International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management

  Issue: Volume 2, Number 6 / 2009

  Pages: 686 - 706
  URL: Linking Options
Employees' perception of workplace stressors and their attitude towards work and
organisation: a study of Indian managers

Bindu Gupta A1 and Archana Tyagi A2

 Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, India.

A1

 University of Business and International Studies Geneva, 6 Place Chevelu, Geneva CH 1201,
A2

Switzerland

Abstract:

This study seeks to understand the extent to which private sector managers respond to demands and
expectations of globalisation. It examines the sources of their work stress and the influence of these
stressors on employees' attitudes towards work and organisation. A sample of 221 Indian managers
from the private sector was used in the study. Managers consider the most important sources of work
stress to be lack of control and work life balance. Work relationships, control, nature of job and
communications were found to be significantly related with work engagement and job satisfaction.
Commitment was associated with relationships at the workplace. Intention to quit was significantly
influenced by relationships, control, nature of job and resources. It is suggested that to enhance work
engagement, job satisfaction, commitment and to lessen the intention to quit, managers need to
actively monitor relationships at work, control, nature of job, resources and communication. These
variables could assist in maintaining and increasing desirable attitudes towards work and organisation.

Keywords:

commitment, communication, control, Indian culture, intention to quit, job engagement, job
satisfaction, nature of job, resources, stressors, work life balance, work relationships, India, employee
perceptions, private sector management, globalisation
 Formats:

Journal List > J Can Chiropr Assoc > v.52(3); Aug 2008  

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J Can Chiropr Assoc. 2008 August; 52(3): 143–148. PMCID: PMC2528259PubMed articles by
Copyright © JCCA 2008
these authors
Professional attitudes regarding research – changing the
culture one student at a time  McCoy, M.
Matthew McCoy, BS, DC* PubMed related
Associate Professor of Clinical Sciences, Life University College of Chiropractic, Marietta, GA
*
articles
Address correspondence to: Dr. Matthew McCoy, 1269 Barclay Circle, Marietta, GA, 30067 Phone:
404.993.6768, Fax: 678.445.1459, Email: matthewmccoy@comcast.net
 Student
dietitians' attitudes
  Other Sections▼
towards research
and audit: a
 
comparison with
Dr. Matthew McCoy, BS, DC registered dietitians.
[J Hum Nutr Diet.
2007]

 How nursing
leadership and
management
interventions could
facilitate the effective
  Other Sections▼
use of ICT by
student nurses.
Introduction
[J Nurs Manag. 2007]
The Standards of the Council on Chiropractic Education include Clinical  Development
Competencies related to research.1 These competencies can be found under of a questionnaire
the Professional Issues section of the competencies and include two measuring student
attitudinal and one skill based competency. The introduction to these attitudes to working
Professional competencies states in part: and living in rural
areas.
It is important that doctors of chiropractic maintain knowledge and
[Rural Remote Health.
clinical skills through continuing education, and be able to access,
2005]
understand and critically evaluate the research literature.
 ReviewThe

The competencies are: educational effects

of portfolios on
Attitudes undergraduate
student learning: a
Acknowledge the societal obligation of the profession to produce Best Evidence
research, and appreciate the importance of research in education, Medical Education
clinical practice and to the growth of the profession; (BEME) systematic
review. BEME Guide
Have a desire and an ability to critically evaluate new and current No. 11.
knowledge. [Med Teach. 2009]

Skills  ReviewChangi
ng attitudes towards
The student must demonstrate an ability to: Critically review clinical abortion in Europe.
research literature. [Eur J Contracept
Reprod Health Care.
Attitudes in the profession towards chiropractic research, infrastructure, 2003]
funding and opportunity seems to have increasingly become a subject of
 » See
discussion. In perhaps the most detailed evaluation and critique of the topic reviews... | » See
Flanagan and Giordano discuss the role of the institution in developing all...
clinicians and researchers as well as review the demography of faculty Recent Activity
ClearTurn Off
involved in research at chiropractic institutions.2 Their survey of 15 North
American chiropractic colleges revealed that only 5% of full time faculty  attitudes Professional
regarding
who hold the DC degree were actively involved in research. In addition, research – changing
the culture one
the survey revealed that only 10% of PhD and 25% of DC/PhD faculty student at a time
were engaged in research. The authors suggest that chiropractic programs
Links
have failed to produce opportunities for faculty as researchers, and they
advocate for greater institutional and professional support of research  PubMed
within the schools and the profession.

In terms of the impact on students they encourage curricular integration of

research methods courses that are directed towards active participation in
research and publication of projects. They argue that such activity will help
the student feel part of the larger academic and scientific community. They
encourage the mindset that clinicians “... must actively participate as an
independent researcher, treating every patient as a viable study with an N =
1.”

Issues of institutional support for the conduct of scholarship and the role of
research, embodied by the missions of chiropractic institutions play a key
role in empowering faculty and encouraging a commitment on the part of
faculty to engage in the work of the institution. Henkin and Marchiori did a
survey to explore empowerment and organizational commitment of
chiropractic college faculty and contend that committed faculty will
identify with and work towards the mission, values, and goals of the
institution.3 Their paper implies that if faculty believe the institution is
promoting empowerment and there is evidence that this is actually
happening then faculty will be more inclined to take risks and engage in
behavior that is supportive of the institution.

