Sample Characteristics

 Demographics are presented for the sub-sample of 548 participants. The

geographic breakdown for this sample is presented in table 4.1.

Table 4-1. Sample breakdown by geographic location
Location (State, County) n % Description

California
 Los Angeles 182 33.2 Metropolitan
 Florida 366 66.8
 Alachua 143 26.1 Urbanized
 Dade 32 5.8 Metropolitan
 Hamilton 191 34.9 Rural
Note: Census 2000; Definitions based on population density.

 The other characteristics of the sample are listed in Table 4-2. The majority of the

sample was African American, European American or Hispanic. The remaining ethnic

groups (Asian, Native American, Multiracial and Other) were combined into one group

entitled "Other" for analysis purposes. The sample ranged in age from 10 to 15 years of

age with a mean age of 12.41 (SD = 0.96).

 The socioeconomic status of the participants who could be categorized (n = 132)

had a mean of 3.72 (SD = 1.01) on a scale from 1 to 5 with lower numbers representing a

higher social class. The top two groups were combined because of the few (n = 2) in the

highest socioeconomic group. Another general descriptive factor related to economic

status is the percentage eligible for free or reduced lunch. The schools that participated in

this survey had rates of student eligibility for free and reduced lunch that ranged from

30% to 86%. The majority of the schools had rates of over 50% eligibility (California

Department of Education, 2002; Florida Department of Education, 2002).