@prefix vivo: . @prefix edm: . @prefix ns0: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix skos: . vivo:departmentOrSchool "Education, Faculty of"@en, "Educational Studies (EDST), Department of"@en ; edm:dataProvider "DSpace"@en ; ns0:degreeCampus "UBCV"@en ; dcterms:creator "McKinnon, Donald Peter"@en ; dcterms:issued "2011-09-13T21:56:47Z"@en, "1966"@en ; vivo:relatedDegree "Master of Education - MEd"@en ; ns0:degreeGrantor "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:description """The purpose of this study is to analyse the distances travelled to three urban night school centers in order to determine whether each serves separate areas or whether each serves larger, overlapping areas. The sample population consisted of 486 adults enrolled in twenty-two courses offered as part of the 1962-1963 program. Some of these selected courses were in subjects offered at all three centers; some courses were offered at two of the centers and the remainder were offered at only one center. It was thus possible to compare the centers while controlling for the number of centers offering the same subject matter. Distributions of distances travelled to each course and to each group of courses were prepared. The chi-square test of independence was used to compare the various distributions and the significance of the difference between mean distances travelled was used to provide additional comparisons. Maps were prepared illustrating the residences of participants and a correlation was made to determine the relationship between the distances travelled and the percentage of sessions attended by the participant. The results indicated that half of the 486 participants travelled less than 2.8 miles. More lived between one and two miles from the center they attended than in any other mile interval from the center. Only five percent of the participants travelled more than nine miles and less than one percent travelled more than fourteen miles. The statistical tests indicated that there was an association between the distance travelled and the center attended. It was found that when courses were offered at one center only, there was no statistical difference between the patterns of distance travelled to the three centers. Participants seemed to travel from throughout the city of Vancouver to attend, no matter which center offered the course. Women who attend courses designed for women only travel shorter distances than men who attend courses designed for men only. For courses offered at all three centers, adults travelled further to John Oliver Night School and to Technical Night School than to Kitsilano Night School. Travel distance does not inhibit the subsequent attendance of those who enroll. The opening of new night school centers during the past fifteen years was reviewed and it was found that a new center opened within two miles of a large well established center is unlikely to attract sufficient clientele to be economically successful."""@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/37280?expand=metadata"@en ; skos:note "A COMPARISON OF DISTANCES TRAVELLED TO URBAN NIGHT SCHOOL CENTERS by DONALD PETER MCKINNON B.Ed., U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia, 1962 A THESIS SUBMITTED I N PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Ma s t e r o f E d u c a t i o n , ( A d u l t E d u c a t i o n ) i n the F a c u l t y o f EDUCATION We a c c e p t t h i s t h e s i s as conforming t o the r e q u i r e d s t a n d a r d THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA May, 1966 I n p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r a n a d v a n c e d d e g r e e a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , I a g r e e t h a t t h e L i b r a r y s h a l l m a k e i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e a n d s t u d y . I f u r t h e r a g r e e t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e c o p y i n g o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y p u r p o s e s may be g r a n t e d by t h e H e a d o f my D e p a r t m e n t o r by h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s u n d e r s t o o d t h a t c o p y i n g o r p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l n o t be a l l o w e d w i t h o u t my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n D e p a r t m e n t o f Education T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a V a n c o u v e r 8, C a n a d a D a t e May, 1966. ABSTRACT The purpose o f t h i s study i s t o a n a l y s e the d i s t a n c e s t r a v e l l e d t o t h r e e urban n i g h t s c h o o l c e n t e r s i n o r d e r t o determine whether each s e r v e s s e p a r a t e a r e a s o r whether each s e r v e s l a r g e r , o v e r l a p p i n g a r e a s . The sample p o p u l a t i o n c o n s i s t e d o f *+86 a d u l t s e n r o l l e d i n twenty-two c o u r s e s o f f e r e d as p a r t o f the 1962-1963 program. Some o f thes e s e l e c t e d c o u r s e s were i n s u b j e c t s o f f e r e d a t a l l t h r e e c e n t e r s ; some c o u r s e s were o f f e r e d a t two o f the c e n t e r s and the remainder were o f f e r e d a t o n l y one c e n t e r . I t was thus p o s s i b l e t o compare the c e n t e r s w h i l e c o n t r o l l i n g f o r the number o f c e n t e r s o f f e r i n g the same s u b j e c t m a t t e r . D i s t r i b u t i o n s o f d i s t a n c e s t r a v e l l e d t o each course and t o each group o f c o u r s e s were p r e p a r e d . The c h i - s q u a r e t e s t o f independence was used t o compare the v a r i o u s d i s t r i b u t i o n s and the s i g n i f i c a n c e o f the d i f f e r e n c e between mean d i s t a n c e s t r a v e l l e d was used t o p r o v i d e a d d i t i o n a l c o m p a r i s o n s . Maps were p r e p a r e d i l l u s t r a t i n g the r e s i d e n c e s o f p a r t i c i p a n t s and a c o r r e l a t i o n was made t o determine the r e l a t i o n s h i p between the d i s t a n c e s t r a v e l l e d and the percentage o f s e s s i o n s a t t e n d e d by the p a r t i c i p a n t . The r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t h a l f o f the !+86 p a r t i c i p -a n t s t r a v e l l e d l e s s than 2.8 m i l e s . More l i v e d between one and two m i l e s from the c e n t e r they a t t e n d e d than i n any i i i o t h e r m i l e i n t e r v a l from the c e n t e r . Only f i v e p e r c e n t o f the p a r t i c i p a n t s t r a v e l l e d more t h a n n i n e m i l e s and l e s s t h a n one p e r c e n t t r a v e l l e d more than f o u r t e e n m i l e s . The s t a t i s t i c a l t e s t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e r e was an a s s o c i a t i o n between the d i s t a n c e t r a v e l l e d and the c e n t e r a t t e n d e d . I t was found t h a t when co u r s e s were o f f e r e d a t one c e n t e r o n l y , t h e r e was no s t a t i s t i c a l d i f f e r e n c e between the p a t t e r n s o f d i s t a n c e t r a v e l l e d t o the t h r e e c e n t e r s . P a r t i c i p a n t s seemed t o t r a v e l from throughout the c i t y o f Vancouver t o a t t e n d , no m a t t e r w h i c h c e n t e r o f f e r e d the c o u r s e . Women who' a t t e n d c o u r s e s d e s i g n e d f o r women o n l y t r a v e l s h o r t e r d i s t a n c e s than men who a t t e n d c o u r s e s d e s i g n e d f o r men o n l y . For c o u r s e s o f f e r e d a t a l l t h r e e c e n t e r s , a d u l t s t r a v e l l e d f u r t h e r t o John O l i v e r N i g h t S c h o o l and t o T e c h n i c a l N i g h t S c h o o l t h a n t o K i t s i l a n o N i g h t S c h o o l . T r a v e l d i s t a n c e does not i n h i b i t the subsequent a t t e n d a n c e o f those who e n r o l l . The opening of new n i g h t s c h o o l c e n t e r s d u r i n g the past f i f t e e n y e a r s was r e v i e w e d and i t was found t h a t a new c e n t e r opened w i t h i n two m i l e s o f a l a r g e w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d c e n t e r i s u n l i k e l y t o a t t r a c t s u f f i c i e n t c l i e n t e l e t o be e c o n o m i c a l l y s u c c e s s f u l . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his appreciation to Dr. B. E. Wales, Director of Adult Education for the Vancouver School Board, without whose co-operation the data for this study could not have been obtained. The author also wishes to thank Dr. Coolie Verner, Professor of Adult Education, without whose guidance and assistance this study would not have been possible. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT i i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v LIST OF TABLES v i i LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1 Purpose v 3 Hypothesis Review of Literature Definition of Terms 5 II TEE STUDY 12 Setting . 12 Adult Education . . . Ik The Night School Program 1 5 Population 20 The Selected Centers 2 1 Procedure 2 5 Measurement of Distance 26 Comparisons of Courses In the Same Category 27 Comparison of Centers 28 Attendance 31 III RESULTS 33 Comparison of Distances Travelled To the Centers 3 6 Type One Courses Type Two Courses ^6 Type Three Courses . . 51 Mobility 60 Subject Matter 63 Attendance and Distance 67 Location of Centers 67 IV SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 71 Summary 71 Conclusions 73 Differences Between Centers 73 Area Served 73 Distance and Enrollment 75 Boundaries and Participation 75 Distance as a Barrier to Participation 76 BIBLIOGRAPHY 78 LIST OF TABLES Table Page I Enrollment By Centers 19 II Type One Courses 22 III Type Two Courses 23 IV Type Three Courses 23 V Participation at Selected Centers: 1 9 6 2 - 1 9 6 3 . 2h VI Distributions Of the Population By Distance Measured in Mile Intervals 3 ^ VII Average Distances Travelled To the Centers By Category 38 VIII Significance Of the Difference Between Means and Medians For the Centers 38 IX Chi-Square Values For Tests Of Independence For the Centers 3 9 X Distributions For the Centers '-t-l XI Chi-Square Tests Of Independence On the Five Step Distributions For the Categories . . ^5 XII Significance Of the Difference Between Mean Distances Travelled For the Categories . *+5 XIII Distributions Of Type Three Participants . . . 53 XIV Participants From 'Camera' and 'Tax' Courses Who Reside In the-City Of Vancouver Or In Burnaby 59 XV Significance Of the Difference Between Means For Type Three Courses - Vancouver and Burnaby Only . 60 XVI Mobility Of Type Three Participants Residing In Vancouver and Burnaby Only . . . . 6 l v i i i Table Page XVII Chi-Square Tests. On the Hypothesis That Mobility Is Independent Of the Center Attended - 6 2 XVIII Mobility Of Type One Participants Residing In Vancouver and Burnaby Only . . . 6 2 XIX Chi-Square Test On the Medians Of the Courses In Type One 6h XX Significances Of the Differences Between the Two Courses In Each Category . . 6*+ XXI Sex and Distance Travelled 6 6 XXII Perfect Attendance and Distance Travelled . 6 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration Page 1 Metropolitan Vancouver 11 2 Night School Centers In the City Of Vancouver 18 3 Mobility Zones . . .. 