Appendix A - Occupation classification: Pre-Job Corps, Post-Job Corps, in 98 2. In December of 1966 the Job Corps asked Louis Harris and Associates to conduc! a study of ex-Corpsmen who had left the centers before finishing their training. These are the "dropouts", the youth who did not make it in the Job Corps. The purpose of the study was fivefold: 1. To determine what the dropouts were doing just before they entered the Job Corps and what they felt the future held for them. Were they now working, in school, or unemployed? What kind of work were they doing and how much were they earning? 2. To determine what they have done since leaving the Job Corps. Who! was the first thing they did and what are they doing now? Has their employment status improved and have their expectations brightened? 3. To study their Job Corps experience. How did they find out about the Job Corps and what were their main reasons for wanting to join? How accurate or fanciful was the picture of the Job Corps as painted by the screening agency? What did they like and dislike about their experience in the Job Corps and most important of all, why did they leave? 4. To present the demographic characteristics of the dropout group and to discern their personal activities and involvement with the community in which they live. 5. To compare the dropouts to Job Corps graduates who were placed on jobs or in school as of May 31, 1966. The information on the graduates comes from a study conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation. 3. From a list of 10,858 names supplied by the Job Corps we were to interview 800 individuals. The sample areas selected took our interviewing staff to 137 different geographic locations across the country. We experimented with various techniques of reaching the respondents (for example, sending them wires or letters asking them to get in touch with us to set up ar appointment) but finally settled on what proved to be the most effective: sending our interviewers directly to the address supplied to find the respondent and interview the individual on the spot. For if the respondent is not interviewed at the time of the initial contact, the sample may be biced by the fact that only the more curious or more highly motivated individuals may show up for the interview In our sample locations we made or attempted to make approximately 3860 contacts. Our staff of interviewers was able to complete 1161 full interviews. This represents 11% of the total list of 10,858 dropouts. The breakdown of the 3800 contacts follows: |