The Validity of an Academic Study-Time Questionnaire for College Students

Abstract

For a sample of 70 university students the validity of a questionnaire on academic study time entitled Student Study Time Survey (SSTS) was estimated in relation to data provided by a criterion measure called Student Study Time Interview Schedule (SSTIS). This schedule contains a record sheet of an interview involving an in-depth interactive discussion between an interviewer and student. During the interview the student indicates participation hour by hour over the previous week in a variety of activities. Two sets of scores on the SSTS representing student perceptions of (a) number of hours spent studying outside of class during the previous week and (b) average number of weekly study hours devoted outside of class over the entire semester yielded correlation coefficients of .65 (p < .001) and .67 (p < .001), respectively, with the estimate of the number of study hours during the previous week of classes as determined from the SSTIS. For a different sample of 33 students a test-retest estimate of .68 for the reliability of the SSTS was obtained. The mean score on the SSTIS was significantly higher than that found for either indicator of study hours provided by the SSTS. The conclusion was reached that a self-report form allowing a determination of the number of hours spent in study outside of class is a practical and a reasonably accurate approach for investigating expenditure of study time by college students.