32 k- Percentage Frequency Distributions -A l l Participants 3 5 5 Cumulative Frequency Graph -A l l Participants . . . . 37 6 Percentage Frequency Distributions For Each Center h2 7 Cumulative Frequency Graph For Each Center ^3 8 Map of Type One Participants at J.O. . . h7 9 Map of Type One Participants at Kits. . . Li-8 10 Map of Type One Participants at Tech. . . k-9 11 Map of Type One Participants 50 12 Map of Type Three Participants at Kits. . 5^ 13 Map of Type Three Participants at J.O. . 56 1*+ Map of Type Three Participants at Tech. . 57 1 5 Map of A l l Type Three Participants . . . 58 I CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Adult education i s one of the major forms of education i n modern s o c i e t y and has shown a steady growth i n the v a r i e t y of l e a r n i n g o p p o r t u n i t i e s provided a d u l t s , the number of i n s t i t u t i o n s i n v o l v e d i n adu l t education, and the number of ad u l t s seeking to f u r t h e r t h e i r education both through independent s e l f - s t u d y and through p a r t i c i p a -t i o n i n organized educational a c t i v i t i e s . This growth i n adu l t l e a r n i n g s i t u a t i o n s has been nowhere more evident than i n the expansion of p u b l i c school a d u l t evening c l a s s e s , which have increased t h e i r enrollment by 350$ over the l a s t decade.^- Although these a c t i v i t i e s tend to be centered i n p u b l i c schools and the number of high schools that have been opened f o r night courses has g r e a t l y increased, there has been almost no i n f o r m a t i o n based on research to guide the adu l t educator when he must decide where to open new night school centers or where to l o c a t e courses. L i t t l e has been known about the t r a v e l patterns which 1. A. L. C a r t i e r , \" P u b l i c School Adult Education,\" Journal of Education of the Faculty' of Education of the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia: Vancouver, X, ( A p r i l , I96T), p. 29. could help the night school administrator predict whether participants w i l l come from the immediate neighborhood of a center only, or whether participants are willing to travel longer distances within the urban setting in order to get the courses they want. This kind of knowledge is essential for maximum efficiency since i f courses attract clientele from the immediate neighborhood of a center only, then i t w i l l be necessary to offer courses in the same subject matter at many centers. If, however, participants tend to travel longer distances i t may be necessary to offer courses at one center only in order to serve the entire urban comm-unity. It is also possible that travel distances vary from center to center. In the sense that the patterns of distances travelled to a center delimit the area served by that center, any variations of travel distances between centers would be of concern to administrators in expanding night school organ-izations. Previous studies of adult education participation indicate a relationship between the rate of participation and the distance from the residence of the participant to the center he attends. However, these studies have tended to consider distances as one of several factors influencing participation. As a result they have not examined travel patterns in detail and the general conclusion of association between distance, and participation is of l i t t l e assistance 3 to the administrator trying to determine the ecology of participation at any given center. PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between distance travelled to attend an adult night school course and the rate of participation in an urban situation. HYPOTHESIS The principal hypothesis investigated in this study is as follows: Participation and attendance in adult night school classes are not influenced by the distance between the place of residence of the participant and the adult school in which the course is held. To test this hypothesis a number of sub-hypotheses were formulated and tested s t a t i s t i c a l l y . These are considered to be accepted i f there is no s t a t i s t i c a l l y significant difference at the .05 level of confidence. Sub-hypotheses tested include the following: 1. There is no significant difference between the distributions of distance travelled to the three centers when: (a) courses are offered at one center only; (b) courses are offered at two centers; and (c) courses are offered at three centers. 2 . There is no significant correlation between the distances travelled and the percentage of attendance. REVIEW OF LITERATURE The question of participation in adult education has been studied in a variety of ways and the existing research on the question has been reviewed recently. Brunner and associates have reviewed the research so as to show the relationship between general social participation in adult education. This review indicates that certain identifiable socio-economic and ecological factors are associated with participation. There is no clear cut evidence that distance travelled is directly related to participation, however, Brunner notes that \"There is some evidence that access-i b i l i t y and proximity to centers for adult education i n -creases participation. \" 3 In his study of participation in Springfield, Mass., 2 . Edmund deS. Brunner et a l . , An Overview o f Adult Education Research T C h i c a g o : Adult Education Association of the U.S.A., 1 9 5 9 ) , pp. 9 8 - 1 0 2 . 3 . Ibid., p. 9 7 . 5 Kaplan found that accessibility i s psychological as well as physical, but that \" . . . the percentage of participants tended to be greater in those areas more closely situated to the educational activities.\" 1 4\" Kaplan further suggests that socio-economic characteristics may be more important than distance. Marble^ found that the distance from r e s i -dence to center was related to participation, but that other characteristics of census tracts were better pre-dictors of future participation from those tracts. Lindenberger and Verner evaluated the relative importance of distance and socio-economic status, and concluded that distance travelled was not as important as socio-economic status in affecting participation in university evening classes. In an exploratory study on distances travelled to rural educational activities dealing with agricultural production, Dent found that the method of adult education h. Abraham Abbott Kaplan, Socio-Economic Circumstances and Adult P a r t i c i p a t i o n (Teachers College Contributions to Education, No. 8 8 9 . New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 19^3)? P. 5 7 . 5 . Duane F. Marble, Predicting Evening Class Registration Potential i n Small Areas of the Seattle Metropolitan Area (University of Washington B u l l e t i n , March, 1 9 5 9 ) . 6 . A l i c e Lindenberger and Coolie Verner, \"A Technique for Analyzing Extension Course Participants,\" Adult Education. XI (Autumn, i 9 6 0 ) , pp. 2 9 - 3 ^ . 6 influenced the distances travelled.? Farmers seemed to travel much further to one-day tours than to meetings or workshops. The distances travelled to activities located in the four communities studied ranged from five to ten and one-half miles, and Dent concluded that except for individ-uals actively seeking information that community boundaries acted as barriers to participation. He also concluded that the month in which the activity was held seemed to have no influence on the distance travelled. o Melton has investigated the influence of alternate course locations on the distances travelled to urban evening classes. He found some tendency for distances to be greater when the course was available at one center only. The literature on commuting to work is extensive, but unfortunately only peripherally relevant. Adams and MacKesey emphasized area-to-area variation in commuting distances, indicating that the findings of the present study may be 7 . William J. Dent, \"An Exploratory Study of the Distances Which Farmers Travel to Attend Various Types of Educational Activities Dealing With Agricultural Production\" (Two H i l l s : Agricultural Extension Service, 1 9 6 5 ) , p. 7 . 8. James Melton, \"The Influence of Alternate Course Locations on Distances Travelled by Participants in Urban Adult Evening Classes\" (unpublished Master's thesis, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1 9 6 6 ) . 9 . Leonard P. Adams and Thomas W. MacKesey, Commuting Patterns of Industrial Workers (Ithica: Cornell University Press, 1 9 5 5 ) , p. 51• 7 a p p l i c a b l e t o V a n c o u v e r o n l y . M a r b l e a l s o s t r e s s e s t h e l o c a l i z e d n a t u r e o f h i s s t u d y and c a u t i o n s a g a i n s t the use o f h i s method o f p r e d i c t i n g e v e n i n g c l a s s r e g i s t r a t i o n s i n o t h e r g e o g r a p h i c a l a r e a s . B o t h t h e s t u d i e s o f Adams and MacKesey and o f T a a f f e , G a r n e r and Y e a t e s 1 ^ show t h a t women g e n e r a l l y do not t r a v e l as f a r t o work as do men. The l a t t e r s t u d y shows t h a t t h e t y p e o f r e s i d e n t i a l d i s t r i c t i s a f a c t o r i n commuting d i s t a n c e s . T h i s may be r e l a t e d t o t h e V e r n e r and L i n d e n b e r g e r 1 1 f i n d i n g s , b u t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s and c e n s u s t r a c t s w o u l d be more u s e f u l i n c h e c k i n g t h e i n f l u e n c e o f t y p e o f r e s i d e n t i a l d i s t r i c t t h a n t h e methods u s e d i n t h i s s t u d y . D i s t r i b u t i o n s o f commuting d i s t a n c e s a r e common i n t h a t l i t e r a t u r e and i t a p p e a r s t h a t commuting d i s t a n c e s may be l o n g e r t h a n e v e n i n g c l a s s d i s t a n c e s . I n a s t u d y o f u r b a n t r a n s p o r t a t i o n , W i n g o 1 ^ shows t h a t t h e t i m e a j o u r n e y t a k e s depends upon t h e t i m e o f day t h e j o u r n e y i s t a k e n . S i n c e n i g h t s c h o o l c l a s s e s t e n d t o s t a r t between 7 and 8 p.m., and end between 9 . 3 0 and 1 0 . 3 0 p.m., t h e r e i s no r e a s o n t o s uppose t h a t t i m e o f day a f f e c t s t h e t r a v e l l i n g t i m e and hence t h e t r a v e l l i n g d i s t a n c e 1 0 . Edward J . T a a f f e , B a r r y J . G a r n e r , and M a u r i c e H. Y e a t e s , The P e r i p h e r a l J o u r n e y t o Work ( E v a n s t o n : N o r t h -w e s t e r n U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 6 3 ), p. 1 7 . 1 1 . L i n d e n b e r g e r and V e r n e r , cm. c i t . 1 2 . Lowdon Wingo, J r . , T r a n s p o r t a t i o n and U r b a n L a n d ( W a s h i n g t o n : R e s o u r c e s F o r t h e F u t u r e I n c . , 1 9 6 l ) , p. li - 6 . 