dc.contributor.author	Sweet, Corrine
dc.coverage.spatial	United States	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2021-05-10T16:45:45Z
dc.date.available	2021-05-10T16:45:45Z
dc.date.issued	2021-04
dc.identifier.other	410B08D3-2E1D-11AC-467D-941225D1D014	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10428/4774
dc.description.abstract	This quantitative study utilized Tinto’s model of academic attrition and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to explore the educational attainment of a rarely studied group, single-father students. For the first question, “What effects do the parental status, marital status, and gender of a student have on educational attainment?” data collected for the NLSY97, n = 8,984, was utilized to compare academic attainment amongst participants in regards to gender, marital status, and parental status. Through a series of non-parametric tests, it was found that single, childless, female students had higher educational attainment than any other group, followed by married parent-students of both genders and single-mother students. For the second question, “What effects do Tinto’s pre-entry attributes of family background, skills and abilities, and prior schooling, have on educational attainment of the single-father student?” the impact of seven independent variables, representing Tinto’s pre-entry attributes, on educational attainment for single-father students, n = 44 after removal of incomplete records, was studied. Non-parametric tests were utilized to study the relationship between the seven independent variables and educational attainment; an ordered logistic regression was conducted to study the relationship between the independent variables as a group and educational attainment of the single-father student. Results were largely non-significant; however, positive relationships were found to exist between educational attainment and occupation, parents in the childhood home, and average hours worked per week. While non-significant, these results do provide insight into potential future areas of research regarding the single-father student. Keywords: Tinto, single-father students, adult learners, NLSY97, educational attainment, pre-entry attributes	en_US
dc.description.tableofcontents	I: INTRODUCTION 1 -- Background 1 -- Statement of the Problem 4 -- Research Questions 4 -- Significance of the Problem 4 -- Limitations and Delimitations 5 -- Definition of Terms 7 -- II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 9 -- Tinto’s Model 9 -- History of the Application of Tinto’s Model 12 -- Concerns Regarding the Application of Tinto’s Model 23 -- Single-Parent Students 27 -- The Unicorn: Single-Father Students 32 -- National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) 37 -- III: METHODS AND PROCEDURES 40 -- Population and Sample 40 -- Research Questions 47 -- Measures 47 -- Procedures 48 -- Data Analysis 49 -- IV: RESULTS 59 -- Statistical Results 59 -- Conclusions 72 -- V: DISCUSSION 78 -- Overview 78 -- Summary of Findings 79 -- Recommendations for Further Research 84 -- REFERENCES 87 -- APPENDIX A: NLSY97 Data Categories 97 -- APPENDIX B: Summary of Sample Design 99 -- APPENDIX C: Institutional Review Board Exemption Report 101 -- APPENDIX D: NLSY97 Data Fields for Educational Attainment 103 -- APPENDIX E: RQ1 Variables Matched to NLSY97 Fields 105 -- APPENDIX F: RQ2 Variables Matched to NLSY97 Fields 107 -- APPENDIX G: Ordered Logistic Regression Results 110	en_US
dc.format.extent	1 electronic document (PDF/A), 121 pages. 1251213 bytes.	en_US
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.rights	This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.	en_US
dc.subject	Dissertations, Academic--United States	en_US
dc.subject	Tinto, Vincent	en_US
dc.subject	Single fathers	en_US
dc.subject	College students	en_US
dc.subject	Adult students	en_US
dc.subject	Educational attainment	en_US
dc.title	Studying Unicorns: Single-Father Student Educational Attainment and Tinto’s Model	en_US
dc.type	Dissertation	en_US
dc.contributor.department	Department of Adult and Career Education of the Dewar College of Education and Human Services	en_US
dc.description.advisor	Waugh, C. Keith
dc.description.committee	Ott, Kenneth
dc.description.committee	Kuck, Sarah
dc.description.degree	Ed.D.	en_US
dc.description.major	Adult and Career Education	en_US