Mar 24, 2009 - have high self-perception scores and chose a non-health-related course in college. ...... the college choice and course in the Philippines.
De La Salle Health Sciences Institute Dasmariñas, Cavite College of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine
A Cross-Sectional Study on the Relationship of Self-Perception and Choice of Course Among the Graduating Students of Dasmariñas National High School Year 2008 – 2009
Primary Author: Mendoza, Rachelle Co-authors: Manalo, Kevin Maglantay, Jeffrey Olarte, Rosselle Pereche, Angela Bianca Roque, Patricia Tagle, Justice Triguero, Alberto Victorio, Samantha 2nd Year Medicine Students DLS-HSI SY 2008 – 2009
24 March 2009
ABSTRACT This study aims to determine if there is a relationship between self-perception and choice of course in college among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009. The study employed cross-sectional, random sampling design. Information was gathered using self-administered questionnaire and review of records. A standardized tool was utilized in determining self-perception. Data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics and hypothesis was tested using chi square tests and ANOVA. 118 respondents were included in the study, 85 females and 33 males. Majority of respondents have high self-perception scores and chose a non-health-related course in college. Analysis of the data gathered showed no statistical difference in comparing self-perceptions scores of the two groups included in the study: those with health-related and those with non-health-related course choice. Results show that only the number of competitions and gender statistically affect the choice of course in college of the respondents. Students with no competition involved in and male students will most likely choose a non-health related course. Statistical evidence showed that there is no significant relationship between self-perception and choice of course in college among the study population. Among the variables collected in the study, only gender and number of competitions involved in have significant effect on both choice of course and self-perception. Additionally, number of organizations, parents’ educational attainment and family income also affect self-perception. The researchers recommend the expansion of the research using longitudinal type of research design. The study may also be ideally done in a larger participant population for assurance of variety and accuracy. Also, stratified sampling may be employed so that equal number of male and female subjects may be allowed to participate in the study. Lastly, since the study reflected that there is significant difference in the ranking of the importance of subscales by males and females, gender specific studies can be made.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
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i
Table of Contents
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ii
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iii
Introduction
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1
Objectives
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23
Methodology
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24
Results
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37
Discussion
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67
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70
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71
List of Tables and Figure
Conclusions and Recommendations References Appendices
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1 - Tools used to measure perceptions of competence. Table 2 - Summary of Previous Researches. Table 3 - Frequency Distribution of Age: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 4 - Gender: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 5 - Self-Perception Scores: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 6 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Age: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 7 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Gender: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 8 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Choice of Course: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 9 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Over-all Influence for Choice of Course: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 10 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Average Annual Family Income: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 11 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Number of Organizations Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 12 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Number of Competitions Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 13 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Mother’s Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 14 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Father’s Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 15 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Class Rank: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 16 - Frequency Distribution of Students with High/Low Self-Perception Scores: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 17 - Frequency Distribution of Choice of Course (1st choice): Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Table 18 - Frequency Distribution of Overall Influence on Choice of Course in College: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 19 - Class Rank: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 20082009. Table 20 - Number of Organizations Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 21 - Number of Competitions Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 22 - Mother's Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 23 - Father's Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009 Table 24 - Annual Average Family Income: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Table 25 - Cross-Tabulation of Scholastic Competence and Choice of Course. Table 26 - Cross-Tabulation of Social Acceptance and Choice of Course. Table 27 - Cross-Tabulation of Athletic Competence and Choice of Course. Table 28 - Cross-Tabulation of Physical Appearance and Choice of Course. Table 29 - Cross-Tabulation of Job Competence and Choice of Course. Table 30 - Cross-Tabulation of Romantic Appeal and Choice of Course. Table 31 - Cross-Tabulation of Behavioral Conduct and Choice of Course. Table 32 - Cross-Tabulation of Close Friendship and Choice of Course. Table 33 - Cross-Tabulation of Self-Worth and Choice of Course. Table 34 - Means, Number of Observations and Standard Deviations for the Nine Subscales of Self-Perception in Relation to Choice of Course. Table 35 - Computer Output of ANOVA Result for the Nine Subscales of Self-Perception in Relation to Choice of Course. Table 36 - Summary of Chi Square Test Results and P-Values for the Nine Factors in Relation to Choice of Course. Table 37 - Summary of p-Values for the Nine Factors in Relation to the Nine Subscales.
Figure 1 -Histogram of the Frequency Distribution of Age: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 2 - Pie Graph of Gender: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 20082009. Figure 3 - Self-Perception Scores, Over-all Mean and Standard Deviation: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 4 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Age: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 5 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Gender: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 6 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Choice of Course: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 7 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Over-all Influence for Choice of Course: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 8 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Annual Average Income: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 9 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Number of Organizations Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 10 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Number of Competitions Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 11 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Mother’s Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 12 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Father’s Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 13 - Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Class Rank: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 14 - Frequency Distribution of Students with High/Low Self-Perception Scores: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas Figure 15 - Pie Graph of the Frequency Distribution of Choice of Course (1st choice): Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 16 - Bar Graph of the Frequency Distribution of Overall Influence on Choice of Course in College: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 17 - Bar Graph of Class Rank: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009
Figure 18 - Graph of the Number of Organizations Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 19 - Graph of the Number of Competitions Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 20 - Mother's Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Figure 21 - Father's Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009 Figure 22 - Annual Average Family Income: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A study conducted by Marsh and Craven (1997) [1], entitled Academic Self-concept: Beyond the dustbowl, showed that higher academic self-concept leads to academic achievement, and that prior achievement leads to an enhanced self-concept. The research focused on studies that used structural equation models (SEM) based on multiple indicators, and took an explicitly multidimensional perspective based on multiple, relatively distinct components of self-concept in which they argued that: “If the role of academic self-concept research is to better understand the complexity of self in different context, to predict a wide variety of academic behaviors, to provide outcome measures for diverse interventions, and to relate self-concept to other academic constructs, then specific academic domains of self-concept are more useful than global self-esteem. Particularly in educational settings, the clear separation of academic from non-academic self-concept and global self-esteem is very important.” Marsh (2005)[2] recognized the fact that since there now exist good support for his formulated reciprocal effects model, there is now a need to pursue further research into the psychological processes that mediate the positive effects of prior academic self-concept on subsequent academic achievement. He implicitly discussed that there is a largely untested assumption that the effect of prior self-concept on subsequent achievement is mediated by student characteristics such as increased conscientious effort, persistence in the face of difficulties, enhanced intrinsic motivation, academic choice, and course-work selection. Marsh and Yeung (1997a, 1997b)[2] found that coursework selection partially mediated the effects of prior academic self-concept in a specific school subject on subsequent achievement in the same subject (e.g. high math self-concept led to taking more advanced math courses, which led to higher levels of math achievement). This is highly related to the objective of this study. The researchers are trying to find out if prior achievement in a subject in high school would lead to positive self-perception of ability in that subject, and that this enhanced self-perception would support the decision of taking a related course in college. Thus, this study would fully explore the demonstration of the reciprocal effects model among the selected population. Upon stating that there is a clear need for more research exploring the psychological processes that mediate the effects of prior academic self-concept on subsequent achievement, Marsh, Trautwein et al. (2005)[2] suggested that academic interest might serve this role.
Some of the research on students' perceptions of competence is closely related to the more general research on children's conceptions of their personal identity (e.g., Damon & Hart, 1988)[3] and research on self-concept (Markus & Nurius, 1986; Marsh, 1984a, 1984b, 1990b) [3] . An important issue in the research on self-concept is the domain specificity of individuals' perceptions of themselves. Much of the early research on self-concept was not very theoretically based, good definitions of the construct were not developed, and many researchers assumed that self-concept was a rather global construct (Wylie, 1974, 1979, 1989) [3] . More recent research has focused on how children do distinguish their perceptions of competence by domain (Byrne, 1984)[3] Although self-perceptions of competence become more differentiated with age, most researchers now accept the idea that even fairly young children (first and second graders) have self-perceptions of competence that are domain specific. In addition, whereas there is disagreement about the levels of specificity of the domains, most researchers at least distinguish among academic, social, and physical domains of competence (Harter, 1982; Wigfield & Karpathian, 1991)[3] . The academic domains concern students' perceptions of competence at school tasks. The perceptions of competence in Table 1 are from Harter's perceived competence scale (1982) and reflect a general sense of competence for schoolwork. Another self-concept measure, Marsh's Self-Descriptive Questionnaire (SDQI for preadolescents, SDQII for adolescents, and SDQIII for late adolescents and adults), has domains for reading, math, and all school subjects. The social domain reflects individuals' perceptions of their competence in interactions with others. Harter's revised perceived competence scale, now called the Self-Perceptions Profile (Harter, 1985b)[3] , and Marsh's SDQ both have separate scales for relationships with parents and relationships with peers/close friends. In addition, both Harter and Marsh have scales regarding competence for romantic relations with others for their adolescent and adult measures. The physical domain on Harter's and Marsh's measures includes perceptions of competence at physical activities like sports as well as general perceptions of physical attractiveness/appearance. Students' scores on these different domain scales show moderately positive inter-correlations, but the research does suggest that these are empirically separate domains. Accordingly, students may have differential perceptions in different domains (high in math, low in reading, high in physical ability, low in peer relations, etc.). Researchers and teachers need to be sensitive to these domain differences in perceptions of competence and not assume that students have a single global self-concept that is related to their performance in all domains.
Table 1. Tools used to measure perceptions of competence.
Although the simplistic idea of a global self-concept relating to performance across many domains is not accepted, the assumption that there is domain specific self-perceptions of competence still begs the question regarding the hierarchical nature of these self-perceptions. The issue revolves around the problem created by multiple domains and the specificity of those domains. For example, if a student has different self-perceptions of competence for different academic domains such as English, math, science, and social studies, the question becomes: Are these self-perceptions ever integrated into a general academic self-concept? This academic self-concept then might be at the same level in a hierarchy of selves as a physical self-concept (an integration of self-perceptions for different physical activities such as running, tennis, gymnastics, soccer, baseball, etc.) and a social self-concept (an integration of self-perceptions for relations with close friends, other classmates, parents, and other adults). The research on this issue is somewhat mixed. Harter (1983, 1985a)[3] suggests that the results of her studies with factor analysis of the domains from her student perceptions profile support a non-hierarchical model, reflecting support for the taxonomic position (Byrne, 1984) [3] . In contrast, the work of Marsh and Shavelson (Marsh, 1990b; Marsh & Shavelson, 1985; Shavelson & Bolus, 1982)[3] suggests that the self-concept is hierarchically structured with separate domains of academic competence fitting into a global academic self-concept, although
they find that the strength of the hierarchical structure differs with age (less hierarchy in older adolescents and adults). Wigfield and Karpathian (1991) [3] suggest that these different findings may be due to developmental differences in the students and reflect a general developmental movement from non-hierarchical to hierarchical back to non-hierarchical self-concepts over time. Most of Harter’s research has focused on younger students who may be less able or less motivated to integrate the different domains of their self-concept. In contrast, Marsh's early adolescents may show hierarchically organized structure because they are now able cognitively to integrate diverse information and given the adolescent "life task" of achieving identity, be more motivated to attempt to fit together the different self-domains. Finally, Marsh and Shavelson’s older adolescents and adults again may show less hierarchy because they are not actively involved in all domains (most adults are not involved in academic learning of math, science, social studies, etc.) and are less concerned with differences in domains and less upset with having multiple identities or self-concepts. Of course, as Wigfield and Karpathian (1991) [3] point out, most of this research has been cross-sectional and there is a need for longitudinal research to examine the developmental trends and the suggested explanation of the findings. A second important issue related to the domain specificity and hierarchical nature of perceptions of competence is the relation between perceptions of competence and global self-esteem. As already noted, after some confusion in the early research on self-concept, there is now fairly wide agreement that self-perceptions of competence and self-esteem are two theoretically and empirically distinct constructs (Wigfield & Karpathian, 1991) [3] . To reiterate, perceptions of competence are more cognitive judgments of personal skills and abilities, such as the belief that you are able to learn social studies, or that you can play soccer, or that you can make friends. In contrast, self-esteem is a more global affective reaction or evaluation of yourself (e.g., you feel bad about yourself since you don't do well in social studies, or good about yourself because you play soccer well, or bad because you don't have many friends). Empirical researches by both Harter (1985a, 1986)[3] and Marsh (Marsh & O'Neill, 1984; Marsh & Shavelson, 1985) [3] have shown that global self-esteem is an empirically separate dimension from self-perceptions of competence, although the two show positive moderate correlations. Obviously, perceptions of competence should be related to self-esteem, but the exact nature of this relation is unclear. One of the early leading American psychologists, William James (1890) [3] , speculated that selfesteem was a ratio between one's "successes" and one's “pretensions" and that self-esteem would be higher to the extent that individuals were able to succeed in meeting all their goals. More recently, Harter (1985a, 1986, 1990)[3] has made a similar argument and suggested that
global self-esteem is related to both self-perceptions of competence in different domains and the importance the individual assigns to those domains (paralleling expectancy-value theory predictions). Accordingly, if students have low perceptions of competence in several academic domains, they may not necessarily have low self-esteem if they do not think those domains are that important or central to them in comparison with other domains (e.g., social relations with peers, personal physical abilities). Harter (1986) [3] found evidence for this type of "discounting" in a sample of fifth through seventh graders where students with high self-esteem had much less discrepancy between their importance and competence ratings in comparison with those with low self-esteem. Wigfield, Eccles, Mac Iver, Reuman, and Midgley (1991) [3] also found similar results with junior high students. Steele (1988) [3] has suggested that many minority students, particularly African Americans, use this type of discounting strategy by lowering their value for academic domains where they have lower perceptions of academic competence in order to affirm their self-worth and self-esteem. In contrast, in a study of high school and college students, Marsh (1986)[3] did not find that self-esteem was related to perceptions of competence and importance, but rather self-esteem was best predicted by only perceptions of competence. Developmental differences may be responsible for the different results, but clearly more research is needed on the relations between self-perceptions of competence and global selfesteem (Wigfield & Karpathian, 1991)[3] . A third issue that arises in the research on self-perceptions of competence concerns the accuracy of children's self-evaluations. Interestingly, this issue has not been a major concern of researchers working in the expectancy-value tradition. Expectancy-value theory is built on a motivational model that stresses the subjective nature of individuals' assessments of their expectancy for success. In this case, it is not whether individuals have accurate perceptions of their future expectations (e.g., that their expectations should "match" their past performance), but rather the importance of their personal and subjective expectations, regardless of the relation to previous performance. In contrast, the developmental research on children's selfperceptions of competence has been concerned with personal and self-concept development where issues regarding the accuracy of self-beliefs are important. The issue of accuracy assumes that there is some objective indicator of children's competence that can be used as a criterion against which to assess the congruence of their perceptions of their competence. In most studies, the objective indicators in the academic domain have been standardized tests, teacher grades, or teacher ratings. In general, the research suggests that in the middle elementary grades (third, fourth grade), there is less congruence between children's self-
