A Study of International Farm Youth Exchange Delegates Who Visited Latin America
A Study of International Farm Youth Exchange Delegates Who Visited Latin America
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Date
1960
Authors
Blum, Lee Ann Leet
Advisor
Wiggin, Gladys A.
Citation
Abstract
A. Statement of Problem
The problem of this thesis is to study the nature and
prediction of adjustment to foreign culture of 24 American
International Farm Youth Exchange delegates.
Specifically, this thesis is designed to answer the
following questions:
1. What was the nature of adjustment or the 24
subjects as determined through:
a. An analysis of a questionnaire administered
on return from the foreign visit.
b. An analysis of correspondence during the
foreign visit.
2. Could the nature or the adjustment have been predicted
prior to the foreign visit by materials
available in:
a. Application form for foreign visits.
b. Supplementary biographical data.
A secondary purpose of this thesis is to review the
literature relating to technical and/or student exchange
programs of:
1. Foreign nationals in the United States.
2. Americans in other countries.
B. Procedures
1. Selection of the Group from which Population Was Drawn
A group of 1010 IFYE delegates who have visited a
total of 59 different countries and Puerto Rico was the
population from which the sample was drawn. Due to the
variety of country cultures represented and the world
coverage, it was decided to simplify and centralize the
population. The 133 delegates who visited the 18 Latin
American countries were selected to represent the group.
Latin American countries were selected because of their similar cultural and religious background. Since information on file was to be used in the study, it was essential
to select only those del egates with comparable data.
Comparable data were available for delegate participants
during the years 1955-57. As so limited, the group numbered
64.
2. Criterion for Selecting Population
The next step was to determine whe ther the 64 subjects
could be categorized at the outset into most and
least adjusted to the foreign culture visited, on the
basis of material available after return.
The answer to question number 19 on the Individual
Report Form was selected as the item to be used for categorizing.
For categorizing question 19, eight individuals
were asked to serve as raters. Four raters had only
a slight knowledge of the IFYE program and four raters
were past participants in the IFYE program.
Each rater was given the group of 64 Individual
Report Forms and asked to categorize question 19 in one
of three categories. These categories were: (1) Least
Adjusted, (2) Medially Adjusted, and (3) Most Adjusted.
No criteria were given the rater to influence his placement.
The categorizing was used as an attempt to see if
a significant pattern could be recognized.
For the purpose of this study, it was decided that
the following method be used in classifying subjects:
a. Each subject must appear in the least adjusted
or in the most adjusted category a minimum of
four times (which means that at least half of
the raters thought that the subject was either
least adjusted or most adjusted).
b. The subject was not to appear in the least adjusted
category if classified in the most adjusted
category, and vice versa.
c. The subject might appear in the medially adjusted
category and still be used for the most or the
least adjusted category if qualifications for
step (a) listed here were fulfilled.
After all raters had completed their categorizing,
tabulations were made and it was found that 11 subjects in
the least adjusted category and 13 subjects in the most
adjusted category could be used in this study. Complete
categorizing of the 64 subjects can be found in Appendix A.
3. Procedures for Analysis of Data
a. Nature of Adjustment
Question number 19 of the Individual Report Form
was used to categorize the subjects into groups of
most adjusted and least adjusted. The question reads
as follows:
"Of all things that were new and different to you,
which were difficult or disagreeable to adjust to?"
The Individual Report Form appears in Appendix B. The
24 subjects' responses to the question appear in Appendix
G. Answers were available to all other questions on
the report and an analysis will be made in this study
of all questions relating to the nature of adjustment.
Correspondence received from the delegates while
visiting in the foreign country was available in
individual files. An analysis of the correspondence
indicated that delegates report a variety of news.
The nature of news reported is available for study in
relationship to the delegates' adjustment in the foreign
culture.
b. Prediction of Adjustment
Adjustment while in the host country is of special
interest to the officials of the IFYE program.
To be able to predict adjustment of a delegate to his
host country before actually participating in the
program would be of great value to IFYE. This study
is designed to investigate available pre-participation
background information on each subject. The
available information on file relates to: (1) Delegate
Application Form (to be found in Appendix c) and
(2) Delegate Biographical Form (to be found in Appendix
D).
The purposes of this study are to investigate
the background information listed above and to test
for significant relationship of nature of adjustment
in the foreign country.