DISSERTATION PROPOSAL

ON
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STUDY HABITS, SELF
CONCEPT AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENTS
SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF IGNOU FOR THE
AWARD OF DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (EDUCATION)
Submitted By:
Jyoti Devi
Enrol. No. 125417025

Under the Guidance of:

Dr. Mohd. Zubair Kales
Associate Professor,
Govt. P.G. College of Education, Canal Road, Jammu

INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY

MAIDAN GARHI, NEW DELHI

INTRODUCTION
Academic Achievement
Aacademic achievement can be defined as excellence in all
academic disciplines, in class as well as extracurricular activities. It
Includes excellence inspiring, behavior, confidence, communication,
punctuality, skill, assertiveness, arts, culture and the like.
According

to

Steinberger

(1993)

"Academic

achievement

encompasses student ability and performance; it is multidimensional; it is

intricately related to human growth and cognitive, emotional, social, and
physical development; it reflects the whole child; it is not related to a single
instance, but occurs across time and levels, through a students life in
public school and on into post-secondary years and working life." Merriam
Webster defines academic achievement as "the quality and quantity of a
student's work."
Factors influencing Academic achievement /performance
Number of factors that determine the level and quality of students'
academic performance are analyzed from four perspectives:
Student level factors including the students own physical health
and social and emotional wellbeing
Career level factors such as socioeconomic status, and the
physical and mental health of careers
Family and household environment factors
School environment factors.

Study habits and academic performance

Study habits elicit and guide one's cognitive processes during
learning and it plays a very crucial role in the academic performance of
students. In view of this, some researchers (Bernard, 1990; Kendler, 1995;
Onotsa & Okpala, 1985) have shown that students academic performance
is the product of an inter-play of factors like good and effective study habits
and skills, teachers relationship with students and conducive school or
home environment. Available literature on study habits however, indicates
that successful studying and understanding what is taught in schools are
paramount to obtaining good academic performance and participating fully
in society.
Asaqwara (1994) opined that a good study habit means overcoming
all the competing attractions with the study environment both internal and
external such as watching movies while studying, noise, reading other
books, discussions and the state of mind of the learner. Mazuar (2000),
Asaqwara (1994) and Iheanacho (2002) further stressed the effect of bad
study habits and postulated that bad study habits make studies rigorous
and painful. Amongst other drawbacks in the system of education, the
study habits of students play a vital role in reflecting the standard of
education and the students individual performance. Sorenson (1991) while
outlining the good basic study habits stated that one must study with the
primary intention of understanding. This requires one not to hurry in getting
through, instead sustained concentration is necessary. Crow and Crow
(1992) opined that effective habits of study include plan/place, a definite
time table and taking brief of well-organized notes. According to Patel
(1976), study habits include:

Home environment and planning of work

Reading and note-taking habits
Planning of subjects
Habits of concentration
Preparation for examination
General habits and attitudes
School environment

STUDY HABITS
Concept of Study Habits
Study Habits has been defined in Dictionary of Education as the
Students way of study, it can be effective and ineffective etc. To elaborate
Study habits are the methods of learning or Acknowledgement, which has
been used by a student.
According to Good [1973] the term study habits as: the students way
of study whether systematic, efficient or inefficient etc. good study habits
are perceived to be the determinants of the academic performance. That is
why efforts are made to be the determinants of the academic performance.
That is why efforts are made to develop and improve study habits of
students. University students have to face the emotional causes due to
several reasons. They have poor study habits and show poor academic
performance motivation. A great deal of evidence is present to show the
positive correlation between study habits and academic achievement. And
the main purpose of Study guidance is to enable the students to see a clear
picture of the information regarding to every aspect of his study system and
study problems. Ansari found that study habits and study behavior are both

significant variables which determine the academic performance of the

students.
Study Habits of Students and their Significance
In context of significance of study habits Bojuwoye (1993) asserted
that one major area in which students need preparation in order to improve
their performance is in learning how to study and that lack of effective study
habits is a common educational problem among junior high school
students. Jacobson (1980) contended that students who allotted greater
amount of time to study exhibit greater performance gains. Although
Svensson (1997) agreed that the relationship between study habits and
academic performance of students is paramount. Svensson criticized
earlier research efforts based on the fact that the variables used were
theoretically imposed on the phenomena.
For study to be effective, Freeman and Morss (1993) have observed
that it should be regular, intense and should cover long periods. The habits
of studying must be a sustainable one, for that matter students must see
the need to develop good study habits. It is believed that good study habits
and positive attitude towards learning proven in many studies enhance the
processes of learning particular skills, including reasoning skills. Good
study habits lead to enhancement in learning, as ability improves and
sharpens through mastery of principles and by means of training, exercise
and constancy of application (Ortinero, 2000, p. 56). Weiners (1972)
study postulates that ability, as well as effort given by students to their
studies, affects the acquisition of thinking skills and academic performance.

