PERSON-CENTERED AND TASK-CENTERED STYLES 0F ORGANIZATION Thesis for the Degree Of Ph. D. MICHIGAN STATE UNWERSITY ' ADDREEN NICHOLS! ‘ 1964 THESIS- IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII T II:I;I5IIIIIIIIIIIIII 7 _V,m, » . . t- _ , ,7 ., ,..,_._g. -_——A -_.A. This is to certify that the thesis entitled PMSOIE-CENTER’LZD All) 'i‘AS‘Li—CLIIL‘IZLLJD STYLES CF OI'LGAI‘TIZA‘L‘IOII presented by K Addrcen Nichols has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph. D. degree in HOMO Ilanncexient Jfl 327/ 6~ 7511 274x, llnbw. “_A£n--qr 0-169 - .g-_ ABSTRACT PERSON-CENTERED AND TASK-CENTERED STYLES 0F ORGANIZATION By Addreen Nichols Three levels of task organization in the home were con- ceptualized on the basis of the number of tasks and persons involved. The research dealt only with one level defined as one person, the manager, arranging the efforts of others for the performance of one or more tasks. Six components of this organizational process were educed and included assigning, authorizing, actuating, supervising, co-ordinat- ing, and evaluating. From the literature polar organiza- tional styles exhibited by managers were identified: a task-centered style is one in which the manager's concern is primarily with the product and a person-centered style is one in which emphasis is on the person performing the task. The hypothesis tested was: The more person-centered is the manager's organizational style the more help she will re— ceive with home tasks from family members. Statements were collected for each component of organi- zation from homemakers with school age children by means of Open-ended questions and were categorized as person-centered or task-centered by a panel of five doctoral candidates in home management. Two sets of statements thus collected Addreen Nichols were paired for each organizational component, making a total of twelve paired statements. These paired statements constituted the inventory used to derive organizational style scores. Twenty common home tasks, including laundry, house care, and food preparation, were listed and accompanied by a five-point scale to assess the amount of help the wife- mother received from family members with each task. These data, in addition to personal and family character- istics, were collected by mailed questionnaires from 125 women, employed full-time as manufacturing Operatives in an automobile plant. The responses were coded and machine punched on cards for processing. Although the respondents worked an average of 43.3 hours per week at their place of employment, they received little help with the home tasks investigated as revealed by a mean score of 2.15 on a scale in which help equalled five. They were, on the other hand, highly person-centered, as shown by the mean score for the inventory of nine person-centered statements from the twelve. Using product moment correla- tion to compare help and style scores, the investigator found no correlation between the two. The hypothesis, therefore, was not supported. However, certain personal and family characteristics were found to be associated with the amount of help received (P = .05). Those respondents re- ceiving most help with the tasks studied were those who had two or more adults in the household in addition to them- selves; three or more children; husbands with twelve or more Addreen Nichols years of schooling; and themselves worked outside their homes full-time for 10 to 12 years. The only characteristic associated with style scores of these women was length of employment; those who had worked from 10 to 12 years were more task-centered in their responses than were those who had worked longer. Some personal and family characteristics also influ- enced responses to certain style inventory statements. Task-centered responses were associated with the respondent (1) having girls 6 to 14 years of age for one pair of state- ments each for assigning and evaluating; (2) having four or more children for one pair of supervising statements; (3) being under 40 years of age for one pair of assigning statements. PERSON-CENTERED AND TASK-CENTERED STYLES OF ORGANIZATION by Addreen Nichols A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Home Management and Child Development 1964 {/9 “1) Sit I! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to eXpress her appreciation to those organizations and individuals who have contributed so greatly to the completion of this undertaking. For financial assistance, the author is deeply grateful for the generous contributions of General Foods Corporation, Michigan Home Economics Association, Michigan State Univer- sity, and to Omicron Nu, home economics honor society, for the award of its research fellowship. For patient, unstinting counsel and assistance, grate- ful acknowledgement is given to those faculty members who served on the advisory committee: Dr. Beatrice Paolucci, Dr. Alice Thorpe, Dr. Jean Davis Schlater, and Dr. Hideya Kumata. For continuous encouragement and support, the author eXpresses her thanks to her colleagues and for his cooper- ation, Special thanks is due Mr. Rammacher, President of United Auto Workers Local 652, and to the women who voluntar- ily gave of their time to answer the questionnaire. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . LIST OF TABLES . . . . Chapter I. THE PROBLEM: RATIONALE AND CONCEPTUALIZATION II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE III. PROCEDURE . . . . IV. DESCRIPTION OF SAMPLE V. FINDINGS . . . . VI. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION LITERATURE CITED . . . APPENDIX . . . . . . . 0 iii Page ii iv 10 18 30 64 71 73 Table 1. 2. 3. . 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12a. 12b. 13. 14a. 14b. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. LIST OF TABLES Women's Age at Last Birthday . . . . . . . Women's Schooling . . . . . . . . . . . . Women's Age at First Marriage . . . . . . Women's Marital Status . . . . . . . . . . Women‘s Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . Women's Residence . . . . . . . . . . . . Women's Length of Full-time Employment . . Length of Women's Work Week . . . . . . . Husband's Schooling . . . . . . . . . . . Husband's Occupation . . . . . . . . . . . Family Income Earners . . . . . . . . . . Children Living at Home . . . . . . . . . Children's Age and Sex . . . . . . . . . . Additional Adults in Household . . . . . . Responses to Individual Style Inventory Statements, Set A . . . . . . . . . . . ReSponses to Individual Style Inventory Statements, Set B . . . . . . . . . . . Distribution of Style Scores . . . . . . . Distribution Among Style Categories . . . Reaponses to Help Values for Twenty Tasks Distribution of Help Scores . . . . . . . Help and Number of Adults in Household . . iv Page 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 4O 41 42 43 44 47 49 49 52 54 56 Table Page 20. Help and Number of Children . . . . . . . . . . 56 21. Help and Husbands' Schooling . . . . . . . . . 57 22. Help and Nomens' Full-time Employment . . . . . 57 23. Style and Womens' Full-time Employment . . . . 59 24. Supervising (Pair 41) and Number of Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6O 25. Assigning (Pair 44) and Respondents' Age . . . 6O 26. Assigning (Pair 44) and Number of Girls 6 to 14 Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 27. Evaluating (Pair 49) and Number of Girls Age 6 to 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM: RATIONALE AND CONCEPTUALIZATION Introduction Home management is concerned with value mediation and goal achievement in the family. In helping home managers attain these objectives in their management, home economists, need to be able to eXplain and predict managerial behavior that brings about anticipated results. The study reported here aimed to eXplore one aSpect of managerial behavior and its relation to the contribution of family members to se- lected tasks of the household. Specifically, the general objective of the study was to compare organizational styles of a selected sample of employed homemakers with the amount of help they received from family members with twenty home tasks. Two concepts that seem to be central to home management are decision-making and organization. One of these, decision-making in the family, has received considerable attention during recent years. Organization, however, was identified only recently as one of the major concepts in the field of management in homes (1). Consequently, it has re- ceived little attention in the home management literature. Research is needed to gain an understanding of its nature and function in management of the home. It is the concept of organization with which this inves- tigation was concerned. A necessary first step in the research was a conceptualization of the nature of organiza- tion and its role in home management, particularly its rela- tion to the decision-making concept. Organization in home management Organization is broadly defined as "the act or process of organizing" which requires "arranging in interdependent parts, each having a Special function with reSpect to the whole."1 The definition implies an actor or "organizer" and a "whole" or task toward which efforts are organized. In home management, both decision-making and organization con- tribute toward a unified whole, i.e., task completion. Decision-making with values as the criterion by which goals are chosen results in a decision, a choice, which sets the goal. A goal is a commitment to action toward which efforts are organized. To maintain control over the outcome and thus to achieve the goal, efforts of the individual(s) per- forming the task need to be organized to prevent uneXpected results from interfering with task completion. Efforts of individuals are, of course, human resources; material re- sources need to be assessed and allocated also if goals are to be achieved. The present study was concerned only with the human resources of family members. Thus, decision- 1Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. making and organization as two concepts in home management are related. Decision-making sets the task goal and organ- ization brings about the eXpected results. From this rela- tionship the definition of home management which emerges is: Home management is a system of control for goal achievement resulting from the interaction of organization and decision— making. Levels of qgganization In order to arrive at an Operational definition of organ- ization, categorization of the forms in which it manifests itself was needed. The complexity of task organization de- pends on the combination of elements involved. The elements are: 1) the parts of a task, given its beginning and end 2) the number of tasks 3) the number of persons performing the task(s). Using these elements as indicators of complexity, three levels of organization of home tasks are observable. The least complex level consists of one person and one task; the next level consists of one person and X number of tasks; the third level, the most complex, consists of X persons and X tasks. Level I involves one person arranging the parts of one task which he is to perform into a sequence or pattern. Once the parts have been identified as relevant to the whole they can be arranged in a variety of ways, timed, and stand- 4 ardized, if desired. Work simplification studies are illus- trative of this type of organization. Level II involves one person arranging his efforts for the completion of several tasks he is to perform into a sequence or pattern. This level is one aSpect of discover- ing the similarities among tasks so that they may be fitted together. Level III requires one person, the manager, arranging the efforts of other persons, the performers, into a pattern for the completion of one or several tasks. Thus multi- person organization requires the organizing of group efforts. In home management, the group involved is family members and the manager is the one, usually the wife-mother, who is re- sponsible for household tasks. The home manager may or may not be a member of the work group depending upon the amount of work she delegates to others. It was the multi-person level of organization, Level III, with which this investigation was concerned and which had not been previously investigated in home management. The term organization in the remainder of the report will refer only to this level. Home tasks Home tasks are many and varied among families and may include decision-making and affective tasks. Home tasks also include the work of the home which produces tangible goods and services for use of family members. These were the tasks under consideration. While they serve the prac- tical and utilitarian purpose of maintaining the home, car- ing for clothing, and preparing food, they can also serve, less tangibly, as a means of role learning, sharing and cooperative endeavor among family members. Traditionally in many cultures including our own, these are the responsibil- ity of the wife-mother whether she does them herself or assigns them to others. Productivity in the home is clearly not as important economically for today's family as it was formerly, since mass production has reduced the cost of goods and services for the family. Its social value, however, its value in human terms of contributing and participating, may have in- creased because of the mechanistic nature of much of work outside the home. It doubtless continues to have economic value also for the full-time working mother who is employed eight or more hours a day and 40 or more hours a week. By replacing her labor at home through the utilization of family members she can reduce her own work load while at the same time adding social value to the family situation. Thus, the manner in which she manages home tasks can con- tribute to both social and economic values. