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Do Drinking Habits Affect SDSU Students’
GPA?
MKTG 470: Marketing Research
Spring Semester 2015
7 May 2015
Professor Cornelis
Prepared by:
Jamayla Allen
Marissa Garcia
Jessalyn Hines
Erin Rapae
Shannon Lubar
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………..……3
2. Introduction...…………………………………………………………………………………4
3. Problem Situation...………………………………………………………………………...…5
3.1. Problem Definition
3.2. Research Objectives
3.3. Action Standards
4. Secondary Data Analysis...…………………...………………………………………………7
5. Detailed Data Collection Plan...………………………………..……………………………11
5.1. Research Methods
5.2. On-site Interviews
5.3. On-site Observations
5.4. Online survey
6. Analysis of Primary Data...………………………………….………………………………12
6.1. On-site interviews
6.2. Onsite observation
6.3. Online Survey
7. Conclusions...……………………………………..…………………………………………18
8. Recommendations...……………………………………………………………….…...……19
9. Limitations...……………………………………………………………………….…..……20
10. References...…………………………..…………..…………………………………………22
11. Appendices...…………………………………………………………………………………25
11.1 Questionnaire
11.2 SPSS Outputs
List of Illustrations
Figures
Figure 1: What organizations are you a part of? Check all that apply…………………...14
Figure 2: Amount of Days in the week Students Drink……………………………….....17
Figure 3: Attributes of SDSU Students Alcohol Consumption………………………….18
Executive Summary
When determining the academic success of San Diego State students, there are many
factors that can positively or negatively affect outcome of a student’s GPA. After considering
many factors, we decided that alcohol consumption could be a major factor that could greatly
affect grade point average in a negative way. To prove our expectations, it was necessary to
conduct multiple marketing research methods to obtain data that would accurately represent the
population of SDSU students. We performed secondary research to see if our expectations had
been proven true at other universities within the United States. After completing the secondary
research, we conducted primary research to see if the studies that were done in the past
accurately also reflected San Diego State students.
This research was completed through a qualtrics survey that was distributed to SDSU
students. It delved deeper into students’ drinking habits, as well as other things that may
consume their time; such as work, on-campus organizations, etc. From this primary research we
discovered that within our sample of 117 San Diego State students, drinking was positively
correlated with GPA. Thus, our recommendations are that further research be performed. This is
due to our sample not being consistent with previous studies that were found in our secondary
research. More primary research is needs to be conducted to further examine the relationship
between drinking habits and university students’ GPA.
Introduction
There have been multiple studies done on the drinking habits of students attending
universities throughout the United States. We decided to investigate if these studies had any
similarity to the actual drinking habits of students at San Diego State University; a school known
for a party culture and higher than normal alcohol consumption (Powell, 2009). Previous studies
have shown that there is a negative relationship between students’ GPAs and the amount of
alcohol they consume. A study done at Midwestern University stated that the use of both alcohol
use factors and motivation factors as predictors of college student academic achievement, or
grade point average (GPA), had a greater influence together, than alone (Bennett, 2008). This,
along with other studies (Maholchic-Nelson, 2009; Wolaver, 2002), also showed that not only is
alcohol consumption related to poor academic performance, but it is also related to higher
dropout rates. We did not analyze the dropout rates, but we did look deeply into the relationships
between drinking and academic standing. One of the many factors that intrigued us was not only
that students consumed alcohol, but also the quantity students drank. In the previous study by
Bennett (2008) one of the results was that “students who have low grade point averages (GPAs)
drink three times as much as students who have high GPAs” (Bennett, 2008). Our study of San
Diego State University students looks at a small local sample, based off of extensive research
conducted at universities on a national level.
Problem Situation
Problem Definition
Although various studies suggest that drinking has a negative influence on GPA, it has
not been tested at SDSU. We plan to conduct research at the SDSU campus to see if previous
assumptions about this relationship hold true for SDSU students. An online survey will be
administered that will provide insight on the drinking habits of SDSU students. After the
research is compiled, we will provide recommendations to students that will enable them to
improve their study habits and surface underlying trends involving GPA and alcohol
consumption. We will also address the limitations that our study did not account for.
Research Objective
Our aim is to gather information from a sample representative of the SDSU student
population to determine if drinking consumption affects students’ GPAs. This will be measured
using a voluntary self-reported survey asking students their alcohol consumption habits as well
as their lifestyle activities to determine potential correlations.
Action Standards
Our research will be measured using an online voluntary self-reported survey asking
students their alcohol consumption habits as well as their lifestyle activities to determine
potential correlations. The results of our study will help us understand the academic performance
habits of SDSU students and can potentially lead us to formulate a plan for students that will
include a lifestyle regimen to attain a higher GPA. After the research is compiled we will provide
recommendations to students that will be aimed to better enable students to improve their
lifestyle habits and surface underlying trends involving GPA and alcohol consumption. The goal
being to provide them with the necessary information to develop an awareness of the effects
drinking may have. This could also help students potentially achieve better grades while
attending SDSU because of this knowledge.
