Preference Scaling of Titles in English Composition

This study investigated the nature and extent of student preferences for titles in English composition. From an initial pool of 3,000 titles, 100 titles were selected. These were presented to ninety-two seventh-grade students with instructions to judge the extent of their interest in writing about each title. Average preference values were obtained for the total group, and separately for males and females, and for intellectually bright and dull students. Results indicate male preferences were for adventure and scientific topics while female preferences were for a wider spectrum of topics. Intellectually bright students preferred the more abstract titles, while the duller students showed preference for titles requiring more concrete descriptive writing.