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK The organization of home tasks is conceived as a pro- cess. A process is defined as "operations conducing to an end"2 and, hence, implies movement from a beginning to an end. The operations conducing to organizing home tasks, thus, would appear to begin with selecting someone among those available to do the task and to end with some evalu- ation of the performance. Six Operations performed by the manager in the process of organizing home tasks weregepuced: Assigning-~designating the member of the group to do the task; Authorizing—-designating the degree of responsibility to be given the performer; Actuating--utilizing incentives to motivate the per- former; Supervising--exercising critical surveillance during the performance; Co-ordinating--designating the relationship of one task to others; Evaluating-~comparing results with expectations and applying corrective measures. These six Operations constitute the components of the organ- ization process. Organizational style For each of the six components, the organizer can se- lect among a wide range of mental, verbal, and, often, gestural, activities for communication and motivation. The 2Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. selection made by an organizer depends on her attitudes and eXpectations about the outcome. Because this selection is individual and behavioristic, it was defined as organiza- tional style. Two polar organizational styles were posited: at one extreme, the organizer is concerned with the tangible results of the task itself; the emphasis is on the visible outcome without consideration for the affective qualities of the task for the performer. At the other end of the continuum, the organizer is concerned with the task as a means for the growth and development of the performer. The concern for the individual, however, need not exclude con- cern also for the quality of the performance; rather, the task is seen in a different perspective, as an instrument for development of the individual. The organizer's concern primarily for tangible results is defined as task-centered style and concern primarily with human development is defined as person—centered style. Hypothesis That organizational style is reflected in the per- formance of the small face~to~face work group is demonstra- ted by investigations in industry; both productivity and morale of the workers are higher under the manager with the person—centered style (2). Small group theory eXplains the relationship: the dignity and worth of the person per- ceived by himself as "reward" is a strong motivator of posi- tive reaponse, i.e., of assistance (3). In the home, the two organizational styles, or combinations of them, are probable. One home manager may be concerned primarily with appearance, waste, breakage, etc., while another stresses the development of family members performing the tasks. It follows from the theory that the assistance or help given by the family members will reflect the organiza- tional style of the home manager. The hypothesis thus formulated for the investigation was: The more person- centered is the organizational style of the home manager the greater will be the amount of help she received with home tasks from family members. Objectives To test the hypothesis three Objectives were set for the study: 1. To classify home managers by organizational styles. 10 0 To identify personal and family characteristics associated with organizational styles and with re- ceiving help. 3. To compare organizational styles and amount of help received with home tasks. Assumptions Several assumptions are inherent in the study, namely: 1. Homemakers differ in the amount of help they re- ceive from family members with home tasks. 2. Full-time employed women "need" help more than do those who are full-time homemakers, and thus will have develOped methods of Obtaining it. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Managerial Operations Management is generally defined as a process which in- volves a series of Operations performed by the manager so goals can be achieved. According to various conceptual- izations, these operations include "planning, controlling, and evaluating" (4); "goal-defining, planning, decision- making, eXpediting, actuating, and.controlling" (5); "planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling" (6); and "organizing, planning, leading, and controlling" (7). Although each of these listings of managerial operations differ from the other, all aim toward reaching the Objec— tives of the managerial unit, be it family or business. Probable eXplanations to account for the differences in the selection of operations for inclusion in the listings are 1) similar operations have been called by different names; 2) in some cases, several Operations have been subsumed under one name; or, 3) some authorities view the task of management more broadly than others. In any case, it is evident that there is little agreement among authors about the specific Operations necessary to reach objectives. The organizing operation Organizing, as a managerial Operation, appears eXplic— 10 11 itly in only two of the above listings; it does not appear in any of the home management definitions of managerial process. The possibility, however, of the inclusion of organization as a subprocess has been considered at recent conferences. The tentative definition of the subprocess sub- mitted was: Organization is the arranging Of strategies and re- sources into patterns appropriate to the family's value system. In order to achieve organization one employs such strategies as: planning, information gathering, goal setting, checking, appraisin , facilitating, mo- tivating, and adjusting (adapting? (1). Such a definition could be interpreted as the whole of the managerial process including, as it does, so many strategies or components. However, what the constituents-~the com- ponents--of organizing are has not been established. Newman and Summers state that there are two: Two elements are invariably present in organizing: dividing up the work into jobs and, at the same time, making sure that these separate bundles of work are knit together into a total team effort (7). Terry, on the other hand, is more Specific and suggests that organizing consists of at least four components: Organizing is the determining, grouping, and arranging of the various activities deemed necessary for the attainment of the objectives, the assigning of peOple to these activities, the providing of suitable phys- ical factors of environment, and the indicating of the relative authority delegated to each individual char g? with the execution of each respective activ- ity 0 Little research has been conducted to determine the components of organizing or organization as a part of the managerial process. In a study by Tasker, the definition 12 of organization identified two components: "Organization is the orderly design a homemaker creates by planning and co-ordinating the activities of the home" (8). In comparing the Tasker and Terry formulations, one finds that Tasker considered only the organizing of activ- ities or tasks while Terry provides for the organizing of both the tasks--the work--and the efforts Of the persons performing the tasks. He goes on to say, "The work, for which the organizing is being done, is set forth as a re- sult of planning. From this work, the necessary activities are derived and form the foundation for the organizing efforts" (6). In summary, the one position does not concern itself with situations in which work is delegated and the other does; in one, planning is part of organizing and in the other, planning precedes organizing. Massaginflaaaeaei Most definitions of management delineate the purposes of management, i.e., the ends toward which the managerial process is directed, as goal achievement. The goals of families are many and varied; some goals are prescribed by society; others are goals of individual choice. One of the prescribed goals, if the family is to fulfill its role in society, is task performance. Task performance, as one of the internal activities of the family, is described by fam- ily sociologists thus: The goods obtained from the external systems are never completely ready for consumption when they come into 13 the nuclear family, and some must be cared for if they are to continue to be used by the family. At a minimum, nuclear family members participate in the care and maintenance of family possessions, although in the ex- treme case this may merely mean seeing that no damage comes to these possessions. Typically, however, maintaining equipment requires a variety of other services such as cleaning, repairing, or improving the family's possessions. In addition to maintaining equip- ment, the nuclear family performs a variety of tasks which may be referred to as "finishing". Additional preparation making goods ready to use to their value (9). In achieving goals, management brings about change (4). These changes may be in the product, as is indicated in the above quotation. That home management may also bring about changes in the character or personality of the members Of the family, i.e., in persons, is implied in the two state- ments about home management which follow: Management is, by definition, the conscious mediation of a value system (10). Home management may be defined as . . . the use of hu- man and material resources for the optimal develOpment of the individual members . . . (11). The changes which result from management as suggested by these two statements include the realization or eXperience of value for the "good" of the individual. The achievement of goals for the individual in the family are goals set by choice rather than necessity, i.e., they are goals set con- sciously. Since the same managerial activity may result in achiev- ing more than one goal, goals set by necessity and goals set by choice may be achieved simultaneously. For example, that achieving the goal of task performance may result in the goal of eXperiencing value--be "value—laden"--for 14 individuals performing the tasks has been observed by anthropologists. Lee analyzes the social value of work within one's primary group as a feeling of significance--"of joy"--for the performer. Work is an eXperience Of social value because one is acting out his social role. These acts are "a social definition Of the self" and a means of relat- ing oneself to others (12). Mead states that a creative life for children includes participation in home tasks as a medium of eXperiencing significance: One of the great dangers which we face today is the individual's feeling that he is not significant . . . Yet it is possible to forge a series of links between the life of the small child and the freedom and dig- nity of the adult . . . Daily tasks, too, can be divided up as one child takes in the paper, feeds the cat, empties the ashtrays, turns the TV knob for the program everyone wants to hear, and another smooths the pillows, straightens the towels, sets the table, sees that messages get where they will be read. Right within the family, a child can learn the basic feeling for a democratic society--that every individual has dignity and matters . . . (13). If management is making things happen, i.e., bringing about change through goal achievement, the goal of eXperiencing- through-performance will have had to be set; thus, it appears that changes in the product through task performance can also bring about changes for the individual only if the individual is given Opportunities to perform the task. Managerial practices One clue to the eXperiencing of