Secondary Data Analysis
Alcohol Misuse
In 1976, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) issued a
report on the effects of alcohol misuse by college students. Since then, significant research has
transformed understandings of alcohol and the negative effects associated with excessive alcohol
consumption. Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) suggests that on
a typical college campus, 65% of students drink alcohol in a given month and 1 in 5 college
students are binge drinkers. Wechsler (2009) reported that “alcohol consumption among college
students ages 18-22 who drink five or more drinks on a given night has remained constant since
2002; however, the amount of students who engage in binge drinking has decreased since then”
(Wechsler 2009).
Wechsler (2009) found that certain environmental factors significantly contributed to the
likelihood of a student consuming alcohol. Caucasian males, members of Greek organizations,
athletes, campuses with older students, campuses near a higher density of alcohol, students with
access to cheap drink specials, a willingness to endure the consequences of alcohol misuse, and
drinking off-campus and at bars all contributed to higher rates of binge drinking (Wolaver,
2002).
Academic/Social influences
There are a few main factors associated to students drinking, one of which is stress,
“Students report academics, in one way or another, as a contributing factor 55% of the time”
(Dusselier, Dunn, Wang, Shelley, & Whalen, 2005), “others reported influences on student-
stress are time and time management, situational factors (such as roommate difficulties),
financial difficulties, and personal factors” (Dusselier et al. 2005). It is important to note that
stress may not be an effective indicator of alcohol consumption for college students because it
has been found that as stress levels rise, such as during finals week, alcohol consumption
significantly lowers. It was found that, “drinkers did not cease drinking during exam weeks, but
rather consumed fewer drinks during drinking occasions” (Noel & Cohen 2010). While it is
clear that the drinking doesn’t stop from the students, the types of students who are still drinking
are clarified. “According to the NIAAA (1996), people who already have a problem with alcohol
are more likely to report drinking as a way to relieve stress” (Noel & Cohen 2010).
Socialization is the second reason found that students drink in college and possibly the
greatest reason. Typically the easiest socialization to classify is by measuring the students
involved in fraternities and sororities; “67% of all students involved in fraternities and sororities
report binge drinking defined as five or more drinks in a short period” (Wechsler, Moeykens,
Davenport, Castillo, & Hansen, 1995).
Impacts on Academic Performance
It was reported that, “heavy drinkers tend to have a lower GPA than more moderate
drinkers” (Whittemore, 2009). This is a strong suggestion that drinking does have an impact on
GPA, which we want to investigate further at San Diego State University. It is also important to
note that typically college students are the drinkers in our age group that consume more alcohol
than our peers who graduate from high school, but do not continue on their education.
Based on the CAS findings, it has been shown that, “alcohol consumption at binge levels
and beyond has a significant impact on college students’ academic performance, social
relationships, risk taking behaviors, and health. This form of drinking is associated with missing
class, falling behind in schoolwork, and lower grade point average, a relationship mediated by
fewer hours spent studying” (Wechsler, 2008).
College GPA
Alcohol may affect students’ grade point average because alcohol affects the part of the
brain that controls thinking, as well as judgment (Pinel, 2006). This is a problem when anyone,
students or others, abuse alcohol. “Continuous alcohol abuse may eventually cause serious
neurological damage. A recent study was given to compare 100 detoxified male alcoholics from
an alcoholism treatment unit with 50 male non-drinkers obtained from various sources. The
alcoholics, as a group, performed more poorly on various tests of perceptual, motor, and
cognitive ability, and their brain scans revealed extensive brain damage compared to the group
of males that are non-drinkers” (Pinel, 2006).
This study (White, 2013) was conducted on alcohol and GPA among College students at
eleven Wisconsin Universities. One of the most notable results mentioned was that binge
drinking over the course of two weeks significantly predicted a lower GPA among females. The
article focused more on the notion that drinking affects females’ GPAs more than males’ (White,
2013). Based on the two week study, “Underage students binge drank four + drinks in 2 hours
on an average of 1.41 times and legal-age students binge drank four + drinks in 2 hours an
average of 1.28 times in the last 2 weeks; this translates to between 23 and 25 times in an
academic year these students were binge drinking” (White, 2013). From this study it gives the
breakdown of each demographic and their statistically significant or insignificant results between
alcohol consumption and GPA. While alcohol may in fact result in a lower GPA, it is important
to remember that Paschall and Freisthler (2003) stated that “many reasons existed beyond heavy
alcohol use on why classes are missed or lower GPAs are obtained in college, such as lack of
interest and greater demands academically, which made it difficult to determine the unique role
alcohol played”.
From the results of national surveys, it is known that heavy episodic drinkers report that
drinking is what influenced their decision to miss class, and resulted in falling behind in their
schoolwork, and performing poorly on a test or other project (Singleton and Wolfson, 2009).
Due to the potentially unethical effects of surveys most reports have been done through self-
reported surveys, However in the “relatively few correlational studies that have examined the
relationship between alcohol use and academic performance among college students have
produced inconsistent results” (Singleton, 2009).d It is clear that a heavy consumption rate of
alcohol is associated with problems, including poor academic performance (Perkins, 2002). Most
of the alcohol use, analyzed in a college study, was associated with fewer hours put toward
studying, which linked alcohol both directly and indirectly with a lower grade point average
among the students (Wolaver, 2002).