In a related paper, Marchiori and Henkin (2003) state: “The chiropractic

profession depends on a motivated faculty for continuous quality
improvement and innovation in areas of curriculum, scholarship and
practice.”4 Interestingly, the authors report that the most significant
empowering factor was where the faculty were assigned. Those involved in
administration or research reported greater levels of empowerment.
Related to the issue of chiropractic faculty’s engagement in research
activities is that of the 609 respondents to their survey less than 3% of
faculty were assigned to research tasks while over half of the respondents
were assigned to the area of patient care within teaching clinics.

Certainly, if chiropractic college faculty are not engaged in research,

unfamiliar with it, or worse – have negative attitudes towards it – this is
sure to be reflected in the attitudes of students. Making matters worse,
these attitudes may tend to carry over into their professional careers and
feed a vicious cycle.

Zhang conducted a survey of chiropractic college students on their

attitudes towards research.5 He reported:

 Just over 50% of students were interested in research in general.

 Just over 70% felt that research was important.
 90.32% had experienced something interesting in chiropractic and
wanted to know more about it.
 64.52% had thought about a chiropractic research topic.
 67.75% agreed that there are many things that need to be
researched in chiropractic.
 45.16% thought basic research technique and statistics should be
taught in chiropractic college.
 61.29% would participate in chiropractic research if given the
opportunity while in chiropractic college.
 19.36% thought research training should be a requirement in
chiropractic college.

Newell and Cunliffe conducted a similar study of 119 chiropractic students

and their attitudes about research.6 Their study revealed:

 77% had a previous higher education qualification with 44%

having some experience with research.
 54% thought that research, in general, was difficult.
 64% thought research to be interesting.
  75% considered chiropractic research necessary.

Student attitudes and skills towards research following them into

professional practice is perhaps reflected in a survey of chiropractors and
massage therapists in Alberta, Canada.7 Suter and her team surveyed both
groups on their perceived importance of research and the use of research in
practice, their perceived level of research literacy and capacity, and their
application of research findings to clinical practice.

Both chiropractors and massage therapists reported an overall positive

perception toward research and acknowledged research as being important
to validate their practice. However, both groups lacked confidence in
research skills and the actual application of research to practice was
limited. The authors concluded that a lack of research education and
related skills was probably related to the lack of research application in
practice.

To be sure, chiropractic institutions are not necessarily alone in addressing

issues of participation in scholarship, how it is defined and how it is
compensated. These are ongoing and contentious issues within academia.8

However, those professions operating outside health care may have greater
latitude in addressing these issues in a timely manner. Within health care
we are faced with the ever increasing demands of evidence based medicine
and the chiropractic profession will be no less affected by this movement.
In fact, I would argue that chiropractic, along with complementary and
alternative medicine, will be more affected given the late start on a
research infrastructure and the entrenched, negative professional attitudes
towards research. From Flanagan,2 Henkin,3 and Marchiori’s4perspective it
seems it is not so much the attitudes of faculty that need to be addressed as
much as it is the chiropractic college administration’s commitment to
supporting a culture of research and scholarship.

Administrators of chiropractic educational programs need to seriously

reconsider the back seat that is routinely given to research budgeting lest
we dig ourselves even deeper into the hole we are in.

Looking outside the chiropractic profession to inform the discussion, Cull

et al examined 318 pediatric resident’s research attitudes and experiences
and found that residents who pursued a subspecialty were more likely to
have had formal research training and to have assisted on a research
project during their residency.9 According to Cull, a favorable rating
towards research was the strongest predictor in this decision. Of note is
that both groups rated their knowledge of most research skills as fair or
poor.

Harrison et al looked at changes in nursing students’ knowledge and

attitudes toward research following an undergraduate research
course.10 They studied 54 students in a course that had them critique
research articles, complete objective examinations, and develop research
proposals. They completed pre and post tests measuring research
knowledge and attitudes. More positive attitudes toward research were
reported at the end of the program than at the beginning of the course.
Significantly higher knowledge scores were noted at the end of the course
than at the beginning of the course or at the end of the program.

Adamsen et al studied the effect of a research methods course on nurses’

research activity.11 They used a one-year research course in basic research
methodology designed for clinical nurses and found it had a positive effect
on the nurses’ own research activity and their commitment to research in
general.

Compared to a group that did not take the course, those that did were more
active in planning their own projects, they showed a higher level of interest
and commitment to research results of others, were able to find more time
to conduct research and they read more research articles. The authors
stressed the beneficial use of such a course to change the culture in terms
of research attitudes.

Hakansson and his colleagues reported on the results of research

methodology courses given to 1000 actively practicing physicians.12 They
reported that among the general practitioners in the region, one in five has
taken the course, and one in five has then gone on to start formal PhD
studies.

Hren and his colleagues explored the relationship between teaching

scientific methodology in a medical curriculum and student attitudes and
knowledge regarding science and scientific methodology.13 They studied
932 students and concluded that medical students generally have positive
attitudes towards science and scientific research in medicine. Further, they
found that attendance of a course on research methodology was related to a
positive attitude towards science.