perceptions and more objective assessments, whereas the congruence becomes much better in the later elementary grades and later junior high school (eighth and ninth grades) (Harter, 1985a)[3] . Moreover, most of the incongruence in the early grades occurs because the younger students have fairly high self-perceptions of competence. Their perceptions then become more modest as they move into the later grades (Frey & Ruble, 1987; Harter, 1985a; Stipek, 1981, 1984; Weisz, 1983)[3] , thereby making them more veridical with other, more objective assessments (Phillips & Zimmerman, 1990) [3] . Nevertheless, in a review of various studies on the validity of self-reports of perceived competence, Assor and Connell (1992) [3] state, “Surveys of relevant research findings clearly demonstrate that, beginning in the third and fourth grade and extending through high school, in populations ranging from upper middle-class Caucasian American youth, to lower and middle class Israeli children, to primarily poor African American adolescents, there is no empirical justification for viewing self-report appraisals of academic competence and efficacy as invalid measures of performance affecting selfappraisals.” Assor and Connell (1992)[3] also note that there may be some positive advantages for having "inaccurate" self-perceptions of competence when they are higher than should be expected given actual performance. They report that these "inflated" self-reports actually are related to positive performance outcomes 2 years later in a longitudinal study of high school students. They also note that students who have inaccurate self-perceptions that are lower than they should be (deflated self-assessments) perform at much lower levels, which coincides with other studies as well (Phillips & Zimmerman, 1990)[3] . Accordingly, in line with a motivational and constructivist perspective, individuals' personal and subjective self-perceptions are important for future achievement behavior, regardless of the "accuracy" of the perceptions in terms of their match to grades, standardized tests, or ratings by adults. Researchers must still be careful, however, to get accurate perceptions that really represent children’s' beliefs about themselves, not modesty or social desirability effects. Besides the general developmental differences in accuracy of self-perceptions, there also seem to be some individual differences in the inaccuracy of self-perceptions of competence. Inaccuracy in self-perceptions of competence can result from overestimation of competence (believing you are more competent than suggested by objective measures) and underestimation of competence (believing you are less competent than expected by objective measures), Phillips (1984, 1987; Phillips & Zimmerman, 1990) [3] has examined three types of students in
terms of their accuracy of competence perceptions. In her studies, she used samples of only high-achieving third-, fifth-, and ninth-grade students (defined in terms of a combination of standardized test scores and teacher ratings), but still found that there are over-estimators (higher perceptions of competence than warranted by actual achievement), accurate perceivers (congruence between perceptions and achievement), and under-estimators (lower perceptions than warranted by actual achievement). This latter group, all of whom have the "illusion of incompetence," was of particular concern to her because all of her sample students were actually achieving in the top 25% on nationally standardized tests. These under-estimators were most likely to hold very low expectations for future success, to believe that their parents and teachers had low perceptions of them, to be more anxious, and to be less willing to try hard and persist on academic tasks (Phillips & Zimmerman, 1990) [3] . Accordingly, whereas most students do become more accurate in their self-perceptions of competence as they progress through school, there are still some very able children who have the illusion of incompetence and show negative motivational outcomes. Finally, a fourth issue concerns the nature of the relation between perceptions of competence and self-concept and achievement. Children's perceptions of their ability have been linked to most achievement behaviours, including effort, persistence, cognitive engagement, and actual achievement. However, within the tradition of research on self-concept, researchers have been concerned with the direction of the causal relation between self-concept and achievement. Some researchers have argued that self-concept is causally predominant over achievement, while others have taken the opposite position that achievement determines self-concept. These different views obviously have implications for instruction. The self-concept enhancement version suggests that teachers should ensure that students believe they are capable and then their subsequent achievement will improve. The achievement-first model suggests that teachers should ensure that children have the academic skills to succeed and then their perceptions of competence will follow from their successes. The most recent view of this controversy is that "it is relatively fruitless to continue to pursue the general question of which causes which" (Wigfield & Karpathian, 1991, p. 256)[3] . Clearly, the relation is reciprocal; self-concept influences future achievement and actual achievement shapes and constrains self-perceptions of competence. Moreover, there may be individual, developmental, and contextual differences in the nature of the relations between self-concept and achievement (cf. Marsh, 1990a; Skaalvik & Hagtvet, 1990)[3] . In terms of future research and educational practice, it seems wise to realize that the relation is complex and that simple, linear models do not map onto the reality of classrooms.
Future research should concentrate on understanding how self-perceptions and actual achievement work together to predict future behaviour at different ages, for different students, and in different contexts. Teachers should focus on teaching their students the appropriate cognitive skills to master academic tasks and, at the same time, ensure that students have the motivational resources, including appropriate self-perceptions of competence, to engage in these tasks. Table 2 (page 18) summarizes the results and/or recommendations of the previous researches mentioned above. Research Question The study generally aims to answer the question: Is there a relationship between self-perception and choice of course in college among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009? Research Hypothesis There is no significant relationship between the self perception and the choice of course in college among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 20082009 when group according to sex, class rank and socio-economic status. Rationale of the Study “Intelligence appears to be the thing that enables a man to get along without education. Education enables a man to get along without the use of his intelligence.” -Albert Edward Wiggam Above is a quotation with the core meaning that revolves around education. As individuals humans are faced with day to day situations that hone their skills, knowledge and attitude and with the right and sufficient education they surpass every trial along the way. It is but a reality that from the time a person is born, learning begins. Education starts at the basic unit of the society; our families. As a person grows older, he/she obtains formal education at school and experience going from one level to the other: enriching the mind with vital information and filling the heart with cherished moments. This seamless life journey will continue until such person arrives on a certain period of time that he/she will be ready to face a turning point in our lives: to decide on what career path they will take.
In first world countries like the United States, three-fourths of 4-year college freshmen who had graduated from high school in the previous 12 months attended an in-state college, and onefourth attended an out-of-state college. The enrolments of high school graduates to college universities remained high over the past 35 years (between 98 and 99 percent), reflecting the progress of higher education for the citizens. Amidst some high school graduate students that joined the work force early. Education in the Philippines has a similar system to that of the United States. Filipino children enter public school at about age four, starting from Nursery up to Kindergarten. At about seven years of age, children enter a 'primary school' (6 to 7 years). This is followed by secondary school (4 years). Students then sit for the College Entrance Examinations (CEE), after which they enter collegiate school (3 to 5 years). Secondary education in the Philippines is largely based on the American schooling system. It consists of four levels. Secondary schooling is compartmentalized, meaning, each level focuses on a particular 'theme or content'. Secondary school is often called simply as 'High school', and as such, this will be the prevailing word in this section. The first year of High school includes five core subjects, namely, Algebra I, Integrated Science, English I, Filipino I, and Philippine History I. The second year of High school includes Algebra II, Biology, English II, Filipino II, and Asian History. The third year of High school includes Geometry, Chemistry, American Literature, Filipino III, and World History and Geography, and the fourth year of High school has Calculus, Trigonometry, Physics, World Literature, Filipino IV, and Economics. Other minor subjects include Health, Advanced Computer, Music, Arts, Technology and Home Economics, and Physical Education. In exclusive schools, various languages are offered as Electives, together with Computer programming, Literary writing, as well as other subjects. Chinese schools add language and cultural subjects. Preparatory schools usually add some Business and Accountancy courses, while Science high schools have Biology, Chemistry, and Physics on every level After finishing secondary education, students have a choice of either continuing their education by taking two or three years of vocational courses, or going to college or universities.
However, the ideal and systematic process of education is not perfectly happening in the country because there are other factors that affect the delivery of proper and quality education to the Filipino youth. As what is stated in the headlines of The Manila Times last June 10, 2008, the Department of Education expects 20.7 million students to attend classes for the school year 2008-2009, wherein approximately 13.9 million in the elementary grades and the remaining 6.8 in high school. College enrolment is expected to reach 400,000. The number of students who will not go to school, however, is deemed to be sizeable. First-time enrolment in Grade One is expected to decline. The Manila Bulletin on June 4 quoted Education Secretary Jesli Lapus saying that one million six-year-olds will be left out when schools open June 10. Many students scheduled to resume their classes at different grades (elementary) and years (secondary) will not show up. Many secondary graduates poised to join the college freshman class will miss school. The major reason is poverty. Thousands of parents and guardians do not have the money to send their children to school, beginning Grade One. Basic education is free and universal, yes, but schooling these days even at “kinder” grades takes money—for transportation, food, school projects and classroom supplies. The young people who missed school are likely to be part of a permanent underclass unable to participate in an important nationwide experience: schooling. The public school system is a vital linchpin of the national life that welds the country together. The absence of poverty-stricken young people in the classroom will surely have grave repercussions in the future, in personal losses and in the wealth of potential lost to society. For every 100 that started Grade One, only 66 will finish elementary education. Of those who completed elementary, only 44 will finish high school. And of those 44 who finish high school, only 18 finish college. That’s 18 out of 100. Less than one out of every five students, said by Sen. Mar Roxas, who has introduced a reform bill to make schooling less expensive and to increase student enrolment and completion.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers, a militant group that keeps count, said 3.3 million children, aged six to 15, and is out of school. The number for 2002 was 1.86 million out of school, ACT president Antonio Tinio added. “School dropouts make up our biggest social problem because
they perpetuate poverty,” written by political analyst Juan T. Gatbonton. “Dropouts make poverty a generational problem, because they cannot function in the modern society” With the recent situation in the condition of Philippine education, the researchers gained the inspiration to focus their study on the ability of the graduating high school students to decide on what course they will take in college or whether or not they will continue their tertiary education. Chevalier et al. (2007)[4] , in their paper entitled Study of Student’s Academic Self-Perception, stated that judgement of ability is likely to play a critical role in the decision to invest in higher education, in the choice of institution, the choice of degree and chances of completion. Underestimation of ability could reduce enrolment, because students overestimate the difficulties waiting for them in college, underestimate their probability of success and doubt they have the talent to reap the labour market rewards (Marsh 1990) [4] . Conversely, over-confident individuals may enter higher education without considering competition (Camerer and Lovallo, 1999)[4] and find that they are out their depth, potentially reducing completion rates and crowding out more able students. In this light, the researchers recognize the great impact of the association between self-perception of ability and the decision of selecting a field in tertiary education on over-all academic and economic status of a nation. Hence, the researchers would like to know the relationship of the self-perception of academic ability of the graduating high school students to their choice of course in college. This involves the determination of what subject (either Math or English) the students perceived they have excelled in or have done better in high school with the use of documented tools the researchers will prepare and adapt. The results obtained will then be correlated with the students’ choice of course in college, which will be classified as to being Math-related or Verbal-related. This will reveal the influence of positive self-perception of ability on the probability of choosing the right path in higher education, which entails an increased probability of attaining success afterwards (Covington, 1992; Garcia & Pintrich, 1994)[3] . The study will also utilize the background knowledge of the researchers on the different theories that is applicable with the student’s level of psychosocial, moral, psychosexual and cognitive development to accurately gather the needed information. Aside from the above mentioned significance, this study additionally has to be conducted because it provides a direct assessment of the impact of academic self-perception among the graduating students of Dasmarinas National High School. This can classify students whether they have good or poor self perception ability. Those with good self perception ability can be expected to take better choices on their college course than those who have poor self
perception. Students who have poor perception of their abilities could underestimate their probability of success and might not even pursue to higher education. Self perception of ability may affect the students’ decision as to whether he/she should pursue college education and to his/her expectations as to whether she/she will be successful in future academic work. This study may help students to realize their weaknesses because of poor self perception ability. This can help give suggestions to the school on how improvement of self perception might help the students’ performances. Individuals who base their self-worth in a specific domain such as, for example, academic success, leave themselves much more vulnerable to having their self-esteem threatened when negative events happen to them within that domain. This study would benefit the youth since this would measure how a person assesses himself. How certain domains can dictate the decisions throughout their life. Self perception can affect your thinking, causing one to have either a positive or a negative outlook which is essential especially during the fundamental years of adolescence. Self perception is also a heavy player in one’s self confidence and affects one’s self image and attitude towards one’s endeavors. Review of Literature Epidemiology of disease of interest: Choice of Course in College In the Philippines, about 9.2 million students were enrolled annually in elementary schools, 3.4 million were enrolled to secondary schools and about 1.1 million students had attended universities and colleges (Chemers, 2001) [5]. Hence, the study would be relevant to approximately 1.1 million students who decided to pursue tertiary education, as well as to the 2.3 million individuals who, for some reason, have failed to attend college. Although vast reasons would be possible, this paper will hopefully provide a reliable source of information as to the psycho-social aspect of the decision of pursuing and of what to pursue in tertiary education. In the Philippines, National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) was started to be conducted last 2007. Unlike the old National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), NCAE is “a guide for students so that they will really fid a proper fit for themselves when they enter the job or entrepreneurial markets.” It is also believed that NCAE will be the best tool for graduating
high school students to assess their own skills and inclination, and in the long run, will help them to make an effective career decision. Among 1,305,211 graduating high school students from public and private schools who took the NCAE, 711,526 or 54.5 percent got high aptitude for tech-voc programs while 468,901 or 35.9% had moderate aptitude for the same subtest and only 49,066 students had high aptitude for college (March 3, 2007. DepEd: Test for HS Seniors Shows Aptitude for Tech-voc, The Philippine Daily Inquirer). This may have a major effect on the choice of course of the graduating students. Epidemiology of exposure/factor of interest: Self-Perception Self-perception is a component of and used as a method of measuring a wider and more holistic realm of self-concept. Self-perceptions of competence or ability are students' self-evaluative judgments about their ability to accomplish certain tasks (Harter, 1985a) [3] . Shavelson et al. (1976)[6] , integrating features from many definitions of self-concept, defined self-concept to be a person’s self-perceptions that are formed through experience with and interpretations of one’s environment. They are influenced especially by evaluations by significant others, reinforcements, and attributions for one’s own behavior. Self-concept is not an entity within the person, but a hypothetical construct that is potentially useful in explaining and predicting how a person acts. These self-perceptions influence the way one acts and these acts in turn influence one’s self-perceptions (Marsh, 2005)[6] . Do changes in academic self-perception lead to changes in subsequent academic achievement? Marsh (2005)[6] emphasized that the causal ordering of academic self-perception and academic achievement is, perhaps, the most perplexing question in academic self-concept research. This critical question has important theoretical and practical implications, and has been the focus of considerable research. Byrne (1984) [6] noted that much of the interest in selfconcept/achievement relation stems from the belief that academic self-concept has motivational properties such that changes in academic self-concept will lead to changes in subsequent academic achievement. The rationale for the self-enhancement and skill development models is based on an either-or logic; either self-concept causes achievement or achievement causes self-concept. Marsh (1990a)[6] argued that this either-or rationale was inappropriate from both theoretical and statistical perspectives. Theoretically, as clearly stated in the Shavelson et al. (1976)[6] model and most other theoretical accounts of academic self-concept, prior academic accomplishments are important in the formation of subsequent academic self-concept. However, the critical issue is whether the linkage from self-concept to subsequent achievement also exists. Thus, Marsh (1990a)[6] proposed the reciprocal effects model of academic self-
concept. This research proved that there are statistically significant paths leading from prior self-concept to subsequent achievement and from prior achievement to subsequent selfconcept. The former supports the self-enhancement predictions, while the latter supports skilldevelopment predictions. This study focuses in demonstrating if prior academic achievement affects self-perception of academic ability, and thus affects the student’s self-evaluation of being qualified for pursuing a certain course in college.
