Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children's Academic Performance

EFFECTS OF CROWDING IN HOUSING ON CHILDREN’S ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

SAIDATUL SYAHIRAH BINTI SHAZRI 2008215838

ARK 587 RESEARCH PAPER BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS.)(ARCHITECTURE) FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING AND SURVEYING UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA, SHAH ALAM MARCH – JULY 2012

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The

accomplishment

of

this

study

depends

on

the

encouragement and support from many others. Firstly, I would thank to God for giving me strength and courage to materialize this study. I would like to express my gratitude and greatest appreciation to my supervisor, En. Azman Hassan for the patient and helpful guidance he gave me. I am truly fortunate to work with him. Without his constant encouragement and comments, I couldn’t do better in understanding and finishing this study.

Special thanks to the principal of SMK Wangsa Melawati, Pn. Hasnah Ali and all of the teachers who involved in distributing the survey form. I would also like to thank my mom and my aunt who gave a tremendous help in contacting the school. Without their helps, this study may not be completed.

Finally, an honourable mention goes to my families and friends for their understandings, helps and supports in completing this study.

Without their helps, I would face many difficulties in doing this study.

vi

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to study on the effect of crowding in housing on children’s academic performance in Kuala Lumpur. It is known from the previous research that there was a negative correlation between children’s academic performance and crowding in house. To verify the relationship between crowding in housing and children’s academic performance, data were obtained from questionnaire distributed to a sample of 116 13-years old children in one of secondary school in Kuala Lumpur. Descriptive statistics and correlation were used in data analysis. The result found that there is no correlation between number of person in the house and children’s academic performance in Kuala Lumpur. Its contradiction with previous study shows that number of person per house doesn’t really affect children’s academic performance. The number of person in the house may not really give a significant effect on children’s development due to the good planning and utilization of area and space in the house which henceforth reduces the feeling of disturbance and crowd in the house.

vii

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

iii

ABSTRACT

iv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................ 1 1.1

Introduction ..................................................................... 1

1.2

Literature Review ............................................................ 2

1.2.1

Introduction ............................................................... 2

1.2.2

Crowding in Houses .................................................. 3

1.2.3

Role of Housing in Children’s Development.............. 5

1.2.4

Effects of Crowding on Children ............................... 8

1.2.5

Crowding Affects Children’s Academic Performance 12

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHOD ..................................... 16 2.1

Research Approach ...................................................... 16

2.2

Research Design .......................................................... 17

2.3

Variables ....................................................................... 17

2.4

Measurement Instruments ............................................ 18

2.5

Sample.......................................................................... 20 viii

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

2.6

Procedure ..................................................................... 21

2.7

Data Analysis ................................................................ 23

2.8

Limitation ...................................................................... 23

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS ......................................................... 25 3.1

Overall children’s examination score ............................ 25

3.2

Relationship between Children’s Academic Performance and Number of Person in their House .......................... 26

3.3

Other associated factors affecting children’s academic performance ................................................................. 33

3.3.1

Types of house ....................................................... 34

3.3.2

Existence of study area .......................................... 35

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION .................. 37 4.1

Discussion .................................................................... 37

4.1.1

Number of person in the house............................... 38

4.1.2

Types of house ....................................................... 39

4.1.3

Existence of study area in the house ...................... 41

4.2

Conclusion .................................................................... 42

APPENDICES:.......................................................................... 44 REFERENCES: ........................................................................ 49

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Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Sample of questions regarding Academic achievement ....... 19 Figure 2: Sample of question on housing types ................................... 22 Figure 3: Bar chart showing the frequency of examination score ........ 26 Figure 4: Graph of correlation between academic score and number of person in the house ............................................................................. 28 Figure 5: Graph of 4-persons house in relation to children's academic score .................................................................................................... 29 Figure 6: Graph of 5-persons house in relation to children's academic score .................................................................................................... 30 Figure 7: Graph of 6-persons house in relation to children's academic score .................................................................................................... 31 Figure 8: Graph of 7-persons house in relation to children's academic score .................................................................................................... 32 Figure 9: Curve of examination score versus number of person in the house ................................................................................................... 33 Figure 10: Graph showing frequency of children living in different types of house ............................................................................................... 35

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Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Scale for measuring academic performance .......................... 20 Table 2: Percentage of gender in sample ............................................ 21 Table 3: Overall examination score ..................................................... 25 Table 4: No. of person in the house ..................................................... 27 Table 5: Correlation between children's academic performance and number of person in the house ............................................................ 27 Table 6: Overall score mean in relation to number of person in the house ................................................................................................... 28 Table 7: Mean score in relation to type of house ................................. 34 Table 8: Percentage of existence of study area ................................... 35 Table 9: Mean score in relation to the existence of study area in children's house ................................................................................... 36

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Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

CHAPTER 1:

1.1

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Crowding and privacy need to be balanced when designing a house so that the residents will have a good quality of residential environment. Communal spaces such as living area, dining area and open area are needed in a residential area to achieve good social interaction that will help to improve the development and the maintenance of the residential area, but excessive crowd in the spaces may lead to overcrowding.

Other than that, overcrowding in a house can also give bad impact among the family member especially the young ones which need more ‘delicate and sensitive’ environment for their growth development. Any bad influences from the surrounding may lead to bad growth. They need a good surrounding to maintain their health, develop skills and nurture good behaviour. A person’s work performance usually associates with his/her academic performance. Hence, to determine whether the person has a good future and excel in their work, good academic acquisition is an essential.

