High School Socioeconomic Status and Adolescent Political Socialization
Session Number
Project ID: BHVSO 11
Advisor(s)
Dr. Robert Bruno; University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Labor Employment and Relations
Discipline
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Start Date
22-4-2020 9:45 AM
End Date
22-4-2020 10:00 AM
Abstract
This study observes the effects of the socioeconomic status of high schools on the political orientations of students. Specifically, it investigates if a correlation exists between the political orientations of students and the wealth of a school district. Wealth in this context is defined as the percentage reached by the school district of a state-assigned adequacy funding target. School districts will be divided into brackets based on their funding adequacy percentage, as indicated on the Illinois Report Card.
The study will use a cross-sectional survey – validated by an expert in the field – across Illinois public school districts. The survey will ask students about their viewpoints on 8 political issues and will gauge how much students agree with specific liberal and conservative positions on each of these issues. Responses will contribute to an index on a scale from 0 to 1, with 0 being more liberal and 1 being more conservative. These values will represent individual political orientations, and their correlation with district socioeconomic status will be measured.
As of now, data has not yet been collected, but this process will be completed by the end of March. The survey will be administered in Innovations High School, East Peoria Community High School, along with Glenbard North, South, East and West High Schools. The total sample size will be 394 students across the six schools. The sample comprises students in social science and government classes, as this study would be most relevant to those classes.
High School Socioeconomic Status and Adolescent Political Socialization
This study observes the effects of the socioeconomic status of high schools on the political orientations of students. Specifically, it investigates if a correlation exists between the political orientations of students and the wealth of a school district. Wealth in this context is defined as the percentage reached by the school district of a state-assigned adequacy funding target. School districts will be divided into brackets based on their funding adequacy percentage, as indicated on the Illinois Report Card.
The study will use a cross-sectional survey – validated by an expert in the field – across Illinois public school districts. The survey will ask students about their viewpoints on 8 political issues and will gauge how much students agree with specific liberal and conservative positions on each of these issues. Responses will contribute to an index on a scale from 0 to 1, with 0 being more liberal and 1 being more conservative. These values will represent individual political orientations, and their correlation with district socioeconomic status will be measured.
As of now, data has not yet been collected, but this process will be completed by the end of March. The survey will be administered in Innovations High School, East Peoria Community High School, along with Glenbard North, South, East and West High Schools. The total sample size will be 394 students across the six schools. The sample comprises students in social science and government classes, as this study would be most relevant to those classes.