This study aims to examine the extent to which important individuals like parents, teachers and coaches from a student's childhood and teenage years influence their self-assessment of skills at the University of Maastricht. The researcher hypothesizes that students who experienced encouraging relationships will show realistic or overestimating self-assessments, while those experiencing unencouraging relationships will lack self-confidence. A sample of 90 3rd year UCM students will complete a questionnaire on self-assessed memory, physical and motor skills, and then perform tasks to detect over or underestimation. Follow-up questions will explore how important individuals evaluated the student's performance to understand influence on self-concept and self-efficacy. The study

1. In what way does the substance
dextrose affect one’s level of
concentration? A Proposal by Elian Sieben,
i6087680. University College Maastricht, Research Methods II.
Introduction
Have you ever had difficulties concentrating during a
school exam? You are probably not the only one. Exam
weeks often prelude a period in which stress, little sleep,
and unhealthy eating habits characterize a student’s life.
These examples could lead to a lack of energy, which in
turn can influence one’s concentration levels. Dextrose, a
fruit sugar, is said to give a quick boost of energy, for it
is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream where it can be
used to fuel various metabolic processes (Crane, 1960).
However, there are few studies that have investigated
how the intake of dextrose actually affects one’s
concentration level. Therefore, the aim of this research
is to find out how dextrose influences one’s ability to
concentrate and subsequently perform in a test.
References
Crane, R. K. (1960). Intestinal absorption of sugars.
Physiological Reviews, 40(4), 789-825.
Jeukendrup, A. E. (2004). Carbohydrate intake during exercise
and performance. Nutrition, 20(7), 669-677.
Okano, G., Takeda, H., Morita, I., Katoh, M., Mu, Z. & Miyake, S.
(1988). Effect of pre-exercise fructose ingestion on
endurance performance in fed men. Medicine and science in
sports and exercise, 20(2), 105-109.
Figure 1 – Package containing bars of dextrose. Retrieved from
http://www.auravita.com/dextro-energy-
original/pCPCC10003.
Empirical Research
Previous research has been done by Okano et al. (1988) that
examined the effects of pre-exercise fructose intake on the
exhaustion levels of twelve male participants after a
performance test. This was done by taking a control group
(which received a sugary placebo), and a test group (which
received the fructose). Exhaustion was measured by looking
at one’s total test endurance. This research showed that one’s
endurance – after fructose (F) intake – was substantially
higher than after placebo (P) ingestion (see figure 2).
F = 145 min., whereas P = 132 min. (Okano, 1988).
Figure 2 – Graph showing average exercise time (endurance)
at intake of either the placebo (P) or fructose (F), at either 60g
(A) or 85g (B) intake of fructose (Okano et al., 1988, p. 106).
Empirical Research (2)
It is very interesting to find out whether the
relationship between carbohydrate intake and
increased physical performance – as mentioned by
Okano et al. (1988) , and Jeukendrup (2004) – exists
if one looks at ‘mental performance’ as well.
Several variables can be specified, that could
potentially affect the outcome of this research:
• Body weight and length – the higher, the more
dextrose needs to be ingested to get to the same
concentration in the blood;
• Age and sex – the metabolism of males and
females functions in different manners, at
different ages;
• Amount of dextrose ingested – the higher, the
more it could affect one’s concentration level.
Methodological Approach
Participants’ concentration will be examined in
form of two written IQ test grades. For this, a
sample of N = 18 participants of the same age
will be gathered. Then:
1) The sample will be divided into 3 groups,
existing out of 3 male and 3 female
participants;
2) Each participant will make a written IQ
test, on a sober stomach. This so that a base
IQ score – without the intake of any
substance – for every candidate can be
established, to which further results can be
compared;
3) After this, group 1 will be given a placebo
substance, and will function as the control
group. Group 2 will receive a certain
amount of dextrose, and group 3 will
receive twice as much. All groups will
receive the substances 1 hour before the
second IQ test; moreover, all participants
will make their tests on the same day, so
that environmental factors – which could
affect the outcomes – are equal for all;
4) The groups will make the second test;
5) In addition, one’s height and length will be
measured, to take into account the effects
of these variables on one’s dextrose
concentration in the blood;
6) Both test scores will be tabulated and
compared, after which further analysis will
take place to answer the research question
in a proper way.
Relevance
This research examines in which manner eating
behavior – in this case, dextrose intake – influences
one’s concentration. These results can be used by
the medical community to aid people that have
difficulties with their concentration, and to develop
new medicines and eating diets that help ameliorate
one’s capabilities to concentrate properly.
Figure 1 – Package containing bars of dextrose.

2. TO WHAT EXTENT ARE OUR ANIMAL PHOBIAS CULTURE DEPENDENT?
Alisha Kersbergen
METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHEARLIER WORK
REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION Population- UCM students
Sample group- 5 students from each of the regions
below will be questioned with quantitative methods (a
survey outlining their background and animal fears)
following with a qualitative methods (a semi-structured
interview explaining their justification of their animal
fears & phobias). These regions have been chosen as
they are well represented within our UCM cohort while
being culturally different to one another.
Mediterranean Europe: Spain, Portugal, Italy, France,
Greece
Northern
Europe:Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Lat
via, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, UK
South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
East Asia: China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, North
Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan
MiddleEast:Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jo
rdan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
Davey, G. C., McDonald, A. S., Hirisave, U., Prabhu, G. G., Iwawaki, S., Im Jim,
C., ... & Reimann, B. C. (1998). A cross-cultural study of animal fears.
Behaviour research and therapy, 36(7), 735-750.
Animal phobias and fears are one of the most
common and persistent phobias there are.
Having grown up in Dubai, I witnessed many of
my Muslim/Arabic friends who have active
fears of dogs, which is something quite
uncommon for Europeans. This intrigues the
question of whether culture moulds our animal
fears or phobias, and if so to what extent.
This research poster proposes to first outline
which animal fears are most prevalent in
which region, and then will attempt to
understand this fear through interviews which
would explain the cultural formation of the
fears in the respondents.
Fear of animals can be rational, such as the fear of
sharks or lions who can be harmful to us, but can also be
highly irrational, taking Europe as an example which
does not actually have any deadly spiders but hosts a
population of people who are highly afraid of spiders.
Two theories which attempt to explain our fears of
animals are the the biologically adaptionist account
which hypothesizes that some animals are feared for the
lethal consequences which they have had for our
ancestors, such as venomous snakes and spiders, and
the other suggests that the fear is not of being attacked
or harmed physically, but the fear of disease and
contamination, such as ‘disgusting’ animals like
maggots, rats, snails and also harmless spiders and
snakes.
It is argued that spiders may be feared mainly by
Europeans because of the ‘disgusting’ status it has which
has resulted from its association with disease and illness
in European cultures from the 10
th
century onwards. An
examination of these fears across culture could shed
some more light on the variances in animal fears in
different regions of the world and how these came to be.

3. Jewish Food Taboos
.
Food taboo is a worldwide human phenomenon present in diverse cultures.
Each religion defines a set of particular foods that are deemed taboo. Food is not
just a biological need but also a culturally determining activity Therefore, food
restrictions highly participate in shaping and communicating one’s cultural and
social identity. This relationship between identity and food is greatly manifested in
Judaism. Jews form the ethnic group with the most food rituals and taboos. The
Jewish dietary law is called ‘Kashrut’. Various theories exist about the
rationales and meanings of Kashrut. As the writings of the Torah do not present
clear explanations, large and diverse interpretations of these laws have
developed throughout the history of Judaism.
Research Question:
Introduction
Qualitative approach will be used
Interpretivist perspective
• Small research sample: 15 individuals
• Snowball sampling to target the desired population
• Interviews
• In depth description and analysis in order to capture different
angles regarding the phenomenon.
the Pew Research Centre (2013) concluded that
the actual Jewish identity is changing in the US.
• Reason: rising phenomenon of Reform Jews
• Conclusion: observing religious laws is no longer
fundamental for many American Jews.
Previous Research
Fischler (1988) wrote «The way any given
human group eats helps it assert its diversity,
hierarchy and organization, and at the same
time, both its oneness and otherness of whoever
eats differently”
• Conclusion: Jewish food taboos greatly
contributed in shaping Jews as a social group
therefore strengthening cohesion among
them.
Questionnaire
Non-Directive
Interviews
Analysis of Data
Final Report
Methods
To what extent are Jewish food Laws still
relevant in modern day society?
• Investigate on the personal meanings of Jewish taboos
• Explore the relationship between food and oneself.
à No expected hypothesis/conclusion
Luna Dejeneffe I6071387

