LI_ a I IT.\'.' curl-I‘m“. '3 (1...: I C a '. . .4 ~jvapAn-.r 7...‘ --- % vi .011 qt “(8‘9 This is to certify that the dissertation entitled FAMILIES OF THE PTA: A SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL SURVEY DATA, 1968 - 1972 presented by Janyce Johnson Spell has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. degree in Fmi 1x Ecology flaw/@444 Major professor Date [7/22/517 MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 0-12771 IVIESI.J RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop to mantles remove this checkout from “ your record. FINES will be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. FAMILIES OF THE PTA: A SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL SURVEY DATA 1968 - 1972 by Janyce Johnson Spell A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Family and Child Ecology 1986 Copyright by JANYCE JOHNSON SPELL 1986 ABSTRACT FAMILIES OF THE PTA: A SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL SURVEY DATA, 1968-1972 By Janyce Johnson Spell Active since the turn of the century, the National Congress of Parents and Teachers (the PTA) has a long tradition of successfully involving parents on behalf of their children. Reflecting the wishes and concerns of parents as identified by local PTA officers, the PTA has succeeded in effecting legislation and policy regarding children on local, state and national levels. Little was generally known, however, about the parent component of the PTA. In this research, a secondary analysis of national survey data was conducted for the purpose of investigating the nature of this parent component. The exploration of secondary analysis as a research methodology was also a purpose of this investigation. It had been hypothesized that factors internal to families (such as specific family characteristics or situation), as well as those external to families (such as broader social expectations or conditions) would have some relationship to family/parent representation at PTA meetings. To investigate the nature of these relationships, a large body of relevant and well respected data was located. The first five waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1968-1972) not only included questions pertinent to a wide variety of family characteristics and situations, it also spanned the racial integration of the PTA in 1970 and therefore reflected the possible influences of the broader social sphere on family behavior. Three objectives were designed to investigate these relationships: I. To identify characteristics of families that had at least one member attending PTA meetings within the prior year. 2. To determine if changes in the family system over time relate to changes in PTA attendance over time. 3. To determine if attendance patterns of both black and white families substantially changed with the integration of the PTA in 1970. To meet the first objective, family data from the Panel Study was investigated in three years (1968, 1970 and 1972) which spanned the five year period. To meet the second objective, data from all five years was used. To meet the last objective, data from 1968, I969, 1971 and 1972 were examined. These data were analysed by means of SPSS on Michigan State University's Cyber 750 computer. It was found that each of the various family and/or environmental factors had correlations of less than .24 with PTA attendance. Although examinations of the descriptive tables indicated some small differentiations between PTA attenders and non-attenders by 1972, there was insufficient magnitude to qualify these differences as much more than noticable. It was also found that changes in family's marital status were not signif- icantly related to changes in PTA attendance over time. Examination of the descriptive tables again resulted in only small differences being noted. The attendance patterns of both white and black families living in the southern region of the United States did appear to change between 1968 and 1972. It was found that a large drop in attendance of both black and white families was evidenced between 1968 and 1969, and that there was a steady increase in black attendance in I97] and I972 which was not matched by that of white families. It is beyond the ability of this research to say for certain that the integration of the PTA in 1970 was responsible for these changes in attendance. The changing social conditions reflected in the PTA's changed policy, however, altered the opportunities available to families and the trends apparent in the changing attendance numbers may be taken as a reaction to newly perceived opportunities or constraints. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Deepest appreciation is extended to my guidance committee, Dr. Dolores Borland, Dr. Linda Nelson, Dr. Eileen Earhart, Dr. Donald Freeman, and Dr. Beatrice Paolucci for their direction, support, encouragement and persistent interest. It is impossible for me to imagine a better experience as a graduate student and I hope to echo their individual and collective efforts and attitudes as I work with students of my own someday. I especially wish to thank Dr. Borland, the chairperson of my committee, who gave me additional time and guidance as director of this dissertation. Thanks are also extended to Harriett Dhanak for her assistance with the data tapes, to Techla Loop, Peggy Head and Dr. Greg Duncan of the SRC for their help in puzzling out various strangenesses in the data and findings as they developed, to Dr. James Stapleton for his statistical advice, to Dr. Martin Grandstaff for his historical and moral support in the earliest stages of this project, and to Vicki Rataviche from the National PTA headquarters in Chicago for allowing me the use of their library and access to their archives. I would also like to thank Dr. Robert Griffore and the Department of Family and Child Ecology for the computer funds which made this study possible. Additionally, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Larry Schiamberg for his support and friendship throughout my graduate work, and for the many opportunities he offered me to develop as a researcher. My sincerest thanks also go to Paula Zimmer and to Beverly Hunt for their time and generosity in connection with my internship in ii family law, and for the unparalleled opportunities they provided for me to learn about people and their families' experiences in connection with the courts. Saving the best for last, I wish to offer a special thanks to my husband Eldred Spell, for first prodding me out of my complacency and then for hearing with me as we each pursued (simultaneously) our respective Ph. D's. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES .............................. . ............ ..... vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......... . .................................. 1 Background ........................................... 1 Purpose .............................................. 2 Theoretical Perspective .............................. 3 Research Design ...................................... 4 Research Objectives and Hypotheses ... .............. .. 5 Significance ......................................... 7 Overview ............................................. 8 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ......................... . ....... 9 Previous Studies of the PTA . ......... . ............... 9 Studies of Voluntary Association Membership .......... 12 Types of Participation ................ .......... 13 Family Structure Characteristics ................ 14 Other Sociodemographic Characteristics .......... 15 Trust in Others and Future Orientation .......... 18 Community Linkages ................ . ............. 19 Racial Integration of the PTA ........ ......... . ..... . 21 III. METHODS AND PROCEDURES .......................... ..... 24 Rationale . ........................................... 24 Primary versus Secondary Research Design ............. 25 Selection of the Data Set . .......... . ................ 27 Limitations .......................................... 30 The Original PSID Sample ...... ..... .... ...... ........ 32 The Secondary Research Sample ........................ 34 Characteristics of the Secondary Research Sample ..... 35 Overview of Analysis Procedures .. .................... 37 iv CHAPTER Page IV. CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS .................. 40 Variable Construction in Secondary Research .......... 40 Dependent Variables .................................. 41 Independent Variables ..... ....... .................... 42 Family Structure Characteristics ................ 42 Sociodemographic Characteristics ................ 46 Trust in Others and Future Orientation .......... 49 Community Linkages .............................. 50 Additional Variables ............................ 52 V. PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS ................................ 54 Characteristics of PTA Attenders ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 54 Family Structure Characteristics ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 58 Sociodemographic Characteristics , ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 67 Trust in Others and Future Orientation ,,,,,,,,,, 77 Community Linkage Characteristics ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 80 Family Characteristics and PTA Attendance Over Time ,, 87 Pre- and Post-Integration Attendance at PTA Meetings in the South .................................... 91 VI. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 98 APPENDICES A- SECONDARY SAMPLE PROFILE ................................ 105 B. SECONDARY RESEARCH INSTRUMENT ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 116 C. ADDITIONAL TABLES FROM OBJECTIVE Two ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 137 BIBLIOGRAPHY 140 ................................................... TABLE 10. A1. C1. C2. LIST OF TABLES Correlations Between Selected Characteristics of Families and Attendance at PTA Meetings, By Year Family Structure Characteristics of PTA Attender Group Families, By Year Family Structure Characteristics of Families by Recency of PTA Attendance, By Year Sociodemographic Characteristics of PTA Attender Group Families, By Year Sociodemographic Characteristics of Families by Recency of PTA Attendance, By Year Trust in Others and Future Orientation of PTA Attender Group Families, By Year Trust in Others and Future Orientation of Families by Recency of PTA Attendance, By Year Community Linkage Characteristics of PTA Attender Group Families, By Year Community Linkage Characteristics of Families by Recency of PTA Attendance, By Year The Percentages of Five Year Changes in PTA Attendance Groups That Experienced Changes in Marital Status Between 1968 and 1972 The Percentages of Five Year Changes in Marital Status Groups That Evidenced Various Patterns of PTA Attendance Between 1968 and 1972 Results of McNemar Analyses of Changes in Attendance Patterns by White and Black Families in the South, Between 1968 and 1972 Secondary Sample Profile Five Year Pattern of PTA Attendance by Five Year Changes in Residence Five Year Pattern of PTA Attendance by Five Year Changes in Jobs vi Page 55 62 64 71 74 78 79 83 85 89 9O 93 106 138 139 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page 1. The interface between families and the PTA, in relation to schools and community .......................... . 3 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is a remarkably resilient organization. Beginning as the National Congress of Mothers in 1897, and fostering the ideals of "educated motherhood" (a theme of G. Stanley Hall and the Progressive Era), the organization has continued to work for the interests of Optimum Child develOpment on both the home and school front (National PTA Handbook, 1981; Rothman, 1978). The objectives set up at that Congress have continued to serve the organization as it grew through time, with very little alteration or addition: I. To promote the welfare of children and youth in the home, school, community and place of worship. 2. To raise the standards of home life. 3. To secure adequate laws for the care and protection of children and youth. 4. To bring into closer relation the home and the school, that parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the education of children and youth. 5. To develop between educators and the general public such united efforts as will secure for all children and youth the highest advantages in physical, mental, social, and spiritual education. (National PTA Handbook, 1981, p. 14) While the particulars of concern of the organization have changed with the times, the overall concern for Children and the bringing together of people who share that concern have remained unchanged from the beginning. The American society, however, has been through a number of comparatively drastic changes since 1897. There have been major changes in beliefs about the functions of motherhood and the roles or purposes of families, coupled with rising divorce rates and increases in the number of women employed in paying jobs outside the home. Along with these developments, American society has also been dealing with the repercussions of the civil rights movement. By virtue of its stated Objectives, the PTA never was and could not be immune from the effects of these wider changes in the family and social realms. Conditions internal to families necessarily effect the interactions of family members with Outside organizations, and the manner in which organizations operate are subject to the overriding laws of society. Still, the PTA continues to be successful in involving large numbers of parents on behalf of their children. Purpose Despite the long history of the PTA, the characteristics of the membership have not been investigated directly. A review of the literature did not result in any studies being located which assessed the nature and influence of family factors and/or social changes such as those of racial integration on the constituency of the PTA. The overall purpose of this study was, therefore, to investigate aspects of this parent/family component of this organization by providing insights on three questions: What were Characteristics of families who were represented at PTA meetings? What changes in families over time may be associated with changing patterns of family representation at PTA meetings? How did racial integration affect the membership of the PTA? Theoretical Perspective The questions addressed in this study concern the relationships between family conditions and interaction with the PTA within the larger social context. The Human Ecological perspective, where the concern is with an organism, its near environment, and the interactions between them (Bubolz, Eicher and Sontag, 1979) served both as the means for identifying the problem and as the perspective by which the problem was approached (Figure 1). Families Community Figure 1. The interface between families and the PTA, in relation to schools and community. (The figure does not represent any scale.) General Systems Theory provided a useful framework for this study as well, in terms of overall interest in the nature of relationships (Broderick and Smith, 1979). Aspects of, and changes in, family structure or situation necessarily influence family interactions with the near environment, of which the PTA is a part. Aspects of, and changes in, social laws and mores are reflected in the communities in which the PTA functions and necessarily impact on the organization as well. It is the nature of these relationships that was the subject of this research. Research Design The secondary analysis of existing national survey data was selected as the Optimum approach to the questions at the heart of this study. By investigating several surveys that were comparable over time, a pattern Of behavior regarding the PTA could be followed along with corresponding Changes in family characteristics. By drawing on data collected around the time that the PTA became integrated (1970), problems with retrospective reporting could be greatly reduced. In short, the questions being investigated in this study could be as fruitfully approached in their historical context as they could by a newly developed survey,but without the correspondingly high costs of time and money and with the added advantage of being time-relevant. A set of surveys were located that were most suitable for this secondary analysis-~the first five waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). These data were collected from the same families each year between 1968 and 1972, and contained information about both PTA attendance and a wide variety of family characteristics in a manner comparable across time. The purpose of the present investigation could be met by the appropriate analyses of these data. Research Objectives and Hypotheses The following objectives and null hypotheses were set up to guide this investigation. They were develOped from findings of previous research, but limited to the data available in the national studies selected. Objective One: To identify characteristics of families that had at least one member attending PTA meetings within the prior year. H There is no relationship between family attendance at PTA 01’HO9‘ meetings and the following family structure characteristics: H0]: marital status H02: gender/marital status of head of household H03: age of head of household' H04: age of wife H05: number of adults in the family H06: number of children in the family H : number of children in school 07 H08: age of youngest child H09: age of head's oldest child Secondary researchers are necessarily dependent on and restricted to time definition of terms as carried out by the primary researchers. The P811) researchers defined head of household to be male, if the family iruzluded a married couple. Please see page 30 for discussion of this limitation. HOIO-H018' There is no relationship between family attendance at PTA meetings and the following sociodemographic characteristics: H010: family's annual income H01]: head of household's employment status H012: head Of household's occupation H013: wife's employment status H014: wife's occupation H : head of household's education 015 . o ' I “016’ Wlfe 5 education H017: ethnICIty H018: geographic region of residence HOl9-H020' There is no relationship between family attendance at PTA meetings and the following personal orientation/outlook characteristics: H019: I trust most/some/few other peOple H020: The life of the average man is getting better/ pro-con/worse 021-H026: There is no relationship between family attendance at PTA meetings and the following community linkage characteristics: H021: presence of relatives within walking distance H022: number of neighbors known by name H023: frequency that head of household attends church H024: religion H : access to trans ortation 025 9 H026: head's first choice of spare time activities Objective Two: To determine if changes in the family system over time relate to changes in PTA attendance over time. H 027’3029‘ There is no relationship between family attendance at PTA meetings over time (five year pattern of Change in attendance) and the following changes in the family system over time: H027: five year changes in marital status H028: five year changes in head of household's job H029: five year changes in residence Objective Three: To determine if attendance patterns Of both black and white families substantially changed with the integration of the PTA in l H 970. 030‘ There is no change in type of PTA attendance by race between 1968 and 1972. Significance The PTA has a long tradition of involving parents on behalf of their children, and has been effective over time in influencing policy and legislation regarding children on local, state and national levels. Little is presently known, however, about the peOple who supported the PTA and were, theoretically at least, represented by the PTA when it took a stand on an issue. Such knowledge could prove useful to PTA officials, to family specialists, and to others who share the PTA's concern with children, and might allow stereotypes of the PTA to subside in favor of grounded and objective findings. Further, inquests into the nature of relationships between personal Characteristics and group membership have long been useful in providing for insights into both the phenomena of membership and our overall understandings of mankind. Investigations taking into consideration the dynamics of family membership as a factor, however, have not been under- taken as extensively. Therefore, this study could also provide grounds for insights into the nature of relationships between family character- istics and voluntary group membership in organizations such as the PTA. Overview The following Chapters describe the proceedings and findings of this investigation. Chapter II presents the results of the review of the literature pertaining to various aspects of the PTA, the phenomena of voluntary association membership, and racial integration in the United States as they pertain to the purposes of the present study. In Chapter III a brief discussion of the methods and procedures particular to secondary analysis is provided first. The process of selecting the data sets used in this study, a description of the related limitations inherent in such an arrangement, details about the original PSID sample and the generation of the secondary research sample, and an overview of the analysis procedures followed in this study are also given in Chapter III. Chapter IV begins with a brief presentation of variable construction in secondary research and then gives conceptual and Operational descriptions of the variables investigated in this research. A presentation of findings can be found in Chapter V. Chapter VI includes a discussion of the findings, conclusions, and a consideration 0f the implications of this investigation. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE The findings of the review of literature are presented in this chapter. The first section presents information on previous studies of the PTA. In particular, the manner in which the parent component of the PTA was dealt with and/or investigated, what aspects of the PTA had been researched, and how the PTA has been indirectly included in research on related topics are highlighted and summarized. In the second section findings pertinent to the relationships between various family and/or personal characteristics and voluntary association membership in general are presented and summarized. A review of findings on racial integration and black history pertinent to the integration of the PTA is presented and summarized in the third section. Previous Studies of the PTA Although Parent is the first word in the name of the Parent Teacher Association, the nature of the parent component, itself, has not been investigated directly. McPhee (1949) profiled the Officers of PTA's in Salt Lake City according to Symond's psychological drives, and Burgard (1940) investigated characteristics of PTA officers in Pennsylvania in relation to the efficiency of the organization. Neither of these investigators went beyond this select group of parents as Officers because the parent component was not their major concern. Butterworth (1928) investigated the activities, objectives, and organization of 797 local PTA's in nine states but listed percentages only for membership and 9 10 attendance. Butterworth described non-parental membership, percent of homes having at least one member on the PTA roster, reasons why members dropped out as reported by local officers, and methods found useful in arousing and retaining the interest Of parents. He recommended that it would be worthwhile for each state to secure data concerning the probable factors which influence attendance. Holbeck's (1934) dissertation reinforced Butterworth's work, but focused upon the relationships between the PTA and school administrators. To date, only one author has approached the PTA from a parent's perspective. Jeffries (1965) described his personal experiences as a parent and as an educator with the PTA--but one can only speculate as to how widespread his sentiments are actually felt. Jeffries recounted with humor (and a bit of facetiousness) the typical "back to school nights" so often hosted by the PTA in the early fall, and then went on in his book to consider larger philosophical questions on the nature of schools and teaching and the practice/art of education itself. Two studies are considered "classics" by current PTA administrators, both produced by the organization itself. Both described the phiIOSOphy, background and structure of the organization, but included no information about the characteristics of the families involved with the PTA (National Congress of Parents and Teachers, 1944; Overstreet, 1949). Overstreet (1949), however, did detail the development of the PTA's efforts to bring parents into closer involvement with the schools and the organization's call for activity on behalf of parent education. Other studies regarding the PTA which are not considered classics have also neglected to investigate the nature of the families involved. Instead, they have focused on: (1) the relationship between school 11 superintendents and principals with their local PTA's (Batton, 1980; Farley, 1957; Holbeck, 1934; Mason, 1928; Sleight, 1969; Splawn, 1966; Swenson, 1968) (2) local PTA activities and goals (Butterworth, 1928; Grebner, 1955; Laderer, 1955; Mills, 1956) (3) the history of the PTA and ideas behind it (Mason, 1928) (4) the historical development of the PTA in particular states (Cangemi, 1965; Miller, 1954) (5) perceptions of the PTA by parents, teachers and administrators in six sample schools of Chula Vista, California (Royce, 1975) (6) the influence of the PTA on school policy (Safer, 1972; Sanders, 1973) (7) the PTA and educational problems as perceived by parents and teachers (Howe, 1959), and (8) the PTA's "boarder maintenance" (or "turf protection") as regards similar organizations in Miami, Florida (Garner, 1977). Occasionally, sociological studies with other foci touched briefly on the PTA and its functions. An example is a study by Gittell (1980). In considering the nature and functions of voluntary organizations, she indicated that the PTA's in Los Angeles and Atlanta did communicate with decision makers and played an important part in maintaining information