The thesis was designed to analyze authors' viewpoints on values and standards in ten college health education textbooks pertaining to premarital sexual behavior.The sample of the study consisted of ten college health education textbooks dating from 1970 to 1973. Nine judges were selected by the investigator to analyze the content excerpts from each of the ten books. Each judge was mailed a premarital sexual questionnaire and two scales pertaining to values and standards on the topic of premarital sexual behavior.The judges involved in the investigation were qualified and noted authorities in the field of health education--all of whom had demonstrated some instructional research or publication expertise in the topical area of sex education. The study itself was based totally upon the judges' responses to the mailed instruments. The first instrument to be responded upon was the premarital sexual behavior questionnaire. The judges were asked to respond with a yes or no answer to each of the ten questions pertaining to the ten excerpts.The second instrument used in the study consisted of the two scales. The first was comprised of a range of value systems subdivided into seven categories. Each category represented a particular value system. The judge was to select one of the values that best described his perception of the author's viewpoints on premarital sex was The judge to pick a value system for each of theten excerpts being reviewed. The second scale consisted of five categories. Every category represented a definite standard or behavioral code pertaining to premarital sexual activity. The judge was to choose one of the standards that best represented his concept of the author's viewpoints relating to premarital sexual behavior.Three major hypotheses were considered in this study:1. The majority of authors, based on their viewpoints, will fit into the Enlightened Asceticism or Humanistic Liberalism categories of sexual value systems.2. A majority of the authors' views will lean heavily toward total or partial abstinence as a premarital sexual standard.3. A majority of the judges will have greater agreement on the authors' viewpoints from a direct premarital sexual question type of response and a greater diversity of agreement on the two premarital sexual values and standards scales.In summary, the following conclusions were drawn:1. The majority (at least 50 percent) of the authors' viewpoints used a definite preference (bias) for value systems of Enlightened Asceticism and Humanistic Liberalism in expressing their content.2. Less than 50 percent of the authors designated the premarital sexual standard of Abstinence as a means of expressing their viewpoints.3. In a direct question type response to an author's viewpoint within his content, the judges had a 78 percent agreement. The judges' agreement on the two scales was much less in percentage. The judges perceived the authors to be expounding heavily upon two primary value systems. These value systems were Enlightened Asceticism and Humanistic Liberalism. The total percentage of response for both categories was 56 percent. The total percentage of response for the premarital sexual standard category of Abstinence was 34 percent.For both of the scales used the judges seemed to feel somewhat differently in their interpretation, as was not the case with the questionnaire. This tells the investigator that a purely cognitiverepresentation of the statement within the content is more readily observed, as in the questionnaire. On the other hand, the judges felt somewhat less agreeable or even confused as to the affective representation of the two scales. Direct statements in college health education textbooks seem to be easier to write about and judge pertaining to premarital sexual values and standards.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/175662 |
| Date | January 1974 |
| Creators | Cozort, Phillip Jean |
| Contributors | Carroll, Charles R. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | viii, 111 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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