Introduction

Summary

The population this time consisted of students in 3rd grade of the spring semester of 1982. In grade three, a vocabulary test and a mathematics test were taken. A questionnaire investigated the students’ self-perception, attitudes towards school, as well as questions about leisure activities. A total of 8877 or 93 percent of the students answered.

A questionnaire of 21 questions was sent to the guardians. A total of 7133 or 75 percent of the guardians responded to the questionnaire.

A follow-up was done in 6th grade with a questionnaire similar to that in 3rd grade, with further questions about study choices and career plans. Two knowledge tests were done in 6th grade, a reading test and a mathematics test. A cognitive test in three parts was also performed. A total of 8065 students responded to the questionnaire or 85 percent.

The cohort was followed up in the spring of 1989 after the end of primary school. A survey for those who have started upper secondary school and another survey for the others. A total of 6869 responded to one of the surveys or 72 percent.

For these UGU collections, there is basic information regarding year of birth, gender, migration background, educational background and socio-economic information. In addition, there are school administrative data from 3rd grade onwards regarding, among other things, school, municipality, year, grades, standard test results.

Questionnaires and data

Basic information

Information collected from 3rd grade up to and including 9th grade in compulsory school.

Register data that Statistics Sweden imposes in connection with the selection of classes. These mainly consist of:

  • year of birth
  • gender
  • migration background
  • educational background
  • socio-economic data

School administrative data

The school administrative information is obtained from 3rd grade and thereafter throughout the compulsory school period. A form is sent to the school the student attends and the school fills in information for each student included in the survey. In 3rd grade, it is mainly the classes that were included in the sample that fill in these forms, but over the years more students move, which means that the form is sent out to more and more schools which then fill in information for individual students. This is done so that the students who were included from the beginning can be followed over the years up to adulthood. This information consists of:

  • municipality
  • school
  • school grade
  • age integrated or age diverse class
  • mother tongue
  • Swedish for immigrants
  • date when moving to another school
  • new municipality
  • new school
  • grades when given
  • The standard test results in English from 8th grade and in Swedish and mathematics from 9th grade were collected in the spring semester of 1987 and 1988, respectively, see reports.

The collection in 3rd grade

In order to add to the data obtained by the UGU project, The National School Board, decided in consultation with the University and Higher Education Agency and Statistics Sweden that a new collection of data would begin in 3rd grade in the spring term of 1982. Furthermore, it was decided that the collection would take place in collaboration between Statistics Sweden and the UGU-project at the University of Gothenburg, whereby Statistics Sweden would have the main responsibility for collecting school administrative data, while the UGU-project would be responsible for the collection of other data.

A guideline for the new collection was that it should as far as possible follow the structure that the project previously had. This would make it possible to study the development within the school over a 25-year period and to relate this development to the changes that have taken place within the education system.

To reduce the administrative difficulties in the collection and get the opportunity to study whole school classes, the same sample design was chosen as applied by the UGU project.

The questionnaires were sent to the respective schools where the UGU population was located and during May and June 1982, the completed material was returned to the project. After correction and punching, the material was ready for data processing about a year later.

Knowledge test

Results of a vocabulary test containing 40 tasks, more specifically the subtest “Antonyms” from the DB A battery and a mathematics test consisting of 15 tasks taken from the areas:

  • he four arithmetic methods with whole numbers within the number range 0–10 000
  • problem solving
  • mathematical terminology

Questionnaire for students

The form for the students contained 69 questions and highlighted the following areas:

  • Students’ self-perception in different school situations (questions 1–36).
  • Students’ attitudes towards activities in school (questions 37–54).
  • Students’ attitudes towards school (questions 55–64)
  • Students’ leisure activities (questions 65–69)

Questionnaire to the guardians

The form sent to the guardians contained 21 questions divided into the following areas:

  • The child’s upbringing conditions.
  • Ambitions and wishes regarding the child’s education.
  • The parents’ own educational and professional situation.
  • Views on the school’s objectives.

The collection in 6th grade

The purpose of the collection was to follow up the survey that was done on the cohort in 3rd grade. In addition, it was possible to compare the results with previous cohorts (UGU cohort 1967 and Individual Statistics project cohorts born 1948 and 1953).

