A Study of Children’S Heroes and Ideals
It can be noted that the procedures in this study have been employed in numerous earlier investigations. One of the more recent studies, comparable to the present investiga tion but involving a considerably larger num ber of children, is a study by Hill.2 Two questions were presented to the chil dren: Of all the persons whom you have known, or heard about, or read about, whom would you most vish to be like? And why do you like this person? The responses were obtained from the second-grade children through individual in terviews. In the fourth and sixth grades the children wrote their responses on a form that contained the above two questions. Neither the teachers nor the children had any knowl edge of the questions before the papers were distributed. Precautions were taken to avoid any suggestions by teachers or classmates which might have infuenced the children's choices.