Adequate comfortable, quiet space is important for children’s well-being because children need space to develop their skills and 1

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

social interaction. Overcrowding in the home environment can disrupt the development. Evans, Lepore, Mellon, Shejwal, and Palsane (1998) found that lack of privacy in home can result in stress, difficult social interactions, work or academic performance and behavioural problems not only for the children, but all household members.

The purpose of paper is to study the effects of crowding in housing on children’s academic performance in Kuala Lumpur. From the study, it is expected to raise awareness amongst designers and developers regarding the significance of children’s ‘participation’ in designing a housing development.

1.2

Literature Review

1.2.1 Introduction

To have understanding in the relationship between crowding and children’s development, the concept of crowding is important to be learned to define the meaning of crowding and privacy itself. Is it about the number of person, the number of rooms or the floor area that matters in measuring crowding level in a house? Different types of houses also will affect the crowding condition. In relation to children’s development, how the housing helps in improving the development also need to be understood. The housing project will also determine the 2

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

aspects of environmental qualities which are important to be known, and crowding level is one of the aspects. Crowding do affects the person living in the house. But, the most affected group is children. It is important to know how crowding affects children in terms of their mental development, physical development, behaviour and most importantly is their intellectual or academic wise.

1.2.2 Crowding in Houses

A study was conducted on Papua New Guinea societies by Kaitilla (1998) to examine the concepts of privacy and crowding in Melanesian. The study discussed on the definition of housing density in terms of the number of persons per room, the practice of sharing houses, and how Melanesian perceive and achieve privacy and coping with stress arising from crowding. The data was drawn by the result of many years of observations, discussions and experiences by the author through ‘participant observation’. The study found that western anthropologists misunderstood the way of Papua New Guinea, a nonwestern cultures use spaces within dwellings and its surroundings differently due to their cultures. The study suggested for architects, planners and designers to become familiar with cultural rules and the application of different spaces to ensure the designs are culturally and socially desirable and acceptable. “A person should achieve privacy by 3

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

being alone or with few others, not because one has been embarrassed or ashamed.� (p. 291) In relation to crowding concept, another study was conducted to analyse two aspects of living in housing conditions in three remote Australian indigenous settlements at two spatial scales which includes the layout of the settlement and the design of individual houses (Fien, Charlesworth, Lee, baker, et al., 2011). The review discussed on the cause of social disadvantage – crowded and poorly maintained home, and the housing and social problems related to remoteness. The data was analysed based on the interviews collected and lived experiences.

Fien et al. (2011) examined on the housing experience, settlement layout, cultural inappropriateness and house layout. Although the result expected to find differences in needs and aspirations of the three settlements, but there were commonalities in the experience of housing.

House layout discussed on the lack of space which brings to unhealthy living practice. The study showed that overcrowding or problem of insufficient space can lead to disrupted sleep and established conditions for inappropriate and abusive relationships.

In summary, crowding is important in deciding and planning a good and healthy living environment since it affects human well-being in terms of stress, health and social relationship. Although social interaction is required in living a community life, certain privacy must be 4

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

kept so that better physical, psychological and emotional state can be achieved within living environment.

1.2.3 Role of Housing in Children’s Development

Living environment is mostly known as a house or home for the residents where they do their activities. Many studies were conducted to investigate the role of a house in children’s development. (Leventhal and Newman and Little, Kohm and Thompson) A study was conducted by Leventhal and Newman (2010) on the role of housing in children’s development which involving children’s physical health, social, emotional, behavioural outcomes, schooling, achievement and economic attainment. The data was obtained using the help of large number of search engines such as PsychINFO, PsycARTICLES, Psychological Index, ERIC, Academic Search Premier and others. The primarily quantitative studies of individual data collected through systematic sample surveys and appropriate insights gained from qualitative studies also being included. The study subjected on six features of housing which generally received the most researches’ attention; physical housing quality, crowding, residential mobility, homeownership, subsidized housing and unaffordability. The study found that physical conditions of the unit of housing have direct 5

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

associations with children’s health. It also found that three other studies showed the links between overcrowding and children’s poor schoolrelated outcomes. The authors concluded that the bad effects of crowding are likely due to lack of personal space and privacy.

A study conducted by Little, Kohm and Thompson (2005) also reviews researches on the impact of residential placement on children’s development. The objective of the paper is to examine about child development in the context of residential settings. The data was obtained through the authors’ experiences of doing research on the development of children in residential settings for 50 years. The reviews on the definition of residence and children and the residential provision help to promote children’s development. The study analysed on the population which discussed on how many children live in residential settings and what types of children live in residential settings. It also studied on the impact of the residential experience which includes key aspects of it. The study found that the key aspects of residential experience do affect children’s development. Although separation with parents is stressful, but the effect will be reverse. Frequent parental contact alone does not help to improve children development. Little, Kohm, and Thompson (2005) found that “Living in a group may enhance development as well as increase risks” (p. 11).

6

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

A study was conducted in New South Wales (NSW), Australia on 1799 16-years old children by McNamara, Cassells, Wicks, and Vidyattama

(2010) to

develop

knowledge

in

children

housing

disadvantages by creating a headline indicator. The literature reviews on four associated housing characteristics which are overcrowding, housing stress (percentage of a household’s income spent), dwelling type, and public housing tenure. The data was obtained through the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing, spatial microsimulation techniques, and Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) as the base spatial unit. The study analysed the data based on the variables which adhere to the four housing characteristics by running a regression analysis. The study found that housing stress is the most

commonly experienced

by the

children

in housing

disadvantages, followed by overcrowding. The result also showed that most of the children in NSW living in flats or apartments. The author concludes that experiences in multiple housing disadvantages may affect the children well-being and well-becoming negatively.