8 of one class more than another. The study of the non-participant and the drop-out is also related to the participant. Booth^ identified the socio-economic characteristies of the non-participant and showed how these differ from those of the participant in adult education. Drop-out research has been reviewed by Verner and Davis l l + which shows that in one study the mode of transportation influenced attendance but this study was done so long ago as to be virtually meaningless today. They do indicate, however, that the drop-out rate appears to be influenced by certain administratively controllable elements such as time of meeting, length of course, or transportation. A recent study by Lee,^-5 conducted in a provincial city in England, contains an examination of the travel patterns of college extension participants in an urban setting. Lee found that the proportion of the total adult population attending general interest courses did not vary from quarter-mile to quarter-mile up to a distance of two 1 3 . Alan Booth, \"A Demographic Consideration of the Non-Participant,\" Adult Education. XI (Summer, 1 9 6 1 ) , pp. 2 2 3 - 2 2 9 . 1*+. Coolie Verner and George S. Davis, Jr., \"Completions and Drop Outs: A Review of Research,\" Adult Education. XIV (Spring, 196!+), p. 1 6 7 . 1 5 . Terence Lee, \"A Null Relationship Between Ecology and Adult Education,\" The British Journal of Educational Psychology. XXXVI (February, 1 9 6 6 ) , p. 1 0 1 . 9 and one-half miles from the center. He concludes that \". . . adult education f a c i l i t i e s can be sited at least five miles apart without loss of potential students.\"-^ Lee cautions that alternative course locations sited closer than this, because of competition and necessarily restricted choice of acti v i t i e s , would tend to f a i l and cites the closing of many postwar centers in England as evidence of this. Clearly, the influence of distance on participation is as yet unsettled. The existing research tends to emphasize socio-economic factors as being more influential than distance; only two studies have been found which are concerned solely with the question of distance. It would seem that a detailed analysis of travel patterns might lead to a better understanding between the rates of participation and the distances that participants travel. It would seem essential to understand this relation-ship before i t is possible to rank the various factors influencing participation. DEFINITION OF TERMS The following terms are used in this study: Center - This term is used to designate the adult night 16. Lee, o_p_. c i t . school in which the courses studied were located. The three centers are identified by the name of the high schools in which they are located. 1 . John Oliver High School - hereinafter abbreviated to J.O. 2. Kitsilano High School - hereinafter abbreviated to Kits. 3. Vancouver Technical School - hereinafter abbreviated to Tech. Course - This term identifies a particular class in a center concerned with a specific subject matter. Participant - The adult who attends a particular course in a center. Ring • - The term 'ring' identifies the geographical area defined by circles drawn at one mile intervals from the center. Type - This term is used to designate the various categories in i\\rhich the courses were class-i f i e d in terms of the number of centers in which they were offered. A Type.One course is offered in one center only with a Type Two course indicating that i t was operated in two of the three centers and a Type Three course x^ as held in three centers. CHAPTER II THE STUDY SETTING The Greater Vancouver metropolitan area, shown in Illustration I, is the largest urban complex in western Canada. This is situated twenty-five miles north of the Canada-United States border. The area surrounds the largest protected harbor in Canada and is bounded on the north by the Coastal Range of high snow-capped mountains with the Fraser River on the south. To the west of the area l i e s the Strait of Georgia. The metropolitan area of Vancouver i s composed of fourteen separate municipalities of which the city of Vancouver is the largest and most centrally located. 17 The city i t s e l f has a population of 3 8 5 , 0 0 0 and on the north shore of the harbor l i e North and West Vancouver with a combined population of 7 5 ? 0 0 0 . These two suburbs are connected to the central city by two bridges crossing the harbor at the narrows. South of the central city is the municipality of Richmond and beyond i t l i e s the municipality 1 7 . Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1 9 6 l Census of Canada, Population and Housing Characteristics by Census Tracts: Vancouver, Bulletin CT - 22 (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1 9 6 3 ) , p. *+. 13 of Delta. These tv/o municipalities are principally agricultural but urban sprawl is tending to occupy former agricultural land. From 1956 to 1 9 6 l , the population of Richmond increased from 2 6 , 0 0 0 to ^ 3 ? 0 0 0 . The eastern edge of the central city is bordered by the municipality of Burnaby which is a residential area of some 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 . Beyond Burnaby l i e a complex of lesser municipalities that are part of the metropolitan complex. At the western edge of central Vancouver l i e s the University Endowment Lands which contain the University of British Columbia and a small residential area. The metropolitan area of Vancouver has been growing rapidly. BeWeen 1956 and 1961 the total population of the area increased from 6 6 5 , 0 0 0 to 7 9 0 , 0 0 0 . Because of the top-ography of the area and the fact that i t surrounds a major inlet, the distances from one part of the area to another are often extensive. The extreme east to west distance is approximately twenty-five miles and from north to south the necessity of crossing one of the bridges over the inlet may make road travel distances as great as thirty-five miles from one point of the area to another. The adult population of the municipal area is about 5 l * + , 0 0 0 . Of those, ten percent reported one or more years of university education, thirty-seven percent had between three and five years of high school, twenty-four percent had one or two years of high school, and twenty-nine percent reported attendance of less than a f u l l year of high school. ADULT EDUCATION Adult education is provided the residents of the metropolitan area by the University of British Columbia, by the local municipal school boards, and by numerous voluntary agencies such as the YMCA and YWCA, the Public Libraries, and various other agencies. The largest and most varied programs are offered by the Vancouver School Board and the Extension Department of the University. In 1 9 6 2 - 1 9 6 3 the Extension Department had an enroll-ment of 5?000 or slightly less than one percent of the metropolitan adult population. Most of these participants travelled to the university campus at the extreme western -1 o edge of the c i t y . - 1 0 Many of the courses offered by the Extension Department are similar in subject matter to those offered by the night schools. Thus, the two organizations compete for participants. 1 8 . Melton, oo. c i t . THE MIGHT SCHOOL PROGRAM 15 The Adult Education Department of the Vancouver School Board has a long history. 1^ The f i r s t night classes were offered in 1 9 0 9 and attracted 9 9 6 participants to four cen-ters. By 1918 courses were offered in day school academic subjects, art, music, technical subjects, domestic science, commercial subjects and physical culture. Participation be-tween 1 9 1 5 ( 2 , 2 0 0 participants) and 19^2 (2,1 ! +1 participants) was quite irregular. The high point occurred in 1937 when ^i+OO adults enrolled and the low in 1922 when only 1 , 1 2 6 adults participated. The growth since 1 9 ^ 2 , however, has been steady and in the 1 9 6 ^ - 1 9 6 5 school year there were over 3 8 , 0 0 0 participants. 2 0 During the period of this study, the total part-icipation at school board evening classes was 32,0*+9, or about six percent of the metropolitan adult population. Of these participants 6 , 7 0 0 were enrolled in academic courses for credit, 7 , 3 0 0 were in vocational courses and 1 7 , 6 5 0 were enrolled in non-credit, non-vocational courses. The five largest adult centers enrolled 73% of the participants. 1 9 . Bertram Edwards V/ales, \"The Development of Adult Education in British Columbia\" (unpublished Ed.D. thesis, Oregon State College, CorvalliSj 1 9 5 8 ) , pp. 1 5 6 - 1 7 9 . 2 0 . Data obtained from records of the Vancouver School Board Adult Education Department. 16 Four of these centers were located in buildings used as high schools during the day and the f i f t h is a vocational school. 2 . The six remaining centers, also located in high schools, en-rolled' between ^50 and 1 , 2 0 0 participants each for a total of only h,h00 adults which is.less than fourteen percent of the participants. Clearly the five large centers dominate part-icipation; however, two of these centers are somewhat specialized. The Vancouver Vocational Institute specializes in technical subjects and the King Edward center specializes in credit courses. Enrollments for each center are in Table I . Ever since the night school program began in 1909 with four centers, the problem of where to locate night school courses has been recurrent. In the early f i f t i e s centers were opened on an experimental basis at Gladstone, Byng and Britannia High Schools but a l l these were subse-2 ? quently closed for lack of clientele. Wales notes that limited nature of the programs offered and the lack of trans-portation probably accounts for the lack of sufficient part-icipation to maintain the centers. The location of centers can be seen in Illustration 2 . In 1957 the policy of the 2 1 . This includes King Edward which subsequently became a f u l l time adult center. 2 2 . Wales, op,, c i t . , p. 1 7 8 . 17 School Board was nto develop one large, well located night school in each part of the city. \" ^ 3 A night school center was opened in Churchill Second-ary School in 1959 and the enrollment in the f i r s t six years of operation has ranged from 500 to 7 7 0 . (Table I) This center is located about two miles south of John Oliver night school in an area dominated by expensive residences. In i 9 6 0 a second center was opened at Thompson Secondary School. This center is about one mile south-east of the well estab-lished center at John Oliver. The enrollment for each of the f i r s t two years was about 500 but has subsequently dwindled until in the year 196 1 +-1965 only 176 adults attended. Killarney High School was opened for night school courses in 1 9 6 2 - I 9 6 3 and attracted 612 participants but participation here too seems to be dwindling. Killarney is in the south-east corner of the city about two miles from both Technical School and John Oliver. Killarney and Thompson are within one and one-half miles of each, other. The most recently opened center, Templeton Secondary, was opened in the f a l l of 1 9 6 ^ and is already experiencing participation problems. Templeton is in a working class area in the north-east of the city and is within about a mile and a half of the Technical School. Whether these last four centers opened since 1959 w i l l 2 3 . Wales, o_p_. c i t . , p. 1 7 8 . 