Doelopvattingen van sociologie-docenten

Samenvatting

While there has been great concern recently, about the goals of education, discussion has tended to be abstract. The instituut voor toegepaste sociologie studied the actual, concrete goals of sociologists in the Netherlands. 108 statements dealing with competence, knowledge, and insight were delineated. On a 5 point scale, the r's indicated if the concept was good or bad, important or unimportant, clear or unclear, etc. A questionnaire was sent to 165 sociologists at institutions of higher learning. 60% of the questionnaire's were returned and usable. Mcquitty cluster analysis was performed and the number of statements was reduced to 65. After factor analysis 33 items were retained and were correlated to 15 independent variables; ie, function, year of completion of study, and the institution where the degree was obtained. In Wageningen, Utrecht, and Nijmegen there was greater emphasis attached to the knowledge of methodological principles. Those who held some function outside of education thought the ability to handle theoretical concepts was relatively less important. The year in which the degree was obtained was less important than where it was obtained. These correlations are rather weak, and it therefore appears that university teachers of sociology have somewhat vague notions of the goals of their work. 1 table, 1 chart. P. Tiersma.