In summary, housing environment has a significant impact in children’s development. Housing density, housing mobility, housing ownership, physical housing quality, housing type, housing stress, and social setting in housing mostly impacted on children’s physical health, behaviour, and education. The most compelling reasons for the bad 7

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

consequences are due to inconsistent living environment or the frequency of moving house and residential density which always related to overcrowding in a house.

1.2.4 Effects of Crowding on Children

Crowding is a factor that needs to be controlled in designing a good living environment. It gives impact on people especially children.

Since children are “sensitive” as they are undergoing growing process and development, crowding gives significant effects on them. Several studies were made to study on the effects of crowding in a house on children. (Evans, Lercher, & Kofler, Solari & Mare, Bruni et al., and Evans, Ricciuti, Hope, Schoon et al.)

A study of 1280 children in grades 3-4 living in the Inn Valley of Tyrol in Austria was conducted to examines whether typical variations in housing type focusing on single family, row house or multiple unit dwellings, make any difference in how children respond to residential crowding in terms of psychology (Evans, Lercher, & Kofler, 2002). The review of literature discussed on the factors that are affected by residential density which are interpersonal interaction, cognitive development and rates of juvenile delinquency. Data were collected by recruiting the children’s information by sending letters to the families.

8

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

The psychological well-being being determined using two measures of a standardized self-report index of psychological health (KINDL) which the first was tested on the children and the second one is given to the child’s teacher to be completed. The study discovered that children from more crowded homes have higher levels of behavioural disturbance at school as well as for the housing type. The study confirmed that children living in multiple-family dwellings appear to have greater behavioural disturbances a school.

A study of randomly selected children aged 3-17 years old was conducted in Los Angeles to investigate the effect of housing crowding on children’s development (Solari & Mare, 2012). The review of literature included discussion on the size of dwelling unit as determinants of the degree of housing crowding, the possible impacts of residential neighbourhoods on child outcomes and the result of the lack of privacy. Data was drawn from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics’ Child Development Supplement (PSID-CDS) and the Los Angeles Family and Neighbourhood Survey (LAFANS). PSID-CDS consists of two waves of data; in 1997, 3563 children ages 0-12 and in 2002/2003 on 2908 children ages 5-18. LAFANS was obtained through a

representative

sample

of

about

3200

households

in

65

neighbourhoods. The study found that the average math reasoning and broad reading standard scores in 1997 in the CDS are 105.7 and 105.1, 9

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

respectively. The average numbers of logged internal and external behaviour problems are 2.3 and 2.0, respectively. An average child in the 1997 CDS has ‘very good’ health (4.3), lives in a home with about one person per room, and is about 7.3 years old. It is confirmed through the study that living in a crowded home has negative association or relationship with multiple aspects of child development.

A study of 380 school children aged 8-11 years old was conducted in Rome to examine the relationship between academic achievement, sleep, temperament and demographic-historical data in school-age children (Bruni et al., 2006). The review of the literature includes children’s sleep deprivations, temperamental traits, and demographic-historical data and their relationship to children’s school achievement. Data was collected through three questionnaires; compiled of teachers rating of children’s academic achievement and temperament, parental rating of children’s sleep disturbances, and demographic-historical form. The data was analysed statistically by using SPSS 10 Software. They found that low maternal education was associated with increased risk of children’s learning disabilities and impaired school achievement and an inverse relationship between school achievement index and Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) total score specifically the effect of sleep deprivation on performance requiring attention and concentration.

10

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

A study done by Evans, Ricciuti, Hope, Schoon et al. (2010) in Little

Rock,

Arkansas

was

conducted

to

examine

maternal

responsiveness as a mediator that may help explain the welldocumented link between residential crowding and children’s cognitive development. The review discussed on how crowding is determined based on the U.S Census Bureau and negative outcomes for children living in crowded homes. The data was collected through two sets of study methods. The first set was conducted on a sample of 80, 36months-old children born in 1991 by having them participate in National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)’s Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development which resulted in data concerning household and family features, as well as maternal characteristics. The data was collected through periodic home visits and supplemented by telephone interviews. The second set was done by utilizing a cohort of 36-months-old children born in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2002 which covers child health and development, family structure, education and employment, parental health,

psychological

well-being,

parenting

style

and

housing

conditions. The data was collected through personal interview and selfcompletion questionnaire. Evans et al. (2010) measured on residential density, maternal responsiveness, and cognitive development. The result indicated that residential density is negatively correlated with 3611

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

months-old children cognitive development. Furthermore, density also negatively correlated with maternal responsiveness.

In summary, overcrowding is usually said to be giving negative impact on children. Overcrowding influenced children in term on interpersonal interaction, cognitive development, juvenile delinquency, and sleep deprivation. If all of these are negatively affected, it will result in growing a “bad” quality of children since, their childhood is when they learn and acquire knowledge, skills and qualities that they will absorbed and used in their future which is when they are in adult age. As a starting point to judge whether the children is in the ‘right track’ in development is through assessing their academic capabilities.

1.2.5 Crowding Affects Children’s Academic Performance

Many research studied on how housing environment affect children’s academic performance especially through overcrowding in a house. (Lien, Wu, and Lin, Hanscombe, Haworth, Davis, Jaffee, and Plomin, Goux and Maurin, and Currie and Yelowitz) A study was conducted by Lien, Wu, and Lin (2008) in Taiwan to examine the effect of housing environment on child’s educational attainment. The study investigated the housing factors affecting child’s educational attainment which included floor space, building age, tenure 12

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

status, housing crowdedness and residential stability. The data for this study are collected through the 2000 Taiwan census which recorded individual’s basic demographics. The sample was selected from households with at least one unmarried child aged between 15 and 20 at the time of census. The study worked with two samples which are high school and general college admission and it was analyse empirically. The results indicated a positive correlation between a child’s education and the floor space. An increase of one hundred square meters is associated with an increase in the chance of enrollment of 1.4% for general high school and 1.2% for general college. The result has confirmed the importance of private space on a child’s education due to low crowdedness.

