A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ACADEMIC AND NONACADEMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY BY TYPE OF HOUSING

LINWOOD TONY HAWKINS, Purdue University

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to seek information that would contribute understanding about the possible impact of particular types of housing on the academic and nonacademic development of single, full-time, undergraduate students at Purdue University. A five percent sample of subjects was selected at random from each of three housing types to participate in this study: Residence Halls, Private Housing, and Greek Housing. Two survey instruments were mailed to each subject to measure for differences in nonacademic characteristics. They were the Brown-Holtzman Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes (SSHA) and James Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT), an objective instrument for measuring moral judgment development. The SSHA yielded seven scale scores of study habits and attitudes, while the DIT yielded a single score of moral judgment development. The academic characteristics chosen for comparison were Scholastic Aptitude Test results (SAT Total, Verbal, and Math scores), High School Rank, 1977 fall grade index, 1978 spring grade index, and 1978 spring graduation (cumulative) index. The study was designed to compare the selected academic and nonacademic characteristics by sex, class, and school of study, as well as by type of housing. A four-way factorial analysis of variance was applied to the data from each of the academic and nonacademic characteristics to determine if any significant difference existed at the .05 level by type of housing, by sex, by class, and/or by school. Where significant interaction between factors occurred, a set of one-way analyses of variance was applied to determine the nature of the interaction. Analyses of data led to a rejection of the general null hypothesis of no significant difference by housing, sex, class, and/or school in the selected characteristics of undergraduate students at Purdue University. However, significant differences were found to be more attributable to the gender of subjects and their school of study than to their particular types of housing. The only characteristic where housing was a significant main effect was the academic variable of Fall Index. The mean fall grade of students from Greek Housing was lower than the mean fall grade of students from Private Housing and the mean fall grade of students from Residence Halls, respectively. The most probable cause of the difference in fall semester grades by housing type was surmised to be from the effects of the fall pledge programs in Greek housing organizations. No significant difference was found in the moral judgment development of students by housing, sex, class, and/or school. Differences in the seven scale scores of the SSHA were almost solely associated with gender. Women students at Purdue were found to have significantly more positive study habits and attitudes than male students at Purdue. Similarly, females obtained significantly higher scores on academic characteristics than did men. Finally, school was identified as a significant main effect in six of the seven academic variables chosen for comparison. Students from the School of Science and the School of Engineering tended to score better on academic characteristics than did students from other schools of study at Purdue. Differences in academic characteristics by school was considered to be largely due to the differing admission requirements to the various schools of study.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Academic guidance counseling

COinS