flow, as opposed to other citizens' groups in those cities. She recognized the PTA as a traditional form of citizen involvement, which is in keeping with the PTA's stated views of itself. The membership of the PTA was investigated in the 1969 Gallup Poll as a part of a larger consideration of Attitudes Towards Education, 1968- .1222: A modified national probability sample of 1,505 adults was questioned between February 4 and February 20, 1969. Gallup concluded from his research that of the parents with children in school, 52 percent said they belonged to the PTA or some similar organization, and that fewer than half Of this group said they attended regularly. Reasons given for 12 not attending more Often or for not joining included the lack of someone to care for children in the home, conflicts with other commitments, feelings that not much gets accomplished at PTA meetings and that they were a waste of time, and other similar statements. In his summary remarks, Gallup highlighted the need for greater cooperation between parents and the school "if the school is to meet its responsibility for the education of the youth of the land" (1973, pp. 6-7). It is in precisely this direction that the PTA has been striving. To summarize, although earlier studies focusing on the PTA have explored Characteristics of the PTA organization itself and the relation- ships between the PTA and school personnel, the nature of the parent and family component remains relatively unknown. Although focused on larger sociological questions, Gallup's study (1973) suggested that lack of child care and conflicts with other commitments may have been important factors influencing attendance at PTA meetings; both of these matters could be approached in the present investigation. The literature on voluntary association membership was then reviewed for insights on other potential influences on PTA attendance. Studies of Voluntary Association Membership The PTA is by nature a voluntary association in that parents and others from the community may elect to join or to exit from the organ- ization at will (Amis and Stern, 1974). The literature on voluntary association membership contributes to the formation of insights on general trends in membership and participation on the part of individuals in the organizations. Thus, the information on voluntary association Imembership may be useful in understanding the PTA. Research findings 13 pertinent to the present investigation will be discussed under the following sub-headings: types of participation, family structure charac- teristics, other sociodemographic characteristics, personal orientation/ outlook, and community linkages. Types of Participation Fundamental differences exist in the dynamics of membership and participation in voluntary associations. Participation may assume member- ship, whereas membership cannot assume participation. Houghland's (1979) findings suggested the importance of differentiating among levels of participation (i.e. active participation versus membership in name only). He hypothesized that "active participants may be more discriminating about organizational activities than are members in general" (p. 90). In 1982, Houghland and Christensen considered three types of participation in their investigation of organizational experience and values: (1) non- member (respondent reported belonging to none of the types of organizations considered), (2) member in name only (respondent indicated membership but not participation), and (3) active (respondent reported active pare ticipation). Whereas the bulk of the research to date regards the number of memberships in voluntary associations, the concern with differentiation among levels of participation was taken as an important consideration for the present study. Other frameworks identified and used in the past for differentiating between types or levels of participation include Brager and Specht's (1973) four categories: executive (i.e. board member), active (i.e. first hand knowledge of programs), occasional (i.e. responds to telephone calls for support), and supportive (i.e. able to discuss the organization, but 14 otherwise takes no action on the organization's behalf). Orr (1982) discussed and used this framework in her research on volunteers as advocates. Salem (1978) used a combination of hours per month devoted to organizational affairs and attendance at meetings to categorize activity levels as being active (six hours per month and attended most meetings), moderately active (four to five hours per month and attended meetings), and inactive (three hours or less per month and attended less than half the meetings). Family Structure Characteristics TO some extent two family structure characteristics, gender and age, have been found to be related to membership in voluntary organizations. Hausknecht's study of participation on a national scale (1962) found that more women than men belonged to civic and service associations which would include the PTA. That women have traditionally attended PTA meetings more than men is not surprising, especially in light of the fact that the organization began as the National Congress of Mothers in 1897 (Butter- worth, 1928; Grebner, 1955; Holbeck, 1944; Mason, 1928; Overstreet, 1949; National Congress of Parents and Teachers, 1944). Although other researchers have found that men tend to participate more in community organizations in general than do women (Bell and Force, 1956; Lazerwitz, 1962; Scott, 1957), Houghland's (1979) findings suggest that organizations tend to draw from particular pools Of potential members, and the PTA may well be a case in point. Age, as a variable, has been found to be inconsistently related to participation in voluntary organizations, but the general trend seems to be that participation increases from early adulthood to late middle age 15 then drops Off (Edwards and White, 1980; Edwards, White, and Owens, 1977). Hausknecht (1962) found that more than half of those who claim membership in voluntary associations were between the ages of 35 and 54. Farley's (1957) investigation of Kentucky PTAs found the median age of members to be 40.7 years. Other aspects of family structure would seem important but have not yet been studied. Family structure is a construct drawn from general systems theory and family ecological perspectives. The construct includes variables such as marital status, number of adults in the family unit, ages of the adults, ages Of the children, and the number of children in the family home. The particular characteristics of a given family system have been found to be associated with the nature and type of interaction its members have with the environment (Hausknecht, 1962; Hyman and Wright, 1971; Kantor and Lehr, 1975), both in terms of potential resources for interaction with "outside" systems (such as the number of adults in the family and the ability to cover child care responsibilities so as to facilitate time away), and in terms of the relevance of the interaction to the individual and/or family system (such as the belief that parent participation in the PTA might benefit the child) (Houghland, 1979; Palisi, 1972). Family structure, then, and its relationship to a family's participation in the PTA was of particular interest in this investigation. Other Sociodemographic Characteristics Several other sociodemographic variables have been investigated for their relationship with participation in voluntary organizations. These have included ethnicity, and socioeconomic status with its component factors of education, income, and occupation. 16 Socioeconomic status, or social class level, has been defined in a number of ways by various researchers. Most notably it has been measured by income, occupation, and/or education. Consistently, socioeconomic status has been found to be positively related to voluntary association membership (Axelrod, 1956; Babchuk and Booth, 1969; Edwards and White, 1980; Freeman et al., 1957; Hausknecht, 1962; Komarovsky, 1946; Lazerwitz, 1962; Scott, 1957; Tomeh, 1967; Wright and Hyman, 1958). Hyman and Wright (1971) hypothesized that "social status perhaps works its influence through altering the routine pressures upon the individual, and thereby facilitates or constrains his entry and activity in voluntary associations" (note, p. 202). Their research indicated, though, that situational factors experienced as a part of daily life (such as hours of paid work, time spent commuting to work, and available spare time) did not have a major or significant effect on voluntary association membership. In that income, education, and occupation are strongly related to each other, considerations of these variables individually are generally supportive of findings based on socioeconomic status. Persons in higher status occupations are more likely than persons in lower status occu- pations to belong to voluntary associations (Hyman and Wright, 1971). Houghland (1979) found, however, that income appears to be positively related to participation up to a certain level of income. In Houghland's (1979) investigation of ten categories of voluntary associations, persons with middle income levels were related to the highest membership and participation levels. Houghland hypothesized that "after a certain income level is reached...organizations are apparently not perceived as useful for further status attainment" (1979, p. 90). 17 Higher levels of education may contribute to voluntary association membership and participation in terms of the develOpment of interpersonal and communication skills which generally accompany educational experience. Salem (1978) found these skills to be positively related to activity levels of members of organizations, but noted also that "although these qualities are more frequently found among the college educated, they do not necessarily follow from that education" and may be related more to previous experience in organizations (p. 25). Research regarding the PTA has tended to support a relationship between socioeconomic status and participation. Sanders (1973) found the PTA to be a significant organization in middle socioeconomic areas around Los Angeles, but not so in areas of low socioeconomic status. Farley (1957) found a direct relationship between income and interest in the PTA in Kentucky, and income and education were significantly related to participation in the PTA in Chicago (Mills, 1956). Research regarding ethnicity and voluntary association membership has yielded conflicting results. Wright and Hyman (1958) found that membership was more characteristic of whites than blacks, but Babchuk and Thompson (1962) found that blacks tended to belong to "far more" voluntary associations than did whites. there were, however, major differences in methodology and samples of these two studies. Hausknecht (1962) found that, in general, blacks were not as well represented in voluntary organizations as were whites--with the notable exception of civic and service organizations. Approximately the same percentages of each race claimed membership in these community based associations. As regards the PTA (which Hausknecht viewed as a civic and service organization), it is important to recognize that while there may 18 have been some integration of membership, there was a separate PTA for each racial group between 1926 and 1970. Thus, Hausknecht's findings may indicate similar concerns and interests on the part of each racial group, even if pursued separately. More recent research pertaining to ethnicity and voluntary association membership was not found in the literature reviewed. Geographical region of the country has not been investigated in relation to either membership or participation in voluntary associations. Given differences in weather, terrain, and differences in population density across the United States, this would seem an influential variable. Racial balances also differ geographically, and may influence attendance patterns in voluntary organizations; this is another question which has not yet been investigated. Trust in Others and Future Orientation Researchers dealing with formal voluntary organizations have considered the relationship of attitudes and personality traits to membership and participation (Mulford and Klonglan, 1972). Factors found to have a positive relationship with membership include a service orien- tation to leisure time, extraversion, a trusting nature, achievement motivation, ego strength and adjustment, and positive feelings about the future (Smith and Reddy, 1972). Although it seems logical that a person's orientation toward the future and degree of trust in others might affect his/her motivation to attend the PTA (in that the welfare of children is given as the prime concern of the organization), the literature reviewed did not include any studies in which these particular relationships were investigated. 19 Community Linkages For the purposes of this study, community linkages is a construct referring to the ties families and individuals might have to the particular area in which they live. An important variable in this category is length of residence in a given area, assuming that the longer a person lives in a particular area, the more involved in the community he/she will tend to be. Length of residence was found to be positively related to membership in voluntary associations (Babchuk and Thompson, 1962; Hyman and Wright, 1971; Litwak, 1961). Attendance at church can be considered a form of community linkage and Often serves as a means by which newcomers are integrated into a community. Religion and frequency of church attendance have both been found to be correlated with voluntary association membership (Hausknecht, 1962; Peterson and Lee, 1976). Hausknecht (1962) noted, however, that differences in these relationships were confounded by the structural aspects of the religions considered. Hausknecht (1962) found that Protestants who exhibited a high frequency of church attendance (attendance at church at least once a week) showed a high rate of member- ship in voluntary associations, but Catholics with an equally frequent attendance rate showed a much lower rate of membership affiliation. Upon reflection, Hausknecht suggested that Catholicism has a fundamentally different point of view about where power is vested and how the initiative of the laity is respected. He suggested that in most Protes- tant churches, the power was vested in the congregation and considerable freedom was allowed about the decision to "join" the church. In Catholicism, however, power was vested in the church organization and priest, and the priest was expected to function in a supervisory manner 20 with the parrish. Attendance at church each week was required by Church law among Catholics. Hence, it may be that the Catholic church should not be regarded as the same type of voluntary association as Protestant churches. Petersen and Lee's (1976) secondary analysis of the social participation of Lutherans and Roman Catholics indicated, further, that "religious affiliation by itself is not a major determinant of secular voluntary association participation, but it becomes an important factor in some instances by virtue of its interaction with socioeconomic or residential variables" (p. 92). Without evidence to the contrary, one might assume that Hausknecht's insights would continue to hold true for the purposes of this investigation. Other aspects of community linkages that might have some relation- ship to PTA attendance include the number of neighbors known by name, the presence Of relatives in the neighborhood, access to transportation and Choices of spare time activities. To date, these aspects have not been investigated as to their relationship to participation in voluntary associations. In summary, membership and/or participation in voluntary associations has been found to be related to socioeconomic status as represented by income, occupation, and/or education; positively related to length of residence in a given community; and at least somewhat related to personal orientation/outlooks, religion, and frequency of church attendance. Relationships between voluntary association membership and/or partici- pation and variables such as age, gender, family structure and ethnicity have also been established, but their nature is less clear. It should be further noted that the review of the literature did not turn up an investigation of participation patterns over time. Hyman and 21 Wright (1971) compared the correlates of voluntary association membership in national surveys from 1955 and 1962, but single investigations of the tOpic seem to be the norm--not surprising when one considers the costs involved in longitudinal and panel designs. Racial Integration of the PTA Although the PTA considered itself above racial segregation in terms of its concern about children, the organization was not officially integrated until 1970. The early leaders of the PTA, then called the National Congress of Parents and Teachers (NCPT), regarded all children "irrespective Of creed, color, or condition" (Birney, 1898, p. 35) as their concern. In keeping with the social policy at the time, however, with few exceptions this concern was manifested in the separate-but-equal ideology. Overstreet (1949) devotes a chapter to the beginnings of the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers (NCCPT) in 1926, and described their achievements and relationships with the corresponding white organizations in several states. Changes in the larger social order of race relations in the country after Overstreet's work in 1949 were slow in bringing changes in the PTA's organizational structure. The Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision declared the unconstitutionality of the separate-but-equal schooling practices in 1954 (Kern, 1980). This decision was endorsed by the NCCPT, but it was not until 1966 that official discussion of uniting the two parent teacher organizations took place (National PTA Handbook, 1981). The late 1960's and early 1970's were turbulent times in American history. The term "disillusioned" would most accurately describe the 22 dominant mood of the country during this time. The Vietnam war, student protests on college campuses, Watergate, and racial strife were prominently reported on the nightly news (Gallup, 1973). The period of time between the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968 and the National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana in 1972 is regarded as significant in black history in the United States. These years were marked by reassessment of the black movement's direction and power (Harding, 1980). The civil rights movement, sometimes called the "Other American Revolution", began to rely less on Open confrontation and more on purposive "infiltration" to achieve its goals. Massive voter registration efforts in the south and the continued migration of blacks to the Cities were effective in installing black men and women in a variety Of public Offices. Harding refers to this period Of time between 1968 and 1972 as being one of transition (1979-80, 1980). To date, no one has investigated the impact of racial integration on the PTA. An investigation of attendance at PTA meetings during these transitional years might reflect on the extent of the quieter but forceful push for interracial acceptance within the PTA, and may document a significant development in the PTA's recent history. Most of the research on the PTA predates 1968, and research recent enough to have included a consideration of its integration has been concerned with other matters. Collectively, the review of the literature has (1) identified an apparent paucity of information regarding characteristics of families who have members that attended PTA meetings, (2) recognized the importance of differentiating between levels of participation in voluntary organizations, (3) considered variables found to have a relationship to membership and/or 23 participation in voluntary associations in general. The review has also identified a period of time considered significant in black history in the United States (1968-1972); a period Of time during which the PTA became racially integrated. CHAPTER III METHODS AND PROCEDURES Rationale Secondary analysis is the extraction of knowledge that pertains to a present day problem from research conducted for other purposes (Glaser, 1962; Hyman, 1972). Through the use of computers, secondary analysis of national survey data holds the potential for investigations that would be tOO costly, too impractical, or too premature to investigate through primary research designs. In support of this movement, vast amounts of highly respected survey data are being made available at little or no charge to social researchers through a number of archives across the country. The only limitations involved in the use of these data for research are basically imposed by the constraints of the original data sets, and by the researchers' lack of creativity and flexibility in dealing with them. Some kinds of research are especially suited to secondary analysis. Social change frequently involves such tensions that the intrusion of a researcher or new survey may aggravate the situation, and in these instances, secondary analysis may be the optimal strategy (Hyman, 1972). Secondary analysis can allow for insights into the general processes of social change through the use of comparable data collected at different points in time. It can Offer researchers an opportunity to exercise hindsight, in that as long as the data exists, it is possible to "go back" and explore the processes and dynamics surrounding some past event or occurance (Hyman, 1972). 24 25 The present investigation was prompted by this researcher's long- standing interest in (1) the relationships between families and school systems, and (2) the use of the computer as a research tool. The identi- fication of a substantial body of well respected data that held the potential for answering questions related to the first interest mentioned above, allowed for the exercise of the second interest. In the rest of this chapter standard procedures utilized in secondary analysis will be described as they relate to the procedures used in this research. A brief consideration of the contrasts between primary and secondary research designs will be presented first. Primary versus Secondary Research Design In primary research, researchers usually develOp a research question, select the best available research methodology to investigate the question, and then develOp the methodology to gather data on the issues involved. In secondary research, the research question is tenta- tively and globally identified and secondary analysis is one of the many methodologies considered. The researcher investigates the content of the many data sets available. If a data set contains the critical variables/data needed in the investigation, the study is then revised and refined within the limits of the data available. Frequently, previously unconsidered aspects of the research question are formulated as the researcher becomes acquainted with the data available. Because secondary analysis is the examination of "old" data in "new" ways, researchers using this methodology will be more successful if they are somewhat flexible yet valid about their requirements for selecting data sets, and are creative about just how the data might be applied to the various questions the researcher has in mind. 26 It has already been pointed out that there are a few differences between conducting a primary study and conducting a secondary analysis, but there are a number of similarities between the two methodologies as well: The primary analyst constructs a total survey and each of its parts to suit his purposes. The secondary analyst, by exercising careful judgement, selects from the many available surveys the one or more that happen to have been constructed in ways that are most compatible with his purposes. In primary analysis, the design is achieved by the prgarrangement of parts of the surveys. In secondary analysis, it is achieved by Egarrangement of a survey or the combination of several surveys rearranged as if they were components of a larger planful inquiry, and by the elimination of those portions of one or more Of the original surveys that would frustrate or complicate the analysis. Within the limits of his resources, the primary analyst constructs procedures that will reduce error. Again what the secondary analyst does is select a survey with an eye to the quality and accuracy of the procedures, or he eliminates those portions of the survey which are most error ridden. In primary studies, research must be designed in relation to budget. A design too large for one's resources, no matter how beautiful it may be, will never be completed. The secondary analyst lives Off the financial resources of others and works only with completed studies. Even so, he faces analogous problems of scaling his design. He must also exercise restraint. Sometimes, there may be no end to the relevant surveys at his disposal, ...In all these ways, the secondary analyst does or should do much planning and arranging of all phases of his inquiry. In the process, he designs or creates a new totality out of the old parts. (Hyman, 1972, p. 26) 27 As sometimes occurs in primary research, secondary analysts may find it necessary to alter their preliminary plans for analyses of data once they have begun to work with the selected data. Secondary analysis can be compared to archeology in the sense that even the most well grounded set of expectations may prove to be of little substance once deeper levels of investigation are begun, and things once thought to be superficial may prove to be of far greater importance than originally thought. Although the original purpose or goal of the investigation remains unchanged, the particular questions asked and steps taken as progress towards that goal are fine tuned--occasionally, completely redirected—-by insights and findings derived along the way. Selection of the Data Set The overriding interest in this research was a concern with the relationships between families and school systems. Although tentative and global in nature, this interest was focused in content. Data sets which included information about families' characteristics and inter- actions with schools, school personnel, and/or school administrators were needed. After the minimum requirements for a data