value on the part of potential participants would be "the motivational commit- ment of the family members for the performance of the tasks" 15 as reflected in the amount of help actually given (or re- ceived) by family members (9). Yet, several studies of man— agerial practices demonstrate that individual family members, particularly children, contribute little help to the per- formance of home tasks. A conclusion in a recent study Of 175 employed mothers was "as a group, these working mothers were not using the manpower of the family members, eSpecial- ly the children" (14). A study, in Great Britian, of working-class employed homemakers drew a similar conclusion, adding that husbands were more likely to be utilized in helping with home tasks than children because "the husbands could be depended upon when needed" (15). Diaries of the time Spent in performing home tasks which were kept by 85 Wisconsin farm women in 1953 revealed some variation in the contribution of household members between large and small families; yet, in those families with seven or more persons, where the contribution was larger than in small families, the amount of help the homemaker received averaged only slightly more than one hour a day, or about one-eighth of the total homemaking time (16). These studies would appear to support the position that conscious goal setting-~conscious awareness of the ends to- ward which management is directed, including the eXperiencing of value as evidenced by the delegation of task performance-- is essential if these goals are to be achieved. That managers set different goals for their management as reflected in their supervisory role has been noted by 16 several authors. In research conducted in industry, the existence of the two contrasting goals was Observed by Likert and his associates; the first, they called employee- centered supervision and the second, job-centered super- vision. They also observed a relationship between the goal of the manager and behavior of the worker in relation to the goals: Those supervisors whose units have a relatively poor production record tend to concentrate on keeping their subordinates busily engaged in going through a spec- ified work cycle in a prescribed way and at a satis- factory rate as determined by time standards . . . Supervisors with the best records of performance focus their primary attention on the human aspects of their subordinates' problems and on endeavoring to build effective work groups with high performance goals (2). In their textbook, Gross and Crandall designate the delegation to others Of "carrying out of plans" as supervi- sion and state that it takes one of two forms, namely: directing or guiding. Directing is defined as the technical aspects of the job where the resulting end product is upper- most in the mind of the manager; in guiding, on the other hand, "the effect of supervision on the person's develOpment is uppermost" (4). Malone and Malone make a similar dis- tinction between the material or technical and human ends of home management in describing "two concepts" held by managers, which they call the broad and narrow concepts. They define each thus: In the [Harrow concept, greater importance is placed on skills in doing"; tan ible resources and results are stressed. In the road7, intangibles are the 17 keynote, with the usual products of homemaking--meals, well-kept house, clean, attractive clothing—-as inter- mediary to the real products sought--happy, healthy peOple enjoying a full life (17). CHAPTER III PROCEDURE This chapter deals with the selection of the sample, methodology including the development and preparation of the questionnaire, and the coding and analysis of data. Selection of sample To achieve some degree of homogeneity in the sample, a pOpulation of women who were employed full-time in one occu- pation and one industry was sought. With the help of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations, a population meeting these specifications was found in a Lansing, Michigan automobile plant. Investigation revealed that all were members of United Automotive Workers' Local 652. An appointment with the Local's President was made to gain his cooperation and to Obtain information about these workers. He was very cooperative and offered to provide a list Of names and addresses of the women workers with the provision that he be permitted to review the materials to be sent them before relinquishing the list. The researcher agreed to this proviso. In addition, he supplied the following information from his knowledge of them: The women's average length of employment with this company is eight or nine years; few are still working who would have been employed in the 1940's during World War II. 18 19 They are both white and non-white, although the proportion- ate number of each is not available. At the time of the interview in early 1963, they earned $2.85 to $2.87 an hour, the higher pay going to those in a supervisory capac- ity. They, as women, are limited to a ten—hour day and a 54-hour week; the length of the working day and week varies with the plant's production schedule. They do not have regularly scheduled vacations, but since the plant is shut down from two to four weeks each summer for model change- over, most are Off work at this time. They are employed in five different departments and work on the production line, in the paint shop, etc.; thus, their occupation can be classified as manufacturing Operatives. A small number of them work on around-the-clock shifts which are changed once a month. Most, however, work the day shift. This popula- tion has not been sampled previously, indicating relatively ineXperienced subjects as far as research is concerned. At the time of the interview, the investigator was promised a list which included only-those women employees with dependent children. Apparently this was impossible because the final list included all women employees regard- less of marital status or dependents, a total of 617 names and addresses. A large number of the addresses indicated residence in or near Lansing, Michigan; the remainder were widely distributed over an area within a 30-mile radius of Lansing. The list contained only the woman's given and 20 last name without reference to marital status or dependents, making a selection among them with reSpect to these two factors impossible. Since, however, the letter addressed to them carried the salutation Dear Homemaker of Local 652 (See Appendix) and the contents included references about working mothers, many no doubt disqualified themselves and did not reSpond. ‘Resgarch design_and development of_instruments The research was designed to identify and compare the relationships among three variables: organizational style, help received from family members with home tasks, and selected personal and family characteristics. A style inventory for assessing organizational style was develOped as follows: General statements describing the content of task- centered style and person-centered style were developed for each of the six organizational components. In the following schema, the task-centered statement is first and the person- centered statement is second for each organizational com- ponent. I. Assigning 1. Assigns to the one who is best qualified. 2. Assigns on a varied, flexible basis. II. Authorizing 1. Gives detailed instructions and directions; ex- pects little judgment by the performer. 21 2. After consultation with the performer, exPects him to use own judgment. III. Actuating 1. Offers pay, material incentives. 2. Uses ego motives--high expectations, assistance if needed, trust. IV. Supervising 1. Close with frequent checks on performance. 2. General-~offers encouragement. V. Co-ordinating 1. Static; sees the task as always having the same relationship to the whole. 2. Dynamic; adjusts to daily situations. VI. Evaluating 1. InSpects the results and applies corrective mea- sures. 2. Questions the performer, listens to difficulties encountered, Offers advice for the future. Using these statements as a basis, open-ended questions were formulated for the purpose of collecting statements from homemakers in their own words about each organizational component (See Appendix). Twelve interviews were conducted mostly among homemakers with school-age children. Their re- plies were recorded as nearly as possible in their own words. The investigator made a list of the statements for each component and arranged them into two groups as they appeared 22 to correspond to the two styles. Thus a total of forty- two statements (seven for each component) was assembled, including both task-centered and person-centered items. These were presented to a panel Of five judges comprised of five doctoral candidates in home management. The panel members, working independently, were given the list of statements and instructed to designate the statements as task-centered or person-centered, as shown in Appendix. The criterion decided upon for inclusion of a statement in the style inventory was the agreement of four of the five judges. Agreement was high with all five judges agree- ing in a number of cases; four judges agreed on at least four of the statements out Of each seven, two of which were rated as task-centered items and two, person-centered items. In developing the style inventory a task-centered item was paired with a person-centered item for each component resulting in a set of six pairs; this process was repeated for a second set of six pairs. The statements selected are shown on pages 23 and 24. The pairs were arranged by com- ponents with the task-centered versus person—centered items scrambled within components. The instructions were to place a check before the ggg statement in each pair with which "you most nearly agree." In the questionnaire, pages 2 and 3, (Appendix), pairs 38 through 43 constitute the first set and pairs 44 through 49, the second set. I Organizational Comppnent Assigning Set 23 Task-centered Statements The family member who does the job best is the one who should do it. The one who can be depended upon to get the job done is the one who should do it. Authorizing Actuating Directions need to be given so wlathe job will be done right. It is necessary to give direc- tions every time to have the job done the way mother wants it done. —— The best way to get them to do “:Eheir jgbs is to pay them. They need to know they will be pun- ished if they don't help with the work. Supervising It is important to check often to see if they are following instruc- tions. fi_ == It is best to oversee the work pretty closely in order to have the job done right. CO-ordinating Children should have a set schedule for doing their chores and stick with it. - __ They should be eXpected to do the same amount of work every day. Evaluating It is necessary to inepect the job each time to see how well they have done. :.—‘ If the job isnrfjdone right they should do it over until it is. ~-u—-.—.- - .— Organizational Component Assigning 24 Person-centered Statements Jobs should be changed around Often so family members will en- Eoy what they do. {—18 best to Shift jOBs among family members to keep up enthu- siasm. Authorizing They should be able to use their own ideas as to how they will do the 1gb. The helper should be able to do the job in a way that makes it interesting for him. Actuating Supervising .