14 slf resp Sf SELF RESPECT (belief in one's worth) V06 spiritul Sp A SPIRITUAL LIFE (emphasis on spiritual not material things) V55 success Ac SUCCESSFUL (achieving goals) V18 traditn Tr RESPECT FOR TRADITION (preservation of time-honoured customs) V25 varied St A VARIED LIFE (filled with challenge, novelty and change) V12 wealth PO WEALTH (material possessions, money) V26 wisdom Un WISDOM (a mature understanding of life)