set were decided upon by the researcher, the next step was to investigate the data sets available from the various archives. Archives such as the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor contain holdings of vast numbers of data sets available for reanalysis. The data sets available from the ICPSR were considered because of their free cost to personnel and students at member institutions (Michigan State University is a member institution) 28 and because some data sets have been cleaned for errors and formatted for ease of use. The wide variety of data sets available are indexed by subject, author, and title of study and described in catalogs published each year by the ICPSR. After locating a study or two from the catalogs that seemed appropriate, the code books for the studies were investigated. Catalogs and codebooks are available from the ICPSR representative at each member institution. Codebooks provide details concerning the sample, variables included, questions asked and the frequency of response to each question within the study. With this information, the secondary analyst can form some idea as to the actual potential of the data set for his or her purposes. Once the data set was selected, the data tape was obtained through the ICPSR representative. The data tape was supplied for the cost of the tape. When ordering the tape, it was necessary to provide specific information about the computer on which it would be used. In the case of Michigan State University's Cyber 750, a sc0pe tape was made which converted the stranger tape (tape from another computer system) into a form readable by Michigan State University's computer. The researcher worked closely with the ICPSR representative and the computer personnel at the University during these stages. The data set selected for this study was the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) conducted by the Survey Research Center of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The ICPSR catalog description indicated that the sc0pe of the original study approached that called for by the research questions for this study, and that the data were available in a cleaned and for- matted condition. The codebooks confirmed the data set's potential by identifying the variables needed for the present study. Between 1968 and 29 1972, one of the many quesitons asked Of all families surveyed pertained to how long ago someone in that family had attended a meeting of the Parent Teacher Association. The PSID data also offered a wealth of other information about these families over the years surveyed. The design of this panel study was longitudinal with face to face interviews conducted mostly with the heads of households during the spring of each year. Since the original researchers intended their data to serve as the basis for future analyses, great care was taken to insure that the data were complete, accurate, representative, and that the questions were asked in such a way that they would be comparable over time. The PSID data are quite complete and are highly regarded in the research community. Since 1973, some 325 books and articles have been based on the data found in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. All five surveys (one each year between 1968 and 1972) were carried out by the same center, so that the general procedures, interpretations of variables, character of the field staff, and coding are comparable. Being a cluster of surveys, reliability of individual questions could be appraised and error rates calculated, which in turn allowed the secondary analyst greater confidence in designing his or her inquiry. A supplemental volume was recently released by the Survey Research Center containing information to aid secondary analysts using this data base with pecu- liarities Of questions, replies, coding, data management, areas where extra caution should be taken in interpretation, and information on other important issues (this volume is available from the ICPSR and was released in 1984). This kind of "support" is of unquestionable value in secondary analysis, and was a contributing factor in the selection Of this particular data set. 30 Perhaps the most motivating factor in the selection of the PSID data for use in this investigation was that no other data set was located by this researcher which contained such wealth of information pertaining to families and schools. In addition to participation in the PTA, questions were asked, among others, about marital status of head of household, ages of head and wife, number of adults and children in the family, ages of oldest and youngest children, family money income, working status and occupations of head and wife, and educational background of head and wife. Through careful sample selection and sample management over the five year period, the data were representative of families across the United States. Given the diversity of PTA's on local levels (Changing Times, 1972), and of families in general (Aldous, 1978), a meaningful investigation of the PTA would require large numbers of people across a wide geographical area; this was entirely possible with the PSID data. Limitations One of the major limitations in secondary analysis concerns the fact that secondary investigators are restricted to the content of the data collected in the primary or original study. One cannot go back to the respondent for more information or clarification of a response, nor can additional questions be asked. Further, the assumptions of the original study must be assumed in the secondary analysis, for example, in the definition of terms. This investigation must accept the terms as originally defined by the PSID researchers. Two terms, in particular, affect the interpretation Of the findings of this secondary analysis: 31 family/household: In the primary study, family was defined as "all persons living in a household who are related by blood, marriage, or adOption. In occasional cases an unrelated person has been included in the family unit if he or she shares expenses and is apparently a permanent member of the unit" (Morgan, et al., 1974, p. 428). This study accepts that definition, and like the primary researchers uses the term household interchangeably with the term family. head of household/family: The original study defined this term as follows: "in nuclear families the husband is defined as the head. In families with a single adult, he or she is defined as the head. In ambiguous cases of more than one adult, the head is the major earner or the one who owns the home or pays the rent" (Morgan, et al., 1974, p. 419). Another perceived limitation that must be recognized is the fact that the data are, at this point, 14—18 years old. it should be noted that this research seeks to investigate the nature of relationships in full recognition of a given historical context. While future research may or may not verify that the relationships found in this study are also true Of families and PTA attendance of that day, the principles uncovered in this study are no less valid. There is long-standing precedent for the inferential use of documents and records from the past for insights on present realities (Hyman, 1972). Further, in that one of the Objectives of the present investigation deals with the racial integration of the PTA, analyses of the PSID data--which were collected at the time--is preferable to a present day survey that would necessitate the recalling Of behavior and feelings of some 14-18 years past. 32 A limitation in all secondary analyses is the potential for lack of knowledge about biases or weaknesses in the primary study. To minimize the impact Of this limitation a well known and accepted study by experienced and recognized researchers was selected. The supporting documentation for these studies is extensive and quite detailed. Although only the first five waves of the Panel Study are being used in this investigation, the Panel Study is ongoing at the time of this writing and help with questions or advice is readily available to secondary analysts using the PSID data. The original researchers were/are most careful to identify possible biases and weaknesses in these data and their cautions have been fully exercised in the design of this particular investigation. Lastly, the vast number Of studies which have used this data set over the past 17 years attests to the quality of the data and the methodological procedures used. In summary, the PSID data represent an Optimum Opportunity to investigate the questions posed by the present investigation. Once convinced of the quality of the data set, the potential usefulness of its component variables, and serious consideration of the limitations imposed as well, the formal research hypotheses began to be refined and specific requirements for constructing the secondary research sample from the PSID sample were delineated. The Original PSID Sample The original sample for the Panel Study of Income Dynamics was a stratified clustered probability sample of households in the 48 contiguous states (plus the District of Columbia) who had at least one noninstitu- tionalized member in 1968. Initially, two subsamples were involved: one 33 set derived from the Survey Research Center's master sampling frame, and the other drawn from the Census Bureau's study of Economic Opportunities from 1966-1967 which included low income and non-elderly households. Sample households were clustered to reduce the field costs involved in conducting face-to-face interviews, but were also stratified by geo- graphical region (according to pOpulation density, type of industry and by subregion), income, race, and age, in order that the proportions of the sample strata conformed to the pr0portions in the population. Special care was taken to track the probability of initial selection for each household throughout each stage of sample construction. An elaborate and careful system of family weights was derived for each family, based on the probability Of initial selection and then adjusted to account for households lost due to non-response. In order to track a panel of families over time and have the sample retain its representativeness of the population, however, it became necessary to allow for the dynamic aspects of family "life cycles". New families were created or established, and families dissolved when children moved out Of hte parental home, when death occurred, or when a family split into two because Of divorce or separation. To cope with these develOpments, an elaborate and detailed set of rules was drawn up by the original researchers to allow for the management and inclusion of new families as a part of the sample, and for providing them with proper family weights. In 1972, then, the family weights were yet again adjusted to allow for the loss of families over the five year period through non- response and to compensate for the large number of families formed since 1968. (These rules and the derivation of the various family weights are detailed in the Users Guide to the PSID, 1984, available from the ICPSR.) 34 The data set being used in the present investigation, therefore, contains five years of data (1968-1972) for every family interviewed in 1972. The use of the 1972 weight variable was highly recommended by the ICPSR personnel, and allowed the data to be representative of families living in the United States in 1972. The Secondary Research Sample For the purposes of the present secondary research investigation, three requirements were deemed necessary: 1. There must be children in the household and going to school in each of the five years between 1968 and 1972. 2. There must be no missing data on the attendance at PTA meetings variable for any of the years between 1968 and 1972. 3. the respondent in the interview must be either the head of household or the wife. A further restriction on the selection of the secondary research sample was placed in order to insure that at least one of the major adults would be followed throughout the five year period by means of the "change in family composition" variable. This last restriction, in conjunction with the first one mentioned above, allowed this researcher to "follow" the children in cases of divorce or separation. If, for example, a divorce in 1970 created two families and the children stayed with the former wife, she became the head of household for that family and the other family created by the now "childless" husband in that year would be dropped. However, if the divorce in 1970 created two families and each former spouse had a child living with them and going to school, the added restriction would allow both "new" families to remain in this 35 restricted, secondary research sample. As it turned out, this last restriction was unnecessary, as no single-male head of households showed up in the secondary sample. On the basis of the criteria specified above, 1,540 families were identified from the 5,060 cases of the original PSID sample (26.3 percent) and became the sample for the present secondary analysis. As strongly recommended by the PSID, the 1972 weighting variable was used which caused the effective size of the secondary research sample to become 37,892 families. Characteristics of the Secondary Research Sample The major characteristics of the secondary research sample will be summarized here. A detailed profile of the secondary sample can be found in Appendix A. Highlights of that table are presented below for the years 1968, 1970 and 1972 respectivelyz. Family Structure Characteristics The secondary sample remained predominantly married with male heads of households in all three years (87.0%, 85.92 and 82.3%). Mean ages for heads of households were 40.7 years (range of 21-75), 42.5 years (range 2 . . . . . It was dec1ded that this investigation would focus on the data from 1968, 1970, and 1972 in meeting Objective One for this research. With 179 variables (see Appendix B and Chapter IV) for each of the 37,892 cases, this action allowed for considerable savings in terms of computer memory and the corresponding costs for analysis. 36 of 23-78), and 44.4 years (range of 24-74). Most families included two adults (72.2%, 67.2%, and 57.1%), and had between one and three children in school (77.9%, 76.5% and 79.3%). Youngest children were mostly under the age of 9 years old (66.1%, 52.9%, and 42.3%), and oldest children were mostly over the age of 14 years (55.7%, 61.3%, and 61.7%). Sociodemographic Characteristics Mean family taxable incme in 1968 was $9,476, in 1970 was $11,565 and in 1972 was $12,509. The majority of heads of households were employed (89.6%, 89.6% and 86.7%). Men were mostly employed as craftsmen or foremen. Almost one half of the wives were employed outside the home in 1970 and 1972 (45.3% and 43.0%--data on this variable were not available in 1968). Wives were mostly employed in clerical and sales occupations. Most heads and wives had achieved a twelfth grade education or better (61.3% for heads, 1968 data only; 59.8% in 1968 and 56.1% in 1972 for wives. The secondary sample was predominantly white (85.0%, 83.6% and 83.7%). The percentage of blacks was 12.7%, 12.7% and 12.7%. The representation of each region of the United States was consistent across the years studied, and each region was almost equally represented in the sample. Trust in Others and Future Orientation The two variables considered under mental attitude or personality traits dealt with trust in others and orientation towards the future. These questions were asked of the respondent, which in every case was either the head of household or the wife. The majority of the secondary sample felt that the life of the average man was getting better--without qualifications (60.9%, 54.5% and 57.7%), and indicated they trusted most other peOple (59.2%, 60.0%, and 60.2%). 37 Community Linkage Characteristics More than half of the secondary sample did not live within walking distance of family relatives (57.3%, 56.8%, and 55.1%). Over two-thirds Of the secondary sample knew most or all of their neighbors (74.4%, 76.4%, and 74.5%). Almost two-thirds indicated they were Protestant, and more than half indicataed the head of household attended church at least twice a month (53.5%, 57.0%, and 55.6%). In 1970 and 1972, most families had access to at least one family car (90.0% and 91.1%). In all three years the head's first choice of spare time activities were predominantly productive activities "that saved money or produced direct services". Energetic activities such as sports were also popular choices. Overview of Analysis Procedures The PSID data were supplied on computer tape from the Survey Research Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the following procedures were implemented to ready them for use in this study. After the research instrument for this study had been constructed (see Chapter IV and Appendix B) the data for the required variables were drawn from the PSID data base as subset A. Those cases that met the requirements for the secondary sample were then selected from subset A, forming subset B or the secondary research sample which was described above. The data for those variables that required recoding were then reconstructed so as to match their descriptions in the research instrument (again, please see Appendix B). This final set of data was then ready for analysis. It was noted at the outset that because of the large size of the sample, the use of weights and the complex design of the sample, simple 38 tests of significance would be virtually meaningless and therefore were not emphasized. Measures of association and estimates of the prOportion of variance explained are not as affected by these characteristics of the data set since they do not involve the calculation of sampling errors and the apprOpriate degrees of freedom. Correlational measures were therefore most appropriate in the analysis of this data set for the purposes of exploring explanatory models (Coe, 1979). Correlations were assessed between each individual variable and recency of PTA attendance in 1968, 1970, and 1972 in order to meet the purposes of Objective One, which was to identify the characteristics of families that had at least one member attending PTA meetings within the prior year (H -H26; see pages 5 and 6). Because of the overall weak 01 correlations found (Table 1), tables of the findings were included (Tables 2 through 9) for their descriptive value. By analysing the contents of these tables, the basic intent of Objective One was met. Correlations were also performed in order to meet Objective Two, which concerned relationships between patterns of family change over time and patterns of attendance at PTA meetings over time. Unfortunately, problems with the original variables prohibited the full exploration of this objective. Neither the five year change in residence variable nor the five year change in job variable were complete as provided in the original data set. Neither variable could be reconstructed from other information in the data set and thus, their potential for analysis was lost. This is not an unusual occurrence in secondary analysis and is another limitation Of this methodology. In meeting Objective Three, where the concern was comparing the pre- and post-integration attendance patterns of white and black families 39 the results from Objective One were consulted (Tables 4 and 5). From the pattern of percentages derived in those correlational procedures, it was determined that the most noticable changes in the constituency of the PTA attenders occurred in the South. Between 1968 and 1972, the percentage of attenders in the South dropped 17.3% (64% to 46%), which compares to a drop of 10.4% in the Northeast, a drop of 7.8% in the North Central, and a drop of 4.3% in the West. In meeting Objective Three, therefore, McNemar procedures were applied to assess pre- and post-integration Changes in the PTA attendance for blacks and whites in the South, by spans Of three and five years around the date of integration (1970; i.e. attendance in 1969 versus attendance in 1971, and attendance in 1968 versus attendance in 1972). The McNemar procedure was selected because related samples were involved, and the variables were at the nominal level of measurement . CHAPTER IV CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS Variable Construction in Secondary Research In a primary research design, the researcher conceptualizes the critical variables involved in the study and then Operationalizes the measurement of those variables. These operationalizations become the content of the research instrument used to collect the data. In secondary research, the researcher conceptualizes the critical variables in a similar manner. The degree of difference in conceptualization and operationalizing between what the researcher wants and what is available in the data sets is referred to as the degree of "slippage".- Sometimes several variables in the original primary study must be combined in some manner to obtain a variable needed in the secondary research study. Only variables relevant to the secondary research are selected from the primary research data set. In this research on the PTA, only 35 of the original 440+ variables included each year were relevant. Some variables were carried over to this research instrument unaltered while Others had to be recoded to allow for comparability across years. Other variables from the PSID data were combined so as to provide variables uniquely suited to the purposes of the present investigation. These selected, recoded and created variables formed the secondary research instrument. These data management actions are considered to be standard practice in secondary analysis. In the section that follows, the conceptual and Operational definitions of the dependent and independent variables are 40 41 described. Independent variables that were develOped in the course of this investigation are described last. The particular questions used to construct each variable as used in the present study are identified in the research instrument in Appendix B. Dependent Variables The first dependent variable for this study pertained to the recency of attendance at PTA meetings. The original researchers had asked respondents a direct question about when was the last time that someone in the family had attended a PTA meeting. Using the original researchers' coding scheme, those families that had attended a meeting in the year prior to the interview were considered, for the purposes of this research, to be "attenders". If the response was clearly that no one had attended a meeting in the prior year, the family was considered in the present study to be "non-attenders". If the last meeting someone in the family had attended was over twelve months prior to the interview, or if the respondent could not recall when the last meeting had been attended, the family was considered to be "former-attenders". It is conceivable that families in this "former-attender" category might actually belong in either the "attender" or "non-attender" categories. However, given the coding structure set up by the original researchers, it was felt that this "former-attender" category served to represent those families who felt the need to indicate association with the PTA but were unsure about their actual participation with the organization. Therefore, this "former- attender category also served to clarify the other two PTA categories as designated for the purposes of this study. (See v1-5, Appendix B) 42 A second dependent variable dealt with the five year pattern of Change in attendance at PTA meetings (v6). This variable was constructed by this researcher on the basis of the families' replies to the recency of attendance variable in each of the five years of the original study. This variable was operationalized in terms of a family being "consistently active", "increasingly active", "decreasingly active", "consistently inactive", or "unstable" in their attendance patterns between 1968 and 1972. This variable was constructed to allow for comparisons with other factors dealing with patterns of change across time, such as the five year changes in marital status. Independent Variables Family Structure Characteristics Several variables were included to provide information about family structure: Marital status: Conceptually, marital status refers to the type of relationship between parents as recognized by society, and is operational- ized as either married, single, widowed, divorced, or separated for each year of the survey (v7-v11). Five year changes in marital status: This variable was of interest in this study as it may reflect the amount of adjustment to changes in marital status occurring in the family between 1968 and 1972. It is assumed that the amount of adjustment and the direction of changes may affect a family's ability or motivation to attend functions outside of the family, including the PTA. For the purposes of this research, the number of changes in marital status during the five year period was used 43 as an indicator of the adjustments going on in a family (movement from married to separated to divorced was considered one change). OperatiOnally, families were coded as being single consistently, married consistently, married-to-single once, single-to-married once, or very unstable (more than one change in the five year period)(v12). Gender/marital status of head of household: This variable was constructed from the information on sex Of head of household and on marital status (v13—v15). In married families, the husband was designated head of the household by the original researchers, but if the husband was incapacitated in some way (such as by alcohol or drug abuse, for example) the wife may have been designated head. The gender/marital status of head of household variable, therefore, allowed for greater definition of the parent component of family structure. Operationally, gender/marital status was coded as: male, single; male, married; female, single; female, married. Age of head of household and age of wife: These variables were of interest because of the fact that parents of young children cannot be assumed to be so young themselves. The recent trends towards delayed parenthood and the frequency Of remarriage are changing the ages of parents of school aged children. The respondents were asked their ages in the original survey, and the primary researchers constructed a bracketing system of ten year spans for analytical purposes. Both