CHAPTER 14. 



SUMMARY OF DATA CONCERNING GROUPS EXAMINED. 



Section 1. — Limitations affecting consideration of results. 



The account in the preceding chapter of conditions underlying intelligence examining in the 

 first four cantonments should make it clear that results obtained must be considered as sug- 

 gestive rather than as conclusive. They may indicate probable directions of likeness or differ- 

 ence, which later experimentation may establish or disprove, but except where differences are 

 very striking can not be offered as final evidence. The main contribution of the fall work 

 must be recognized as having been made in the very direct ways of meeting immediate local needs 

 and of devising more effective means of meeting similar demands in the future. Planning 

 of work with a view to complete and adequate presentation of results at the expense of such 

 direct service was strictly ruled out by the stress of the military situation. 



Accordingly, when the attempt is made to compare groups in the light of the results 

 obtained, numerous limitations appear which emphasize the fact that only large crude differ- 

 ences can be treated as significant. Finer distinctions must be lost sight of, because of the 

 uncertainty as to whether it is the groups which differ or the local background of selection. 

 In certain cases the cumulative value of comparisons made separately in each of the four sta- 

 tions adds contributory evidence of value. For example, if branches of the service are being 

 considered, and it is found that the differences, even though slight, are in the same direction 

 for all camps, interpretation regarding the relative standing of these branches under the condi- 

 tions which obtained during the fall seems relatively safe. If, on the other hand, there is 

 variation in rank order, this may mean either that the groups are quite different in the different 

 camps or that irregularities of procedure obscured the comparison. For this reason it is espe- 

 cially important that consideration of results be not limited to the summarized total for all four 

 camps. A certain interest attaches also to the possibility of checking the reliability of sug- 

 gested differences by comparing these with results secured later with more adequately devel- 

 oped methods, thus obtaining a still more important weight of cumulative evidence. 



The limitations which affect the interpretation of results determine largely the method of 

 presentation of material. The necessary adjustments made in the treatment of the data will 

 be discussed later. At this point we shall merely note the mam lines of limitation. 



One basic limitation is due directly to the character of the examining methods, the fact 

 that examination a presupposes a certain degree of literacy in English, and that a consider- 

 able number of men were, therefore, eliminated from the possibility of measurement 

 by this examination. Unfortunately men are lost in varying proportions from different 

 groups, so that this loss can not be treated as a constant factor. Moreover, as has been indicated, 

 the methods of segregation were sufficiently variable from camp to camp, and from one time 

 to another within the same camp, so that the men eliminated can not be thought of as even a 

 definite type of case. In other words, it is not possible to drop them from the groups and com- 

 pare the remainder as representing the literates of all groups, with any intention of implying 

 that the same thing is meant by "literates" in all cases. It has been shown that the standards 

 of literacy set up as prerequisite for examination a varied from an approximation to sixth 

 grade requirements to little more than ability to write one's name. To complicate the problem 

 further there is the fact that in the early period of the work certain groups were examined com- 

 pletely by examination a, as, for example, the major part of the Three hundred and third 

 Engineers at Canrp Dix. From the data alone we should be led to infer that these men were, 

 therefore, all literates. In later discussions we shall use the term "illiterates" to designate 

 cases eliminated on the ground of illiteracy, without meaning to indicate that the proportions 



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