Presently, there is a “positive psychology” revolution sweeping psychology, one that emphasizes a positive psychology that focuses on how healthy, normal and exceptional individuals can get the most from life. Positive self-beliefs are at the heart of this revolution and this is supported by the reciprocal effects model of self-concept and achievement. Aside from prior achievement, other factors affecting self-perception of academic ability may include gender, self rating of efficacy, and the so-called Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect. Eccles and Wigfield[3] and their colleagues have consistently found gender differences in selfperceptions of ability. Males have higher self-perceptions in math and sports, whereas females have higher self-perceptions of their ability in English (Eccles, 1983; Eccles et al., 1989; Wigfield et al., 1991)[3] . Marsh (1989)[3] also reports gender differences in his data on self-concept. Although he finds that the gender differences only account for 1% of the variance in selfconcept, he finds that males have higher self-concept scores for their self-ratings of physical appearance, physical ability, and math, whereas females have higher self-ratings for verbal and reading tasks and general school self-concept (Wigfield et al., forthcoming)[3] . Phillips and Zimmerman (1990)[3] also found that females had lower perceptions of their competence than males, although the gender difference did not emerge with third and fifth graders, only with ninth graders. Other studies, however, have found that gender differences in ability perceptions do emerge at earlier grades. For example, studies by Entwisle and Baker (1983) and Frey and Ruble (1987)[3] both found that even in early elementary age children, females were more likely to have lower self-perceptions of ability than males. Clearly, there is a need for more research into the nature of these differences as well as more programs to change school and classroom practices that can give rise to these gender differences (Bailey, 1993; Meece & Eccles, 1993; Kahle, Parker, Rennie, & Riley, 1993)[3] . This effect of gender may be through what is deemed to be socially comfortable. The study of Barbara Bradley Stonewater (1987) [3] supported the influence of gender differences. Her study was in two career related areas- traits, or personality,
and decision making style. Stonewater [3] discovered that men are considerably more likely to be realistic and Investigative types, and to a lesser extent, Artistic and Enterprising, and that women are clearly more likely to be Social and Conventional types and be External decision makers (Stonewater, 1987)[3] . Females will have high self perception in verbal competencies rather than physical competencies than males. In terms of course females are more or less likely to choose math or science classes and more likely to choose verbal classes compared to males. Self-efficacy is related to choice behaviour in terms of task choice, but it also has been related to career choices. For example, Betz and Hackett (1981, 1983; Hackett & Betz, 1981) [3] have shown that although there are structural and social influences on career choices, self-efficacy is an important mediator of these external influences and has a direct bearing on career choice. In addition, they suggest that the gender differences that emerge in vocational choices are due to differences in self-efficacy; males are efficacious for all careers, whereas females are only efficacious for careers traditionally held by women and feel inefficacious for careers traditionally held by men. Besides choice, self-efficacy has been related to the quantity of effort and the willingness to persist at tasks (Bandura & Cervone, 1983, 1986; Schunk, 1991b) [3] . Individuals with strong efficacy beliefs are more likely to exert effort in the face of difficulty and persist at a task when they have the requisite skills. Individuals who have weaker perceptions of efficacy are likely to be plagued by self-doubts and to give up easily when confronted with difficulties. However, there is some evidence that self-doubt (weak efficacy) may foster learning when students have not previously acquired the skills. As Bandura (1986) [3] notes, "Self-doubt creates the impetus for learning but hinders adept use of previously established skills" (p. 394). Salomon (1984)[3] found that students high in efficacy were more likely to be cognitively engaged in learning from media when the task was perceived as difficult, but they were likely to be less effortful and less cognitively engaged when the media were deemed easy. In the theoretical model underlying the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect (BFLPE), Marsh (1984)[6] hypothesized that students compare their own academic ability with the academic abilities of their peers and use this social comparison impression as one basis for forming their own academic self-concept. A negative BFLPE occurs when equally able students have lower academic self-concepts when they compare themselves to more able students and higher academic self-concepts when they compare themselves with less able students.
Risk Factors/Possible Confounding Variable Parental influence plays a large part in the decision making of a high school senior with regards to their academic direction. American studies indicate that parent gender plays a role in so far as the father has a stronger influence on their adolescents’ choice of college, while it is the mother who directs them into their choice of course. The educational attainment of the parents is also a factor if they push their child into college or in a particular course in college or not. Parents with college degrees expect their children to follow suit, while those parents without college degrees leave the choice up to their children. The socio-economic status of the student’s family is also directly related to the college choice and course taken by high school senior. Socio-economic factor is one of the major influences in the college choice and course in the Philippines. An average Filipino family income of P148000 (2003 National Statistics Office) will not have enough money left for food, shelter and other essentials if they will enroll their child to the country’s top universities: De La Salle University, P2,045/unit; Ateneo de Manila University, P2,517/unit; University of the Philippines P1000/unit; University of Santo Tomas P1,072/unit (July 22, 2008.How to Save for Kids’ College Education.The Philippine Daily Inquirer). Other non-specific social factors, such as developmental environment, peer influence and religion, may also play a very significant part in the decision of choosing a course in college. Another confounding variable may be the perceived capacity of a course to generate income. For example, since there is now high demand for nurses abroad, parents push their children to take up nursing in college in view of higher financial earnings. This is clearly summarized in an editorial in a newspaper (April 8, 2008.Education’s goal. The Philippine Daily Inquirer): “A graduating high school student now has to answer the question: What course should I take? Different people will take different approaches. One graduate says, “My father is a successful lawyer; probably I should take up law.” Another says, “I want to avoid mathematics and science subjects; I will study journalism or mass communication.” A third says, “Nurses make a lot of money in the United States and Europe; probably I should enroll in a nursing school.” There is a study wherein respondents ranked dreams and ambitions highest in their reasons for choosing a college course. Future employment advantages ranked second. The expectations of others (i.e., parents, relatives, friends) ranked as third among their grounds in choosing courses. A few others mentioned the affordability and popularity of college courses as additional considerations. However, a few more add that they lacked knowledge regarding available college courses, were undecided, or had no choice at all.
Conceptual Framework Choice of Course in College
Self-Perception
Other Confounding Variables 1. Gender 2. Socioeconomic status 3. Educational attainment of parents 4. Rank in class 5. Involvement in School activities 6. Major Influence
Table 2. Summary of Previous Researches. Research Paper
Researchers Marsh (2005)
Academic Self Concept: Beyond the Dustbowl Self-Descriptive Questionnaire
Marsh and Craven (1997) Marsh (1990)
Study Results The paper discussed that there is a largely untested assumption that the effect of prior self-concept on subsequent achievement is mediated by student characteristics such as increased conscientious effort, persistence in the face of difficulties, enhanced intrinsic motivation, academic choice, and course-work selection.
Recommendations There is a need to pursue further research into the psychological processes that mediate the positive effects of prior academic selfconcept on subsequent academic achievement.
Self-perceptions influence the way one acts and these acts in turn influence one’s self-perceptions. Prior achievement leads to enhanced self concept which corresponds to academic achievement The self-concept measure has domains for reading, math, and all school subjects. The social domain reflects individuals' perceptions of their competence in interactions with others. Proposed the reciprocal effects model of academic selfconcept. The research proved that there are statistically significant paths leading from prior self-concept to subsequent achievement and from prior achievement to subsequent self-concept.
Marsh (1989) Marsh and Yeung (1997a, 1997b) Marsh, Trautwein et al. (2005)
Marsh, 1990b; Marsh & Shavelson, 1985; Shavelson & Bolus, 1982 Marsh & O'Neill, 1984; Marsh & Shavelson, 1985 cf. Marsh, 1990a;
The rationale for the self-enhancement and skill development models is based on an either-or logic; either self-concept causes achievement or achievement causes self-concept. This either-or rationale was inappropriate from both theoretical and statistical perspectives. Reports gender differences in his data on self-concept. Achievement in a school subject is directly related to a higher self concept of the same subject and subsequent academic achievement in the course Academic interest may influence academic self-concept.
Their research suggests that self-concept is hierarchically structured with separate domains of academic competence fitting into a global academic self-concept, although they find that the strength of the hierarchical structure differs with age (less hierarchy in older adolescents and adults). Global self-esteem is an empirically separate dimension from self-perceptions of competence, although the two show positive moderate correlations. Self-concept influences future achievement and actual achievement shapes and constrains self-perceptions of
There is a clear need for more research exploring the psychological processes that mediate the effects of prior academic self-concept on subsequent achievement
Skaalvik & Hagtvet, 1990 Damon & Hart, 1988 Markus & Nurius, 1986; Marsh, 1984a, 1984b, 1990b Wylie, 1974, 1979, 1989
Harter, 1982; Wigfield & Karpathian, 1991 Wigfield and Karpathian (1991)
Harter's perceived competence scale SelfPerceptions Profile
Harter (1982)
Harter (1985b)
Harter (1983, 1985a) Harter (1985a, 1986)
Wigfield & Karpathian, 1991
competence. Moreover, there may be individual, developmental, and contextual differences in the nature of the relations between self-concept and achievement. Students' perceptions of competence are closely related to the more general research on children's conceptions of their personal identity. Students' perceptions of competence are closely related to their self-concept. An important issue in the research on self-concept is the domain specificity of individuals' perceptions of themselves. Much of the early research on self-concept was not very theoretically based, good definitions of the construct were not developed, and many researchers assumed that self-concept was a rather global construct Fairly young children (first and second graders) have selfperceptions of competence that are domain specific. This is distinguished as academic, social, and physical domains of competence The different findings between Harter and Marsh may be due to developmental differences in the students and reflect a general developmental movement from nonhierarchical to hierarchical back to non-hierarchical selfconcepts over time. Self-perceptions of competence and self-esteem are two theoretically and empirically distinct constructs. The academic domains concern students' perceptions of competence at school tasks. Revised version of “Harter’s Perceived Competence Scale” which now has separate scales for relationships with parents and relationships with peers/close friends, romantic relations with others, and perceptions of competence at physical activities like sports as well as general perceptions of physical attractiveness/appearance. Research suggests that these are empirically separate domains. Factor analysis of the domains from her student perceptions profile support a non-hierarchical model of the various domains. Global self-esteem is an empirically separate dimension from self-perceptions of competence, although the two show positive moderate correlations. Suggested that global self-esteem is related to both selfperceptions of competence in different domains and the Finds that the differences account for 1% of importance thegender individual assigns only to those domains the variance in self-concept, he finds that males have higher self-concept scores for their self-ratings of physical appearance, physical ability, and math, whereas females have higher self-ratings for verbal and reading tasks and general school self-concept.
Most of the research has been cross-sectional and there is a need for longitudinal research to examine the developmental trends and the suggested explanation of the findings.
Of the view that it is relatively fruitless to continue to pursue the general question of which causes which: achievement determines self-concept or self-concept determines achievement.
William James (1890) Steele (1988)
Frey & Ruble, 1987; Harter, 1985a; Stipek, 1981, 1984; Weisz, 1983 Phillips & Zimmerman, 1990 Assor and Connell (1992)
Assor and Connell (1992)
Phillips & Zimmerman, 1990
Phillips (1984, 1987; Phillips & Zimmerman, 1990)
Theory that self-esteem was a ratio between one's "successes" and one's “pretensions" and that self-esteem would be higher to the extent that individuals were able to succeed in meeting all their goals. Minority students, particularly type African Americans, use the “discounting” strategy by lowering their value for academic domains where they have lower perceptions of academic competence in order to affirm their self-worth and self-esteem. The incongruence in the early grades occurs because the younger students have fairly high self-perceptions of competence. Their perceptions then become more modest as they move into the later grades. Younger students have higher self perception of competence, making them more reliable with other objective assessments. Surveys of relevant research findings clearly demonstrate that, beginning in the third and fourth grade and extending through high school, there is no empirical justification for viewing self-report appraisals of academic competence and efficacy as invalid measures of performance affecting self-appraisals. There may be some positive advantages for having "inaccurate" self-perceptions of competence when they are higher than should be expected given actual performance. They report that these "inflated" self-reports actually are related to positive performance outcomes 2 years later in a longitudinal study of high school students. Students who have inaccurate self-perceptions that are lower than they should be (deflated self-assessments) perform at much lower levels. High achieving under-estimators were most likely to hold very low expectations for future success, to believe that their parents and teachers had low perceptions of them, to be more anxious, and to be less willing to try hard and persist on academic tasks Examined three types of students in terms of their accuracy of competence perceptions. In her studies, she used samples of only high-achieving third-, fifth-, and ninth-grade students (defined in terms of a combination of standardized test scores and teacher ratings), but still found that there are over-estimators (higher perceptions of competence than warranted by actual achievement), accurate perceivers (congruence between perceptions and
Developmental differences may be responsible for the different results of Steele (1988) and Marsh (1986) , but clearly more research is needed on the relations between self-perceptions of competence and global selfesteem.
