A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF SELECTED BOOKS OF REALISTIC FICTION WRITTEN FOR AND ABOUT CHILDREN AS THEY RELATE TO SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF GIFTED CHILDREN

The purpose of this study was to conduct a content analysis of selected works of children\u27s fiction written for and about children to analyze the roles of the main characters for evidence of selected behaviors and characteristics that classified the characters as being gifted. Assessment was also made to determine whether the gifted main characters reflected reality or were stereotyped in behaviors, characteristics, and relations with others. The technique of content analysis was chosen as that most appropriate for collecting and analyzing data for this investigation. The sample of sixty children\u27s books, thirty for each of two time periods, was analyzed with respect to five major categories under which were listed identifying sub-behaviors of giftedness. Standard differences of percentage, t ratios, and levels of significance for the average percentages of the early and recent periods were calculated. Conclusions of the study are: (1) Gifted children characters are present in books of fiction written for young readers and they are increasing in number in more recent books. (2) The extent to which the identifying characteristics of gifted main characters were found to be used by authors to depict giftedness were: (a) intellectual ability and creativity were most often the defining characteristics of giftedness in main characters in both time periods, but creativity as a factor increased greatly in the recent period; (b) leadership ability was a constant in main characters in children\u27s realistic fiction in both time periods; (c) ability in visual and performing arts and psychomotor ability were found in fewer books in the recent time period than in the earlier period. (3) The representation of the female sex as the main character increased significantly from the early to the recent period. (4) There was no support for the hypothesis that gifted main characters were stereotyped in the children\u27s fiction examined. (5) Books for children are reflecting a changing society in plot, setting, theme, and especially in characterization