Another factor that relates to crowding in housing is chaos. A study of measuring children’s school achievement at age 12 when this age marks the transition to secondary school in United Kingdom was conducted by Hanscombe, Haworth, Davis, Jaffee, and Plomin (2011) to explore the genetic and environmental pathways between household chaos and academic performance. The review of literature included discussion on environmental confusion at home predicts poor children’s performance in school, the influence of children’s genetic factors in association between chaos and school achievement, and the importance of understanding the shared environmental link between the 13

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

children’s experience of organization and routine at home and academic achievement. Data was drawn from the ongoing Twins Early Development Study, TEDS (Oliver & Plomin, 2007; Trouton, Spinath, & Plomin, 2002) which is a population-based longitudinal study of over 10,000 pairs of twins born in England and Wales. The study found that the phenotypic correlation between child-reported CHAOS and teacherreported school achievement is significant and negative indicate that greater home chaos, as perceived by the child, are associated with worse performance in school. It is confirmed that children’s experience of household chaos was associated with how well they performed in school. The study showed that the more disorganized, noisy and confusing children perceived their homes to be, the poorer their performance in school.

A study conducted by Goux and Maurin (2005) also investigated the effect of overcrowded housing on children’s performance at school.

The study was conducted in France to estimates the causal effect of living in an overcrowded home on performance at school. Data was derived from the French Labor Force surveys which provided large samples of 15-year-olds children with their educational information, family size and how many people there are per room in their home. The study used two different sets of variables which involved the mean number of persons per room by family size and sex composition of the 14

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

siblings. The result was shown through a simple tabulation which shows the probability of being held back from progressing to a higher grade increases very significantly with the number of children per room regardless how big the size of the family is.

A study by Currie and Yelowitz (2000) examines the effect of public housing participation on housing quality and educational attainment in U.S. The review of literature include on people’s perception on public housing “projects”, the effects of housing assistance on housing quality and the consequences of different density to the residents. Data were collected using the 1992 and 1993 Survey of Income and Programme Participation (SIPP) panel and the 1990 Census form which measures on overcrowding and density of housing quality and grade repetition of children’s. The variables included in measuring children’s academic attainment in the SIPP are repetition of grades for any reason, number of times the children had changed school and their participation in extra-curricular activities. The study found that households that involved in housing projects are less likely to be overcrowded. Based on the result by race, the probability of grade repetition was reduced by 19 percent among blacks where the density is reduced significantly. These had shown that the housing project has positive effects on both housing quality and children’s academic attainment.

15

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

In summary, most of the studies done resulted in negative correlation between the academic performance and the crowding in a house. Children in a crowded home tends to obtain lower grade due to lack of private space or their own space, chaotic environment which includes noise as a distraction in house, and lack of good sleep. All of these lead to children who have problems in giving attention in what are being taught in school, sleeping in class, and problems in completing school work hence dropping their academic achievement level.

But, there are still some uncertainties on whether the crowding of housing in Kuala Lumpur does affect children’s academic performance.

Therefore, the research is to examine the effects of crowding in housing on children’s academic performance in Kuala Lumpur.

CHAPTER 2:

2.1

RESEARCH METHOD

Research Approach

Quantitative data analysis was used to analyze the data collected on the children’s academic performance affected by crowding in housing in Kuala Lumpur. Since the data produced exist in statistic form, quantitative is the most suitable approach. All the data collected can be measured and it doesn’t involved personal opinion and interpretation in getting the result. The findings are exact and can’t be 16

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

disputed. Assessment of children’s academic performance affected by crowding in housing was conducted at a school in Kuala Lumpur.

2.2

Research Design

The research design used for this study is a survey research design. The survey was used since it’s the most applicable method to be used either in qualitative or quantitative measures. It is useful since the author can’t observed or get the data directly from the sample. It is the most approachable ways to collect data for a non-technical type of study which will produce a measurable data (Appendices).

2.3

Variables

The independent variables of the study are number of people living in the house. The number of person started from 2 since the sample comprises of children living with their guardian. The most “uncrowded” house will be involving a 2-persons house while the most crowded house was more than 6-persons living in a house. The dependent variables are children’s academic performance which is the children’s score in academic examination, Primary School Examination Assessment (UPSR) of year 2011. Academic performance was measured using the children’s examination result.

17

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

For better understanding on what other factors that may affect children’s academic performance

in

housing development

and

environment, other variables were included in the study. Type of house and existence of study area in the house living by the children were also examined in the study. Different type of house has different quality of physical environment which will result in different children’s development process hence affect their academic performance. The existence of study area represents the existence of private and personal space for children to develop their skills, and knowledge and do their homework.

2.4

Measurement Instruments

The measurement instrument was based on questionnaires. The questionnaire was prepared in objective questions. The measurement instrument for the dependent variables is the UPSR’s score. The score consists of children’s grade in 5 main subjects of their school’s syllabus which are Malay Language (Comprehension), Malay Language (Writing), English Language, Mathematics and Science (Figure 1).