the actual age of heads of households (v16-v20) and wives (v21-v25), and the bracketed ages of heads (v26-v30) and wives (v31-v35) were used in this investigation. Number of adults in the family unit: The number of adults in the family was a variable of interest in that it reflected the possible availability of someone to care for the children while another family member attended 44 the PTA (Gallup, 1973). Conceptually and operationally, the number of adults in the family unit refered to the number of persons living in the family unit who were 18 years of age or Older. This variable allowed for grandparents, aunts, uncles, or other boarders who were perceived by the respondent to be a part of the family (v36-v40). Number of children in the family unit: An important component of many families is children, and the number of children in a family often influences the decisions families have to make. Thus, number of children is an important factor in a consideration of family structure. Conceptually and Operationally, this variable refers to the actual number of children (natural, adopted or foster) aged 0-17.99 years living in the family unit (v41-v45). Number of children living at home and going to school: This variable was important to the present investigation because the number of children living at home and going to school represents the ties families have with schools, which in turn, may be related to attendance at PTA meetings. In addition, this variable was important to the selection of the secondary sample; to be included in the present study there had to be children living in the family and going to school in each of the five years surveyed. Conceptually and operationally, the number of children living at home and going to school refers to the number of children living in the family unit/ household and going to school (v46-v50). Age ofgyoungest child: Age of youngest child was considered to be an important factor for this investigation because it is the youngest child that prolongs a family's connections with a school system, and perhaps also with the PTA. Conceptually, the age of youngest child refers to the age 45 of the youngest child in the family unit. Operationally, only a bracketed age was available from the original data set., Age ranges had been set by the primary researchers as: five years or less, 6-8.99 years, 9-13.99 years, 14-17.99 years, and no child under 18 years living in the home (v51-v55). Age of oldest child: The age of the oldest child in a family, when combined with information about the age of the youngest child, allows for a more insightful view of family experiences, and so this variable was included in the present investigation. Conceptually, this variable referred to the age of the Oldest child considered to be a family member. Operationally, the information for this variable was provided in terms of the age of the oldest child of the head of household. In cases where this oldest child's parents' marriage was intact, he or she would have been the Oldest child in the family. If the child was the mother's by a previous marriage, or if the head did not identify the child for some reason, this oldest child was lost from the data set. Using the actual age of the head's oldest child as provided in the original data, a bracketed age structure comparable to the age of the youngest child was constructed and used in the present study (v56-v59). Family composition change: Between each annual interview, families sometimes went through structural changes. This variable was constructed by the original researchers in order to track these changes. Coded by the interviewer, data were provided as to whether the following changes had occurred since the previous interview: no change in the family; changes had occurred but not to the head or wife; the head was the same, but the wife had left or died and/or head had a new wife; wife from previous year became head of her own household; wife who was head had married and 46 the new husband became the designated head; wife with an institutional- ized husband (jail or hospital, for example) was no longer head because he had returned to reclaim that role (v61-v64). Five year family composition change: This variable was constructed in 1972 by the original researchers based on the highest code a family received on the family composition change variable between 1969 and 1972, as described above (v60). Five year family composition change was used in this study to assist in sample selection. Sociodemographic Characteristics Other sociodemographic characteristics of families pertain to aspects of the context in which the family system existed: Total annual income: Money income can serve as a resource for family functioning; for example, the hiring of babysitters so that a parent might attend PTA meetings. Conceptually, income refered to the financial resources available to a family through employment, dividends, rent, or any other source. Operationally, total annual income was summed to an annual figure of: less than $5,000; $5,000-$7,499; $7,500-$9,999; $10,000-$14,999; $15,000 or more (v65-v67). Actual taxable income figures were also available as a part of the original data set (v68-v72). Head's employment status: Whether the head of the household is employed or not can be an extremely important factor in terms of the decisions a family makes, and information about head's employment status was included in this investigation because it allowed for assumptions to be made about family functioning. Conceptually, employment status refers to the type of employment situation the head of the household was experiencing. 47 Operationally, families were coded as to whether the head was: working now, or only temporarily laid off; unemployed, but looking for work; retired or permanently disabled; a housewife; student; or other (v73- v77). Head's occupation: Information on the type of occupation the head of household was engaged in, was looking for or was retired from allows for expectations to be made about the time commitments required, the type of functioning in which the head operated for a significant part of most days, and for the relevant implications for the family commitments and concerns. Conceptually, head's occupation refers to the type of work in which the head of household was engaged, looking for, or retired from. Operationally, the original researchers coded head's occupation according to the census categories (v78-v82). Additionally, in 1972, the original researchers constructed a five year changes ingjob variable which provided information about the length of time the head of household had worked at his or her job (v83). Wife's employment status and wife's occupation: These variables were of particular interest to this study as it has traditionally been the women who interacted with the PTA (Butterworth, 1928; Grebner, 1955; Holbeck, 1934; Mason, 1928; Overstreet, 1949; National Congress of Parents and Teachers, 1944). Given the movement of women into the work force, demands on wives' time and energy may affect their interest and ability to attend PTA meetings. Conceptually, employment status and occupation for wives was the same as that for heads of households, as described above. Operationally, wife's employment status was coded by the original researchers as: wife did not work for money; wife was employed; or inappropriate, as there was no wife (v84-v87; data available for 1969-1972 48 only). Wives' occupations were coded according to the census categories (v88-v91; again, data available for 1969—1972 only). Information about the employment status and occupation for non-married women was included under head of households' employment status and occupation, as described on page 47. Head's education: In addition to being considered an indicator of socioeconomic status, it has been hypothesized that the higher the educ- ation level, the better the development of interpersonal interaction skills (Salem, 1978), and possibly the more experience one has had with organizations. This variable was included, also, because of the possibility that level of education may have reflected a commitment to education on the part Of the parent, and thus prompt interactions with the PTA. Conceptually, the highest grade completed in school by the head of household was referred to as head's education. Operationally, educ- ation was coded as: 0-5 grades; 6-8 grades; 9-11 grades or some high school; high school diploma plus non-academic training; some college; college degree; college and advanced or professional degree (v92; this information was asked of heads of households in 1968 only). Wife's education: Wife's education was conceptualized, operationalized and rationalized in the same manner as that for head of household. Again, however, wife's education may be particularly important in that women have traditionally been more active than men in the PTA, and in light of the comparatively recent influx of women into the paid workforce. In 1968 this information was reported to the interviewer by the husbands, but in 1972 all wives were asked directly about their education (v93, v94). Non- married women's education was classified under head of household's education. 49 Ethnicity: Ethnicity was an important variable in this study in terms of the larger picture of interracial relationships between 1968 and 1972 (Harding, 1979-80, 1980), and the integration of the PTA in 1970. The original researchers cautioned that race was assigned by the opinion of the interviewer at the time of the interview, and that the race of the household was taken as the ethnicity of the entire family. Operationally, families were coded as to whether they were white, black, Spanish American or other (including Oriental and Phillipino) (v95-v99). Region: While a review of the literature had not resulted in research findings related to PTA attendance by geotraphical location, this variable was of interest in light of the implications of racial integration-- particularly in the South. Conceptually, region refered to the region of the country in which the family resided at the time of the interview. Operationally, families were coded as to whether they lived in the North- east, North Central, South or West (V100-v104). Trust in Others and Future Orientation It was hypothesized that one's present experience and orientation towards the future may be related to participation in the PTA. It was further hypothesized that attitudes or orientation towards others may be related to attendance at PTA meetings. Two variables dealing with these factors were available and were included as a part of this study: Trust in others: Respondents were asked whether they trusted most other peOple, some, or very few other people, and their answers were recorded as data for this variable (v105-v109). 50 Future Orientation: Respondents were asked if they felt the life of the average man was getting better, staying about the same or getting worse, and their answers were recorded as data for this variable (v110-v114). CommunitygLinkage Characteristics Community linkages refer to the group of variables pertaining to family ties with the community. It was hypothesized that the more ties one has/had with different aspects of his/her community, the more likely one would be involved with the PTA. Variables included under this category were: Length of residence/changes in residence: Babchuk and Thompson (1962), Hyman and Wright (1971), and Litwak (1961) found length of residence to be positively correlated to membership in voluntary associations. On this basis, the variable pertaining to the length of residence of the family in the home in which it was interviewed was included in this study. The original researchers operationalized this variable as follows: family had moved more than once during the interviewing period (1968- 1972); family moved only once during the interviewing period; family had no moves and moved into the original place between 1964 and 1968; no moves and family lived in original place five years before the interviewing began in 1968 (v115). Presence of relatives within walking distance and number of neighbors known by name: These two variables were included in this investigation because relatives and neighbors could be potential resources to a family, and they may indicate (to a degree) the enmeshment of the family in a given neighborhood. Relatives and neighbors could be a possible source 51 of babysitters, transportation, or initiative for families to attend PTA meetings, as well. Presence of relatives within walking distance was operationalized as a dicotomous variable: yes or no (v116-v120). Number of neighbors known by name was operationalized in terms of actual numbers and/or percentages (v121-v125). Frequency with which head attends church: Going to church is another type of voluntary activity in which families often engage (although Hausknecht (1962) questions that as regards Catholicism). The PTA states as one of its objectives that place of worship is one of the areas in which it hOpes to promote the welfare of children. Attendance at church was therefore included in this study. Conceptually and operationally, the frequency with which the head of household attended church refered to whether or not the head generally attended church once a week or more, several times a month, less than once a month, or never (v126-v130). Religion: Research has indicated that the structural aspects of various religions may be influential when it comes to membership in voluntary associations (Hausknecht, 1962; Petersen and Lee, 1976), and so information about religion was included in this study. Conceptually, religion refers to the religious preference of the respondent, which was taken as representative of the family. Operationally, families were coded as to whether they were Protestant, Catholic, Jewish or other (v131-v133; information about religion was available for 1970—1972 only). Access to transportation: Access to transportation becomes an important consideration when it comes to attending meetings such as those of the PTA. If a family had multiple means of transportation, some member may have been more likely to have attended. Conceptually, access to 52 transportation refers to the family's ability to get around in the community. Operationally, access to transportation was measured as access to public transportation only, access to one or more family cars, some combination of private car and public transportation, or access to none of the above (v134-v137; information about access to transportation was not available for 1968). Spare time activities: This variable was important to this study because a service orientation to one's leisure time activities may have been conducive to attendance at PTA meetings. Conceptually, spare time activities refered to those things one does in one's leisure hours. Spare time activities were operationalized by the original researchers in terms of the head of household's first choice among: investment-in- self type activities, productive activities, learning hobbies, energetic activities, less energetic activities, passive activities, and nothing/ sleep (v138-v142). Additional Variables During the course of this investigation, it was found that some of the variables provided by the original researchers could be further refined for the purposes of this study by recasting them in other terms. A series of Mother/Father variables were developed for this purpose. Conceptually and operationally, the variables remained unchanged from those detailed under the head of household/wife listings for each variable. By resorting the data into new groups, however, just who was being referred to with each variable was clarified. The exact construction of each of these variables is given in Appendix B. 53 Mother's age: This variable pertains to the age of the mother/female adult in the household, regardless of marital status (v159-v161). Mother's education: The highest educational level attained by the mother/female adult in the family, regardless of marital status, was coded as mother's education (v162-v163; data available for 1968 and 1972 only). Mother's employment status and mother's occupation: Because more detailed information was provided about heads of households than wives, there is some overlap between the components of this variable. Wives were coded simply as employed or not employed, while heads of households' employment status information also included whether or not they were housewives, students or other. Mother's employment status and mother's occupation represent the status and occupation for all mother/female adults regard- less of marital status for 1970 and 1972 only (v164-v165 and v166-v167). Father's age: This variable pertains to the age of the father/husband in the household or family (v168-v170). Father's education: The highest educational level attained by the father/husband is given in this variable (V171; 1968 only). Father's employment status and father's occupation: As for mothers, the father's employment status and occupation as coded by the census categories is represented in these variables (v172-v174; v175-v177). Parent's/parents' age: This variable was constructed from the average of the head of household and wife's ages if the couple was married, and from the single parent's age in single parent families (v178-v180). CHAPTER V PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS Characteristics of PTA Attenders Objective One: To identify characteristics of families that had at least one member attending PTA meetings within the prior year. To meet the purposes of Objective One, measures of association between recency of PTA attendance and the individual independent var- iables were assessed. Both Lambda and Kendall's Tau figures from these cross-tab analyses are given in Table 1. Lambda and Kendall's Tau indicate the degree of relationship between variables for which the level of measure is nominal and ordinal, respectively. The potential values for these statistics range from zero to one for Lambda, and from zero to plus or minus one for Kendall's Tau, with one or plus or minus one indicating that the value of the one variable can be completely predicted from the value of the other variable, and zero (or .0000) indicating that the data are basically uniform across the table rows. In no case did a measure of association exceed the value of .23954 for this investigation (Table 1). Therefore, the data did not speak so strongly against the null hypotheses set up to guide this study (H01- H026) that they could be rejected (Bhattacharyya and Johnson, 1977). 54 55 Table 1 Correlations Between Selected Characteristics of Families and Attendance at PTA Meetings, by Year. Family Structure Year Characteristics 1968 1970 1972 H0]: Marital status .01241 .00000 .03303 H02: Sex/marital status of head of household .00000 .00154 .02844 H03: Age of father] -.04494 .09540 .16083 H04: Age of mother] —.01217 .0822] .15894 H05: No. adults in FU] -.00929 .04453 .08828 H06: NO. children in EU] NA .04719 .15482 H07: No. children in school] .00629 .04298 .15352 H08: Age youngest child1 .01536 .07327 .15850 H09: Age of oldest child] -.10190 .13841 .23954 Changes in family composition NA .01007 .00560 Sociodemographic Characteristics H010: Total annual income] .19889 .16905 .12539 H01 1: Father's employment status .01242 .04513 .01002 H012: Father's occupation .01486 .03018 .03394 H0113: Mother's employment status NA .02154 .03387 H014: Mother's occupation . NA .00559 -03468 1%315: Father's educationl ~22161 NA NA 56 Superscript is Kendall's correlations were Lambda Assymetric. NA: data not available Table 1, continued Year 1968 1970 1972 EH316: Mother's educationl .20414. NA .1932] H017: Ethnicity .0138] .00000 .00006 H018: Region .00000 .00000 .03154 Trust in Others and Future Orientation H019: Trust in others .09766 .10041 .03902 H020: Life getting better1 .09790 .10522 .03188 Community Linkage Characteristics H02]: Presence of relatives .00000 .00000 .00000 H022: No. neighbors known .08314 .08086 .07015 H023; Freq. head/ChurchI .13499 .12592 .08225 H024: Religion NA .00000 .00000 H025: Access to transport NA .01911 .04375 H026: Spare time activity .01342 .00178 .0443] indicates that the measure of association presented Tau C (variables were ordinal in scale). All other 57 In that the basic intent of Objective One was to investigate (1) the characteristics of attenders at PTA meetings in contrast to non-attenders, and (2) the patterns that were exhibited over time both within and between these groups, two sets of tables were drawn up. One set (Tables 2, 4, 6, and 8) present the percentages of PTA attenders that exhibited various characteristics in 1968, 1970, and 1972. (For example, the percent of PTA attenders that were married, single, divorced, widowed, or separated.)- The other set (Tables 3, 5, 7, and 9) present the percentages of various subgroups--as identified by their characteristics--that were attenders, former-attenders and non-attenders in 1968, 1970, and 1972. (For example, the percent of those who were married that were PTA attenders, former-attenders, or non-attenders.) Although similar in format, each set of tables allows for a contrasting perspective on the results of this study. Because of the complexity of these tables, the findings will be discussed and summarized under their respective headings (e.g. family structure characteristics, sociodemo- graphic characteristics) before the relevant pair of tables are presented. Overall, the most striking finding was that the characteristics of PTA attenders did not really differ from the characteristics of the non- attenders, although some small differences were apparent by 1972. In 1968 almost all families tended to be attenders rather than non-attenders. Though there appeared to be a general decline in attendance overall, by 1972. there was more variation found in the characteristics of attenders versus those of non-attenders. The category of former-attenders was an important category to consider in this study as families who were not clear when they had last attended and those who said they had attended but over a year prior to the interview became a residual category for PTA 58 attenders. In general, this group did not differ substantially from the other two groups in any of the characteristics studied, and therefore, discussion will focus primarily on the attenders versus the non-attender groups. Family Structure Characteristics Findings pertinent to family structure characteristics are given in Tables 2 and 3. Table 2 contains the percentages of PTA attenders, former-attenders, and non—attenders who exhibited various characteristics while Table 3 contains the percentages of families with various charac- teristics that were PTA attenders, former-attenders, and non-attenders. As was true of the total secondary sample, each of the three PTA groups were predominantly comprised of married families with male head of households (Table 2). From the data presented in Table 3, it appears that those families with married, single or divorced heads of households were all more likely to have attended PTA meetings than not to have in 1968, 1970, and in 1972. Widowed heads of households were also more likely to have been attenders in 1968 and 1970, but not in 1972. The percentages of separated heads of households attending PTA meetings, however, fluctuated markedly around 1970 (38.3% in 1968, 59.7% in 1970, and 35.3% in 1972). The reason for this increase in 1970 is uncertain since a specific question as to why they attended or did not attend was not asked in the survey. Gender/marital status of head of household was analyzed, with results similar to those described above. Most families whose heads were married males in 1968, 1970, and 1972 were attenders (Table 3). Families with 59 single female head of households were more likely to have attended than not in 1968 and 1970, but in 1972 the reverse was found to be true (Table 3). For 1968 and 1970, the attenders and non-attenders of the PTA were not differentiated by age of head of household (Table 2). By 1972, how- ever, it was apparent that families with fathers aged 55 and over and/or mothers aged 45 and over were less likely to have attended PTA meetings (Table 3). It was also found that the average age of both attending and non-attending parents in 1968 was 38; in 1970 the average age of attending parents was 40, while for non-attenders it was 42; and in 1972 the average age of attending parents was 42, while for non-attenders it was 45. Thus, it appeared that while the cohort was aging, PTA attenders were most likely to have been the younger members of the sample. The logical progression of ages of attenders over the five year span being investigated (38, 40, and 42 years) might also lead one to suspect that those in the PTA in 1968 may have stayed in the PTA as time went by. Since individual families were not followed in this investigation, however, it cannot be said for certain that this was the case. Between 1968 and 1972, there was a marked increase in the percentage of families with three adults for both attenders and non-attenders. Lacking any data on the relationship of these adults to the respondent, one can only speculate. Theoretically, this third party could have been an older child, an aging parent/grandparent, a divorced child with children, a sibling or aunt or uncle. The findings regarding age of oldest child, which are discussed later, lead this researcher to suspect that at least in most cases, the third adult was indeed an older child. The presence of the third or more adult did not appear to have any relationship with PTA attendance. 