19 survive or whether they w i l l share the fate of those opened in the early f i f t i e s is as yet undetermined. Because of the variety of the program offered to adults by the Vancouver night schools, many participants are drawn from neighboring municipalities even though most of these also offer adult programs of their own although on a more limited scale. TABLE I ENROLLMENT BY CENTERS Centers 5 9 - 6 0 6 0 - 6 1 School 6 1 - 6 2 Year 6 2 - 6 3 6 3 - 6 ^ 6 ^ - 6 5 Churchill* 697 6 0 ^ 769 538 k-98 523 Thompson 5^3 506 3 2 9 176 Killarney 612 586 3 8 8 Templeton 778 King George** 1 0 8 1 1150 9 9 7 896 798 1518 Point Grey** 1 3 0 1 1029 1 1 6 5 1170 9 0 7 1791 John Oliver 2 9 2 6 2513 2 9 3 ^ 3 2 3 8 3^30 ^ 0 2 0 Kitsilano ^ 6 5 V 7 2 6 ^ 7 5 k-627 3 2 5 2 U-0 52 Technical 53^5 5361 5891 6oh$ 5868 55^3 King Edward 5762 677U, 7 2 9 8 7093 11392 117^5 V.V.I. 3712 3 3 3 3 2 6 2 2 2 7 0 6 3 ^ 0 5 *f 2 51 * opened in the f a l l of 1 9 5 9 . ** these centers have been open since before 1 9 5 0 -POPULATION 20 In order to test the hypothesis, three night school centers were selected which offered a series of courses that were of general interest. The selection of the courses and the centers had to be done simultaneously in order to meet the c r i t e r i a deemed essential for the study. These cr i t e r i a were as follows: 1. The courses must be of general interest courses, not vocational or academic as in only the general courses would the participation be completely voluntary. 2. Each center selected must have courses of the following three types: (a) courses in a subject offered in that center and in no other. (i.e. Type One) (b) courses in a subject offered in that center and in only one other center selected, (i.e. Type Two) (c) courses in a subject offered in a l l three centers selected, (i.e. Type Three) 3. The subject matter of the courses must be of general interest with a wide appeal to potential participants and not of a specialized content that would interest only a selected group of participants. K. The courses must be large enough to provide a dis-persed population. By applying these cr i t e r i a to the selection of the courses and centers the number of variables influencing distance travelled could be controlled. The other factors influencing participation as indicated in the review of the literature were assumed to be equal. These c r i t e r i a were applied to the course offerings at a l l the Vancouver School Board Night School Centers for the term 1 9 6 2 - 1 9 6 3 and those courses which did not meet the cr i t e r i a were eliminated. It was evident that there would remain sufficient courses for the purposes of the study at only three centers. At each of these three centers a l l the non-credit general interest courses were classified as Type One, Type Two, and Type Three. A sample of Type One courses was drawn with the use of a table of random numbers. Type Two and Type Three courses were fex^ in number and a l l such courses were included in the study. The courses are liste d in Tables II, III, and IV. THE SELECTED CENTERS The three night school centers with the largest selection of Type One, Type Two and Type Three courses that were neither academic credit, vocational, nor specialized courses were the John Oliver Night School (i.e. J.O.), Kitsilano Night School (i.e. Kits.), and the Vancouver Technical Night School (i.e. Tech.). TABLE I I TYPE ONE COURSES Course Enrollment Center Dramatic Writing 16 J.O. Law for Women 11 J.O. Piloting, Junior 26 J.O. Piloting, Advanced 12 J.O. Cartooning, Beginners 1 5 Kits. Sailing for Beginners 1 5 Kits. Showcard Writing 21 Kits. Swedish Conversation 13 Kits. Fly Casting 20 Tech. Fly Fishing 20 Tech.. Machine Shop Practice 28 Tech. Norwegian Conversation -35 Tech. Total Enrollment 232 TABLE III TYPE TWO COURSES Course Enrollment Center Candlemaking 21 J.O. Candlemaking 23 Kits. How To Invest Your Money 52 Kits. How To Invest Your Money h2 Tech. Total Enrollment 138 TABLE IV TYPE THREE COURSES Course Enrollment Center Income Tax Know How 1 5 J.O. Your Christmas Camera lh J.O. Income Tax Know How 2h Kits. Your Christmas Camera 2k Kits. Income Tax Know How 23 Tech. Your Christmas. Camera 16 Tech. Total Enrollment 116 2h Of the three centers selected, J.O. had the smallest night school program. This center is located in the south central part of the city of Vancouver. The immediate neighborhood contains an old established business d i s t r i c t and a working class residential area. Within a two to three mile range, however, there are several areas in which the housing ranges from middle to upper class. Table V shows the participation and the number of participants in courses that could be selected. TABLE V PARTICIPATION AT SELECTED CENTERS: 1 9 6 2 - 1 9 6 3 Total Suitable* Participants Percent** Center Participants Participants in Study Selected J.O. 3 2 3 8 2 2 1 ^ 1 1 5 5.2% Kits. 1+628 3 7 5 9 1 8 7 5 . 0 $ Tech. 60>+9 ^988 iQk 3.7% *number of participants not enrolled in either vocational or academic credit courses. **percentage of suitable participants. The Kits, center is in the western section of the city in the middle of an approximately three and one-half mile radius which includes most of the upper-middle and upper class residences in the city of Vancouver. It i s also 25 some two and one-half miles to the more exclusive resident-i a l area in the University Endowment Lands. This center had the second largest enrollment among the three selected. The enrollment data for this center is shown in Table V. The Tech. center which was at one time the principal day school trade training center for Vancouver, i s almost identical in plant and function with the other secondary schools in the city. It is located In the north-east section of the city near the Vancouver-Burnaby border. The immed-iate neighborhood includes an industrial area to the south and working class residences to the west and north. In general, the higher status residential areas are in the western half of the city and the working class areas are in the east. Tech. i s clearly in this latter area. As is shown in Table V, Tech. has the largest enrollment of the centers selected. These three centers are situated so as to draw from the entire city since no part of the city is more than four miles from at least one of the three and not more than one person in twenty resides more than three miles from one or other of these three centers. PROCEDURE When the night school centers and courses had been selected the data used for the study were collected from 2 6 the enrollment forms for each course. These forms contain the name and address of each participant. A map of the area was used for each center and twenty rings at one mile inter-vals were drawn in concentric circles about the center. The place of residence of each participant was then spotted on the map and the data were then computed for each center and for each course category. MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCE A l l participants within a radius of one mile of a center are estimated to travel 0 . 5 miles, and are said to be in ring one. Participants living outside the one mile ring but inside a circle of two miles radius from the center are estimated to travel 1 . 5 miles, and are said to be in ring two. This system is continued until ring nineteen. A l l participants travelling more than nineteen miles are considered to be in ring 2 0 , and are estimated to travel 1 9 . 5 miles. This system underestimates travel distances because i t assumes that persons can travel to a night school center in a straight line. This underestimation is probably not great for those within Burnaby and the city of Vancouver, but i t is certainly greater for the participants from the outlying municipalities, most of whom must cross one of the two bridges over either Burrard Inlet or one of three bridges spanning the Fraser River. The computation of the mean distance travelled produces an underestimation of distance more than does the median as i t is strongly influenced by long distance participants whose journey is probably consid-erably underestimated. The distributions of the participants in each ring for each center and type of course were tested for stat i s t -i c a l l y significant differences using the chi-square test at a 0 . 0 5 level of significance. In some cases, where the distributions were such as to produce an expected frequency of less than five, certain intervals were combined. This reduces the number of intervals measuring distance from the original twenty to seven. COMPARISON OF COURSES IN THE SAME CATEGORY The organization of courses into categories places courses given at the same center and at the same number of centers (i.e. of the same Type) into the same category. If this categorization is valid, one would expect the distributions of distance travelled to courses in the same category to be relatively similar. The ideal s t a t i s t i c a l solution would be to test the distributions of distance travelled to the courses in each category with the hypo-thesis that the distance travelled is independent of the course attended. If the hypothesis were accepted the courses in the category could be considered homogenious with respect to distance travelled. The small number of participants in many of the courses made this procedure impossible. It was possible, however, for Type One, to use the chi-square test with the hypothesis that i f the courses in a category are homogenious, half of the participants in each course w i l l travel less than the median distance for a l l the courses in the category, and half w i l l travel further than the median. None of the categories in Type Two or Type Three contained more than two courses. For this reason i t was decided to use the significance of the difference between means on the courses within these categories. It was considered that homogeneity within each category could be accepted i f the hypothesis were accepted or i f there was no significant difference between the mean distances travelled. It was also considered that homogen-eity within the categories would indicate the validity of the center-Type categorization. Homogeneity would also indicate that the subject matter of the course attended was not a significant factor in the distance travelled. COMPARISON OF CENTERS A l l Participants The three distributions each containing a l l the 2 9 participants from one center were tested with the chi-square test of independence on the hypothesis that the distances travelled by participants were independent of the center they attended. The distributions were also tested two at a time to determine which, i f any, pairs of distributions were similar. If the hypothesis of independence were accepted the distributions were considered similar. The significance of the difference between means and medians for the centers were tested both as a check of the chi-square tests and because of their value as added compar-isons between the centers. These latter tests, however, are probably not as valid as the non-parametric chi-square tests because the data are very positively skewed. Type One Participants Three distributions of distance, one for each center, were prepared for participants attending courses in subject matter offered at one center only. In the terms used in this study these are the Type One distributions for each of the three schools. These distributions were compared using a chi-square test oh the hypothesis that the distributions of distances travelled were independent of the center attended. These tests were superior to the tests on the distributions in the previous section because they control for Type and because they are not affected by unequal numbers of participants in the categories. 