| Descript |
136 p |
| Note |
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-09, Section: A, page: 3452 |
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Chair: Lesley M. Morrow |
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Thesis (Ed.D.)--Rutgers The State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick, 1995 |
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Problem. The purpose of this study was to determine how gender and race were represented in illustrations of science instructional materials and related science materials prepared for grades one to five in three different genres |
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Method. Gender and racial representation were measured in terms of age, activity and occupation using an instrument constructed by the researcher. Statistical analyses of chi square were performed on the different variables and the comparison between genres and grade levels. Racial percentages according to the 1990 Census were used for null hypotheses in chi square analyses. Materials included: grades 1-5 student editions published by Addison-Wesley (1992), Scott, Foresman (1991) and Silver Burdett & Ginn (1991); nineteen books from the Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children in 1991; and the 1991 issues published by National Geographic World, Science World, 3-2-1 Contact and Current Science |
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Findings. All three genres were found to have a statistically significant difference for gender representation with males appearing more often than females either as adults, children or adults and children combined. In all three genres, racial representation was found to be statistically significant. However, racial representation did not always meet the expected Census values. Active/Passive portrayal was generally not found to be significant in terms of gender and racial representation. Significant occupation portrayal for racial representation was found. However, racial representation did not always meet the expected values. There was no difference between grade levels for the text series for gender representation. However, a significant difference was found for racial representation by grade levels for one text series with racial representation not meeting the expected Census values. Children appeared more often than adults in all three text series |
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Conclusions. The researcher found that elementary science instructional materials published in the early 1990's were biased for gender representation in favor of males. Racial representation varied and did not always meet the expected Census values of 80% for whites, 12% for blacks and 8% for others. Future research designed to examine instructional materials for gender and racial representation should continue to determine appropriate representation and inform publishers of results |
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School code: 0190 |
| Host Item |
Dissertation Abstracts International 56-09A
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| Subject |
Education, Elementary
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Education, Sciences
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0524
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0714
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| Alt Author |
Rutgers The State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick
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