— Knowing they are contributing to the family is the best way to get them to help. The way to get them to do jobs is praise them, and let them know you trust them. _J—‘ It is best if the mother doesn't stand over the helper while he is working; Asking an occasional question about how they are getting along should be all that is needed in the way of overseeing the job. Co-ordinating Evaluating They should eXpect to get some help with their chores on days whgn they are busy. They need to know the family schedule so they can choose their own time for doing their chores without inconveniencing others. ——_— Expecting them to do the job as well as mother might discourages them from doing it_ another time. It is necessary to do some check— ing on children' 5 work when they are finished so they know you care. 25 To measure the amount of help the homemaker received with home tasks from family members, twenty tasks for which the wife-mother is traditionally reaponsible were selected. They included food buying, preparation, and clean-up; care of children; and clothing and house care. A five-point scale accompanied each task for checking the frequency with which the homemaker herself did each task without help from family members. At one extreme of the scale was "Practi- cally every time" for a score of 1; at the other extreme, "Rarely or never", for a score of 5. The numerical weight- ing assigned to each response did not appear in the questionnaire, as will be seen on page 2 of the question- naire, Appendix. Preparation of Schedulg_and Pre-test For this sample of busy homemakers of unknown educa- tional attainment, the criteria for the questionnaire of brevity, simplicity in recording answers, and clarity of both questions and instructions were particularly desirable. In the interests Of brevity, a total of 60 items was finally decided upon; this number fit onto four pages with adequate space for instructions, and type large enough to be easily read. The questions about family and personal characteristics were separated into two groups. Those about family charac- teristics included age, schooling, occupation and employ- ment status of husband; number, age, and sex of children 26 living at home; number of income earners; and other adult members of the household. Since eXperience indicates that women willingly talk about their families, these were placed at the beginning of the questionnaire. To collect data about the homemaker herself, questions were asked about her schooling, age, marital status, religion, length of full-time employment outside her home, and number Of hours worked the previous week. These were placed at the end of the questionnaire. Questions about race were not permissable; questions about family income were not asked directly since an approximation could be made from three pre- vious questions, namely: hours worked last week (given the hourly rate), employment status of husband, and number of income earners in the family. An optional Open-ended question, "What do you like best and what do you like least about working outside your home?", was asked. This question was included to give the respondents an Opportunity to express themselves if they so desired rather than for purposes of data collection; it served also to assess the ability of these women to verbal- ize. In an effort to increase the reaponse to a mailed ques- tionnaire a Cooperative Extension bulletin entitled, "Managing Your Family's Credit", was offered as an incentive. In order to receive the bulletin it was necessary for the reapondents to give their names and addresses; however, 27 complete anonymity was possible if the bulletin was not requested. A pre-test of the questionnaire was conducted to ascer- tain the clarity of instructions, the order of presentation, and to Observe the distribution of responses to the style inventory items. Twenty working mothers who were employed as waitresses, housekeepers, and food service workers for one employer were selected for the pre-test. An interview with their supervisor revealed that they included both Negroes and whites of limited schooling which made them com- parable in some respects to the sample selected for the study. Eleven questionnaires were returned. Few changes were indicated except in statements for the actuating com- ponent of the style inventory. Here, distribution of choices between the task-centered statement and the person- centered statement was skewed. Most of the reSpondents had chosen the person-centered statement, indicating either a very high preference for the person-centered statement or an aversion to the task-centered one. In any event, the person-centered statement was exchanged for another from the pool for inclusion in the inventory's final form. Mailing Two mailings were made to the list supplied by the Local's President. The first mailing went to 617 women and consisted of a cover letter, the questionnaire, and a self- addressed, stamped envelope. After a lapse of two weeks, 28 500 postal cards were mailed as a reminder. The card in- cluded the investigator's telephone number in the event the addressee had lost the original letter or wished to ask questions. In all, 160 questionnaires were returned. Of these, 16 were returned by the Post Office as undeliverable, and 19 were either incomplete or blank; the remaining 125 were usable and constituted the sample. Coding and analysis On the assumption that the more data are transferred, the greater is the chance for error, the questionnaire was so designed that the coded reaponses were recorded on it in a form that could be punched directly onto cards. While the method of coding is readily apparent for most of the questions as can be Observed by examining the Key in Appendix, three questions need eXplanation: Responses to the question about occupation of husband did not appear to fit conventional categories of profession- al men; a large number were automotive operatives like their wives or were employed in other industrial, blue-collar jobs. A few were realtors, small resort owners, or farmers, and still others were disabled or retired. The first group was coded as employees; the second, as entrepreneurs; and the third, as disabled/retired. The Open-ended question about what they liked best and least about working outside their homes, was coded on the basis of the completeness of the response rather than for 29 its content, i.e., whether answered fully, answered par- tially, or not answered at all. The Space provided for requesting the COOperative Exten- sion bulletin was numbered and coded as "requested" or "did not request." In the analysis, data were machine-punched, tabulated, and sorted for comparative analysis. The two variables, help received and organizational style, were compared for product moment correlation; the other statistical procedure used was the Chi square test for independence between two or more variables. CHAPTER IV DESCRIPTION OF SAMPLE The 125 respondents who constituted the sample were all in one occupational group, that of automotive manufac- turing operative. Since occupation is one index of social class, certain similarities in characteristics of personal background were eXpected. A summary of the predominant characteristics which describe the sample is given below: Seventy-two per cent had children living at home; Seventy-eight per cent were living with husbands; Fifty-four per cent had been married between ages 17 and 19; Sixty per cent had been full-time employees 13 years or more; Fifty-nine per cent were one of two family income earn- ers; Seventy-one per cent were 40 years of age or older; Fifty-one per cent had less than 12 years of schooling; Sixty-three per cent lived in a town or city; Ninety per cent were Protestants. The distribution of responses among the various per— sonal and family characteristics examined is reported on the following pages. 30 31 TABLE 1.--Women's age at last birthday ——— 4m.— .‘ Years Number Per Cent 20 or under 0 0.0 20 - 29 2 28.8 30 - 39 34) 40 - 49 57 45.6 50 or over 32 25.6 No response 0 0.0 Total 125 100.0 Almost three-fourths of the respondents were over 40 years of age, 71 per cent reporting this age. Only two were under 30. The number of those in the 40 to 49 age group was almost twice as large as any other group. It is interesting to note that none refused to designate her age. 32 TABLE 2.--Women's schooling —' ___. Yearsa Number Per Cent Elementary School 7 or less 4 3.2 8 10 8.0 High School 9 - 11 50 40.0 12 53 42.4 Technical Trainingb 4 3.2 College 1 - 3 4 3.2 4 0 0.0 No reSponse 0 0.0 Total 125 100.0 aCompleted years bTraining beyond high school The reSpondents were divided about equally between those with at least a high school education and those who had not completed high school; slightly more (51.2 per cent) were in the latter group. The mode was 12 years of schooling. More had completed only eight years or less than had schooling beyond high school. 33 TABLE 3.—-Women's age at first marriage Years Number Per Cent 16 or under 16 12.8 17 - 19 67 53.6 20 - 22 27 21.6 23 or over 15 12.0 No reSponse 0 0.0 Total 125 100.0 ——v Two-thirds of the respondents had been married before age 20. As many had married at 16 or younger as had married at 23 or older. The age at marriage for over half of them (53.6 per cent) was 17 to 19 years. 34 TABLE 4.--Women's marital status Marital Status Number Per Cent Married living with husband 97 77.6 Separated 0 0.0 Widowed 10 8.0 Divorced 17 13.6 No reSponse 1 0.8 Total 125 100.0 ‘_ ‘— “. '” Ninety-seven respondents, over three-fourths of them, were married women living with their husbands. Twenty-two per cent were members of families broken by death or divorce. 35 TABLE 5.--Women's religion Religion Number Per Cent Catholic 11 8.8 Jewish 0 0.0 Protestant 112 89.6 No response or none 2 1.6 Total 125 100.0 In an area with a relatively high pr0portion of Catholics, the predominately Protestant nature of the sample was uneXpected. This cannot be eXplained unless choosing "Protestant" was preferable to choosing "None" on the questionnaire. Since few designated denomination, no distribution among Protestants could be made. The amount of participation in religious activities was not asked; therefore, no other data were available to test the valid- ity of the responses to this question. 36 TABLE 6.--Women's residence —_ —_ “fiv- -—-—»- WA— -o'~ n.c...-....._a.... -.,._ Place of Residence Number Per Cent Farm 7 5.6 Town or city 79 63.2 Country, non-farm 38 30.4 No response 1 0.8 Total 125 100.0 — “on. As was indicated by their addresses, the respondents were mostly urban women, two-thirds of them reporting residence in the town or city; by contrast, less than six per cent lived on farms. The remaining 30 per cent lived in the country but not on a farm and thus included those living on the fringes of the city. 37 TABLE 7.--Women's length of full-time employment W Yearsa Number Per Cent 1 - 5 O 0.0 6 - 9 O 0.0 10 - 12 50 40.0 13 or more 75 60.0 No response 0 0.0 Total 125 100.0 —— ‘“.m‘_’~~o_um# -—--._ aYears of full-time employment As had been reported by their Union President, these women were permanent members of the labor force, none having been full-time workers outside their homes for less than 10 years. More than half had been full-time workers for 13 years or more, not necessarily, however, for one employer. 38 TABLE 8.-—Length of women's work week .- .— —— “v ' '- _‘ --o w ~-- '”1.- -\—-r-v‘— I‘D...“ *.- “no“ - -.- - “---‘- - *— Hoursa Number Per Cent None 5 4.0 35 " 39 1+ 302 40 - 44 25 20.0 45 - 49 82 65.6 50 - 54 9 7.2 Total 125 100.0 __‘ a Hours worked "last week" During the period of late May and early June, 1963, when the study was conducted, production was high in the automotive industry. This is reflected in the respondents' work week. Five stated that they had been on sick leave during the previous week. For the rest, the work week ranged from a low of 35 to a high of 54 hours, the maximum permitted them; nine reported working between 50 and 54 hours. Both the mode and median were 45 hours; the mean work week for all reSpondents was 43.3 hours. Translated into pay at $2.85 an hour, the average week's earnings for the sample was about $123.00 39 TABLE 9.--Husbands' schooling "* '~" “0'” ' ”O- --—- “ Yearsa Number Per Cent ——-—— v -- ‘---. .9— -—~ "- Elementary School 7 or less 5 4.0 8 21 16.8 High School 9 - 11 40 32.0 12 21 16.8 Technical Trainingb 6 4.8 College 1 - 3 3 2.4 4 1 0.8 No response 28 22.4 Total 125 100.0 ...—. . aCompleted years bTraining beyond high school The number of years of schooling completed by husbands as reported by their wives was more broadly distributed and slightly lower than that of the wives. The per cent of husbands who had completed 12 years of schooling was 16.8 in contrast to 42.4 per cent of the respondents. 40 TABLE 10.--Husbands' occupation (N=97) —— r---- *— -c-voo-v Occupational Status Number Per Cent Employee 81 83.5 Entrepreneur 10 10.3 Retired, disabled 6 6.2 Total 97 100.0 *— ‘* ——- —‘.—~¢“_ .—-.——- Not much variation was found in the husbands' occupa- tions. Most of the reSpondents' husbands were blue-collar industrial or service workers. 41 TABLE 11.--Family income earners --.,~.....-—— - —. .w- -. — «m m —--—- Number of earners Number Per Cent One 33 26.4 Two 74 59.2 Three 15 12.0 Four 2 1.6 Five or more 0 0.0 No response 1 0.8 Total 125 100.0 The respondent was to include herself among those who were employed 20 hours or more a week "at the present time." Only slightly more than one-fourth of the reSpond- ents, by this definition, were sole income earners for their families. The majority of the respondents were members of families with two or more income earners. 42 TABLE 12a.--Children living at home Number of children Number Per Cent One 40 32.0 Two ' 22 17.6 Three 16 12.8 Four 8) ) Five 2) 9.6 ) Six 2) None 35 28.0 Total 125 100.0 As would be eXpected with the age distribution of the reSpondents almost as many women reported no children living at home as reported one child (28 and 32 per cent, respec- tively). Nevertheless, ninety or 72 per cent of the respondents were mothers with one or more children still living at home. The ages and sexes of their children were distributed as shown in Table 12b: 43 TABLE 12b.