Data Collection Plan
Research Methods
Our research method is an online survey that will be created through Qualtrics and
distributed to participants through email, social media, and text message. We are choosing to
only email students that attend San Diego State because that is our target population. Our study
is not limited to people at or above the legal drinking age because many students under 21
partake in the consumption of alcohol and have access to alcohol in the college area. It is also
important to reach students that are in various majors across campus, however, it can be difficult
to access these individuals.
Online Survey
To solve this problem we are extending our distribution by using social media, San Diego
State Facebook groups and text messages. We are hoping to experience a snowball effect with
our survey to reach many SDSU students. This will provide us with more opportunities to access
the students that are not within the College of Business. This also allows us to target participants
that drink directly on campus, as well as off campus.
One of the largest groups we are hoping to reach within our survey is the Greek sorority
and fraternity life. This sector of students will possess involvement in school activities and
organizations, a variety of majors, ages, and demographics, and potentially, drinking habits. We
do not want our survey to only consist of these individuals, but do plan to gather data on them as
well as much of the San Diego State population as possible, given our resources and time.
Analysis of Primary Data
Online Survey
After distributing our survey and running the appropriate tests for the collected data we
found multiple results that both supported and did not support our expectations. Our sample
consisted of 138 recipients, yet only 133 of those surveys were taken by San Diego State
students. The respondents varied in year of school with 65 Seniors, 39 Juniors, 15 sophomores,
and only 8 Freshman for a total of 117 respondents. There were some results that were missing
for this question (16). Our respondents consisted 32 males and 97 females with an average
reported age of 21.9 years old, 10 respondents choose to not respond to this question.
Looking at these individuals, 32.6% were 21 years old and the remaining 26.4% were
under the legal drinking age. Of the respondents that are of legal drinking age, 58.1% have at one
point or another consumed alcohol on campus. Most of the students in our sample, 83.5%, lived
off campus, while the remained 16.5% lived on campus. One of the major statistics that we use
to run most of our analysis tests with is the percent of respondents that drink alcohol; 87.8%
responded that they do drink alcohol, while only 10.1% do not drink at all. Many of the students
in our sample have at least a part time job or are involved in some other student organization.
There were 96 out of the 139 respondents that have maintain a job, part time or full time. On
average students work an average of 20 hours a week, with a range from 5 to 50 hours per week.
Of the 72% of students that are involved in an on-campus organization, only a mere 6.5% of
them are involved in Associated Students. One of the highest involvements on campus is in
Greek life. Of the respondents that are in an organization, 46.8% of our respondents are involved
in a fraternity or sorority.
Figure 1: What Organizations Are You a Part Of? Check All That Apply.
In our sample, there was a small number of students that are international and therefore
unlikely to be involved in many on-campus organizations. When looking at the interaction
between drinking alcohol and being in an organization, we found that there is a significant (non
monotonic) association between drinking alcohol and being involved in a sorority or fraternity.
(chi2 = 7.023, df = 1, p < .05). The highest concentration of non-drinkers (85%) are not involved
in a sorority or fraternity, not surprisingly, the next highest concentration, students who do drink
alcohol, are involved in Sororities and Fraternities. Alongside participating in fraternities or
sororities as well as Associated Students, we also examined to see if there was a statistically
significant difference between the grade point average of students that participate in sports
whether it be intramural, club, or varsity for San Diego State University. We found that of the
Commented [1]: We need to add "see figure 1" or
something of the sort in the text proceeding this pie
graph. and also need to explain what it says
139 respondents, 9.4% are active in the sports community. Those involved in sports however did
not have a statistically significantly higher GPA.
We also examined the GPA factor of students involved in student-based organizations,
finding that there is a statistically significant difference between the academic performance of
those in a student organization and those that are not. Those that are involved statistically and
significantly hold a higher GPA than those who do not participate in any student based
organizations.
One of our main focuses in our hypothesis is the effect of alcohol on students’
performance, more specifically their cumulative grade point average. Interestingly, our results
contradicted what we originally predicted. Our predictions were that, like studies before, alcohol
consumption would negatively affect students’ academic performance, yet our results yield that
there is a significant (nonmonotonic) association between drinking alcohol and students GPA
(chi2 =5.271, df = 1, p < .05). The highest concentration of drinkers turned out to be in the
highest GPA category (3.00 and higher). To take it further, the variability in the two conditions,
drinking and GPA, are about the same. Because the p value was .008, we also found that there is
a statistically significant difference between the GPA of drinkers and nondrinkers. The average
for students who consume alcohol was greater than the average of the non-drinking students.
These results lead us to conclude that participants who indicated that they do engage in drinking
alcohol achieved significantly higher GPAs than those who indicated they do not drink. While
students who drink did show to be in the higher GPA category, only 24.1% of the students had a
3.5 or higher.