Byrne, 1984; Caslyn & Kenny, 1977; Hansford & Hattie, 1982; Scheirer & Kraut, 1979, Shavelson et al. (1976), Byrne (1984)
Shavelson et al. (1976) Eccles, 1983; Eccles et al., 1989; Wigfield et al., 1991). Phillips and Zimmerman (1990) Entwisle and Baker (1983) and Frey and Ruble (1987) Bailey, 1993; Meece & Eccles, 1993; Kahle, Parker, Rennie, & Riley, 1993 Barbara Bradley Stonewater (1987)
Hackett & Betz, 1981, 1983
achievement), and under-estimators (lower perceptions than warranted by actual achievement). Achievement determines self-concept.
Defined self-concept to be a person’s self-perceptions that are formed through experience with and interpretations of one’s environment. Noted that much of the interest in selfconcept/achievement relation stems from the belief that academic self-concept has motivational properties such that changes in academic self-concept will lead to changes in subsequent academic achievement. Prior academic accomplishments are important in the formation of subsequent academic self-concept. Consistently found gender differences in self-perceptions of ability. Males have higher self-perceptions in math and sports, whereas females have higher self-perceptions of their ability in English. Found that females had lower perceptions of their competence than males, although the gender difference did not emerge with third and fifth graders, only with ninth graders. Both studies establish that even in early elementary age children, females were more likely to have lower selfperceptions of ability than males. There is a need for more research into the nature of these differences as well as more programs to change school and classroom practices that can give rise to these gender differences. The study of supported the influence of gender differences. Her study was in two career related areastraits, or personality, and decision making style. Stonewater discovered that men are considerably more likely to be realistic and Investigative types, and to a lesser extent, Artistic and Enterprising, and that woman are clearly more likely to be Social and Conventional types and be External decision makers. Females will have high self perception in verbal competencies rather than physical competencies than males. In terms of course females are more or less likely to choose math or science classes and more likely to choose verbal classes compared to males Shown that although there are structural and social influences on career choices, self-efficacy is an important mediator of these external influences and has a direct bearing on career choice. In addition, they suggest that the gender differences that emerge in vocational choices are
Bandura & Cervone, 1983, 1986; Schunk, 1991b
Bandura (1986) Salomon (1984)
due to differences in self-efficacy; males are efficacious for all careers, whereas females are only efficacious for careers traditionally held by women and feel inefficacious for careers traditionally held by men. Besides choice, self-efficacy has been related to the quantity of effort and the willingness to persist at tasks. Individuals with strong efficacy beliefs are more likely to exert effort in the face of difficulty and persist at a task when they have the requisite skills. Individuals who have weaker perceptions of efficacy are likely to be plagued by self-doubts and to give up easily when confronted with difficulties. Notes, "Self-doubt creates the impetus for learning but hinders adept use of previously established skills" (p. 394) Found that students high in efficacy were more likely to be cognitively engaged in learning from media when the task was perceived as difficult, but they were likely to be less effortful and less cognitively engaged when the media were deemed easy.
CHAPTER II OBJECTIVES General Objective To determine if there is a relationship between self-perception and choice of course in college among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009.
Specific Objectives: 1. To determine self-perception among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009. 2. To determine the choice of course in college of the graduating students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009. 3. To determine factors affecting choice of course in college among the graduating students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009. 4. To determine which factors affect self-perception among the graduating students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY RESEARCH DESIGN The study employed a cross-sectional type of research design. Cross-sectional studies (also known as Cross-sectional analysis) form a class of research methods that involve observation of some subset of a population of items all at the same time, in which, groups can be compared at different ages with respect of independent variables, such as IQ and memory. The fundamental difference between cross-sectional and longitudinal studies is that cross-sectional studies take place at a single point in time and that a longitudinal study involves a series of measurements taken over a period of time. Cross-sectional analysis studies the relationship between different variables at a point in time (for instance, the relationship between income, locality, and personal expenditure). This is primarily used to determine prevalence. Cross sectional studies are also used to infer causation. It is relatively quick and can study multiple outcomes. However, a cross-sectional study does not themselves differentiate between cause and effect or the sequence of events. Study Population The study population was composed of graduating students of Dasmariñas National High School for the school year 2008-2009. Choosing this study population was based on the fact that it is precisely at the graduating level (i.e. 4th year high school) wherein high school students finalize their decision on what course to take in college. Additionally, Dasmariñas National High School provides the most convenient source of the chosen population for this study. This school accepts students from all levels of the socio-economic hierarchy and from both gender, as well; thus, providing for lesser limitations for the study. Contact with the concerned offices of this school was also readily available. Excluded in the study were the students who have been subject to suspension or any disciplinary action that may result to a delay of at least a year in high school. Operational Definitions of Variables Dependent Variable Choice of Course
Choice of course refers to the course in college which is most likely be selected by graduating students in accordance to their self-perception. In this study, choice of course is categorized into health and non-health courses. Independent Variable Self-Perception Self-perceptions of competence or ability are students' self-evaluative judgments about their ability to accomplish certain tasks. Self-Perception of the students was evaluated according to different parameters, or what is called the Measure of Association. They are grouped into nine subscales, as follows: Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, Athletic Competence, Physical Appearance, Job Competence, Romantic Appeal, Behavioral Conduct, Close Friendship, and Self Worth. Each student was asked to answer a standard questionnaire which tested them on each of the measures of association. Their answers were graded from 1 to 4, depending on the box they checked describing how they felt towards a given situation. For each measure of association value of 1 correlates to a low score and a value of 4 is the highest. Mean self-perception score in each subscale for each respondent is nominally classified into two general categories: low (mean score < 2.5) and high (mean score > 2.5). Other Variables Gender Gender in this study refers to sex, either Male or Female. Socio-Economic Factors Socioeconomic factors refer to the annual average family income of the respondents. Respondent’s economic status was classified by using the following scales: Above Average – annual family income of > 500,000.00; Average – 100, 000.00 – 500,000.00; Below Average – 50,000.00 – 100,000.00; and Poor – < 50,000.00. Involvement in School Activities The respondents’ extent of involvement in school activities is measured by determining the number of organizations and school competitions the students have participated in. Student’s organizational involvement was classified using the following scale: 0 – no organization; 1 – 1 organization; 2 – 2 organizations; 3 – 3 or more organizations. Similarly, the respondent’s
participation in any scholastic competitions was defined by the following scale: 0 – no competition; 1 – 1 competition; 2 – 2 competitions; 3 – 3 or more competitions. Educational Attainment of Parents The educational attainment of parent refers to the highest academic degree achieved by the parents. This is categorized into: Elementary Level, High School Level, and College Level. Rank in Class Class rank refers to the latest academic standing of the student in the graduating batch, as determined by his/her latest general weighted average. It is operationally defined using the following grading scale: 90 – superior. Major Influence This refers to the person who had the most influence on the student’s decision-making in choosing a course in college. Choices for this variable are included in the self-administered questionnaire, and these are: Self, parents, siblings, aunt/uncle, grandparents, cousins, peers/friends, and teachers. Procedure to be followed 1. Formulate the research question(s) a. Formulate the research problem. b. Formulate the research hypothesis. c. Define the dependent, independent, and confounding variables. d. Formulate the objectives. e. Formulate the conceptual framework. 2. Choose the sample population a. Choose the needed population for the study (i.e. graduating high school students). b. Choose the most accessible sample population. c. Establish contact with the sample population. 3. Research the most applicable method for analyzing the sample population a. Research on the tools used by related literature. b. Assess credibility of the tool.
c. Assess availability of the tool. 4. Implement the method a. Acquire the tool. b. Reproduce the tool according to the number of respondents. c. Consider making changes to make the tool more applicable for the respondents (e.g. translation to Filipino). 5. Collect the data a. Identify respondents’ self-perception. b. Identify the respondents’ choice of course. c. Determine other pertinent information to identify confounding variables and to eliminate biases. 6. Analyze the data a. Test if there is significant relationship between the dependent and independent variables. b. Test for existence of significant relationship between the dependent variable and other confounding variables. c. Test for reliability of results. Schematic Diagram of the Research Design The research design analyzed the information using the following schematic diagram, guided by the Cross-Sectional type of research design: ED eD N
S Ed ed
Legend: N S D d E e
General Population Graduating Students of Dasmariñas National High School S.Y. 2008-2009 Choice of Course: Health-related Choice of Course: Non-health-related Good Self Perception of Ability Poor Self Perception of Ability
The information will be tabulated as follows: Choice of Course Health Non-Health High Self-Perception Profile Score Low Self-Perception Profile Score
Total
ED A
Ed B
A+B
eD C
ed D
C+D
A+C
B+D
A+B+C+D
Total
The data was analyzed using the Prevalence Ratio. Prevalence ratio relates the prevalence of the disease (health-related choice of course) among the exposed (high self-perception profile) to the prevalence of the disease among the unexposed (poor self-perception). This is expressed in the following formula: Prevalence of the disease among the exposed A/A+B Prevalence Ratio = -------------------------------------------------------------------- = ----------Prevalence of the disease among the unexposed C/C+D
If the Prevalence Ratio is equal to 1, then there is no association between the dependent and independent variable. Values greater or lower than 1 signify positive association between the two. Biases/Limitations Biases of the study may be reflected on different aspects. For one, the identified variable socio-economic factors may have significant influence on the choice of course, as discussed in the review of literature. The study may somehow overlook this confounding variable by having all samples taken from a single school, with the assumption that the population of the same school are of homogenous economic status. Nonetheless, socio-economic details will be taken from the school records and the respondents will be classified to according to annual average income: Elite, Average, and Poor. This information will be used in order to identify if socio-economic factors affects choice of course more significantly than do self-perception, thus eliminating the bias.
Another bias will also include teacher influence, either on choice of course, self-perception or both. The sample population is divided into sections, in accordance with their academic achievements. High achievers are in higher sections while low achievers are in lower sections. Teachers assigned to higher sections may be different with those assigned to lower sections. In this case, teacher influence will not be deemed homogenous for the respondents. To minimize this bias, respondents from the higher section, having the same set of mentors, will be analyzed separately from the lower section. This will somehow set a relative homogeneity among the sample population being analyzed. Also, the study will try to include questions pertaining to how the students perceive their teachers: very good, good, average, below average. This will allow for a more precise elimination of this bias. Assigned tasks and opportunities given may also differ according to the academic achievement of the student. High achievers may be given more assigned tasks, such as holding a student council office or getting involved in the school official paper. Lower sections, on the other hand, may not be too involved in such co-curricular activities because they may be encouraged to focus on their studies first. This may have great impact on self-perception. Opportunities given may also be different for each student. High achievers are given opportunity to compete for quiz bees, while lower sections may be more involved in sports. These two biases may be eliminated by including questions such as: “What school activities are you involved in?” and “What competitions have you been engaged in?” Then, respondents will have to be categorized accordingly, allowing for the elimination of the bias. SAMPLING Sampling Design The sampling method employed was random sampling in order to eliminate selection bias. The previous sampling design was stratified random sampling, which was altered in the actual data collection due to the differing availability of the students who were willing to participate in the study, and for the convenience of the facilitators who distributed the questionnaires, as well. Sample Size The sample size was computed based on the information from the previous study conducted by Seda Ertac (2006)[7] , entitled Essays on Self-Perception and Information Revelation. This is an analytic dissertation that experimentally determined the effects of differing self-perception on the
actual performance of the students. The results showed that samples with low self-perception on academics also have low actual performance. Only 4.26% of those with low self-perception (negative exposure) achieved a top performance (positive disease). On the other hand, 56.67% of samples with high self-perception (positive exposure) achieved top actual performance (positive disease). These are the values utilized in this paper to compute for the sample size. The confidence level (1 – α) used is 99.9% and the power (1 – β) is set to 99.9%, as well.
Variable p1 p2 alpha, α beta, β
Definition estimated prevalence of the disease among the exposed estimated prevalence of the disease among the unexposed Probability of committing type I error Probability of committing a type II error
Value 56.67% 4.26% 0.10% 0.10%
Using the values stated above, the sample size was then computed using StatCalc.exe. The following information is generated:
The sample size is estimated to be 112, in order to arrive at a 99.9% confidence level and 99.9% power.
DATA COLLECTION Method of Data Collection Two methods of collection are employed in the study: self-administered questionnaire and review of records. Source of Data Self-perception – measured using the SPPA. The Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA) is a 45-item self-report instrument containing nine subscales, each containing five items. The use of a standard data collection tool minimizes bias/influences by interviewerrespondent relationship. This method is also efficient, standardized and provides anonymity. The Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA), developed by Harter (1988), is a 45-item self-report instrument containing nine subscales, each containing five items. Eight subscales are designed to measure self-perceptions in relation to specific areas of ones life. These subscales include: scholastic competence; athletic competence; social acceptance; physical appearance; job competence; close friendship; romantic appeal; and behavioral conduct. One is designed to measure perception of self in general: global self-worth. Items are structured in a 4-point structured-alternative format to offset socially desirable responding. The SPPA can be administered either individually or in groups. In the SPPA, adolescents are presented with a description of two types of teenagers and then asked to identify which one of the two most resembles them. They then determine whether the behavior described is really true, or just sort of true for them. Although the SPPA lacks a national norm sample and limited external validation research, it is grounded in a solid theoretical base and may quickly prove to be an important and well-established self-concept measure for adolescents. Choice of Course, Gender, Involvement in School Activities, Major Influence – obtained through primary source of data using self-administered questionnaire. This method will provide the most precise information, eliminating external factors that may temporally alter the answer of the respondent, such as those that could arise during an interview. Also, the subjective nature of these data requires individualized input of the information. The anonymity of the method will also facilitate a more honest answer from the samples. The efficiency and standardized results obtained in self-administered questionnaire provide additional salient advantage for selecting this method.