60 Number of children in the family unit and the number of children living in the home and going to school both were not found to be related to recency of PTA attendance, although the findings presented in Table 3 support the idea that families with two or more children in the home and in school were more likely to have attended PTA meetings than not to have (50.5% or better of the families with two to eight children in 1968, 1970 and 1972 were attenders while the same percentages for families who were non-attenders varied between 17.2 and 40.8; Table 3). Families with single children were predominantly found to be attenders in 1968 and non- attenders in 1972 (Table 3). Across the years studied, and in all three groups of PTA attenders, the youngest and oldest child in most families was between 9 and 13 years of age (Table 2). Of the families with school age children (children between the ages of 6 and 18 years), one-half to three-fourths were attenders in all three years studied (Table 3). Three-quarters or more of each of the PTA attender groups were families which reported there were no family composition changes since the previous interview (Table 2). Of those families reporting changes in the family that were other than those of the head or wife, 62% in 1970 and 50% in 1972 were still attenders. Families where the head stayed the same and the wife had left or died and/or the head had a new wife evidenced a most curious figure in 1970--98% had been attenders. As was indicated earlier, there were no single male head of households in the sample, so those in this group were families where there was a new step- mother. This researcher has no clues as to why this figure should be so comparatively high. By 1972, only 48% of this family type were attenders. Families where the wife from the previous year became head (either through 61 divorce, separation, death, institutionalization of the husband or other disabling incapacity, for example) showed no such dramatic shift in percentages regarding PTA attendance: 54% were attenders and 45% were non-attenders in 1970 while 49% were attenders and 51% were not in 1972. Families where a female head had married since the last interview were consistently less likely to have attended PTA meetings than they were to have attended (31% in 1970 and 28% in 1972 were attenders) (All from Table 3). In summary, the majority of PTA attenders in 1968-1972 appeared to be younger families in which parents were under 54 years of age and children were aged 13 years or younger. They were families who had more than one child, and who remained married to the same spouse. Non- attenders, however, shared the same characteristics. Only when viewed from the perspective of each individual subgroup could the minor differences in attendance categories be noted. Table 2 Family Structure Characteristics of PTA Attender Group-Families, By Year Tiassantagast Columns sun down to 1001) Attenders. 62 Former-Attendersb c Non-Attenders Fight or more Characteristic 1968 I970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 Marital Status (n-) (25,000) (24,290) (21,120) (4,616) (818) (523) (8,276) (12,784) (16,249) Married 89.9 88.0 85.6 86.5 85.9 94.3 80.7 83.0 78.5 Single 1.1 0.5 0.8 0.2 0.1 0.0 2.1 0.8 0.8 widowed 3.1 3.2 4.2 3.7 2.1 0.0 3.0 4.8 6.5 Divorsed 3.9 5.2 7.1 6.5 10.6 1.5 6.3 7.5 8.8 Separated 2.0 3.1 2.4 3.1 1.2 4.2 7.9 3.9 5.5 Sex/Marital Status of Head of Household (n-) (25,000) (24,290) (21,120) (4,616) (818) (523) (8,276) (12,784) (16,249) Hale. married 89.4 87.7 85.4 86.4 85.9 94.3 80.3 82.4 78.0 Female. married 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.7 0.5 Female. single 10.1 12.0 14.4 13.5 14.1 5.7 19.3 17.0 21.5 (No single males surfaced as a part of the sample.) Age of Father (n-l (22,353) (21,305) (18,027) (3,986) (703 ) (493) (6,645) (10,530) (12,679) Under 25 years 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.5 0.3 0.0 25-34 years 21.8 15.5 11.6 8.7 15.4 1.0 25.5 12.4 5.1 35-44 years 51.3 52.7 49.0 49.5 30.0 48.3 44.9 44.6 37.6 45-54 years 21.3 26.5 32.5 33.4 41.3 32.7 18.1 27.8 41.8 55-64 years 4.3 4.9 6.0 5.5 13.4 7.9 7.3 9.3 11.0 65 years and over 0.8 0.3 1.0 2.9 0.0 9.5 3.7 5.6 4.5 Age of Mother (n-) (25,000) (24,290) (21,120) (4,616) (818 ) (523) (8,276) (12,784) (16,249 ) Under 25 years 1.5 0.3 0.1 0.8 1.7 0.0 3.6 0.3 0.1 25-34 years 36.2 28.7 23.0 15.9 13.0 3.4 39.0 23.1 14.3 35-44 years 46.0 50.7 52.4 59.6 57.5 52.2 41.7 47.1 43.0 45-54 years 14.6 18.8 21.2 19.9 15.8 40.3 11.0 23.5 34.5 55-64 years 1.4 1.3 3.0 3.8 12.1 4.0 4.2 5.4 7.4 65 years and over 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.6 0.9 Number of Adults in Family (n-) (25,000) (24,290) (21,120) (4,616) (818) (523) (8,276) (12.784) (16,249) One 8.1 7.1 9.8 4.9 8.4 5.7 14.7 10.3 10.8 Two 75.6 71.5 63.3 64.4 68.0 65.6 66.5 59.1 48.7 Three 11.1 16.7 20.2 19.2 17.1 1716 14.1 20.8 29.3 Four '3.6 3.0 5.3 9.3 5.5 10.3 3.9 7.3 8.4 Five or more 1.5 1.7 1.4 2.2 1,0, 0.8 0.8 2.5 2.8 Number of Children in the Family (n-) (----) ( 24.290) (21.120) (----) (518) (523) (----) ( 12,784) (16,249) (0-17 years old) None 0.9 1.7 0.0 16.1 2.6 11.4 One 14.4 18.3 44.6 26.2 21.7 28.1 Two 33.3 31.5 27.4 21.4 29.3 25.2 Three 24.3 22.9 7.3 11.7 16.2 14.4 Four 12.9 13.0 11.1 23.1 15.1 10.3 Five 7.0 7.6 2.6 1.1 7.2 5.4 Six 4.3 2.5 3.8 0.0 5.2 3.8 Seven 2.2 2.1 3.2 0.0 1.7 0.6 0.8 0.4 0.0 0.4 1.0 0.8 Table 2, continued 63 Attendersa Former-Attendersb c Non-Attenders Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 I970 1972 Number of Children Living at Home and Going to School (n-) (25.000) (24,290) (21,120) (4,616) (818 ) (523) (8,276) (12,784) (16,249) One 23.3 14.1 15.9 19.1 51.2 41.5 25.8 22.4 33.6 Two 32.0 39.2 34.7 32.3 20.4 22.4 33.6 32.2 31.6 Three 22.9 23.4 26.2 26.8 8.3 16.6 17.4 21.4 17.5 Four 12.3 11.6 12.5 10.8 10.5 17.8 12.1 14.0 8.3 Five 6.0 5.9 5.9 .4 8.7 1.3 6.7 5.2 5.6 Six 1.5 3.8 2.8 2.3 0.5 0.4 2.3 3.5 2.4 Seven 1.0 1.5 1.8 1.6 0.4 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.7 Eight or more 1.0 0.7 0.3 2.8 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.4 0.3 Age of Youngest Child in Family (n-) (25,000) (24,290) (21,120) (4,616) (818 ) (523) (8,276) (12,784) (16,249) Five years or less 42.2 30.9 21.3 34.9 27.9 15.7 52.6 30.2 18.8 6-8.99 years 24.9 24.3 24.3 17.4 22.6 10.7 18.1 16.2 13.9 9-13.99 years 27.3 31.8 36.4 29.2 26.9 44.6 23.0 29.0 29.1 14-17.99 years 5.6 12.1 16.3 18.5 22.6 13.0 6.2 22.0 26.8 No child under 18 0.0 0.9 1.7 0.0 0.0 16.1 0.1 2.6 11.4 Age of Head's Oldest Child (n-) (24,740) (23,967) (20,825) (4,616) (817 ) (521) (8,100) (12,648) (15,985) Five years or less 1.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 3.3 0.9 0.6 6-8.99 years 15.6 12.7 14.8 1.1 11.5 0.0 17.0 7.6 5.3 9-13.99 years 31.8 30.8 33.1 14.3 28.6 20.5 24.7 19.6 19.3 14-17.99 years 28.5 30.1 31.1 35.5 26.4 25.1 23.7 29.3 27.5 18-98 years 22.2 26.4 21.1 49.0 33.4 53.7 31.4 42.7 47.3 Changes in Family Composition (n-) (—-——) (24,290 (21,120) (----) ( 818) (523) (----) (12,784 ) 06,249) No changes 78.9 77.7 91.3 83.0 74.9 71.2 Changes other than head or wife 19.2 19.4 8.1 16.6 21.9 24.5 Head same; wife left/ died and/or head has new wife 0.7 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 7 Wife from previous year became head 0.9 2.0 0 6 0.4 1 4 2 8 Female head married, new husband now head 0.3 0 2 0.0 0.0 1 3 0.6 Husband returns to family from institution, now head 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.2 aAttenders were those families indicating that someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting within the prior twelve months. bFormer-attenders were those families indicating that the respondant could not recall when someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting, or that the last time was over twelve months ago. cNon-attenders were those families indicating that no one had attended a PTA meeting. 64 Table 3 1 Family Structure Characteristics of Families by Recency of PTA Attendance by Year (Percentages; Rows sum across by year to 1002 for each year) Attendersa Former-Attendersb Non—Attenders) Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 Marital Status Married 67.8 65.4 57.7 12.0 2.2 1.6 20.1 32.5 40.7 (33,156) (32,687) (31,320) Single 59.8 56.4 57.0 2.4 0.4 0.0 37.8 43.2 43.0 ( 468) ( 236) ( 300) Widow 65.0 55.3 45.8 14.2 1.2 0.0 20.8 43.5 54.2 ( 1,193) ( 1,408) ( 1,940) Divorsed 54.0 54.6 51.0 16.7 3.8 0.3 29.3 41.6 48.8 ( 1,792) ( 2.309) ( 2.922) Separated 38.3 59.7 35.3 11.0 0.8 1.6 50.7 39.5 63.1 ( 1,286) ( 1,252) ( 1,410) Sex/Marital Status of Head of Household Hale, married 67.8 65.5 57.8 12.1 2.2 1.6 20.1 32.4 40.6 (32,984) (32,538) (31,199) Female, married 77.3 43. 0.0 17. 57. 62.0 ( 172) ( 149) ( 121) Female, single 53.1 56. 2.2 33. 41. 53.2 ( 4,736) ( 5,205) ( 6,572) Father's Age Under 25 years 79.6 15. 0.0 100.0 20. 84. 0.0 ( 147) ( 39) ( 3) 25-34 years 70.5 70. 2.3 24. 27. 23.7 ( 6,912) ( 4,723) ( 2,740) 35-44 years 69.8 69. 1.3 18. 29. 34.4 (16,421) (16,149) (13,841) 45-54 years 65.2 63. 3.3 16. 33. 46.8 ( 7,293) ( 8,863) (11,312) 55-64 years 57.6 49. 4.4 29. 46. 55.5 ( 1,667) ( 2,113) ( 2,517) 65 years and over 32.9 10. 0.0 45. 89. 72.4 ( 544) ( 651) ( 786) Mother's Age Under 25 years 52.7 57. 11.2 41. 31. 31.6 ( 708) ( 125) ( 38) 25-34 years 69.5 69. 1.1 24. 29. 32.2 (13,009) (10,023) ( 7,198) 35-44 years 65.0 65. 2.4 19. 32. 38.1 (17,700) (18,791) (18,321) 45-54 years 66.7 59. 1.7 16. 39. 54.4 ( 5,476) ( 7,693) (10,290) 55-64 years 39.1 29.1 34.3 20.3 8.8 1.1 40.6 62.1 64.5 ( 864) ( 1,121) ( 1,861) 65 years and over 71.1 41.0 23.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 28.9 59.0 76.6 ( 135) ( 139) ( 184) N changes by characteristic and by year, and is indicated by the set of parentheses. The number of families with a given characteristic in 1968 is indicated under the percentage figure for Attenders in 1968; the number of families with a given characteristic in 1970 is indicated under the percentage figure for Former-Attenders in 1970; and the number of families with a given characteristic in 1972 is indicated under the percentage figure for Non-Attenders in 1972. ‘ ' ‘ ‘ , 65 Table 3, continued r Non-At 1 cndcrs a . b Attenders Former-Attenders Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 I970 197? Number of Adults in Family Unit One 58.8 55. 53. 6.5 2.2 35. 42. 45.4 ( 3,479) ( 3,121) ( 3,858) Two 69.0 68. 61. 10.9 2.2 20. 29. 36.6 (27,375) (25,469) (21,624) Three 57.6 59. 46. 18.3 2.0 24. 38. 52.1 ( 4,842) ( 6,868) ( 9,121) Four 54.5 42. 44. 25.9 2.6 19. 54. 53.7 ( 1,660) ( 1,705) ( 2,533) Five or more 69.9 56. 38. 18.8 1.1 11. 42. 61.5 ( 536) ( 729) ( 756) Number of Children in Family Unit None (aged 0-17) 40. 15. 0.0 60. 80.8 ( ---- ) ( 552) ( 2,290) One 52. 45. 5.5 41. 53.3 ( ---- ) ( 6,622) ( 8,569) Two 67. 61. 1.9 31. 37.7 ( ---- ) (12,047) (10,851) Three 73. 66. 0.7 25. 32.4 ( ---- ) ( 8,032) ( 7,238) Four 60. 60. 1.8 37. 36.8 ( ---- ) ( 5,160) ( 4,544) Five 64. 64. 0.8 34. 35.4 ( ---- ) ( 2,647) ( 2,496) Six 59. 45. 1.8 38. 54.4 ( ---- ) ( 1,739) (1,147) Seven 68. 82. 3.4 28. 17.2 ( ---- ) ( 771) ( 541) Eight 75. 66. 0.0 24. 31.6 ( ---- ) ( 172) ( 95) Nine 43. 19. 0.0 56. 81.0 ( ---- ) ( 150) ( 121) Number of Children Living at Home and Going to School One 65.9 51. 37. 10.0 6.2 24. 42. 60.5 ( 8,842) ( 6,713) ( 9,029) Two 65.2 69. 58. 12.1 1.2 22. 29. 40.8 (12,268) (13,789) (12,578) Three 68.1 66. 65. 14.7 0.8 17. 32. 33.6 ( 8,404) ( 8,485) ( 8,458) Four 67.2 59. 64. 10.9 1.8 21. 38. 33.0 ( 4,585) ( 4,683) ( 4,082) Five 66.4 66. 57. 9.1 3.3 24. 30. 42.1 ( 2,259) ( 2,160) ( 2,150) Six 55.2 67. 60. 15.7 0.3 29. 32. 39.8 ( 661) ( 1,359) ( 998) Seven 62.2 73. 78. 18.0 0.6 19. 25. 22.0 ( 410) ( 483) ( 492) Eight 54.0 75. 50. 27.4 0.0 18. 24. 49.5 ( 463) ( 220) ( 105) 66 Table 3, continued Attendersa Former-Attendersb Non-AttendersC Characteristic 1968 I970 I972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 Age of Youngest Child Five years or less 63.9 64. 58. 9. 2.0 26. 33. 40.1 (16,506) (11,594) ( 7,634) 6-8.99 years 73.0 72. 69. 9. 2.3 17. 25. 30.2 ( 8,532) ( 8,153) ( 7,448) 9-13.99 years 67.7 66. 60. 13. 1.9 18. 31. 37.4 (10,089) (11,648) (12,656) 14-18 years 50.5 49. 43. 30. 3.1 18. 47. 55.4 ( 2,757) ( 5,945) ( 7,864) None under 18 yrs. 0.0 40. 15. 0. 0.0 100 60. 80.8 ' ( 8) ( 552) ( 2,290) Age of Head's Oldest Child Five years or less 64.1 6. 1. 0. 0.0 35. 93. 95.9 ( 744) ( 122) ( 97) 6-8.99 years 73.1 74. 78. 0. 2.3 26. 23. 21.7 ( 5,293) ( 4,095) ( 3,926) 9-13.99 years 74.7 73. 68. 6. 2.3 19. 24. 30.6 (10,520) (10,097) (10,077) 14-18 years 66.4 64. 58. 15. 1.9 18. 33. 40.0 (10,609) (11,125) (10,997) 19—98 years 53.3 52. 35. 22. 2.3 24. 45. 61.8 (10,290) (11,993) (12,234) Changes in Family Composition No changes 65.0 57.8 2.5 1.5 32.5 40.7 ( *--~ ) (29,475) (28,409) Changes other than head or wife 61.9 50.2 0.9 1.1 37.2 48.8 ( ---- ) ( 7,542) ( 8,174) Head same; wife left/ died and/or head has new wife 97.6 47.7 0.0 0.0 2.4 52.3 ( ---- ) ( 169) ( 216) Rife from previous year became head 53.7 48.5 1.3 0.2 45.1 51.3 ( ---- ) ( 397) ( 878) Female head married, new husband now head 30.5 27.9 0.0 0.0 69.5 72.1 ( —--- ) ( 239) ( I36) Husband returns to family from institution, now head 18.6 55.7 0.0 0.0 81.4 44.3 ( -~-- ) ( 70) ( 79) aAttenders were those families indicating that someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting within the prior twelve months. bFormer-attenders were those families indicating that the respondant could not recall when someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting, or that the last time was over twelve months ago. cNon-attenders were those families indicating that no one had attended a PTA meeting. 67 Sociodemographic Characteristics Findings pertinent to sociodemographic characteristics are given in Tables 4 and 5. Table 4 contains the percentages of PTA attenders, former-attenders and non-attenders who exhibited various characteristics while Table 5 contains the percentages of families with various charac- teristics that were PTA attenders, former-attenders and non-attenders. In 1968, only 30% of the non-attenders had an income of more than $10,000 as compared with 53% of the attenders. By 1970 and 1972, though, the majority of both attenders and non-attenders had incomes of over $10,000 (Table 4). When income categories are considered separately, by 1972 it was apparent that families with less than $10,000 annual income were more likely not to have attended PTA meetings as opposed to those families with incomes of more than $10,000 a year who were more likely to have been attenders (Table 5). Over 842 of each PTA attendance category in each year were families where the fathers were employed (Table 4). Of those families with employed fathers, better than 59% of them were attenders in 1968, 1970 and 1972 (Table 5). With the exception of 1970, families with fathers who were looking for work were more likely to have been non-attenders (Table 5). Fathers who were craftsmen/foremen or in professional/technical occupations, or in managerial posts were the majority of PTA attenders, while most non-attenders were either craftsmen/foremen or operatives (Table 4). When individual occupations were considered across the three years studied, the majority in each occupation tended to be attenders (Table 5). The only exceptions were for operators, farmers, and persons not in the labor force in 1972. The majority of families with fathers in these categories were non-attenders (51%, 532, and 55%; Table 5). 68 Data on the employment status of mothers was available only for 1970 and 1972, and the type of data collected varied by the marital status of the woman. When mothers were married, employment status information was available only as to whether or not she was employed for pay outside the home. When mothers were not married and/or were considered head of the household, employment status information also indicated whether or not unemployed mothers were looking for work, were retired, disabled, a housewife, a student or some other classification. Mothers employed in paying jobs outside the home made up the majority of all three PTA attender groups in 1970 and 1972 (Tables 4 and 5). When considering the individual employment status categories, the majority of employed mothers and non-working wives were attenders of the PTA in both 1970 and 1972 (Table 5). Among mothers who were considered the heads of households, the majority of those looking for work or who were retired or permanently disabled tended not to have attended PTA meetings (68% and over); data on head of households who were housewives was not consistent between 1970 and 1972 (59% were attenders in 1970, 40% were non-attenders; but in 1972 only 42% were attenders and 57% were non-attenders)(Table 5). Mothers who were heads of households who were students or had some other employment status were overwhelmingly PTA attenders (91% or more), although there were not that many of them (Table 5). Occupationally, both attenders and non-attenders groups were mainly comprised of women who did not work (approximately 40%), or were in clerical/sales types of occupations (approximately 20%), or were in labor or service occupations (approximately 10-15%) (Table 4). When considered by individual occupational groups, the majority of each category tended to have been attenders in both 1970 and 1972. The only exception to this 69 was among families where mothers were farmers in 1970 and in 1972, were operatives in 1972, single mothers or mother-head-of-households who were not in the labor force in 1972, and mothers who were classified in miscel- laneous occupational categories in 1970, who were found to be primarily non-attenders (Table 5). Overall, PTA attenders were those families where the parents had at least a twelfth grade education (Table 4). Information about the achieved level of education for fathers was available only for 1968. Those families where fathers had at least a high school eductation were far more likely to have been PTA attenders than were families where fathers had less than a high school education (Table 4). Mother's education information was reported to the interviewer by the husband in 1968, but was also asked of all wives directly in 1972. Families where the mothers had more than an eighth grade education were more likely to have attended PTA meetings than not to have (Table 5). Ethnicity was assigned to families according to the opinion of the interviewer at the time of the interview. Families were coded as being white, black, Spanish American or other. Between 1968 and 1972, the percentages of the white PTA attender group drOpped from 87% to 84% while the non-attender group increased from 78% to 85% white. Black families represented 11.5% of the PTA attenders in 1968 and 13.0% in 1972, which is matched by a decrease in the percentage of non-attenders who were black, from 17% to 12% (Table 4). When considered individually, the majority of both white and black families had been attenders in all three years studied (56% or better). The Spanish American families were mostly non-attenders in 1968 (61%) but in 1970 and 1972, they were mostly attenders (55% and 54% respectively). The other families, mostly oriental 70 families, decreased in their attendance between 1968 and 1972, going from 74% to 66% to 48% indicating they had been attenders (Table 5). In general, the four regions of the United States were equally and consistently represented among attenders and non-attenders of the PTA (Table 4). When considered by each individual region, change in PTA attendance from 1968 to 1972 was most marked in the South, where attenders drOpped 17% and non-attenders increased 27% (Table 5). In summary, PTA attenders tended to have incomes of over $10,000 annually, have fathers employed in occupations other than Operative or farming situations, have higher levels of education and income. Again, these tendencies were noted on the basis of only small differences in percentages, and should be interpreted simply as "tendencies". 7 1 IEELEJL Sociodemographic Characteristics of PTA Attender Cr0up-Families By Year (Percentages; Columns sum down to 1001) Attendersa Former-Attendersb Non—Attenderst Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 I972 Total Annual Income (n-) (25,000) (24,290) (21,120) (4,616) (818) (523) (8,276) (12,784) (16,249) Under $5,000 10.4 7.1 6.5 15.7 9.4 10.5 30.4 18.7, 12.6 $5,000—S7,499 16.7 12.7 7.8 15.2 23.5 3.1 23.7 17.0 13.3 $7,500-$9,999 20.3 12.6 10.2 27.0 10.3 2.3 16.3 14.0 14.2 $10,000—$14,999 32.1 29.2 29.0 28.2 33.3 29.4 22.7 28.5 24.0 $15,000 or more 20.6 38.4 46.5 13.9 23.6 54.7 6.9 21.9 35.9 Father's Employment Status (n-) (22,353) (21,305) (18,027) (3,986) (703) (493) (6,645) (10,530) (12,679) Working now; temp. laid off 96.6 97.2 94.3 92.7 99.3 84.4 88.6 91.1 90.8 Looking for work 0.3 0.8 1.0 1.7 0.7 0.0 3.1 0.1 1.6 Retired; permanently disabled 2.4 1.8 4.3 5.6 0.0 15.6 7.9 8.1 6.5 Housewife 0.0 -~- 0.2 0.0 ~-- 0.0 0.0 --- 0.5 Student 0.6 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.7 0.6 Other 0.0 0.0 --- 0.0 0.0 --- 0.0 0.0 --- Father's Occupation (n-) (22,353) (21,305) (18,027) (3,986) (703) (493) (6,645) (10,530) (12,679) Professional; technical 19.3 17.5 17.2 12.3 28.6 28.8 11.2 9.3 11.2 Manager; official; proprietor 16.4 16.3 17.0 10.1 12.7 13.0 5.2 10.4 11.6 Self employed 5.4 7.8 7.4 4.0 0.0 7.7 3.8 5.9 6.1 Clerical; sales 11.2 9.1 10.4 7.3 3.6 9.3 6.7 9.2 7.3 Craftsmen; foremen 20.7 23.4 20.7 29.0 19.8 1.4 20.4 23.6 25.0 Operative 13.3 10.8 12.4 21.3 8.3 3.7 21.1 18.0 18.5 Laborer; service 5.4 6.8 5.9 4.1 7.8 10.5 14.8 9.0 5.3 Farmer; farm mgr. 3.1 3.0 2.8 4.0 17.8 0.0 6.5 4.4 4.5 Misc.; Armed services. protective worker, unemp. but looking for work 3.3 2.4 1.7 2.4 0.9 9.9 2.6 1.2 1.8 NA; Not in labor force, retired, student, house- wife, perm. disabled 1.6 2.8 4.5 5.6 0.7 15.6 7.8 8.9 8.7 Mother's Employment Status (n-) ( ---) (24,290) (21,120) (---) (818) (523) ( ---) (12,784) (I6,249) Wife did not work for money 40.9 41.2 48.0 33.5 39.4 37.1 Employed 53.8 53.5 50.1 65.4 51.8 52.8 Looking for work 0.2 0.5 0.0 0.0 1.7 1.5 Retired; perm. disabled 0.1 0.2 0.6 0.0 1.3 0.9 Housewife 4.5 4.4 1.2 1.0 5.9 7.7 Student 0.2 ' 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 Other 0.2 --- 0.0 --- 0.0 0.0 Table 4, continued 72 a Attenders b Former-Attenders c Non-Attenders Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 (11') (--'-) Mother's Occupation Wife did not work Professional; technical Manager; official; proprietor Self employed Clerical; sales Craftswoman; foreman Operative Unskilled labor; service Farmer; farm mgr. Misc.; Armed services, protective worker, unemp. but looking for work Not in labor force (24,248) (21,063) “I. U‘ 41.8 (---—) (818) 48.0 E; “03900 (523) N .... N 0‘ U‘Ot‘ow O‘ \l 0‘ (----) (12,726) (16.144) 39.6 37.6 17. 20. NOVO‘O‘SO 10. 0" U Li! \J Father's Education (n=) (22,383) 0‘5 grades; could not read or write 3.2 6-8 grades; could read and write 11.2 9—11 grades; some high school, jr. high 15.1 12 grades; high school completed 21.2 12 grades plus non- academic training 12.0 College, no degree 14.1 College degree, no advanced degree 14.9 College, advanced degree or professional training 8.3 (---- ) ( ----) (3,894) ( ----) 5.2 < ----) (6,563) (----) < -—--> Mother's Education (n-) (24,629) 0-5 grades; could not read or write 1.6 6-8 grades; could read and write 6.5 9-11 grades; some high school, jr. high 16.9 12 grades; high school completed 40.2 12 grades plus non- academic training 14.8 College, no degree 9.5 College degree, no advanced degree 8.4 College, advanced degree or professional training 2.1 (---—) (17,902) (4,597) 36.6 13.0 10.7 0.0 (————) (493) 9.3 (8.118) (—-—-) (12.677) 73 Table 4. continued Attendersa Former-Attendersb Non-AttendersC Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 I972 Ethnicity (n-) (24,948) (24,290) (21,120) (4,616) (818) (523) (8,276) (12,784) (16,249) White 86.8 85.3 83.5 88.1 80.8 64.1 77.6 80.4 84.5 Black 11.5 11.3 13.0 11.1 15.4 30.0 16.9 15.0 11.7 Spanish American 0.8 2.7 3.0 0.8 3.8 4.6 4.7 4.0 3.1 Other; including Oriental, Philippino 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.0 0.0 1.3 0.8 0.6 0.7 Region (n-) (25,000) (24,290) (21,120) (4,616) (818) (523) (8,276) (12,784) (16,249) North East 27.0 25.6 27.6 21.6 13.9 9.5 24.1 27.2 24.7 North Central 30.4 32.6 31.6 34.7 24.4 13.2 25.7 24.5 27.7 South 24.8 23.3 21.3 23.6 34.5 33.5 29.5 29.8 30.9 West 17.9 18.4 19.6 20.1 27.1 43.6 20.7 18.5 16.6 aAttenders were those families indicating that someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting within the prior twelve months. bFormer-attenders were those families indicating that the respondant could not recall when someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting, or that the last time was over twelve months ago. cNon-attenders were those families indicating that no one had attended a PTA meeting. Table 5 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Families by Recency of PTA Attendance by Year Rows sum across by year to 1002 for each year) (Percentages; 74 a Attenders b Former-Attenders c Non-Attenders Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 I970 1972 1968 1970 1972 Total Annual Income Under $5,000 44.5 41. 39. 12. 1.8 1.6 43.1 56.9 59.0 ( 5,834) ( 4,196) (3,476) $5,000-S7,499 61.0 56. 42. 10. 3.5 0.4 28.7 39.9 56.7 ( 6,838) ( 5,442) ( 3,819) $7,500—$9,999 66.1 62. 48. 16. 1.7 0.3 17.7 36.2 51.5 ( 7,664) ( 4,935) ( 4.470) $10,000-$14,999 71.6 64. 60. 11 2.5 1.5 16.7 33.1 38.3 (11,195) (11,012) (10,171) $15,000 or more 80.9 75. 61. 10. 1.6 1.8 9.0 22.7 36.6 ( 6,361) (12,307) (15,956) Father's Employment Status Working now; temp. 69.3 66. 58. 11 2.3 1.4 18.9 31.0 39.8 laid off (31,171) (31,004) (28,924) Looking for work 21.3 91. 48. 19. 2.6 0.0 59.4 5.7 51.3 ( 347) ( I93) ( 388) Retired; permanently 41.6 30. 46. 17. 0.0 4.6 40.8 69.2 49.2 disabled ( 1,279) ( 1,228) ( 1,665) Housewife 100.0 39. O. 0.0 0.0 60.9 ( 9) ( ---- ) ( 110) Student 81.9 34. 28. 0. 0.0 0.0 18.1 65.8 71.4 ( 177) ( 111) ( 112) Other 100.0 100. O. 0.0 0.0 0.0 ( 1) ( 2) ( ---- ) Father's Occupation Professional; 77.8 75. 66. 8. 4.1 3.0 13.3 20.0 30.6 technical ( 5,556) ( 4,916) ( 4,660) Manager; official; 83.1 74. 66. 9. 1.9 1.4 7.8 23.6 32.1 proprietor ( 4,415) ( 4,652) ( 4,599) Self employed 74.7 72. 62. 9. 0.0 1.8 15.5 27.1 36.0 ( 1,623) ( 2,280) ( 2,152) Clerical; sales 77.3 66. 65. 8. 0.9 1.6 13.7 33.1 32.5 ( 3,249) ( 2,938) ( 2,855) Craftsmen; foremen 64.9 65. 54. 16. 1.8 0.1 19.0 32.7 45.9 ( 7,145) ( 7,625) ( 6,903) Operative 57.0 54. 48. 16. 1.4 0.4 26.8 44.4 50.9 ( 5,236) ( 4,263) ( 4,602) Laborer; service 51.5 59. 59. 6. 2.2 2.9 41.6 38.6 37.7 ( 2,361) ( 2.456) ( 1,785) Farmer; farm mgr. 54.0 51. 47. 12. 10.1 0.0 33.6 37.9 52.9 ( 1,278) ( 1,232) ( 1,072) Misc.; Armed services. protective worker, unemp. but looking 73.7 79. 52. 9. 0.9 8.5 17.0 19.8 38.9 for work ( 1,012) ( 640) ( 579) NA; Not in labor force, retired, student, housewife, perm. 32.7 38. 40. 20. 0.3 3.9 47.0 60.9 55.2 disabled ( 1,109) ( 1,534) ( 1,992) l N changes by characteristic and by year, and is indicated by the set of parentheses. with a given characteristic in 1968 is indicated under the percentage figure for Attenders in 1968; The number of families the number of families with a given characteristic in 1970 is indicated under the percentage figure for Former-Attenders in 1970; and the number of families with a given characteristic in 1972 is indicated under the percentage figure for Non-attenders in 1972. Table 5, continued 75 a Attenders b Former-Attenders c Non-Attenders Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 Mother's Employment Status Wife did not work for money 64 58.4 2.6 32. 