The students approach to learning is highly individualistic with a wide

variation of techniques. One student may prefer the quiet library, another
student the lounge, one may underline a text, another takes note, one may
study intensively for several hours, another may take several breaks
Onyejiaku (1987). The variations are endless and the education felt that the
study process could be more productive if learners were taught specific
skills and techniques which would formalize the study process and thereby
make it more efficient. In the process of learning, habitual ways of
exercising and practicing their abilities of learning are considered as study
habits of learners. The pattern of behavior adopted by students in the
pursuit of their studies is considered under the caption of their study habits
(Jacobson, 1980)).
The efficient acquisition of knowledge depends upon the methods of
acquiring study habits. It is important and desirable that a probe into the
pattern of study habits of students be made. Kholi (1997) researched into
the difference between Indian and Euro- American students in their study
habits and indicated that Indian student needs to be spoon-fed, but the
Euro-American student prefers independent study under the supervision of
his or her teacher or master.
Self-Concept
Every individual exists in a constantly changing world of experience
of which he is the center. It is his basic tendency and striving to know and
understand himself as well as his environment. He reacts to his
environment as he experiences and perceived it. Due to constant
interactions with his environment, gradually the form of his self is

differentiated and developed. In this process, an integrated, organized and

unique self-structure comes out. In this process, an integrated, organized
and unique self-structure comes out. All his behavior is directed towards
actualizing, preserving and enhancing this self-structure. That part of selfstructure which the individual perceives as a set of specific and relatively
stable self-characteristics formulates his self-concept.
Rogres, in his 1947 Presidential address to the American Psychology
Association, noted that the self had come back into Psychology. The
concept of self had fallen into disrepute in Psychology, possibly due to the
dominance of Behaviorism, but was coming back as a legitimate research
concern by the late 1940s. Rogers (1951) defined self-concept as an
organized configuration of perceptions of the self which are admissible of
awareness. It is composed of such elements as the perceptions of ones
characteristics and abilities; the perception and concept of the self in
relation to others and to the environment; the value qualities which are
perceived as associated with experiences and objects; and goals and
ideals which are perceived as having positive or negative valence.
The extensive interest in self has a long history; theoretically the
notion of the self can be traced back to the ancient Greeks. The formulation
by Mead and Cooley (1934, 1902) provided a fruitful basis for empirical
work; nevertheless the notion of the self-concept did not become a
research concern until the 1940s.
Virtually all investigators agree that two distinct aspects of the self,
first identified by philosopher James (1890) more than a century ago,
emerge and become more refined with age. The first is the I or the

existential self. It includes the following realizations: That the self is

separate from the surrounding world, can act on and gain a sense of
control over its environment, has a private inner life not accessible to
others, and maintains continuous existence over time. The second facet of
the self is the me, a reflective observer that treats the self as an object of
knowledge and evaluation by sizing up its diverse attributes. Selfunderstanding begins with the dawning of self-awareness in the second
year of life (Lewis & Brooks,1979) and gradually evolves into a rich,
multifaceted view of the selfs characteristics and capacities over childhood
and adolescence. I and me are intimately intertwined and influence each
other.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Article by Jianzhong Xu (2004) calls attention to developmental and
home conditions that affect the development of good studies and work
habits through homework. He has examined recent studies that have
alluded to the possibility of developing good study and work habits through
family involvement with secondary school homework. He also described
two survey studies, in urban and rural secondary schools, that explicitly link
homework management to family help and grade level. The data suggest
that secondary students could still benefit from clear expectations from
adult assistance regarding how to foster the development of homework
management strategies, regardless of helper's educational background.
The data also suggest, however, that such help is overshadowed by
increasing internal distractions students encounter as they move from
middle school into high school.

Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Pradnya Rodge (2007) indicated in

their research that there is a strong relationship between leisure reading
and school achievement, but the leisure reading habits of urban
adolescents have rarely been studied. From their investigation of the
leisure reading habits of 584 urban minority middle school students, the
authors identify these key findings: More than two-thirds of the students
indicated that they read for fun and relaxation, to learn new things, or
because they were bored. Magazines were the preferred reading material
for both males and females, followed by comics and the Internet.
Celebrities, people or characters like me, sports figures, and musicians
were among the most popular subjects pursued in respondents' leisure
reading. Reading during summer vacation was not popular with either sex.
Shobhna Joshi and Rekha Srivastava (2009) investigated the selfesteem and academic achievement of urban and rural adolescents, and to
examine the gender differences in self-esteem and academic achievement.
The sample of this study consisted of400 adolescents (200 urban and 200
rural) from Varanasi District. The boys and girls (aged 12 to14) were
equally distributed among the urban and rural sample. Self-esteem was
measured by Self-esteem questionnaire and academic achievement was
measured by academic school records. The findings indicated that there
were no significant differences with regard to self-esteem of rural and urban
adolescents. There were significant differences with regard to academic
achievement of rural and urban adolescents. Urban adolescents scored
higher in academic achievement as compared to rural adolescents. Boys
would score significant higher on self-esteem as compared to girls.

Significant gender differences were found in academic achievement. Girls

were significantly higher on academic achievement as compared to boys.
Sachdeva, Sachin(2012) framed his study to investigation of Study
Habit among higher secondary students by employing a sample of 200
subjects in which 100 subjects were urban and 100 were rural with age
ranging from 16-18 years located in Rewari district. The study habit
inventory by M. N. Palsane was used to the sample individually 't' test was
used to analyzing the data. It was found that the urban area students
significantly scored high on the study habit in comparison to rural area
students.
Ansari, M Farooque (2012) done research study which was entitled
Study of Academic Achievement and Adjustment Factors of Urban and
Rural Adolescent Students. This study, the relationship between Academic
Achievement (AA) and Adjustment Factors (AF) was examined among
adolescent students in urban and rural areas. Differences among these two
groups with regard to Academic Achievement and Adjustment were noted.
Ajay Kumar Attri (2013) find out overall and component wise
significant differences in the study habits of senior secondary school
students of working and non- working mothers having rural background.
The sample of the study consisted of 60 secondary school students (30
senior secondary school students of working mothers, 30 senior secondary
school students of non-working mothers) of the age group 16 to 18 years
belonging to rural background were selected randomly from five different
senior secondary schools of district Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. Study Habit
Inventory constructed by Mukhopadhyaya, M & Sansanwal, D.N. was

administered to the selected sample to assess their study habits. The data
so collected was analyzed statistically by employing mean, SD and t-test.
The study revealed that there were insignificant differences between the
rural senior secondary students of working mother and nonworking mother
on the measure of overall, comprehension, concentration, task, orientation,
study, interaction, drilling, support, recording and language components of
study habits.
Dr. S. SIDDI RAJU (2013) investigated the relationship between
gender and locality on academic achievement of secondary school
students. A sample of 120 boys and girls was collected from rural and
urban schools in Putturmandal, Chittoordist, A.p. The collected data was
statistically analyzed; for this purpose t test was calculated. Based on the
findings of the study revealed that gender and locality has significant
influence on academic achievement of 7th class students in social studies.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:To compare study habits, self-concept and academic achievement
among high school students
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:1. To ascertain the difference between rural and urban students on their
measure of study habits.
2. To compare the girls & boys students on their study habits.
3. To study the effect of interaction between inhabitance and gender to
determine students study habits.

4. To investigate the variance in academic achievement of students in

relation to their inhabitance.
5. To explore the variation in academic achievement of students in
relation to their gender difference.
6. To study the effect of interaction between inhabitance and gender to
determine students academic achievement.
7. To ascertain the difference between rural and urban students on their
measure of Overall Self Concept as well as its different dimensions
namely Physical, Social, Moral, Intellectual, Temperamental and
Educational Self Concept.
8. To compare the girls & boys students on their Overall Self Concept as
well as on its different dimensions namely Physical, Social, Moral,
Intellectual, Temperamental and Educational Self Concept.
9. To study the effect of interaction between inhabitance and gender to
determine students Overall Self Concept as well as its different
dimensions

namely

Physical,

Social,

Moral,

Intellectual,

Temperamental and Educational Self Concept.

HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY:1. Students belonging to urban and rural localities are not significantly
different in their study habits.
2. Male and female school going adolescents are significantly different
in their study habits.

3. Male and female belonging to urban and rural localities are not
significantly different in their study habits.
4. Students belonging to urban and rural localities are not significantly
different in their academic achievement.
5. Male and female are significantly different in their academic
achievement.
6. There is significant difference in academic achievement of students
belong to urban and rural localities in relation to their gender
difference.
7. There is no significant effect of inhabitance (urban and rural) on
students Physical, Social, Moral, Intellectual, Temperamental,
Educational as well as on Overall Self Concept.
8. Male and female adolescents are significantly different on their
Physical, Social, Moral, Intellectual, Temperamental, Educational as
well as on Overall Self Concept.
9. The effect of interaction between inhabitance and gender is
significant on adolescents Physical, Social, Moral, intellectual,
temperamental, educational as well as on Overall Self Concept.
SAMPLE OF THE STUDY:The total sample will be comprises of school students with age rang
13 to 16 years from Jammu district. The whole sample consist of total 600
students with equal number of boys (n=300) and girls (n=300). Both
subgroups were made with equal number of students belong to urban &

rural community. To select the sample randomized sampling technique will

be use in the present study. The efforts will be made to select the sample
as representative as possible in terms of socio-economic status and family
type.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS TO BE USED:The operational definition of the various independent and dependent
variable, which will be use in present study, is as follow:
Self-Concept: It means the category of self-concept on overall selfconcept & its dimensions, which will be assessed by self-concept
questionnaire of R.K. Saraswat (1984).
Adolescent: In the present study adolescents will be defined on the
basis of their class in which they study. Students of class 8th to
10th are symbolized as adolescents.
Gender: In this study Gender refers specifically to the biological
characteristics, which indicate membership in one of two categories:
Male or Female.
Inhabitance: In this study inhabitance refer specifically to the living
area (diverse in their geography, economic base, demographics, and
development) whether it comes under city or outside cities or towns
namely Urban and Rural.
Study habit: The Study habit decided as per study habit and Attitude
developed by C.P.Mathur.

 Academic Achievement: The percentage of the total marks obtained

by the students in their final exam of previous academic year.
VARIABLES OF THE STUDY:Considered variables will be treated as follows:
Independent variable: Inhabitance- A
Urban A1
Rural A2
Gender- B
Boys B1
Girls B2
Dependent variable: Study habits
Self-concept
Academic achievement
TOOLS TO BE USED
Test of study habits and attitudes by C.P. Mathur.
Self concept Questionnaire by R.K. Saraswat.

STATISTICAL TECHNIQUE TO BE USED

Mean
S.D.

REFERENCES

Ajay Kumar Attri (2013). Study Habits of Senior Secondary Students of

Working and Non- Working Mothers .International Educational EJournal, {Quarterly}, ISSN 2277-2456, Volume-II, Issue-IV.
Ansari, M Farooque (2012). Study of academic achievement and selected
adjustment factors of urban and rural adolescent students in Pune
district. Dissertation. University of Pune.
Dr. S. SIDDI RAJU (2013). Impact Of Gender And Locality on Academic
Achievement of Secondary School Students in Social Studies.
INDIAN JOURNAL OF RESEARCH. Volume : 2 | Issue : 2 | 106-7.
JianzhongXu(2004). Family Help and Homework Management in Urban
and Rural Secondary Schools. Teachers College Record Volume 106
Number 9, 1786-1803.
Sachdeva, Sachin(2012) . Study Habit of Higher Secondary Students.
Review of Research .Sep2012, Vol. 1 Issue 12, Special section p1-6.
6p.
Sandra Hughes-Hassell and PradnyaRodge (2007). The Leisure Reading
Habits of Urban Adolescents. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
Volume 51, Issue 1, pages 2233.
Shobhna Joshi and Rekha Srivastava (2009). Self-esteem and Academic
Achievement of Adolescents. Journal of the Indian Academy of
Applied Psychology October 2009, Vol. 35, Special Issue, 33-39.