This thesis is a descriptive study investigating the perceptions of 380 debaters and 95 judges at seven collegiate debate tournaments. The study examined debater/ judge agreement in terms of win/loss, speaker ratings and criteria important in the debate decision. A Kappa index and Pearson product-moment correlation were used to analyze the data.The findings indicated that debaters and judges do not tend to perceive the debate decision, speaker ratings or important criteria similarly.

The purpose of this study is to formulate criteria for the evaluation of the declamation, the selection of material for declamation, the method of coaching, the method of delivery, and the value of the declamation contest as a method of teaching.