18

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

Figure 1: Sample of questions regarding Academic achievement

In academic system of a school, it’s known that grade A is a good result’s score, while grade E means failure or bad result. In this study, for an A-graded subject, the respondent will get a score of 5. For a B-graded subject, C-graded subject, D-graded subject and E-graded subject, the respondent will get score of 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively.

Total of the score of all subjects will become the determinant of the children’s academic performance. If a respondent get straight A’s (5As) in their UPSR, his/her score will be 5 subjects X 5 mark = 25 marks.

Therefore, the highest score of 25 is categorized under very good achievement in academic. While if the respondent failed in all subjects, his/her score will be 5 subjects X 1 mark = 5 marks.

19

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

Formula in obtaining children’s academic performance level: No. of subject X Score (based on Table 1) = Final score to be used Exam grade Scores

A

B

C

D

E

5

4

3

2

1

Table 1: Scale for measuring academic performance

Indication of academic performance level is very good (score= 25 – 22), good (score= 18 – 21), average (score= 14 – 17), poor (score= 10 – 13), and very poor (score= 5 – 9). The measurement instrument for the independent variables is the number of person living in the children’s house.

2.5

Sample

The study was executed at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Wangsa Melawati which is situated in Kuala Lumpur. The study was conducted on 113 respondent comprises of 13-years old students who just completed their UPSR examination in year 2011 were selected. All of learning and knowledge obtained throughout the primary school years are being assessed in their UPSR examination when they are in standard 6. Therefore, students’ primary academic capabilities and performance can be measured using these results.

20

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

From the sample, the percentage of male and female respondents is 49.6% and 50.4% respectively. From the 113 sample, 56 of them are male and 57 of them are female (Table 2).

Male Female Total

Frequency Percent 56 48.3 57 49.1 113 97.4

Table 2: Percentage of gender in sample

2.6

Procedure

Data collection was conducted by the author at Sekolah Menengah Wangsa Melawati in Kuala Lumpur. The author went to the school to conduct the survey. Upon arriving at the high school, the author showed a letter (Appendices) to ask for permission to do the study at the school to the principal and explained the purpose and process of the research to the principal. The author was to give the questionnaires form to the participants who consist of 13 years old students from three different classes. The students were picked from the best three classes of form 1 in the school. They need to answer the question from section 1 until 3 within the latest 15 minutes. Due to time limitations, the principals and homeroom teachers asked the author to leave the form for them to distribute to the children. The questionnaires were later collected from the teachers by the author. After collecting the 21

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

questionnaires form, all the scores are calculated and the results finalised.

The questionnaires were separated into several sections: 1. Questions on personal details (section A) 2. Questions on academic achievement (section B) 3. Questions on housing environment (section C) To obtain a wider knowledge to what other factors that may affect children’s academic performance, question about type of house and existence of study area were included in the questionnaire (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Sample of question on housing types

22

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

2.7

Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics and correlation were used in data analysis.

Overall statistic is important in obtaining the overall result of the study.

The mean was also included in the descriptive statistic. The correlation of data will show the relationship between the dependent and independent variables whether it is significant or not. The data collected were tabulated. Then the graph was tabulated to show the correlation. It will show the relationship between housing crowding and children’s academic performance. To support the data, the means of the most crowded house in relation to the children’s academic performance and the means of the less number of person in the house in relation to the children’s academic performance are calculated to see the comparison whether the less number of person in the house will resulted in higher percentage of children who succeed in their academic or the greater number of person in the house has the higher percentage. Data were analysed using Statistics SPSS 20 software.

2.8

Limitation

The first limitation of the study was the restricted sample only to the top three classes of form 1 students by the principal due to the children’s inadequate capabilities to answer the questionnaires. The 23

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

results may be affected due the regulation of children which consists of average and good level students only. The range of academic score will be high although the children may experience overcrowding in their house. Due to the restriction of the sample, the outcome of relationship between academic performance and overcrowding in housing will be affected since the sample involved only “good and intelligent” students.

The second limitation was the crowding level in a house also cannot be determined due to inaccurate measuring system. The author has limitation in getting floor area of the children’s house to determine the crowding level through the ratio of floor area of the house per person living in the house. Therefore the exact definition and measurement of crowding in a house can’t be achieved. The number of person in the house can’t be used to measure crowding level precisely since the size of house may be adequate to accommodate the residents hence no crowding occurs.

24

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

CHAPTER 3:

3.1

RESULTS

Overall children’s examination score

The result of the descriptive statistics indicated that the overall examination score for children’s of SMK Wangsa Melawati was good (Table 3).

OVERALL SCORE

Mean

Std. Deviation

Academic Performance

18.931

3.4584

Good

Table 3: Overall examination score Note: N = 113, Mean score for academic performance: very good (score= 25 – 22), good (score= 18 – 21), average (score= 14 – 17), poor (score= 10 – 13), and very poor (score= 5 – 9)

The mean of examination score affected by the number of person in the house also calculated. The mean of children’s academic performance in the assumed less-crowded house of 4 persons and the most-crowded house of more than 6 persons in the house is M=19.13 and M=18.14 respectively. The most less-crowded house with minimum persons of 3 in a house were not included in the analysis to avoid bias since the sample is limited (N=5). Other condition of crowding shows that the mean of 5-person house and 6-person house are M=19.03 and M=19.44 respectively. Despite different score mean, children from all groups are good in their education.

25

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

The result also shows that 22 children scored very good, 56 scored good, 29 scored average, 7 scored poor and 2 children who scored very poor in their academic (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Bar chart showing the frequency of examination score

3.2

Relationship

between

Children’s

Academic

Performance and Number of Person in their House

The children are mostly lived in house that accommodates 5 persons (N=32) as shown in Table 4.