Annual average income, Parents’ educational attainment, Rank in class – acquired through the use of review of records, a secondary source of data. This method is most efficient in providing the most accurate information for these variables. School records will show the exact class rank that is reasonably and analytically obtained through accumulated academic performance of each respondent. Annual average income and parents’ educational attainment are data that were obtained by the school administration directly from the parents. Although these variables will also be asked from the samples, review of records may provide more reliable data and serves as a means to counter-check the answers obtained from the self-administered questionnaires. This ensures a more precise estimate of the socio-economic status and an exact classification of parents according to educational attainment. Misclassification bias will then be eliminated. METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS Variables were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive Statistics Measures of Disease Frequency; Proportions Students with Global Self-Worth Score > 2.5 Students with High Global Self-Worth = --------------------------------------------------------------- x 100 Total Number of Participants Students with Global Self-Worth Score < 2.5 Students with Low Global Self-Worth = ---------------------------------------------------------------- x 100 Total Number of Participants
Students with Health-Related Course Choice =
Students with Health Related Course ------------------------------------------------------ x 100 Total Number of Participants
Students with Non-Health Related Course Students with Non-Health-Related Course Choice = ------------------------------------------------ x 100 Total Number of Participants Measure of Central Tendency Mean was computed to measure the central tendency of the self-perception profile. The mean global self-worth scores and the mean self-perception scores will be obtained. The subscale means were used to systematically differentiate each subscale result across samples. The
mean was also utilized to determine the average among the different groups (gender, family income, class rank) to systematically establish the differences. For the choice of course, mode will be used in order to determine the most frequent type of course (health or non-health related) the samples have chosen. Measure of Dispersion Standard deviation was computed as a measure of dispersion for the self-perception profile scores. Measure of Association The measure of association between self-perception profile score and choice of course was computed, as well. Using a cross-sectional schematic diagram, the data was analyzed using the Prevalence Ratio. Prevalence ratio relates the prevalence of the disease (health-related choice of course) among the exposed (high self-perception profile) to the prevalence of the disease among the unexposed (poor self-perception). This is expressed in the following formula: Prevalence of the disease among the exposed A/A+B Prevalence Ratio = -------------------------------------------------------------------- = ----------Prevalence of the disease among the unexposed C/C+D where: (+) disease – students with health-related course (+) exposure – students with high self-perception profile score/global self-worth (-) exposure – students with low self-perception profile score/global self-worth If the Prevalence Ratio is equal to 1, then there is no association between the dependent and independent variable. Values greater or lower than 1 signify positive association between the two. Inferential Statistics Null Hypothesis There is no significant relationship between the self perception and the choice of course in college among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 20082009 when grouped according to gender, class rank and socio-economic status.
Alternative Hypothesis There is significant relationship between the self perception and the choice of course in college among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009 when grouped according to gender, class rank and socio-economic status. Hypothesis Testing Chi square test, ANOVA Interpretation of Data Aside from the Prevalence Ratio, interpretation of data will be based on the critical value/p-value computed for hypothesis testing: -
if p-value is less than the confidence level (p-value < α) – the test is significant; null hypothesis should be rejected.
-
If p-value is greater than the confidence level (p-value > α) – the test is not significant; null hypothesis should be accepted.
Variables
Scale of Measurement
Self-Perception Profile (SPP) Score
Ratio, Nominal (high/low)
Choice of Course
Nominal
Association between SPP score and choice of course
Age
Ratio
Gender
Nominal
Descriptive Statistics Frequency measure - Proportion Measure of Central Tendency - Mean Measure of Dispersion - Standard Deviation Frequency measure - Proportion Measure of Central Tendency - Mode Measure of Dispersion - Standard Deviation Measure of Association - Prevalence Ratio Frequency measure - Proportion Measure of Central Tendency - Mean Measure of Dispersion - Range Frequency Measure - Proportion
Inferential Statistics
Hypothesis Test - Chi square - ANOVA
Annual Average Income
Ordinal
Parent’s Educational Attainment
Ordinal
Rank in Class
Ordinal
No. of Organizations Involved In No. of Competitions Involved In Association between SPP score and other factors Association between choice of course and other factors
Ordinal Ordinal
Frequency Measure - Proportion Measure of Central Tendency - Mean Frequency Measure - Proportion Measure of Central Tendency - Mode Frequency Measure - Proportion Frequency Measure - Proportion Frequency Measure - Proportion Hypothesis Test - Chi square Hypothesis Test - Chi square
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS This study took into consideration all ethical principles to the conduct of the research. All research involving human participants should be conducted in accordance with four basic ethical principles namely: respect for person, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. Respect for person include at least two other fundamental ethical considerations such as autonomy and protection. Autonomy is the right of every person for self-determination and this freedom for self-governance should be treated with respect. In every study, a subject has the right to refuse or to withdraw his participation in the research. That particular decision of the subject should be respected. This problem can be addressed by discussing properly with the participants the objectives and methods of the research; expected duration of subject’s participation; any foreseeable risks of discomfort the participant may experience as a result of the research; the benefits to the participant or others that may reasonably be expected from the research; and other information significant to the study. The researcher should assure the participants of the safety, privacy and confidentiality of the information that they are going to disclose. In this manner the researcher can gain the trust of the subjects. After discussing with the participants the important points of the study, the researcher should obtain the informed consent of the participants. The informed consent will discuss issues on competence, disclosure, understanding, voluntariness and authorization. If the aforementioned approaches
failed, the researcher might consider an extra, separate study of the non-respondents in order to identify to what extent they differ from respondents or may include additional people in the sample so that non-respondents can be replaced. The issue of protection may not be considered in the study since it only involves those with impaired or diminished autonomy. The subjects in this research study are graduating high school students, thus, they somehow are already capable of making rational decision. Beneficence is the ethical obligation to maximize possible benefits and to minimize possible harms. The study can offer a lot of benefits to the respondents. Through this study, the students could recognize the factors that influence their decision making as to what course they are going to take. They could also evaluate their positive traits and use these traits in choosing the career that they are most likely to excel. The result of the study could also aid the school administration in designing programs that will hopefully make the students better equipped and more ready for college. Non-maleficence holds a central position in the tradition of medical ethics and guards against avoidable harm to research participants. The researchers foresee no harm to the research participant in the conduct of the study. If there is any, this would be minimal and the benefits will still outweigh the harm. The study utilizes the widely used Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents questionnaires (Harper, 1992) that guarantees minimized bias and lessened harm . No invasive procedure was performed in the study and purely self-administered questionnaires will be used to obtain the needed data. Justice requires that cases considered to be alike be treated alike, and that cases considered to be different be treated in ways that acknowledge the difference. In the study, the participants were representative of the population: both gender (male and female) were considered, all class sections were sampled, and subjects were of homogenous economic status and that poor, average and elite members of the society were represented well. The right to privacy of the subjects was highly regarded. All disclosed information was kept confidential and was used solely for the fulfillment of the objectives mentioned in the study.
CHAPTER IV RESULTS DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY POPULATION Although ages do not vary much and do not have much significance (since the respondents are taken from the same year level), majority of the study population are 16 years old, which is also the average age of the respondents. Females, additionally, comprise most of the respondents in the study (72%, 85/118). Descriptive analysis of the different variables that characterize the study population showed the following results:
Majority of the subjects (46/104, 44.2%) belong to the average group in terms of academic performance.
Majority of the respondents (59/118) are not involved in any school organization.
Majority of the subjects (79/118, 66.9%) are not involved in any competition.
Majority (61/118, 51.7%) of the respondents’ mothers have reached college.
Majority of the respondent’s father (64/118, 54.2%) have reached college as their highest level of education.
Majority of the respondents (39.8%) have average annual family income.
In analyzing the dependent and independent variables, the following results are obtained:
Majority of the respondents (88/118, 74.6%) chose a non-health-related course.
Majority of the respondents (75/118, 63.6%) considered themselves as the main deciding body in choosing what course to take in college.
For self-perception, the following are generalized:
With the exception of Romantic Appeal and Athletic Competence, average self-perception scores are above 2.5. Thus, high self-perception scores are obtained for these subscales.
The highest average self-perception score is obtained for the subscale Close Friendship.
Students with non-health-related choice of course obtained higher selfperception scores.
Male respondents have higher self-perception scores.
Students with 2 or more organizations obtain higher self-perception scores.
Lowest scores are obtained in almost all subscales for those with elementarygraduate parents
Those ranked above average obtained highest scores in majority of the subscales.
1. Respondents’ Profile: Age, Gender Table 3 shows the age of the students who participated in the study. Being in the same year level, their ages do not vary much (Range = 2). Mean age is 16. 90.7% of the respondents are 15 and 16 years of age, while only a small portion (9.3%) are aged 17 years old. Figure 1 is a pie graph representation of the data, clearly showing that most of the respondents are 16 year olds. Table 3. Frequency Distribution of Age: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Age
Frequency
Percent
Cumulative Percent
15
51
43.2
43.2
16
56
47.5
90.7
17
11
9.3
100
118
100
Total
60 50 40 15 30
16 17
20 10 0
Figure 1. Histogram of the Frequency Distribution of Age: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Table 4 and figure 2, on the other hand, illustrate the distribution of gender among the respondents. Among the 118 respondents, 85 (72%) are female. Thus, there are more females who participated in the study.
Table 4. Gender: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Gender
Frequency
Percent
Cumulative Percent
male
33
28
28
female
85
72
100
Total
118
100
Figure 2. Pie Graph of Gender: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
2. Independent Variable Self-Perception of the students was evaluated according to different parameters, or what is called the Measure of Association. They are grouped into nine subscales, as follows: Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, Athletic Competence, Physical Appearance, Job Competence, Romantic Appeal, Behavioral Conduct, Close Friendship, and Self Worth. Each student was asked to answer a standard questionnaire which tested them on each of the measures of association. Their answers were graded from 1 to 4, depending on the box they checked describing how they felt towards a given situation. For each measure of association value of 1 correlates to a low score and a value of 4 is the highest. Table 5. Self-Perception Scores: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008 -2009. Self-Perception Scores in 9 Subscales Scholastic Competence
Mean 2.5203
Std. Deviation .49208
Social Acceptance Athletic Competence
2.7881 2.2735
.57545 .58933
Physical Appearance Job Competence
2.6017 2.5398
.60227 .49288
Romantic Appeal Behavioral Conduct
2.3907 2.6889
.57173 .51223
Close Friendship Self-Worth
2.8203 2.7792
.62506 .53021
3 scholastic competence average
2.5
social acceptance average
2
athletic competence average physical appearance average
1.5
job competence average romantic appeal average
1
behavioral conduct average
0.5
close friendship average self-worth average
0 Mean
Std. Deviation
Figure 3. Self-Perception Scores, Over-all Mean and Standard Deviation: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Table 5 and Figure 3 show the average response and standard deviation of all the students surveyed. The highest average self-perception score is obtained for the Close Friendship Subscale, followed by Social Acceptance, which is explained by the fact that these two subscales are expectedly related to each other. However, Close Friendship scores also show the most varied results, having a standard deviation of 0.62506. The lowest average score is attained in the Athletic Competence Subscale. The respondents were grouped according to various factors or variables that may affect their Self-Perception Profile. The different variables are: Gender, Age, Choice of Course, Mother and Father’s educational attainment, School Activities Participated In (Number of Organizations Involved In and Number of Competitions Involved In), Income, Class rank, and lastly, Over-All Influence. The tables that follow show the average (mean) of the respondents according to each variable. a. Age Table 6. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Age: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Scholastic Competence Social Acceptance
15 2.59 2.84
Age 16 2.48 2.81
17 2.5 2.36
Athletic Competence Physical Appearance
2.32 2.5
2.25 2.68
2.16 2.32
Job Competence Romantic Appeal Behavioral Conduct Close Friendship
2.53 2.36 2.66 2.9
2.56 2.35 2.71 2.83
2.66 2.6 3.08 2.36
Self-Worth
2.77
2.8
2.6
Self-Perception Subscales
Age
17 Self-Worth Close Friendship Behavioral Conduct Romantic Appeal Job Competence Physical Appearance Athletic Competence Social Acceptance Scholastic Competence
16
15
0
1
2
3
4
Mean Self-Perception Score
Figure 4. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Age: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