Marusic reports on the implementation of a mandatory course on scientific

research and communication in a medical school curriculum.14 As a result
of the course they reported more positive attitudes of students toward
scientific research and evidence-based medicine, and that a significant
number of students began working on research projects and publishing
 scientific papers as a result of the course.

Both Zhang and Newell’s chiropractic surveys show that, for the most part,
chiropractic students consider research important.5,6 However, things seem
to fall apart from there. While 50% of the students in Zhang’s study were
interested in research in general, one has to wonder about the other 50%
and what this says about the profession and our educational process. And
while the majority of students felt that research seemed to be important and
necessary to chiropractic, very few thought they should be required to be
trained in it.

The other surveys and studies reviewed clearly show evidence of a positive
outcome in terms of research attitudes and productivity following the
implementation of courses in research methodology. It would be helpful to
have data on such effects in chiropractic curricula since the available
literature is based on students in medical and nursing programs as well as
medical practitioners.

  Other Sections▼

Where do we go from here?

Everyone seems to agree that we have a problem in terms of our

profession’s cultural distaste or apathy for research and we have some
evidence that we can’t deny.

For those chiropractic institutions that do not already require students to

complete a research project prior to graduation I would urge them to start. I
believe the simplest way to address the CCE competencies and to meet any
research related objectives of the chiropractic program is to implement a
course designed to teach chiropractic interns how to research and write a
case study report. Considering that every single chiropractic student has to
care for a prescribed number of patients in order to graduate – finding a
suitable case should not be difficult. Further, it would seem that a good
number of these cases are unique, interesting and their reporting may even
provide something new to the literature. I say this considering that many if
not most of our institutions state they are training these future chiropractors
as primary care clinicians, so the spectrum of patient cases in those
teaching clinics should certainly reflect this. For those that might argue
most of the cases being managed by these students will be mundane,
garden variety neck and back pain cases and that the writing of case studies
should be reserved for rarer conditions and more significant cases, I
suggest that in terms of an exercise for the student this point is moot. Even
the student who has cared for the garden variety neck or back pain case can
 benefit from writing up such a case since they will still have to go through
the mechanics of putting together the paper, reviewing and critically
evaluating the literature and then telling the patient’s story. In those cases
where the student was fortunate enough to have a unique case the student
could be encouraged to submit such a paper to a peer reviewed journal for
consideration to publish. Another benefit to such a process is the
involvement of the clinical faculty since many times, depending on the
clinic structure at the institution, the clinic faculty is also caring for, or
directly supervising, the patient’s care. Such a process would enable
faculty to then get involved in the research process.

Many of our schools are also participating in preceptorship and clinical

residency programs such as rotations in hospitals and other venues such as
the Veterans’ system here in the United States. These programs expose our
students to a wide variety of cases and conditions that would be worth
writing up and at the same time giving added opportunity for chiropractors
in the field to get involved in the research process.

  Other Sections▼

Course Structure

I suggest that the course be a mandatory one within the chiropractic

curriculum and that it be placed within the last one or two quarters of the
program. This will ensure that the student has a sufficient patient pool to
choose from and that they have had a minimum of experience caring for
patients longitudinally so that sufficient time has elapsed that the patient
may have experienced some benefit from the care provided.

Interns could elect to take it sooner provided they have completed any
necessary pre-requisites including research methods courses. The key is
that they have access to and are involved in patient care.

The course could be a capstone in the series of clinical courses they are
already required to take. The course should stress evidence based
approaches and rely heavily on the peer reviewed literature in all of its
reading assignments. In order to graduate the student would be expected to
prepare a written clinical case study that, at a minimum, meets the technical
requirements for publication in a peer reviewed research journal. The
selection of an appropriate clinical case, a thorough review of the elements
of a case study report, how to review the appropriate literature for the
reference section, and the systematic construction of the report could be
covered in a combination lecture and self study format.

Such a case study research methods course would be intended to give the
student hands-on experience writing a case study research report coupled
with an appreciation of the importance, necessity and benefits of research
to their professional experience. The importance of research, critical
evaluation and scholarly writing to the chiropractic profession should also
be emphasized.

The course objectives would include giving interns the experience of

writing a clinical case study research report that meets the technical
requirements of a peer reviewed research journal. The course should
impress upon the intern an understanding of the societal obligation the
chiropractic profession has to produce research and the importance of
research in education, clinical practice and to the growth of the profession.
Further, the course is meant to give interns the experience of evaluating
new and current knowledge. Not only would these fulfill accreditation
standards but no one could reasonably argue that these are not important
and necessary things to teach our students in the interest of our own
profession – never mind the students themselves and the future patients
they serve.

