ADJUSTMENT INVENTORY FOR SCHOOL STUDENTS

BY
A.K.P. SINHA AND DR. R.P.SINGH

AIM: To measure the adjustment level of high school students (14- 18 years) using a
standardized test for adjustment by AKP Sinha and RP Singh.
BASIC CONCEPT:
The concept of adjustment has originated from the term `adaptation`. It is the process where
an individual cope, responds to their environment. The behavioural process by which humans
and other animals maintain a state of equilibrium by various needs is called adjustment. It is
how they cope with change in the environment to act efficiently maintaining homeostasis.

James Denver defines adjustment as the modification to compensate for or meet special
conditions.
James. C. Coleman says that adjustment is the outcome of the individual`s attempts to deal
with the stress and meet his needs, also his efforts to maintain harmonious relationships with
the environment.
Adaptation is the action or process of adapting. It is also the process of change by which an
organism or species becomes better suited to its environment.

Features:
❖ Varies from culture to culture
❖ Subjective in nature
❖ Continuous process

In the present test, adjustment is being measured by three different ways:

❖ Social – Man needs to be accepted by the society in which he lives. He has to
follow norms of the society to be adjusted. He has to seek approval of the society and
act accordingly.
❖ Emotional – An individual is emotionally adjusted if he/she is happy with
themselves, realizes his/her potential and is content with what he/she has achieved.
❖ Educational – An educationally well-adjusted person is one who has an ability to
think and innovate, he/she needs to be happy in their academic achievements

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE TEST

The AISS seeks to segregate well-adjusted school students [14-18 years] from poorly
adjusted students in 3 areas – social, emotional, and educational. The test consists of 60 items
where the subject is required to answer in terms of `Always’, ‘Sometimes’ and ‘Never’. Each
item in the test is scored as per the instructions given in the manual. The subject can be
classified into three categories in accordance with the raw scores obtained by them in the
inventory. The three categories are 1. Social 2. Emotional 3. Educational.
PRELIMINARIES
Name:
Age:
Place:
Qualifications:
Date:

MATERIAL REQUIRED
 The Adjustment Inventory for School Students (AISS) booklet.
 The Adjustment Inventory for School Students (AISS) Manual.
 Pencil
 Pen
 Eraser

RELIABILITY
Coefficient of reliability was determined by Split half method, Test-retest method and KR-20
formula. The reliability coefficients of the total test and of sub tests by different methods is as
follows:
Split Half method: 0.95
Test-Retest method: 0.93
KR-20 Formula: 0.94

VALIDITY:
As reported by the authors (Sinha and Singh), Item analysis validity coefficient was
determined for each item by biserial correlation and only such items were retained which
yielded biserial correlations with both the criteria (i) the total score and (ii) area score,
significant level being .001. Inter-correlation between the three areas of the inventory was
calculated.
The inventory was also validated by correlating inventory scores with ratings by the Hostel
Superintendent. This was done on the data of 60 pupils living in the hostel of Patna
Collegiate Multipurpose Higher Secondary School. The Hostel Superintendent rated the
pupils on a five-point scale, namely, Excellent, Good, Average, Poor, and Very Poor in
respect of their adjustments. The product moment coefficient of correlation between
inventory scores and superintendent's ratings was obtained to be 0.51, which was significant
at .01 level of significance.

NORMS:
The 60 item inventory, in its final form, was administered to a randomly selected
representative sample of 1950 (1200 boys and 750 girls) from class IX to XI grade pupils of
40 schools of Bihar of the age of 14-18 years. The distributions of scores were tested for
normality by applying Chi-square technique. The distributions did not depart significantly
from normality.
SCORING
Following is the scoring system for AISS.
SR.NO. TYPE OF ITEMS ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVER
I Marked ‘Always’ 2 1 0
II Marked ‘Never’ 0 1 2

The lesser the score, the better is the level of adjustment.

