A Measure of Social Skills and Its Relationship to College Activities

• In Event: Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual iPresentation Only: SIG-Advanced Studies of National Databases Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

Social skills garner significant attention among education researchers and across the social sciences, yet this domain is plagued by serious measurement shortcomings that limit our understanding of these important skills. Drawing on publicly available data from the ELS:2002, this study attempts to narrow a gap in the literature by proposing a measure of social skills that draws on teacher reports of student high school behavior. The study explores whether there is evidence that such a latent factor exists, and whether there is evidence of a significant relationship between this factor and activities used as proxies for social skills in the limited literature on the topic. Preliminary findings suggest evidence of both.

Authors

• Emily Chen-Bendle, University of Georgia

• Gregory C. Wolniak, Northwestern University