4. Pygmalion effect, self-concept and YOU
Hypothesis:
H1: Students who have experienced a relationship with an individually important person of not
encouraging attitude in the childhood and teenage time, do show a lack of self-confidence when
self-assessing their ability to perform the skills described above.
H2: Students who have experienced a relationship with an individually important person of a
encouraging attitude in the childhood and teenage time, do show realistic or overestimating self-
assessment patterns related to the skills described above.
H3: Students at UCM are/were negatively or positively affected by the Pygmalion effect.
References
- Eden, D. (1990). Pygmalion in management:
Productivity as a self fulfilling prophecy.
Lexington: D.C. Heath
- Eden, D., & Shani, A. B. (1982). Pygmalion
goes to boot camp: Expectancy, leadership,
and trainee performance. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 67, 194–199.
- Lussier, R., & Achua, C. (2004). Leadership:
Theory Application Skill Development (2nd
ed.): Thomsom - South-Western.
- Rosenthal, R. (1974). On the social psychology
of the self-fulfilling prophecy: Further
evidence for Pygmalion effects and their
mediating mechanisms. New York: MSS
Modular Publications.
If you think you can you can, if you think you can’t you can’t
J. Hallbauer /I6074099 Research Methods II Assignment 1
Motivation for this research was the discovery of how much thoughts of role
models in my life, my own thoughts and attitudes towards myself have influenced
my success or failure. I would like to explore these scientifically proven
phenomena by examining 3rd year UCM students experiences with parents,
teacher, coaches and how this has influenced their self-concept and hence their
self-efficacy at UCM.
Introduction
Your behavior and performance is consistent with the way you see yourself. This is enhanced by
having developed a positive attitude and self-concept. Already in in childhood and teenager-times
the course for this development has been set by your personally important leaders. This can be your
parents, friends, teachers and coaches. All these people have influenced your thinking about your
abilities, your self-concept and this decides if your are successful or not later on in live!
Purpose of this Study
is to examine the relation between the occurrence of the Pygmalion effect on 3rd year students at
UCM and their self-assessment attitudes. UCM students represent a special sample group since they
stand for an educational environment of highly motivated and performing students. Therefore, I
would like to elaborate on the following question in the project period with YOU:
Research Question:
To what extent did individually important persons (trainer, coach, teacher, family members, friends)
in childhood and teenager times influence the subjective self-assessment of 3rd year students
regarding their memory, physical/mental and motor skills?
Possible setting motor
skills:
The average person is able to spit their cherry pit
2,85 meters far. Would you rate yourself spitting a
cherry pit below, above or as far as the average?
Setting physical/mental skills: In the game of skill
Jenga the average person is able to take 8 wooden
blocks out of a tower before it breaks down. Would
you rate yourself to be able to score more blocks,
less or just the same amount as the average?
Methods:
Quantitative & Qualitative in form of experiments, questionnaires and interviews
3rd year students from UCM as sample group | N = 90 in order to gather representative and broad data | Data will be collected by integrating an active experiment and a following questionnaire as instruments |
dependent variable = the students’ subjective self-assessment of his or her skills | independent variable = the extent to which a students’ individually important person from childhood or teenage time has
influenced the students’ subjective self-assessment
In a first step, 3rd year students (UCM) answer a questionnaire about their subjective self-assessment regarding their memory, physical/mental and motor skills
In a second step the participants could perform the tasks described above in practice | this is useful to detect whether the participants actually over or underestimate their skills, or if they assess themselves
realistically | The focus of the research is to detect how, and in what ways, individually important persons (trainer, coach, teacher, family members, friends) of their childhood and teenager times might have
influenced the participants’ self-assessment, and hence self-concept which might have influenced their performance and self-efficacy | important to pose some questions to the participants in a following step
about those individually important persons, their relationship with the participant, to find out how these persons evaluated the participants’ successes and failings | these questions can be deducted in a
quantitative fashion in an ordinary style but also in a qualitativefashion in form of interview questions
Possible questions:
Quantitative approach: On a scale to 1-5 (1= no
support; 5= a lot support), how much support did
you receive from your parent, teacher, coach, etc.?
Qualitative approach: Who were individually
important person in your childhood and teenage
time? How did this person deal with your
successful moments and failed attempts? Has this
person ever let you down?

5. RQ: “How do exchange students experience and rate PBL at their exchange university in
comparison to the instruction at their home university?”
Evaluating PBL based on the experiences of
exchange students
1. Background: What is PBL? Why is it relevant?
Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational philosophy and practice.
Since its inception more than 40 years ago PBL has grown and developed at
a rapid pace (Dolmans, Loyens, Marcq, & Gijbels, 2015; Taylor & Miflin,
2008). The immense growth can be explained through the several
advantages that are ascribed to PBL. It is said to increase deep learning and
motivation of students as well as to develop key skills such as self-directed
learning skills, communication and collaboration skills and problem-solving
skills (Dolmans et al., 2015; Hessami, 1994; Shannon & Brine, 1994).
Considering the suggested benefits of PBL and its growing influence in
higher education, it is highly relevant to further investigate it.
Aim of this research
This research aims at investigating exchange students’
perceptions of Problem-Based-Learning (PBL) compared to the
lecture based instruction at their home universities. The main
goal of the study is to investigate to what extent and with
regards to which elements students prefer PBL or lecture-
based instruction.
2. The debate: Is PBL a superior to lecture-based instruction?
It has been argued that PBL teaches students skills and knowledge better
than lecture-based instruction (Dochy, Segers, Gijbels, & van den Bossche,
2002). Since the beginning of PBL, researchers have tried to measure the
effectiveness of PBL and compare it to traditional instruction. Most existing
research has focused on knowledge acquisition and skills development as
the two main variables, attempting to measure them through direct
assessment. In spite of a strong increase in PBL-related research and
several positive findings, critics of PBL argue that the suggested advantages
of PBL are not sufficiently proved by existing evidence or are not significant
enough to justify the resources and changes in curricula that are necessary
for the implementation of PBL (Albanese & Mitchell, 1993; Colliver, 2000).
At this point, the debate about the superiority of PBL is still ongoing
(Farrow & Norman, 2003).
3. This Research: How does it contribute to the PBL debate?
The current research takes a different approach than most existing research when it comes to comparing PBL with
traditional instruction. Rather than trying to objectively assess knowledge acquisition or skills development, this
research will focus on another variable, namely student perceptions. Although student perceptions have been
investigated in PBL research, the findings have mostly not been used as a means to compare PBL with other instruction
formats (Savin-Baden & Wilkie, 2004). This neglects a highly useful aspect of the variable, as experts have pointed out,
that when assessing and analyzing learning environments student perceptions are of utmost importance (Gijbels, 2005).
The current research recognizes this importance and therefore focuses on student perceptions in order to contribute to
the debate about whether or not PBL is superior.
5. Methodology: How are the perceptions and ratings of PBL measured?
The current research employs a mixed strategy involving qualitative and
quantitative methods. The population are exchange students at Maastricht
University and the sampling technique is convenience sampling.
1) In a first step, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with a
small amount of students. The interviews will allow the researchers to
gain a general understanding of where the exchange students see the
major differences in PBL and the instruction at their home university
and how they seem to perceive and rate these differences. The aim of
the interviews is to develop a general understanding that will inform
the second part of the study, which is a quantitative questionnaire.
2) Based on the major themes that came up during the interviews a
questionnaire will be designed. The aim of the questionnaire is to
quantitatively measure the students’ perceptions and evaluations
based on a higher number of participants (minimum 30) in order to
receive representative and insightful data. The questionnaire will take
the form of ordinal scale questions and generally involve three steps.
First, it will record how traditional and lecture based the instruction at
their home university is. Second, it will measure how different the
students perceive PBL across a variety of aspects (e.g. active learning,
workload, etc.) and thirdly it will ask students to answer a number of
evaluative statements (e.g. “I find PBL more enjoyable…”). When
analyzing the received data, the statements can be analyzed
separately, but it will also be interesting to see whether correlations
exist between certain variables (e.g. perception of student-
centeredness and evaluation of enjoyability).
4. The population: Why focus on exchange students?
Considering that the aim of the study is to compare two different learning environments, the rationale
for focusing on exchange students is fairly simple. Exchange students, who are used to traditional
instruction at their home university and encounter PBL in their exchange semester, find themselves in
a unique spot to point out and evaluate the differences in the educational approaches. Perceptions of
exchange students have already been used in previous research for comparing learning environments
(Wierstra, Kanselaar, van der Linden, & Lodeewijks, 1999), but this method has not yet been utilized in
PBL research. The current research therefore takes a new step in PBL research that has the potential
to provide us with crucial insights regarding the PBL debate.
Tim Tomiyuki Mori - I6089900

6. References
Albanese, M. A., & Mitchell, S. (1993). Problem-based learning: A review of literature on its outcomes and implementation issues. Academic Medicine, 68, 52 -81.
Colliver, J. A. (2000). Effectiveness of problem-based learning curricula: Research and theory. Academic Medicine, 75(3), 259-266.
Dochy, F., Segers, M., Gijbels, D., & van den Bossche, P. (2002). Studentgericht onderwijs en probleemgestuurd onderwijs: betekenis, achtergronden en effecten. Utrecht: LEMMA.
Dolmans, D. H. J. M., Loyens, S. M. M., Marcq, H., & Gijbels, D. (2015).. Deep and surface learning in problem-based learning: a review of the literature Advances in Health Sciences Education.
Colliver, J. A. (2000). Effectiveness of problem-based learning curricula: Research and theory. Academic Medicine, 75(3), 259-266.
Gijbels, D. (2005). Effects of new learning envrionmts: Taking students' perceptions, approaches to learning and assesment into account. Maastricht: Universitaire Pers Maastricht.
Hessami, M. A. (1994). Using problem-based learning in the teaching of analytical subjects. In S. E. Chen (Ed.), Reflections on Problem Based Learning. Sydney: Australian Problem Based
Learning Network.
Savin-Baden, M., & Wilkie, K. (2004). Challenging Research in Problem-based Learning. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Shannon, S., & Brine, J. (1994). Consolidating professional skills and developing the confidence of graduating architects. In S. E. Chen (Ed.), Reflections on Problem Based Learning. Sydney:
Australian Problem Based Learning Network.
Taylor, D., & Miflin, B. (2008). Problem-based learning: Where are we now? Medical Teacher, 30(8), 742-763.
Wierstra, R. F. A., Kanselaar, G., van der Linden, J. L., & Lodeewijks, H. G. L. C. (1999). Learning Environment Perceptions of European University Students. Learning Environments Research,
2(1), 79-98.

