1. A FREE-ASSOCIATION WORD LIST FOR THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
- Author
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Oregon Univ., Eugene. School of Education. and JACOBS, H. DONALD
- Abstract
THE 1926 BUCKINGHAM-DOLCH WORD STUDY WAS REPLICATED TO DETERMINE THE PRESENT-DAY VALIDITY OF THE 1926 BUCKINGHAM-DOLCH LIST. APPROXIMATELY 8,000 CHILDREN IN GRADES 2 THROUGH 6 FROM SIX SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN WILLAMETTE VALLEY, OREGON, WERE ASKED TO LIST ALL THE WORDS THEY COULD THINK OF WITHIN A 15-MINUTE PERIOD. RESPONSES WERE KEY PUNCHED ONTO DATA CARDS AND RECORDED ON MAGNETIC TAPE. COMPUTERS MEASURED PUPIL PERFORMANCE, ALPHABETIZED THE WORDS, COUNTED FREQUENCIES, EDITED THE WORDS, SORTED THEM INTO IDENTICAL FREQUENCIES, AND ASSIGNED GRADE PLACEMENTS. THE 1926 AND 1966 LISTS WERE THEN MERGED, AND THE GRADE LEVEL DISTRIBUTIONS WERE TABULATED. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT THE 1926 FREE-ASSOCIATION LIST WAS NO LONGER REPRESENTATIVE OF STUDENTS' VOCABULARIES IN TERMS OF LIST CONTENT, GRADE PLACEMENT, AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE. MORE STUDENTS KNEW THE SAME WORD IN 1966 THEN IN 1926, ALTHOUGH 1966 STUDENTS KNEW FEWER WORDS THAN THE 1926 STUDENTS. ONLY THE 1966 LIST IS PRESENTED HERE. THE MERGED LISTS OF 1926 AND 1966 WILL BE PUBLISHED LATER. THIS IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS OREGON SCHOOL STUDY COUNCIL BULLETIN, VOL. 11, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 1967 FOR $1.50. (NS)
- Published
- 1967