The Role of Sports as a Social Status Determinant for Children

Abstract

This study was designed to examine children's attitudes toward the role of sports in determining social status, as well as the activities in which children prefer to participate. A total of 227 boys and 251 girls in Grades 4, 5, and 6 completed a questionnaire to determine which criteria were most important in determining personal, female, and male popularity. Personal popularity was answered by the girls and boys according to “what would make you well liked by your classmates. “Female and male popularity was determined by asking both girls and boys to decide “what would make (girls, for female subjects, and boys, for male subjects) well liked by your classmates. “A comparison of results from the Buchanan, Blankenbaker, and Cotten (1976) investigation and the present study indicated that, in the last 15 years, appearance has become more important and academic achievement less important in determining personal popularity for girls. For boys, the comparison revealed that sports have become more important and academic achievement less important in determining personal popularity. Boys reported sports to be the most important determinant of personal and male popularity and appearance as the most important determinant of female popularity. Sports and appearance became more important for boys with each higher grade level Girls reported appearance to be the most important determinant of personal, male, and female popularity. For girls, appearance became more important with each higher grade level A comparison of results from the Buchanan et al. (1976) and the present study indicated that the activities in which girls and boys preferred to participate have changed. The importance of “making good grades” has decreased and the importance of “being popular” has increased.     

Trade and Sell

Maclaurin's Invention and Inovation in the Radio Industry (1949)

Chase's Sound and Fury (1942)

Codel's, Radio and Its Future (1930)

Cantril and Allports', Psychology of Radio (1935)

Goldsmith and Lescaboura's, This Thing Called Broadcasting (1930)

Hettinger's, Decade of Radio Advertising (1933)

Schubert's The Electric Word (1928)

NBC's The Forth Chime (1944)

Wylie's Clear Channels (1955)

CBS's booklet “Radio's Daytime Serial” (1948)

NHK Studies of Broadcasting for 1963, 1964, and 1966

Dupuy's Television Show Business (1945)     

Opinion polling and the measurement of Americans’ attitudes regarding education*

Abstract

The meaning, measurement, and implications of ‘public opinion’ have long been a source of debate. In this paper, we examine the extent to which the educational priorities of elites in the US reflect the educational priorities of the American public. To do so, we focus on one particular segment of the education policy-making elite – education poll creators. Through a content analysis of questions asked between 1969 and 2013 in the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes toward the Public Schools, we examine the salience of key educational issues over time. We compare these trends to the proportion of poll respondents who label those issues the ‘biggest problem’ facing schools, thereby approximating two different conceptions of public opinion regarding education. We find that the issues that receive the most coverage by pollsters do not typically match the issues that respondents claim to be the biggest problems in schools. In light of the important role that opinion polls may play in shaping discussion and debate over educational issues, we argue that further study of the construction of public opinion is warranted.