7. Research Question
To what extent do underaged
male and female Facebook
users differ in their cognitive
reactions of hedonic product
advertisement?
Introduction
Millions of underaged people are confronted with
fun-focused (=hedonic) advertisements in their daily
life on Facebook. Researchers ascertained that the
minds of underaged people are less developed and
critical compared to adults for TV advertisements
(Derbaix & Bree, 1997). In this fun-focused
environment, users devote fewer mental resources
(Schulze, Schöler & Skiera, 2014). This makes them
more vulnerable for this medium (D’Allesio et al.,
2009; Chan & McNeal, 2004). Besides the age
differences, there were also abnormalities between
genders. Whereas boys had a higher credence and
behavioural intention, girls tend to enjoy the
entertainment of those advertisements more
(D’Allesio et al., 2009). Now it has to be asked if these
differences also occur on Facebook advertisements.
Relevance
Investigating how far the minds of underaged female
and male Facebook users differ or equate, one could
draw conclusions if political implications are required
to balance abnormalities out and to protect a
certain group. However, it could also be that certain
hedonic advertisements are enriching and then it
could be asked if they should be supported.
Methodology
The differences and similarities between
underaged female and male Facebook
users will be gathered in form of a
quantitative survey. This will be
conducted at a German high school.
The sample consists of 30 female and 30
male participants between the age of 14
and 17. The survey presents different
hedonic advertisements which are taken
from Facebook. Afterwards, the
participants have to answer certain
statements on a scale from 1 to 10 where
1 stands for no agreement at all versus 10
which is seen as total agreement.
Generally, a deductive approach is
chosen with the starting point of the
theories of Schulze et al. (2014) and
D’Allesio et al. (2009). SPSS and Excel will
be used to analyse and illustrate the
results.
-Chan, K., & McNeal, J.U. (2004). Children's Understanding of Television Advertising: A Revisit in the Chinese Context. The Journal of Genetic Psychology 165 (1), 28-36.
-D’Allesio, M., Laghi, F., & Baiocco, R. (2009). Attitudes toward TV advertising: A measure for children. Journal of Applied Development Psychology 30, 409-418.
-Derbaix, C., & Bree, J. (1997). The impact of children’s affective reactions elicited by commercials on attitudes toward the advertisement and the brand. International Journal of Research in
Marketing 14, 207-229.
-Schulze, C., Schöler, L., & Skiera, B. (2014). Not All Fun and Games: Viral Marketing for Utilitarian Products. American Marketing Association 78, 1-19.I6090666 – Michael Möllers
The Power of Facebook Advertisements
Hypothesis 0: It is expected that there is no
difference between underaged male and
female Facebook users on how they are
influenced by hedonic product
advertisement.
Hypothesis 1: It can be assumed that there is
a difference between underaged male and
female Facebook users on how they are
influenced by hedonic product
advertisement.

8. Traffic congestion: How to solve it?
Abstract:
Traffic congestion costs huge amounts of people`s time and money, massive amounts of fuel are also being wasted
on standing still and stop-starting. American traffic congestion costs $1.9billio a year on fuel, which is an average of
713$ per American driver. In the U.K the economy loses £4.3bilion in productivity loss due to traffic. Commuting is
also experienced as a tedious and boring activity time and money wasted are thrown away on a disliked activity
which further aggravates the situation through opportunity cost. A simple solution would be to increase the amount
of roads, but would that really solve the problem, isn’t driving a near unsatisfiable demand?, a more viable solution
might be introducing toll systems on roads.
Literature:
The economist Richard Downs (1992) has developed the fundamental law of traffic congestion. This theory uses the
economic concept of induced demand, which means that the greater a supply of roads is, the more demand for it
will be generated by extra car usage. The fact that road tax is not dependent on how much an individual uses the
roads will therefore lead to an increased usage, without an increase in costs of using the road. The effect of lane
kilometres of roads on vehicle-kilometres travelled (VKT) was therefore according to prof.Downs in a positive
relationship.
Methodology:
Quantitative approach with an online survey to identify which factors have an impact on the amount of driving, such
as higher oil price, expected traffic and possible parking arrangements, and at what level toll charges might be an
effective solution. The population will consist of frequent car drivers in the suburbs of Brussels, who use their car for
a multitude of purposes and drive more than the Belgian average of 42 kilometers a day (source: Mobiel
Vlaanderen,2012). The reason for choosing Brussels is that on average Brussels car drivers spend 85.4 hours a year
stuck in Traffic the worst in the world (source: Inrix, 2013).
Hypothesis:
The effect of toll charges if sufficiently high will lead to less usage of the roads and therefore less overall traffic, the
overall efficiency of the road system will therefore increase as there will be less traffic. One possible effect will be
the increased use of teleworking possibilities. (working from home).
Time Planning:
A. Create questionnaires, 2 days
B. Distributing questionnaires online through social media, 2 weeks
c. Analyzing results whilst questionnaires are still online, 1 week.
D. Writing the research report.
References: Downs, Anthony. 1992. Stuck in Traffic: Coping With Peak-Hour Traffic Congestion. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution
Press.

9. Abstract
The research aims to find out how students at Maastricht
University perceive the different faculties.
In particular, it will focus on students from the Business
Faculty, the Law Faculty, the Faculty of Arts and Social
Sciences (FASoS) and the University College Maastricht. It
is to assume that they already have a specific stereotype in
mind. It will be examined if there are actually stereotypes
and what characterised them. The gained knowledge is
useful for the University Maastricht, since stereotypes could
have an effect on the reputation of the different faculties.
Methodology
• Location:
Innercity library in Maastricht
• Period of Time:
4 weeks
• Sample group:
50 persons from each faculty (Business, Law,
FASoS, UCM); nationality and gender should be
considered
• Conduct:
Collecting and analysing of quantitative data in
the form of questionnaires (key questions: how
do the students see the other faculties and their
own faculty?); examine the data through
confronting students of each faculty with it
Expectations and aims
It is to expect that there are several stereotypes of
students from every faculty. It would be interesting to find
out if they are rather negative or positive. Then, the
research could help to eliminate those stereotypes and
prejudices.
Previous research on stereotypes at universities
• The truth about stereotypes (https://www.psychologytoday.com/awhere-bias-begins-the-truth-about-stereotypes)
• Impact of stereotypes (https://news.stanford.edu/2016lassroom-stereotype-intervention-012516/)
• Negative impact of Stereotyping (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100810122210.htm)
• Stereotypes in the Netherlands (http://maastrichtminutiae.com/2010/07/19/typical-limburg-typical-dutch)
• StereotypeThreat (http://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/about/news/2015/steele-stereotype-threat-discrimination-
underperformance.html)
Oskar Gehrmann
o.gehrmann@student.maastrichtuniversity.nl
Research Methods II
University College Maastricht
Stereotypes at Maastricht University
The perception of the different faculties among students
Research Question
Do stereotypes among students
from different faculties exist at
Maastricht University ?
Timetable Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
Literature
Review
X
Data
collection
X X
Analysing
data
X X
Writing the
paper
X X

10. Noura AlMesned - 6097118 University College Maastricht
Aims & Objectives
Methodology
The research is going to be conducted from a quantitative post-
positivest point of view on a 150 children from the refugee camp.
During the first week: Contacting Petra Kai Refugee Project
Maastricht and the UWC high school, meeting the parents and
the children to explain the research, and composing the
‘Traumatic Checklist’ questionnaire that is going to be given to
the parents to fill out everyday for two weeks, is going to be
done. At the end of every week the checklists are going to be
collected and analysed. One the last week the report is going to
be written.
Introduction
Living around and witnessing the refugee
crisis in the university city of Maastricht,
this research is based on testing the
evolvement of psychological traumas
when moving away from war zones and
whether participating in playing soccer
increases recovery, if at all.
Research Question &
Hypothesis
RQ: In what way does moving away
from a war-zone area and participating
in playing soccer twice a week affect the
p s y c h o s o c i a l a n d b e h a v i o u r a l
development of Syrian refugee children
between the ages of 6 and 10 in
Maastricht, The Netherlands?
H: If children that witnessed and fled
war are given an opportunity to
concentrate on a sport and connect with
their real age then they will encounter
less PTSD symptoms, because they are
provided with an exercise that would
elevate mood and reduce fear and
anxiety.
Earlier Empirical Work
Thabet, Karim & Vostanis (2006)
conducted a research to investigate the
relationship between exposure to war
trauma and behavioural and emotional
problems amongst children in the Gaza
Strip. Through a checklist-like
questionnaires they came to the
conclusion that direct and non-direct
exposure to day raids and war-related
causalities increases the risk of
behavioural and emotional problems.
CHILDREN IN THE HEAT OF
WAR
Are Syria’s Children Doomed to a Bleak Future?
The research project aims at shedding light at one of the most
pressing issues in the world, the future of the Syrian refugee
children. Through such research parents, caregivers, teachers and
various professionals working with maltreated and traumatised
kids recognise and find out what are the lengths that should be
reached to take care of care of the children of such problems, and
take this further to people responsible in the country to start
recovery plans before it is too late for the children to recover.
Thabet, A. A. M., Karim, K., & Vostanis, P. (2006). Trauma exposure in pre-school children in a war zone.
British Journal of Psychiatry, 188, 155-158.

11. Fostering Inequality through Social Justice Efforts?
An attempt at uncovering privilege regeneration mechanisms amongst Maastricht’s affluent youths
In 2013, Adam Howard explored how affluent students engaging in social justice efforts were not merely driven by social
guilt, but that this engagement also provided them with a safe basis from which they could rationalise their holding on to
acquired privileges. This research aims to empirically verify Howard’s claims at the scale of Maastricht University.
Previous Empirical Research
Howard identified three sources of motivation to perform
social justice efforts among affluent students:
1. Responding to social guilt
2. Perceiving the self as a resource
3. The reward tied to their efforts
Together, these factors encourage students to cultivate their
privileged position further in order to make a greater social
impact. For instance, planning on pursuing a prestigious
master’s degree at a highly selective institution may be
justified by the idea that once the degree is acquired, it will
allow the student to help others more effectively. However,
due to the exploratory nature of his work, Howard’s theory is
poorly empirically supported.
Research Question
“In how far are Howard’s three sources of motivation
observable among affluent UM students engaging in
social justice efforts and in how far do affluent students
differ from regular students in this respect?”
Methodology
In order to answer our research question, we will need to
make use of quantitative methods. The research process will
be divided in three phases:
Howard, A. (2013). Negotiating privilege through social justice efforts. In Maxwell, C., &
Aggleton, P. (Eds.), Privilege, agency and affect: Understanding the production and
effects of action (pp. 185-201). London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.
Howard, A., & Gaztambide-Fernández, R. A. (2010). Introduction: Why study up? In How-
ard, A., & Gaztambide-Fernández, R. A. (Eds.), Educating elites: Class privilege and
educational advantage (pp. 1-12). Plymouth, United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield
Education.
Maxwell, C. (2015). Elites: Some questions for a new research agenda. In Zanten, A. V., Ball,
S. J., & Darchy-Koechlin, B. (Eds.), World yearbook of education 2015: Elites, privi-
lege and excellence : the national and global redefinition of educational advantage
(World yearbook of education; World year book of education). Abingdon, Oxon:
Routledge.
References
Hypotheses
1. Howard’s theory will prove to be applicable in the
context of Maastricht University.
2. It is expected that Howard’s theory proves to be
applicable not only to affluent students, but also to
non-affluent students.
3. The strength of the presence of Howard’s three
factors, however, is expected to decrease as the
student’s personal situation becomes more removed
from the ‘affluent’ status.Questionnaire Design Phase (week 1)
Development, piloting and finetuning of the
questionnaire
Data Gathering Phase (week 2-3)
Make the questionnaire available online, raise
awareness of the research project
Final Phase (week 4)
Analysis of the accumulated data and writing the
final report
Waldo Heugebaert - i6101304

