Description:
This data set (Learner background questionnaire - Bsg) contains the responses of students when asked questions referring to their background, i.e. home environment, parental involvement, their perceptions of their school and their experiences in learning mathematics and science, etc. All learners were required to complete this questionnaire.
265 Schools were sampled accross South Africa and 10600 students (administered). This data set has 9038 cases.
Abstract:
In November 2002, about 9000 grade 8 learners from South African public schools participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). South Africa was one of 50 countries (and educational systems) that participated in this study. In TIMSS the students completed achievement tests in mathematics and science and answered questions on their home background, prior experiences and attitudes towards mathematics and science. Mathematics and science teachers completed questionnaires on, among other aspects, their preparation to teach, their teaching styles, professional development and attitudes towards science and mathematics. Principals completed questionnaires on school characteristics, parental involvement, grade 8 teaching and teachers of mathematics and science, student behaviour, resources and technology.
This data set (Learner background questionnaire - Bsgz1m3) contains the responses of students in the eighth grade, who completed achievement tests in mathematics and science, to student background questionnaires in 2003.
Self-completion
Ministry of Education (School Register of Needs: 2000) database
Ministry of Education (School Register of Needs: 2000) database served as the sampling frame.
The TIMSS sampling design is a three-stage (TIMSS 2003 School Sampling Manual) stratified cluster design:
Selecting a sample of schools from all eligible schools;
Randomly selecting a mathematics and science class from each sampled school; and
Sampling learners within a sampled class in cases where the number of learners in a class in greater than 40.
The sample was explicitly stratified by two dimensions:
by province; and
by the language of teaching and learning which was English and Afrikaans in the case of South Africa (SRN 2000).
