Group Obedience and Its Impact on Academic Counseling Among Students

A Comparative Study of Boys and Girls in Public Secondary Schools in Tharaka- Nithi County, Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to establish the impact of group obedience on academic counseling by comparing boys and girls in public secondary schools in Tharaka- Nithi County, Kenya. Causal- comparative research design was employed in this study. The accessible population was 9,419 form three students from public secondary schools in the county. A total of 12 schools were sampled using stratified sampling technique while random sampling was used to select 29 student respondents from each of the sampled schools. A sample of 348 respondents was involved in this study. Data was collected through a students’ questionnaire. Validity of the instrument was ensured through judgments of research experts and scholars in the related area of study. Reliability of the instrument was estimated through a pilot study and the minimum threshold for reliability of the instrument was set at alpha 0.7. A reliability coefficient of 0.81 was got from the students’ questionnaire. Descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages were used to analyze data, while inferential statistics of a t- test was used to test the hypothesis. Hypothesis was tested at a significant level of alpha 0.05. Data analysis was aided by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 for windows. A summary was used to organize qualitative data. It is recommended that teacher counselors intensify academic counseling programs by organizing sessions for various groups among students regardless of gender on how group obedience impacts on academic counseling.