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THE OBJECTIVE USE OF A PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE, ILLUSTRATED BY A STUDY OF THE DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDES BETWEEN PUPILS OF GRAMMAR SCHOOLS AND OF SECONDARY MODERN SCHOOLS
Author(s) -
BENE EVA
Publication year - 1957
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1957.tb01397.x
Subject(s) - projective test , sentence , grammar school , psychology , grammar , coding (social sciences) , test (biology) , meaning (existential) , mathematics education , social psychology , linguistics , developmental psychology , mathematics , statistics , paleontology , philosophy , psychoanalysis , psychotherapist , biology
S ummary .— This paper is concerned with a new method for coding responses to the sentence completion test which makes it possible to use this projective technique for objective investigations of the attitudes of large samples.1.— A description of the sentence completion test is given with illustrations of, and a discussion of the assumptions underlying, its use. 2.— The proposed coding method is described; each response is coded by two symbols, one representing the attitude expressed in it, and another standing for the object towards which the attitude has been expressed. After the responses have been coded in this manner, they can be treated statistically without much loss or distortion of their original meaning. 3.— The applicability of the coding method is demonstrated by an investigation into differences in attitudes between pupils of grammar and of secondary modern schools. Significant differences were obtained between the school groups, which indicated that grammar school boys are more ambitious and have less positive and more negative attitudes towards their environment than have secondary modern school boys. Some of the possible reasons for these differences were examined and excluded, others remain to be investigated. 4.— Problems connected with the prediction of manifest behaviour from test responses are discussed.