DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02361
title: Improving the Decision-Making Skills of Secondary School Students, 1992-1993: [Eugene, Oregon]
title: Archival Version

description: This study presents a profile of secondary school students'
 knowledge and attitudes about decision-making. Data were collected
 from middle school, high school, and college students in the Eugene,
 Oregon, area via self-completion questionnaires, between October 1992
 and April 1993. Given the opportunity to appear in a television ad,
 respondents were asked to characterize the factors that would
 influence their decision to participate. Factors included similar past
 experiences, input from family members and friends, expected return
 from participating, other commitments, future goals, and personal
 feelings. Those queried were then asked which factors would influence
 whether they had a positive or negative experience, such as the amount
 of thought they put into the decision, whether there was enough
 information available to make a good decision, and whether it worked
 out. In addition, each cohort was asked further questions. Part 1,
 Spencer Butte Middle School Data, contains data from 113 7th-grade
 students, collected during the month of October 1992. Respondents were
 asked what came to their minds when asked to think about
 "decision-making". Those queried were given five scenarios, such as
 being asked to join friends for a late movie and being asked to help a
 friend with homework, and were asked how they would respond in each
 situation. Background information on respondents includes sex. Part 2,
 Sheldon High School Data, contains data from 224 9th-grade students,
 collected during January 1993. Part 3, International High School Data,
 contains data from 88 9th-grade students, collected during January
 1993. Respondents in both Parts 2 and 3 completed the same survey
 instrument. Those queried were given five scenarios, such as spending
 money received as a gift to purchase a CD player or going on a
 three-week trip to Africa, and asked how they would respond in each
 situation. Respondents were asked which factors would influence their
 decision to accept an after-school job offer. Those queried were also
 asked how they would advise a friend to spend their spring break,
 studying or traveling. Respondents were asked to describe one big
 decision that they had made that semester. Background information on
 respondents includes sex, current employment status, and past
 employment experience. Part 4, University of Oregon Data, contains
 data from 70 student respondents collected during April
 1993. Respondents were asked to assess their own decision-making
 skills, the amount of important decisions they made, and their
 attitudes toward decision-making, including the influence of others on
 the decision-making process and whether they liked decisions to be
made for them. Background information on respondents includes sex.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Spencer Butte Middle School Data
DS2: Sheldon High School Data
DS3: International High School Data
DS4: University of Oregon Data
description: (1) This collection has not been processed by ICPSR
 staff. ICPSR is distributing the data and documentation for this
 collection in essentially the same form in which they were
 received. When appropriate, hardcopy documentation has been converted
 to machine-readable form and variables have been recoded to ensure
 respondents' anonymity. (2) The codebook, data collection instruments,
 and frequencies are provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF)
 file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated
 and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe
 Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat
Reader is provided through the ICPSR Website on the Internet.