It is suggested that, for those institutions so inclined, two additional

objectives for the course be to give interns the experience of incorporating
models of vertebral subluxation into clinical situations and to give students
the experience of relating models of subluxation to technique and the
clinical management of the patient.
 These last two objectives are included due to a perceived lack of
understanding and related experience in incorporating models of
subluxation into the overall diagnosis and management of patients. Also,
the chiropractic literature in general seems to suffer from a lack of these
types of descriptions when reporting on clinical research.15,16

These two objectives could also form the basis for content issues related to
the paper since the bulk of the requirements to simply pass the course
would revolve around meeting technical requirements taken from the
Instructions for Authors of chiropractic peer reviewed research journals.
These two objectives allow content issues to be addressed with grades on
the papers reflecting the depth to which students explore those areas.

One way the course could be set up is using a quarter system example. The
course could be based on an 11 week quarter and be taught in a
combination lecture and self study type format. There would be five
lectures during the first half of the course that cover topics such as picking
a case study worthy of writing up, review of the components of a case
study report, importance of research to the profession and society,
literature searching, and the publication process. (See Table 1)
Table 1
Suggested Lecture Topics for a Case Study Research Methods Course

The remaining weeks in the course could be devoted to one on one

meetings with interns to review and critique their work prior to their final
submission. While I personally believe the 11 week timeline for
completing a case study is adequate, for those who feel the timeline is too
tight it could always be expanded and the students given two quarters to
complete the project. However, anyone who teaches for a living would
probably agree that giving them more time simply gives them more time to
put it off.

  Other Sections▼

Conclusion

I have attempted to briefly discuss the literature related to research

attitudes and productivity among students and faculty within chiropractic
and also in the wider field of health care. Clearly we have some obstacles
in our profession related to research infrastructure and attitudes regarding
its central importance to our survival – never mind our responsibility to the
patients we serve.

I argue that the best place and time to start changing the cultural attitudes
regarding research within our profession is while we have the attention of
 The role of the institution in developing the next generation chiropractor: clinician and researcher. [J Manipulative Physiol
Ther. 2002]

 Empowerment and organizational commitment of chiropractic faculty.[J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2003]

 Empowerment of chiropractic faculty: a profile in context.[J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2003]

 How important is research-based practice to chiropractors and massage therapists? [J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2007]

 The role of the institution in developing the next generation chiropractor: clinician and researcher. [J Manipulative Physiol
Ther. 2002]
 Empowerment and organizational commitment of chiropractic faculty.[J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2003]
 Empowerment of chiropractic faculty: a profile in context.[J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2003]

 Research exposure during pediatric residency: influence on career expectations. [J Pediatr. 2003]

 Changes in nursing students' knowledge about and attitudes toward research following an undergraduate research
course.[J Adv Nurs. 1991]

 Moving forward in a role as a researcher: the effect of a research method course on nurses' research activity. [J Clin
Nurs. 2003]

 Research methods courses as a means of developing academic general practice. Fifteen years' experience from
Sweden and Denmark.[Scand J Prim Health Care. 2005]

 Teaching research methodology in medical schools: students' attitudes towards and knowledge about science. [Med
Educ. 2004]

 Teaching students how to read and write science: a mandatory course on scientific research and communication in
medicine.[Acad Med. 2003]

 Research attitudes among chiropractic college students.[J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 1996]

