Chance experiences and choice of college major. Primary data.

Research Questions/Hypotheses:

Research Design:

Fully Standardized Survey Instrument (provides question formulation and answer options); single measurements

Measurement Instruments/Apparatus:

The survey instrument was developed and specifically designed for the study. It includes the following sections:

1. Demographic and general information: Reported age, gender, year of graduation, field of study, information concerning previous education, surety of choice.
2. Inventory of chance experiences: Reports 9 different chance experiences that are derived from an underlying theoretical pattern. The pattern consists of a grid that covers the 2 dimensions of source (information, person, and event) and target (alternative, knowledge, and emotion). From these 9 chance experiences, those that were not personally experienced by the subject are rejected (assigned the value 0). The remaining items are ranked in order of importance (assigned the value 1 to a maximum of 9). The subjectively most important item is then classified on a 6-point Likert scale as to its general importance.
3. Inventory of college major choice: Following a literature review, 28 items concerning possible influences on a subject’s choice of college major were compiled. The items are classified on a 6-point Likert scale with respect to their subjective importance.
4. The questionnaire on competence and control beliefs (Fragebogen zu Kompetenz- und Kontrollüberzeugungen, FKK) from Krampen (1991): The questionnaire measures self-concept of own abilities, internality, social externality, and fatalistic externality with 8 items for each belief. A 6-point Likert scale is used.

Data Collection Method:

Data collection in the presence of an experimenter

• Group Administration
• Paper and Pencil

Population:

German freshman college students

Survey Time Period:

19th/20th of October 1992

Sample:

Convenience sample

Gender Distribution: 

60,0 % female subjects (n=132)
40,0 % male subjects (n=88)

Age Distribution: 18-28 years

Spatial Coverage (Country/Region/City): Germany/Rhineland-Palatinate/Trier

Subject Recruitment:

The questionnaires were distributed to students attending an introductory event for freshmen held at the student counseling centre at the University of Trier in the main auditorium. The questionnaires were filled out following the conclusion of the event. An experimenter stood by to answer any questions and to collect the questionnaires. The event manager brought the questionnaire to the students’ attention and asked them to participate. This introductory event took place on 2 separate days with attendees grouped by their choice of major.

Sample Size:

220 individuals

Return/Drop Out:

A total of 300 questionnaires were issued (200 on the 1st, 100 on the 2nd day). Of these, 256 (85.3%) were returned. 36 questionnaires were excluded due to missing or incorrect information.