Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1983

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Abstract

Community Instructional Services is a Florida program that is intended to provide educational, non-credit activities for adults. The activities must be directed at the legislatively selected problems of health, child rearing, environment, government, safety, human relations, consumer economics and homemaking. The educational entities that offer activities are required to establish the priority of these seven problems within their service region of involvement. This can be done by the use of a needs assessment procedure. This procedure includes the use of personal interviews, group and organizational meetings and questionnaire survey. The instrument developed in this dissertation permits the individual to rank order the seven specified problems and identify himself/herself within clearly established age groups. The results of this data are developed through the use of standard rank ordering methods and application of Kendall's W Coefficient of Concordance Formula. For demonstration purposes, a two-county region was analyzed using the proposed method. In addition to the collection of statistical data for the application of the Formula, specific problem areas within the seven major categories are identified and activities are proposed that may serve to deal with these individual areas of interest. The final rank order of the test region is clearly supported by the results of the Formula for Kendall's W, and is reinforced by the consideration of a suspected outlier rank order problem which results in a very significant Coefficient of Concordance. The methodology is outlined in a format that makes it useful for application to any educational entity involved in the Community Instructional Services Program, but it is not restricted to that Program. Any program that requires rank ordering for more than two problems and two participating agencies should be satisfactorily served by this model.

Extent

176 p.

Comments

Thesis (Educat.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1983.|Thesis (Educat.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1983.

Identifier

FADT11822

Format

pdf

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