Running Head: Level of preparedness
Level of Preparedness to Move Out of the House
Candice Granger
Level of Preparedness to Move Out of the House
Introduction
My diagnostic system was designed to determine an individual’s level of preparedness to move out of the house. I chose to create this system because I believe it is very important to evaluate and be prepared because the level of readiness to move out could make or break this major step in the direction of independence.
The first system determines the degree of financial stability and organization. The system is divided into mutually exclusive categories: strong, moderate, and weak. I described an individual categorized as strong having, an organized responsible plan to have enough time and money to pay the bills, worked out a complete budget, and as very knowledable of new responsibilities while living on their own. Moderate financial stability and organization I described having, somewhat of an organized responsible plan to have time and money to pay bills, partial or non realistic budget, and some knowledge of new responsibilities while living on their own. I described an individual categorized as weak having, no organized or responsible plan to have time and money to pay bills, no budget, and no knowledge of new responsibilities while living on their own.
The second diagnostic system was designed to measure the degree of emotional health and stability. It was divided into 3 mutually exclusive categories: healthy, average, and unhealthy. To categorize the case study as healthy the individual must be independent; does not rely on parents to solve their problems. They must also have a strong relationship with other positive support groups (extended family, church, close friends), and a strong level of self esteem and confidence. The average individual would be independent of their parents in some situations and dependent on them in others. They would have a weak relationship with other support groups and a weak level of self esteem and confidence. An individual categorized as unhealthy would be completely dependent on their parents, have no relationship with other support groups, and have a very low level of self esteem and confidence.
Results
Results of diagnostic test #1:
Financial stability and organization
|
|
Case Study 1 |
Case Study 2 |
Case Study 3 |
|
|
Strong |
0 |
10 |
0 |
Reliability 23/30 |
|
Moderate |
6 |
0 |
3 |
Validity 7/30 |
|
Weak |
4 |
0 |
7 |
|
*Gray boxes represent the expert’s choice
Results of diagnostic test #2: Emotional health and stability
|
|
Cast Study 1 |
Case Study 2 |
Case Study 3 |
|
|
Healthy |
0 |
10 |
3 |
Reliability 23/30 |
|
Average |
9 |
0 |
4 |
Validity 13/30 |
|
Unhealthy |
1 |
0 |
3 |
|
* Gray boxes represent the expert’s choice
Reliability and validity results for each case study
|
|
Case Study 1 |
Case Study 2 |
Case Study 3 |
|
Reliability |
15/20 |
20/20 |
11/20 |
|
Validity |
13/20 |
0/20 |
7/20 |
Discussion
In system one, information on financial stability and organization was gained, while information on the individual’s emotional health and stability was lost. This system was 77% reliable and 23% valid. Reliability was determined by 10 student diagnosticians who read the 3 case studies and categorized the individuals according to the diagnostic system. Validity was determined by comparing the student diagnostician’s results with an expert’s opinion. The expert for this system was a personal finance professor and counselor.
There are a few reasons I believe this system failed to be valid. The diagnosticians were college students themselves and the case studies were of young adults. The diagnosticians could be on the bias by identifying with the case studies because their reality of financial stability and organization could be similar to those in the case study, therefore thinking they are prepared to move out of the house. Also, it could be that many of the diagnosticians have little experience with finances and independent living responsibilities. It was very interesting that each diagnostician placed case study 2 in the strong category when the expert placed her as moderate. This could show a lack of experience with this in diagnosticians’ life.
In system two, information on emotional health and stability was gained, and knowledge of the individual’s financial stability and organization was lost. This system was 77% reliable and 43% valid. Reliability and validity were determined in the same way as system one with the same expert. This system was more valid than the first system, but still failed to be considered valid. I believe reasons for this could include that the diagnosticians were in a hurry to complete the task and may have searched for surface characteristics to categorize the individual when there was more underlying information that could be found if one took the time to think about it. Also, it is difficult to measure an individual’s emotional health and stability based on a few words and descriptions.
While
this diagnostic test is set up to make it simple to determine if an individual
is prepared or not to move out of the house a great deal of information is
lost. In system one, knowledge of the
individual’s emotional health is lost, and in system two, knowledge of finance
and organization is lost. In both
systems there is no way to reason why the individual is the way they are. In
I was interested to find that information is lost because I believe that you cannot categorize an individual to say they are ready or not to move out. It is difficult to predict because there is a great deal of criteria that must be considered. Also, validity was only measured by one person, which puts you at the mercy of their individual perceptions. It is reality that people are different. Majority of the time it may take life circumstances to more fully see if the individual is ready or not. I do however realize the useful means of a diagnostic test. Primarily they provide an uncomplicated way to determine conditions, but life for the most part is complicated.
Running Head: Level of preparedness
Level of Preparedness to Move Out of the House
Candice Granger