When looking solely at the factor of GPA, the SDSU students had an average grade point
average of 3.25 with a standard deviation of .32. In comparison between the entire SDSU sample
and that of students in any student organization the average for those involved in an organization
was 3.28 with a standard deviation of .31706. Within that student organization umbrella falls the
student athletes; we found that the average cumulative GPA is 3.32 with a standard deviation of
.31. Also, included in the student organization category is students that participate in AS, these
students had an average GPA of 3.36 with a standard deviation of .27. The next group we
analyzed within the student organizations were students involved in Fraternities and Sororities,
as a whole, this group had an average GPA of 3.29 with a standard deviation of .31. As we can
see, the athletes, those in AS and those in Greek life had a higher average GPA but based on the
Sig. (2-tailed) for each, none were statistically significant due to their participation.
We were interested, not only in if students drink and the result that has on their GPA, but
also how many days a week on average SDSU students are drinking. Figure 2 shows the overall
results of the average number of days a week students drink, the average days a week students
drink are 2.15 with a standard deviation of 1.19, the next highest chosen was one day, leading us
to believe most drinking is done on the weekends. From our research we found that, surprisingly,
there was a statistically significant correlation (p<.05) between the number of days a week a
student drinks and their cumulative San Diego State GPA.
Figure 2: Amount of Days in the week Students Drink
When we looked into which groups drank the most times a week, we found that the group
with the highest consumption per week are students belong to Associated Students. They had the
highest average of days a week with 2.38 and a standard deviation of 1.06. The groups with the
lowest average went to those students that are athletes with an average of 1.55 days a week and a
standard deviation of .93. There was not a relevant relationship between the number of drinks
they had and their GPA.
We looked deeper into the drinking habits of the students, by examining the place and
time of when students consume alcohol. Figure 3 shows the averages on a 1 to 5 scale of the
different attributes. The averages refer to the degree of agreement with the statements. The
sample subjects were asked to respond to statements as they correspond to their personal habits.
For example, one statement said “I drink alcohol at parties”. The respondents were presented
with a scale ranging from 1 to 5 (where 1 = Always, 2 = Most of the Time, 3 =Sometimes, 4
=Rarely, 5 = Never). In the chart below, the average answer for this question was 1.93. The
lower the average the more likely students are to drink on the occasion or circumstance. For our
example, students were more likely to drink alcohol while attending a party. We chose to treat
these variables as metric level data, even though they are ordinal level. The variables are labeled
on a one to five scale, allowing us to run tests on them as a metric level variable.
Figure 3: Likeliness to Drink on Specific Occasions
Attributes of SDSU Students Alcohol Consumption
Where/When Alcohol is Consumed Average SD
With Meal 3.36 0.942
On Campus 3.95 1.065
At Parties 1.93 0.888
During the Day 3.49 0.702
Before Attending Class 4.74 0.511
Between Classes 4.63 0.638
In Evening 2.08 0.659
With Friends 1.38 0.614
*Scale: 1=”Always” and 5=”Never”
This shows that drinking between/before class is very rare among students, yet students
do, on occasion, drink alcohol on campus. Students also drink most often with friends and at
parties in a social setting. It is important to note that most of the respondents rarely or never
drink before class. These findings indicate that our respondents are in some ways consistent with
our original expectations for students’ alcohol consumption habits. There are other factors, such
as the positive relationship between GPA and amount of alcohol consumed, that do not coincide
with our original expectations.
Conclusion
Our findings show that contrary to our initial belief, San Diego State University students’
drinking habits are not negatively linked to GPA. Our sample determined that there is a positive
correlation between GPA and the amount of alcohol consumed, causing us to reject our original
expectations. This is likely due to the sample that responded to our survey having above average
grade point averages and also an overall tendency for respondents to be dishonest when
describing personal drinking habits as well as the stigma that goes along with a low GPA. We
also found that students involved in Associated Students consumed alcohol more frequently and
on a regular basis. There was also a significant correlation between students in the Greek system
and drinking more than average students; the highest concentration of drinkers were associated
with either a fraternity or sorority. Although being involved in on campus organization takes
time away from school work, our sample showed that being involved in student organizations
contributed to a higher grade point average. Our sample provided interesting results that only
sometimes correlated with our original expectations; for some of our results, such as the
correlation between drinking and GPA, our original expectations were proven entirely wrong.
Recommendations
Based on the conclusions formed from our research and analysis we recommend that
further research be conducted in regards to drinking habits and the grade point average of San
Diego State University students. This is due to our sample being inconsistent with previous
literature and studies performed at other universities in the United States. Solely based on our
research, we are able to recommend that students join on-campus organizations because there is
a positive relationship with being involved and grade point average. Although our research is
inconclusive, based on our sample we can say that students can continue to drink responsibly
because our finding show there a positive correlation between alcohol consumption and higher
GPA. According to our analysis we found that drinking does not necessarily mean students will
perform poorly in their courses due to common misconception. We recommend another study be
conducted to determine why being involved on campus resulted in a higher GPA. We also
recommend conducting further primary analysis to study the relationship between which
organizations resulted in the educational success and why. In the future, it is recommended that a
larger sample be taken from San Diego State University to determine whether or not there is a
negative trend between alcohol consumption and GPA’s, as displayed in previous research.