30 In order to substantiate the chi-square tests, the significance of the difference between the mean distances travelled to the centers by participants of Type One courses were also calculated. Type Two Participants The three distributions for the categories in Type Two (J.O.-2, Kits.-2 and Tech.-2) were tested in the same way as the distributions in Type One. However, there are only four courses in Type Two and one of these contains women only. The results of these Type Two tests must thus remain somewhat tentative. Type Three Participants The three distributions of distance travelled, one for each center, of courses given in the same subject matter at a l l three schools was also tested in the same way as the distributions in Type One. These distributions are of part-icular interest because the distribution for each center contains one course in 'Income Tax' and another in 'Christ-mas Camera'. For this reason additional distributions were prepared which included only participants from Burnaby and the city of Vancouver. The significance of the differences between the means of these distributions of distance travelled was also tested. In order to discover how many participants did not attend the center closest to their residence even though the closest center offered a course in the same subject matter 31 as the one they attended, three maps were prepared. Lines were drawn joining the three centers. These lines formed a triangle. The perpendicular bisector of each side was drawn and extended to the point where the bisectors intersected. These bisectors divided Vancouver and Burnaby into three zones with a night school center in the middle of each zone. Any participant who did not attend the closest school had to cross one of these bisectors. (Illustration 3) The residence of each Type Three participant was placed on one of the three maps - one map for each center. It was then a simple matter to count the participants who did not reside in the same zone as the school they attended. . Only participants residing in Burnaby or the city of Vancouver were included in this zone analysis as participants residing in the surrounding areas often had to detour considerable distances to cross bridges and thus the zone they lived in was often rather irrelevant. ATTENDANCE To determine i f a relationship exists between dist-ance travelled by the participant and the percentage of sessions he attended, a product moment correlation was run between these two variables. The correlation was checked to see i f i t was significantly different from zero. One class, Drama at J.O. was not included in the correlation because of doubt about the validity of attendance recording. 2^ 2h. A population of 697 participants was used for analysing attendance only. This population contained courses categorized as Type Two and Type Three even though the courses were in different terms. CHAPTER III RESULTS The sample population in this study consisted of participants attending adult night classes in three Vancouver School Board centers. When the sample is analyzed as a whole, the mean distance travelled is 3 • 53 miles, while the median distance travelled is 2 . 7 8 miles. This differ-ence between the mean and the median results from the dist-ributions of distances travelled being positively skewed so that the relatively few participants who travel longer dist-ances increase the mean. Since the mean indicates the arithmetic average of the distances travelled i t is not a particularly useful descriptive s t a t i s t i c , however, i t is very necessary for the s t a t i s t i c a l analysis. The median is a more useful descriptive s t a t i s t i c since i t shows that half the population travels more than 2 . 7 8 miles and half live within that distance of the center which they attend. This is further illustrated by the finding that 1 5 * 7 $ of the participants travel less than one mile to their center while 10*+, or 2 1 . t r a v e l betiveen one and two miles. A radius at three miles from the center includes 53% (Table VI) of the participants with more than three-quarters of them living within five miles and over 83% living within six miles of the center they attend. Only 3 . 6 % travel more than ten miles and 3 ^ less than one percent travel more than f i f t e e n miles. The percentage of participants i n each ring can be seen i n I l l u s t r a t i o n k. TABLE VI DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE POPULATION BY DISTANCE MEASURED IN MILE INTERVALS Mile Interval N % Cumulative % 1 76 15.7 1 5 . 7 2 10k 21.k 3 7 . 1 3 82 1 6 . 8 5 3 - 9 k 6k 1 3 . 2 6 7 . 1 5 53 1 0 . 9 7 8 . 0 6 2 5 5 . 2 8 3 . 2 7 28 5 . 8 8 9 . 0 8 17 3 . 5 9 2 . 5 9 13 2 . 7 9 5 - 2 10 6 1 . 2 96.*+ 11 5 1 . 0 9 7 A 12 13 5 1 . 0 98.>+ Ik 3 0 . 6 9 9 . 0 1 5 1 0 . 2 9 9 . 2 16 2 9 9 . 6 19+ 2 o.k 1 0 0 . 0 Total k86 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 ILLUSTRATION 4 PERCENTAGE: FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS-ALL PARTICIPANTS l 2. 3 4 5- 6 7 e S lo u MILES IZ 13 14- /5~ 16 17 18 13 vn 36 As distance from the night school center increases beyond the two mile radius the participation tends to decrease in spite of the fact that each additional mile in radius from the center increases the area and the potential population. Beyond a nine mile radius from the center the participation is virtually insignificant with only twenty-four participants recorded at distances greater than nine miles. This is a smaller number than was recorded in any radii up to and including seven miles. Thus the cumulative percentage curve rises steeply for the f i r s t seven miles after which the increase tends to slow down and eventually flatten out. (Illustration 5) COMPARISON OF DISTANCES TRAVELLED TO THE CENTERS The distances travelled to the three centers are not the same. Participants tend to travel further to J.O. and Tech. than to Kits. The median distance travelled to J.O. is 3 . 0 7 miles (Table VII) which is not significantly d i f f -erent from the median of 3 « ^ miles travelled by participants to Tech. Table VIII, however, shows that the median distance of 2 . 0 9 miles travelled to Kits, is significantly different from the median distances travelled to the other two centers. When the mean distances travelled to the three centers are tested for significant differences, the results /I ILLUSTRATION . 5 CUMULATIVE FREQUENCY GRAPH -ALL PARTICIPANTS 100 is P: 3 + — + — - + • — + -o I £ 3 4 5\" 6 7 8 9 IO // 12 13 14 IS\" /<£> J7 /8 IS 20 MILES 0^ 38 TABLE VII AVERAGE DISTANCES TRAVELLED TO THE CENTERS BY CATEGORY. Means: J.O. K i t s . Tech. Type 1 3 . 7 8 3 . 8 0 ^ Type 2 3 . 8 3 2.9l+ 3 . 5 5 Type 3 2.6M- 2 . 1 5 3 - 8 6 Total 3 - 5 0 3 . 0 3 '-f.06 Medians: J.O. K i t s . Tech. Type 1 3 . 5 ^ 2 . 8 0 3 - 6 2 Type 2 1 . 8 3 1 . 9 8 3 . 1 7 Type 3 2 . 1 5 1 . 6 0 3 . 0 8 Total 3 . 0 7 2 . 0 9 3 . ^ TABLE VIII SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEANS AND MEDIANS FOR THE CENTERS J.O. & K i t s . J.O. & Tech. K i t s . & Tech. Between Means l.hO 1 . 6 0 3.35 Between Medians 2.3>+* .Qh 3.30 Underlined values s i g n i f i c a n t at the . 0 1 l e v e l of confidence. * S i g n i f i c a n t at the . 0 5 l e v e l of confidence. 39 are not consistent with those tests on the medians which have just been discussed. Table VIII shows that there i s no s i g n i f i c a n t difference between the mean distances t r a v e l l e d to J.O. and K i t s , even though the medians for the same two centers were s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t . These tests on the means are the only s t a t i s t i c s which do not confirm the s i m i l a r i t y of the distances t r a v e l l e d to J.O. and Tech. When the d i s t r i b u t i o n s of distance to the three centers are tested with the chi-square method on the hypo-thesis that the distances t r a v e l l e d are independent of the center attended, the hypothesis i s rejected at the .01 l e v e l of confidence. TABLE IX CHI-SQUARE VALUES FOR TESTS OF INDEPENDENCE FOR THE CENTERS Centers Tested d.f. A l l Three ^9.2 12 J.O. & K i t s . 2^.2 6 K i t s . & Tech. 6 J.O. & Tech. 3 . 8 6 Underlined values s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l of confidence. ho This test would seem to substantiate the contention that participants travel further to some centers than to others. When the centers are tested for independence two at a time, the results coincide with the results of the tests on the medians: the distances that participants travel to J.O. and Tech. are similar and the distances participants travel to K i t s , are d i f f e r e n t . The tendency for participants to reside close to the center they attend i s more evident at Kits., than at the other two centers. Each of the three mile inte r v a l s closest to Ki t s , contains more than twenty percent of the participants at K i t s , and thus 68% of the K i t s , participants reside within three miles of that center while, on the other hand, less than half of the participants at the other two centers reside within three miles of the center. (Table X) The graph of the di s t r i b u t i o n s , ( I l l u s t r a t i o n 6 ) , also shows the higher part-i c i p a t i o n i n the mile i n t e r v a l s closest to K i t s . The cumula-tive frequency graph, ( I l l u s t r a t i o n 7 ) , has the greatest slope for the mile inte r v a l s closest to K i t s . , but, af t e r about six miles from the center, the curves for a l l three centers are similar with a gentle slope. When the results of thi s analysis of the centers are considered i n t o t a l , the most s t r i k i n g differences between the centers are i n the p a r t i c i p a t i o n patterns closest to the centers. A c i r c l e of two miles radius drawn around each 1+1 TABLE X DISTRIBUTIONS FOR THE CENTERS Cumulative Numbers Percent Percent Rings J.O. K i t s . Tech. J.O. K i t s . Tech. J.O. K i t s . Tech. 1 16 1+2 18 13.9 22.!+ 9 .8 13.9 22.1+ 9.8 2 25 1+8 31 21.7 25.7 16.9 35.6 1+8.1 26 .7 3 15 38 29 13.0 20.3 15.8 ^8.6 68. L, 1+2.5 h 21 11 32 18.3 5.9 17.1+ 66.9 71+.3 59.9 5 17 10 26 lk. 8 5 A lh.l 81.7 79.7 7^.0 6 7 9 9 6.1 1+.8 >+.9 87.8 8i+. 5 78.9 7 5 11 12 if.>+ 5.9 6 .5 92.2 90.!+ 85.!+ 8 2 5 10 1.7 2.7 5 .^ 93.9 93.1 90 .8 9 1 5 7 .9 2 .7 3 .8 9^.8 95.7 91+.6 10 2 3 1 1 .7 1.6 .5 9 6 . 5 97 M 95.1 11 5 2 .7 97.8 13 2 3 1.7 1.6 98.2 9 9 . 0 lU, 1 2 .5 1.1 9 9 . 5 98.9 15 1 .5 100.0 16 2 1.7 100.0 19+ 2 1 .1 100.0 Total 115 187 18!