As shown by the table and graph (Table 6 and Figure 4), highest mean scores in 5 subscales, namely, Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, Athletic Competence, Romantic Appeal and Close Friendship are observed among the 15-year olds. Physical Appearance and SelfWorth scores, on the other hand, are highest for the aged 16, while highest scores in Behavioral Conduct and Job Competence are obtained for the eldest age-group (17-year olds). Although these observations can be noted, the differences in the mean scores for each age group are very small and may be considered to be of minor significance. b. Gender Table 7. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Gender: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Self-Perception Subscales
Gender Female
Male 2.55
2.51
Social Acceptance
2.79
2.79
Athletic Competence Physical Appearance
2.48
2.19
2.67
2.58
Job Competence
2.56 2.61
2.53 2.31
Scholastic Competence
Romantic Appeal Behavioral Conduct
2.61
2.72
Close Friendship
2.75
2.85
Self-Worth
2.89
2.74
scholastic competence average
3
social acceptance average
2.5
athletic competence average
2
physical appearance average 1.5
job competence average
1
romantic appeal average behavioral conduct average
0.5
close friendship average
0 Male
Female
self-worth average
Figure 5. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Gender: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
As shown in table 7 and figure 5, higher average self-perception scores are observed from the male respondents for the Scholastic Competence, Athletic Competence, Physical Appearance, Job Competence, Romantic Appeal and Self-Worth subscales. Female subjects, on the other hand, obtained higher average scores for Behavioral Conduct and Close Friendship subscales. Both groups obtained an equal average score for Social Acceptance. c. Choice of Course Table 8. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Choice of Course: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Self-Perception Subscales Scholastic Competence
Choice of Course (1st choice) non-health health related related course course 2.55 2.43
Social Acceptance
2.80
2.74
Athletic Competence
2.33
2.09
Physical Appearance
2.61
2.59
Job Competence
2.55
2.50
Romantic Appeal
2.42
2.31
Behavioral Conduct
2.68
2.72
Close Friendship
2.85
2.74
Self-Worth
2.80
2.71
scholastic competence average
3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0
social acceptance average athletic competence average physical appearance average job competence average romantic appeal average non-health related course
health related course
behavioral conduct average close friendship average self-worth average
Figure 6. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Choice of Course: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Table 8 and figure 6 show the mean self-perception scores of respondents when grouped according to choice of course. Mean self-perception scores are higher for those students who chose a non-health-related course for all the subscales, except for Behavioral Conduct. For those with a non-health-related course choice, the highest score is obtained from Close Friendship (2.85), followed by Social Acceptance (2.80) and Self-Worth (2.80), while the lowest score is observed in Athletic Competence (2.33). Students with health-related course choice obtained highest score in Social Acceptance (2.74) and Close Friendship (2.74) subscales, followed by Behavioral Conduct (2.72), while having the lowest score in Athletic Competence, as well (2.09). d. Over-all Influence for the Choice of Course Table 9. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Over-all Influence for Choice of Course: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Self-Perception Subscales Scholastic Competence Social Acceptance Athletic Competence Physical Appearance Job Competence Romantic Appeal Behavioral Conduct Close Friendship Self-Worth
Over-all Influence grandparents uncles/aunts 3.00 2.00
self 2.59
parents 2.43
siblings 2.60
cousins 2.20
teachers 2.00
2.84
2.68
2.68
3.20
2.27 2.55
2.35 2.70
2.04 2.60
3.00 2.60
2.60
2.40
3.40
1.95 2.70
2.60 2.20
1.60 3.20
2.57 2.35
2.47 2.48
2.52 2.32
3.40 2.80
2.45
2.50 3.40
2.20 2.80
2.73 2.85
2.68 2.77
2.44 2.80
2.60 3.00
2.35 2.85
2.40 2.20
2.60 2.60
2.75
2.81
2.96
3.20
2.80
2.80
2.60
3.5
scholastic competence average
3
social acceptance average
2.5
athletic competence average
2
physical appearance average
1.5
job competence average
1
romantic appeal average behavioral conduct average
0.5
close friendship average
0 self
siblings
uncles/aunts
teachers
self-worth average
Figure 7. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Over-all Influence for Choice of Course: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Table 9 and Figure 5 show that highest mean scores for Scholastic Competence, Athletic Competence, Job Competence, Close Friendship and Self-Worth are obtained for those
students influenced by their grandparents. Those with highest mean score for Social Acceptance are influenced by their teachers, while those who have been influenced by their own decision-making obtained the highest mean scores in Behavioral Conduct. Those influenced by parents and aunts/uncles obtained the highest mean score for Physical Appearance, while those influenced by cousins have the highest score for Romantic Appeal subscale. e. Annual Average Family Income Table 10. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Average Annual Family Income: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Annual Average Family Income* Self-Perception Subscales Scholastic Competence
above average 2.66
2.61
below average 2.47
poor 2.24
average
Social Acceptance
2.92
2.83
2.91
2.50
Athletic Competence
2.36
2.35
2.26
2.05
Physical Appearance
2.57
2.57
2.74
2.59
Job Competence
2.56
2.50
2.78
2.43
Romantic Appeal
2.46
2.33
2.62
2.26
Behavioral Conduct
2.79
2.69
2.69
2.56
Close Friendship Self-Worth
2.54
2.98
3.06
2.67
2.81
2.86
2.91
2.50
* Above Average – annual family income of > 500,000.00; Average – 100, 000.00 – 500,000.00; Below Average – 50,000.00 – 100,000.00; and Poor – < 50,000.00
scholastic competence average 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0
social acceptance average athletic competence average physical appearance average job competence average romantic appeal average above average
average
below average
poor
behavioral conduct average close friendship average self-worth average
Figure 8. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Annual Average Income: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Table 10 and figure 8 demonstrate the mean self-perception scores of students grouped according to annual average income. Students with above average family income have the highest mean scores for Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, Athletic Competence, and
Behavioral Conduct subscales. Highest mean scores for the rest of the subscales are obtained by those with below average family income. f. Involvement in School Activities The next two tables and figures show the mean self-perception scores of the respondents when they are grouped according to extent of involvement in school activities. Extent of involvement in school activities is measured by the number of organizations (table 11, figure 9) and by the number of competitions the respondents’ are involved in (table 12, figure 10). Table 11. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Number of Organizations Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Number of organizations involved in*
Self-Perception Subscales 0
1
2
3
Scholastic Competence Social Acceptance
2.54
2.43
2.69
2.54
2.62
2.94
3.02
2.94
Athletic Competence Physical Appearance
2.27
2.34
2.15
2.22
2.62
2.60
2.65
2.46
Job Competence Romantic Appeal
2.48
2.52
2.87
2.58
2.34
2.49
2.32
2.40
Behavioral Conduct Close Friendship
2.74
2.55
2.75
2.77
2.84
2.75
3.15
2.65
Self-Worth
2.73
2.79
3.02
2.77
* 0 – no organization; 1 – 1 organization; 2 – 2 organizations; 3 – 3 or more organizations
3.5 3 scholastic competence average
2.5
social acceptance average athletic competence average
2
physical appearance average job competence average
1.5
romantic appeal average behavioral conduct average
1
close friendship average self-worth average
0.5 0 0
1
2
3
Figure 9. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Number of Organizations Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Table 11 and figure 9 show that those involved in 2 school organizations obtained the highest mean scores in all of the subscales, except for Behavioral Conduct, in which the highest score is obtained by those with 3 or more organizational involvement.
Table 12. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Number of Competitions Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Self-Perception Subscales
Number of competitions involved in* 1 2 3
0
Scholastic Competence Social Acceptance
2.56 2.76
2.31 2.81
2.93 2.93
2.51 2.94
Athletic Competence Physical Appearance
2.32 2.61 2.54
2.14 2.52 2.56
2.47 2.60 2.57
2.14 2.80 2.40
2.41 2.65
2.34 2.72
2.23 2.80
2.46 2.89
2.75 2.76
2.89 2.78
2.97 3.03
3.26 2.80
Job Competence Romantic Appeal Behavioral Conduct Close Friendship Self-Worth
* 0 – no competition; 1 – 1 competition; 2 – 2 competitions; 3 – 3 or more competitions
3.5
scholastic competence average
3
social acceptance average
2.5
athletic competence average
2
physical appearance average
1.5
job competence average
1
romantic appeal average behavioral conduct average
0.5
close friendship average
0 0
1
2
3
self-worth average
Figure 10. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Number of Competitions Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Table 12 and figure 10 illustrate that students with 2 competitions involved in similarly obtained the highest scores for almost all of the subscales, except for Romantic Appeal, Behavioral Conduct and Close Friendship – the highest scores of which are obtained by those who participated in at least 3 scholastic competitions. g. Parents’ Educational Attainment Table 13 (figure 11) shows the mean self-perception scores of the respondents when they are grouped according to their mothers’ highest educational attainments, while table 14 (figure 12) demonstrates that of the fathers’.
Table 13. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Mother’s Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Mother's Educational Attainment Self-Perception Subscales
elementary level 2.15
high school level 2.57
college level
Social Acceptance
2.17
2.85
2.82
Athletic Competence
2.20 2.65
2.33 2.60
2.24 2.60
Romantic Appeal
2.34 2.38
2.62 2.35
2.50 2.42
Behavioral Conduct Close Friendship
2.30 2.40
2.73 2.72
2.71 2.96
Self-Worth
2.55
2.71
2.86
Scholastic Competence
Physical Appearance Job Competence
2.53
Table 14. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Father’s Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Self-Perception Subscales Scholastic Competence
Father's Educational Attainment elementary high school college level level level 2.18 2.48
2.57 2.84
2.54 2.80
Athletic Competence Physical Appearance
2.06
2.36
2.25
2.52
2.59
2.62
Job Competence Romantic Appeal
2.42
2.58
2.53
2.36
2.31
2.45
Behavioral Conduct
2.58
2.63
2.75
Close Friendship
2.64
2.73
2.91
Self-Worth
2.72
2.64
2.89
Social Acceptance
scholastic competence average
3
social acceptance average
2.5 2
athletic competence average
1.5
physical appearance average
1
job competence average
0.5
romantic appeal average behavioral conduct average
0 elementary level high school level
college level
close friendship average self-worth average
Figure 11. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Mother’s Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
3
scholastic competence average
2.5
social acceptance average
2
athletic competence average
1.5
physical appearance average job competence average
1
romantic appeal average
0.5
behavioral conduct average
0 Elementary level high school level
close friendship average
college level
self-worth average
Figure 12. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Father’s Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Mean scores, when grouped according to parents’ educational attainments, have similar results. Students with high school graduate mothers have the highest scores for Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, Athletic Competence, Job Competence and Behavioral Conduct subscales. Those with college graduate mothers obtained the highest mean scores for Physical Appearance, Romantic Appeal, Behavioral Conduct, Close Friendship and Self-Worth subscales. The same results were observed for the father’s educational attainment. Lowest scores are obtained in almost all subscales for those with elementary-graduate parents. h. Class Rank Table 15. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Class Rank: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Class Rank*
Self-Perception Subscales Scholastic Competence
Below Average
Average
Above Average
Superior
2.68
2.46
2.52
2.66
2.84
2.78
2.89
2.69
2.44
2.25
2.14
2.47
2.62
2.52
2.78
2.51
Job Competence
2.60
2.60
2.51
2.59
Romantic Appeal
2.32
2.42
2.31
2.65
2.64
2.68
2.72
2.73
Close Friendship
2.76
2.75
2.95
2.76
Self-Worth
2.76
2.79
2.89
2.61
Social Acceptance Athletic Competence Physical Appearance
Behavioral Conduct
*90 – superior
3
scholastic competence average
2.5
social acceptance average
2
athletic competence average
1.5
physical appearance average job competence average
1
romantic appeal average
0.5
behavioral conduct average
0 below average
average
above average
close friendship average
superior
self-worth average
Figure 13. Mean Self-Perception Scores Grouped According to Class Rank: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
When grouped according to class rank, table 15 (figure 13) shows that those ranked above average obtained highest scores for majority of the subscales.
Additionally, mean self-perception score in each subscale for each respondent is nominally classified into two general categories: low (mean score < 2.5) and high (mean score > 2.5). Table 16 and figure 14 show the number of respondents with high and low self-perception scores, when grouped according to choice of course. Table 16. Frequency Distribution of Students with High/Low Self-Perception Scores: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009. Health-Related Course (n=30) High* Low**
Self-Perception Subscales
Total (n=118)
Non-Health-Related Course (n=88) High*
Low**
High*
Low**
Scholastic Competence
15
50%
15
50%
47
53.41%
41
46.59%
62
52.54%
56
47.46%
Social Acceptance
17
56.67%
13
43.33%
60
68.18%
28
31.82%
77
65.25%
41
34.75%
Athletic Competence
4
13.33%
26
86.67%
34
38.64%
54
61.36%
38
32.20%
80
67.80%
Physical Appearance
15
50%
15
50%
50
56.82%
38
43.18%
65
55.08%
53
44.92%
Job Competence
17
56.67%
13
43.33%
37
42.05%
51
57.95%
54
45.76%
64
54.24%
Romantic Appeal
13
43.33%
17
56.67%
39
44.32%
49
55.68%
52
44.07%
66
55.93%
Behavioral Conduct
19
63.33%
11
36.67%
60
68.18%
28
31.82%
79
66.95%
39
33.05%
Close Friendship
16
53.33%
14
46.67%
60
68.18%
28
31.82%
76
64.41%
42
35.59%
Self-Worth
20
66.67%
10
33.33%
68
77.27%
20
22.73%
88
74.58%
30
25.42%
*high - self-perception score > 2.5, **low – self-perception score < 2.5
80 70
Number of Respondents
60 50 40 30 20 10
Sc ho l
as t ic
Co m pe So te cia nc lA e c At ce hl pt et an ic ce C o Ph m pe ys te ica nc lA e pp ea Jo ra nc b Co e m pe Ro te nc m an e t i c Be Ap ha pe vi al or al C on Cl du os e ct Fr ie nd sh ip Se lfW or th
0
Self-Perception Subscales health, high scores
health, low scores
non-health, high scores
non-health, low scores
Figure 14. Frequency Distribution of Students with High/Low Self-Perception Scores: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
For the Scholastic Competence, more than half of students with non-health-related choice of course obtained high scores, while only half of those with health-related course choice have high scores. The same pattern can be observed for the other subscales: more of the students with non-health-related course choice obtained high self-perception scores compared to those with health-related courses, except for the Job Competence Subscale. Over-all, majority of the respondents (more than 50%) obtained high self-perception scores in Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, Physical Appearance, Behavioral Conduct, Close Friendship and Self-Worth subscales. 3. Dependent Variable Choice of Course, classified into health and non-health related courses, is the outcome variable in the study. Most of the respondents (88/118, 74.6%) preferred a non-health related courses, while only 25.4% (30/118) decided to take health related courses in college (Table 17). The
corresponding pie graph clearly demonstrates that a large proportion of respondents chose a non-health related course. Table 17. Frequency Distribution of Choice of Course (1st choice): Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009 .
