In its position statement for school science education for the 1970's the National Science Teachers Association Committee on Curriculum Studies K-l2 (1971) Several researchers have implied the decline is the result of one or two factors; others have felt several factors interact to affect enrollment. It seems more plausible that a high school students decision to take or not take physics is based on several factors which may interact.In searching complex systems for cause and effect relationships, it is first necessary to identify variables which might interact and affect each other. This paper probes deeper into data gathered in a previous study in order to identify variables which could be manipulated in a future study in order to establish a causal mechanism.
Previous StudyThe precise sampling techniques used in this study are reported in more detail elsewhere (Dietrich, 1970)