A Comparative Analysis of Entrepreneur and College Business Student Values

ABSTRACT Both entrepreneurs and senior-level college business students were surveyed to determine similarities and differences in their values, under the premise that students who share similar values with those held by entrepreneurs may have promise of entrepreneurial potential. All respondents were administered the Rokeach Value Survey which, through a process of rank-ordering, is used to determine two hierarchies of value importance for individuals. The first hierarchy reflects an individual's terminal value system, or those values associated with end-states of existence. The second hierarchy reflects an individual's instrumental value system, or those values associated with modes of conduct. The resulting data provided a tabulation of medians, rank order composites and levels of significance for the terminal and instrumental values, respectively, of both samples. Rank order composites were used as general indices in comparing the position of a particular value in the total hierarchy of values and for comparing the position of a particular value across the two groups. Emphasis was placed on those values which were ranked very low or very high by the entrepreneurs. Comparisons of student value rankings relative to those values the entrepreneurs held highest and lowest were then conducted. The findings indicated that there were value differences between the total sample of entrepreneurs and students, as well as between female entrepreneurs and female student values, but there were few differences between male entrepreneur and male student values. In addition to the above comparisons, median analysis between entrepreneur and student terminal and instrumental values were conducted. An examination of the general population of entrepreneurs and students revealed that twelve of the eighteen terminal values of the entrepreneurs and students were significantly different at the (.05) level Only four of the eighteen instrumental values were significantly different (.05) level between the entrepreneurs and students. The median analysis between male entrepreneurs and male student values showed no significant differences. However, the median analysis between female entrepreneur and female student values showed that seven of the eighteen instrumental and eleven of the eighteen terminal values were significantly different at the (.05) level. Although not examined, it is likely that individual students in the sample do share the value profiles of the entrepreneurs. If so, and if generally accepted value profiles are established for entrepreneurs, such students might be counseled to consider the entrepreneurial life.     

Foundations of Fluency: An Exploration

This study examined young children's growth, over time, in phonics knowledge, word-recognition, and fluent oral reading. Correlations and causal relationships among these variables were explored in an attempt to identify the foundational knowledge and skills needed for reading fluency. Measures of phonics knowledge, word-recognition development, word-recognition accuracy and speed, and fluency in story reading were obtained from first-grade, second-grade, and third-grade students in February and again in November when they had advanced to a higher grade. Causal relationships were examined and are suggested between two related variables, if a change in one variable measured at one time tends to precede a change in the other variable measured at a later time. Cross-lagged panel analyses were used to test for such a pattern between variables. The findings suggested that phonics knowledge and word recognition are precursors of fluency. The data suggests that students' word recognition has a causal effect on their reading speed and accuracy growth, and that their phonics knowledge has a causal effect on their word-recognition growth. These findings are consistent with a theoretical model that posits that phonemic awareness is a necessary, though not sufficient, condition for the development of phonics knowledge; phonics knowledge is a necessary condition for word recognition; word recognition is a necessary condition for fluency; and fluency is a necessary condition for reading comprehension.     

Communication and Adjustment in Marriage: Investigating the Relationship

The relationship between marital communication and adjustment is assumed to be a strong one, although little research has been done to verify the assumption. This article reports a study in which the relationship was shown to be positive; it also describes some clinical observations of the sample couples in a related research task. It suggests that those scoring low on marital adjustment tended to either communicate more about their relationship than about the content of the task or to ignore each other in favor of working on the task independently.     

ANOTHER VIEW OF DYNAMIC CRITERIA: A CRITICAL REANALYSIS OF BARRETT, CALDWELL, AND ALEXANDER

We argue a divergent perspective from that taken by Barrett, Caldwell, and Alexander (1985) in a critical reanalysis of the evidence for dynamic criteria. Those authors distinguished three definitions of the dynamic criterion phenomenon and concluded, on the basis of secondary analyses of several sets of published data, that dynamic criteria do not exist. Moreover, they concluded that most of the temporal changes in criteria reported in those data sets could be explained by methodological artifacts. In several cases these artifacts were listed in summary form, without a complete consideration of the implications of invoking these artifacts as post hoc explanations. The purpose of this comment is to clarify the debate on dynamic criteria by critiquing the Barrett et al. study. We suggest that a fruitful solution to the problem may lie in trying to understand criteria per se rather than searching for artifacts.     

A Family Myth: Sex Therapy Gone Awry

The treatment of sexual disorders has achieved considerable popularity and respectability within the mental health profession and the lay community. As a consequence, it has become increasingly difficult to elude requests for this type of treatment and even more difficult to balance sexual concerns with the numerous other modes of relating that exist within a dyadic relationship. This paper will report two versions of a case study in which sexual dysfunction served as a myth that was carefully constructed to veil certain more fundamental problems.     

National Board for Certified Counselors: History,Relationships, and Projections

The purpose of this article is to inform the reader of the history, relationships, and projections of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), which was incorporated in July 1982 and now certifies over 14,000 counselors.