+ 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 ; ILLUSTRATION G PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS TOR EACH CENTER 5 e e B /o // MILES J2 13 14 IS J6 J7 /3 19 ILLUSTRATION T CUMULATIVE FREQUENCY GRAPH FOR EACH CENTER too J.O. KITS - - + • - - - - 1 — T E C H • •. o • • ' 'O -/ £ 3 4 5 6 7 S 3 JO II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 MILES -r center contains about half the participants at K i t s . , one-t h i r d at J.O., and only s l i g h t l y more than one-quarter of the participants at Tech. TYPE ONE COURSES When courses i n a subject are offered at one location only, they are categorized as Type One. I f a participant \"wishes to attend a Type One course he has no choice of center, however, an analysis of the tr a v e l patterns shows that under such a circumstance there are no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t differences between the three centers. The chi-square test on the three d i s t r i b u t i o n s of the distance t r a v e l l e d by Type One participants indicates that the hypothesis of independence must be accepted. Thus when participants have no choice of center i n which to obtain the subject matter they desire, there i s no difference between the travel patterns at the three centers. The chi-square i s shown on Table XI. When the means of the Type One d i s t r i b u t i o n s are compared, there i s no s i g n i f i c a n t difference at the . 0 5 l e v e l of confidence between the means of the three centers. (Table XII) This supports the chi-square test noted above. Both tests indicate that participants of Type One courses follow similar t r a v e l patterns to each of the centers. TABLE XI CHI-SQUARE TESTS OF INDEPENDENCE ON THE FIVE STEP DISTRIBUTIONS FOR THE CATEGORIES Distributions N d . f . J.O.-l, K i t s . - l , Tech.-l 232 8 9.78 J.O.-2, K i t s . - 2 , Tech.-2 138 8 10.9 J.O.-3, K i t s . - 3 , Tech.-3 116 8 28.2 K i t s . - 3 , Tech.-3 87 h 15. 51 K i t s . - 3 , J.O.-3 77 h 1^.92 J.O.-3, Tech.-3 68 h 5.52 Underlined values s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l of confidence. TABLE XII SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEAN DISTANCES TRAVELLED FOR THE CATEGORIES Schools Tested Type J.O.-Kits. J.O.-Tech. Kits.-Tech. 1 .0^ +1 1.25 1.07 2 1.08 .316 1.22 3 1.15 2.18* L i Underlined value s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l of confidence. ^ S i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t at the .05 l e v e l of • confidence. u-e P a r t i c i p a n t s appear t o a t t e n d Type One c o u r s e s from throughout the c i t y of Vancouver, the m u n i c i p a l i t y of Burnaby, and the a r e a s n o r t h of B u r r a r d I n l e t as i n d i c a t e d on the map ( I l l u s t r a t i o n 8) w h i c h shows them to be w i d e l y s c a t t e r e d t hroughout the a r e a but w i t h s l i g h t l y more a t t e n d -i n g from the w e s t e r n s e c t i o n s o f the c i t y . The map f o r the K i t s , p a r t i c i p a n t s ( I l l u s t r a t i o n 9) shows some c l u s t e r i n g o f the p a r t i c i p a n t s about t h a t c e n t e r but t h i s was not s t a t i s t -i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t , as shown e a r l i e r . Even though the p a r t -i c i p a n t s a t b o t h J.O. and K i t s , are w i d e l y s p r e a d , the r e s i d e n c e s of the Tech. p a r t i c i p a n t s a re even more w i d e l y s c a t t e r e d w i t h the n o t a b l e e x c e p t i o n t h a t none a t t e n d Tech. from the immediate v i c i n i t y o f K i t s , as shown on I l l u s t r a t i o n 10. These d a t a c o n s i s t e n t l y i n d i c a t e t h a t the p a r t i c i p a n t s a t t e n d i n g c o u r s e s i n s u b j e c t matter o f f e r e d a t one c e n t e r o n l y tend t o t r a v e l r e l a t i v e l y l o n g d i s t a n c e s to a t t e n d r e g a r d l e s s o f where the cour s e i s l o c a t e d . TYPE TWO COURSES When a course i s o f f e r e d a t any Wo o f the t h r e e c e n t e r s the t r a v e l p a t t e r n s appear to be the same a t each c e n t e r . The c h i - s q u a r e t e s t of independence i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e r e i s no a s s o c i a t i o n between the d i s t a n c e s t r a v e l l e d and the c e n t e r a t t e n d e d . T h i s i s the same r e s u l t o b t a i n e d f o r ILLUSTRATION 8 MAP OF TYPF ONE PA RT/CIPANTS A T J.O. ^9 ILLUSTRATION IO M A P O F T Y P E O N E P A R T I C I P A N T S A T T E C H . ILLUS TRA TION II MA P OF ALL TYPE ONE PA R TJCIPA NTS Type One courses as shown on Table XI. The tests of the significance of the difference between the mean distances t r a v e l l e d also indicate that the travel patterns for the three centers are sim i l a r . The results of these three tests p a r a l l e l the results for Type One courses. (Table XII) Thus, the s t a t i s t i c a l analysis indicates that there i s no difference between the tra v e l patterns to the three centers for either Type One or Type 'Two participants. This result may be biased by the fact that one of the Type Two courses offered at K i t s , was made up almost wholly of women. The possible influence of sex on the distance t r a v e l l e d to evening classes i s discussed l a t e r . TYPE THREE COURSES Type Three courses were offered i n a l l of the centers studied. Participants who chose K i t s , t r a v e l l e d shorter distances than did those choosing J.O. or Tech. When the chi-square test of independence i s made on the three d i s t -ributions of distances t r a v e l l e d , an association i s indicated between the distance t r a v e l l e d and the center attended. In order to determine i f the travel patterns to any two centers were similar, the di s t r i b u t i o n s for the centers were tested for independence two at a time. (Table XI) The results indicate that the patterns of distance t r a v e l l e d to K i t s , again deviates from those of J.O. and Tech. as was found i n 52 the test of the di s t r i b u t i o n s made for the t o t a l sample of the three centers. When the mean distances t r a v e l l e d to courses offered at a l l three centers are tested for s i g n i f i c a n t differences, the r e s u l t s , (Table XII), do not coincide with the c h i -square tests of independence. Although the chi-square test indicated that the J.O. pattern of distances t r a v e l l e d was similar to the Tech. pattern, the tests on the means indicated that the J.O. pattern i s l i k e the K i t s , pattern. This anomaly may be caused by the small number of J.O. p a r t i c i p -ants t r a v e l l i n g more than f i v e miles since a higher propor-t i o n of K i t s , and Tech. participants t r a v e l longer distances than those attending J.O. as indicated on Table XIII. The participants who choose K i t s , when the same course i s offered at the other two centers, tend to tr a v e l short distances. More than half of them l i v e within two miles and 85% l i v e within three miles of the center. This clustering of the participants i s c l e a r l y evident when the residences are plotted on a map as shown i n I l l u s t r a t i o n 12. Participants from the immediate neighborhood of the center predominate. The participants at J.O. also tend to reside close to-the center. Half of the Type Three participants l i v e within 2.15 miles of this center, while half of the participants i n Type One courses at the same center who had no alternate center i n which their course was offered, l i v e d within 3 .5^ 5 3 TABLE XIII DISTRIBUTIONS OF TYPE THREE PARTICIPANTS J.O. K i t s . Tech. Ri rig N Cumul. % N % Cumul. % N % Cumul. % 1 6 2 1 2 1 1 5 3 1 3 1 h 1 0 1 0 2 7 2h h5 1 5 3 1 6 2 9 2 3 3 3 3 3 1 0 5 5 i i 2 3 8 5 6 1 5 i+8 h 6 2 1 7 6 6 1 5 6 3 5 5 1 7 9 3 2 8 9 i+ 1 0 7 3 6 1 3 9 6 2 5 7 8 7 1 3 9 9 3 6 9 5 2 5 8 3 8 2 5 8 8 9 2 >+ 9 9 1 0 1 1 1 0 9 8 Totals 2 9 1 0 0 1 0 0 1+8 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 9 1 0 0 1 0 0 5k ILLUSTRATION IZ MAP OF TYPE TA/REEPARTICIPANTS A T HITS. 55 miles of the center. Thus, i f there i s no alternative, the participants w i l l t r a v e l a greater distance. The map showing the residences of the J.O. participants i n Type Three courses i s i n I l l u s t r a t i o n 13. I l l u s t r a t i o n 1*+ shows the map of Type Three p a r t i c i p a t i o n at Tech. By comparing the d i s t r i b u t i o n s of the residences of Type One participants, shown i n I l l u s t r a t i o n 11 with those of Type Three participants as shown on the map i n I l l u s t r a t i o n 15, the tendency of Type Three participants at K i t s , to cluster around that center i s evident since the Type Three participants at the other two centers are more widely scattered; however, the Type One participants for a l l centers are even more widely and evenly spread throughout the c i t y and adjoining areas than the Type Three participants of a l l centers. Since the c i t y of Vancouver and the municipality of Burnaby form the geographic core of the metropolitan area, and since the J.O. d i s t r i b u t i o n of distances t r a v e l l e d produced s t a t i s t i c a l inconsistancies because of the lack of long distance t r a v e l l e r s , the patterns of d i s t r i b u t i o n s for Type Three courses containing only participants who l i v e i n Vancouver and Burnaby were tested. (Table XIV) When the significance of the difference between the means were tested, the r e s u l t s show that the distances t r a v e l l e d to J.O. and Tech. are s i m i l a r and the distances t r a v e l l e d to K i t s , are deviant from the other two centers. (Table XV) This tends ILLUSTRATION 14- 5? MAP OF TYPE TWEE.. •• PAFT/OPANTS A T T£ZN. ILLUSTRATION .IS MAP OF ALL T/P£. 3 PARTICIPANTS 59 to confirm the e a r l i e r contention that the J.O. pattern i s l i k e the Tech. pattern except for participants t r a v e l l i n g longer distances. TABLE XIV PARTICIPANTS PROM 'CAMERA' AND 'TAX' COURSES WHO RESIDE IN THE CITY OF VANCOUVER OR IN BURNABY Ring J.O. K i t s . Tech. 1 6 15 1+ 2 7 16 10 3 h 10 6 6 0 7 5 h 1 2 6 1 1 1 T o t a l : N 28 ^3 30 Mean 2 A 3 1 . 5 5 2 . 3 7 Median 2 . 2 5 iM 2.17 S.D. l.U-9 i . o 8 1-33 6 0 TABLE XV SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEANS FOR TYPE THREE COURSES VANCOUVER AND BURNABY ONLY Centers Tested J.O. and Tech. K i t s , and J.O. K i t s , and Tech, C R . 0 . 1 6 2 . 6 8 Underlined values are s i g n i f i c a n t at the . 0 1 l e v e l of confidence. MOBILITY In an attempt to see whether participants attend the night school center which i s closest to the i r residence, the c i t y of Vancouver and the municipality of Burnaby were divided into three geographic zones with a night school center c e n t r a l l y located i n each zone. ( I l l u s t r a t i o n 3) These zones were constructed i n such a way that any p a r t i c -ipant who resided i n the same zone as the center he attended would be attending the closest center. Participants who attended the closest center were termed non-mobile and those who l i v e d i n one zone and attended a center i n another zone were termed mobile; thus, mobile participants did not attend the closest center. 