40.4 ---- ) (15,375) (14.914) Employed 65 55.9 2.0 32. 42.5 ---- ) (20.094) (20.228) Looking for work 20. 31.6 0.0 79. 68.4 ---- ) ( 267) ( 345) Retired; perm. disabled 14. 17.8 2.5 83. 82.2 ---- ) ( 197) ( 180) Housewife 58. 42.4 0.5 40. 57.4 ---- ) ( 1,848) ( 2,176) Student 91. 93.9 0.0 8. 4.1 ---- ) ( 58) ( 49) Other 100. 0.0 0. ---- ) ( 53) ( ---- ) Mother's Occupation Wife did not work 64. 58.5 2.6 32. 40.3 ( ~--- ) (15,375) (15,066) Professional; 69.9 4.0 24. 26.9 technical ( ---- ) ( 2,664) ( 2,741) Manager; official; 65.9 0.0 4. 27.1 proprietor ( ---- ) ( 303) ( 543) Self employed 76.1 7.2 16. 23.9 ( ---- ) ( 558) ( 401) Clerical; sales 54.9 2.0 30. 43.6 ( ---- ) ( 7,539) ( 7,638) Craftswoman; foreman 66.6 3.5 25. 33.4 ( --—- ) ( 374) ( 341) Operative 44.3 0.5 42. 53.4 ( ---- ) ( 3,044) ( 2,695) Unskilled labor; 51.2 1.5 38. 48.] service ( ---- ) ( 5,417) ( 5,281) Farmer; farm mgr. 37.3 0.0 88. 62.7 ( ---- ) ( 50) ( 126) Misc.; Armed services, protective worker, unempl. but looking 100.0 0.0 93. 0.0 for work ( ---- ) ( 45) ( 21) Not in labor force 52. 44.7 0.6 46. 55.1 ( ---- ) ( 2,423) ( 2,877) Father's Education 0-5 grades; could not 40.8 17.5 41.6 read or write ( 1,741) ( ---- ) ( ---- ) 6-8 grades; could 51.3 11.9 36.8 read and write ( 4,857) ( ---- ) ( ---- ) 9-11 grades; some 60.7 12.8 26.5 high school, jr high ( 5,573) ( ---- ) ( ---- ) 12 grades; high 72.8 12.3 14.9 school completed ( 6,489) ( ---- ) ( ---- ) 12 grades plus non- 69.0 13.3 17.7 academic training ( 3,896) ( ---- ) ( ---- ) College, no degree 74.1 13.4 12.4 ( 4,258) ( ---- ) ( ---- ) College degree, no 88.7 5.5 5.8 advanced degree ( 3,754) ( ---- ) ( ---- ) College. advanced degree or profess. 83.1 9.0 7.9 training ( 2,222) ( ---- ) ( ---- ) 76 Table 5, continued c Attendersa Former-Attendersb Non-Attenders Characteristic I968 1970 1972 I968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 Mother's Education 0—5 grades; could not 30.4 15. 9.8 1.5 59.8 83.0 read or wirte ( 1,281) ( ---- ) ( 854) 6—8 grades; could 46.2 32. 19.1 0.9 34.7 66.4 read and write ( 3,468) ( ---- ) ( 2,843) 9-11 grades; some 55.5 50. 12.7 0.1 31.9 49.9 high school, jr high ( 7,515) ( ---- ) ( 6,141) 12 grades; high 71.3 62. 12.1 0.5 16.6 37.4 school completed (13,901) ( ---- ) (11,050) 12 grades plus non- 74.1 69. 12.2 3.6 13.8 26.7 academic training ( 4,923) ( ---- ) ( 4,560) College, no degree 70.8 68. 14.9 1.7 14.2 30.0 ( 3,300) ( ---- ) ( 3,043) College degree, no 91.0 66. 0.0 7.2 9.0 26.1 advanced degree ( 2,274) ( ---- ) ( 1,787) College, advanced degree or profess. 74.2 58. 12.3 5.8 13.5 35.3 training ( 682) ( ---- ) ( 795) Ethnicity White 67.4 65. 55. 12.6 2.1 1.1 20.0 32. 43.3 (32,147) (31,675) (31,715) Black 60.1 57. 57. 10.7 2.6 3.3 29.2 39. 39.6 ( 4,791) ( 4,799) ( 4,799) Spanish American 33.1 54. 54. 6.1 2.6 2.1 60.8 42. 43.5 ( 641) ( 1,194) ( 1,154) Other 74.3 65. 48. 0.0 0.0 3.1 25.7 34. 48.7 ( 261) ( 224) ( 224) Region Northeast 69.3 63. 58. 10.2 1.2 0.5 20.5 35. 40.6 ( 9,740) ( 9.816) (9.892) North Central 67.1 70. 59. 14.1 1.8 0.6 18.8 27. 40.1 (11,314) (11,252) (11,246) South 63.7 58. 46. 11.2 2.9 1.8 25.1 39. 51.8 ( 9.728) (9.760) ( 9.692) West 62.8 63. 58. 13.1 3.1 3.2 24.1 33. 38.3 ( 7,110) (7.064) (7,062) .Attenders were those families indicating that someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting within the prior twelve months. bFormer-attenders were those families indicating that the respondant could not recall when someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting, or that the last time was over twelve months ago. cNon-attenders were those families indicating that no one had attended a PTA meeting. 77 Trust in Others and Future Orientation Findings pertinent to trust in others and future orientation are given in Tables 6 and 7. Table 6 contains the percentages of PTA attenders, former-attenders and non-attenders who exhibited various characteristics, while Table 7 contains the percentages of families with various charac- teristics that were PTA attenders, former-attenders and non-attenders. The majority of all three PTA attender groups reported themselves as trusting of most other people (Table 6). Considered by individual subcategories, the majority of each degree of trustfullness (50% or more) were attenders rather than non-attenders (Table 7). Beyond this overall finding, no legitimate conclusion about the relationship of trust to recency of PTA attendance could be derived from the data. Similar trends could be found in the responses pertaining to opinions about the life of the average man. The majority of respondents in all three PTA attender groups indicated they felt that the life of the average man was getting better (Table 6), and the majority of respondents in each subcategory of opinions were attenders rather than non-attenders (Table 7). As with trust, there were no striking patterns in the percent- ages developed in this part of the analysis. 78 Table 6 Trust in Others and Future Orientation of PTA Attender Group—Families By Year (Percentages; Columns sum down to 100%) Attendersa Former-Attendersb Non-Attendersc Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 Do you trust most, some, or very few other people? (n-) (24,299) (24,197) (21,074) (4,421) (818) (516) (7,893) (12,607) (16,166) Most 63.1 64.4 62.3 60.5 60.0 42.4 46.8 51.6 58.0 Most, qualified 3.0 1.9 1.0 5.7 0.0 0.0 2.5 1.1 0.7 Pro-Con; depends; should trust more 18.1 21.3 21.4 18.5 23.8 29.1 23.3 24.7 22.3 Few; not many; qualified ‘ 3.4 0.0 0.2 2.3 0.0 0.0 3.1 1.6 0.1 Very few; no one 12.4 12.5 15.0 13.1 16.1 28.5 24.3 21.1 18.8 Do you think the life of the average man is getting better or worse? (n-) (23,386) (23,406) (20,746) (4,313) (812) (516) (7,561) (11,932) (15,842) Getting better 64.7 59.0 59.0 59.3 56.8 51.6 50.0 45.7 56.1 Getting better, qualified; better for most 3.2 2.5 3.0 3.9 0.5 0.0 1.0 2.8 3.0 Pro—Con; better some ways worse others; should be different 9.5 8.4 7.1 6.5 19.7 9.1 10.0 6.4 5.3 Getting worse, qualified 0.9 2.5 1.4 2.2 0.0 1.0 2.3 2.2 0.4 Getting worse 21.7 27.6 29.4 28.1 23.0 38.4 36.7 43.0 35.2 IAttenders were those families indicating that someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting within the prior twelve months. bFormer-attenders were those families indicating that the respondent could not recall when someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting, or that the last time was over twelve months ago. cNon-attenders were those families indicating that no one had attended a PTA meeting. 79 Table 7 Trust in Others and Future Orientation of Families By Recency of PTA Attendance By Year (Percentages; Rows sum across by year to 1001 for each year) Attendersa Former-Attendersb Non-AttendersC Characteristic (n-) 1968 I970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 Do you trust most, some, or very few other people? Most 70.6 69.0 57.8 12.3 2.2 1.0 17.0 28.8 41.3 (21,693) (22,577) (22,718) Most, qualified 61.8 77.1 65.2 21.4 0.0 0.0 16.9 22.9 34.8 ( 1,169) ( 581) ( 339) Pro—Con; depends; 62.4 60.8 54.6 11.6 2.3 1.8 26.0 36.9 43.6 should trust more ( 7,061) ( 8,452) ( 8,272) Few; not many; 70.7 3.8 66.2 8.5 0.0 0.0 20.8 96.2 33.8 qualified ( 1,186) ( 208) ( 68) Very few; no one 54.7 52.0 49.8 10.5 2.3 2.3 34.8 45.7 47.9 ( 5,504) ( 5,804) ( 6,359) Do you think the life of the average man is getting better or worse? Getting better 70.5 70.0 57.2 11.9 2.3 1.2 17.6 27.6 41.5 (21,473) (19,716) (21,405) Getting better, qualified; better for 75.8 63.7 56.5 17.0 0.4 0.0 7.2 35.9 43.5 most ( 994) ( 993) ( 1,096) Pro-Con; better some ways, worse others; 68.1 68.1 62.6 8.7 5.5 2.0 23.3 26.4 35.5 should be different ( 3,255) ( 2,883) ( 2,366) Getting worse, ‘44.2 68.9 82.7 19.3 0.0 1.4 36.5 31.1 15.9 qualified ( 482) ( 836) ( 359) Getting worse 56.0 54.9 51.4 13.4 1.6 1.7 30.7 43.5 46.9 ( 9.056) (11,782) (11,878) N changes by characteristic and by year, and is indicated by the set of parentheses. The number of families with a given characteristic in 1968 is indicated under the percentage figure for Attenders in 1968; the number of families with a given characteristic in 1970 is indicated under the percentage figure for Former-Attenders in 1970; and the number of families with a given characteristic in 1972 is indicated under the percentage figure for Non-Attenders in 1972. aAttenders were those families indicating that someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting within the prior twelve months. bFormer-attenders were those families indicating that the respondant could not recall when someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting, or that the last time was over twelve months ago. cNon-attenders were those families indicating that no one had attended a PTA meeting. 80 Community Linkage Characteristics Findings pertinent to community linkage characteristics are given in Tables 8 and 9. Table 8 contains the percentages of PTA attenders, former-attenders and non-attenders who exhibited various characteristics, while Table 9 contains the percentages of families with various charac- teristics that were PTA attenders, former-attenders and non-attenders. For all three PTA attender groups, 52% or more did not live within walking distance of relatives in 1968, 1970 or 1972 (Table 8). Fifty- three percent or more of the families were attenders irregardless of the proximity of relatives (Table 9). Fifty-five percent or more of the PTA attenders in 1968, 1970 and 1972 knew 20 or more (or just about all) of their neighbors, as compared with 45—48% of the non-attenders (Table 8). Those who indicated they knew at least six of their neighbors were more likely to have been attenders than non-attenders (56% or more in each year studied)(Table 9). Perhaps the most intriguing findings among the community linkage characteristics pertain to church and religion. Between 1968 and 1972 there were slight shifts in percentages of attenders and moderate shifts among former-attenders towards attending church less often. Non-attenders, however, evidenced increases in percentages between 1968 and 1972 across all subcategories (Table 9). It would seem that the overall declines in PTA attendance mentioned elsewhere have a parallel in patterns of atten- dance at church. A little more than half of the PTA attenders were Protestant (58.6% in 1970, 57.7% in 1972), and almost one-third were Catholic (29.1% in 1970, and 31.6% in 1972 (Table 8). This is not a surprising finding as 81 parallels the denomination profile of the secondary sample used for the study. Among former-attenders, there appeared to be an almost five-fold increase in those reporting other denominations (5.9% in 1970 and 28.3% in 1972)(Table 8). Among those families of each individual religious category, the majority (50% or more) indicated they were PTA attenders in both 1970 and 1972 (Table 9). In each subcategory of the frequency of church attendance varible, the majority of families in both 1968 and 1970 (51% or better) indicated they were PTA attenders (Table 9). In 1972 the same held true for those indicating they attended church "less than once a month" or more often. Of those families indicating they never attended church, most (51%) indicated they were non-attenders at PTA meetings. Of those families indicating attendance at church "once a week or more often", two-thirds or more also indicated they were PTA attenders (Table 9). In all three PTA attendance groups, most families had access to one or more than one family car in addition to public transportation (Table 8). In 1970, those families with no access to transportation of any type were more likely to have been non-attenders. In 1972 this was true also of those who had access only to public transportation (Table 9). Most heads of households in both attender and non-attender groups consistently selected "productive activities" as their first choice of spare time activities (Table 8). Shifts or changes in attendance at PTA meetings were noticed between 1968 and 1970 only among those choosing passive activities and those indicating they had no spare time. In 1968 and 1972 the majority of those heads who chose passive activities (such as watching TV) were found to be mostly former- and non-attenders (55.7% in 1968; 48.5% in 1970; 70.8% in 1972)(Table 9). Those who indicated 82 they had no spare time or did nothing or slept were most likely to be former- and non—attenders in 1968 (62.5%), but in 1972 they were mostly attenders (59.3%) (Table 9). In summary, PTA attenders tended to know 50% or more of their neighbors, tended to be Protestant or Catholic, and had access to at least one family car as a means of transportation. Heads of most families who were attenders also chose productive activities as their first choice of spare time activities--a category that included most volunteer work. Non-attenders differed from attenders only in that they tended to know fewer neighbors and were more likely to indicate they had no access to transportation. Table 8 83 Community Linkage Characteristics of PTA Attender Group-Families By Year (Percentages; Columns sum down to 1002) a Attenders b Former-Attenders c Non-Attenders Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 Relatives live within walking distance? (n-) (24,906) (24,229) (20,979) (4,592) (818) (523) (8,215) (12,720) (16,143) Yes 40.4 42.9 42.9 45.1 46.2 31.0 48.1 43.7 47.9 No 59.6 57.1 57.1 54.9 53.8 69.0 51.9 56.3 52.1 Number of peOple in neighborhood known by name (n-) (24,615) (24,153) (21,006) (4,490) (786) (523) (8,101) (12,695) (16,146) No one, none 1.4 1.2 0.3 3.0 1.3 1.3 5.1 2.2 4.0 1-5, a few 12.9 11.5 12.7 15.5 16.7 34.4 19.2 18.5 16.4 6-9, not many; 502 more or less 8.5 7 9 9.4 3.7 12.5 9.6 11.6 8.0 8.3 10-19; 952; just about everyone 20.0 22 8 22.9 22.3 35.2 19.1 18.7 23.0 22.8 20 or more, all of them, everyone, lots of people 57.2 56.6 54.7 55.5 34.4 35.6 45.3 48.2 48.4 How often head of household went to church (n-) (24,655) (24,199) (21,062) (4,573) (818) (459) (8,074) (12,728) (16,194) Never 16.2 16.6 17.8 24.6 20.7 42.0 34.6 28.4 25.7 Less than once a month 25.7 21.4 23.2 31.6 23.2 17.6 20.4 23.9 22.7 Once or several times a month 7.9 11.0 11.9 5.4 8.8 |9,0 11.1 12.0 13.2 Once a week or more 50.1 51.0 47.1 38.4 47.3 21.4 33 9 35.7 38 3 Religion (n-) (----) (24,290) (21,120) (----) (818) (523) (----) (12,784) (16,249) Protestant 58.6 57.7 78.7 66.5 63.2 63.8 Catholic 29.1 31.6 15.4 5.2 26.0 23.8 Jewish 5.3 4.6 0.0 0.0 3.4 5.1 Other 7.0 6.2 5.9 28.3 7.4 7.3 Access to transportation (n-) (---—) (24,241) (20,967) (----) (818) (523) (----) (12,784) (16,207) No access 1.2 0.4 0.0 5.2 4.3 2 6 Public transport, only 6.3 5.7 5.9 7.6 10.7 9 8 One family car, only 5.9 11.6 16.4 11.9 8 7 14 3 Public transport, and one family car 7.2 19.6 30.6 18.9 10.9 16 1 More than one family car, only 34.0 29.4 33.9 18.2 31.7 31 4 Public transport, and more than one family car 45.5 33.3 13.3 38.2 33.7 25.8 84 Table 8, continued Attendersa Former-Attendersb Non-Attendersc Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 Head's first choice spare time activity (n-) (24,848) (24,100) (20,905) (4,616) (784) (523) (8,125) (12,702) (16,021) 1. Investment in self (excluding formal students): serious reading, taking courses/learning things that may benefit one economically 2.5 5.1 1.4 1.1 0.6 8.4 2.4 3.6 0.9 2. Productive activities (save money or produce direct services): working/ tinkering with car, doing additions and repairs; woodworking; vegetable gardemomg; "gardening"; volunteer work for charity/scouts/hospital; lawn work; needlecrafts 37.4 39.3 44.7 38.8 18.0 12.2 29.0 35.2 36.9 3. Learning hobbies (not fro economic benefit): playing a musical instrument; collection hobbies; "adult education courses"; photography; painting; writing/acting --- 30.4 4.6 --- 45.5 9.0 --- 28.3 3.7 4. Energetic activities flower gardening; dancint; motorcycling; car racing; sports; campint; travel; ping- pong; bowling; shoot pool; fishing/hunting 34.9 16.7 26.0 19.0 13.1 41.7 29.2 18.6 26.6 5. Less energetic activities: talk with neighbors; play/ talk with kids; help others (NA what/how); organization meetings; play cards; walk; picnicing; dates; parties; read (leisurly) movies; concerts; church; spectator sports; "putter around" 20.0 5.6 19.0 28.0 11.5 12.4 25.6 9.6 22.5 6. Passive activities: watch TV; listen to radio; play records; sit/ loaf: rest; "just fool around" 2.9 3.0 2.6 9.7 11.2 14.9 5.6 4.6 7.7 7. Nothing; sleep; have no spare time 1.9 --- 1.8 3.2 --- 1.3 8.0 --- 1.6 9. NA; Don't know 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 aAttenders were those families indicating that someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting within the prior twelve months. bFormer-attenders were those families indicating that the respondant could not recall when someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting, or that the last time was over twelve months ago., cNon-attenders were those families indicating that no one had attended a PTA meeting. 85 Table 9 Community Linkage Characteristics of Families By Recency of PTA Attendance By YearI (Percentages; Columns sum across by year to 1001) b c Attendersa Former-Attenders Non-Attenders Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 I968 1970 1972 1968 1970 I972 Relatives live within walking distance? Yes 62.6 63. 53. 12.9 2.3 24.6 34. 45.8 (16,086) (16,334) (16,886) No 68.6 64. 57. 11.7 2.1 19.7 33. 40.5 (21,627) (21,433) (20,759) Number of people in neighborhood known by name No one, none 38.1 49. 9. 15.2 1.7 46.6 48. 90.1 ( 892) ( 582) ( 724) 1-5, a few 58.5 52. 48. 12.8 2.5 28.7 44. 48.2 ( 5,427) ( 5,253) ( 5,510) 6-9, not many; 65.5 62. 58. 5. 3.2 29.4 33. 39.8 501 more or less ( 3,198) ( 3,016) (3,361) 10~19; 951; just 66.2 63. 56. 13.4 3.2 20.4 33. 42.9 about everyone ( 7,454) ( 8,712) ( 8,598) 20 or more, all of them, everyone 69.5 68. 58. 12. 1.3 18. 30. 40.1 lots of people (20,235) (20,071) (19,482) How often head of household went to church Never 50.5 51. 46. 14.2 2.2 35.3 46. 51.4 ( 7,928) ( 7,796) ( 8,090) Less than once 67.2 61. 56. 15.3 2.3 17.5 36. 42.5 a month ( 9,427) ( 8,424) ( 8,660) Once or several 63.2 62. 53. 7.9 1.7 28.9 35. 45.2 times a month ( 3,100) ( 4,265) ( 4,747) Once a week or 73.3 71. 61. 10.4 2.2 16.2 26. 38.3 more (16,847) (17,260) (16,218) Religion Protestant 62. 53. 2.8 35. 45.3 ( -’-- ) (22,968) (22,909) Catholic 67. 63. 1.2 31. 36.6 ( ---- ) (10,523) (10,551) Jewish 74. 53. 0.0 25. 46.4 ( ---- ) ( 1,717) ( 1,795) Other 63. 49. 1.8 35. 44.9 ( ---- ) ( 2,684) ( 2,637) Access to transportation No access 34. 15. 0.0 65. 79.2 ( ---- ) ( 832) ( 525) Public transport, 51. 42. 1.6 46. 56.3 only ( ---- ) ( 2,934) ( 2,824) One family car, 53. 50. 5.0 41. 48.2 only (---- ) ( 2,677) (4,797) Public transport, 51. 60. 7.4 41 38.2 and one family car ( ---- ) ( 3,379) ( 6,825) More than one 65. 54. 2.2 32. 44.9 family car, only ( ---- ) (12,567) (11,350) Public transport, and more than one 71. 61. 0.7 27. 36.8 family car ( ---- ) (15,454) (11,376) and the N for 1972 is under the Non-Attender category. The N for 1968 is in parentheses under the Attender category; N for 1970 is under the Former-Attender category N's change by characteristic and by year. 86 Table 9, continued Attenders. Former-Attendersb Non-AttendersC Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 1968 1970 1972 Head’s first choice spare time activity 1. Investment in self (excluding formal students): serious reading, taking courses/learning things that may benefit 71.1 72.5 61.1 6.1 0.3 9.4 22.8 27.2 29.6 one economically ( 864) ( 1,685) ( 470) 2. Productive activities (save money or produce direct services): working/ tinkering with car, doing additions and repairs; woodworking; vegetable gardemomg; "gardening"; volunteer work for charity/geogtg/hogpitgl; 69.1 67.3 61.0 13.3 1.0 0.5 17.5 31.7 38.6 lawn work; needlecrafts (13.429) (14,075) (15,315) 3. Learning hobbies (not fro economic benefit): playing a musical instrument; collection hobbies; "adult education courses"; photography; painting; 65.0 60.5 3.2 2.9 31.9 36.6 writing/acting ( "" ) (1 1.263) ( 1,607) 4. Energetic activities flower gardening; dancint; motorcycling; car racing; sports; campint; travel; ping- pOng; bowling; shoot 72.7 62.0 54.8 7.4 l.6 2.2 l9.9 36.6 43.0 pool; fishing/hunting (1 1.931) ( 6.983) ' ( 9,904) 5. Less energetic activities: talk with neighbors; play/ talk with kids; help others (NA what/how); organization meetings; play cards; walk; picnicing; dates; parties; read (leisurly) movies; concerts; church; gpectator gports; 59.6 50.8 52.0 15.5 3.4 0.9 210.9 45.8 (07.1 "putter around" ( 8.347) ( 2,670) ( 7,637) 6. Passive activities: watch TV; listen to radio; play records; sit/ loaf: feat; "jugt fool (04.3 51.6 29.2 27.6 6.5 (4.2 28.1 (02.1 66.6 around" ( 1.632) ( 1,381) ( 1,844) 7. Nothing; sleep; 37.5 59.3 11.7 1.1 50.8 39.6 have no spare time ( 1.231) ( ---- ) ( 629) .Attenders were those families indicating that someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting within the prior twelve months. bFormer-attenders were those families indicating that the respondent could not recall when someone in the family had last attended a PTA meeting, or that the last time was over twelve months ago. cNon-attenders were those families indicating that no one had attended a PTA meeting. 87 Family Characteristics and PTA Attendance Over Time Objective Two: To determine if changes in the family system over time relate to changes in PTA attendance over time. The hypotheses initially constructed in the interest of this objec- tive dealt with five year changes in marital status (H027), five year changes in head of household's job (H028), and five year changes in residence (H ). Problems with the original data base as provided on 029 the computer tape prohibited the full investigation of H028 and 8029. It appeared that everyone had moved more than once between 1968 and 1972, and that no one had held the same job all five years. When contacted, the ICPSR personnel were equally surprised and concerned at these findings. It is not incongruous that frequent changes in residence and frequent changes in jobs might be evident together, and while it seems improbable that this should be true for the entire secondary sample, we were unable to find any other explaination for these findings. Because these were unique variables and no other information was available in the data set to reconstruct those variables, these particular aspects of family change over time were lost to this investigation. The tables that were generated for these two variables are included in Appendix C. It was possible to investigate five year changes in marital status with five year changes in PTA attendance (H027). A very weak but positive correlation of .04544 was found between these two variables (Table 10), and thus the null hypothesis could not be rejected. An overall finding of this research in connection with Objective Two is that 47.5% of the secondary research sample were consistently 88 active, another 43.9% decreasingly active and 7.8% unstable or showing no pattern of attendance over time. Only 0.5% of the sample increased in their attendance at PTA meetings between 1968 and 1972. Beyond this overall finding, Tables 10 and 11 were only minimally enlightening about the family characteristics of these groups. As expected on the basis of previous findings, consistently married families appeared to figure prominently in each category of PTA attendance (84.7%, 94.1%, 76.3%, 93.6% and 83.0%)(Table 10). Those families who increased in their attendance at PTA meetings were primarily married consistently (93.6%) or were single mothers in 1968 who were married before 1972 (6.4%)(Table 10). The percentages of families who decreased in their attendance at PTA meetings or exhibited unstable patterns of attendance varied slightly according to five year changes in marital status: 49.9% of the consistently married families were decreasingly active or unstable attenders (41.7% plus 8.2%) as compared to 56.3% of the consistently single (46.2% plus 10.1%), 59.1% of the married-to- single once group (53.8% plus 5.3%), and 58.2% of the single-to-married once group (47.9% plus 10.3%)(Table 11). Table 10 89 The Percentages of Five Year Changes in PTA Attendance Groups That Experienced Changes in Marital Status Between 1968 and 1972. Five Year Changes in Marital Status Five Year Changes in PTA Attendance Single, Consistently Married, Consistently Married-to- single, once Single-to- married, once Unstable Unstable Consist. Decreas. Increas. Consist. Attender Inactive Active Active Active (2,950) ( 152) (16,620) ( 172) (17,998) 0.7 0.0 0.6 0.0 0.5 84.7 94.1 76.3 93.6 83.0 11 5 5 9 20.6 0 0 14 4 3 1 0 O 2.6 6 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 O 1 90 Table 11 The Percentages of Five Year Changes in Marital Status Groups That Evidenced Various Patterns of PTA Attendance Between 1968 and 1972. Five Year Changes in Marital Status . Single Married Married- Single- Unstable Five Year . . . . . Con51st. Con31st. Single Married Changes in PTA Attend. ( 199) (30,427) (6,362) ( 893) ( 11) Unstable Attender 10.1 8.2 5.3 10.3 0.0 Consist. Active 0.0 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 Decreas. Active 46.2 41.7 53.8 47.9 0.0 Increas. Active 0.0 0.5 0.0 1.2 0.0 Consist. Active 43.7 49.1 40.7 40.5 100.0 n=( ) 91 Pre- and Post-Integration Attendance at PTA Meetings in the South Objective Three: To determine if attendance patterns of both black and white families substantially changed with the racial integration of the PTA in 1970. As was noted in the discussion of findings regarding region in meeting Objective One, the South had illustrated the greatest amount of change in PTA attendance between 1968 and 1972. The South also was the one region that figured most prominently in the civil rights movement during the 1960's. For these reasons the southern families of this sample served as the focus of analyses for Objective Three. Those families who indicated they resided in the South in both 1969 and 1971, and those families that indicated they resided in the South in both 1968 and 1972 were first identified as two distinct groups. It is possible that there was overlap between the two groups (i.e. that families who lived in the South in both 1969 and 1971 may have also lived in the South in 1968 and 1972). To have restricted this investigation to those whose families who lived in the South consistently between 1968 and 1972 would have excluded families who might otherwise have been eligible for and deserving of consideration.) If a family lived in the South only in 1968 and 1972, or only in 1969 and 1971, they were still subject to the effects of the wider social environment as regards civil rights, and their actions pertaining to attendance at PTA meetings are equally of interst. McNemar comparisons were made between the 1969 and 1971 data regarding whether or not given families had attended or not attended in 92 those years, and the same done again for the 1968 and 1972 data. The McNemar is a type of chi square and allows for the contrast of before and after effects on a single sample or group. The 1969/1971 comparison comprised a span of three years, including one year before and one year after the formal integration of the PTA. The 1968/1972 span compared behavior two years before with behavior two years after formal integration. The results of these analyses are presented in Table 12. 