Page 51 - TheGoldBug1969-70

the gold buq february 2, 1970 page 3 Grille questionaire poses complex problems by Mike Rudman An analysis of the SGA questionnaire on the Grille- questionnaires must be separatedbyclass--Fresh., Soph., Automatic Vending System Issue has finally been com- etc, Each Individual response is recorded in a class pleted after much planning and plain hard work. The leger, according to the appropriate category, When a- questionnaire took about three weeks to design, a lot of bout 313 students answer 18 questions--that leaves a time for a relatively simple subject. Perhaps a few total of 5634 responses that have to be recorded. Once words on the basics of poll-taking, however, will help this is done for each class, the class results are com- to explain some of the subtleties involved. bined for a student body total. The mean response A questionnaire Is usually broken down into two ma- values are tabulated for each Issue, requiring 8 separate jor components: issues and categories of response. The arithmetic operations per Issue--a total of 144 opera- issues must be carefully chosen and clearly delineated tions involving over 5,600 entries! in order to be relevent to the topic under consideration, The mean response value for Question one was a hear- and to Insure that the precise meaning of the issue will ty -1,48, demonstrating an almost entirely nomegenetous be clearly understood by the subjects. the rer sons tak- consensus of opinion. As a matter of fact almost ing the poll. Also, efforts should be made to prevent every question has high mean response value, above -1.0. the tone of the issue-statement from persuading the One important question that dl(,! not demonstrate a con- subjects to answer in a certain manner. In the SGA sensus was question six: the general boycott Issue. Al- questionnaire all of the issues were stated simply and though the ratio of those who favored a boycott to those blandly to prevent multiple Interpretation and to pre- who did not was 2.32 to 1, the mean response value was clude development of bias. For example, Question one only 0.575, meaning that students are not nearly as sure did not read "President Ensor was stupid for not taking of this Issue as they are that they Uke the AVS less than student opinion Into consideration ••. " Other examples the gr11le (mean response- -1.42). January term atmosphere included coffee breaks of extremely poorly stated issues may be found in the When the SGA deliberates whether or not a boycott will =Hichwine's magazine course. questionnaire the Administration sent to our parents have enough support to make 11 worth while, they w!l1 last summer. -The categories of response must not be ambiguous and must allow for a qualitative determina- (cont. on page 4) tion of a broad range of opinions as well as a quantita- essay Is there a 4·J·4 plan in your future? tive assay of the intensity with which opinions are held. In the SGA questionnaires, a five-point response was adcpted-c-Str-cng ly Agree, Mildly Agree, No Opin- ion, Mildly Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. From by Rick Anderson these categories we can tell not only the exact way stu- dents feel about a given Issue but we can also determine The January Term has provided psyche saving respite Liberal Arts disciplines, how strongly he feels. For example, a response check- from the terrible effect of accumulated years at WMC. Students Enthusiastic ed in the "Strongly Agree" category is assigned an ar- After several semesters of 5 and 6 courses each semes- bitrary response intensity value of 2; a "Mildly Agree" ter, the whirlwind becomes monotony, and while time The students are not only favorable, but enthusiastic Agree" answer gets a plus 1; "No Opinion," a 0; drags, life speeds past. Your freshmanyearwasprobably about the January term - both the idea of it, and for the "Mlldly Disagree", a -1; while a "Strongly Disagree" your longest year here because everythingwas new. After most part, the way it has been going. The faculty seems response gets a -2. In a given issue all of the appro- that, everything seems to fall into patterns, or should we enthused too, which is obvious from their willingness to priate intensity factors are multiplied by the total num- say routine. Course names change more than the courses contribute without receiving additional pay. ber of responses per category. The total intensity is themselves for you become "sophisticated", a euphem- As of now, however, the January term isstill classed as divided by the number of subjects who answered the ism for bored Stiff. "experimental". I feel that it should become a standard issue, giving the Mean Response value. The signifi- Allows Experimentation part of the curriculum and although some refinement has cance of this value will be dealt with shortly. When proven to be needed, such basic ideas as PASS-FAIL, categories are poorly delineated, interpretation of the The January term doesn't change all that, but it cer- and its elective nature, should be retained. response can lead to big trouble. For example, one tainly helps. First of all, it is good because it provides a Curriculum Experimentation issue in the Administration's Parents poll read: "Male change of pace. Second, it allows a much better a quatnt- students may entertain women students in their dorm- ance with the subject being taken. Most importantly, it al- Looking beyond this, however, the curriculum always itory room on week-end (sic) evenings." The five cat- lows experimentation with new courses and courses that Should he considered open to criticism and change. Per- egories of response were as follows: Strongly Support, could not be taken during the regular semester schedule. haps, when WMC students and faculty go backto the regut- Mildly Support, Change Appropriate, Change Necessary. Such experiences as the marine biology study in Tampa, ar seme ste r schedule, they \\ i11 have stronger feelings Father reads the issue and feeling that men should be Florida, the orr-orr-uroacwayexcurston, the three weeks for such changes as t\w. 4-1-4 program. Thiswould, how- able to have women in their rooms any time, checks in Europe and Mexico, the PoliticalSciencecourseallow- ever, require all students to take the January term in change necessary. Mother, on the other hand, feels Ing 5 students to work as Legfslatt ve assistants, the Na-, order to have the proper amount of credits per year. that no women should be allowed in the men's rooms at . tiona I Bureau of Standards course at Gaithersburg, and the This pos s.bte disadvantage maybe completely offset by the any time. Her answer: Change Necessary. Get the Problems of the Inner City course, are not feasible during advantages realized by grouping cour ses into fewer and picture? the regular term. Now, however, such experience as these longer units and in larger blocks or time. ThIs curricu- wuuld probably allow the students and fac- lum program Once the questionnaire is designed, administered and are no longer out of the question. ulty to achieve greater dppth and breadth in any given sub- Other courses collected, the enormous task of analysis begins. First, Programs Seminar, such as the Economics of Social Welfare ject. Although some people have expressed the opinion the little Magazine,ShortStoryWrit- History of curfew changes ing, Parapsychology, Social Group Work, and the diverse that they wish th:.!t the whole year was composed of 3- the 4-1-4 approach allows Single course intervals, that depend onthe have formats special stuotes program, weejc January Term schedule to be truly successful. Most of the the advantage of