Choice of Course
Frequency
Percent
Cumulative Percent
non-health related course
88
74.6
74.6
health related course total
30 118
25.4 100
100
Figure 15. Pie Graph of the Frequency Distribution of Choice of Course (1st choice): Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Table 18 enumerates the major influence in the choice of course of the subjects. Majority of the respondents (75/118, 63.6%) considered themselves as the main deciding body in choosing the course to take in college. Ninety-four point one percent (111/118, 94.1%) of the respondents’ decision-making are influenced by their immediate family members. Table 18. Frequency Distribution of Overall Influence on Choice of Course in College: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Over-all Influence
Frequency
Percent
Cumulative Percent
self
75
63.6
63.6
parents
31
26.3
89.8
siblings
5
4.2
94.1
grandparents
1
0.8
94.9
uncles/aunts
4
3.4
98.3
cousins
1
0.8
99.2
teachers
1
0.8
100
118
100
Total
teachers
Major Influence
cousins uncles/aunts grandparents siblings parents self 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
No. of Respondents
Figure 16. Bar Graph of the Frequency Distribution of Overall Influence on Choice of Course in College: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
4. Other Variables The respective frequencies of the different variables identified in the study are illustrated in the next sets of tables. Class rank, involvement in school activities, parents’ educational attainment and annual family income are the variables in the study. The class rank (Table 19) was defined using the following grading scale: 90 – superior. Majority of the subjects (46/104, 44.2%) belong to the average group in terms of academic performance. Table 19. Class Rank: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008 -2009.
Frequency
Percent
Cumulative Percent
Below Average
10
8.5
9.6
Average
46
39
53.8
Above Average
34
28.8
86.5
Superior
14
11.9
100
104
88.1
14
11.9
118
100
Total Missing System Total
No. of Respondents vs. Class Rank 13.5
Class Rank
Superior Above Average
32.7 44.2
Average Below Average
9.6
0
10
20
30
40
50
No. of Respondents
Figure 17. Bar Graph of Class Rank: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
The respondents’ extent of involvement in school activities is measured by determining the number of organizations and school competitions the students have participated in. Student’s organizational involvement (Table 20) was classified using the following scale: 0 – no organization; 1 – 1 organization; 2 – 2 organizations; 3 – 3 or more organizations. Fifty percent of the respondents (59/118) are not involved in any school organization. Similarly, the respondent’s participation in any scholastic competitions (Table 21) was defined by the following scale: 0 – no competition; 1 – 1 competition; 2 – 2 competitions; 3 – 3 or more competitions. Majority of the subjects (79/118, 66.9%) are not involved in any competition. Table 20. Number of Organizations Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Number of Organizations
Frequency
Percent
Cumulative Percent
0
59
50
50
1
35
29.7
79.7
2
11
9.3
89
3
13
11
100
118
100
Total
No. Of Organizations
No. of Respondents vs. No. of Organizations Involved In three
11%
two
9.30%
one
29.70%
zero
50% 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
No. of Respondents
Figure 18. Graph of the Number of Organizations Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Table 21. Number of Competitions Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Number of Competitions
Frequency
Percent
Cumulative Percent
0
79
66.9
66.9
1
26
22
89
2
6
5.1
94.1
3
7
5.9
100
118
100
Total
No. of Competitions
No. of Respondents vs. No. of Competitions Involved In three
5.90%
two
5.10%
one
22.00%
zero
66.90% 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
No. of Respondents
Figure 19. Graph of the Number of Competitions Involved In: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
The highest educational attainments of parents are also identified. Table 22 shows the mothers’ educational attainments, while Table 23 illustrates those of the fathers.’ The following are the results:
Table 22. Mother's Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
Mother’s Education
Frequency
Percent
Cumulative Percent
8
6.8
6.8
high school level
49
41.5
48.3
college level
61
51.7
100
Total
118
100
Valid Elementary level
No. of Respondents vs. Mother’s Highest Educational Attainment College Lev el
54.20%
High School Lev el
37.30%
Elementary Lev el
8.50%
0%
20%
40%
60%
No. of Respondents
Figure 20. Mother's Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
This table and figure show that majority (61/118, 51.7%) of the respondents’ mothers have reached college. Table 23. Father's Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009
Father’s Education
Frequency
Percent
Cumulative Percent
10
8.5
8.5
High school level
44
37.3
45.8
College level
64
54.2
100
Total
118
100
Valid Elementary level
No. of Respondents vs. Father’s Highest Educational Attainm ent
College Level
54.20%
High School Level Elementary Level 0%
37.30% 8.50% 20% 40% No. of Respondents
60%
Figure 21. Father's Educational Attainment: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009
This table shows that majority of the respondent’s father (64/118, 54.2%) have reached college as their highest level of education. Thirty-seven point three percent (44/118) of them reached high school while only 8.5% (10/118) attained the elementary level of education. Respondent’s economic status was classified by using the following scales: Above Average – annual family income of > 500,000.00; Average – 100, 000.00 – 500,000.00; Below Average – 50,000.00 – 100,000.00; and Poor – < 50,000.00. Table 24 shows that 63.6% of the respondents have an average and above average annual family income. Majority of the respondents (39.8%) belong to an average group while 22.0% are categorized as poor. Table 24. Annual Average Family Income: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008 -2009.
Family Income
Frequency
Percent
Cumulative Percent
Above Average
28
23.7
23.7
Average
47
39.8
63.5
Below Average
17
14.4
78
poor
26
22
100
118
100
Total
No. of Respondents vs. Economic Status
Economic Status
Poor
22.00%
Below Average
14.40%
Average
39.80%
Above Average
23.70% 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
No. of Respondents
Figure 22. Annual Average Family Income: Fourth Year Students, Dasmariñas National High School, SY 2008-2009.
MEASURE OF ASSOCIATION Prevalence Ratio is used to compute for any existing association between the exposure and outcome variables, namely Self-Perception Score and Choice of Course, respectively. The following are the computations and corresponding results for each of the nine subscales tested for association with choice of course.
Table 25 shows the computer output of two-by-two table for analysis of any association that may exist between Scholastic Competence subscale for Self-Perception and Choice of Course. Table 25. Cross-Tabulation of Scholastic Competence and Choice of Course . Scholastic Competence
Health Non-health TOTAL
high Row % Col %
15 24.2 50.0
47 75.8 53.4
62 100.0 52.5
low Row % Col %
15 26.8 50.0
41 73.2 46.6
56 100.0 47.5
TOTAL 30 Row % 25.4 Col % 100.0
88 74.6 100.0
118 100.0 100.0
PARAMETER
Point Estimate
Prevalence Ratio (PR)
0.9032
95%Confidence Interval Lower Limit Upper Limit 0.4870 1.6753
Prevalence Ratio is less than 1 (0.9032). However, since the 95% Confidence Interval includes the value of 1 (0.4870 – 1.6753), association between Scholastic Competence and Choice of Course cannot be validated. Table 26 shows the computer output of two-by-two table for analysis of any association that may exist between Social Acceptance subscale for Self-Perception and Choice of Course. Table 26. Cross-Tabulation of Social Acceptance and Choice of Course . Social Acceptance Health Non-health TOTAL high Row % Col %
17 22.1 56.7
60 77.9 68.2
77 100.0 65.3
low Row % Col %
13 31.7 43.3
28 68.3 31.8
41 100.0 34.7
TOTAL 30 Row % 25.4 Col % 100.0
88 74.6 100.0
118 100.0 100.0
PARAMETER
Point Estimate
Prevalence Ratio (PR)
0.6963
95% Confidence Interval Lower Limit Upper Limit 0.3766
1.2876
Prevalence Ratio is also less than 1 (0.6963). However, since the 95% Confidence Interval includes the value of 1 (0.3766 – 1.2876), association between Social Acceptance and Choice of Course does not exist. Table 27 shows the computer output of two-by-two table for analysis of any association that may exist between Athletic Competence subscale for Self-Perception and Choice of Course. Table 27. Cross-Tabulation of Athletic Competence and Choice of Course . Athletic Competence Health Non-health TOTAL high Row % Col %
4 10.5 13.3
34 89.5 38.6
38 100.0 32.2
low Row % Col %
26 32.5 86.7
54 67.5 61.4
80 100.0 67.8
TOTAL 30 Row % 25.4 Col % 100.0
88 74.6 100.0
118 100.0 100.0
PARAMETER
Point Estimate
Prevalence Ratio (PR)
0.3239
95% Confidence Interval Lower Limit Upper Limit 0.1216 0.8624
Prevalence Ratio is less than 1 (0.3239) and the 95% Confidence Interval does not include the value of 1 (0.1216 – 0.8624). Thus, there exists an association between Athletic Competence and Choice of Course. Table 28 shows the computer output of two-by-two table for analysis of any association that may exist between Physical Appearance subscale for Self-Perception and Choice of Course. Table 28. Cross-Tabulation of Physical Appearance and Choice of Course . Physical Appearance Health Non-health TOTAL high Row % Col %
15 23.1 50.0
50 76.9 56.8
65 100.0 55.1
low Row % Col %
15 28.3 50.0
38 71.7 43.2
53 100.0 44.9
TOTAL 30 Row % 25.4 Col % 100.0
88 74.6 100.0
118 100.0 100.0
PARAMETER
Point Estimate
Prevalence Ratio (PR)
0.8154
95% Confidence Interval Lower Limit 0.4400
Upper Limit 1.5111
Prevalence Ratio is also less than 1 (0.8154). However, since the 95% Confidence Interval includes the value of 1 (0.4400 – 1.5111), association between Physical Appearance and Choice of Course cannot be validated. Table 29 shows the computer output of two-by-two table for analysis of any association that may exist between Job Competence subscale for Self-Perception and Choice of Course. Table 29. Cross-Tabulation of Job Competence and Choice of Course . Job Competence Health Non-health TOTAL high Row % Col %
17 31.5 56.7
37 68.5 42.0
54 100.0 45.8
low Row % Col %
13 20.3 43.3
51 79.7 58.0
64 100.0 54.2
TOTAL 30 Row % 25.4 Col % 100.0
88 74.6 100.0
118 100.0 100.0
PARAMETER
Point Estimate
Prevalence Ratio (PR)
1.5499
95% Confidence Interval Lower Limit 0.8298
Upper Limit 2.8948
Prevalence Ratio is more than 1 (1.5499). However, since the 95% Confidence Interval includes the value of 1 (0.8298 – 2.8948), association between Job Competence and Choice of Course cannot be concluded. Table 30 shows the computer output of two-by-two table for analysis of any association that may exist between Romantic Appeal subscale for Self-Perception and Choice of Course. Table 30. Cross-Tabulation of Romantic Appeal and Choice of Course . Romantic Appeal Health Non-health TOTAL high Row % Col %
13 25.0 43.3
39 75.0 44.3
52 100.0 44.1
low Row % Col %
17 25.8 56.7
49 74.2 55.7
66 100.0 55.9
TOTAL 30 Row % 25.4 Col % 100.0
88 74.6 100.0
118 100.0 100.0
PARAMETER
Point Estimate
Prevalence Ratio (PR)
0.9706
95% Confidence Interval Lower Limit 0.5200
Upper Limit 1.8115
Prevalence Ratio is less than 1 (0.9706). However, since the 95% Confidence Interval includes the value of 1 (0.5200 – 1.8115), association between Romantic Appeal and Choice of Course does not exist. Table 31 shows the computer output of two-by-two table for analysis of any association that may exist between Behavioral Conduct subscale for Self-Perception and Choice of Course. Table 31. Cross-Tabulation of Behavioral Conduct and Choice of Course . Behavioral Conduct Health Non-health TOTAL High Row % Col %
19 24.1 63.3
60 75.9 68.2
79 100.0 66.9
Low Row % Col %
11 28.2 36.7
28 71.8 31.8
39 100.0 33.1
TOTAL 30 Row % 25.4 Col % 100.0
88 74.6 100.0
118 100.0 100.0
PARAMETER
Point Estimate
Prevalence Ratio (PR)
0.8527
95% Confidence Interval Lower Limit Upper Limit 0.4515
1.6104
Prevalence Ratio is again less than 1 (0.8527). However, since the 95% Confidence Interval includes the value of 1 (0.4515 – 1.6104), association between Behavioral Conduct and Choice of Course does not exist.
Table 32 shows the computer output of two-by-two table for analysis of any association that may exist between Close Friendship subscale for Self-Perception and Choice of Course. Table 32. Cross-Tabulation of Close Friendship and Choice of Course . Close Friendship Health Non-health TOTAL high Row % Col %
16 21.1 53.3
60 78.9 68.2
76 100.0 64.4
low Row % Col %
14 33.3 46.7
28 66.7 31.8
42 100.0 35.6
TOTAL 30 Row % 25.4 Col % 100.0
88 74.6 100.0
118 100.0 100.0
PARAMETER
Point Estimate
Prevalence Ratio (PR)
0.6316
95% Confidence Interval Lower Limit 0.3431
Upper Limit 1.1627
Prevalence Ratio is again less than 1 (0.6316). However, since the 95% Confidence Interval includes the value of 1 (0.3431 – 1.1627), association between Close Friendship and Choice of Course cannot be validated. Table 33 shows the computer output of two-by-two table for analysis of any association that may exist between Self-Worth subscale for Self-Perception and Choice of Course. Table 33. Cross-Tabulation of Self-Worth and Choice of Course . Self-Worth Health Non-health TOTAL high Row % Col %
20 22.7 66.7
68 77.3 77.3
88 100.0 74.6
low Row % Col %
10 33.3 33.3
20 66.7 22.7
30 100.0 25.4
TOTAL 30 Row % 25.4 Col % 100.0
88 74.6 100.0
118 100.0 100.0
PARAMETER
Point Estimate
Prevalence Ratio (PR)
1.5499
95% Confidence Interval Lower Limit Upper Limit 0.8298
2.8948
Prevalence Ratio is more than 1 (1.5499). However, since the 95% Confidence Interval includes the value of 1 (0.8298 – 2.8948), association between Close Friendship and Choice of Course does not exist. In summary, only the Athletic Competence Subscale proved to have an existing association with Choice of Course using Prevalence Ratio. HYPOTHESIS TESTING 1. Choice of Course and Self-Perception Null Hypothesis
There is no significant relationship between the self perception and the choice of course in college among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 20082009. Alternative Hypothesis There is significant relationship between the self perception and the choice of course in college among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009. Table 34 shows the respective means, number of observations (N) and standard deviations for each of the nine subscales of Self-Perception in relation to two categories for Choice of Course (Health and Non-Health). This set of information is used for the computation of p-values for testing any existing relationship between Choice of Course and each subscale of SelfPerception. Table 34. Means, Number of Observations and Standard Deviations for the Nine Subscales of Self-Perception in Relation to Choice of Course. choice of course (1st choice) non-health related course
health related course
Mean N Std. Deviation Mean N
Total
Std. Deviation Mean N Std. Deviation
scholastic competence average 2.5523
social acceptance average 2.8045
athletic competence average 2.3341
physical appearance average 2.6068
job competence average 2.5534
romantic appeal average 2.4170
behavioral conduct average 2.6782
close friendship average 2.8477
Self-worth average 2.8017
88 .46485 2.4267
88 .58090 2.7400
88 .61455 2.0897
88 .60984 2.5867
88 .47439 2.5000
88 .57963 2.3133
87 .46391 2.7200
88 .58408 2.7400
88 .54014 2.7133
30 .56259 2.5203
30 .56605 2.7881
29 .46778 2.2735
30 .58941 2.6017
30 .55024 2.5398
30 .55007 2.3907
30 .64026 2.6889
30 .73747 2.8203
30 .50291 2.7792
118
118
117
118
118
118
117
118
118
.49208
.57545
.58933
.60227
.49288
.57173
.51223
.62506
.53021
Table 35 below shows the computer output of p-values (under the column of Significance – labeled Sig.). ANOVA was used to test the hypothesis.