Limitations
After conducting and analyzing our research and data results, we were pleased with the
information collected and our success in conducting the research study. Despite our initial
satisfaction, we realize there are ways to improve the research. Our study encountered issues
with time constraints and non-response errors as well as response size and representation, all of
which can be improved.
One of the constraints on our research was lack of proper time dedicated to collecting
data and non-response error. Since we sent out our survey digitally, a majority of our
respondents filled it out during class or business hours. As a result of this, students may have not
responded due to being in class, work or other commitments. Aside from these roadblocks,
another difficulty with sending our survey during work and school hours is that many
respondents get a large amount of emails per day, especially during these hours. As a result of
this, our survey may have gotten buried under other emails or neglected due to more important
responsibilities. The results we got were beneficial, but we may have reached a wider response
audience if we varied the times we sent the survey. There could also be bias in the results caused
by fellow students participating in the survey and experiencing response bias.
Another limitation we encountered was our sample size and representation of the SDSU
population. According to the San Diego State University Admissions website, there are about
30,000 students, about 25,000 of which are undergraduate students. College portraits, another
website, gave more specific numbers, saying that there were a total of 33,483 students in the Fall
2014 semester and 28,394 of which were undergraduates. We had a total of 117 usable
responses, only .412% of the undergraduate population. To further our sample representation
error, we had a response of 24.8% male and 75.2% female when the actual SDSU Undergraduate
population is 45% male and 55% female. Another misalignment with the SDSU population is
our number of respondents that are involved in the Greek system. The average SDSU
Undergraduate GPA for the Fall 2014 semester was 2.915 and the entire Greek system had an
average GPA slightly higher at 2.979. Since our sample was made up of 46.8% of Greek
members, this may have had a skew in the overall GPA on our study, resulting in a positive
correlation between drinking and higher GPA.
Lastly, our data could have been skewed due to convenience sampling. Our study was
mostly targeted to people we know. We sent the survey to people already within our network and
to people within the college of business that we have taken classes with previously. This most
likely changed our results because some of us are involved in various organizations on campus
and we were more like to receive responses from our friends. We also might have received
different results if we has received more responses from students outside of the College of
Business.
Reference List
1. Bennett, B. C. (2008). Alcohol use and achievement motivation as predictors of college
student academic success (Order No. 1458177). Available from ProQuest Dissertations &
Theses A&I; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text: The Sciences and Engineering
Collection,(304813100). Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/304813100?accountid=13758
2. Greek Life - Grade Reports | SDSU. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2015, from
http://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/sll/grade_reports.aspx?
3. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (niaaa). Alcohol Policy Information
System, 2010. available at http://www.alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/. accessed February
16, 2015.
4. Maholchic-Nelson, S. (2010). High- and low-achieving fraternity environments at a
selective institution: Their influence on members' binge drinking and GPA (Order No.
3429063). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I; ProQuest Dissertations
& Theses Full Text: The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection; ProQuest
Dissertations & Theses Full Text: The Sciences and Engineering Collection.
(762511856). Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/762511856?accountid=13758
5. Paul, M. (2008). Does Alcohol Consumption Affect College Grades? Allied Academies
International Conference.Academy of Educational Leadership.Proceedings, 13(2), 55-61.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/192405960?accountid=13758
6. Powell, Ronald W. "SDSU Again Named One of Nation's Top Party Schools."
Utsandiego.com. UT San Diego, 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
7. Singleton Jr., R. A., & Wolfson, A. R. (2009). Alcohol Consumption, Sleep, and
Academic Performance Among College Students. Journal Of Studies On Alcohol &
Drugs, 70(3), 355-363.
8. San Diego State University | Admissions. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2015, from
http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/admissions/facts.html
9. San Diego State University College Portrait. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2015, from
http://www.collegeportraits.org/CA/SDSU/characteristics
10. Syverson, K. B. (2013). Alcohol and grade point average among college students in 11
wisconsin universities (Order No. 3590296). Available from ProQuest Dissertations &
Theses A&I; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text: The Sciences and Engineering
Collection. (1431541770).Retrieved-
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1431541770?accountid=13758
11. Wechsler, Henry, Ph.D. "What We Have Learned From the Harvard School of Public
Health College Alcohol Study: Focusing Attention on College Student Alcohol
Consumption and the Environmental Conditions That Promote It*." Harvard Alcohol
Studies (2008): n. pag. Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard
School of Public Health. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
12. White, A., & Hingson, R. (2013). Excessive Alcohol Consumption and Related
Consequences Among College Students.Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 35(2), 201-
218.
13. Wilcox, T. L. (2013). The relationship between grade point average, greek membership,
criminal activity, and alcohol consumption in HBCU college students (Order No.
1553096). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I; ProQuest Dissertations
& Theses Full Text: The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection. (1511456980).
