SOCIOMETRIC STATUS OF STUDENTS IN THE UPPER PRIMARY EDUCATION AND RELATION TO THEIR FRIENDSHIP RELATIONSHIP, SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.

ODREDNICE I POTENCIJALNI KORELATI SOCIOMETRIJSKOGA STATUSA UČENIKA U RAZREDNIM ODJELIMA VIŠIH RAZREDA OSNOVNE ŠKOLE. (Croatian)

The aim of this research was to examine the connection between sociometric status and school success, the dimensions of friendly relations and some socio-demographic characteristics of students. The research was conducted on a sample of 312 primary school students. By analyzing the dimensions of the quality of relationships among best friends, five sociometric statuses were identified: star student, rejected student, isolated student, controversial student, and average student. Significant differences in school achievement were found between all types of students. Rejected students have significantly lower overall achievement compared to controversial and average students, while star students have the highest share of excellent students. Gender proved to be a significant predictor of sociometric status and overall student achievement where female students were found to have a higher share among more popular students and have better overall performance at the end of the school year regardless of student subcategories by sociometric status. When examining the relationship between the dimensions of friendships and sociometric status of students, significant findings were found on how students assess their relationships with best friends, but due to the smaller number of individual categories of students in the sample it was found that there is no statistically significant relationship between variables of the dimension of friendly relations which is conceived as a composite variable based on the conducted factor analyzes. The results of this research indicate a strong connection between the sociometric status and general success of primary school students, while in the context of the connection with the dimensions of friendly relations there is a necessity for expanding knowledge and more extensive research on the relations between students and their sociometric profile, which at this time of the pandemic where the issue of mental health was further actualized, proves to be a high priority in the work of educational institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je ispitati povezanost sociometrijskoga statusa sa školskim uspjehom, dimenzijama prijateljskih odnosa te s nekim sociodemografskim obilježjima učenika. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 312 učenika osnovne škole. Analizom dimenzija kvalitete odnosa među najboljim prijateljima izdvojeno je pet sociometrijskih statusa: učenik zvijezda, odbačeni učenik, izolirani učenik, kontroverzan učenik i prosječan učenik. Utvrđene su značajne razlike u školskom uspjehu između svih tipova učenika. Odbačeni učenici imaju značajnije niži opći uspjeh u odnosu na kontroverzne i prosječne učenike, dok učenici zvijezde imaju najviši udio odlikaša. Spol se pokazao kao značajan preduvjet sociometrijskoga statusa i općega uspjeha učenika gdje je utvrđeno kako učenice imaju veći udio među popularnijim učenicima te imaju bolji opći uspjeh na kraju školske godine neovisno od podkategorija učenika prema socio-metrijskom statusu. Kod ispitivanja povezanosti dimenzija prijateljskih odnosa i sociometrijskoga statusa učenika utvrđeni su znakoviti nalazi o tome kako učenici procjenjuju svoje odnose s najboljim prijateljima, no zbog manjega broja pojedinih kategorija učenika u uzorku je utvrđeno kako nema statistički značajne povezanosti između kategoričke varijable sociometrijskih statusa kojima pripadaju učenici te varijable dimenzije prijateljskih odnosa koja je koncipirana kao kompozitna varijabla na temelju provedenih faktorskih analiza. Rezultati ovoga istraživanja ukazuju na snažnu povezanost sociometrijskoga statusa i općega uspjeha učenika osnovnih škola, dok je u kontekstu povezanosti s dimenzijama prijateljskih odnosa razvidna potreba za proširivanjem spoznaja i opsežnijim istraživanjima o odnosima među učenicima i njihovom so-ciometrijskom profilu, što se u ovo doba pandemije u kojem se pitanje mentalnoga zdravlja dodatno aktualiziralo, pokazuje visokim prioritetom u radu odgojno-obrazovnih institucija. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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