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Scientific Research and Essays Vol. 5(7), pp. 693-699, 4 April, 2010
Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/SRE
ISSN 1992-2248 © 2010 Academic Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Attitudes of gifted students towards science depending
on some variables: A Turkish sample
Metin Orbay1*, Murat Gokdere1, Hidayet Tereci2 and Murat Aydin2
1School of Education, University of Amasya, 05189 Amasya-Turkey.
2Amasya Science and Art Centers, 05100 Amasya-Turkey.
Accepted 15 February, 2010
This research aimed to examine the science attitudes of gifted students attending the science and art
centers (SAC) in Turkey depending on variables such as gender of students, their fields of education,
classroom level and the education levels of their families. The test of science related attitudes (TOSRA),
developed by Fraser (1978), simplified by Chaerul (2002) and translated into Turkish and the validity and
reliability of which were studied by Curebal (2004), was used in the research. It was observed that there
was no statistical difference between the science attitudes of students and the above-mentioned
variables. A general analysis of the obtained results was performed comparatively with the studies at
national and international levels. In line with the results, a discussion was made on what could be done
particularly regarding the science and technology instruction of students at SACs which were
developed as a suitable model for country conditions.
Key words: Gifted students, science education, science attitude.
INTRODUCTION
Having an important place in the society in developed
countries, gifted people are at the focal point of
developments in many spheres primarily such as political,
economic, military and technological fields of their
country. Thus, senior administrators, decision-makers in
political and economic fields, manipulators of research
and development departments and pioneers of innovations
by making inventions in these countries are most
likely to be gifted people. Therefore, it is important to
identify gifted and talented people in society and provide
support and services for them and their families in order
to encourage these people to reach their full potential.
When the historical process for the realization of the
potentials of gifted people is examined, it is observed that
the first and most important practice was indisputably the
practice of “Enderun School during Ottoman Empire”.
Completely contrary to the understanding of blood tie
*Corresponding author. E-mail: metin.orbay@amasya.edu.tr.
Abbreviation: SAC, Science and art centers; TOSRA, test of
science related attitudes.
and aristocratic structure having prevailed during that
period, the Enderun system was established on a
mechanism based on competence, capability and loyalty
(Ari, 2004).
Upon the foundation of modern Republic of Turkey, the
Turkish education system basically had an understanding
that considered the differences of individuals, who
continuously required special education and this understanding
advocated that they should be educated in line
with their interests and talents. Therefore, the Turkish
education system was in a search in parallel to this understanding.
The events and developments experienced
in the process of search as well as the relationships and
interactions of events and developments with their
periods, with each other and with the following periods
remind of the patterns of an Anatolian carpet. These
searches mostly had some breaking points depending on
many variables such as perspectives of political powers,
economic status of the country, the limited resources
allocated for education and the high pace of population
increase (Akyuz, 2008).
Although there have been some private- and statesupported
initiatives with respect to determining and
educating the gifted and talented individuals in Turkey, no
694 Sci. Res. Essays
noteworthy developments took place until the 1990s
(Akarsu, 1991). Recently, however, the models applied in
different countries have been examined; the applicability
of these models in our country has been discussed;
large-scale studies on this subject at national and
international levels have been examined and a new
model has been developed in order to reach a higher
number of gifted children considering some basic
conditions of Turkey such as the existing economic,
social, cultural and educational opportunities (Donmez,
2004). Referred to as science and art centers (SAC), this
model realized the selection of students, selection and
training of teachers, training of families and structuring of
physical space in the five pilot provinces selected. Today
there are 43 SACs in total in 39 different provinces and
they serve more than five thousand students (MNE,
2008). The stage of identification of the students to be
selected to these centers is conducted under the
guidance of Directorate General of Special Education
Guidance and Consultative Services of Ministry of
National Education (MNE) and consists of steps such as
nomination by class teachers, basic ability tests and
individual evaluation (MNE, 2008). Although today these
centers, serving on the basis of “Additional Course
Application School”, are confronted with many problems
primarily such as running mechanism, insufficiency of
physical space, selection of teachers and training of
families, they have developed with contribu-tions. These
contributions have been provided by the administrators of
central organization of MNE, the administrators employed
at these centers, teachers, the students educated at the
centers themselves and their families. Hence, a
significant progress has been made in this field (Donmez,
2004).
Considering the fact that natural sciences have an
important place in the development of the country and its
economic development and considering that, in this
context, the gifted students attending the SACs may
undertake essential roles particularly in scientific and
technological developments to take place in Turkey, it is
necessary to make a careful examination of “Science
Education” provided at these centers.
Science education constitutes one of the most
important parts of the education of intellectual domain.
Intellectually gifted students are greatly interested in
natural sciences and the studies in the field of science
encourage students to become curious and research. It
was observed that laboratory, project and computer aided
science education particularly supported the desires and
determination of talented students towards science
courses (Hoover, 1989). Therefore, a project-based
modular structure was preferred as an education program
at SACs considering the characteristics of both talented
students and science courses. According to this preferred
program, the activities to be proposed have to be based
on project study and the models, which are compatible
with science subjects, have to be preferred in order for