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1511456980?accountid=13758
14. Wolaver, A. M. (2002). Effects of Heavy Drinking In College on Study Effort, Grade
Point Average, and Major Choice. Contemporary Economic Policy, 20(4), 415-428.
Appendix
Questionnaire
SPSS Outputs
MarketingResearchFinalProject
MarketingResearchFinalProject
MarketingResearchFinalProject
MarketingResearchFinalProject
MarketingResearchFinalProject
MarketingResearchFinalProject
MarketingResearchFinalProject
MarketingResearchFinalProject
MarketingResearchFinalProject
MarketingResearchFinalProject

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MarketingResearchFinalProject

  • 1. Do Drinking Habits Affect SDSU Students’ GPA? MKTG 470: Marketing Research Spring Semester 2015 7 May 2015 Professor Cornelis Prepared by: Jamayla Allen Marissa Garcia Jessalyn Hines Erin Rapae Shannon Lubar
  • 2. Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………..……3 2. Introduction...…………………………………………………………………………………4 3. Problem Situation...………………………………………………………………………...…5 3.1. Problem Definition 3.2. Research Objectives 3.3. Action Standards 4. Secondary Data Analysis...…………………...………………………………………………7 5. Detailed Data Collection Plan...………………………………..……………………………11 5.1. Research Methods 5.2. On-site Interviews 5.3. On-site Observations 5.4. Online survey 6. Analysis of Primary Data...………………………………….………………………………12 6.1. On-site interviews 6.2. Onsite observation 6.3. Online Survey 7. Conclusions...……………………………………..…………………………………………18 8. Recommendations...……………………………………………………………….…...……19 9. Limitations...……………………………………………………………………….…..……20 10. References...…………………………..…………..…………………………………………22 11. Appendices...…………………………………………………………………………………25 11.1 Questionnaire 11.2 SPSS Outputs List of Illustrations Figures Figure 1: What organizations are you a part of? Check all that apply…………………...14 Figure 2: Amount of Days in the week Students Drink……………………………….....17 Figure 3: Attributes of SDSU Students Alcohol Consumption………………………….18
  • 3. Executive Summary When determining the academic success of San Diego State students, there are many factors that can positively or negatively affect outcome of a student’s GPA. After considering many factors, we decided that alcohol consumption could be a major factor that could greatly affect grade point average in a negative way. To prove our expectations, it was necessary to conduct multiple marketing research methods to obtain data that would accurately represent the population of SDSU students. We performed secondary research to see if our expectations had been proven true at other universities within the United States. After completing the secondary research, we conducted primary research to see if the studies that were done in the past accurately also reflected San Diego State students. This research was completed through a qualtrics survey that was distributed to SDSU students. It delved deeper into students’ drinking habits, as well as other things that may consume their time; such as work, on-campus organizations, etc. From this primary research we discovered that within our sample of 117 San Diego State students, drinking was positively correlated with GPA. Thus, our recommendations are that further research be performed. This is due to our sample not being consistent with previous studies that were found in our secondary research. More primary research is needs to be conducted to further examine the relationship between drinking habits and university students’ GPA.
  • 4. Introduction There have been multiple studies done on the drinking habits of students attending universities throughout the United States. We decided to investigate if these studies had any similarity to the actual drinking habits of students at San Diego State University; a school known for a party culture and higher than normal alcohol consumption (Powell, 2009). Previous studies have shown that there is a negative relationship between students’ GPAs and the amount of alcohol they consume. A study done at Midwestern University stated that the use of both alcohol use factors and motivation factors as predictors of college student academic achievement, or grade point average (GPA), had a greater influence together, than alone (Bennett, 2008). This, along with other studies (Maholchic-Nelson, 2009; Wolaver, 2002), also showed that not only is alcohol consumption related to poor academic performance, but it is also related to higher dropout rates. We did not analyze the dropout rates, but we did look deeply into the relationships between drinking and academic standing. One of the many factors that intrigued us was not only that students consumed alcohol, but also the quantity students drank. In the previous study by Bennett (2008) one of the results was that “students who have low grade point averages (GPAs) drink three times as much as students who have high GPAs” (Bennett, 2008). Our study of San Diego State University students looks at a small local sample, based off of extensive research conducted at universities on a national level.
  • 5. Problem Situation Problem Definition Although various studies suggest that drinking has a negative influence on GPA, it has not been tested at SDSU. We plan to conduct research at the SDSU campus to see if previous assumptions about this relationship hold true for SDSU students. An online survey will be administered that will provide insight on the drinking habits of SDSU students. After the research is compiled, we will provide recommendations to students that will enable them to improve their study habits and surface underlying trends involving GPA and alcohol consumption. We will also address the limitations that our study did not account for. Research Objective Our aim is to gather information from a sample representative of the SDSU student population to determine if drinking consumption affects students’ GPAs. This will be measured using a voluntary self-reported survey asking students their alcohol consumption habits as well as their lifestyle activities to determine potential correlations. Action Standards Our research will be measured using an online voluntary self-reported survey asking students their alcohol consumption habits as well as their lifestyle activities to determine potential correlations. The results of our study will help us understand the academic performance habits of SDSU students and can potentially lead us to formulate a plan for students that will include a lifestyle regimen to attain a higher GPA. After the research is compiled we will provide recommendations to students that will be aimed to better enable students to improve their lifestyle habits and surface underlying trends involving GPA and alcohol consumption. The goal
  • 6. being to provide them with the necessary information to develop an awareness of the effects drinking may have. This could also help students potentially achieve better grades while attending SDSU because of this knowledge.