12. Films: Adaptation or Domination?
Investigating how film adaptations of novels influence teenage reading
tendencies
Relevance:
• A recent American study found that 44% of students
failed to meet the basic reading level for their age.
• Research in educational development indicates that
reading for pleasure correlates strongly with enhanced
intelligence across all academic disciplines including
vocabulary, spelling and mathematics
• Decreased literary rates, reduction of creativity, and a
lesser ability to express oneself are all potential,
significantly damaging results of reading less.
Methodology
Hypothesis:
The recent popularity regarding film
adaptations of novels has caused teenagers in
western countries to depend on cinematic
experience as their preferred source of
imaginative entertainment, causing a decline
in the contemporary relevance of literary
fiction.
Quantitative Questionnaire:
• A list of films and their corresponding
novels.
• Participants indicate which titles they
have seen and read.
• If both mediums have been traversed
for the same title, ask which one first?
Qualitative Questionnaire:
• Ask interpretive questions about what
factors influence teenagers to read
Unstructured Interviews:
• Conducted in secondary school classes.
• Probe further regarding the answers
from the questionnaire to gain a more
phenomenological understanding.
The Statistics:
• Film adaptations of literary works constitute an estimated 1/3 of all productions in Hollywood history
• 17 of the 25 highest grossing movie adaptations since 1973 reside in the genre of young fiction.
• The last 30 years has seen a significant decline in the amount of leisure time teenagers spend reading.
• The percentage of 17-year-olds claiming they never or rarely read for pleasure rose from 9% in 1984 to
27% in 2014.
• Student’s writing skills are ranked the lowest in comparison to all other educationally assessed areas.
Current Theories:
While some educational specialists argue that film adaptations threaten to diminish the esteem in which
teenagers regard reading, others suggest these adaptations in fact highlight the importance of literature
within popular culture.
The aim of my research:
To decipher whether a relationship resides between the production of film adaptations and teenage
reading rates, and if this proves to be the case, evaluate the nature of this relationship. By gaining a
thorough understanding of the influential factors regarding adolescent’s decisions whether to read or
interact with other fictional media, I hope to provide information that will enable educationalists and
parents to develop more efficient strategies for motivating young people to read My research aims to
provide societal benefits by establishing the conditions that affect the amount teenagers read. The results
can subsequently be used within education to develop new strategies that promote reading.
Constanzano, W. V. (1992). Reading the movies: Twelve great films on video and how to teach them. Urbana, Ill: National Council of Teachers of
English.
Robehmed, N. (2015). How Books Dominate The Box Office, Forbes, June 2015.
Sullivan, A. (2013). Reading for Fun Improves Teens Brains. The Guardian, September 2013.
Children, Teens and Reading. (2014, May 12). Common SenseMedia.
Improving Reading for Children and Teens. (2015). Child Development Institute.
Week
Day 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
Quantitative Questionnaire
Question formulation
Sample testing
Revise
Survey distribution
Analyse results
Qualitative Questionnaire
Question formulation
Sample testing
Revise
Survey distribution
Analyse results
Interview Process
Gain permission
Schedule interviews
Conduct interviews
Analyse results
Final Report
Drafting
Writing
Revision
Formating
Report launch
1 2 3 4
Michael Haimes - I6102161

13. Correspondence to:
Naam Onderzoeker, afdeling
Email-adres
Website
Department of...
T +3143 388 0000
F +3143 388 0000
Maastricht University
P.O. Box 616
6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
The ‘Reductive Repetition Motif’ & Maastricht University Students:
A Word Association Study
References
Andreasson, S. (2005). Orientalism and African development studies: the ‘reductive repetition ‘motif in theories of African underdevelopment. Third World Quarterly, 26(6), 971-986.
Gray, D. E. (2014). Doing research in the real world. London: Sage Publications.
Omowonuola Olumoroti
Introduction:
The topic for this research project concerns the phenomena of ‘reductive
repetition’. In his article, Orientalism and African Development Studies:
The ‘Reductive Repetition Motif’ in Theories of African Underdevelopment,
Andreasson (2005) explains that, in development studies, the ‘reductive
repetition motif’ is: the consistent depiction of the continent of Africa as a
“failure”. He (Andreasson, 2005) writes that it is the conflation of
“heterogeneous characteristics of African societies into a core set of
deficiencies” and then depicting it as a weak poor nation in desperate
need of western salvation (p.917).
This research project takes the reduction repetition motif will be
taken out of the context of development and into the context of people's’
general perceptions about Africa - specifically the students of Maastricht
University.
Relevance:
There are two main reasons for the relevance of the topic relevance of
the topic can be split into two main reasons. Firstly, it has theoretical
relevance because there seems to be relatively little academic literature
regarding the reductive repetition motif. Of the little that there is, most
discuss it in terms of specifically being a motif in development studies
and do not really branch out into any other fields. There are gaps in
theory regarding whether this same motif can be found in people’s
psychology, for example.
Secondly, if it were found that Westerners do somehow
subconsciously associate the word ‘Africa’ with the reductionist,
negative, stereotypical, generalisations and perceptions at the heart of
the reductive repetition motif, it would have high social relevance. For
example, it would still help to expose the views of UM perceptions of
Africa and it’s people. This is important for two reasons. Firstly, it could
help expose bias in the academia of the university. Secondly, it could in
turn lead to the University taking a more conscious efforts to address
and correct such misconceptions, as well as result in an investigation
regarding finding the root of such held views. If such efforts were
followed through, considering that Maastricht University has a particular
emphasis on internationalism, this would thus help to make the
University global outlook healthier.
Methodology
Epistemological Stance and Methodological Approach:
I think that in the social sciences, meaning is not discovered by
observable objective facts about the world that can be empirically tested
(like in the natural sciences), as much as it is constructed by personal
experiences and ideas, hence I hold a constructivist epistemological
view. view. Therefore, I am of the opinion that that methods of inquiry in
social sciences should differ from those used in natural sciences to
reflect this difference in (interpretivism).
Within the interpretivist approach I will lean towards mostly
phenomenology & hermeneutics as methods of inquiry, which are
concerned with trying to understand and interpret multiple people’s
perceptions and experiences of phenomena (Gray, 2014). This naturally
leads to me using more qualitative methods to gain access to such
information. I will use methods like, like questionnaires, surveys and
word association tests. Although, I will use some quantitative methods,
like bar charts, to present any common themes (e.g. words that are
consistently used in association with Africa) that may from arise from the
research process.
Finally, my method will be explorative in nature because I am
seeking to identify a theme in an area where “little is currently known
about the subject” (Gray, 2014, p.57).
Method:
Participants would anonymously undergo a written word association
test. I would present my participants with a series of 10 words on a
piece of paper. Under each word there will space for the participants to
write what first came to their mind and when they saw the word & why.
The list of words is as follows: (1) Sponge (2) Africa (3) Juice (4)
Potatoes (5) Mercedes (6) Europe (7) Pink (8) Farm (9) University and
(10) Internet. The word Europe has deliberately been included as it
would be interesting to see what participants associate with the word
Europe and it compares to what they associate Africa with, because
reductive repetition in development is closely linked to portraying the
West as superior (Andreasson, 2005).
Researchers will group the responses appropriately, if possible.
So for example responses like ‘Poor’, ‘poverty’, ‘sickness’, ‘disease”’ will
fall under the category of association with ‘Poverty’, for instance. Such
groupings and names of categorizes will be dependent on participant
responses and the frequency of such responses.
Participants would also be asked to fill in a survey asking them
about their name, age, sex, race and their experience of Africa.
Sample:
Proroportionate stratified random sampling of each faculty to create a microcosm that is representative of Maastricht University. The
sample for each faculty will be representative in size, as well as proportionately take into account strata that contribute to its sampling frame
like sex, education level & race, for example, that in a way that best represents that population. The sample is random because the
participants chosen within the sampling frame will still be chosen at random; it is just that the size and the composition of the sample for
each faculty country will be a deliberate attempt to be as representative as possible for the whole University, thus reducing bias.
Research Question:
In regards to the
word ‘Africa’, do
word association
tests reveal the
reductive repetition
motif at work in the
subconscious
perceptions of
Maastricht
University Students
about the continent
of Africa and its
people?