26

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

No of person in the Frequency house 3 5 4 23 5 32 6 27 7 29 Total 116

Percent 4.3 19.8 27.6 23.3 25.0 100.0

Table 4: No. of person in the house

The relationship between children’s academic performance and number of person in their house are determined through correlation.

The result in Table 5 shows there is no correlation between children’s academic performance and number of person in their house. examination score Pearson Correlation examination score

p (2-tailed)

no of person in the house 1 -.083 .374

Table 5: Correlation between children's academic performance and number of person in the house Note: N = 116, p ≥ .004

Figure 4 shows the shape of distribution.

27

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

Figure 4: Graph of correlation between academic score and number of person in the house

As overall achievement, the children are considered in good level in their education (Table 6). no of person in the house

Mean

N

Std. Deviation

3 4 5

19.200 19.130 19.031

5 23 32

3.2711 3.9463 4.0200

Academic performance Good Good Good

6

19.444

27

2.9526

Good

7

18.138

29

2.8998

Good

Total

18.931

116

3.4584

Good

Table 6: Overall score mean in relation to number of person in the house Note: N = 113, Mean score for academic performance: very good (score= 25 – 22), good (score= 18 – 21), average (score= 14 – 17), poor (score= 10 – 13), and very poor (score= 5 – 9)

28

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

The children living in a house with 3 persons living are considered good in their education with M= 19.2. The house with 4 persons living in it resulted in a quite high in children’s academic score (Figure 5). The range of academic score achieved by children in this sample group is between 10.0 – 25.0. As overall achievement, the children are good in their education (M= 19.13).

Figure 5: Graph of 4-persons house in relation to children's academic score Indication of academic performance level: very good (score= 25 – 22), good (score= 18 – 21), average (score= 14 – 17), poor (score= 10 – 13), and very poor (score= 5 – 9).

29

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

The house with 5 persons living in it resulted with the highest curve in children’s academic score (Figure 6). The range of academic score achieved by children in this sample group started at 5.0 and ended at 25.0. As overall achievement, the children are good in their education (M= 19.03).

Figure 6: Graph of 5-persons house in relation to children's academic score Indication of academic performance level: very good (score= 25 – 22), good (score= 18 – 21), average (score= 14 – 17), poor (score= 10 – 13), and very poor (score= 5 – 9).

The house with 6 persons living in it resulted in high curve in children’s academic score (Figure 7). The range of academic score achieved by children in this sample group is between 12.0 – 25.0. As 30

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

overall achievement, the children are good in their education (M= 19.44).

Figure 7: Graph of 6-persons house in relation to children's academic score Indication of academic performance level: very good (score= 25 – 22), good (score= 18 – 21), average (score= 14 – 17), poor (score= 10 – 13), and very poor (score= 5 – 9).

The house with 7 persons living in it resulted in high curve in children’s academic score (Figure 8). The range of academic score achieved by children in this sample group is between 11.0 – 22.0. As overall achievement, the children are good in their education (M= 18.14).

31

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

Figure 8: Graph of 7-persons house in relation to children's academic score Indication of academic performance level: very good (score= 25 – 22), good (score= 18 – 21), average (score= 14 – 17), poor (score= 10 – 13), and very poor (score= 5 – 9).

The chart in Figure 9 shows the curve of comparison in relationship between different group of sample (number of person in the house) and the children’s academic score.

32

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

Figure 9: Curve of examination score versus number of person in the house

3.3

Other

associated

factors

affecting

children’s

academic performance To obtain more information on other factors that affect children’s academic performance due to housing environment that may relate to the crowding, this study also examine on types of houses and existence of study area in the children’s house.

33

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

3.3.1 Types of house

Most of the children lived in flat or apartment with a frequency of 56 children, followed with living in semi detached house with 49 children. It also shows (Table 7) that children with highest score lived in other types, followed by terrace house, semi-detached M=21.00,

house,

M=20.00,

flat/apartment M=19.69,

and

M=18.46,

bungalow and

with

M=17.67

respectively. It showed that children living in semi-detached house, terrace house, flat/apartment, and other types are good in their academic performance compared to those who are living in bungalow houses which scored average in their academic performance. type of house bungalow Semi-detached terrace flat, apartment others

Mean 17.667 19.694 20.000 18.464 21.000

N 3 49 2 56 2

Std. Deviation Performance 1.1547 Average 2.8519 Good 5.6569 Good 3.8845 Good .0000 Good

Table 7: Mean score in relation to type of house

34

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

Figure 10: Graph showing frequency of children living in different types of house

3.3.2 Existence of study area

94% of the 116 respondents have study area in their house (Table 8). The study founds that mean score of children who have study area in their house (M=19.03) is higher than who doesn’t (M= 17.43). It shows that children who have study area in their house are good in their academic compared to who doesn’t who are in average level in their academic (Table 9).

no yes Total

Frequency 7 109 116

Percent 6.0 94.0 100.0

Table 8: Percentage of existence of study area

35

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

existence area no yes Total

of

study

Mean 17.429 19.028 18.931

N 7 109 116

Std. Deviation 4.2762 3.4006 3.4584

Table 9: Mean score in relation to the existence of study area in children's house

36

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

CHAPTER 4:

4.1

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Discussion

This study is to examine the effects of crowding in housing on children’s academic performance in Kuala Lumpur. The result of the study indicates that the children in SMK Wangsa Melawati, Kuala Lumpur achieved good result in their academic assessment despite crowding level in their house. Therefore, ‘crowding’ in housing doesn’t give significant impact on children’s academic performance in the school. Surprisingly, it contradicts will almost all of the previous study which showed negative correlation between those two aspects.