the developed activities to become applicable. In this
context, when the conditions of our country are taken into
consideration, “the three-stage Purdue model”, still being
applied in the U.S.A., is considered as one of the
important models to respond to existing needs for Turkey
(Cepni et al., 2002; Unlu, 2008).
The cognitive development and affective behaviors
targeted in education systems are mostly related to the
positive or negative tendencies of students towards the
related subjects, individuals, events or ideas or stated
briefly, related to their attitudes (Tavsancil, 2002). Hence,
seeing the extent the targets have been achieved may
only be possible through measuring the attitudes believed
to be likely to vary in time. Therefore, the importance of
measuring attitudes in education is increasing. It should
be kept in mind that the curiosity of children attending
primary school and their spirit of investigation are
particularly at the highest level and that science and
technology course ranks at the top of the courses, which
deal with the subjects and the questions about which
children are curious most. Thus, one of the basic
objectives of the instruction performed is to have students
at primary education level love natural sciences and to
enable the permanent continuation of their desires and
curiosities for learning (MNE-UNICEF, 1995). It is a
known fact that attitude is of great importance for carrying
out significant learning in students regarding science
subjects (Abell and Lederman, 2007; Roth, 2009). In
connection to this, it is possible to conclude that the
increasing attitudes of students will also have a positive
effect on their success (Oruc, 1993; Osborne et al.,
2003). At this point, studies in the field of science
education both contribute to the development of countries
and will bring about improvements in the lifestyles of
people subjects (Abell and Lederman, 2007; Roth,
2009). Hence, quality in education and instruction should
always be given particular importance especially in order
to select gifted and talented students and promote their
talents and achievement in education.
Questions such as what and how the positive and
negative developments in science attitudes of students
depend on and how attitude varies by year constitute a
basic subject for research. In addition, there are many
national (Cakır et al., 2007; Turkmen, 2008) and international
(Weinburgh, 1995; Osborne et al., 2003) studies
with qualifications of comprehensive literature scanning in
this field. The results obtained from the surveys so far
and the findings of this study will be comparatively
presented in the results and discussion section.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of the study was to investigate the science
attitudes of students in primary education (Level I) and
Orbay et al. 695
Table 1a. Distribution of students by education level, gender and field of education.
Education level Gender Education field
Female f (%) Male f (%) Science f (%) Art f (%)
Primary school (Level I) 15 (46,9) 17 (53,1) 18 (56,3) 14 (43,8)
Elementary school (Level II) 31 (66) 16 (34) 19 (40,4) 28 (59,6)
Total 46 (58,2) 33 (41,8) 37 (46,8) 42 (53,2)
Table 1b. Information on the education level of students’ families.
Education level Mother Father
Level I f (%) Level II f (%) Total f (%) Level I f (%) Level II f (%) Total f (%)
Primary school 6 (18.8) 8 (17) 14 (17.7) 1 (3.1) 2 (4.3) 3 (3.8)
Elementary school 7 (21.9) 4 (8.5) 11(13.9) 2 (6.3) 3 (6.4) 5 (6.3)
High school 8 (25) 17 (36.2) 25 (31.6) 6 (18.8) 8 (17) 14 (17.7)
University 11 (34.4) 18 (38.3) 26 (36.7) 23 (71.9) 34 (72.3) 57 (72.2)
elementary education (Level II), who were attending
SACs, depending on gender of students, their field of
education, classroom level and the education level of
their families.
In line with these basic aims, an answer is sought for
the following sub-problems. Is there any significant
difference between the science attitudes of students at
Levels I and II:
(1) and their gender?
(2) and their education levels?
(3) and their fields of education?
(4) depending on the education level of their families?
METHOD
Context and settings
The population of the study consists of the students at Levels I and
II that were educated at SAC at the city center of Amasya in Turkey
during 2007 - 2008 academic year. In this universe, some 33
students from Level I and 47 students from Level II, selected
through random sample selection, constitute the sample of the
research.
The responses of students to the applied attitude scale and to the
interview questions during the research reflect their opinions and
thoughts. This research is limited to the gifted and talented students
attending the SAC at the city center of Amasya in Turkey as of
2007 - 2008 academic year and TOSRA was used for measuring
their science attitudes.
Data about the education level, gender and field of education of
the students having participated in the research is presented in
Table 1 whereas Data about the education level of their families is
presented in Table 2. The mean calendar age of the students
having participated in the research is 10.3 for Level I and 13.1 for
Level II.
Data collection
In order to measure the science attitudes of gifted students,
Likert-type TOSRA, first developed by Fraser (1978) and with a
Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient found as _ = 0.78, was taken
as reference Since then. The scale has been applied by many
researchers (Khalili, 1987; Stolarchuk and Fisher, 2001; Lowe,
2004; Eccles, 2007).
The short version of the scale, which was reorganized by Chaerul
(2002) and divided into 5 subscales, will be used in this study. For
its short version, the reliability calculations were found to be at the
interval of 0.79 - 0.84 for 5 subscales. The study performed for the
reliability of the scale in the context of Turkey was performed by
Curebal (2004) and reliability was found at the interval of 0.72 -
0.84 for 5 subscales. A reference was made to specialist views for
the validity of the Turkish version and as a result of the views, it was
concluded that the measurement instrument was valid (Curebal,
2004).
Gifted students chose one of the alternatives of “strongly agree”,
“agree”, “neither agree nor disagree”, “disagree” and “strongly
disagree” for the articles given concerning their science attitudes.
The scoring of positive attitudes varied from “definitely agree” (5) to
“definitely disagree” (1). However, the opposite was carried out
while scoring the negative attitudes.
Percentage (%), frequency (f) and mean ( X ) values were
calculated for the articles in the measurement instrument and it was
intended to find answers to the sub-problems using the required
statistical tests depending on the gender of students, their field of
education, classroom level and the education level of their families.
RESULTS
The findings obtained from the research are presented
according to the sub-problems and briefly interpreted as