14. FREEDOM VS BURDEN:
IS THERE TOO MUCH CHOICE AT UCM?
How does having the wide
variety of course choices at
UCM impact its students?
The responsibility of choosing courses each period results in
students repeatedly feeling dissaIsfied with their choices
METHODOLOGY
• Strategy: semi-structured interviews, made
up of ques9ons exploring what makes
students more or less confident in their
course choices, opinion on mandatory
courses that students cannot choose, and if
par9cipants believe that choosing their own
curriculum has a posi9ve or nega9ve
influence on their university experience.
Should there be more or less choice, or does
the system work well for them? Interviews
will be analysed thema9cally.
• Sample: purposive non-probability
sampling. 18 UCM students. 6 per year,
consis9ng of 3 females and 3 males per year
group.
STAGES OF RESEARCH:
1.) Prepara9on and crea9on of interview
ques9ons and objec9ves
2.) Conduct interviews
3.) Thema9cally analyse results to establish
paWerns
4.) Crea9on of academic paper: Conclusions will
be drawn and presented based on informa9on
collected
PREVIOUS EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
• Barry Schwartz, an American psychologist,
inves9gated whether or not freedom of choice
makes affluent and modern socie9es in the West
more happy, sa9sfied, and free. He came to the
conclusion that it in fact does the opposite.
• Psycho-economist Sheena Iyengar studies, as the
9tle of her book indicates, the ‘art of choosing’.
She looked into how exactly people make choices,
and their feelings regarding the choices they
make, be them trivial or profound. She discovered
that choice can be influenced by the preferences
of others.
• Renate Selecl, a philosopher and sociologist,
discusses how having an abundance of choice
results in feelings of guilt, anxiety and even
inadequacy because individuals fear that they are
making the wrong choices. She worries that such
concerns could be distrac9ng society from bigger
issues.
INTRODUCTION
Was having the freedom to choose your own
curriculum one of the main driving forces for
you deciding to study at University College
Maastricht? You have probably never
experienced such academic freedom before,
nor such academic responsibility. With more
choices available, does deciding which
courses to take each period become a
burden? If so, why?
Schwartz, B. (2005, July). Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice [video file]. Retrieved from: hWps://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice
Iyengar, S. (2010, July). Sheena Iyengar: The art of choosing [video file]. Retrieved from: hWps://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing#t-836050
Salecl, E. (2013, June). Renata Salecl: Our unhealthy rela9onship with choice [video file]. Retrieved from hWps://www.ted.com/talks/renata_salecl_our_unhealthy_obsession_with_choice
Ciara Redmond i6103024
RESEARCH QUESTION:
HYPOTHESIS:
References:

15. How does Technology influence
Grandparent-Grandchildren Relationships?
University College Maastricht – Research Methods ll – Annabelle Schapals – i6103076
Literature Review
& Relevance
Relationships with grandchildren are
of great importance in the lives of
grandparents, being associated with
overall life satisfaction, self
confidence, as well as health
(Neustaedter, Harrsion, & Sellen,
2012; Wilk, 2000). Developments in
digital technology have considerably
altered the grandparent-grandchild
relationship in various ways (Arber, &
Timonen, 2012). The majority of
existing research focuses on the
communicational aspects of novel
technology, (Neustaedter, Harrison, &
Sellen, 2012) however, another
significant factor influencing the
g r a n d p a r e n t s - g r a n d c h i l d r e n
relationship is the reversing balance
of knowledge and skills (Wilk, 2000).
Research Question
How do grandparents perceive the
influence of modern media tech-
nology on the relationship with their
grandchildren in terms of shifting
competence balance?
How does this digital divide impact
the perceived generation gap?
Methodology
Sample:
*Between six and eight seniors with
grandchildren (aged 14 to 18) living
in the local assisted living facility
Zorgcentrum Scharwyerveld.
Data Collection:
*Interviews lasting 30 to 60 minutes.
*Semi-structured, one on one
interviews using a list of prepared
questions evolving around the topics
of perception of digital divide,
generation gap, as well as feelings
and thoughts about intergenerational
relationships with grandchildren and
what role technology might play.
*Usage of audio recording device.
Analysis:
* C o n t e n t a n a l y s i s t h r o u g h
identification of common trends.
An Exploratory Interview Study
Arber, S., & Timonen, V. (2012). Contemporary grandparenting: Changing family relationships in global
contexts. Bristol: Policy Press.
Neustaedter, C., Harrison, S., & Sellen, A. (Eds.). (2012). Connecting families: The impact of new
communication technologies on domestic life. Springer Science & Business Media
Wilk, L. (2000). Intergenerational relationships: Grandparents and grandchildren. In Family issues between
gender and generations. Seminar report. Brussels: European Observatory on Family
Matters. European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs Unit E/
1(pp. 26-29).

16. A woman’s job and a man’s job: is there still such a thing?
Sex-typing of occupations among UCM students
Hello, 1950s? You
left your oppressive
gender roles in our century.
Can you come pick them up?
ABSTRACT
Our society has experienced changes that
contributed to narrowing the gap between men and
women throughout history. As simple examples,
women have obtained the right to vote and the
United Nations has created the United Nations
Women in 2010, which is a body of the
organization that specifically focuses on the
empowerment of women. However, when it comes
to occupations, for instance, people do not perceive
men and women to be equal, and it is often said
that some occupations are in fact for men and
some are for women. This stereotyping, as argued
by Schlossberg & Goodman (1972) starts at a very
early stage in life, and can have lifelong effects on
how people perceive occupations in their adult
lives.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study will be to promote
gender equality at UCM in case the research
confirms that sex-typing of occupations is a reality
among the students. This is important because, as
mentioned by Oswald (2003), sex-typing can
influence people’s career choices. Therefore,
promoting gender equality between students can
help to demonstrate that students shall not
consider or let their sex influence their career
aspirations.
RESEARCH QUESTION
To what extent does the sex of UCM students
influence sex-typing of occupations?
HYPOTHESIS
The null hypothesis (HO) will be tested against the
alternative hypothesis (HA): HO: Sex does not
greatly influence the sex-typing of occupations
among UCM students. HA: Sex influences the sex-
typing of occupations to a great extent and is
higher among male students.
METHODOLOGY
This research will use a quantitative approach
through gathering data from closed-ended
questionnaire as previously employed by
Schlossberg & Goodman (1972), Shinar (1975) and
Oswald (2003). The intention is to provide students
with a questionnaire composed of 25 occupations
and ask them to rate occupations as mostly
associated with men, women or neutral. The
questionnaire will be in English, which is a language
that does not have a gender-specific name for most
occupations. Therefore, the idea of this research is
to appraise how UCM students as a whole will rate
each occupational role and assess whether sex has
any effect on the sex-typing of occupations or not.
DEPENDENT AND INDEPENDENT VARIABLES
The independent variable in this study is the sex of
the participants, which is something that the
researcher has no control over. The dependent
variable is the occurrence of sex-typing of
occupations, which might be affected due to the sex
of the participant. Thus, it is the manipulation of the
independent variable that will cause or not an effect
(Gray, 2004).
References
Gray, D. (2004). Doing research in the real world. London: Sage Publications.
Oswald, P. A. (2003). Sex-typing and prestige ratings of occupations as indices of
occupational stereotypes. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 97(3), 953-959.
Schlossberg, N. K. and Goodman, J. (1972). A Woman's Place: Children's Sex
Stereotyping of Occupations. Vocational Guidance Quarterly, 20: 266–270.
Shinar, E. H. (1975). Sexual stereotypes of occupations. Journal of Vocational
Behavior, 7(1), 99-111.
SAMPLE
A probability sample will be used for this study
through the stratified random sampling. The study
needs 50 UCM students, 25 men and 25 women,
however, this is the only factor that matters for the
study. Therefore, age or year of study will not be
taken into consideration.
Willian Oliveira dos Santos - i6103303

18. Group Types and Sizes in Cinemas
6. References
Cameron, S. (1986). The supply and demand for cinema tickets: Some U.K. Evidence. Journal of Cultural Economics, 10(1), 38-62.
Cowden, C. (2015, January 6). Movie Attendance Has Been On A Dismal Decline Since The 1940s. Retrieved April 13, 2016, from Business Insider UK.
Gray, D. E. (2014). Doing Research in the Real World (13th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Menon, P. (2015, January 19). Saving Cinema: Ths Declining State of the Movie Theatre [Blog post]. Retrieved from Ivey Business Review.
1. Introduction
In the past years going to the cinema has become an increasingly
rare social activity due to the easier and cheaper ways to watch
movies. This observational study will observe the types and
sizes of the groups entering a cinema to watch a movie and
analyze them. The goal is to provide the cinemas with data that
will help them create a better business plan which will bring
back the customers and prevent cinemas from becoming extinct.
2. Aims & Objectives
The aim of this study is to monitor the sizes and types of
groups that go to the cinema on different days of the week. The
objective is to ultimately gather this data about the cinema
customers and analyze it to provide cinemas data which will help
them create better business plans or promotions such as
discounts for groups of a certain size.
3. Empirical Work
In the past seven decades cinema attendance has decreased
drastically all over the world. This happened due to the
invention of TVs, VCRs, DVD players, computers, and finally
internet. Experts, as well as Bloggers have noticed that the
downward trend stopped and evened out. However, they predict
that even though cinemas will mostly likely not die out
completely, their popularity will not increase and they will
become a rarity.
4. Research Question & Hypothesis
Research question:
What sizes and types of groups go to the cinema on
different days of the week?
Hypothesis:
1. The most common group size will be a couple of two
and the least common will be someone going alone.
2. Couples are more likely to go during the week while
larger groups of friend will be more likely to go
during the weekend.
5. Methodology
Approach:Quantitative, Non-participant Observational
Sampling:All individuals entering the cinema to watch a
movie will be part of the sample.
Measuring Tools:Notebook to keep count.
Analysis of Data: Gathered data will be processes and
compared to each other before drawing conclusions and
making recommendations.
Work Schedule: Data collecting - 1 week.
Data Processing - 1 week. Paper writing - 2 weeks.
Limitations: Due to limited time and number of people
who can make the observations only one cinema will be
observed for one week.
(Cowden, 2015)
Cara Dettmann - i6103353

19. Department 1
Nouria Khan – I6103489
Research Methods II
More Sex = Good Grades?
Abstract
Sex is known to have a lot of
benefits including the maintenance of
health and strengthening of one’s
immune system. Recent studies have
found a correlation between sex and
intelligence and claim that sexual
activeness is beneficial to improving
one’s intelligence capacity. After
considering empirical work, this
study aims to put those findings to a
test.
Empirical Work
Several studies have shown that sexual
activity increases the rate at which
new brain cells are formed which leads
to the possible conclusion of those
brain cells working to enhance
intelligence. Yet the extent of the
validity of this statement is still being
tested. Nonetheless, research shows
that through sexual experiences,
cognitive functions improve so long as
the experience persists through the
testing period.
Research Question:
Does regular sexual
activity positively
affect students’ GPA?
Sample size
Ø Set to be put to test among
the various faculties of
Maastricht University –
expected response rate: +/-
50 students/ per faculty
Methodology
Ø Surveys circulated via
Maastricht University in-mail
asking two main questions
based on the following
variables:
o Level of sexual
activeness
o GPA
Ø Quantitative statistical
analysis, organized in SPSS or
Excel
Ø Deduction of a conclusion from
the measured variables
proving or disproving the
hypotheses.
Hypotheses
Being sexually active promotes:
- Stress reduction
- Increased cognitive functions
- Increased concentration
References: HURLEY, D. (2014, January 13). How Sex Affects Intelligence, and Vice Versa.
Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/how-sex-
affects-intelligence-and-vice-versa/282889/#article-comments
Sexual activity counteracts the suppressive effects of
chronic stress on adult hippocampal neurogenesis and
recognition memory. (2013). Brain Research, 1538, 26 -
40.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2013.09.007
Glasper, E. R., & Gould, E. (2013). Sexual
experience restores age-­‐related decline in
adult neurogenesis and hippocampal
function. Hippocampus, 23(4), 303-312.