  • 7. Secondary Data Analysis Alcohol Misuse In 1976, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) issued a report on the effects of alcohol misuse by college students. Since then, significant research has transformed understandings of alcohol and the negative effects associated with excessive alcohol consumption. Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) suggests that on a typical college campus, 65% of students drink alcohol in a given month and 1 in 5 college students are binge drinkers. Wechsler (2009) reported that “alcohol consumption among college students ages 18-22 who drink five or more drinks on a given night has remained constant since 2002; however, the amount of students who engage in binge drinking has decreased since then” (Wechsler 2009). Wechsler (2009) found that certain environmental factors significantly contributed to the likelihood of a student consuming alcohol. Caucasian males, members of Greek organizations, athletes, campuses with older students, campuses near a higher density of alcohol, students with access to cheap drink specials, a willingness to endure the consequences of alcohol misuse, and drinking off-campus and at bars all contributed to higher rates of binge drinking (Wolaver, 2002). Academic/Social influences There are a few main factors associated to students drinking, one of which is stress, “Students report academics, in one way or another, as a contributing factor 55% of the time” (Dusselier, Dunn, Wang, Shelley, & Whalen, 2005), “others reported influences on student- stress are time and time management, situational factors (such as roommate difficulties),
  • 8. financial difficulties, and personal factors” (Dusselier et al. 2005). It is important to note that stress may not be an effective indicator of alcohol consumption for college students because it has been found that as stress levels rise, such as during finals week, alcohol consumption significantly lowers. It was found that, “drinkers did not cease drinking during exam weeks, but rather consumed fewer drinks during drinking occasions” (Noel & Cohen 2010). While it is clear that the drinking doesn’t stop from the students, the types of students who are still drinking are clarified. “According to the NIAAA (1996), people who already have a problem with alcohol are more likely to report drinking as a way to relieve stress” (Noel & Cohen 2010). Socialization is the second reason found that students drink in college and possibly the greatest reason. Typically the easiest socialization to classify is by measuring the students involved in fraternities and sororities; “67% of all students involved in fraternities and sororities report binge drinking defined as five or more drinks in a short period” (Wechsler, Moeykens, Davenport, Castillo, & Hansen, 1995). Impacts on Academic Performance It was reported that, “heavy drinkers tend to have a lower GPA than more moderate drinkers” (Whittemore, 2009). This is a strong suggestion that drinking does have an impact on GPA, which we want to investigate further at San Diego State University. It is also important to note that typically college students are the drinkers in our age group that consume more alcohol than our peers who graduate from high school, but do not continue on their education. Based on the CAS findings, it has been shown that, “alcohol consumption at binge levels and beyond has a significant impact on college students’ academic performance, social relationships, risk taking behaviors, and health. This form of drinking is associated with missing
  • 9. class, falling behind in schoolwork, and lower grade point average, a relationship mediated by fewer hours spent studying” (Wechsler, 2008). College GPA Alcohol may affect students’ grade point average because alcohol affects the part of the brain that controls thinking, as well as judgment (Pinel, 2006). This is a problem when anyone, students or others, abuse alcohol. “Continuous alcohol abuse may eventually cause serious neurological damage. A recent study was given to compare 100 detoxified male alcoholics from an alcoholism treatment unit with 50 male non-drinkers obtained from various sources. The alcoholics, as a group, performed more poorly on various tests of perceptual, motor, and cognitive ability, and their brain scans revealed extensive brain damage compared to the group of males that are non-drinkers” (Pinel, 2006). This study (White, 2013) was conducted on alcohol and GPA among College students at eleven Wisconsin Universities. One of the most notable results mentioned was that binge drinking over the course of two weeks significantly predicted a lower GPA among females. The article focused more on the notion that drinking affects females’ GPAs more than males’ (White, 2013). Based on the two week study, “Underage students binge drank four + drinks in 2 hours on an average of 1.41 times and legal-age students binge drank four + drinks in 2 hours an average of 1.28 times in the last 2 weeks; this translates to between 23 and 25 times in an academic year these students were binge drinking” (White, 2013). From this study it gives the breakdown of each demographic and their statistically significant or insignificant results between alcohol consumption and GPA. While alcohol may in fact result in a lower GPA, it is important to remember that Paschall and Freisthler (2003) stated that “many reasons existed beyond heavy
  • 10. alcohol use on why classes are missed or lower GPAs are obtained in college, such as lack of interest and greater demands academically, which made it difficult to determine the unique role alcohol played”. From the results of national surveys, it is known that heavy episodic drinkers report that drinking is what influenced their decision to miss class, and resulted in falling behind in their schoolwork, and performing poorly on a test or other project (Singleton and Wolfson, 2009). Due to the potentially unethical effects of surveys most reports have been done through self- reported surveys, However in the “relatively few correlational studies that have examined the relationship between alcohol use and academic performance among college students have produced inconsistent results” (Singleton, 2009).d It is clear that a heavy consumption rate of alcohol is associated with problems, including poor academic performance (Perkins, 2002). Most of the alcohol use, analyzed in a college study, was associated with fewer hours put toward studying, which linked alcohol both directly and indirectly with a lower grade point average among the students (Wolaver, 2002).