A practical problem with the follow-up in 6th grade was that many classes were divided and that individual students changed class or moved since 3rd grade. Therefore, we have used different routines for information and distribution of survey material depending on how many UGU students were in the school (principal) areas. First, an information letter was sent to the principal in the principal areas where there were one or more classes with at least ten UGU students. Attached to this letter was a brief information about the project, a letter from the National Board of Education and a list of classes with UGU students within the municipality. The letter was also accompanied by an information sheet for the class teachers affected by the collection and a letter to the local Home and School Associations.

At the end of May, we started contacting schools from which we did not receive any material. These were schools in which there were classes with at least ten UGU students. There were 133 classes. The most common answer was that the class did not finish all the tests and that the material would be sent in as soon as possible. In a couple of principals’ areas, the packages had not been distributed to the teachers until the end of May.

Experiences from the survey showed that some teachers wondered about or assumed that students who went to grades other than 6th grade would not be included in the survey. Regarding weakly gifted students or special school students, the teachers have acted a little differently. Some teachers only announce that the student is unable to do the examination due to a disability and return the material. Some teachers wondered if the students would participate this time because they did not participate in 3rd grade. The answer was yes, because the reason was that the teacher in 3rd grade did not complete the survey. There was thus no refusal from students or guardians.

Cognitive tests

The Cognitive tests are intelligence tests containing tasks of a verbal, inductive and spatial nature. These have been given at each collection in 6th grade and began with the evaluation in 1961.

  • Antonyms: To choose the opposite of a particular keyword among four options
  • Sheet metal folding: To work out which of the four figures you get, if you fold a pictured “sheet metal piece”
  • Number series: To continue a number series, where six numbers are given, with two more numbers

Knowledge test

Two knowledge tests were used in this collection of mathematics tests and one reading test.

  • The mathematics test consisted partly of the assignments given in 3rd grade, and partly of four newly constructed assignments.
  • The reading test was also largely identical to what was given in 3rd grade, but here the change consisted of five assignments being excluded.

Questionnaire for students

The student form contained 76 questions and covered the following areas:

  • Students’ self-perception in different school situations (questions 1–33)
  • Students’ attitudes towards certain activities in school (questions 34–52)
  • Students’ attitudes towards school (questions 53–59)
  • Students’ study choices and career plans (questions 60–66)
  • Students’ leisure activities (questions 67–76).

The collection in the 1st grade of upper secondary school

In the spring of 1989, one year after the end of compulsory school, a questionnaire was sent to the more than 9,000 individuals included in the sample at this time. The questionnaires were conducted in two versions, one for those who have started upper secondary school and one for the others. A total of about fifty questions were included, most of which were identical to those used in the corresponding survey five years earlier. The questionnaires were answered by just over three quarters of the survey group.

The survey was conducted from the last week of March to mid-July 1989. Each student received both questionnaires because there was no information on who had been admitted to the upper secondary school. Along with the questionnaires, there was information about the project and a response envelope addressed directly to the project. Questionnaires and other information were sent directly to the young people’s home address. A total of four reminders were issued.

Coding and punching of all received forms was completed in March, the year after the survey was conducted.

Questionnaire for students

  • Youth employment September 1988 - March 1989
  • Views on and experiences of high school
  • Future plans
  • Young people’s perception of their knowledge
  • Leisure activities
  • Views on and experiences of upper secondary school (only young people who have attended upper secondary school)

Questionnaires

Questionnaire students 3rd grade

Metadata

Description

Dataset name: kohort4_qs3

The dataset has N=9504 rows and 68 columns. 7347 rows have no missing values on any column.

Metadata for search engines
  • Date published: 2023-06-08
x
QS31A
QS31B
QS31C
QS32A
QS32B
QS32C
QS33A
QS33B
QS33C
QS34A
QS34B
QS34C
QS35A
QS35B
QS35C
QS36A
QS36B
QS36C
QS37A
QS37B
QS37C
QS38A
QS38B
QS38C
QS39A
QS39B
QS39C
QS310A
QS310C
QS311A
QS311B
QS311C
QS312A
QS312B
QS312C
QS337
QS338
QS339
QS340
QS341
QS342
QS343
QS344
QS345
QS346
QS347
QS348
QS349
QS350
QS351
QS352
QS353
QS354
QS355
QS356
QS357
QS358
QS359
QS360
QS361
QS362
QS363
QS364
QS365
QS366
QS367
QS368
QS369

#Variables

QS31A

Do you think that you are good at sums?

