Medical Sociology: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

telligence is related to both types of aspirations.10 This conclusion is specific to persons from nonfarm families. Within this group, however, the relationship of level of aspiration to social status with intelligence controlled holds for both sexes and for both educational and occupational aspirations. Because the sample was drawn randomly from a broad population of high school seniors (the entire state of Wisconsin), and because the effects of measured intelligence and sex were controlled, the present tests lend support to the sociological claim that values specific to different status positions are important influences on levels of educational and occupational aspiration. This does not deny the importance of intelligence to educational and occupational aspirations, but suggests that status makes an independent contribution to these aspirations. 10 Following the procedure used in testing the hypotheses in the body of this article, chi-square values were computed so as to test within each sex category the association of levels of educational and occupational aspiration to measured intelligence with social status controlled. One such test was made for each of the four tables in the article. The results of these tests are as follows. Table 1: X20(20) -223.94 > X2t(20)05 = 31.41; Table 2: X2D(20) 61.27 > X2t(20).05 31.41; Table 3: %20( 230.12 > X 2t.31.41; Table 4: X20(20)127.59 > X2t(20).05 = 31.41. In each instance the null hypothesis must be rejected. Thus, for the present study, it is concluded that within either sex group, levels of educational and occupational aspiration are associated with measured intelligence when social status is controlled. This finding corroborates previous research concerning the relationship of levels of educational and occupational aspiration to intelligence (see note 4).