93 Table 12 Results of McNemar Analyses of Changes in Attendance Patterns by White and Black Families in the South, Between 1969 and 1971, and Between 1968 and 1972. White Families Black Families (One year before and after integration in 1970) 1971 1971 Att. Non. Att. Non. 1969 1969 Non. 16.4% 45.6% Non. 13.0% 39.3% (1,151) (3,194) ( 330) ( 999) Att. 28.9% 9.1% Att. 35.72 12.02 (2,022) ( 641) ( 909) ( 306) Total n= 7,008 Total n= 2,544 Chi square = 144.576 Chi square = .832 Two tailed P = 0 Two tailed P = .362 (Two years before and after integration in 1970) 1972 1972 Att. Non. Att. Non. 1968 1968 Non. 6.9% 28.0% Non. 11.5% 31.0% ( 477) (1,934) ( 292) ( 789) Att. 37.6% 27.5% Att. 40.2% 17.3% (2,596) (1,902) (1,024) ( 441) Total n= 6,909 Total n- 2,546 Chi square = 852.365 Chi square = 29.883 Two tailed P = 0 Two tailed P = .000 94 There were 7,008 white families in the sample (Table 12) who lived in the South in both 1969 and in 1971, and there were 6,909 white families living in the South in both 1968 and 1972. This reflects a difference of 99 white families between the two groups. In that the same figures for black families (2,544 living in the South in both 1969 and 1971, and 2,546 in both 1968 and 1972) reflect a difference of only two families, it seems that black families were comparatively less mobile than the white families. Of the white families living in the South in both 1969 and 1971, 16.4% (or 1,151) were non-attenders in 1969 but were attenders in 1971. Only 9.1% (or 641) of these families were attenders in 1969 and non- attenders in 1971. In short, there were 510 more white families attending PTA meetings in 1971 than there were in 1969, McNemar analysis resulted in a chi square significant at the .001 level. Of the white families living in the South in both 1968 and 1972, 6.9% (447) were non-attenders in 1968 but were attenders in 1972. In contrast, 27.5% (1,902) of these families were attenders in 1968 and non- attenders in 1972. These figqres represent a net drop of 1,425 white families attending PTA meetings between 1968 and 1972, two years before and after the formal integration of the organization. McNemar analysis resulted in a chi square significant at the .001 level. For black families living in the South in both 1969 and 1971, 13.0% (330) were non-attenders in 1969 but were attenders in 1971, and 12.0% (306) were attenders in 1969 and non-attenders in 1971. This represents a net difference of 24 black families attending the PTA in 1971 who were not attending in 1969. A non-significant chi square was derived through- McNemar analysis in this case (significant at .362). 95 Of the black families living in the South in both 1968 and 1972, 11.5% (292) were non-attenders in 1968 but were attenders in 1972, and 17.3% (441) were attenders in 1968 but non-attenders in 1972. These figures represent a net drop of 149 black families attending PTA meetings between 1968 and 1972, two years before and after the formal integration of the PTA. McNemar analysis yielded a chi square significant at the .001 level. In terms of percentages, between 1969 and 1971 there was a 7.3% increase in the number of white families attending the PTA and a 1% increase in black families who were attenders. Between 1968 and 1972, however, there were losses of 20.6% of the white families and 5.8% of the black families attending the PTA. Another way to look at these figures is as follows: White Families: Black Families: Attenders Non-attenders Attenders Non-attenders 1968: 65.1% 34.9% 57.5% 42.5% (4,498) (2,411) (1,465) (1,081) 1969: 38.0% 62.0% 47.8% 52.2% (2,663) (4,345) (1,215) (1,329) 1970: -------------------- 1971: 45.3% 54.7% 48.7% 51.3% (3,173) (3,835) (1,239) (1,305) 1972: 44.5% 55.5% 51.7% 48.3% (3,073) (3,836) (1,316) (1,230) It would appear from these figures that there was a sizable drop in attendance on the part of both black and white families between 1968 and 1969 (keeping in mind that there were 99 white families who were not in the picture in 1968; a 1.4% difference). That this drOp occurred 96 between 1968 and 1969 and not circa 1970 as had been hypothesized was a surprising finding of this research. There was, between 1969 and 1972, a consistent increase of the percentages of black families attending the PTA (47.8%, 48.7% and 51.7%). In contrast, white families between 1969 and 1972 reflected increases in attendance for 1971 but a slight loss in 1972 (38.0%, 45.3%, and 44.5%). In summary, it would appear that there were changes in attendance patterns of southern families occurring circa the integration of the PTA in 1970, but also evidence to suggest that losses in attendance actually began earlier than that--specifically, between 1968 and 1969. The patterns of percentages of white and black family attendance and non- attendance also suggest that white families did not "return" to the PTA as the black families did; gains reflected between 1969 and 1971 in white attendance were met with losses in 1972, while black families showed consistent increases in percentages attending the PTA. Because the original researchers did not ask a question specific to the influence of racial integration on PTA attendance, it is impossible to say that these changes were due solely to the racial integration of the PTA, but it is not unreasonable to interpret from these results that social conditions and context may well influence family interactions with organizations in their near environment, such as the PTA. Collectively, the results of this investigation indicate that characteristics of families generally did not distinguish between PTA attenders and non-attenders. Nevertheless, there were some tendencies that PTA attenders shared, such as higher levels of education, the presence of two or more children, and the comparative youth of the parents. 97 Secondly, this investigation failed to find evidence to support the view that families going through structural changes were either more or less likely to have been PTA attenders. Finally, although there were changes in the rates of black and white families' attendance at PTA meetings between 1968 and 1972, this investigation has found reason to suspect that these declines in attendance may have been influenced by factors other than the simple integration of the organization itself--though the influence of the organization's integration is no less important as a possible factor. The pattern of percentages of attenders between 1969 and 1972 may reflect the differences in white and black families' experiences, both in coping with racial integration on the larger social front, and in adjusting to integration within the PTA. CHAPTER VI SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS This study was designed to investigate three objectives: Objective One: To identify characteristics of families that had at least one member attending PTA meetings within the prior year. Objective Two: To determine if changes in the family system over time related to changes in PTA attendance over time. Objective Three: To determine if attendance patterns of both black and white families substantially changed with the racial integration of the PTA in 1970. A secondary analysis of existing national survey data was conducted to meet these objectives. The data from the first five waves (1968-1972) of the ongoing Panel Study of Income Dynamics, conducted by the Survey Research Center of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and were analysed by means of SPSS on Michigan State University's Cyber 750 computer. Hypotheses were developed to assist in meeting these objectives. However, it was found that the descriptive results from the analyses were more informative than statistical tests of the hypotheses. Therefore, extensive tables were presented and discussed in connection with each of the objectives listed above. Analyses focusing on Objective One indicated that family characterise tics were more differentiated in 1972 than in 1968. The findings could be taken as support for the idea that PTA attenders were primarily younger families (i.e. parents and children's ages) with more than one child. Relative to non-attenders, PTA attenders also appeared to have been those 98 99 families where (1) the father was employed but not in an operative or farming occupation, (2) the parent(s) tended to have progressed further in school, and (3) they tended to know some of their neighbors. Most attenders were Protestant, and had access to at least one family car as a means of transportation, while non-attenders were more likely to report no access to transportation or access to public transport only. None of the findings of this investigation contradicted the findings in the review of the literature presented in Chapter Two. Unforseen problems with two variables crucial to meeting Objective Two prohibited the exploratory analysis of relationships between family changes over time. This is a natural limitation of secondary analysis, and was an unfortunate but not disasterous development in terms of this study. It was found that most families in the entire secondary sample were either consistently active in attending the PTA (47.5%) or were decreasingly active in doing so (43.9%) between 1968 and 1972. Only a very small percentage of sample families were consistently inactive (0.4%), but those increasingly active in attending PTA meetings were an equally small percentage (0.5%). Those families who decreased in their attendance at PTA meetings or exhibited unstable patterns of attendance varied slightly according to five year changes in marital status: 49.9% of the consistently married families were decreasingly active or unstable attenders as compared to 56.3% of the consistently single, 58.2% of the single-to-married once group, and 59.1% of the married-to-single once group (Table 11). Although the relationship between changes in PTA attendance and changes in marital status over time was found to have a non-significant Lambda (.045), the idea that those families experiencing structural changes figure more prominently in the decreasing or unstable 100 attendance categories than did families who were consistent in their marital status is in line with current family systems theory. Situations internal to families, such as changes in marital status, have an influence on the interactions families have with other systems in their near environment, such as the PTA. It may be that emotional, psychological and physical energies were in such demand within the family system that little was left to give to organizations outside the family, such as the PTA. It must be remembered, however, that 40.7% of the married-to-single once group and 40.5% of the single-to-married once group were consistently active in the PTA, and that all 11 (100%) of the families who experienced unstable marital status (i.e. were married and not married more than once between 1968 and 1972) were also consistently active in attending the PTA. Thus, it would seem that changes in the marital status of a family may not preclude interest in the PTA even if it may do so for interactions with other organizations outside the family. In regards to Objective Three, an investigation of the changes in PTA attendance patterns of black and white families circa the integration of the PTA in 1970, this study focused on sample families living in the southern region of the United States. Results from Objective One were reviewed in consideration of Objective Three, and it was decided that the South had experienced the greatest regional changes in terms of PTA attendance; and while racial integration had implications for all regions of the country, the South was a logical choice for a focused investigation into the matter. It was found that a large drOp in attendance of both white and black families was evidenced between 1968 and 1969, and that there was a steady increase in black attendance in 1971 and 1972 which was not matched 101 by that of white families. The path of "purposive infiltration" referred to by Harding (1980) as being the chosen way for progress in civil rights during the years between 1968 and 1972 could be reflected in these findings. It is beyond the ability of this research to say for certain that the integration of the PTA was responsible for these changes in attendance. The changing social conditions reflected in the PTA's changed policy, hwever, altered the opportunities available to families and the trends apparent in the changing attendance numbers may be taken as a reaction to newly perceived opportunities or constraints. It is not unreasonable to interpret from these results that social conditions and social context do have an influence on family interactions with organizations in their near environment, such as the PTA. As a result of this investigation, it would appear that PTA attenders between 1968 and 1972 differed very little from the general population. One interpretation of this overall finding is that the PTA was basically quite effective in securing most familys' representation at meetings--although this was truer in 1968 than it was in 1972. Never- theless, by 1972 families who were identified as non-attenders as a result of this investigation tended to (1) have achieved lower levels of education, (2) know fewer of their neighbors, and (3) have no access to transportation. None of the findings of this research could be viewed as support for the contention that all other families were, by implication PTA attenders. Basically, families of various characteristics were almost as likely to have attended as to not have attended PTA meetings. 102 It would appear that some factors other than family structure characteristics, sociodemographic characteristics, trust in others and future orientation, or community linkages are at work with it comes to attendance at PTA meetings. PTA programs planned towards specific issues of concern to parents or towards particular parental needs (such as single parents) might be a draw. Family specialists could be a resource for the PTA in this regard, as program consultants and family life educators. It may be, too, that attendance is a result of perceived social role; i.e. it is a normative expectation in that having one or more children in school means attendance at PTA meetings. Forty percent or more of the families in this study were consistently active in the PTA between 1968 and 1972, regardless of changes in marital status, for example. Attendance may also be a result of perceived benefit for the children. A primary study designed to ascertain the particular motivation involved in parental decisions to attend PTA meetings could be undertaken on the basis of this secondary analysis, and would, in turn, complement this investigation. It may be worth the effort, too, for PTA officials to take notice of non-attending families and initiate outreach programs to facilitate their attendance at meetings, if these fimnifies so desired, since it was found that having no access to trans- portation was most often noted by families indicating non-attendance. It was noted too, through this research, that the fluctuations in the racial constituency of the PTA may have reflected the efforts of society to deal with civil'rights issues. Since the PTA did not officially integrate until 1970, it can not be said that it was a leader 103 in the desegregation efforts which had been in existence since the Supreme Court decision in 1954 (although it may have provided support for parents and children in various other ways). The issue recognized and causes undertaken by the PTA depend upon a variety of factors, including general parental goals and concerns on local levels. The potential of the PTA for leadership on pertinent issues relevant to children on state and national levels, however, deserves not to be underestimated. The issues acted upon and the actual effectiveness of the PTA in achieving desired changes on behalf of children would be worthy of study in its own right. It has come to be the opinion of this researcher that an individual judgement on the part of each parent/family is involved: is my part- icipation in the PTA worth my time and effort? The following parallel questions would likely all be a part of this consideration: 1. What has been the role of the PTA in my local community? What is the history of its functioning and effectiveness over time? 2. What other outlets are available to assist me in meeting my goals or deal with my concerns? 3. How receptive are the school officials to the PTA, and what do they believe about the "proper" functioning of the PTA? What are the expectations of teachers and school administrators about the organization and its activities? If active and invloved PTA's do reflect the united interest of parents and school personnel in a community, an investigation as to the possible correlations with the academic achievement of the school children might prove interesting, as well as inspirational for aspiring school districts. 104 Family ecologists could be of particular service to the PTA, and in the process further the knowledge base of their field, in pursuing the investigation suggested as a result of this study. "Voluntary associations seem to represent a kind of filling and connecting tissue between major social structures, and between individuals and these structures. Thus it is essential that they be more accurately under- stood" (Bode, 1972, p.66). The PTA, as the formal linking organization between families and schools is certainly a case in point since the questions and queries arising from the results of this investigation deal mostly with interactions between the "major social structures and between individuals and these structures". Based on this research, a primary study that is designed ecologically and focused on the interactions noted above would certainly be in order. APPENDICES 105 Appendix A Secondary Sample Profile A profile of the entire secondary sample is presented in Appendix A, according to the variables that were used in this study. Percentages for each year are given. Table A1 106 Secondary Sample Profile (Percentages; sum down to 100%) Year Characteristic 1968 '970 1972 Marital status (n=) (37,892) (37,892) (37,892) Married 87.5 86.3 82.7 Single 1.2 0.6 0.8 Widowed 3.1 3.7 5.1 Divorced 4.7 6.1 7.7 Separated 3.4 3.3 3.7 Sex/marital status of head of household (n=) (37,892) (37,892) (37,892) Married, male 87.0 85:9 82.3 Married, female 0.5 0.4 0.3 Single, female 12.5 13.7 17.3 Age of father (n=) (32,984) (32,538) (31,199) Less than 25 years 0.4 0.] 0.0 25-34 years 21.0 14.5 8.8 35-44 years 49.8 49.6 44.4 45-54 years 22.1 27.2 36.3 55-64 years 5.1 6.5 8.1 65-74 Years 1.4 1.6 2.0 75 years and over 0.3 0.4 0.5 107 Year Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 Age of Mother (n=) (37,892) (37,892) (37,892) Less than 25 years 1-9 0-3 0-1 25-34 years 34.3 26.5 19.0 35-44 years 46.7 49.6 48.4 45—54 years 14.5 20.3 27.2 55-54 years 2.3 3.0 4.9 65 years and over 0'4 0'4 0'5 Parent's age, average (n=) (37,892) (37,892) (37,892) Mean 39.2 41.1 43.0 Number of adults in F0 (n=) (37,892) (37,892) (37,892) One 9.2 8.2 10.2 Two 72.2 67.2 57.1 Three 13.8 18.1 24.1 Four 4.4 4.5 6.7 Five or more 1.4 1.9 1.9 Number of children in FU (n=) ( ---- ) (37,892) (37,892) None 1.5 6.0 One 17.5 22.6 Two 31.8 28.6 Three 21.2 19.1 Four 13.6 12.0 Five 7.0 6.6 Six 4.6 3.0 Seven 2.0 1.4 0.9 0.6 Eight or more 108 Year Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 Number of children at home and going to school (n=) (37,892) (37,892) (37,892) One 23.3 17.7 23.8 Two 32.4 36.4 33.2 Three 22.2 22.4 22.3 Four 12.1 12.4 10.8 Five 6.0 5.7 5.7 Six 1.7 3.6 2.6 Seven 1.1 1.3 1.3 Eight or more 1.2 0.6 0.3 Age of youngest child (n=) (37,892) (37,892) (37,892) Five years or less 43.6 '30.6 20.1 6-8.99 years 22.5 21.5 19.7 9-13.99 years 26.6 30.7 33.4 14-17.99 years 7.3 15.7 20.8 No child under 18 0.0 1.5 6.0 Age of Head's oldest child (n=) (37,456) (37,432) (37,331) Five years or less 2.0 0.3 0.3 6—8.99 years 14.1 10.9 10.4 9-13.99 years 28.1 26.8 26.8 14-17.99 years 28.3 29.5 29.2 18-98 years 27.5 31.8 32.5 Changes in Family Composition (n-) ( ---- ) (37,892) (37,892) No changes 77.8 75.0 Changes other than head or wife 19.9 21.6 Head same; wife left/died and/or head has new wife 0.4 0.6 Wife from previous year became head 1.0 2.3 Female head married, new husband now head 0-6 0-4 Husband returns from institut. 0.2 0.2 now head 109 Year Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 Total annual income (n=) (37,892) (37,892) (37,892) Under $5,000 15.4 11.1 9.2 $5,000-$7,499 18.0 14.4 10.1 $7,500-$9,999 20.2 13.0 11.8 $10,000-$14,999 29.5 29.1 26.8 $15,000 or more 16.8 32.5 42.1 Father's employment status (n=) (32,984) (32,538) (31,199) Working now; temp. laid off 94.5 95.3 92.7 Looking for work 1.1 0.6 1.2 Retired; permamently disabled .9 .8 Housewife .0 0. Student .5 .0 Fathers' occupation (n=) (32,984) (32,538) (31,199) Professional; technical 16.8 15.1 14.9 Manager; official proprietor 13.4 14.3 14.7 Self employed 4.9 7.0 6.9 Clerical; sales 9.9 9.0 9.2 Craftsmen; foremen 21.7 23.4 22.1 Operative 15.9 13.1 14.8 Laborer; service 7.2 7.5 5.7 Farmer; farm mgr. 3.9 3.8 3.4 Misc.; Armed services, protective worker, unemp. but looking for work 3.1 2.0 1.9 Not in labor force, retired, student, housewife, 3.4 4.7 6.4 permanently disabled 110 Year Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 Mother's employment status (n=) ( ---- ) (37,892) (37,892) Wife did not work for money (married mothers) 40.6 39.4 Employed (married and head of hshlds) 53.0 53.4 Looking for work (head of hshlds) 0.7 0.9 Retired; permanently disabled (head of hshlds) 0.5 0.5 Housewife (head of hshlds) 4.9 5.7 Student (head of hshlds) 0.2 0.1 Other 0.1, ---- Mother's occupation (n=) ( ---- ) (37,792) (37,730) Wife did not work (married mothers) 40.7 39.9 Professional; technical 7.0 7.3 Manager; official; proprietor 0.8 1.4 Self employed 1.5 1.1 Clerical; sales 19.9 20.2 Craftswoman; foreman 1.0 0.9 Operative 8.1 7.1 Laborer; service 14.3 14.0 Farmer; farm mgr. 0.1 0.3 Misc. 0.1 0.1 Not in labor force 6.4 7.6 Year Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 Father's education (n=) (32,790) ( ---- )' ( ---- ) 0-5 grades; could not read or write .5.3 6—8 grades; could read and write 14.8 9—11 grades; some junior high, high school 17.0 12 grades; high school completed 19.8 12 grades plus non- academic training 11.9 College, no degree 13.0 College degree, no advanced degree 11.4 College, advanced degree or professional training 6.8 Mother's education (n-) (37,344) ( '--- ) (31,072) 0—5 grades; could not read or write 3.4 2.7 6-8 grades; could read and write 9.3 9.1 9—11 grades; some junior high, high school 20.1 19.8 12 grades; high school completed 37.2 35.6 12 grades plus non- academic training 13.2 14.7 College, no degree 8.8 9.8 College degree, no advanced degree 6.1 5.8 College, advanced degree or professional training 1.8 2.6 112 Year Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 Ethnicity (n=) (37,840) (37,892) (37,892) White 85.0 83.6 83.7 Black 12.7 12.7 12.7 Spanish American 1.7 3.2 3.0 Other; including Oriental, Philippino 0.7 0.6 0.6 Region (n=) (37,892) (37,892) (37,892) North East 25.7 26.1 26.1 North Central 29.9 29.7 29.7 South 25.7 25.5 25.6 West 18.8 18.7 18.6 Do you trust most, some, or very few other people? (n=) (36,613) (37,622) (37,756) Most 59.2 60.0 60.2 Most, qualified 1.5 0.9 Pro-Con; depends; should trust more 19.3 22.5 21.9 Few; not many; qualified 3.2 0.6 0.2 Very few; no one 15.0 15.4 16.8 Do you think the life of the average man is getting better or worse? (n=) (35,260) (36,150) (37,104) Getting better 60.9 54.5 57.7 Getting better, qualified better for most 2.8 2.6 3.0 Pro-Con; better some ways worse others; should be different 9.2 8.0 6.4 Getting worse, qualified 1.4 1.0 Getting worse 25.7 32.6 32.0 113 Year Characteristic 1968 1970 1972 Relatives live within walking distance? (n=) (37,713) (37,767) (37,645) Yes 42.7 43.2 44.9 No 57.3 56.8 55.1 Number of peOple ifl neighborhood known by game (n=) (37,206) (37,634) (37,675) No one, none 2.4 1.5 1.9 1-5, a few 14.6 14.0 14.6 6—9, not many; 50% more or less 8.6 8.0 8.9 10-19; 95%; just about everyone 20.0 23.1 22.8 20 or more, all of them, everyone, lots of peOple 54.4 53.3 51.7 How often head of household went to Shurch (n=) (37,302) (37,745) (37,715) Never 21.3 20.7 21.5 Less than once a month 25.3 22.3 23.0 Once or several times a month 8.3 11.3 12.6 Once a week or more 45.2 45.7 43.0 32133132 (n=) ( ---- ) (37,892) (37,892) Protestant 60.6 60.5 Catholic 27.8 27.8 Jewish 4.5 4.7 Other 7.1 7.0 114 Year Characteristic 1968 I970 1972 Access to transport (n=) ( -~-- ) (37,843) (37,697) No access 2.2 1.4 Public transport, 7.8 7.5 One family car, 7.1 12.7 Public transport, and one family car 8.9 18.1 More than one family, only 33.2 30.1 Public transport, and more than family car 40.8 30.2 Head's first choice spare time activity (n=) (37,589) (37,586) (37,449) Investment (serious reading, taking courses) 2.3 4.5 1.3 Productive activities (save money or produce direct services) 35.7 37.4 40.9 Learning hobbies (not for economic benifit) --- 30.0 4.3 Energetic activities (travel, bowling) 31.7 17.2 26.4 Less energetic activities (talk, play cards) 22.2 7.1 20.4 Passive activities - (watch TV, 4. 