Table 35. Com puter Output of ANOVA Result for the Nine Subscales of Self-Perception in Relation to Choice of Course.
Scholastic Competence average * choice of course (1st choice)
Between Groups Within Groups Total
(Combined)
Social Acceptance average * choice of course (1st choice)
Between Groups Within Groups
(Combined)
Total Athletic Competence average * choice of course (1st choice)
Physical Appearance average * choice of course (1st choice) Job Competence average * choice of course (1st choice) Romantic Appeal average * choice of course (1st choice) Behavioral Conduct average * choice of course (1st choice) Close Friendship average * choice of course (1st choice) Self-Worth average *choice of course (1st choice)
Between Groups Within Groups
(Combined)
Sum of Squares .353 27.978 28.331 .093
df
Mean Square 1 116 117 1
38.650
116
38.743
117
1.303 38.985
115
40.288
116
1
F
Sig.
.353 .241
1.463
.229
.093
.280
.598
1.303 .339
3.844
.052
.025
.875
.064 .244
.261
.610
.735
.393
.148
.701
.260 .392
.663
.417
.175 .282
.619
.433
.333
Total
Between Groups Within Groups Total Between Groups Within Groups Total
(Combined)
Between Groups Within Groups
(Combined)
Total Between Groups Within Groups Total Between Groups Within Groups Total Between Groups
(Combined)
(Combined)
(Combined)
(Combined)
Within Groups Total
.009
1
.009
42.431 42.440
.366
.064 28.359
116 117 1 116
28.423 .241
117 1
.241
38.004
116
.328
38.245 .039
117 1
.039
30.397 30.436
115 116 1
.260 45.452 45.711 .175 32.717 32.892
116 117 1 116 117
.264
Critical value is set at 0.05, according to the value of confidence level (1 – α, α=0.05) used, which is 95%. If the p-value computed is less than the critical value (< 0.05), the null hypothesis should be rejected and existence of relationship between Choice of Course and Self-Perception is then concluded. Values above the critical value (> 0.05), on the other hand, are interpreted as not significant, and the null hypothesis should not be rejected. Since the p-values were greater than 0.05 in all of the subscales, null hypothesis should not be rejected. Thus, it can be concluded that there is no significant association or relationship between the different self perception variables and the choice of course. 2. Determining Factors that Affect Choice of Course Null Hypothesis There is no significant relationship between [factor] and the choice of course in college among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009.
Alternative Hypothesis There is significant relationship between [factor] and the choice of course in college among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009. Factors ([factor]) that may affect choice of course are: involvement in school activities (number of organizations and number of competitions involved in), gender, mother’s educational attainment, father’s educational attainment, income, age, influence, and class rank. Table 36 enumerates these factors and their respective chi-square values, p-values and their appropriate verbal interpretation. Critical value is again set at 0.05. If the p-value computed is less than the critical value (< 0.05), the null hypothesis should be rejected and existence of relationship between Choice of Course and Self-Perception is then concluded. Values above the critical value (> 0.05), on the other hand, are interpreted as not significant, and the null hypothesis should not be rejected. Table 36. Summary of Chi Square Test Results and P-Values for the Nine Factors in Relation to Choice of Course.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Factors no. of organizations no. of competitions gender mother’s education father’s education income age influence class rank
Chi-square value 0.848 8.150 6.446 0.422 3.835 6.535 1.276 5.088 2.200
p-value 0.838 0.043 0.011 0.810 0.147 0.088 0.528 0.079 0.532
Verbal Interpretation not significant significant significant not significant not significant not significant not significant not significant not significant
Note: significant if p-value is less than 0.05
Thus, only the number of competitions and gender affect the choice of course in college of the respondents. Further analysis revealed that students with no competition involved in and male students will most likely choose a non-health related course. 3. Determining Factors that Affect Self-Perception Null Hypothesis There is no significant relationship between [factor] and self-perception among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009.
Alternative Hypothesis There is significant relationship between [factor] and self-perception among graduating high school students of Dasmariñas National High School SY 2008-2009. The factors that were thought to affect self-perception are as follows: number of school organizations the student joined, number of competitions the student participated in, the student’s gender, mother’s educational attainment, father’s educational attainment, family income, age of the student, overall influence (i.e. self, parents, aunts etc.), and the class rank of the student. The factor is considered to affect Self-Perception of the Graduating Student if the pvalue is less than 0.05 in any of the Measures of Association of the Self-Perception Profile. Table 37 provides a summary of the results. Table 37. Summary of p-Values for the Nine Factors in Relation to the Nine Subscales.
7
8
9
Verbal Interpretation
0.646
0.328
0.212
0.429
s i gnificant for 2
0.894
0.824
0.631
0.158
0.679
s i gnificant for 1
0.468
0.745
0.010
0.275
0.420
0.161
0.723
0.973
0.222
0.799
0.082
0.018
0.158
0.201
0.319
0.876
0.630
0.461
0.378
0.203
0.047
s i gnificant for 9
0.005
0.028
0.171
0.785
0.137
0.166
0.438
0.004
0.020
s i gni fi ca nt for 1, 2, 8, 9
7. a ge
0.516
0.079
0.786
0.380
0.904
0.152
0.744
0.110
0.893
not s i gni fi ca nt
8. i nfluence
0.139
0.615
0.473
0.845
0.616
0.352
0.707
0.956
9.50
not s i gni fi ca nt
9. cl a ss rank
0.416
0.708
0.246
0.272
0.903
0.281
0.955
0.518
0.402
not s i gni fi ca nt
Factors
p-Values in Nine Subscales 4 5 6
1
2
3
0.455
0.018
0.773
0.837
0.109
0.020
0.770
0.437
0.730
0.731
0.998
0.018
0.081
0.006
0.069
6. i ncome
1. no. or orga nizations 2. no. of competitions 3. gender 4. mother’s education 5. fa ther’s education
s i gnificant for 3 a nd 6 s i gnificant for 2 a nd 8
Note: 1 – scholastic competence; 2 – social acceptance; 3 – athletic competence; 4 – physical appearance; 5 – job competence; 6 – romantic appeal; 7 – behavioral conduct; 8 – close friendship; 9 – self-worth; numbers in bold are the ones less than 0.05.
The data illustrates that the factors number of school organizations the student joined, number of competitions the student participated in, the student’s gender, mother’s educational attainment, father’s educational attainment, and family income are the only factors that affects the students Self-Perception Profile. The students age, over-all influence, and the class rank of the student has no significance in any of the measures of Self-Perception since their p-values were greater than 0.05. The number of school organizations the student is involved affec ts the Social Acceptance subscale of self-perception, with a significance (p-value) of 0.018, which is less than 0.05, signifying an association between the number of school organizations and social
acceptance. The number of competitions the student joined affects the Scholastic Competence aspect of the self-perception profile, with significance (p-value) of 0.020. Gender affected Athletic Competence and Romantic Appeal in the measures of association, with a p-value of 0.018 and 0.10 respectively. Mother’s educational attainment affected Social Acceptance and Close friendship with a p-value of 0.006 and 0.018, respectively, while father’s educational attainment affected Self-Worth, p-value of 0.047. Family income affects Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, Close Friendship and Self-Worth in the measures of selfperception with p-values of 0.005, 0.028, 0.004, and 0.20, respectively.
CHAPTER V DISCUSSION Measure of Association, using Prevalence Ratio and 95% confidence interval, computed for choice of course and the different subscales of self-perception demonstrates that only the Athletic Competence subscale has an association with choice of course. However, hypothesis testing using chi square test and ANOVA leads to the analytical conclusion that there is no significant relationship between choice of course and all the subscales of self-perception. The results of chi square and ANOVA tests reveal that all p-values are above significance level. This indicates that all nine domains of self-perception have no significant relationship with choice of course. Athletic Competence, therefore, has association with choice of course but this association is not significant. The agreement of this result to previous researches cannot be assessed, since no similar study was performed prior to this paper. Previous researches state that career choices may be affected by self-perception and/or self-esteem. However, the career choices included job preferences and career placement results, rather than choice of course in college, such that results may not be comparable. Also, there are very few, if any, similar studies that were done in the local setting. All of the researches with the same scope regarding self-perception included non-Filipino respondents. Differences in culture, values, norms, educational backgrounds, and general economic status serve as hindrance in comparing the results of this study with that of foreign researches. In determining the factors that may affect choice of course, chi square test is used. Results show that only the number of competitions and gender statistically affect the choice of course in college of the respondents. Students with no competition involved in and male students will most likely choose a non-health related course. This result agrees with the previous researches in identifying gender as a significant factor that affects career choices. Most of these studies state that men have a different job preference as compared with women. The results of this study showed statistically significant difference between the two gender groups, implying that gender does affect choice of course. In determining factors that may affect self-perception, six factors have statistically significant relationship with specific self-perception subscales:
Gender affects Athletic Competence and Romantic Appeal.
Number of school organizations involved in affects Social Acceptance.
Number of competitions joined in affects Scholastic Competence.
Mother’s educational attainment affects Social Acceptance and Close Friendship.
Father’s educational attainment affects Self-Worth.
Family income affects Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, Close Friendship and Self-Worth.
Although these factors have statistically significant relationship with the respective selfperception subscales, the direction of the association cannot be determined due to the nature of the study design. Nonetheless, these results agree with the results of previous researches. As mentioned in the Introduction, under Summary of Previous Researches, studies conducted by Marsh (1989), Wigfield & Karpathian (1991), Eccles, (1983, 1989), Wigfield et al. (1991), Phillips and Zimmerman (1990), Entwisle and Baker (1983), Frey and Ruble (1987), and Barbara Bradley Stonewater (1987) re-affirm the findings of this study that the factors stated above (gender, involvement in school activities, parents’ educational attainment and family economic status) have significant effect on self-perception. Supported by the aforementioned statistical inferences, it can be concluded that all the objectives of the study are adequately attained. Factors affecting choice of course and selfperception were appropriately determined in the study. More importantly, the self-perception and choice of course of the study population are obtained, and the relationship between the two is determined. Although the statistical result shows no significant relationship between choice of course and self-perception, overcoming the following limitations of the study may lead to a different result:
The research design was a one-time survey that produced a profile of the characteristics of graduating students that may or may not have anxiety over graduation. This type of cross-sectional design precludes being able to draw any conclusions about cause and effect relationships between these characteristics.
Because the research was done in a cross-sectional type of study, series of measurements taken over a period of time cannot be compared to determine whether there could be any difference from the first assessment and the next.
Majority of the respondents were females. Therefore, results may not be representative of both genders.
The college choice of course was only categorized into health-related and nonhealth-related. The measure for the dependent variable, choice of course, may have
been too broad dividing it into two general groups may have posted less specific outcomes. The second limitation has to do with the extent to which the findings can be generalized beyond the cases studied. The number of cases is too limited for broad generalizations.
Information collected in the study was of a self-report nature which, depending on the subject areas being queried, may be prone to some inaccuracy as a result of less than accurate recall, lack of information, or discomfort with self-disclosure. Some respondents might have difficulties in understanding English. It may have brought in confusion on the part of some students due to misinterpretation of the questions and options that may have resulted to less than accurate results.
The representativeness of the study sample relative to the graduating students of Dasmarinas National Highschool cannot be determined because of the random selection by their respective teachers.
Having been the first study in the Philippines which utilized Harter’s tool in the determination of self-perception, it was difficult for the researchers to discuss and compare the achieved results. Utilizing other self-perception tools with a set standard for the local population may be useful in establishing correlation and comparability with the results.
CHAPTER VI CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Among the variables collected in the study, only gender and number of competitions involved in have significant effect on both choice of course and self-perception. Additionally, number of organizations, parents’ educational attainment and family income also affect self-perception. The results of this cross-sectional study lead to the conclusion that there is no significant relationship between self-perception and choice of course in college among the study population. Based on the results and limitations of this study, the researchers recommend the expansion of the research using longitudinal type of research design to preclude comparison of choices over a period of time with different means and cover students on a specific level and gender predominance. The study could be conducted for at least 3 consecutive years in order to prove that the results achieved were true and reliable. The study should also follow-up on the study population to validate their enrolled courses in college, whether it corresponds to their choice of course during the time of survey. Future research might productively look into other domains aside from the nine domains already analyzed. The use of different instruments/ tools for measure having similar domain and specificity is suggested. Furthermore, some improvements regarding the methodology in data collection should be implemented such as interviews instead of questionnaires to avoid the occurrence of missing data. It would be better if a pre-test was done to gauge the understanding and comprehension of the subjects regarding the questions so that a necessary adjustment can be done if needed. The study may also be ideally done in a larger participant population for assurance of variety and accuracy. Also, stratified sampling may be employed so that equal number of male and female subjects may be allowed to participate in the study. Lastly, since the study reflected that there is significant difference in the ranking of the importance of subscales by males and females, gender specific studies can be made.
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