A comparative study of certain political attitudes of Scottish and Taiwan students

Lee, Kwang Shiang (1974) A comparative study of certain political attitudes of Scottish and Taiwan students. MLitt(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The subjects who took part in this study were over 300 students of Education, Accountancy, and Politics / Political Economy at Glasgow (Scotland ) and at Taipei ( Taiwan ), The objective of this research was to make a comparative study of certain political attitudes of these two cultural groups. Three instruments were adopted. They were; the Semantic Differential Technique as used in attitude measurement; a questionnaire for measuring degree of approval of certain political and government practices; and a self-reported ranking of influences on the development of political attitudes, with the addition of a question about the age when interest in politics first arose. Three hypotheses had been developed as follows: (1) The two groups' attitudes towards political systems, political leaders, and political practices are different (2) The political attitudes of Scottish students reflect their interests in individual rights as against the common interest emphasised on the part of Chinese students. (3) The Chinese teachers and lecturers are relatively more significant in influencing students' political attitudes than the Scottish teachers and lecturers. The results of these tests were analysed, and inter group comparisons were made between different kinds of students within the same country as well as between the two countries. Results of this investigation reveal some differences existing between the Scottish and the Chinese students, These include: (1) They differ in attitudes toward Totalitarianism and a political leader who represents certain values of it (this partly supports the first hypothesis\. (2) Their attitudes toward separation of public interest and individual rights are different (this also partly supports the second hypothesis). (3) The Chinese lecturers and teachers were reported to be more influential on students' attitudes toward politics than their Scottish counterparts (the third hypothesis has thus been supported), (4) The Scottish students began to care about politics earlier than did the Chinese students, (5) The two groups differ in the attitudes toward s trikes. (6) They differ also in treatment of minority opinions. (7) The influence of family on the political attitudes of Scottish students is more significant. (8) The influence of television on the political attitudes of Scottish students is more significant. The Scottish and Chinese students, on the other hand, are similar in some aspects; (1) They retain similar attitudes toward Democracy, and a political figure associated with it, (2) They show similar sceptical attitudes toward the introducing of Utopian ideas in government policy; and toward nationalisation of industry, (3) Both groups reported being less influenced by peer groups in their political attitudes.

• Item Type: Thesis (MLitt(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Additional Information: Adviser: R Pickford
• Keywords: Educational sociology
• Date of Award: 1974
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1974-74175
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 23 Sep 2019 15:33
• Last Modified: 23 Sep 2019 15:33
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/74175