PRE-ADMINISTRATION
It is self-administering record and may be administered individually as well as in groups. The
instructions are given on the front page of the booklet of AISS. Before calling the subject for
the test, all the arrangements were done properly. AISS Booklet, Pencil, Eraser and rough
sheet were kept on the table.

RAPPORT FORMATION:
Rapport was established between the subject and the tester, prior to the test so that he/she
could feel comfortable and at ease. In such a state, she/he should answer the questions in a
calm manner and any doubts should be cleared before starting the test.

INSTRUCTIONS
The following instructions were given to the subject:
“On the next pages, there are some statements covering your school problems, which have
three responses alternatives 'Always' and 'Sometimes' and 'Never. Read every statement
carefully and decide whether you want to answer it with. If your answer is in "Always", then
tick the right mark under "Always", if in "Sometimes", tick the right mark under
"Sometimes" and if in "Never", tick the right mark under "Never". Remember your answer
will not be told to any person, so please give the correct answer without hesitation. You may
take your own time, but try to finish it as soon as possible. Your responses will be kept
confidential.”

PROCEDURE
All the materials required were kept ready. Before the subject was actually called, AISS
booklet along with pencil and an eraser were kept on the table. Rapport was established with
the subject. Then the instructions were given. After the instructions, AISS booklet was given
to the subject. Lastly, after the completion of the test, introspective report was taken from the
subject.

INTROSPECTIVE REPORT
The subject gave the following introspective report:
“The test was nice and interesting. I am curious to know my result. On the whole, I enjoyed
the test.”

BEHAVIOURAL REPORT
“It was observed that from the beginning only the subject was very confident. She was
excited for doing the test. She was also enjoying doing the test. Only afterwards she got tired
i.e., towards the end. As obvious, her speed decreased but she still managed to complete the
whole test. But at the end, it can be said that she did the test in quite impressive way as she
took almost appropriate time.”

PRECAUTIONS
The following precautions were kept in mind while conducting the test:
 Appropriate conditions were maintained as far as possible.
 Care was taken that there was a sharpened pencil.
 Atmosphere was made comfortable and quiet.
 It was made sure that the subject understood all the instructions
 Care was taken that the subject had no idea about the test booklet before the test
actually started.
 It was made sure that the subject was feeling comfortable.
 All the materials required were kept ready on the table before the subject was called
for the test.
 Different time limit constraints were imposed on the subject for each subtest.

RESULTS
The table is drawn on the drawing sheet.

AREA OF RAW Z-SCORES LEVEL OF ADJUSTMENT

ADJUSTMENT SCORES
EMOTIONAL
SOCIAL
EDUCATIONAL
TOTAL
ADJUSTMENT

INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION

The aim of the test is to assess the level of high school students (14- 18 years) using a
standardized test for adjustment by AKP Sinha and RP Singh.
The AISS seeks to segregate well-adjusted school students [14-18 years] from poorly
adjusted students in 3 areas – social, emotional, and educational. The test consists of 60 items
where the subject is required to answer in terms of `yes` or `no`. Each item in the test is
scored as per the instructions given in the manual. The subject can be classified into three
categories in accordance with the raw scores obtained by them in the inventory. The three
categories are 1. Social 2. Emotional 3. Educational.

In the Emotional area of adjustment my subject got a raw score of __ and z-score of __. This
means that the subject got ____ level of adjustment.

In the Social area my subject got a raw score of __ and z-score of __. This means that the
subject got ____ level of adjustment.

In the Educational area my subject got a raw score of __ and z-score of __. This means that
the subject got ____ level of adjustment.
The subject’s total raw score is __ and total Z-Score is __. This means that the subject got
____ level of full adjustment.

CONCLUSION
The subject’s total raw score is __ and total Z-Score is __ on full inventory. This means that
the subject got ____ level of overall adjustment.

REFERENCES
 NCERT Psychology Textbook
 AISS Manual