| The purpose of this investigation was to determine what third grade children know about economics and the personal characteristics and prior background experiences that might contribute to this knowledge. The study was conducted using 361 third grade students in a midwestern suburban school district.;Statistical analysis included, (1) internal consistency and stability measures on the two instruments and (2) a multiple regression analysis to examine the effects of sex, test I.Q., father's occupation, mother's occupation, and background experiences on economic knowledge scores.;Several general conclusions may be drawn from this investigation: (1) I.Q. and economic knowledge are the most strongly correlated variables for both males and females (p < .05). (2) Males who receive high economic knowledge test scores have high I.Q.'s, numerous prior economic experiences and fathers of high socioeconomic status. (3) High I.Q. scores account for high economic test scores in females. Few inventory experiences and parents of low socioeconomic status had little effect.;The results of this study are puzzling in several respects. I.Q. is clearly the dominant factor associated with greater economic knowledge. Nevertheless, prior economic experiences and parental background and status contribute to the enhancement of economic knowledge for males but not for females. These results raise questions regarding the influence of environmental factors on economic understanding, and they suggest the need to find away of uniting home and school influences in economic education.;Two measuring instruments were used; The Primary Test of Economic Understanding (Davision and Kilgore, 1971) and the Prior Economic Experience Inventory, developed by the investigator. The inventory items were validated by a national jury of twenty experts in economics and economic education. The instruments were administered orally to the subjects. Two weeks after the initial testing, fifty students were retested to check the stability and internal reliability of the instruments. |