61 Of the t o t a l number of Type Three participants attending courses offered at the three centers, s l i g h t l y more than one-fourth did not attend the closest center and were thus mobile. The percentage of mobile participants varies from center to center. At J.O. k-3% of the t o t a l sample of Type Three participants i n that center were mobile, with 37% at Tech., and only 9% at K i t s . TABLE XVI MOBILITY OF TYPE THREE PARTICIPANTS RESIDING . IN VANCOUVER AND BURNABY ONLY J.O. K i t s . Tech. Total Mobile 12 H- 11 27 Non-Mobile 16 39 19 7h T o t a l : 28 30 101 Percent Mobile: ^3% 9% 37% 27% When the number of mobile participants were tested against the non-mobile i n the three centers, the chi-square test showed a difference that was s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l of confidence. (Table XVII) The low percentage of mobile participants at K i t s , further substantiates the evidence that Type Three p a r t i c i p -ants at K i t s , are closely bunched around the center they attend. The much higher mobility percentages for the participants at the other two centers indicate that at J.O. and Tech. the participants are scattered more widely through-out the c i t y . TABLE XVII CHI-SQUARE TEST ON THE HYPOTHESIS THAT MOBILITY IS INDEPENDENT OF THE CENTER ATTENDED Type 1 Type 3 3 ^ 5 11.9 Underlined value s i g n i f i c :ant at the .01 l e v e l of confidence. Although Type One courses were offered at only one center, the geographic dispersal of these participants was tested by using the same procedure. Since 52% of the Type TABLE XVIII MOBILITY OF TYPE ONE PARTICIPANTS RESIDING IN VANCOUVER AND BURNABY ONLY J.O. K i t s . Tech. Total Mobile 32 19 38 89 Non-Mobile 20 25 37 82 Total: 52 hh 75 171 % Mobile 62% 1+2% 51% 52% 63 One p a r t i c i p a n t s d i d not t r a v e l to the nearest center and since m o b i l i t y was not as s o c i a t e d w i t h the center attended, i t was c l e a r that f o r at l e a s t h a l f of the p a r t i c i p a n t s distance was not the most important f a c t o r i n determining t h e i r s e l e c t i o n of course and center. SUBJECT MATTER The subject matter of the course does not seem to be a f a c t o r which i n f l u e n c e s distance except i n the case where courses were attended p r i m a r i l y by \\\\romen. When the i n f l u e n c e of subject matter was explored by c o n t r o l l i n g f o r the Type of course and the center attended, only the means of two courses, 'Candlemaking' and 'How to Invest Your Money' showed a s i g n -i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e . There were four Type One courses at each center. I f center and Type determine the distances t r a v e l l e d to evening c l a s s e s one would expect the distances t r a v e l l e d to each of the four courses l o c a t e d i n the same center to be s i m i l a r . Four Type One courses at each center were tes t e d using the hypothesis that h a l f the p a r t i c i p a n t s i n each course would t r a v e l a sho r t e r distance than the median f o r the four courses combined, and h a l f would t r a v e l f u r t h e r . The chi-square t e s t s produced no s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e i n d i c a t i n g that t h i s hypo-t h e s i s should be accepted at a l l three centers. (Table XIX) TABLE XIX CHI-SQUARE TEST ON THE MEDIANS OF THE COURSES IN TYPE ONE Center 2~X2 d.f. J.O. 6 . 1 0 3 K i t s . 1 . 9 8 3 Tech. I . if8 3 Type Two and Type Three courses, of which there were two at each center, were tested for the significance of the difference between the means. The mean distances t r a v e l l e d to the Type Three courses at each center were not s i g n i f i c -antly d i f f e r e n t ; however, the Type Two courses offered at K i t s , had a s i g n i f i c a n t difference between the means. Thus TABLE XX SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE . TWO COURSES IN EACH CATEGORY Center CR d.f. K i t s . - 2 2 . 2 3 * 7 3 J.O. - 3 . 1 2 2 7 K i t s . - 3 . 3 5 h6 Tech. - 3 . 8 0 3 7 * S i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t at the . 0 5 l e v e l of confidence. 65 the distances t r a v e l l e d to these two courses were not pre-determined by the center attended and by the number of centers offering the' same course. It was subsequently noted that one of these K i t s , courses, 'Candlemaking 1, was attended primarily by women. In order to determine vrhether the sex of the p a r t i c -ipants influenced the distances t r a v e l l e d , four d i s t r i b u t i o n s were prepared, (Table XXI), one contained participants from courses attended primarily by women; another for participants i n courses attended primarily by men; a t h i r d for men attending courses containing a mixture of men and women; and a fourth for women i n courses containing both men and women. The mean distances t r a v e l l e d were calculated and tested for the significance of the difference between the means. The mean distance travelled by men to courses for men i s s i g n i f -i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t from the mean distance t r a v e l l e d by women to courses offered for women. None of the other comparisons are s i g n i f i c a n t . Apparently, under cert a i n circumstances the sex of the participant i s related to the distance t r a v e l l e d . In general, i t would appear that women attending class i n subject matter oriented to women travel shorter distances than do the participants at other courses. This relationship i s not clear cut and more research i s needed to c l a r i f y the relationships between rate of pa r t i c i p a t i o n , distance t r a v e l l e d and the sex of the participant. 66 TABLE XXI SEX AND DISTANCE TRAVELLED Courses Participants Mean Distance Standard Deviations Men only 80 ^.32 3-78 Women only 55 2.7 3.16 Men i n mixed 255 3 . 8 3.06 Women i n mixed 302 3 . 5 2.96 SIGNIFICANCE OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEANS Courses CR Men only - Women only 2.70 Men mixed - Women mixed .86 Men only - Men mixed 1.90 Women only - Women mixed 1.10 Underlined value s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l of confidence. 67 ATTENDANCE AND DISTANCE Although attendance i s not d i r e c t l y related to enrollment, i t seems that once an adult e n r o l l s i n a course the distance he must then t r a v e l does not influence his subsequent attendance. The percentage of sessions attended and the distance t r a v e l l e d was correlated for a l l p a r t i c i p -ants residing within ten miles of the center they attended. The resultant c o r r e l a t i o n of - . 0 7 5 was not s i g n i f i c a n t . Although no s t a t i s t i c a l tests were made, i t would seem that the percentage of participants with perfect attendance does not decrease as distance from the center increases. (Table XXII) Thus there appears to be no relationship between the distance a participant travels and how many sessions he attends. LOCATION OF CENTERS The decision to open new night school centers that have a reasonable chance of survival i s one of the responsi-b i l i t i e s of the night school administrator. The analysis of J.O., K i t s , and Tech. indicates that participants tend to t r a v e l r e l a t i v e l y long distances to attend night school. On t h i s basis i t would seem that a r e l a t i v e l y small number of centers can adequately serve the central c i t y . Lee con-cluded that the rate of p a r t i c i p a t i o n at English University 68 TABLE XXII PERFECT ATTENDANCE AND DISTANCE TRAVELLED Ring Total Students Students with Perfect Attendance Percent with Perfect Attendance 1 99 h? h7 2 152 56 37 3 106 39 37 h 88 2h 27 5 80 20 25 6 h6 13 28 7 h6 7 15 8 2h 8 33 9 18 9 50 10 10 2 20 Total 669 22 5 3h% 69 Extension courses did not decline appreciably within two and one-half miles of the center where the courses were located. Since more participants tend to travel between one and two miles to attend Vancouver night school than from any other i n t e r v a l , i t seems l i k e l y that p a r t i c i p a t i o n within two miles of the three centers studied i s close to the optimum l e v e l . This suggests the hypothesis that new centers opened within two miles of an established center w i l l be less l i k e l y to survive. To examine this hypothesis, the three centers studied were plotted on a map of the c i t y and a c i r c l e with a radius of two miles was drawn to scale around each center as shown on I l l u s t r a t i o n 3 . King George night school i s located outside the three c i r c l e s and i n the six years previous i t has had at least 800 participants. Point Grey night school, l i k e King George, has been i n operation since before 1950. During the past six years enrollment i n that center has reached a high of 1800 and has not dropped below 900. Although the Point Grey center i s s l i g h t l y l e s s than two miles from K i t s , i t i s adjacent to the south-west corner of the c i t y which i s not within any of the c i r c l e s . C h u r c h i l l night school seems to have been sharing this south-west corner of the c i t y with Point Grey for the past six years and has been averaging 500 participants per year. Ch u r c h i l l l i e s just within the J.O. c i r c l e . A night school was opened i n the south-east corner of the c i t y at Killa r n e y 70 i n 1962 but p a r t i c i p a t i o n has subsequently dwindled from an o r i g i n a l 600 to a present 300 participants. Although K i l l a r n e y i s not within any of the two mile c i r c l e s , the area remaining outside the c i r c l e s but inside the c i t y may not be s u f f i c i e n t to enable i t to survive. The centers mentioned thus far are either well estab-l i s h e d or seem at least to have some chance of surviving; however, the other centers which have been opened since the early f i f t i e s have either ceased or their closure seems imminent. Byng, B r i t t a n i a and Gladstone centers were opened and subsequently closed i n the early f i f t i e s and a l l three l i e within one of the two mile c i r c l e s . Thompson, within one and one-half miles of both J.O. and Ki l l a r n e y , was opened i n 1962 and, not surpri s i n g l y , seems to be i n the process of closing for lack: of pa r t i c i p a n t s . Templeton, opened i n 196k-, has had very l i g h t enrollment i n general courses but the courses i n learning to speak English have had considerable enrollment from the I t a l i a n ethnic group i n the immediate v i c i n i t y of the center. Thus, Templeton may indicate that there are other factors to be considered which are not predictable from considering only i t s proximity to the well established centers. The record of the opening of new centers i n Vancouver during the f i f t e e n year period subsequent to 1950 seems to indicate that a new center opened within two miles of a large well established center has l i t t l e chance of establishing a large enough c l i e n t e l e to contribute appreciably to the t o t a l night school enrollment i n the c i t y . CHAPTER IV SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS SUMMARY The problem of voluntary p a r t i c i p a t i o n by adults at evening classes has been widely studied. Distance i s one factor influencing enrollment which i s often mentioned, however, the distance t r a v e l l e d to Public School Adult Centers has not previously been studied s p e c i f i c a l l y . This study compared the distances t r a v e l l e d to three large urban night school centers. A sample consisting of twenty-two