--Children's age and sex Agea Number of Children (years) one two three four none BOYS Under 6 8 2 0 0 115 6 - 14 18 7 1 1 98 15 - 18 28 2 O O 95 19 or over 19 1 0 0 105 GIRLS Under 6 6 2 0 0 117 6 - 14 22 2 1 O 100 15 - 18 24 2 0 0 99 19 or over 15 O O O 110 aAge at last birthday The respondents who reported having children living at home were somewhat more likely to be mothers of boys than of girls. Slightly more of their children were ages 15 to 18 years than were other ages; few reported having children under six years of age. 44 TABLE 13.--Additional adults in household Number of adults Number Per Cent One 81 64.8 Two 18 14.4 Three 4 3.2 None 22 17.6 Total 125 100.0 One adult in the household in addition to herself was reported by 65 per cent of the respondents. Seventeen per cent reported two or more adults in the household in addition to themselves. These included husband, parents, in-laws, and other adults over 18 years of age, but not grown children, who are shown in Table 12b. CHAPTER V FINDINGS Introduction The two variables of organizational style and amount of help received were compared with each other and each, in turn, with selected personal and family characteristics of the respondents. The results of this analysis follow and are presented in relation to each of the three objec- tives of the study. OBJECTIVE I The first objective was to categorize the respondents both as to their organizational style and the amount of help they received from family members with 20 home tasks. To achieve this objective reSponses were tabulated, scores for both help and style were derived, and categorizations made. Organizational style Five respondents had not answered at least ten of the twelve style inventory paired statements; their question- naires were removed leaving a total of 120 reSpondents. The number of task-centered and person-centered state- ments chosen by the respondents for each organizational~ component in each set is shown in Table 14a and Table 14b. 45 46 TABLE 14a.—-Responses to individual style inventory state- ments, set A (N = 120) Responses to Statements : in Set A Organizational : Pair a7Task-czmentered Person- No Re- Components : Number :ReSponses centered sponses : : Responses ; ; Number of Responses Assigning : 38 i 21 99 0 Authorizing § 39 E 57 53 o Actuating ; 40 ; 13 107 0 Supervising ; 41 ; 23 97 0 Co-ordinating : 42 g 50 69 1 Evaluating ; 43 ; 42 77 1 i : : Total 216 502 2 aQuestionnaire, Appendix 47 TABLE 14b.--Responses to individual style inventory state- ments, set B (N 120) ReSponses to Statements Total 106 608 6 ”nan‘u‘ —- A a..- ; in Set B Organizational ; Pair fTask-Egntered Person: No Re: Components : Number :Responses Centered sponses : : Responses ; : Number of Responses Assigning E 44 g 25 93 2 Authorizing E 45 E 20 99 1 Actuating : 46 i 2 117 1 Supervising E 47 E 13 107 o Co-ordinating ; 48 ; 16 104 0 Evaluating ; 49 ; 3O 88 2 —a..‘_§... sic-14".; '4 Al I .23 t“:.-1Eii........._- ...._....__ 48 An examination of responses to individual style compo- nents reveals that in only one pair, number 39 in Set A for authorizing, did more respondents choose the task-centered than the person-centered statement, 67 to 53 reSponses, re- Spectively. This distribution was not true, however, of the alternate pair for authorizing. A relatively higher propor- tion of task-centered statements were selected also for coordinating and evaluating pairs in Set A and for the evalu- ating pair in Set B than for the other components. On the other hand, reSponses to pair number 46 in Set B for actuating were highly person-centered; only two respondents selected the task-centered statement in preference to the person-centered statement. Organizational=§tyle scores An organizational style score (hereafter referred to as style score) was obtained for each reSpondent from responses to the inventory in the following manner. The total number of person-centered statements selected for the 12 pairs by each respondent was counted and divided by 12 to obtain the percentage of person-centered responses the reSpondent gave to the style inventory as a whole. This resulted in possible style scores of zero (no person-cen- tered reSponses) to 100 (all person-centered reSponses). The style scores thus obtained, as shown in Table 15, ranged from a low of 8 to a high of 100 with a mean of 77.07 and standard deviation of 15.99. None of the 49 TABLE 15 .-4Distribution of style scores —..-" “u. -m—~_ - .—.. — A a.’ Style Scores Number of Respondents 8 5 50 6 58 7 66 19 75 25 83 23 91 23 100 12 Total 120 TABLE 1(3.—-Distribution among style categories ; Respondents Style Category Style Scores : Number Per Cent I 8 - 66 E 37 30.8 III 91 - 100 E 35 29.2 Total 120 100.0 50 respondents selected all task-centered statements in con— trast to the 12 who chose all person-centered statements; the mode was 9 person-centered statements selected from among the 12 pairs. Style categorieg After making an ordinal ranking of the style scores, the respondents were arbitrarily assigned to three style cate- gories, selected on the basis of percentage of reSpondents in each category. The first category, Style I, includes those who chose fewest person-centered responses, i.e., were most task-centered; they constitute 30.8 per cent of the sample. Their style scores ranged from 8 to 66. The Style II category consists of those with scores ranging from 75 to 83 and include 40.0 per cent of the sample; they were moderately person-centered in their reSponses. Those assigned to Style III, representing 29.2 per cent of the sample, were highly person-centered as revealed by style scores ranging from 90 to 100. The distribution of scores within the style categories is shown in Table 16. Halaaneired. Minihomeitaaka In the questionnaire six choices were given the respon- dents for each of the twenty tasks presented. Five choices dealt with how often they did the task by themselves and the sixth choice was to leave the Space blank if the task was "not done at all in your home by family members." Their responses were coded with the following help values: 51 Help values How often do you do this task by_yourself? 1 Practically every time 2 Usually 3 Half the time 4 Sometimes 5 Rarely or never 0 Not done by family members Thus, a value of one represents very little help, a value of five represents much help, and a value of zero indicates the task was not done in that home by family members. Table 17 presents the number of responses for each of the above help values for each task. The three tasks least frequently done in these homes were "Look after children," "Hang up the wash," and "Make clothes." Since 35 of the respondents did not have children living at home and few had pre-school age children, the 50 per cent reporting no one looking after children was not surprising. Over one-third of the women did not "Make clothes." Approximately 22 per cent of the respondents reported that "Hang up the wash" was not done. The task most frequently done by the respondents without help from others was "Take laundry to be done or do wash." One hundred and two (81.6 per cent) of the respondents reported doing this task "practically every time" without help. Seventy or more women reported receiving little help with ironing, prepar- ing food for supper, grocery shOpping, scrubbing floors and 52 TABLE 17.--Responses to help values for twenty tasks (N = 125) Help Values Little help--Much help Task not Task done 1 2 3 4 5 0 Number of Responses Look after children 23 12 18 8 1 63 Do mending 68 17 6 9 9 16 Wash dishes 41 17 31 23 6 7 Dry dishes & put away 37 16 30 25 6 11 Take laundry to be done or do wash 102 7 5 2 3 6 Iron clothing 72 13 13 1O 9 Prepare food for supper 71 21 20 8 1 4 Sweep floors 60 22 25 1o 4 4 Dust 58 22 20 14 8 3 Wash windows 69 17 12 12 10 5 Do the grocery shopping 87 10 16 2 6 4 Take out garbage or trash 22 12 23 28 34 6 Make other beds than own 21 17 12 29 31 15 Prepare breakfast 44 16 18 23 15 9 Pack lunches 60 7 14 8 16 20 Hang up the wash 65 5 9 1 18 27 Scrub the floors 76 9 12 1O 12 6 Vacuum 60 21 16 15 6 7 Make clothes 23 2 5 18 30 47 Pay bills 76 12 11 11 7 8 53 paying bills. Thirty or more women reported three tasks which they "rarely or never" did without help. These were "Take out garbage or trash," "Make beds other than your own," and "Make clothes." Help scores Five reSpondents indicated the help received but did not complete the style inventory; their questionnaires were removed. Help scores for each of the remaining 120 re- Spondents were obtained as follows: Two tasks, "Look after children" and "Make clothes," which were not done in many of these homes (Table 17) were eliminated for all, so as not to weight the results toward zero. For the remaining 18 tasks, a value of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 0 was given for each task, as indicated by the coding, page 51. These values were totaled for each respondent and divided by the number of tasks each reported being done by family members. The help score with a possible range of 1.00 to 5.00, reflected the average amount of help each received for all the tasks that were done, with a score of 1.00 indicating very little help and a score of 5.00, much help. The help scores, as revealed in Table 18, were generally low indicating that these women did not receive a great deal of help with the tasks selected for study. Their help scores ranged from 1.00 to 3.76 with a mean score of 2.13 54 (2.00 2 "Usually" do it myself without help) and standard deviation of .78. Helpgcategories Help scores were distributed among only three of the five help values, as shown in Table 18. The three groups were arbitrarily categorized as low, moderate, and high help. TABLE 18.-~Distribution of help scores : Respondents Help Category Help Scores : __ : Number Per Cent 1000 '" 1.49 LOW : 24 20.0 1.50 - 2.49 Moderate : 63 52.5 Total 120 100.0 OBJECTIVE II The second objective aimed to investigate relationships among variables by comparing certain personal and family characteristics with both help and style categories. The 55 Chi square test was the statistical procedure utilized, with independence being rejected at the 5 per cent level of sig- nificance. The data were sorted and comparisons made among variables where sufficient numbers existed in cells for analysis. Fourteen personal and family characteristics of the respon- dents were thus compared with style and help categories, a total of 28 tests. The characteristics analyzed were husband's schooling, number, age, and sex of children, number of adults in household, place of residence, reSpon- dent's age, schooling, age at first marriage, and length of full-time employment. In addition, these characteristics were compared with each pair of statements in the inventory to investigate the influence of a particular characteristic on reSponses to the statements. Associations with help sgpres Four characteristics were found to be associated with help. These were number of adults, number of children, husband's schooling, and length of full-time employment of the reSpondent. The results are shown in Tables 19-22. As shown in Table 19, help was associated with the number of adults in the household, which did not include children over 18 years of age. Women in the high help cate- gory were from households with two or more adults in addi- tion to themselves; those in the low help category were from households with no adults in addition to themselves. TABLE 19.--Help 56 and number of adults in household Adults in : Help ; Household : Low Medium High : _(Number) : Number of ReSpondents : Total one : 13 44 20 : 77 two or more : 2 10 : 21 none : 9 9 4 : 22 Total 24 63 33 120 x2 = 9.87; P = .05 TABLE 20.--Help and number of children Children : Help, : at Home : Low Medium High : (Number) : Number of Regpondents : Total one : 9 19 11 : 39 two : 3 12 7 : 22 three or more : 1 15 12 : 28 none : 11 17 3 : 31 Total 24 63 33 120 x2 = 14.44; P = .05 57 TABLE 21.--Help and husbands' schooling Husbands' : Help : Schooling : Low Medium High : (years cdmoleted): Number of Respondents : Total 5 to 7 : 2 1 2 : 5 8 : 1 11 6 : 18 9 to 11 : 7 25 7 : 39 12 or more : 3 16 11 : 30 no husband : 11 10 7 : 28 Total 24 63 33 120 x2 = 16.21; P = .05 TABLE 22.