3.7 4.9 Nothing, no spare time --- 1.7 lnap. don't know 0.1 0.1 Language problem during interview? n=) (36,575) (37,277) (37,028) Yes, major problems 2.4 1.7 1.6 Yes, minor problems 1.8 2.3 3,9 None 95.8 96.0 94.4 115 Year Characteristic I968 1970 1972 Who was respondent? (n=) (37,892) (37,892) (37,892) Head of household 92.5 90.2 91.3 Wife, for self 6.8 8.9 8.4 Wife, for husband 0.7 0.9 0.4 Who was present during the interview? (n=) (37,887) (37,418) (36,959) Respondent only 23.4 28.6 28.7 Respondent and spouse 26.7 29.4 31.6 Respondent and someone else (not spouse) 19.3 16.0 19.5 Respondent and spouse and someone else (includes children; even if part-time) 30.5 26.0 20.2 Date of interview 1968 1970 1972 Before March 1 0.5 13.3 March 4-17 3.5 March 1-14 16.4 22.2 March 18-31 8.6 March 15-28 20.1 22.2 April 1~14 10.4 March 29-Apr. 18 18.6 19.4 April 15-28 16.1 April 19-May 2 11.5 10.5 April 29-May 12 19.3 May 3-16 15.2 4.6 May 13-26 22 5 May 17-30 15.7 3.7 May 27-June 9 11.7 May 31-June 30 2.2 2.7 June 10 or later 7.8 July 1 and after --- 1.4 H6 Appendix B Secondary Research Instrument The specific variables used from the original PSID study are presented in Appendix B along with the variables as developed for this secondary analysis. The specific alterations carried out on the primary variables are given, and the newly developed variables are detailed. Primary Variables Utilized 1968 (v136)] Have you or your wife (or anyone here) ever attended any meetings of a parent t eachers organization? When was the last time? 1. 2. Yes, 3~12 months ago (3) 3. Yes, but more than a year ago, several years ago (2) 4. Yes, but cannot remember when (2) 5. No; cases where children live outside the FU (1) 9. NA; no PTA (9) 1969—72 (v558, v1247,v1950, v2550) 1—4 as in 1968. 5. No (1) 6. No; cases where children Yes, less than three months ago (3) are living out, PTA, no opportunity to attend PTA (1) NA (9) 01' 110 The number at the end of the primary response codes indicate how the primary response was recoded into the secondary variable, if it is to have a code different than originally designated. lrefers to the number of the refers to the number of the data used for analysis. or other reasons why H7 Secondary Variables v1-5. v6. 5. 9. variable in the original data set. Recency of attendance at PTA meetings (v5136, v558 v5247, V1950, v5550) Non-attender; had not attended in the prior year. Former-attender; attended more than a year prior or couldnot recall when last had attended. Attender; had attended within the prior year. MD Five year pattern of change in PTA attendance (v3000) Unstable attender (no consistent pattern) Consistently inactive (coded 1 or 2 all five years) i Decreasingly active (coded 3 in 1968-69 and coded 2 or 1 in 1970-72) Increasingly active (coded 2 or 3 in 1968-69 and coded 1 in 1970-72) Consistently active (coded 3 all five years) MD variable in the secondary set of 2 Primary Variables Utilized 1968 (v239) Are you married, single, widowed, divorced, or separated? Married Single Widowed Divorced Separated Married, NA spouse absent (1) \OCDLfiJ-‘UJN... 0...... 1969-72(v607, v2670) v1365, v2072, 1-5 as above. 1968-72 (v119, v1010, ’———VT943, v2543) Sex of head of household. 1. Male 2. Female v1240, Marital status information taken from variable listed above. H8 Secondary Variables v7-11. Marital status (v239, V607, v1365,v2072,v2670) Codes 1-5 as in primary instrument. 9. MD v12. Five year changes in marital status (V3001) 1. Single consistently (no adjustment; coded 2, 3, 4, or 5 all five years) 2. Married consistently (no adjustment, coded 1 all five years) 3. Married-to-single, once (one change; a code of 1 followed by a code of 3, 4, or 5 at any time during the five years) 4. Single-to-married, once (one change; a code of 2, 3, 4, 5 followed by a code of 1 at any time during the five years) 5. Very unstable (more than one change; any other combination of codes) 9. MD v13-15. Sex/marital status of head of household (V3002, v3004, V3006) " 1. Male, single 2. Male, married 3. Female, single 4. Female, married 9. MD Primary Variables Utilized 1968(v117) .Age of head of family unit 1-96. 97. Actual age 97 years or in years older 1969-1972(v1008, V2542) v1239, v1942, Actual age in years 1968(v118) Age of wife 1-96. 97. Actual age 97 years or in years older 1969-1972(V1011, v2544) v1241, V1944, Actual age in years 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972(v368, v1009, v23l9, V2934) Bracketed age of head of household Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75 or older VC‘U‘bWN— 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972(v369, V1012, v2320, v2935) Bracketed age of wife Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75 ot older \JC‘UTJ-‘UJN-— H9 Secondary Variables v16—20. Age of head of household (v117, V1008, v1239, v1942, V2542) Codes as in primary instrument. 99. MD v21-25. Age of wife (V118, v1241, vl944, v2544) V1011, Codes as in primary instrument. 99. MD v26-30. Bracketed age of head (V368, v1009, V3023, V2319, V2934) Codes as in primary instrument. 9. MD v31-V35. Bracketed age of wife (v369, V1012, vsuza, V2320 V2935) Codes as in primary instrument. 9. MD 120 Primary Variables Utilized Secondary Variables i2§§(Vll6) v36-40. Number of adults in Number Of adults (those 389 family unit (FU) (V116, V894, 18 or older) in family. v1591, v2303, v2930) 1. One Codes 1-8 as in primary 2. Two instrument. 3. Three 4. Four 9' MD 5. Five 6. Six 7. Seven 8. Eight or more 9. NA 1969—72(V894, V1591, V2303, V2930) Number in family minus number of children aged 0-17, in family. (recoded as indicated above.). 1969(v550) V4l-45. Number of children in PU Number of children under 18 (V550, V1242, vl945, V2545)“ in FU Codes 1-7 as in primary 1. One 6. Six instrument, 1970-71. 2. Two 7. Seven 3. Three 8. Eight 8. Eight or more 4. Four 9. Nine (8) 9. MD 5. Five 0. None 1970, 1971(V1242, v1945) 1-8 as above. 9. Nine or more (8) 1972(v2545) Actual number of children in FU (recoded as indicated above). 121 Primary Variables Utilized Secondary Variables 1968(v121) v46-50. Number of children at Code number of children in home and in school (V121, school and living at home: v556, V1245, vl948, V2548) 0. None 6 Six Codes 1-8 as in primary 1. One 7. Seven instrument, 1969-72. 2. Two 8. Eight 3. Three 9 Nine (8) 9° MD 4. Four 5. Five 1969-1972(v556, V1245, v1948, V2548) How many of the children living here are in school this year? 1-7 as above 8. Eight or more 9. NA 1968, 1969(V120, v1013) v51—55. Age of youngest child Age of youngest child under (v120, v1013, v1243, v1946, 18 in PD (living at home v2546) l on y) 1. Five years old or less 1. Less than 2 years (1) 2' 3-8.939years 2. 2-2.99 years (1) 3' -13‘9 years 3. 3-3.99 years (1) 2.14-1 '.i years 18 . FU 4. 4-4.99 years (I) 9‘ N; Chl d under in 5. 5-5.99 years (1) ' M 6. 6-8.99 years (2) 7. 9-13.99 years (3) 8. 14-17.99 years (4) 9. NA 0. No children under 18 in FU (5) 1970(v1243) 01. One year or younger (I) 02-09, 00 same as above 1971 (V1946) 01. One year or younger; between one year and 23 mos. (l) 02—09,00 same as above 1972(v2546) 01. Up to 23 months (I) 02—09,00 same as above Primary Variables Utilized 1969-1972(v562, V1462, V2173, v2799) Age of 00. 01-97. 98. 99. head's oldest child No children Actual age 98 years or older NA 1972(v2972) Five year changes in FU composition 8. 1969-1972(V542, The highest number coded in any of the vollowing variables is reproduced here (v542, V1109, V1809, V2410) No change in family members Change in than head or wife Head same but wife left/ died and or head has new wife Wife from previous years became head Female head got married- husband (non-sample member) became head Some sample member other than head or wife became head Some female other than head got married and non- sample member became head Female head with husband in institution in previous year(s)- he has returned to become head of PU Other members other v1109, v1809, V2410) Family changes by year 0— 8 as above 122 Secondary Variables v56-59. Age of head's oldest child ([v7012: V7025, v4027, v4029) 1. Five years old or less 2. 6-8.99 years 3. 9-13.99 years 4. 14-17.99 years 5. 18-98 years 9. MD v60. 1968 raw age], Five year changes in family unit composition (V2972) Codes as in primary instrument. V61-64. Changes in family composition (v542, V1109, V1809, V2410) Codes as in primary instrument. Primary Variables Utilized 1968-1972(V339, V827, V1515, v2227, v2853) Total annual income 0. Less than $500 (1) 1. $500-999 (1) 2. $1,000-1,999 (1) 3. $2,000-2,999 (1) 4. $3,000-3,999 (1) 5. $4,000-4,999 (1) 6. $5,000-7,499 (2) 7. $7,500-9,999 (3) 8. $10,000-14,999 (4) 9. $15,000 or more (5) 1968-1972(v76, V518, V1205, V1906, V2507) Actual annual income; taxable income hof head and wife: is the sum of head's labor income from farm, business, roomers, etc., rental, interest and divident income, and wife's income from assets. 1968-1972(V196, vl983, v258l) Are you* working now, unemployed, retired, V693, V1278, or what? 1. Working now, or laid off only temporarily 2. Unemployed; looking for work 3. Retired, disabled 4. Housewife 5. Student 6. Other permanently *Question only asked of head of household. 123 Secondary Variables v65-67. Total annual income (V339, V1515, V2853) 1. Under $5,000 2. $5,000-7,499 3. $7,500-9,999 4. $10,000—14,999 5. $15,000 or more v68-72. Family taxable income (v76, V518, v1205, V1906, V2507) Codes as in primary instrument. V73-77. Head's employment status (V196, V693, v1278, vl983, V2581) Codes as in primary instrument. 124 Primary Variables Utilized Secondary Variables 1968-1972(v197, V640, V1279, V78-82. Head's occupation (v197, V1984, v2582) V640, v1279, V1984, V2582) What is your main occupation? Codes 1—8 as in primary 1. Professional, technical, instrument. and kindred workers 97. Miscellaneous 2. Managers, officials and 98. Not in labor force proprietors 99. MD 3. Self-employed businessmen 4. clerical and sales workers 5. Craftsmen, foremen, and kindred workers 6. Operatives and kindred workers 7. Laborers and service workers 8. Farmers and farm manager 9. Miscellaneous (armed services, protective workers, unemployed last year but looking for work, NA) (97) 0. Not in labor force at all, retired (includes students and housewives who did no work last year and are not working) permanently disabled (98) 1912(v2973) V83. Five year changes in job Five year changes in job (v2973) 0- Not always emplOYEd in 2. Not always employed in five year period (2) 5 years surveyed 1- N0 10b changes and WOIREd 3. Changed jobs more than once for present employer 10 in 5 years surveyed years or more (5) 4. Changed jobs only once in 2. No job changes and worked 5 years surveyed for present employer 5. No job changes in 5 4'9 years (5) years and worked for 3. No job changes and worked present employer for 1- for present employer 1-3 10 years. years (5) 4. Changed jobs only once during past 5 years (4) 5- Changed jobs more than once during past 5 years (3) 9. Other, NA (9) 125 Primary Variables Utilized Secondary Variables 1969-1972(V608, V1366, v2073, V84-87. Wife's employment status V2671) (V608, V1366, V2073, v2671) Did your wife do any work for mone last ear? . . y y Codes as in primary instrument. 0. Did not work for money 1. Employed 7. Inapp., no wife 9. MD 1969-1972(V609, V1367, v2074, V88-91. Wife's occupation (V609, V2672) vl367, v2074, v2672) What kind of work did she do? Professional, technical Codes as in primary Manager, official instrument. Self-employed business Clerical, sales Craftswoman, foreman Operative Unskilled labor, service Farming Miscellaneous Inap.; wife did not work or no wife OOCDNO‘UTJ-‘(AN— 1968(V313) V92. Head's education (V313) How many grades of school did you (head) finish? Codes as in primary 0. 0-5 grades and has instrument. difficulty reading, mentions could not read or write (1) 1. 0-5 grades, no difficulty reading (1) 2. 6-8 grades, grade school, mentions could read and write 3. 9-11 grades, some high school, junior high 4. 12 grades, high school completed 5. 12 grades plus non- academic training 6. College, no degree 7. College degree, no advanced degree 8. College, advanced or professional degrees 9. NA, DK Primary Variables Utilized 1968, 1972 (V246, v2687) How many grades of school did your wife finish? Did she have any other schooling? If yes, what other schooling did she have? If college, does she have a college degree? 1. 0—5 grades 2. 6-8 grades, grade school, mentions could read and write 3. 9-11 grades, some high school 4. 12 grades, high school completed 5. 12 grades, plus non- academic training . Some college, no degree College degree College, advanced degree NA, DK Inap; no wife OkomVO‘ 1968-1972(V18l, V801, V1490, V2202, v2828) Race 1. White 2. Negro 3. Spanish American, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban 7. Other (including Oriental, Philippino) 9. NA 126 Secondary Variables v93-94. Wife's educaiton (v246, v2687) Codes as in primary instrument. V95-99. Ethnicity (v181, V801, V1490, V2202, V2828) Codes as in primary instrument. 127 Primary Variables Utilized Secondary Variables 1968, 1969(v361, v876) V10O-104. Region(v361, v876, Region where family lived V1572, v2284, V2911) at time of interview 1 Northeast Codes as in primary 2. North central instrument, 1970-72. 3. South 4 West 1970-1972(V1572, V2284, V2911) Alaska, Hawaii Foreign country Region 1. Northeast 2. North central 3. South 4. West 5. 6. Northeast includes: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont. North central includes: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin. South includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia. West includes: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming. 1968-1972(v306, V781, V1448 ‘v105-109. Do you trust most other v2159, V2753) pgople, some, or very few? Do you trust most other (v306, V781, V1448, v2159, people, some, or very few? v2753) 1. Most (5) 1. Very few, no one 2. MOSt, qualified (4) 2. Few, not many, qualified 3. Pro-con. depends. should 3. Pro-con, depends, should trust some more (3) trust more 4. Few, not many, qualified (2) 4, Most, qualified 5. Very few, I trust no one, 5, Most absolutely no one (1) 9. MD 9. NA, DK 128 Primary Variables Utilized Secondary Variables 1968-1972(v309, V2162, V2756) Do you think the life of the average man is getting better or is it getting worse? V784, v1451, 1. Getting better (5) 2. Getting better, qualified(4) 3. Pro-con, better some ways, worse others, should be different (3) 4. Getting worse, qualified (2) 5. Getting worse (1) 9. NA, DK 1972(v2974) Five year changes in residence 1. No moves and lived in original place 5 years before interviewing began in 1968 (4) No moves and moved into original place between 1964 and 1968 (3) Moved once during interviewing period (2) More than one move during interviewing period Other, NA 1968, 1969(v289, V602) Do you (family) have any relatives who live within walking distance of here? 1. Yes (1) 3. Yes, qualified (they are never home, they are here only part of the year, we never see them) (1) 5. No (0) 9- NA (9) 1970-1972(v1273, v1978, v2576) 1. Yes (1) 5. No (0) 9. NA, DK (9) V110-114. Do you think the life of the average man is getting better or is it getting worse? (V309, V784, V145], V2162, V2756) 1. Getting worse 2. Getting worse, qualified 3. Pro-con, better some ways worse others, should be different 4. Getting better, qualified 5. Getting better 9. MD V115. Length of residence; Five year changes in residence (V2974) 1. More than one move during interviewing period Moved once during interview period No moves original and 1968 No moves original and moved into place between 1964 and lived in place 5 years before interviewing began in 1968 9. MD v116-120. Presence of relatives within walking distance (v289, V602, V1273, v1978, V2576) 1. Yes 0. No 9. MD, NA Primary Variables Utilized 1968—1972(V288, v1977, v2575) About how many peOple in this neighborhood do you know by name? V601, V1272, 0. No one, none 1. One 2. Two 3. Three, a few 4. Four 5. Five 6. 6-9, not many, 50% more or less, only a few families 7. 10-19, 95%, most of them, just about everyone 8. 10 or more, everyone, lots of people, all of them 9. NA 1968(V284) How often do you (head) go to church? 0. Never (1) 1. Once in a while, a few times a year, not often, seldom (2) 2. About once a month, sometimes (2) 3. Every few weeks, several times a month, once or twice a month, often (3) 4. Every week, once a week, every Sunday (4) 5. More than once a week, once a week plus (4) 1969(V763) 1. Hardly ever (2) 0, 2-9 as above 1970-1972(V1430, V2142, V2783) 1. Once a week or more (4) 2. Once a month or more, up to 3 times per month (3) 3. Less than once a month (2) 0. Never (1) 9 NA 129 Secondary Variables V121-125. Neighbors known by name (V288, V601, V1272, V2575) V1977, Codes as in primary instrument. v126-130. Frequency with which head goes to church (v284, V763, v1430, V2142, V2783) 1. Never 2. Less than once a month 3. Several times a month, or once a month 4. Once a week or more 9. MD, DK, NA 130 Primary Variables Utilized Secondary Variables 1970-1972(V1431, V2187, V2813) V131-133. Religion (V1431, Is your religious preference V2187, V2813) Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish or what? what denomination is that? . Protestant 1 2. Catholic 1. Baptist (1) 2. 3::1:h 2. Methodist, including 9. MD e African Methodist (l) Episc0pa1ian (1) Presbyterian (1) Lutheran (1) . Bahai; Congregationalist; Dutch Reformed or Christian Reformed; Latter Day Saints or Mormon; Unitarian or Universalist; Christian Church, Disciples of Christ; Evangelical and Reformed; Quaker or Society of Friends (Friends); United Church of Christ (1) 7. Other Protestant denominations not included above, Protestant but NA, DK denomination (I) 8. Catholic (2) 9. Jewish (3) 0. NA, DK religious preference; other (Greek Orthodox, Moslem...) none (4) 0‘wa 131 Primary Variables Utilized Secondary Variables 1969-1972(V567, V1249, v1952 V134-137. Access to transpor- v2552) tation (V6021 for 1970; Is there public transportation V6022 for 1972) within walking distance of 9 here. 0. No access 1. Yes 1. Access to public transport only 5' NO 2 Access to one famil 9. NA, DK ' y car, only 1969-1972(v578, v1251, v1954, 3' Access t° p8b11° tranSp°rt v2554) and one family car 4. Access to more than one 1 ' th - Do you or anyone e se in e family car, only family here own a car or truck? 5. Access to public transport ° and more than one family car ;' E25 9. MD 9. NA 1969-1972(V581, V1254, V1957, V2557) How many cars and trucks do you (and your family living here) own? 1. One 2. Two 3. Three 4. Four 5. Five 6. Six 7. Seven 8. Eight 9. NA 0. Inap., family owns no car or trucks 132 Primary Variables Utilized Secondary Variables 1968(V282) v138-142. Spare time activities ._—T— . _ h (V282, V821, V1424, V2136: We re interested in 0W v2777) peOple spend their spare time. What things do you (head) usually do in your spare time? 0. Nothing, have no spare time, just sit (7) 1. Watch TV, other passive things (6) 2. Drive the car, talk with neighbors, play cards, walk, read, fish, do flower gardening (5) 3. Energetic activities requiring initiative, sports, active hobbies, bowling, tennis, hunting, square dancing (4) 4. Productive activities (that save money or produce direct service; having vegetable garden, working around house) 5. Investment in self; learning new things that may benefit one economically (1) 7. Other (3) 9. NA 1969(V821) 1. Investment in self 2. Productive activities 3. Energetic activities (4) 4. Drive the car, talk with neighbors, play cards, walk, read (leisurely), play with kids, talk with kids, party (5) 5. Watch TV, listen to radio, other passive things (6) 6. Nothing, have no spare time, sleep (7) Investment in self— taking courses/learning things that may benefit one eco- nomically (excluding formal students), serious 'reading, study (excluding formal students) Productive activities- that save moeny or produce direct services- sewing, knitting, other needlecrafts doing additions and repairs, working/tinkering with car, lawn work, work around the house, vegetable gardening, "gardening", woodworking, other crafts, volunteer work for charity, scouts, hospital, etc. Learning hobbies- painting pictures, writing poetry, playing a musical instrument playing in a band (not as a job), acting, sculpturing other learning hobbies, photography, electronics, adult education courses-- no evidence that will benefit one economically, stamp collecting, other collection hobbies Energetic activities- fishing, flower gardening bowling, boating, tennis, ping-pong, swimming, other sports, dancing, camping, travel, hunting, car racing motorcycling, horseback- riding, snowmobiling Less energetic activities- drive the car, talk with neighbors, play cards (and other sedentary games), walk, r ead (leisurely or NA kind), play with kids, partying, movies, concerts Primary Variables Utilized 1970-1972(V1424, V2136, V2777) Codes as given for secondary research instrument. 1968-1972(V179, V799, v1488, V2200, v2826) Who was present during the interview? (By observation) 1. Respondent only 2. Respondent and spouse 3. Respondent and someone else (not spouse) 4. Respondent and spouse and someone else (include children, count others even if part-time) 9. NA, DK 1969-1972(V805, V2832) Were there language or other problems that made it difficult for you to interview this respondent? V1494, v2206, 1. Yes, major problem or language difficulty 3. Yes, minor 5. No, none 9. NA 1972(v2968) 1972 Family weight 133 Secondary Variables theater, shopping, church, spectator sports, putter around, help others (NA what), write letters, organization meetings (lodge, etc), dinner and dates, talk on the telephone, jigsaw puzzles, picnicking 6. Passive activities- watch TV, listen to radio, play records, loaf sit 7. Nothing; have no spare time, sleep 9. MD V143. Who present during interview?(v179, V799, V1488, V220, V2826) Codes as in primary instrument. V144-147. Language problem? (V805, V1494, V2206, V2832) Codes as in primary instrument. V148. Weight variable (V2968) Primary Variables Utilized 1968-1972(V99, ' V1939, V2539) Date of interview V553, V1236, Please see table on p. 1968(V180) Who was respondent--relation to head: 1. Head 2. Wife, responding for self 3. Other (7) 8. Wife responding for husband (3) 9. NA 1969—1972(V800, V2827) V1489, V220], 1 and 2 as above 3. Wife, responding for husband 7. Someone other than head or wife 9. NA 134 Secondary Variables V149-153. Date of interview (V99, V553, v1236, V1939, V2539) Coded as in primary instrument. V154-158. Respondent as relation to head (V180, v800, V1489, V2201, V2827) Coded as in primary instrument, 1969—1972. 135 Construction of Mother and Father Variables Because "head of household" was designated as male in married families, but could also have been female in case of single parent house- holds, or cases where the male was incapacitated t0 the extent that it was logical for the interviewer to designate the wife as head, it was felt that relying on head and wife variables as presented in the data set was not as direct an approach as would be desirable. Consequently, the data was recast in terms of Mother/Father variables for the years under consideration. Using the variables for head and wife as already described in the research instrument, the data were manipulated in order to create the various Mother/Father variables described below. V159-161. Mother's age (V8001, V8003, V8005) v162-163. Mother's education (V8007, V8027) V164-165. Mother's work status (V8013, V8015) v166-167. Mother's occupation (V8017, V8019) The source of data for each of these variables depended on the marital status of the mother. If a family had indicated their marital status as married, the information for each of these variables was taken from the corresponding variable for "wife". If a family had indicated their marital status as single, widowed, divorced, or separated, the information for each variable was taken from the corresponding variable for "head of household". Since previous analysis had established that there were no single male head of households, the single heads were, therefore, mostly single mothers.(ie. sex/marital status was single, female). V168-170. Father's age (V8002, V8004, V8006) v17]. Father's education (V8020) V172-174. Father's work status (V8008, V8010, V8012) V175-177. Father's occupation (V8014, v8016, V8018) As there were no Single male head of households, the information for each of the father variables was taken from the "head of household" variables. Not all households had father's present. 136 V178-180. Parent's age (V8021, V8023, V8025) The parent's age variable was based, also, on marital status. If a family was married, the actual ages of both head and wife were averaged and the result was taken as "parent's age" information. If the family had a single head of household (ie. was single, divorced, widowed, or separated), the age of the single parent was taken as data for this variable from the age of head of household information. 137 Appendix C Additional Tables from Objective Two The five year changes in residence and the five year changes in jobs variables were flawed on the data tape. in that extremely improbable results were found in cross-tab analysis. In checking with the original researchers about the results presented in Appendix C, no other explanation was arrived at. The tables are presented here for future pondering. 138 Table C1 Five Year Pattern of PTA Attendance by Five Year Changes in Residence V3000. Five Year V2974. Five Year Changes in Residence Pattern of PTA 1. More than one move during Attendance interviewing period 1. Unstable PTA attender 7.8% n=2,950 2. Consistently inactive 0.4% n=152 3. Decreasingly active 43.9% n=16,620 4. Increasingly active 0.5% n=172 5. Consistently active 47.5% n=17,998 Total n=37,892 139 Table C2 Five Year Pattern of PTA Attendance by Five Year Changes in Jobs V2973. Five Year Changes in Jobs V3000. Five Year 4. Changed Pattern 0f PTA 2. Not always 3. Changed jobs jobs only Row Attendance employed more than once once Total 1. Unstable PTA 19.47.; 80.62 0.0 2,950 attender 7.87.3 7.8% 0.0 n=571 n=2,379 n=0 2. Consistently 7.22 92.82 0.0 152 inactive 0.12 0.5 0.0 nzll 11:14] “so 3. Decreasingly 24.12 75.72 0.2 16,620 active 54.32 41.32 100.0 n=4,001 n=12,589 n=30 4. Increasingly 21.52 78.5% 0.0 172 active 0.52 0.42 0.0 n=37 n=135 n-O 5. 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