Masters Theses

Shao-hong Chu

Date of Award

6-1969

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Agricultural Extension

Major Professor

Cecil E. Carter Jr

Committee Members

Robert S. Dotson, George W. Weigers Jr

Abstract

The study was concerned with the problem of decreasing county junior 4-H enrollment in Tennessee. It was designed to determine the association between selected variables concerning county 4-H programs and the total junior 4-H enrollment. More specifically, the major purposes of this study were: (1) to determine the relations between the total number of junior 4-H members enrolled per county and selected variables concerning 4-H leadership, organization, participation, enrollment-related, place of member residence, and number of Extension staff member per county, and (2) to determine which of the six groups of county 4-H programs or independent variables (i.e., 4-H leadership, organization, participation, enrollment-related, place of residence, and number of Extension staff per county variables) accounted for the largest percent of variation in the number of junior 4-H members per county.

Data were obtained from the 1965-67 Tennessee 4-H Club Enrollment Reports and the 1960 Census of Population for Tennessee Counties. Twenty-one county 4-H program variables and six junior 4-H enrollment variables were studied. The zero order correlation coefficient (r) and the multiple correlation coefficient (R) were used to analyze the data.

Correlation analysis revealed that the number of junior 4-H members enrolled in Tennessee’s 95 counties tended to increase when there was an increase in the number of (1) adult 4-H leaders; (2) junior 4-H leaders; (3) 4-H all star numbers; (4) 4-H honor club members; (4) basic four 4-H organizations; (5) 4-H clubs; (6) members attending 4-H camp; (7) members participating in judging; (8) potential junior 4-H members; (9) junior 4-H members residing on rural non-farms; (10) Extension agents, and (11) full-time Extension 4-H staff equivalent. It was also revealed that each of these eleven variables tended to decrease with an increase in the percent of potential junior 4-H members enrolled full-time Extension 4-H staff equivalent.

Multiple correlation analysis disclosed that: (1) of the six 4-H leadership variables suited, the number of junior 4-H leaders per county accounted for the largest percent of variation (42.6 percent) in the number of junior 4-H members per county; (2) of the four 4-H organization variables studied, the number of 4-H clubs per county accounted for the largest percent of variation (69 percent) in the number of junior 4-H members per county; (3) of the three 4-H participation variables studied, the number of 4-H members participating in 4-H camp accounted for the largest percent of variation (32.0 percent) in the number of junior 4-H members enrolled per county; (4) of the three places of 4-H member resident variables, the number 4-H members residing on rural nonfarms accounted for the largest percent of variation (59.0 percent) in the number of junior 4-H members enrolled per county, and (5) of the two number of Extension 4-H staff variables, the number of full-time Extension 4-H staff equivalent per county accounted for the largest percent of variation (54.0 percent) in the number of junior 4-H members enrolled per county.

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