--Help and women's full-time employment Full-time : Help : Employment : Low Medium High : (years) : Number of ReSpondents : Total 10 to 12 : 6 24 19 : 49 13 or more : 18 39 14 : 71 Total 24 63 33 120 58 The number of children influenced help; high help was associated with having three or more children (Table 20). No relationship was found between help and age or sex of children. As shown in Table 21, help and the husband's schooling were related. In general, the higher the husband's educa- tional level, the more help the wife received from family members. The only personal characteristic of the respondent associated with help was the length of her full-time employ- ment. If she had worked 12 years or less, she was more likely to be in the high help group than if she had been employed outside her home for 13 or more years (Table 22). Associations with style scores The length of the full-time employment of the reSpon- dent was also associated with her style score, and was the only characteristic so related. The results are shown in Table 23. Low person-centered scores were associated with the reSpondent who had worked the fewer number of years and moderate person-centered style scores with the respondent who had worked longer. As indicated above, high help was related to the fewer years of employment as, in this case, is the low person-centered style. No relationship was found between the reSpondent's schooling, age, age at first marriage, or place of residence, 59 TABLE 23.--Style and women's full-time employment —. —- us...— up: Full-time : Style : Employment 2 I II III : (years) ; Numberflgf4Respondents : Total 10 to 12 E 20 13 16 49 13 or more : 17 35 19 i 71 Total 37 48 35 120 x2 = 6.76; P = .05 and her style scores. Nor was there an association between style scores, age and number of children, or other family characteristics. Associations with individual inventory pairs Possible relations between responses to the 11 individ- ual style pairs (left after the elimination of pair number 46 because of its skewed distribution) and these personal and family characteristics were also investigated. Four such associations were found. They involved one pair of statements each for assigning, supervising, and evaluating, as shown in Tables 24-27. As shown in Table 24, responses for one pair of state- ments for supervising were associated with the number of children. Women with one child selected person-centered 60 TABLE 24.--Supervising (pair 41) and number of children --~o -W w“~mm LE ‘ m... 0....-._~--0 Pair 41 Number of Task Statementa _Pgrson_§tatementb Children__ ; Number of Responges : Total one 1 3 36 1 39 two ; 4 18 i 22 three 2 3 13 E 16 four or more : 6 6 i 12 _ggne ; 7 24 : 31 Total 23, ‘_97 120 x2 = 10.92; P = .05 aIt is important to check often to see if they are follow- ing instructions bIt is best if the mother doesn't stand over the helper while he is working TABLE 25.--Assigning (pair 44) and respondents' age Pair 44 “Reapondents' Task Statementa Person Statementb Agg Number of ReSponses Total 39 years or 12 22 34 less 40 years or 13 71 84 more Total 25 - _93 118 x2 = 4.57; P = .05 8The one who can be depended upon to get the job done is the one who should do it bIt is best to shift jobs among family members to keep up enthusiasm 61 TABLE 26.--Assigning (pair 44) and number of girls 6 to 14 years 1 1 1 ___‘ Number of Pair 44 Girls 6 to :Task Statementa Person Statementb: 14 years 2 Number_of ReSponses : Total one or more : 10 15 i 25 2922-. -- 1 122._ 79” Q 93 Total 25 93 118 ' ‘ “4;..“8-_n.-nuln “I X2 = 3.37; P = .025 aThe one who can be depended upon to get the job done is the one who should do it bIt is best to shift jobs among family members to keep up enthusiasm TABLE 27.--Evaluating (pair 49) and number of girls age 6 to 14 Number of Evaluating, Pair 49 Girls 6 to :Task Statementa Person Statementb: 14 years : Number of ReSponses ; thgl one or more : 12 13 1 25 none 2 18 75 _ E 93 Total 30 88 118 x2 = 6.63; P = .01 aIf the job isn't done right they should do it over until it is bIt is necessary to do some checking on children's work when they are finished so they know you care 62 reSponses and women with four or more children selected task-centered responses; there was little relationship between task- and person-centered choices and having two or three children. The respondent's age was associated with her reSponses to one pair of assigning statements, as shown in Table 25. Reapondents 39 years of age or younger chose task-centered reSponses; those 40 years of age or over chose person- centered statements. Responses to assigning were also associated with having girls ages 6 to 14. Those women with girls this age were more task-centered in their reSponses than were reSpondents without girls this age. The same association was found also for evaluating (Tables 26, 27). OBJECTIVE III The last objective was concerned with the relationship between style scores and help scores. This objective aimed to test the hypothesis that the more person-centered was the reSpondent's organizational style the more help she would receive from family members. To test this relation- ship the product moment correlation procedure was used to make the comparison between the two variables of style scores and help scores for each reSpondent. No relation- ship between the two variables was found by this method. In order to investigate further, Chi square tests were made in which reSponses to each individual style inventory 63 pair, excepting pair number 46 with its skewed distribu- tion, was compared with help categories. Independence could not be rejected at the 5 per cent level of signifi- cance for any of the pairs; however, reSponses to pairs 38 and 40 for assigning and actuating, respectively, came close. In these pairs, the association tended to be with a task-centered choice more help was received, although the results were inconclusive. The hypothesis, therefore, was not supported. The instrument used to assess style may eXplain, in part, this result. The inventory may have measured degree of permis- siveness or some other quality of the reSpondent rather than concern with the growth and development of the individ- ual family member through task performance. Also, the form in which statements were framed may not have reflected what the women actually did but rather what they thought was desirable to do. CHAPTER VI CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION The findings raise more questions than they answer but do point the way for further research into the organiza- tional process in the home management of working women. Some of these questions and implications for further study, as well as limited conclusions, will be presented in this chapter. Help with home tasks This group of women employed as manufacturing operatives in the automotive industry worked an average of 43.3 hours during the week about which they were asked exclusive of commuting time; yet, the help they received from family members with the home tasks investigated was limited. With due consideration to the methods employed in this study, the small amount of help they received cannot be ex- plained by a task-centered organizational style, as was hypothesized; rather, they were highly person-centered in most of their reSponses to the style inventory statements. In the analysis, it was found that some personal and family characteristics were associated with these working women receiving help. Those who received most help with the tasks studied were those who had two or more adults in the household in addition to themselves; three or more 64 65 children; husbands with 12 or more years of schooling; and themselves had worked outside their homes full-time from 10 to 12 years. Number_pf family members The number of family members, both adults and children, was a significant factor in the amount of help these women received: the more family members, both adults and chil- dren, the more help that was received. The size of the household, however, did not influence the organizational style of these women. Do these findings imply that the availability (and willingness?) of other family members to do home tasks may influence the working woman's decision to seek employment? Additional studies would be needed to establish the relationship between numbers of family mem- bers, help received by the working woman, and her decision to go to work. Women with four or more children were found to be task- centered in supervising, as indicated by their choice of the statement, "It is important to check often to see if they are following instructions," significantly more often than women with only one child. To better understand the significance of this finding in relation to the supervising component of organization, further research would be needed to explore such questions as the following: Do people working together require more checking than those working separately? Is the need for checking 66 associated with reducing frictions, equitable distribution of efforts, etc., as well as with "following instructions"? Age and sex ogpchildren Although children included those 18 years of age and over still living at home, neither age nor sex of children affected the amount of help that was received. The presence of daughters 6 to 14 years of age, however, was associated with two of the organizational components. Those women with girls this age were more task-centered in their reSpon- ses to one each of the statements for assigning and evalu- ating than were women without daughters this age. Since these two components begin and end the organizing process, this finding raises interesting questions for further study of organization of home tasks: Is this the age period at which girls are trained by mothers in performance of home tasks? Does this finding indicate that only the beginning and end of the process are emphasized by these women? And, if so, would more help result if all components were of equal concern? Agepp;_homemakers The age of these women was not associated with either the help they received or their organizational style, except for one style component. Those under 40 chose the task-centered statement for one pair of assigning state- ments, which dealt with assigning to the one who can be 67 depended upon. This finding apparently reflects a differ- ent organizational pattern for the younger woman. If the task is assigned to the one that can be depended upon, does this mean she is freed from following through the rest of the organizational process and not only does not do the task herself but does not coordinate, supervise, evaluate, etc., as well? Is the husband most likely to be this "dependable" worker? If so, does this deny children oppor- tunities to learn their social roles and thus they do not become potential helpers? Does she choose this course be- cause she lacks the competence and experience of the older woman? These and related questions would appear to provide fruitful areas for further study. Husband's schooling Those women whose husbands had at least a high school education were found to receive more help than women whose husbands had less education. This finding appears to raise fruitful questions for further investigation: Does the husband with a high school education have a greater appre- ciation of his wife's financial contribution in relation to her dual role as homemaker and worker and, consequently, contributes more help himself and encourages children to do so? If the husband with limited education earns less than his wife because of few employment skills, or frequent un- employment, does he feel his authority in the family dimin- ishing or threatened and visualizes concern for helping with home tasks as further threat to his position? 