20. Introduction + relevance
Time management in particular is known to be difficult for many students
which leads to reluctance with regard to engaging in time consuming extra-
curricular activities. Many students believe that time consuming extra-curricular
activities will not leave them enough time to keep up with or to improve their
academic performance. Attempting to answer the proposed research question
could help them to decide whether they should engage in extra-curricular activities
or not which makes the question relevant.
Empirical research
1. Service in restaurants is likely to be faster during
most business times.  Productivity higher due
to higher workload.
Citation: Druckman, D., & Bjork, R. A. (1994).
Learning, remembering, believing: Enhancing
human performance. Washington, D.C.: National
Academy Press.
2. Determinants of academic performance:
academic competence + time management +
strategic studying + text anxiety = GPA
(academic performance).
Citation: Talib, N., & Sansgiry, S. S. (2012).
Determinants of Academic Performance of
University Students. Pakistan Journal of
Psychological Research, 27, 267-278. Retrieved
April 27, 2016.
3. Determinants of academic performance:
Self-confidence leads to higher motivation, better
appraisals of situations and therefore better
performances.
Lee, A. (2012). Labour Efficiency: Workloads or
Makework? Retrieved April 27, 2016, from
http://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-
management/operations-management/labour-
efficiency-workloads-or-makework-2351
Research question + thesis statement
‘To what extent does participation in time-consuming extra-curricular
activities affect academic performance?’
 Time-consuming extra-curricular activities lead to increased
academic performance.
Methodology
Assumptions:
Ability to collaborate (work in group) + confidence + time-management = GPA (academic performance)
Target population and sample size:
100 Undergraduate university students from the University of Maastricht.
Sampling method:
Stratified random sampling  the same amount of students from each faculty within UM will be contacted. 300
students in total will be contacted and from the students that replied, an equal amount of students engaging in
extra-curricular activities will be selected as the amount of students that do not engage in extra-curricular activities.
Data collection method:
There will be 1 survey for
each determinant of GPA.
Each survey will assess
the influence of being
engaged in an extra-
curricular activity or not
(dependent variable) on
one of the determinants
of academic performance.
The surveys will be highly
structured.
The surveys will be
multiple choice and
values will be assigned to
each answer in order to
be able to quantify the
data. The first survey will
include the question of
whether the respondents
are engaged in extra-
curricular activities or not
and the data will be
grouped accordingly.
First, the data of each
survey will be processed
separately. Afterwards,
the data will be combined
in order to form a general
conclusion about the
effect of engaging in
time-consuming extra-
curricular activities on
academic performance.

21. Felix Charles Siebel
Context of the Research
Sustainable development is one of the fundamental global as much
as European challenges within the 21st century. But how relevant
and influential are ethical considerations about sustainability on an
individual level? Everybody needs food and as it appears food
production has an extensive impact on sustainable development.
As an example, in Germany, about 13 % of per capita CO²
equivalents result from food consumption (Umweltbundesamt,
2015). Growing markets for organic food (figure 1) seem to imply
that individuals take ethical considerations concerning food
consumption increasingly into account. At the same time, meat
consumption, quite critical from ethical perspectives, hardly loses
any popularity (FAO, 2013). Knowing the University College
Maastricht (UCM), it is quite often said that its students are
especially critical about such things and keen to act responsibly. But
is this really the case and what can be relevant motivating factors as
well as socio-economic characteristics?
The Motivating Factors and Socio-Economic Characteristics
Facilitating Ethical Food Consumption: A Qualitative Approach
University College Maastricht
Figures About Organic Food Consumption
Figure 1 Figure 2
Aim and Research Question
The aim is to contribute to an understanding of which factors and
individual, socio-economic characteristics are influential for ethical
food consumption, in order to gain knowledge about how to
facilitate such behaviour. The research question is to be divided in
two parts:
1) What are the individual socio-economic characteristics and;
2) Which are the individually relevant motivating factors
facilitating ethical food consumption and how is their
influence to be ranked.
Quantitative research in this area of interest has already tried to
identify relevant factors (Figure 2). However the limited informative
value of such data makes it necessary to continue with qualitative
investigations.
Methodological Approach
As Tallontire et al (2001) point out, quantitative research within this
subject area has not been able to overcome the disparity in how
people respond to surveys and how they behave in real life. As a
consequence they recommend to conduct qualitative research in
order to investigate the factors behind ethical (food) consumption.
A series of (n) 10–15, 30-60 minutes long, semi-structured
interviews with UCM students will be implemented. Giving cause to
biased answers from participants must be avoided. The research
approach is going to be rather inductive, the sampling method a
mixture of theoretical and criterion. As a consequence, sampling
criteria should be developed as alongside data collection.
Analysis and Results
The qualitative data obtained from the interviews will be subject to
inductive, thematic analysis, combined with open coding. The
initial inductive analysis of the data shall be followed by
comparisons with results from other studies such as, but not
limited to, those displayed in figure 2.
It is expected that such factors, as well as socio-economic
characteristics as for instance educational background of the
parents, financial status as well as nationality may appear to have
relevance. However, such considerations will not be the starting
point for the research.
References
FAO - Food and Agriculture Organisation. (2012). FAO Statistical Yearbook. Rome.
Tallontire, Rentsendorj, Blowfield. (2001). Ethical Consumers and Ethical Trade. Policy Series 12. Chatham, UK: Natural Resources Institute.
Umweltbundesamt. (2015). Der CO2-Rechner. Dessau-Roßlau. Retrieved from: http://uba.klimaktiv-co2-rechner.de/de_DE/page/footprint/
Figure 1 and 2 retrieved from European Parliamentary Research Service: https://epthinktank.eu/2015/05/20/organic-food/
Felix Charles Siebel
f.siebel@student.maastrichtuniversity.nl
An assignment for the course
Research Methods II
University College Maastricht
Zwingelput 4
6211 KH Maastricht
The Netherlands

22. RQ:Towhat extent donationalityandgender affect
habitual meal patternsandsnackintakeamongstudents
of Maastricht University?
OVERVIEW
- As students we tend to forget how important it is to eat meals
on a regular basis. This tendency often leads to consuming
unhealthy snacks which do not satisfy our long term hunger.
- This study aims to determine whether there are differences in
meal patterns and snack intake between different nationalities
and gender among students of Maastricht University
METHODOLOGY-HOW WILL THISSTUDY BECONDUCTED?
- A quantitative approach will be used
- Population: All second year Maastricht University students
- Sampling: Overall n=45. Students will be divided into three
categories of A) DUTCH B) GERMAN C) ANGLO-SAXON (US/UK)
origin, n=15 per each category. There is no declared amount of
male/females needed in the study (will be random).
- Why such a division? These are the three most representative
nationalities at UM.
- Data collection approach: survey, more specifically, online
questionnaire (this method has been used for similar studies
before; (Yamane et al., 2014)
- The collected data will be analyzed graphically in SPSS and in
written form. A correlation between the variables will be
desired.
EARLIEREMPIRICAL RESEARCH
- Spanos and Hankey (2010) compared eating habits of students from
two different countries, Greece and Scotland, in order to describe
which nationalities had the tendency to eat more irregularly and
snack in between meals
- Baric, Satalic, and Lukesi? (2009) looked at dietary habits of students
in Croatia based on gender
- No study has yet look at both variables in Maastricht University
WHY ISTHISIMPORTANT?
- There is a proven significant relationship between meal
patterns and academic achievement (especially concerning
eating breakfast) (Edwards et al., 2010; Vecchiarelli et al.,
2006),
- Regular meal patterns are considered to have a positive impact
on health and lower the chances of obesity (University of
Eastern Finland, 2013)
DEPENDANT
VARIABLES
INDEPENDENT
VARIABLES
Meal
patterns
Nationality
Snack
intake
Gender
WEEK/
TASK
WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3
Create
online
question-
naire
X
Sampling
X X
Transcribe
data
X
WEEK 4
Analyze
data
X X
Write
final
report
X X
References:
1.Bari?, I. C., ?atali?, Z., & Luke?i?, Z. e. (2009). Nutritive value of meals, dietary habits and nutritive status in Croatian university students according to gender. International Journal of Food Sciencesand Nutrition, 54(6), 473-484. doi:10.1080/09637480310001622332
2.Edwards, J. S. A., Hartwell, H. L., & Brown, L. (2010). Changes in food neophobia and dietary habits of international students. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 23, 301-311. doi:10.1111/j.1365-277X.2010.01066.x
3. Spanos, D., & Hankey, C. R. (2010). The habitual meal and snacking patternsof university studentsin two countriesand their use of vending machines.
4.Vecchiarelli, S., Takayanagi, S., & Neumann, C. (2006). Students?Perceptions of the Impact of Nutrition Policies on Dietary Behaviors. Journal of School Health, 76(10), 525-531.
5. Yamane, M., Ekuni, D., Mizutani, S., Kataoka, K., Sakumoto-Kataoka, M., Kawabata, Y., . . . Morita, M. (2014). Relationships Between Eating Quickly and Weight Gain in Japanese University Students: A Longitudinal Study. Obesity, 22(10). doi:10.1002/oby.20842
6. University of Eastern Finland. (2013, October 3). Five regular meals a day reduce obesity risk among adolescents. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 27, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131003095450.htm
Aleksandra
Blazeusz
i6104557