The contradiction may occur because children may feel comfortable in the house with many people such as 5 to 6 people in the house. Due to their upbringing, they are accustomed to the environment with many people. They don’t feel crowded and hence the ‘crowd’ does not give impact on their well being, especially when they need privacy or quietness to do their homework or do revision. Since the environment of many people walking, talking, and living in the same house with them are their norms, their educational activities are not significantly affected.

37

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

Other cause that may lead to the findings is the housing layout.

The housing layout of the house also plays an important role in creating barriers

of

privacy

in

a

house.

How

the

house

is

being

compartmentalize can cause different level of privacy hence lowering the level of crowding. As stated by Evans, Lepore, and Schroeder (1996), people who lived in crowded homes with greater architectural depth are most likely to experience less social withdrawal which will help the children to develop their knowledge better. Social interaction between parents and children are essential in encouraging the children to establish good achievement in their education. Architectural depth is defined as the number of spaces one must pass through to get from one room in the house to another. The respondent’s housing layout may are in the best condition to avoid the feeling of being crowded in the house hence their academic were not affected.

4.1.1 Number of person in the house

The number of person in the house is usually associated with the crowding in a house. To be exact, the ratio of person per room can at least determine the crowding level in the house. The crowding also can be precisely determined through the ratio of floor area per person. The result found may be caused due to inaccurate in measuring the crowding level. Although the 38

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

children from all group types (according to number of person living in the house) are good in their education, the result showed that the highest scorer is the children who are living in the house with 5 persons.

However, more attention should be focused on the 5person living in the house group since both of the highest scorer and the lowest scorer exist in the group. The findings may be caused due to the different size of house that will result in lacking of privacy as stated by previous study by Solari and Mare (2012).

The smaller the house to accommodate the 5 persons, the crowded the house will be. The crowding effects may started to give impact on children’s academic performance starting at this point whereas the low scorer of the children living in the house with 3 and 4 persons may be caused by other regards such as housing mobility (rate of moving houses) and family composition (how many siblings and gender).

4.1.2 Types of house

To have further information on what other matters affecting the children’s academic performance, study on type of house was carried out. Children with highest mean score are 39

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

children who lived in types of houses other than bungalow, terrace, apartment/flat and semi-detached and followed by who lived in terrace house type. The housing types may have the ability to regulate social interaction hence avoiding excessive social interaction which will affects children’s mental health. As demonstrated by Evans et al. (2002), children’s mental health are affected by the type of house they lived in. Children’s mental health need to be in good condition so that they can learn and develop their skills and thoughts thoroughly.

Different type of house also gives different mood and quality. For example, an apartment/flat has different ambience compared to a bungalow house. Flat/apartment has an environment that encourages excessive interaction in the neighbourhood while bungalow allows certain degree of interaction to occur in the neighbourhood. Excessive interaction will distract the children attention and interest from doing their homework and do revisions which are a fundamental in learning process. In the study, it showed that respondents who are very poor in their academic lived in flat/apartment (N= 2). However, it’s uncertain that children who lived in apartment/flat will result in bad academic performance due to limited number of sample.

This can be shown in the result where the mean score showed 40

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

that children who lived in bungalow scored average compared to children who lived in flat/apartment are good in their academic.

This situation may be caused by other foreign aspects such as the facilities provided in the neighbourhood which may attract children to do the activities and neglect their study. Some facilities that may distract the children are ‘cyber-cafe’ centres and game arcades.

4.1.3 Existence of study area in the house

The study also found that the existence of study area shows that children with study area in their house have higher score in academic compared who haven’t, but it’s indefinite due to the lack of sample. The study area may help the children in providing private space and a ‘quality’ space for them to develop and nurture their skills and knowledge hence increase their performance in school.

In a situation where crowding can’t be avoided, a study area are a requirement in the house so that children will have a space where they can study without distraction particularly from noise. Noise from the people movement and noise from media will disturb the children’s concentration on their study. Noise also 41

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

can make the children getting stress hence resulted in behavioural problems which will affect their process of learning in the school. Hanscombe et al. (2011) also stated that the children are poor in their academic performance if their house is noisy and confusing.

4.2

Conclusion

This study ascertain whether crowding in housing affects children’s academic performance in Kuala Lumpur and discover other factors that may affect children’s academic performance. Initiatives from designers and developers to provide more ‘acceptable’ quality in housing development are needed to improve the housing quality in Kuala Lumpur so that the awareness about incorporating children’s need in design is spread to the public.

Despite living in the house of many persons, the children still can manage to achieve good academic performance. This shows that crowding level in houses in Kuala Lumpur was well maintained. The housing development may be accidentally accommodating the children participation and needs in designing if there’s no early consideration in that aspects. The layout configuration and space provided may be

42

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

adequate in establishing a good housing environment for the children to nurture their skills and knowledge.

Children acquire more attention in developing their life. Their social interaction, development of skill and knowledge are important to be controlled and well-developed in creating intelligent ‘stratum’ in this period and future. Although the current study shows there is no correlation between number of person per house (crowding) and children’s academic performance in Kuala Lumpur, further studies should be demonstrate on how children’s academic performance affected by the existence of study area in their house and the types of house they inhabit. These will provide a better development in housing project so that the children also obtain brighter development.

43

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

APPENDICES: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

PERSONAL DETAILS/ BUTIRAN PERIBADI [SECTION A] Gender / Jantina :

Male/Lelaki /

Female/Perempuan

No. of siblings/Bilangan adik-beradik: .............