68 gength of employment The literature had not revealed the possibility of length of employment being a characteristic of particular interest in research dealing with employed women; therefore, limited data were collected. From the findings in this study, however, length of employment appears to merit fur- ther study as an independent variable in investigations of the management of employed women. Length of employment was the only characteristic which differentiated these women both as to help received and organizational style; women who had been employed full- time for 13 or more years received less help and were more person-centered in their responses than were those who had worked fewer years. Further research would be needed to determine if length of employment differentiates women employed in other occupations in relation to these varia— bles and more precisely at what point in a woman's working life this difference occurs; since it is not known if this change occured at 13 years of employment or, instead at 15, 18, etc. years. Further research would also be needed to eXplain why length of employment had a significant influence on both variables. The difference cannot be eXplained by differences in age of these women nor ages of their children since these were not significant factors. Rather, does the dif- ference among length-of-employment groups reflect differ- 69 ences in the patterns which are established in families early in the life cycle and which in turn reflect attitudes about managerial role? Women who had worked fewer years would be less likely to have been employed early in the family's life cycle and would have had an opportunity to instill values and to provide training necessary to enable family members to contribute. Women at home, thus, would be in a position to exercise more control through training, discipline, and supervision if they desired or felt it appropriate than women who were away from home at work. The findings also raise related questions: Is there a rela- tionship between being highly person-centered, as were those receiving little help and working longest, and the kind and/or amount of control which is exercised? Also, is there a point at which person—centeredness in the organiza- tion of home tasks becomes dysfunctional for the family because it reflects a laissez-faire system of management where "no control is exercised" (2) or dysfunctional for the individual family member because it reflects the absence of opportunities to eXperience the social value of participating? To answer these questions about management of working women, further research is needed to investigate attitudes about the managerial role, including a study of values which underlie decisions to delegate or not to delegate the performance of home tasks and the amount of control "apprOpriate" to exercise in the organization of these tasks. 70 More study of the organizational process itself is also indicated, particularly regarding attitudes and competence women have in each of the six components: Are they as competent in supervising and coordinating, for example, as in assigning and evaluating? And, more basically, what constitutes competence in each of these areas? More know- ledge is needed about the constituents of each component before home managers can be trained to utilize them effec— tively. LITERATURE CITED: 1. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Proceedings, Conference on Teaching Home Management, Purdue University, July 1-3, 1962. American Home Economics Association. Likert, Rensis. Ne_w Patterns in Management. New York: McGraw-Hill,1961, p. 6‘. Homans, George. Social Behavior: Its Elementa_y Forms. New York: Harcourt- Brace & .forld 1961. Gross, Irma H. and Crandall, Elizabeth Walbert. Management for Modern Families. Second Edition. -u‘lm u"- New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1963, p. 4, 7. Deacon, Ruth E. and Bratton, Esther Crew. Home manage- menté focus and function. J. 2f Home Econ., 54 (9), p. 7 3. Terry, George R. Principles of Management. Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1960, p. 246, 247. Newman, William H. and Summer, Charles E.,N Sr. The Process of Management. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice- ”Hall, Inc., 1961, p. 17. Knoll, Marjorie M. Toward a conceptual framework in home management. J. of Home Econ., 55 (5), p. 337. Bell, Norman W. and Vogel, Ezra F. (Ed.) The Family. The Free Press of Glencoe, Illinois, 1960, p. 20. Paolucci, Beatrice and O'Brien, Carol. Management: the importance of values. Forecast, June, 1960, pp. 43‘440 Gross, Irma H. and Lewis, MaryE . Home Management. New York: F. S. Crofts & Co., 1938, p. 2. Lee, Dorothy. Freedom and Culture. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. A Spectrum Book, 1959. Mead, Margaret. A creative life for your children. Children's Bureau Headliner Series Number 1. U. 8. Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare, 1962, pp. 27- 28. Whatley, Alice Elrod. Working mothers re ort on prob- lems and concerns. g. 2; Home Econ., 55 12), p. 120. 71 15. 16. 17. 72 Jephcott, Pearl with Nancy Sear and John H. Smith. Married Women Workggg. London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1962. Cowles, Mary L. and Dietz, Ruth P. Time Spent in homemaking activities by a selected group of Wisconsin farm homemakers. g. 2; Home Econ., 8 (1), pp. 29- 35. Malone, Carl C. and Malone, Lucile Holaday. Decisign Making and Management for Farm and Home. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State College Press, M1958,“ p. 195. APPENDIX OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS TO COLLECT STATEMENTS No. of children: Boys years; Girls *___years Do you work? Hrs. per week; Job_ Do you think children should help with household jobs? - With what jobs do your children help? Is it different for boys and girls? Why? I. a. Do you have (other) feelings about how jobs should be divided among family members? What are they? (Watch for general tasks.) b. Do you think it is better for the same person to do the same job all the time or to change jobs around often? Why is this? II. How many and what kind of directions do you feel you need to give the performer before he or she starts the job? Why is this? How much freedom should the worker have in doing the job in his or her own way? Why? III. What means should be used in getting family members to do the job to which they have been assigned? Do you offer pay or other rewards? What other induce- ments do you use? IV. How much overseeing is needed for the job to be done the way you want it done? What kind of overseeing might you do while the job is oing on? (Watch for telephoning as well as direct. Is this about the same for all? V. What things might affect how well or at what time the job is done from day to day? How much difference do you permit? What kind of adjustments are made? VI. What kind of checking up afterwards do you think is necessary, i.e. after the job is finished? (inSpect, question, re—do, etc.) Why? If the job has not been done properly what would you do? What should the mother not do in regard to children helping? 74 STATEMENTS PRESENTED TO PANEL INSTRUCTIONS: Below is a list of statements divided into six groupings plus descriptions of two hypothetical home- makers. You are to place an A before those statements that describe Homemaker A, a B before those statements that des- cribe Homemaker B, and an X before those statements that describe neither Homemaker A nor B. In addition, encircle one A and one B statement for each grouping that you think best describes Mrs. A. and Mrs. B. (Please remember that you are not being asked to agree or disagree with these statements; rather, you are to select them as they appear to fit the descriptions of Mrs. A. and Mrs. B.) ***** Homemaker A is primarily concerned with the quality and quantity of home tasks performed by family members; the job is viewed as an end in itself; she emphasizes tangible re- sources and results. Homemaker B is primarily concerned with the morale and devel- cpment of family members doing the tasks; she stresses human relations; participation in home tasks is viewed as a means to these ends. ***** Group I The family member who does the job best is the one who should do it. Jobs should be changed around often so family members will enjoy what they do. Boys as well as girls can learn to do all kinds of jobs. It is best to give the same person the job to do so that one learns to do it well enough. The one who can be depended upon to get the job done is the one who should do it. Men and boys can't do all sorts of household jobs be- cause they don't know how. It is best to shift jobs among family members to keep up enthusiasm. “ * ~ “ m * —‘ Group II They should be able to use their own ideas as to how they will do the job. It is necessary to give directions every time to have the job done the way the mother wants it done. 75 76 Directions need to be given so the job will be done right. The helper should be able to do the job in a way that makes it interesting for him. Instead of giving directions, it is better for them to go ahead in their own way. The mother needs to give enough directions so the helper will do a good job. Helpers should be let to do the job pretty much in their own way. Group III Knowing they are contributing to the family is the best way to get them to help. The best way to get them to do their jobs is to pay them. They need to know that they will get a special treat if they help. The best way to get them to do jobs is to praise them, and let them know you trust them. Their good feeling about work is all that is needed to get them to help. They need to know they will be punished if they don't help with the work. Personal satisfaction of the family members in helping to keep the home running is enough to make them willing workers. Group IV It is important to check often to see if they are follow— ing instructions. It is best if the mother doesn't stand over the helper while he is working. Asking an occasional question about how they are getting along should be all that is needed in the way of over- seeing the job. It is best to oversee the work pretty closely in order to have the job done right. Mothers need to watch pretty closely to get the job done right. It depends on how capable the helper is as to whether or not it is necessary to oversee the work. They should be eXpected to do the job without being checked up on. Group V ___ Children should have a set schedule for doing their chores and stick with it. ____ They should expect to get some help with their chores on days they are busy. 77 The only excuse for not helping with household jobs should be if they have a paid job. They need to know the family schedule so they can choose their own time for doing their chores without inconven- iencing others. They should be eXpected to do the same amount of work every day. They shouldn't be expected to do their chores as well on days they are busy. They should eXpect to leave their chores undone on days they are particularly busy with their own activities. Group VI If the job isn't done right they should do it over until it is. Expecting them to do the job as well as mother might discourage them from doing it another time. If the job isn't done right, the mother should do it over without saying anything. It is necessary to do some checking on children's work when they are finished so they know you care. If the job wasn't finished, they should be asked to come right then to finish it. If the job isn't completed, the mother should find out the reason why. It is necessary to inSpect the job each time to see how well they have done. Thank you. IF YOU WISH TO MAKE ANY COMMENTS, PLACE THEM HERE: MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ammsmo COLLEGE OF HOME ECONOMICS - OFFICE OF THE DEAN Dear Homemaker of Local 652, Your Union President has given us your name because he thought you would be interested and willing to help us by answering some ques- tions. We know very little about management of the homes of full-time working mothers. Your name has been selected as a typical working mother. The enclosed sheet of questions takes only a few minutes to answer. Your answers will be treated as confidential and your privacy respected. When placed all together, the answers should be helpful to other women thinking about taking a job. In return for answering the questions we will be happy to send you the Extension bulletin, ”Managing Your Family's Credit. " If you wish this bulletin, sign your name and address on the back page of the questionnaire. It is not necessary to sign your name if you don't want the bulletin. We will greatly appreciate your completing the questionnaire very soon and returning it in the self-addressed, stamped envelope. Sincerely yours, JWW Addreen Nichols Research Director Home Economics Study INSTRUCTIONS: The following questions are to be answered only by the homemaker whose name is on the envelope. Please read the questions and the instructions carefully before answering. When finished place in the addressed, stamped envelope and return promptly. Do not write in space at right side. THESE QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT FAMILY MEMBERS WHO SHARE YOUR HOME WITH YOU. If you live with your husband, _ 4 years or less __ Technical training after how many years of schooling __ 5- 7 years high school (mechanics, has he finished? Check one. 8 years barbering, etc.) : 9-11 years _ l-3years of college _ 12 years __ 4 years of college 15 your husband employed __ Yes at the present time? __ No What kind of work does your husband do? Describe his job briefly in the space at the right; for example, he is a factory press operator; he sells cars; he is a building custodian, etc. How many boys and girls live BOYS How many? at home with you? Write in the number opposite their ages for both boys and girls. Use age at their last birthday. Under 6 years old Between 6 and 14 Between 15 and 18 Over 18 years old GIRLS Under 6 years old Between 6 and 14 Between 15 and 18 Over 18 years old Do you have any boys or girls Yes If yes, state whether boy(s) or gir1(s) and in your home who