Abstract
This study was aimed at determining the influence of family background on business studies students academic achievement in secondary schools in Adamawa State. The study had two specific purposes, two research questions and two null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. Ex-post facto design was adopted. The population of the study is 144,627 students drawn from 560 junior secondary schools across the five educational zones in Adamawa State. A systematic random sampling procedure was used to determine the 384 sample for the study. A structured questionnaire of 20 items was used and the data collected were analyzed using means and standard deviation, while the hypotheses were tested using Chi-square. The instrument for the study was validated by three senior lecturers in faculty of education at ABU Zaria and test-retest method was used for the purpose of establishing the reliability of the instrument, the scores from the two groups were correlated using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r) and the result of the analysis showed the correlation coefficient of the instrument at 0.89. The major findings of the study included the following: the family sizes and parental occupations have influences on students academic achievement in Business Studies in Junior Secondary Schools in Adamawa State. It was concluded that the small size families can facilitate the provision of recommended textbooks for effective learning which has a positive impact on students academic achievement in teaching and learning of business studies in Adamawa State. The major recommendations included the following, Marriage/ Family counseling services should be intensified and expanded to cover a larger population in order to sensitize parents to understand the effects of family sizes and parental occupations on students academic achievement.