follows.
Relationship between science attitude and gender
In order to determine whether there was any significant
relationship between the science attitudes of students
and their gender, non-parametric Mann-Whitney U
(MWU) test was used for the total scores obtained from
the attitude scale and the results of analysis are given in
696 Sci. Res. Essays
Table 2. Description of scales in TOSRA.
Scale number and name Description of scale
1. Career interest in science Students’ future interest in science
2. Leisure interest in science Students’ desire to participate in out-of-school science-related activities.
3. Social implication of science Students’ attitude regarding the positive and negative effects of science society
4. Enjoyment of science lesson Students’ level of enjoyment of classroom science lessons
5. Normality of Scientist Students’ belief about scientist lifestyles
Table 3a. Results of MWU test concerning science attitude
scores of level I students by gender.
Gender N X MWU U p
Male 17 18.56 315.50
92.50 0.186
Female 15 14.17 212.50
Table 3.
As seen in Table 3, there is no significant difference
between the total science attitude scores of students at
Levels I and II by gender (For Level I: U = 92.50, p =
0.186 > 0.05; For Level II: U = 237.50, p > 0.05).
Relationship between science attitude and education
levels
In order to determine whether any significant relationship
existed between the attitudes of students and their
education levels, a t- test for independent groups was
performed for total attitude scores and the results of the
analysis are given in Table 4.
As seen in Table 4, there is no significant difference
between the education levels of students and their total
science attitude scores (t77 = -0.077, p > 0.05).
Figure 1 presents the variation of the averages of
scores that students obtained from each subscale
depending on education levels.
Relationship between science attitude and field of
education
In order to determine whether there was any significant
relationship between the science attitudes of students
and their fields of education at SAC, non-parametric
Mann-Whitney U (MWU) test was performed for the total
scores obtained from the attitude scale and the results of
analysis are show in Table 5.
As seen in Table 5, there is no significant difference
between the total science attitude scores of students at
Levels I and II according to their fields of education (For
Level I: U = 76.50, p > 0.05; For Level II: U = 232.00, p >
0.05).
Table 3.b. Results of MWU Test concerning science attitude
scores of level II students by gender.
Gender N X MWU U P
Male 16 24.34 354.50
237.50 0.813
Female 31 23.34 754.50
Relationship between science attitude and
educational level of families
In order to determine whether any significant relationship
was present between the science attitudes of students
and the education levels of their families, non-parametric
Kruskal Wallis H (KWH) test was performed for the total
scores obtained from the attitude scale and the results of
analysis are presented in Table 6.
As seen in Table 6, there is no significant difference
between the education levels of guardians of students
and total science attitude scores (For Father: X2 = 5.682,
p > 0.05; For Mother: X2 = 5.986, p > 0.05).
DISCUSSION
In studies that determine the science attitudes of
students, there is little agreement about how attitudes
vary by gender. Gardner (1975) stressed that gender was
one of the most important factors in science attitudes of
students. When the surveys until the 1990s were
examined, it was observed that the majority of them
resulted in favor of (positive) males in the context of the
relationship between gender and science attitude
(Weinburg, 1995; Robertson, 1987). Nevertheless, when
Osborne et al. (2003) examined the recent studies, they
concluded that gender had a very slight effect on attitude.
In this research, as clearly seen in Table 3, no
significant difference is present between science attitudes
of students at Levels I and II that attended SAC at the city
center of Amasya in Turkey depending on their gender
(For Level I: U = 92.50, p > 0.05; For Level II: U = 237.50,
p > 0.05). Furthermore, as it is observed in Figure 1,
when the scores the students obtained from each subscale
depending on gender are examined, it is observed
that they are quite close to each other. The results from this
Orbay et al. 697
Table 4. Results of t-test for independent groups with respect to the education levels of students and their science attitude
scores.
Education level N X S sd t p
Primary School (Level I) 32 98.69 14.04
77 -0.077 0.689
Elementary School (Level II) 47 98.94 14.14
0
5
10
15
20
25
12345
Scale Number
Average Attitude Score
Level I
Level II
Figure 1. Variation of subscale scores by education levels.
Table 5a. Results of MWU test concerning the field of education
and science attitude scores of students at level I.
Education field N X MWU U p
Science 18 19.25 346.50
76.50 0.06
Art 14 12.96 181.50
Table 5b. Results of MWU test concerning the field of education
and science attitude scores of students at level II.
Education field N X MWU U p
Science 19 25.79 490.00
232.00 0.461
Art 28 22.79 638.00
Table 6a. Results of KWH test with respect to father’s education
level and science attitude scores.
Father’s education level N X sd X2 p
Primary School 3 55.83
3 5.682 0.128
Elementary School 5 24.80
High School 14 32.57
University 57 42.32
results from this study support other studies undertaken
with students studying at the primary and secondary
levels in Turkey (Gurkan and Gokce, 2000; Curebal,
2004; Cakır et al., 2007).
Table 6b. Results of KWH test with respect to mother’s education
Level and science attitude scores.
Mother’s education level N X sd X2 p
Primary School 14 43.07
3 5.968 0.113
Elementary School 11 30.91
High School 25 34.44
University 29 46.76
When the studies focusing on the relationship between
science attitude and education levels in literature are
examined, it is observed that the higher the class levels
of students, the lower their science attitude scores
(Curebal, 2004; Murphy and Beggs, 2003). Even though
the students aged 10 - 11 had high self-confidence for
science problems, their science attitudes were more
negative than those of the students aged 8 - 9 (Murphy
and Beggs, 2003). Indeed, studies in a number of
countries state that as students’ progress through school,
their positive attitudes towards science decline
(Chaerul, 2002; Lowe, 2004). It was emphasized that
insufficiency in programs of science courses, the use of
ineffective instruction methods and techniques, the
perception of science course as difficult and factors
regarding family or social life may be among the basic
reasons for this problem (Weinburgh, 1995; Greenfield,
1998; Osborne et al., 2003).
Furthermore, the studies by Gurkan and Gokce (2000),
Curebal (2004) and Cakır et al. (2007) in our country
concluded that the gains in primary education Level II