Form/Tingkatan: ...........

ACADEMIC’S INFORMATION/ BUTIRAN PENDIDIKAN [SECTION B] Examination Result / Keputusan peperiksaan UPSR (Please mark √ in the table below / Sila tanda √ dalam jadual di bawah): A B C D E Mathematics/ Matematik Science/ Sains English Language/ Bahasa Inggeris Malay Language (comprehension)/ Bahasa Melayu(Pemahaman) Malay Language (writing)/ Bahasa Melayu (Penulisan)

44

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

HOUSE INFORMATION/ BUTIRAN TEMPAT TINGGAL [SECTION C] Please mark √ in the table below / Sila tanda √ dalam jadual di bawah: 1Type of house Type of house where you had where you had lived in 2012/ lived in 2011/ Jenis rumah yang Jenis didiami pada tahun yang 2012 pada 2011

rumah didiami tahun

Bungalow/ Banglo Terrace house/ Rumah teres Semi-detached/ Rumah berkembar Flat or apartment or condominium/ Flat atau apartmen atau kondominium Others/ Lain-lain (nyatakan)

2How many rooms in your house (excluded toilet and kitchen)/ Berapakah bilangan bilik di rumah anda (tidak termasuk tandas dan dapur)?

1 2 3 4 5 6 More than 6/ Lebih dari 6

3How many person living in your house/ Berapakah bilangan orang yang menetap di rumah anda?

1 2 3 4 5 6 More than 6/ Lebih dari 6

45

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

4-

Do you have study area in your house/ Adakah anda mempunyai ruang belajar di rumah?

Yes/ Ya

No/ Tidak

(If yes, please answer question 4a and 4b/ Jika ya, sila jawab soalan 4a dan 4b) (Please mark √ in the table below/ Sila tandakan √ pada yang berkenaan) a) Is your study area mixed with other spaces as below/ Adakah ruang belajar di rumah anda bercampur dengan ruangruang berikut? □ Dining area/ Ruang makan □ Living area/ Ruang tamu □ Bedroom/ Ruang tidur □ Other/ Ruang lain □ Not mixed/ Tidak bercampur b) How many persons sharing in your study area/ Berapa ramaikah orang yang berkongsi di dalam ruang belajar dengan anda?

1 2 3 4 5 6 More than 6/ Lebih dari 6

46

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

47

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

48

Effects of Crowding in Housing on Children’s Academic Performance

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Bruni, O., Ferini-Strambi, L., Russo, P. M., Antignani, M., Innocenzi, M., Ottaviano, P., . . . Ottaviano, S. (2006). Sleep disturbances and teacher ratings of school achievement and temperament in children.

Sleep Medicine, 7(1), 43-48. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2005.09.003 Currie, J., & Yelowitz, A. (2000). Are public housing projects good for kids? Journal of Public Economics, 75(1), 99-124. doi: 10.1016/s0047-2727(99)00065-1 Evans, G. W., Lepore, S. J., Mellon, C., Shejwal, B. R., & Palsane, M. N. (1998). Chronic Residential Crowding and Children's WellBeing: An Ecological Perspective. Child Development, 69(6), 1514-1523.

Evans, G. W., Lepore, S. J., & Schroeder, A. (1996). The Role of Interior Design Elements in Human Responses to Crowding.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(1), 41-46.

Evans, G. W., Lercher, P., & Kofler, W. W. (2002). Crowding and children's mental health: The role of house type. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 22(3), 221-231.

Evans, G. W., Ricciuti, H. N., Hope, S., Schoon, I., Bradley, R. H., Corwyn, R. F., & Hazan, C. (2010). Crowding and cognitive development: The mediating role of maternal responsiveness among 36-month-old children. Environment and Behavior, 42(1), 135-148.

Fien, J., Charlesworth, E., Lee, G., Baker, D., Grice, T., & Morris, D. (2011). Life on the edge: Housing experiences in three remote Australian indigenous settlements. Habitat International, 35(2), 343-349. doi: 10.1016/j.habitatint.2010.11.007 Goux, D., & Maurin, E. (2005). The effect of overcrowded housing on children's performance at school. Journal of Public Economics, 89(5–6), 797-819. doi: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2004.06.005 Hanscombe, K. B., Haworth, C. M. A., Davis, O. S. P., Jaffee, S. R., & Plomin, R. (2011). Chaotic homes and school achievement: A twin study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 52(11), 1212-1220.

Kaitilla, S. (1998). Privacy and crowding concepts in Melanesia: the case of Papua New Guinea. Habitat International, 22(3), 281298. doi: 10.1016/s0197-3975(97)00044-1 Leventhal, T., & Newman, S. (2010). Housing and child development.

Children and Youth Services Review, 32(9), 1165-1174. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.03.008 49

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Lien, H.-M., Wu, W.-C., & Lin, C.-C. (2008). New evidence on the link between housing environment and children's educational attainments. Journal of Urban Economics, 64(2), 408-421. doi: 10.1016/j.jue.2008.03.002 Little, M., Kohm, A., & Thompson, R. (2005). The impact of residential placement on child development: Research and policy implications. International Journal of Social Welfare, 14(3), 200209.

McNamara, J., Cassells, R., Wicks, P., & Vidyattama, Y. (2010).

Children in housing disadvantage in Australia: Development of a summary small area index. Housing Studies, 25(5), 625-646.

Solari, C. D., & Mare, R. D. (2012). Housing crowding effects on children’s wellbeing. Social Science Research, 41(2), 464-476. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.09.012

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