RESEARCH METHOD COHEN ok

562 MULTIDIMENSIONAL MEASUREMENT
Box 25.1
Continued
WELL BEHAVED
(favourable)
(unfavourable)
1 Janice
2 Jane
3 Sharon
4 Caroline
5 Heather
6 Richard
7 Tim
8 Karen
9 Patrick
10 Alex
Source: Cohen 1977
Box 25.2
Intercorrelations between seven personal constructs
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Intelligent (1) 53 −10 −16 83 −52 13
Sociable (2) 53 −50 −59 44 −56 61
Aggressive (3) −10 −50 91 −07 79 −96
Noisy (4) −16 −59 91 −01 73 −93
Verbally good (5) 83 44 −07 −01 −43 12
Clumsy (6) −52 −56 79 73 −43 −81
Well behaved (decimal points omitted) (7) 13 61 −96 −93 12 −81
Source: Cohen 1977
student demotivation
poor student concentration
undue pressure on students
narrowing effect on curriculum
punishing the weaker students
overemphasis on memorization
testing only textbook knowledge.
These seven variables can be grouped together
under the single overarching factor of ‘negative
effects of examinations’. Factor analysis, working
through multiple correlations, is a method for
grouping together several variables under one or
more common factor(s).
To address factor analysis in more detail we
provide a worked example. Consider the following
variables concerning school effectiveness:
the clarity of the direction that is set by the
school leadership
the ability of the leader to motivate and inspire
the educators
the drive and confidence of the leader