Does the Strength of the Parent-Child Relationship affect Grades?

Overview

Objectives/Goals This experiment tests if the parent-child relationship affects grades. If the relationship does, maybe people can find out what it takes to have a good relationship to raise grades. The experimental hypothesis is that if a child has a positive parent-child relationship, then that child#s grades will be in the A#s and B#s 80% of the time. Methods/Materials To test the hypothesis two surveys of thirteen questions were written, one for parents and one for children. The parent surveys were all given on September19, 2001, during the Thurgood Marshall Middle School Back-to-School Night in Mrs. Gillum's classroom. Exactly 163 parents were surveyed. The students then took the surveys on November 30, 2001, and exactly 175 students were surveyed. Results A correlation between grades in A's and B's with good or excellent relationships appeared 62.7% of the surveys. Families with students earning grades in A's and B's and spent at least an hour talking with each other appeared 54.2% of the time. Parents and students with a relationship of good or excellent and spend at least one hour talking with each other appeared 66% of the time. Students who had families dinner at least three times a week, earned grades in A's and B's 70.3% of the time. Conclusions/Discussion The experimental hypothesis was proven wrong. The positive parent-child relationship was stronger for students with better grades only about 50% of the time, instead of 80%. This shows that the parent-child relationship is a factor, but not as large as hypothesized. Although the hypothesis was proven wrong, the data still shows that the parent-child relationship plays a large part of a child's grades. More studies should be done on what specific parts of the parent-child relationships play a part in a child's school grades.

Competition history

• CSEF 2002 Social Sciences (Junior Division Only) · Entry J1719

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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