Social Factors Affecting Academic Performance: Further Evidence

Abstract

Factors other than intelligence which influence the academic performance of high-school students have been investigated in a number of studies in recent years (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Among the factors analyzed have been social class, home conditions, peer relations, aspiration levels, and academic inclination. Since none of the studies to date can be considered definitive, this report is offered as a contribution to the limited empirical data relating social factors to student achievement. The findings reported here are, in many instances, consonant with those of earlier studies. Some of the data, however, fail to support the conclusions of previous studies. This fact should, at the very least, emphasize the need for proper precautions in drawing generalizations from any of the studies employing limited data, including the investigation reported here. The research operation providing the data for this report was essentially a demonstration project conducted for and by a sociology class composed largely of advanced undergraduate students majoring in education at the University of Kentucky in the fall semester of 1956. The implementation of the project was made possible through the co-operation of the principal and staff of a large county junior high school in the Blue Grass region of Kentucky, who assisted in the planning of the research and in the selection of students as subjects.