AbstractsEducation Research & Administration

The purpose of this study was to compare two groups of freshmen entering Oregon State University in the fall of 1970; (1) men and women who were uncertain about choices of academic majors at the time of entry, and (2) men and women who were certain about choices of academic majors at the time of entry. The population was limited to those freshmen who participated in the 1970 OSU Summer Orientation and Advising Program (SOAP) and who subsequently enrolled at Oregon State University in the fall of 1970. The study was designed to determine the difference between the two identified groups as measured by the College Student Questionnaire, Part I, a research questionnaire designed to describe groups of students. Comparisons were made on seven scaled scores: Family Independence, Peer Independence, Liberalism, Social Conscience, Cultural Sophistication, Motivation for Grades, and Family Social Status. Random samples were drawn from four sub-groups identified within the population being investigated: (1) men who were uncertain about their choices of academic majors at the time of enrollment at the university, (2) women who were uncertain about their choices of academic majors at the time of enrollment, (3) men who were certain about their academic choices at the time of enrollment, and (4) women who were certain about their academic choices at the time of enrollment. Null hypotheses stating that no significant differences would appear between the groups compared were tested. The following comparisons were made: (1) Uncertain Men with Uncertain Women, (2) Certain Men with Certain Women, (3) All men (Certain and Uncertain) with all women (Certain and Uncertain), (4) Uncertain Men with Certain Men, (5) Uncertain Women with Certain Women, and (6) Uncertain freshmen (men and women) with Certain freshmen (men and women). The "Student's t test" was utilized to test the difference between means for each pair of groups compared with the .05 and .01 levels of significance being accepted as indicating degrees of confidence that differences were real. In order to determine if the factor of abilities was related to certainty or uncertainty about choice of academic majors, high school grade point averages and Scholastic Aptitude Test Score comparisons were made. From the findings of this study the following conclusions were drawn: 1. Freshmen who identified themselves as uncertain about choices of academic majors are as academically talented as those who said they were certain about their choices of academic majors. 2. There are few characteristics which readily identify entering freshmen with regard to their certainty or uncertainty about choices of academic majors. The primary difference appears to be the degree of certainty about choice. 3. The only significant differences found in the study were not related to the basic question of certainty or uncertainty about academic majors, but to the ancillary factor of differences between sex groupings. 4. It is not possible to assume that all…