| Abstract |
- The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship
between innovativeness in clothing and textiles and; self rating of
innovativeness, adoption leadership, venturesomeness, perceived
sewing competence, age, education, social status characteristics,
social participation, sources of information, and continuation of
learning.
The sample consisted of 67 women who sew who are listed in the
telephone directory of a university town in Western Oregon. The
women were randomly selected and contacted by phone. Women who
did not sew were excluded from the study.
Questionnaires were mailed to 77 subjects and were collected
one week later in person by the investigator. A 100 percent return
of questionnaires was achieved; 67 were complete and were analyzed.
Scales were developed, adopted, or adapted to measure each of
the variables, which were then related to innovativeness by the
correlation coefficient or analysis of variance.
Correlation coefficients significant at the . 05 level were found
between innovativeness and: self rating of innovativeness +. 3694,
adoption leadership +.2623, venturesomeness +. 3431, perceived sewing
competence +. 4856, social status characteristics -.2448 (a lower
score indicates higher social status), and sources of information
+.5852 ( |r| = .2360, p . 05).
The relationship between innovativeness and social participation
was not significant at the . 05 level ( r = +. 0761). Innovativeness
was not significantly related to age (F = +.9236, |F| = 2.76), nor
to continuation of learning ( F = +. 9855, Id = 4. 00), nor directionally
related to education (F = +3. 3016, |F| = 3. 15) as determined
by analysis of variance.
Innovativeness is a characteristic relevant to the area of clothing
and textiles. Hypotheses and measures from many different fields
were found to apply. The variables of self rating of innovativeness,
adoption leadership, venturesomeness, social status characteristics,
and sources of information, reported to be related to innovativeness
in the adoption of farm practices, consumer products, and research
in many other fields, were also found to be related to innovativeness
in clothing and textiles in this study. Perceived sewing competence
was a new dimension also related to innovativeness. When women
felt confident about their sewing ability, they were free to explore
new products and practices.Innovativeness in clothing and textiles offers a fruitful area for
further research. Studies might be made with different populations
to extend the knowledge and understanding of innovativeness. Scales
of innovativeness might be improved and revised to include dates of
adoption for more reliable and valid measures of innovativeness.
|
|---|