Sponsor
Portland State University. Department of Sociology
First Advisor
Jan Hajda
Date of Publication
1982
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (M.S.) in Sociology
Department
Sociology
Language
English
Subjects
Portland State University -- Students, College dropouts -- Oregon, Reed College (Portland) -- Students
DOI
10.15760/etd.3181
Physical Description
1 online resource (92 p.)
Abstract
This thesis tests the validity of three theories purporting to explain the attrition of stop outs -- why students interrupt their studies with the intent to return to school. Data were gathered at two schools, Portland State University and Reed College. Two theories, those of social class and involvement, were tested at each school as contending explanations of attrition by path analysis of parsimonious models derived by factor analysis. These theories were found to explain little of the variance of attendance pattern (less than 4.3 percent) at either school. No particular lines of causation could be demonstrated at either school. The third theory, that of career planning, asserts that students interrupt their studies to re-evaluate their course of action upon recognizing that chances of employment in their field are not good. This proposition was supported by the data at Portland State University.
Rights
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/18425
Recommended Citation
Daugherty, Terrence Scott, "Involvement, social class and attrition in higher education : the case of the stop out" (1982). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3190.
https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.3181
Comments
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