Distribution

Distribution of values for QS31A

718 missing values.

Summary statistics

name label data_type n_missing complete_rate min median max mean sd hist format.spss
QS31A Do you think that you are good at sums? numeric 718 0.9244529 1 1 3 1.256317 0.4430934 ▇▁▃▁▁ F1.0

Value labels

Response choices
name value
JA 1
NEJ 2
VET EJ, DUBBELMARK. 3

QS31B

Do you think that your teacher thinks that you are good at sums?

Distribution

Distribution of values for QS31B

807 missing values.

Summary statistics

name label data_type n_missing complete_rate min median max mean sd hist format.spss
QS31B Do you think that your teacher thinks that you are good at sums? numeric 807 0.9150884 1 1 3 1.240773 0.4421218 ▇▁▂▁▁ F1.0

Value labels

Response choices
name value
JA 1
NEJ 2
VET EJ, DUBBELMARK. 3

QS31C

Do you often think that you would like to be better at doing sums?

Distribution

Distribution of values for QS31C

711 missing values.

Summary statistics

name label data_type n_missing complete_rate min median max mean sd hist format.spss
QS31C Do you often think that you would like to be better at doing sums? numeric 711 0.9251894 1 1 3 1.302286 0.4610049 ▇▁▃▁▁ F1.0

Value labels

Response choices
name value
JA 1
NEJ 2
VET EJ, DUBBELMARK. 3

QS32A

Do you think that you are good at spelling?

Distribution

Distribution of values for QS32A

738 missing values.

Summary statistics

name label data_type n_missing complete_rate min median max mean sd hist format.spss
QS32A Do you think that you are good at spelling? numeric 738 0.9223485 1 1 3 1.342802 0.4830121 ▇▁▅▁▁ F1.0

Value labels

Response choices
name value
JA 1
NEJ 2
VET EJ, DUBBELMARK. 3

QS32B

Do you think that your parents think that you are good at spelling?

Distribution

Distribution of values for QS32B

750 missing values.

Summary statistics

name label data_type n_missing complete_rate min median max mean sd hist format.spss
QS32B Do you think that your parents think that you are good at spelling? numeric 750 0.9210859 1 1 3 1.174549 0.3897008 ▇▁▂▁▁ F1.0

Value labels

Response choices
name value
JA 1
NEJ 2
VET EJ, DUBBELMARK. 3

QS32C

Do you often think that you would like to spell better?

Distribution

Distribution of values for QS32C

733 missing values.

Summary statistics

name label data_type n_missing complete_rate min median max mean sd hist format.spss
QS32C Do you often think that you would like to spell better? numeric 733 0.9228746 1 1 3 1.364611 0.4822949 ▇▁▅▁▁ F1.0

Value labels

Response choices
name value
JA 1
NEJ 2
VET EJ, DUBBELMARK. 3

QS33A

Do you like working together with other children in the class?

Distribution

Distribution of values for QS33A

651 missing values.

Summary statistics

name label data_type n_missing complete_rate min median max mean sd hist format.spss
QS33A Do you like working together with other children in the class? numeric 651 0.9315025 1 1 3 1.125946 0.3375455 ▇▁▁▁▁ F1.0

Value labels

Response choices
name value
JA 1
NEJ 2
VET EJ, DUBBELMARK. 3

QS33B

Do you think that other children in the class like working together with you?

Distribution

Distribution of values for QS33B

811 missing values.

Summary statistics

name label data_type n_missing complete_rate min median max mean sd hist format.spss
QS33B Do you think that other children in the class like working together with you? numeric 811 0.9146675 1 1 3 1.189923 0.4111646 ▇▁▂▁▁ F1.0

Value labels

Response choices
name value
JA 1
NEJ 2
VET EJ, DUBBELMARK. 3

QS33C

Do you often think that you would like to be better at working together with other children?

Distribution

Distribution of values for QS33C

784 missing values.

Summary statistics

name label data_type n_missing complete_rate min median max mean sd hist format.spss
QS33C Do you often think that you would like to be better at working together with other children? numeric 784 0.9175084 1 2 3 1.526261 0.5018587 ▇▁▇▁▁ F1.0

Value labels

Response choices
name value
JA 1
NEJ 2
VET EJ, DUBBELMARK. 3

QS34A

Do you ask the teacher for help when you do not understand?

Distribution