23. Should I continue studying after
graduating?
At University College Maastricht
To what extent do UCM students’ concentrations relate
to whether or not they choose to continue their studies
after graduating from UCM?
To investigate how many UCM students
continue to study after they graduate
Aim 1
To investigate the relationship between
the concentration of a student and
whether or not he/she pursues further
education
Aim 2
Three years: Data collection rounds are
in January and July
How long is
the Project?
Third year UCM students in 2017 and
2018
Who will
participate?
Stratified random sample of third year
UCM students in both years from each
concentration
Type of
sample?
Education institutions
are expected to provide
an increasingly greater
number of
postgraduate study
provisions to their
students due to the
labour market demand
(Schomburg, 2007)

24. Perception of Self Versus Others
Research Question & Hypothesis
Research
Question:
How
is
the
the
self-­‐
perception
of
young
adults
(age
16-­‐25)
in
social
media
different
from
they
are
perceived
by
others?
Hypothesis:
People
perceive
themselves
to
be
represented
accurately
online,
while
they
perceive
others
to
be
falsely
represented.
Introduction / Relevance
Young adults are usually at a stage in their lives where they
are finding out what their identity is. With the presence of
social media, people often try to express themselves in the
online environment. People, however, are often perceived
differently online, therefore researching the difference
between self-­‐perception and the perception that others
have of you online is relevant and interesting to young
adults like us. Hence I came up with the research question:
How is the the self-­‐perception of young adults (age 16-­‐25)
in social media different from they are perceived by others?
Methodology
Earlier Empirical Research
Conduct: An
analytical
survey
will
be
used
to
determine
how
people
perceive
themselves
on
social
media
and
how
they
perceive
others
on
social
media,
in
particular
whether
they
think
social
media
gives
accurate
representations
of
Question themselves
and
others.
Samples:
Do
you
consider
your
profile
picture
to
be
an
accurate
representation
of
yourself?
Do
you
consider
that
the
average
young
adult
has
a
profile
picture
that
accurately
represents
themself?
Sample:
Young
adults
of
ages
ranging
from
16-­‐
25,
particularly
students
in
the
UCM
community.
Instruments:
The
survey
will
be
distributed
online
via
email.
Analysis:
The
data
will
be
analyzed
using
a
statistical
analysis.
Many studies have been done regarding the difference in
perceptions ofself versus perceptions ofothers. Gilovich et.
Al. (2004) investigated how we perceive our own biases
versus those of others, and found that people attach more
credence to their own introspections and therefore believe
others have more bias. Meilman et. Al. (2010) performed
similar research except on the subject of drug use. They
found that people admit to not using many drugs, but that
they perceive the average student to usemany drugs, again
indicating that we attach more worth to ourselves over
others.
References
Meilman,
P.
W.,
Leichliter,
J.
S.,
&
Perkins,
H.
W.
(2010).
Misperceptions
of
the
Norms
for
the
Frequency
of
Alcohol
and
Other
Drug
Use
on
College
Campuses.
Journal
of
American
College
Health,
47(1999).
Pronin,
E.,
Gilovich,
T.,
&
Ross,
L.
(2004).
Objectivity
in
the
Eye
of
the
Beholder:
Divergent
Perceptions
of
Bias
in
Self
Versus
Others.
Psychology
Review,
111(3).
By Marenne Massop
Project Schedule
Week 1: CompleteLiteratureReview & Start Methodology
Week 2: CompleteMethodology & Perform Research
Week 3: Data Analysis & Conclusions
Week 4: Final Draft

25. How common is the problem of procrastination at UCM and do the reasons behind it differ from other faculties?
Introduction
In university it seems as
everyone is struggling with the
same Problem. “The deadline of
a Paper is coming and I haven’t
even started yet”. It is so
common that most of the
students struggle with that
problematic. In general the
difficulties of starting seem to
be more prominent in face of a
Paper or Presentation as
opposed to exams, where the
procrastination seems less
extreme. It becomes
questionable why people do
such irrational choices that in
the end put them in an extreme
stressful and dire situation. This
situation often leads to students
ending up in more psychological
distress that also affects their
overall health.
References
Senécal, C., Koestner, R., & Vallerand, R. J. (1995). Self-
regulation and academic procrastination. The Journal of
Social Psychology, 135(5), 607-619.
Ariely, D., & Wertenbroch, K. (2002). Procrastination,
deadlines, and performance: Self-control by
precommitment. Psychological science, 13(3), 219-224.
Akerlof, G. A. (1991). Procrastination and
obedience. The American Economic Review, 81(2), 1-19.
Methodology
The research will be conducted in an online survey. The questions will
be mostly quantitative with certain aspects where we will look at a
more qualitative approach. A few examples would be:
-Do you procrastinate? (I mean we all know what you would say to
that question)
-When before the deadline do you actually start working?
Why do you think you procrastinate?
-Do you think there might be personal reason for your
procrastination?
Literature Review
-Apparently around 95% of American
college students procrastinate (Senécal,
Koestner and Vallerand, 1995).
-Generally it appears that people believe
they procrastinate because of laziness or
things such as a lack of self discipline,
however it has been analyzed that
procrastination is rather a result of habits
such as low self-esteem (Senécal,
Koestner and Vallerand, 1995).
-“For our students, the cost of
procrastination involves "pulling an all-
nighter" to get the term paper done on
time” (Akerlof, 1991, p.5).

26. Does Facebook ruin your Relationship?
Research Question: How does indirect communication on Facebook influence the level of relational satisfaction in long-distance
Introduction
Have you ever been in a relationship and caught yourself being
jealous or worried about something you saw about your partner
on Facebook? Do you want to find out, how Facebook influences
the quality of your relationship or relationships in general and if
it can actually threaten it? This research will focus on long-
distance relationships because in this case, couples rely much
more on communication platforms, such as Facebook. Different
studies suggest that there is a link between low relational
satisfaction and an increased use of indirect communication on
Facebook (Kirk, 2013; Muise et. al, 2009). Indirect
communication refers to the observation of publicly viewable
information, such as a partners’ posts, likes or acquirement of
new friends (Kirk, 2013). In other words, indirect
communication can be also be thought of as simply “stalking” or
Methodology
1. Population & Sample
The study will be conducted among UM students, as the university
provides an international background with an increased probability
for people to be in long-distance relationships. For instance, the
possibility of studying abroad for one semester further increases the
probability of being in a long-distance relationship, as many
relationships form while studying at university. A sample size of at
least 50 participants is required and the age is not specified, as most
students at UM will be between 20-30 years old. Conducting surveys
within the whole university of Maastricht, instead of one faculty
makes it possible to target a larger audience of students and thus,
create a bigger sample size for better results.
2. Procedure & Conduct
The participants will be given a set of various questions addressing
the type of relationship, relational satisfaction, jealousy and activity
on Facebook. The questions will consist of two different types. An
example for the first type is: “What is the average time you spend on
Facebook each day observing information (i.e. scrolling through your
newsfeed)?” In this case, students need to answer through providing
a specific number, such as 5 for 5 hours of observing information. In
the end, the mean of the total numbers will be calculated. Regarding
the second type of questions, participants need to indicate their
answers on a scale from 1-10, 1 being the lowest and 10 the highest.
An example is: “How jealous do you become, when your partner
uploads a picture with a person of the other sex?” (1 - not jealous at
all, 10 - very jealous).
Relevance
The purpose of this research is to find out, how indirect
communication on Facebook influences the level of relational
satisfaction in long-distance relationships, in particular among
college students. Furthermore, this study aims to raise
awareness about the potential “side-effects” of popular social
networking platforms, such as Facebook, especially on long-
distance relationships. Facebook has more than 800 million
active users and accounts for the biggest social networking
platform at the moment (Kirk, 2013), but in relation to its size,
there has been little research about its psychological
implications on romantic relationships. Most young people
nowadays use the social networking site on a daily basis which
makes it even more important to conduct research.
Hypothesis
An increased use of indirect communication
on Facebook leads to lower levels of relational
satisfaction in a long-distance relationship.
Julia Zhou (I6105061) University College Maastricht Kirk, A. (2013). The Effect of Newer Communication Technologies on Relationship Maintenance and Satisfaction in
Long-Distance Dating Relationships. Pepperdine Journal of Communication Research, 1(2), p.1-6.
Images: http://maxlevel.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/social-media.jpg
http://forcetoknow.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Facebook-guessing-romantic-relationship-592x260.jpg

27. Creating
Work
Schedule
Planning
Experiment
& Interview
Collecting
Dara
Analysing &
Reporting
One aspect that defines the UCM
community depicts the prosocial behaviour
of its students. This research aims to
investigate why UCM students behave in this
particular manner. The pattern of behaviour
can be explained with moral reasoning. In
other words, the research will examine the
practical thinking process about what
(morally) one is ought to do.
Malti et al. (2009)
Kohlberg (1964)
This research focused on the moral capacity of
children. The results show that there is a direct
link between prosocial (or moral) behaviour and
sympathy. Furthermore, a significant role plays
self-reflection in a specific situation in a socio-
moral context.
He investigated the development of the moral
character. The results show that a moral
decision can be based on three aspects:
1) Avoiding punishment or requiring rewards
2) Believe in absolute moral laws
3) Social engagement beyond own interest
Qualitative & Inductive Method
Random Purposive Sampling
Experiment Semi-Structured Interview
Thematic Analysis
Research Question
What type of moral
reasoning do UCM students
have for their prosocial
behaviour?
With a spectrum of questions, data on the moral reasoning
of the three participants will be collected. The data of the,
therefore, independent variable will be analysed on
distinguishing features and common grounds.
The sampling will take place through a social experiment.
For this, out of the population of UCM students, three
participants who show prosocial behaviour will be chosen
for the interview. Therefore, the prosocial behaviour depicts
the dependent variable.
Moral Reasoning of UCM Students
Tanoe Gnanzou - I6105131 28/04/2016

