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Table 15
Gender and Grade Differences in the Number of COAD Units Defined at Least Once per
Participant, Range of Units, and Means of COAD units
Grade
Variable
Gender
COAD Units
I
Range of
Units
COAD Units
M (SD)
8 396 0 - 8 3.47 (1.64)
11 709 0-10 3.25 (1.53)
Boys 427 0 - 7 2.89 (1.38)
Girls 678 0-10 3.68 (1.63)
Chapter IV: Results
Note. N= 332, Total COAD units = 1,105, M= 3.33 (1.57). No Miscellaneous category in this analysis and further
analyses.
To calculate gender and grade differences in the average number of units generated at
least once per individual, t tests were conducted (see Table 15). For the average number of
COAD units generated at least once, girls (M= 3.68, SD = 1.63) defined COAD units
significantly more often than did boys (M= 2.89, SD = 1.38), t (330) = 4.76, p = .000 (two-
tailed). Girls also had a broader range of constructs than did boys. For grade differences in the
average number of COAD units generated at least once per person, the 8th graders (M = 3.47, SD
= 1.64) defined an average of COAD units slightly more often than did 11 th graders (M= 3.25,
SD = 1.53), t (330) = 1.22, p = .223 (two-tailed) (not significant). However, the range of
constructs was wider for the 11 th graders than it was for the 8th graders.
Construct Reduction
According to criteria outlined by Bigelow (1977), categories or subcategories containing
less than five percent (< 5%) of the participants were omitted from further analyses. Data
reduction (Blaikie, 2003) was employed to reduce the number of constructs because participants'
low percentages in these constructs could obscure the findings by not providing adequate
numbers in cells in subsequent analyses. Three categories and two subcategories were removed
leaving 14 categories and 15 subcategories (see the removed < 5% in Table 12 and remaining
> 5% constructs in Table Y-2 in Appendix Y). Categories and subcategories elicited by fewer
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