are not in age(s): . No school and not working? —— Besides your children, who Husband Your father else lives at home with you? Mother-in-law Other male, OVer 18 Check a_l_l that apply. Father-in-law Your mother _ Other female, over 18 Counting yourself, how many of your family members are Circle the correct number: employed at least 20 hours a week at the present time? 1 2 3 4 5 6 PLEASE GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE l6 l7 THESE QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT HOUSEHOLD TASKS. In the columns at the right of each task, CHECK how often YOU do each task by yourself without help from another family member. Since not all families do all of these tasks, leave blank only those tasks that are not done at all in your home by family members. HOW OFTEN DO YOU DO THIS BY YOURSELF? Practically Half the Some- Rarely . Usually . . every t1me time times or never Look after the children Do mending Wash dishes Dry dishes and put away Take laundry to be done or do wash Iron clothing Prepare foods for supper Sweep floors Dust Wash window 5 Do the ggacery buying Take out garbage or trash Make other beds than your own Prepare breakfast Pack lunche s Hang up the wash Scrub the floor 5 Vacuum Make clothes Pay bills THESE STATEMENTS ARE ABOUT FAMILY MEMBERS HELPING WITH HOUSEHOLD CHORES. INSTRUCTIONS: Below are 12 pairs of statements. Place a check before the one statement in each pair with which you most nearly agree. It is important that you give an answer for each pair. The family member who does the job best is the one who should do it. -or- Jobs should be changed around often so family members will enjoy what they do. (Check only one statement.) They should be able to use their own ideas as to how they will do the job. —or- Directions need to be given so the job will be done right. (Check only one statement.) The best way to get them to do their jobs is to pay them. -or— Knowing they are contributing to the family is the best way to get them to help. (Check only one statement. ) It is important to check often to see if they are following instructions. —or- It is best if the mother doesn't stand over the helper while he is working. (Check only one statement.) They should expect to get some help with their chores on days when they are busy. -or- Children should have a set schedule for doing their chores and stick with it. (Check only one statement.) It is necessary to inspect the job each time to see how well they have done. -or— . Expecting them to do the job as well as mother might discourages them from doing it another time. (Check only one statement. ) It is best to shift jobs among family members to keep up enthusiasm. -or— The one who can be depended upon to get the job done is the one who should do it. (Check only one statement.) It is necessary to give directions every time to have the job done the way mother wants it done. —or- The helper should be able to do the job in a way that makes it interesting for him. (Check only one statement.) The way to get them to do jobs is praise them, and let them know you trust them. —or- They need to know they will be punished if they don't help with the work. (Check only one statement.) Asking an occasional question about how they are getting along should be all that is needed in the way of overseeing the job. -or— It is best to oversee the work pretty closely in order to have the job done right. (Check only one statement.) ‘ They should be expected to do the same amount of work every day. -or- They need to know the family schedule so they can choose their own time for doing their chores without inconveniencing others. (Check only one statement.) It is necessary to do some checking on children's work when they are finished so they know you care. -or- If the job isn't done right they should do it over until it is. (Check only one statement.) 4O 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 ~19 THESE QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT YOURSELF. What was your age on __ Under 20 years _ 40 - 49 years your last birthday? _ 20 - 29 years __ 50 or over __ 30 - 39 years How many years of __ 4 years or less __ 12 years schooling have you __ 5 - 7 years __ Technical training beyond high completed? __ 8 years school, stenography, beauty __ 9 - 11 years school, etc. 1- 3 years of college 4 years of college How old were you when you married? 16 or under If you have been married more than 17 - 19 years once give age at £1_r_s_t marriage. 20 - 22 years 23 years or over How many years have you _ One year or less __ 8 - 9 years been a full-time worker __ 2- 3 years __ 10 - 12 years outside your home? __ 4- 5 years __ 13 years or more _ 6 - 7 years ’ Are you living with your husband _ Yes at the present time? _ No If E), are you _ separated? widowed? divorced? What is your religion? __ Catholic __ Jewish __ Protestant denomination __ None How many hours did you put in at your place of employment last week? Hours worked last week Where do you live ? On a farm In town or city In country, not farm What do you like best and what do you like least about working outside your home ? You do not have to answer this unless you want to. If you would like the extension Name bulletin "Managing Your Family's Credit" give your name and Address address. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 Home Economics Study KE'EY TO CU’IJIE-EG 7.—--- “—v ._..——.-_o_-,— INSTRUCTIONS: The following questions are to be answered only by the homemaker whose name is on the envelope. Please read the questions and the instructions carefully before answering. promptly. Do not write in space at right side. When finished place in the addressed, stamped envelope and return THESE QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT FAMILY MEMBERS WHO SHARE YOUR HOME WITH YOU. If you live with your husband, 1 4 years or less 6 Technical training after how many years of schooling 2 5 — 7 years high school (mechanics, has he finished? Check one. 3 8 years barbering, etc.) If 9 - 11 years '2 1- 3 years of college 5 12 years 8 4 years of college Is your husband employed 1 Yes at the present time? 2 No What kind of work does your 1 fiWIOijB husband do? Describe his job briefly in the space at the right; for example, he is a factory press operator; he sells cars; he is a building custodian, etc. 2 Entrepreneur 3 Retired, disabled How many boys and girls live at home with you? Write in the number opposite their ages for both boys and girls. Use age at their last birthday. BOYS Under 6 years old Between 6 and 14 Between 15 and 18 Over 18 years old GIRLS Under 6 years old Between 6 and 14 Between 15 and 18 Over 18 years old How many ? Actual number Do you have any boys or girls _:_L___ Yes If yes, state whether boy(s) or girl(s) and in your home who are not in 2 No age(s): school and not working? —— 3 l’reschool Ll Other Besides your children, who _1__ Husband L Your father else lives at home with you? _3__ Mother-in-law 6 Other male, over 18 Check all that apply. 3 Father-in-law L Other female, over 18 I Your mother Counting yourself, how many of your family members are employed at least 20 hours a week at the present time? Circle the correct number: 1 2 3 4 5 6 PLEASE GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE 16 17 THESE QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT HOUSEHOLD TASKS. In the columns at the right of each task, CHECK how often YOU do each task by yourself without help from another family member. Since not all families do all of these tasks, leave blank only those tasks that are not done at all in your home by family members. HOW OFTEN DO YOU DO THIS BY YOURSELF? Practically Ha1f the Some— Rarely . Usually . . ever): time tlme times or never Look after the children 1 2 3 [I 5 Do mending Wash dishes Dry dishes and put away Take laundry to be done or do wash Iron clothing Prepare foods for supper Sweep floors Dust Wash window 5 Do the grocery buying Take out garbage or trash Make other beds than your own Prepare breakfast Pack lunche s Hang up the wash Sc rub the floor 5 Vacuum Make clothes Pay bills THESE STATEMENTS ARE ABOUT FAMILY MEMBERS HELPING WITH HOUSEHOLD CHORES. INSTRUCTIONS: Below are 12 pairs of statements. Place a check before the one statement in each pair with which you most nearly agree. It is important that you give an answer for each pair. 1 = task—centered 2 : person-centered ] The family member who does the job best is the one who should do it. _Or_ 2 Jobs should be changed around often so family members will enjoy what they do. (Check only one statement. ) 2 The should be able to use their own ideas as to how the will do the 'ob. _. Y Y J _or_ 1 Directions need to be given so the job will be done right. (Check only one statement.) 20 22 24 25 26 28 29 30 34 35 37 38 39 18 19 21 23 27— 31 32 33 36 The best way to get them to do their jobs is to pay them. -or- Knowing they are contributing to the family is the best way to get them to help. (Check only one statement. ) It is important to check often to see if they are following instructions. -or— _?__ It is best if the mother doesn't stand over the helper while he is working. (Check only one statement.) 2 They should expect to get some help with their chores on days when they are busy. -or- __'I__ Children should have a set schedule for doing their chores and stick with it. (Check only one statement. ) ;5 It is necessary to inspect the job each time to see how well they have done. —— -or- ,3 Expecting them to do the job as well as mother might discourages them from —_ doing it another time. (Check only one statement.) 2 It is best to shift jobs among family members to keep up enthusiasm. — -or- __l_ The one who can be depended upon to get the job done is the one who should do it. (Check only one statement.) ___l___ It is necessary to give directions every time to have the job done the way mother wants it done. —or- 3 The helper should be able to do the job in a way that makes it interesting for him. (Check only one statement. ) s‘ The way to get them to do jobs is praise them, and let them know you trust them. —or- 1 They need to know they will be punished if they don't help with the work. — (Check only one statement.) 3 Asking an occasional question about how they are getting along should be all that is needed in the way of overseeing the job. -or- 1 It is best to oversee the work pretty closely in order to have the job done right. (Check only one statement.) 1 They should be expected to do the same amount of work every day. — -or— _g_ They need to know the family schedule so they can choose their own time for doing their chores without inconveniencing others. (Check only one statement.) ___2_ It is necessary to do some checking on children's work when they are finished so they know you care. —or- 1 If the job isn't done right they should do it over until it is. (Check only one statement. ) 4O 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 THESE QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT YOURSELF. g! 40 — 49 years 5 50 or over What was your age on 1 Under 20 years your last birthday? 2 2O - 29 years 3 3O — 39 years How many years of 1 4 years or less schooling have you 2 5 — 7 years completed? 3 8 years 5 9-11 years 5 12 years 6 Technical training beyond high — school, stenography, beauty school, etc. 1- 3 years of college 4 years of college lml“ How old were you when you married? 1— 16 or under If you have been married more than _2_ 17 - 19 years once give age at f1;st marriage. 3__ 20 — 22 years _L 23 years or over How many years have you _1_ One year or less 5 8 — 9 years been a full~time worker _2_ 2 - 3 years Z 10 — 12 years outside your home? _3__ 4— 5 years _L 13 years or more I;— 6 - 7 years Are you living with your husband 1— Yes at the present time? 2— No If E), are you 3— separated? L widowed? _5_ divorced? What is your religion? _1_ Catholic A Jewish J— Protestant denomination i None How many hours did you put in at your place of employment last week? Actual hours Hours worked last week Where do you live ? 1 On a farm 2 In town or city 3 In country, not farm What do you like best and what do you like least about working outside your home ? You do not have to answer this unless you want to. 1 — Answered fully 2 - Answered partially 3 - Not answered If you would like the extension Name bulletin "Managing Your Family's Credit" give your name and Address address. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP 50 51__ 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 6O ..I . . . . u I . . . .. . .. ... I: v ”I 7m.) . .. .... ..u. .. ..l ...r... . .u. . I - :.Ill.l'. In h~r|.h.. un'.... NORA-IL: \I.” n I . . . . emlaruecflnsn .ifilfi'flqiwiizfi .........r.i..._. .1» .... ... .. .. . .. I" :93 353$ t" "itittilit