28. Where do Maastricht University students go during the weekend?
Introduction
Maastricht University has around 16,000 students
in Maastricht during the week.This number,
however, tendsto decrease during the weekend
significantly.Where do they go? Why do they
leave? Doesit take away from college life, not
only from themselvesbut also others?
Aims and Objectives
The aim of this paper is to determine whether students leave
during the weekend, instead of staying in Maastricht and how
many? It will attempt to determine where they go in relation
to Maastricht. Furthermore,it will look at reasons why
students leave through the use of a survey. Most importantly,
this paper will try and determine if the amount of studentsthat
leave affectscollege life during the weekend. It will also look
at which faculties have the most students that leave.
Research Question
What is the underlying reason of
students that leave and how doesit
affect other students from
Maastricht?
Hypothesis
Students from the faculty of School of Business
and Economicswill have the highest rate of
students that leave,in turn will cause the overall
level of student social life in Maastricht to
decrease.
Methodology
An online survey will be sent out to all
faculties asking at least 100 students to fill it
out.
Three variables will be investigated:
1. where the students go during the
weekend
2. Which faculties have the most students
that leave
3. Reasons why students leave
4. Opinions of those that stay
Time Distribution
2 days will be needed to create and distribute the survey. 2
weeks minimum are required to obtain results from the
survey, plus a fourdays to analyze and interpret the results.
After which the report will be written, a week is required.
Preliminary Limitations
• Investigation of this sort has no
previous literature
• Reliability- the size of the
sample may not be large enough
• Some studentsmay have chosen
Maastricht because it is close to
home
References
In College, You Can Go HomeAgain and Again - New YorkTimes.
(2016).Nytimes.com. Retrieved 28 April2016, from
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/fashion/thursdaystyles/14nest.
html?pagewanted=2&_r=0

29. investigating the association between hair colour and
personality
Research Question
Introduction
Earlier Empirical Work
Hypotheses
Methodology
Relevance
References
Branicki, W., Brudnik, U., Draus-Barini, J., Kupiec, T., & Wojas-Pelc, A. (2008). Association of the SLC45A2 gene with physiological human hair colour variation. Journal Of Human Genetics, 53(11-12), 966-971.
van den Brink, V., Henry, I., Wakamatsu, K., & Roulin, A. (2012). Melanin-Based Coloration in Juvenile Kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) Covaries with Anti-Predatory Personality Traits. Ethology, 118(7), 673-682.

30. Laura Wipler I 6105802
Research Methods II / Tutorial Group 10
University College Maastricht
28/ 4 / 2016
References
Lindsay G. (2015). How Dating Apps Are Changing The Way We Behave In Public.
NextCity.org. Retrieved from https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/how-dating-apps-
are-changing-public-space
Blackwell, C., Birnholtz, J., & Abbott, C. (2014). Seeing and being seen: Co-
situation and impression formation using Grindr, a location-aware gay
dating app. New media & society.
Benamati K. (2016). Dating Apps Have an Impact On Our Self Confidence.
Huffington Post. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-
benamati/dating-apps-have-an-impac_b_9069464.html
Methodology:
Population: UM students
Sample: random sample of UM students; for the quantitative
study about 80 random UM students will be asked; for the
qualitative research, from this 80 students 10-15 students will
be selected for the interview
Conduct:
First step: Quantitative gathering of data: asking random UM
students whether they use a dating app or not and number of
dates they have been on.
Second step: Students who are using dating apps and willing to
participate in this study will be interviewed and will be
answering a questionnaire. This will give more specific answers
to the study as students will be asked more personal questions
on their dating behaviour.
Data analysis: data will be presented statistically, preferably
shown in diagrams/ charts
IT’S A MATCH! -Dating Apps and Self-Confidence-
Relevance:
The most intriguing question for me is whether this superficial app dating has
effects on a person’s confidence or not. The apps make it simple to find and
get in contact with people. On the other hand it makes it easy to ignore people
and worse someone might connect with what appears to be their ideal mate
but results in being the complete opposite. These Apps claim that everyone
will find their “match” and guarantee a more active dating life. Nonetheless,
for a person not receiving messages or in the end does not end up going on
dates will eventually feel less confident about themselves than before. Hence,
the aim of this research is to find out whether dating apps have a positive
effect on students dating life in Maastricht or whether it actually has negative
effects on a persons confidence.
Schedule
First Week Second Week Third Week Fourth Week
Preparation &
Design of Interview
Questionnaires
First days: designing
questionnaires, create
schedule for data
collection
Data Collection End of first week 
start with quantitative
data collection
Interviews and data
collection
Evaluation &
Analysis and
Presentation of
Research
Analyse collected
data, present it,
putting it into
charts/ diagrams
Final step: Writing
the research paper
Abstract:
In our society today dating is easier than ever. Singles do not even have to
make the effort to go out in the world, start speaking to someone on the
streets, in a shop or in a bar. The technological advances and the smartphone
revolution have created a new kind of dating – online dating through apps.
There are multiple dating apps today; the more prominent are Tinder, Grindr,
Hinge, Hitch or Match.com. All of these apps have the same principle: everyone
can create a profile with a few pictures, name, age and a small description or
comment of themselves. Other people that are using the app can then choose
whether to “like” or “dislike” someone and hey, if it’s a match then you can
chat. During the last three years tinder has been downloaded 40 million times
and latest statistics say that 14 million matches are made daily.
How do these numbers look like in Maastricht and especially among students? Are dating
apps as prominent amongst students?
Research Question
To what extent do dating
apps influence student’s self-
confidence?

31. Maia Lucia Werz SKI1005
i6105815
RESEARCH QUESTION
“Does self-confidence
influence academic
performance?”
Formulate questionnaire
Distribute questionnaire
Collect data
Analyse and interpret data
Write report
PREVIOUS RESEARCH
About 20 to 30 students from each
faculty of Maastricht University will be
surveyed. A questionnaire assessing
self-confidence and GPA will be used for
this purpose. To protect participants’
privacy the questionnaire will be
anonymous. It will be distributed via
social media, such as Facebook and, if
possible, Eleum or university email.
METHOD
STEPS
Self-confidence:
a person’s feeling of trust in
their own abilities, qualities
and judgements
(Oxford Dictionary)
It is not clear whether self-confidence and
academic performance are linked, as different
results have been found (Marsh & O’Mara,
2008). In a review of over 700 studies positive,
negative and insignificant correlations between
the two variables have been identified (Hansford
& Hattie, 1982). Studies investigating the link
between self-confidence and academic
performance have been conducted using data of
American 10th
grade boys, as well as black and
white college students (Demo & Parker, 1987;
Marsh & O’Mara, 2008).

32. What doesn’t kill them makes them stronger
Does diet play a role in the antibiotic resistance of an individual's microbial flora?Introduction
The spread of antibiotic resistance among bacteria has been on the rise recently, a consequence of the wide spread
over and misuse of antibiotics. An instance where antibiotics are over or misused is in the animal agricultural
industry (NIH, n.d.), where food animals are exposed to low, sub therapeutic levels of antibiotics, creating a selective
pressure for resistant bacteria, (Committee on Drug Use in Food Animals; Panel on Animal Health, Food Safety, and
Public Health; Board of Agriculture; National Research Council, 1999). These bacteria may then spread to humans,
either through contact with live animals or consumption of the food, and cause infections that are difficult to treat.
Alternatively they may become part of the an individuals commensal flora, and spread resistance genes to other
bacteria. For example, a study done in France showed that when subjects ate only bacteria free food for a period of
time, the numbers of resistant bacteria in their feces decreased 1000 fold (Levy, 1998). Resistance may also stem
from the exposure to the residual antibiotics in the food, causing a selective pressure for resistance genes for the
person's flora, increasing prevalence of resistant bacteria. Therefore there is a valid case for the presence of a link
between a persons diet, in terms of consumption of meat and animal products and the resistance of their
commensal flora. The question is, can it be seen through experimental research?
Objectives and relevance
The objective of this research is to find out whether there is any relation between a person’s diet, in relation to animal
products and the antibiotic resistance of their commensal flora. Doing so may be relevant in understanding the factors that
contribute to the overwhelming rise in antibiotic resistance that we see nowadays. Additionally it may help inform people as
to the consequences of their choice of diet, helping them to make better decisions in and for the future, both on an
individual as well as societal level.
Research Question
“Are there any differences in the antibiotic resistance of the of
the commensal flora, found in non-vegetarians, vegetarians and
vegans?”
Hypothesis
Given that food animals are exposed to high levels of antibiotics,
the hypothesis is that individuals that consume meat, and to a
lesser extent animal products such as milk, are likely to have
more resistant commensal flora. Therefore, in general, non
vegetarians may have more resistant flora that vegetarians, who
may have more resistant flora than vegans.
Methodology
Sample :The sample population
will consist of UCM students. The
students will be selected and
separated based on their diet:
non vegetarian, vegetarian and
vegans. Besides being a UCM
student, the only requirement is
that the student(s) should not
have taken any form of
antibiotics for at least 4 weeks
before sampling.
A quantitative approach will be
taken in the research. Swabs of
commensal throat flora will be
taken from students, and will be
cultured on nutrient agar plates,
in homogenous conditions
throughout the study.
A antibiotic susceptibility test will
then be carried out on the
cultures, to measure the
antibiotic resistance of the
bacteria. The test used will most
likely be a diffuse disk test, using
some kind of penicillin antibiotic.
The resistance will be estimated
based on the diameter of the
zone of inhibition.
The results will then be analyzed
to determine if they are
statistically significant or not.References
Committee on Drug Use in Food Animals; Panel on Animal Health, Food Safety, and Public Health; Board on Agriculture;
National Research Council. (1999). The Use of Drugs in Food Animals: Benefits and Risks. Washington (DC): National
Academy Press.
Levy, S.B. (1998). The Challenge of Antibiotic Resistance. Scientific American, March issue, 46-53.
MRSA. (2011). MRSA: The Most Significant Disease of the Last Century. Image retrieved from:
https://mrsafacts.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/mrsa-the-most-significant-disease-of-the-last-century/.
NIH. (n.d.). Antimicrobial (Drug) Resistance Causes. Retrieved on February 19th from:
https://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/antimicrobialResistance/Understanding/Pages/causes.aspx..
WHO. (2015) Infographics: Antibiotic resistance. Image Retrieved from:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2015/world-antibiotic-awareness-week/infographics/en/.
Uma Prashant Navare (i6105859)
Research Methods 2 (SKI 1005)
University College Maastricht
Fig 1. MRSA
Fig 2. Causes of
resistance
Decreasing the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria is
extremely important, as not doing so my result in large numbers
of untreatable and potentially fatal infections, even more than
seen today.