Investigated rural high school students' perceptions of two major secondary school role models' (teachers and popular peers) solutions to five ontological and axiological problem spheres. Some seemingly contradictory findings are discussed in terms of institutional demands that often force teachers to model behaviors that neither they nor society…

Utilizing data derived from survey questionnaires administered during 1968 to 427 white high school senior males, the following hypotheses were tested: (1) no class differentials exist with regard to the proportion in each class who place a high value on success; and (2) of those respondents who value success highly, a larger proportion of higher…

The objective of this paper was to investigate, within a path analytic framework, the form and degree of the relationship between young women's marital plans and their educational expectations. The data for analysis were obtained from a 3 wave, 6 year panel of non-metropolitan southern youths in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and…

Historical changes reflected in the educational goals of black and white high school seniors in 1966 and 1972 were compared. The five orientation dimensions studied were aspiration, expectation, goal deflection, goal certainty, and goal intensity. Data were collected in the four contiguous Northeast Alabama counties of Cherokee, DeKalb, Jackson,…

One of the most consistent empirical findings in the increasing research on the sociology of sport revealed that white urban male high school athletes manifest higher-level educational orientations than their non-athlete counterparts. This study expanded this empirical literature by assessing the nature of the athletic participation and…

This paper examines the unique characteristics of rural adolescents raised on farms. As part of a longitudinal study on rural youth development, semistructured interviews were conducted each year for 4 consecutive years with 87 adolescents from 4 rural high schools in upstate New York. This study focused on data from the 19 adolescents who resided…

Interviews with 87 adolescents from farm and nonfarm families in rural New York revealed that farm adolescents were closer to their families, were more isolated from peers and peer-related activities, were less likely to pursue a college degree, and were unlikely to remain on the farm despite the positive aspects of farm life. Addresses…

The association between lower-class vs. middle-class values and self-reported delinquency was the focus of this study of 485 Caucasian male and female high school and college students in rural, middle Tennessee. The typical student's family background was lower-middle class, as determined by his/her father's occupation. The values statements used…

Study objectives were to assess actual changes in normative traditionalism which had occurred in a sample of rural Pennsylvania areas and to determine the extent to which the changes in traditionalism were associated with the rurality of these areas. Utilizing a combination of socioeconomic data (census derived) and longitudinal data obtained via…

Results of surveys (in 1967, 1973, and 1978-1979) of nonmetropolitan Mexican American high school sophomores from South Texas indicated that, although broad similarities existed between males and females, there were also specific patterned gender differences in social behavior and orientations. In status projection levels, particularly educational…

Teachers, especially home economics teachers, would be better prepared to evaluate subject matter and to separate fact and personal opinion if they had a better understanding of diverse student backgrounds. To find out such background information, a study was conducted to analyze attitudes and values held by junior and senior students in home…