698 Sci. Res. Essays
and secondary education particularly required an
intensive program and caused students to have various
difficulties. In parallel to this, it was put forward that
students might develop a negative attitude towards
natural sciences. Moreover, it has been stressed that the
multiple-choice exams (such as OKS [High School
Entrance Exam] and OSS [Student Selection Exam]),
which focus on academic achievement and ignore
individual differences in our country and the process of
preparation for these exams might be influential in
developing a negative attitude towards science.
In this research, as observed in Table 4, no significant
difference is present between students’ education levels
and total science attitude scores for the relationship
between science attitude and education levels (t77 = -
0.077 p > 0.05). As observed again in this table, the
mean science attitude scores of students at Level II are
higher than the attitude scores of students at Level I. The
performance of out-of-lesson science experiments and
activities and the preference of project-based learning
approaches at SACs, established with a basic
philosophy, can be considered influential in eliminating
the decline in positive attitude with time that widely
appears in literature (Abell and Lederman, 2007; Roth,
2009). Moreover, as a result of interviews with the
students with a science attitude score below average
particularly within students at Level II, the vast majority of
students expressed that the process of preparation for
OKS and OSS type of multiple-choice exams awaiting
them in future periods and particularly the expectations of
their families had a negative impact on their science
attitudes. In this case, important tasks fall to the
administrators, teachers and specialists in guidance
working at SACs with respect to family training. At this
point, the wide presence of faculties of education in
almost all provinces, where SACs are located, can be
turned into an advantage, for it is possible for them to
receive academic support from faculties of education and
to carry out joint project studies. Regarding the problems
experienced in the process of the running of these
centers (such as training of teachers, training of families,
education program and methods) and the works to be
done, “the Consultative Committees” indeed included
within the legal legislations of SACs should be made up
of representatives of MNE and Universities and they
should be run actively.
As seen in Table 5, another point appearing in this
research is the absence of a significant difference
between the total science attitude scores of students at
Levels I and II according to their fields of education (For
Level I: U = 76.50, p > 0.05; For Level II: U = 232.00, p >
0.05). The absence of a significant difference between
science attitude scores at both levels for the students
educated in the fields of intelligence and talent at SACs
may be due to the fact that the first two steps take place
in the same way in the process of selection of the
students in both fields. In other words, both groups are
nominated by their class teachers and then they are
expected to exceed a certain lowest passing score in the
basic ability test.
Regarding the education levels, as observed in Table
2, of the mothers of students attending SAC at city center
of Amasya in Turkey and participating in this research,
36.7% are University graduates, 31.6% are High School
graduates, 13.9% are Elementary School graduates and
17.7% are Primary School graduates while, of their
fathers, 72.2% are University graduates, 17.7% are High
School graduates, 6.3% are Elementary School
graduates and 3.8% are Primary School graduates. Such
statistical data remain insufficient in reflecting the
education levels of the guardians of students, educated
at all primary and elementary school levels at the city
center of Amasya in Turkey. Although this seems to be a
contradiction, the data from many surveys at international
level in fact demonstrate that this does not cause any
contradictions. In a research study reporting the socioeconomic
levels of the families of talented and gifted
individuals, who stood out and became famous in the
society and accordingly, the education levels of the
families, it was detected that of these people,
approximately 18% were noble and wealthy, 41% had
high education, 31% were businessmen and merchants
and the rest were artisans and agricultural workers
(Caglar and Ozsoy, 1975). In a similar research, the
families of children determined as gifted among the
students aged 8 - 13 were found to consist of families
with a higher profession (50%) and businessmen and
officials (37%) while the remaining families were found to
consist of laborer families (Caglar and Ozsoy, 1975). In
surveys conducted more recently (Robinson and
Olszewski, 1997), it was found that gifted and talented
students mostly were from families with moderate and
high socio-economic status. In a Turkish study conducted
by Daglioglu (2004) concerning the talented-gifted
students aged 5 - 6, it was stressed that, of the mothers
of students determined, 10% were Primary-Elementary
School and High School graduates, 69% were University
graduates and 20.7% had a graduate education and
likewise, of their fathers, 17.2% were Primary-Elementary
School and High School graduates, 62.2% were
University graduates and 20.7% had a graduate
education.
The fact that today gifted and talented students mostly
belong to families with moderate and high socioeconomic
status might be due to the fact that identification
is generally performed at primary and secondary
education levels. Thus, “early identification and early
education”, widely discussed and put into practice in
developed countries, should be given more importance
particularly focusing on SAC in Turkey (Donmez, 2004).
In contrast to these studies discussed above (Table 6),
there is no significant difference between the education
levels of guardians of students and the total science
attitude scores (For Father: X2 = 5.682, p > 0.05; For
Mother: X2 = 5.986, p > 0.05). The data obtained in this
study support the results obtained by Cakir et al. (2007)
and Mordi (1991).
When the mean attitude scores obtained from each
subscale are examined, the items where the students
scored the lowest were the “Normality of Scientist” and
the “Students’ belief about scientist lifestyles” ( X =
16.61). In addition, in terms of this scale, the lowest mean
attitude score was obtained in a similar research by
Curebal (2004) on gifted students. These common
negative beliefs may be eliminated through short-term
visits by professional scientists, who have become
outstanding with their studies particularly in the field of
science at SACs, their conversations with students, their
active participation in project studies and through the
creation of conference media on popular science.
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