courses was selected from the 1962-1963 evening class program of the Vancouver night school system. The straight l i n e distances between the residence of each participant and the center attended was computed and arranged i n di s t r i b u t i o n s for comparison. The r e s u l t s showed that when a l l ^86 participants were considered, 50% t r a v e l l e d less than 2.8 miles, 95% t r a v e l l e d less than 9 miles, and under 1% t r a v e l l e d more than 1*+ miles. More participants t r a v e l l e d from between one and two miles than from any other i n t e r v a l . The chi-square test indicated that when courses were offered at one center only there was no association between the center attended and the distance t r a v e l l e d . When courses 72 were offered at two of the three centers the chi-square test again indicated there was no relationship between the night school center attended and the distances t r a v e l l e d . For these courses, however, some doubt exists about the v a l i d i t y of t h i s conclusion because Wo of the courses involved were attended predominantly by women. When courses i n the same subject matter were offered i n a l l three centers there were s i g n i f i c a n t differences between the distances t r a v e l l e d to the various centers. At the K i t s i l a n o Night School the participants were closely bunched around the center. At this center 50% of the part-icipants t r a v e l l e d less than 1.6 miles and 85% t r a v e l l e d less than three miles. On the other hand, the distances t r a v e l l e d to the same courses at John Oliver Night School and Technical Night School were not s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t from each other. Of the participants who could get the same course at these two centers 50% t r a v e l l e d l e s s than 2.5 miles at J.O. and half t r a v e l l e d less than 3»1 miles at Tech. Participants would seem to travel from throughout the c i t y of Vancouver to attend J.O. and Tech. The participants at K i t s . , however, travel from throughout the c i t y to attend courses available only at K i t s . , but when the course i s available at a l l three centers, the K i t s , participants come mainly from the immediate neighborhood of the center. CONCLUSIONS 7 3 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CENTERS The patterns of distances t r a v e l l e d to a night school course would seem to depend upon where courses are located. As the number of centers offering the same subject matter increase, the tr a v e l patterns tend to vary more from center to center. The distances t r a v e l l e d to courses offered i n one center only tend to be the same at a l l centers. However, when courses are offered i n three centers, t r a v e l patterns d i f f e r from center to center. These generalizations are based upon the analysis of three large successful centers. The travel patterns to small and newly opened centers may well d i f f e r from those considered i n this study. Although course locations seem to determine travel patterns, courses attended predominantly by women seem to be an exception. Women tra v e l shorter distances to courses offered for women. This might be expected since the commuting studies of Adams, MacKesey and of Taaffe, Garner and Yeates indicate that women tra v e l shorter distances to work than do men. AREA SERVED The area served by a night school center i s delineated by the residences of i t s participants. Since these p a r t i c i p -ants tend to reside i n widely scattered areas of the 7h municipal complex the area served by night school centers cannot be marked by f i n i t e boundaries shown on a map, how-ever, well established centers tend to have the highest p a r t i c i p a t i o n rates from within a two mile radius. New centers opened within two miles of existing well established centers have trouble a t t r a c t i n g and maintaining c l i e n t e l e . The area served by a given center i s not the same for a l l courses given at that center. This tendency i s very strong at some centers and not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t at others. The size of the area served i s probably increased by scheduling courses i n a subject on d i f f e r e n t nights of the week i n d i f f e r e n t centers. Many participants did not attend the closest center offering a course and for many participants this undoubtedly occurred so that they could attend on a convenient night of the week. There i s every reason to suppose that the procedure of locating courses i n the same subject i n d i f f e r e n t centers and on di f f e r e n t nights of the week helps to increase p a r t i c i p a t i o n . This question, however, should be studied so as to control the influence of the night of the week on distance and p a r t i c i p -ation. The areas served by night school centers overlap and are i n turn overlapped by the area served by University Extension courses. Melton found that the area served by extension courses which were also offered by the public school centers was the same as the area served by courses 75 offered only by the Extension Department. Thus, p a r t i c i -pants are attracted to classes conducted by both the Extension Department and the public school from throughout the central urban area. Since Brunner indicates that Extension participants generally have a higher socio-economic status than public school participants, the extent to which the two i n s t i t u t i o n s compete for the same c l i e n t e l e i s d i f f i c u l t to assess. DISTANCE AND ENROLLMENT The distance participants must tr a v e l to obtain courses i s a variable within the control of the night school administrator who can reduce the necessary t r a v e l distances or hold the courses i n few centers and force participants to travel further. The tendency for participants to be widely spread would seem to indicate that a small number of centers could serve urban areas adequately. Although not indicated here, d i f f e r e n t centers may a t t r a c t d i f f e r e n t kinds of participants which would introduce d i f f e r e n t factors i n f l u -encing p a r t i c i p a t i o n than distance alone. BOUNDARIES AND PARTICIPATION Dent concluded that r u r a l municipal boundaries were barrie r s to p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n r u r a l farming communities, but the large number of suburban participants who travel to 76 night schools i n the central c i t y indicate that municipal boundaries do not act as a b a r r i e r to p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the urban se t t i n g . It may be that the suburban participant loses his reluctance to t r a v e l to the central c i t y since he commutes to work: there. One might expect participants of higher socio-economic status to attend centers i n high socio-economic areas and participants of lower socio-economic status to f e e l more welcome at centers i n those areas but these tendencies are not evident here. DISTANCE AS A BARRIER TO PARTICIPATION Since the number of participants per mile i n t e r v a l decreases as distance from each center increases one might conclude that decreasing p a r t i c i p a t i o n i s caused by i n -creasing distance; however, there are good reasons for not accepting this conclusion. Melton found that at some centers there was no s i g n i f i c a n t difference between the distances t r a v e l l e d to courses offered at that center only and courses also offered at alternate centers. I f participants consid-ered distance to be the prime factor they should have chosen the closest center. I f distance were a b a r r i e r to p a r t i c -i p a t i o n Lee would not have found uniform p a r t i c i p a t i o n rates within two and one-half miles of the center he studied. The maps i n this study tend to show scattered p a r t i c i p a t i o n rather than gradually decreasing p a r t i c i p a t i o n . It would 77 seem that within the central c i t y distance i s a barrier to only a few part i c i p a n t s . The fact that number of sessions attended by participants who travel as far as ten miles i s not less than the number of sessions attended by participants residing i n the immediate v i c i n i t y of their center indicates that for those who e n r o l l , distance i s not subsequently a b a r r i e r . BIBLIOGRAPHY Ad ams, Leonard P., and Thomas VI, MacKesey. Commuting Patterns of I n d u s t r i a l Workers. I t h i c a : Cornell University Press, 1955-Booth, Alan. \"A Demographic Consideration of the Non-Par t i c i p a n t , \" Adult Education, XI (Summer, 1961), 223-229. Brunner, Edmund deS., et a l . An Overview of Adult Education Research. Chicago: Adult Education Association of the U.S.A., 1955. Cartier, A.L. \"Public School Adult Education,\" Journal of Education of the Faculty of Education of the University of B r i t i s h Columbia: Vancouver^ X ( A p r i l . 196L+), 2 9 - 3 5 . Dent, William J. \"An Exploratory Study of the Distances Which Farmers Travel To Attend Various Types of Educational A c t i v i t i e s Dealing With A g r i c u l t u r a l Production.\" Two H i l l s : A g r i c u l t u r a l Extension Service, 1965- (Unpublished) Dominion Bureau of S t a t i s t i c s . 1961 Census of Canada, Population and Housing Characteristics by Census Tracts: Vancouver, B u l l e t i n CT-22. Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1963. Garrett, Henry E. S t a t i s t i c s i n Psychology and Education. F i f t h e d i t i o n . New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1958. Kaplan, Abraham Abbott. Socio-Economic Circumstances and Adult P a r t i c i p a t i o n . Teachers College Contributions to Education, No. 889. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 19^3. 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New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1962. Taaffe, Edward J., Barry J. Garner, and Maurice H. Yeates. The Peripheral Journey To Work. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1963. Van Dalen, Deobold B. Understanding Educational Research. N e w York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1962. Verner, Coolie, and George S. Davis, J r . \"Completions and Drop Outs: A Review of Research,\" Adult Education, XIV (Spring, 196M-), 157-175. Wales, Bertram Edwards. \"The Development of Adult Education In B r i t i s h Columbia.\" Unpublished Ed.D. thesis, Oregon State College, C o r v a l l i s , 1958. Wingo, Lowdon J r . Transportation and Urban Land. Washington: Resources For the Future Inc., 1 9 6 l . "@en ; edm:hasType "Thesis/Dissertation"@en ; edm:isShownAt "10.14288/1.0104723"@en ; dcterms:language "eng"@en ; ns0:degreeDiscipline "Administrative, Adult and Higher Education"@en ; edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ; dcterms:publisher "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:rights "For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en ; ns0:scholarLevel "Graduate"@en ; dcterms:title "A comparison of distances travelled to urban night school centers"@en ; dcterms:type "Text"@en ; ns0:identifierURI "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/37280"@en .