  • 11. Data Collection Plan Research Methods Our research method is an online survey that will be created through Qualtrics and distributed to participants through email, social media, and text message. We are choosing to only email students that attend San Diego State because that is our target population. Our study is not limited to people at or above the legal drinking age because many students under 21 partake in the consumption of alcohol and have access to alcohol in the college area. It is also important to reach students that are in various majors across campus, however, it can be difficult to access these individuals. Online Survey To solve this problem we are extending our distribution by using social media, San Diego State Facebook groups and text messages. We are hoping to experience a snowball effect with our survey to reach many SDSU students. This will provide us with more opportunities to access the students that are not within the College of Business. This also allows us to target participants that drink directly on campus, as well as off campus. One of the largest groups we are hoping to reach within our survey is the Greek sorority and fraternity life. This sector of students will possess involvement in school activities and organizations, a variety of majors, ages, and demographics, and potentially, drinking habits. We do not want our survey to only consist of these individuals, but do plan to gather data on them as well as much of the San Diego State population as possible, given our resources and time.
  • 12. Analysis of Primary Data Online Survey After distributing our survey and running the appropriate tests for the collected data we found multiple results that both supported and did not support our expectations. Our sample consisted of 138 recipients, yet only 133 of those surveys were taken by San Diego State students. The respondents varied in year of school with 65 Seniors, 39 Juniors, 15 sophomores, and only 8 Freshman for a total of 117 respondents. There were some results that were missing for this question (16). Our respondents consisted 32 males and 97 females with an average reported age of 21.9 years old, 10 respondents choose to not respond to this question. Looking at these individuals, 32.6% were 21 years old and the remaining 26.4% were under the legal drinking age. Of the respondents that are of legal drinking age, 58.1% have at one point or another consumed alcohol on campus. Most of the students in our sample, 83.5%, lived off campus, while the remained 16.5% lived on campus. One of the major statistics that we use to run most of our analysis tests with is the percent of respondents that drink alcohol; 87.8% responded that they do drink alcohol, while only 10.1% do not drink at all. Many of the students in our sample have at least a part time job or are involved in some other student organization. There were 96 out of the 139 respondents that have maintain a job, part time or full time. On average students work an average of 20 hours a week, with a range from 5 to 50 hours per week. Of the 72% of students that are involved in an on-campus organization, only a mere 6.5% of them are involved in Associated Students. One of the highest involvements on campus is in Greek life. Of the respondents that are in an organization, 46.8% of our respondents are involved in a fraternity or sorority.
  • 13. Figure 1: What Organizations Are You a Part Of? Check All That Apply. In our sample, there was a small number of students that are international and therefore unlikely to be involved in many on-campus organizations. When looking at the interaction between drinking alcohol and being in an organization, we found that there is a significant (non monotonic) association between drinking alcohol and being involved in a sorority or fraternity. (chi2 = 7.023, df = 1, p < .05). The highest concentration of non-drinkers (85%) are not involved in a sorority or fraternity, not surprisingly, the next highest concentration, students who do drink alcohol, are involved in Sororities and Fraternities. Alongside participating in fraternities or sororities as well as Associated Students, we also examined to see if there was a statistically significant difference between the grade point average of students that participate in sports whether it be intramural, club, or varsity for San Diego State University. We found that of the Commented [1]: We need to add "see figure 1" or something of the sort in the text proceeding this pie graph. and also need to explain what it says
  • 14. 139 respondents, 9.4% are active in the sports community. Those involved in sports however did not have a statistically significantly higher GPA. We also examined the GPA factor of students involved in student-based organizations, finding that there is a statistically significant difference between the academic performance of those in a student organization and those that are not. Those that are involved statistically and significantly hold a higher GPA than those who do not participate in any student based organizations. One of our main focuses in our hypothesis is the effect of alcohol on students’ performance, more specifically their cumulative grade point average. Interestingly, our results contradicted what we originally predicted. Our predictions were that, like studies before, alcohol consumption would negatively affect students’ academic performance, yet our results yield that there is a significant (nonmonotonic) association between drinking alcohol and students GPA (chi2 =5.271, df = 1, p < .05). The highest concentration of drinkers turned out to be in the highest GPA category (3.00 and higher). To take it further, the variability in the two conditions, drinking and GPA, are about the same. Because the p value was .008, we also found that there is a statistically significant difference between the GPA of drinkers and nondrinkers. The average for students who consume alcohol was greater than the average of the non-drinking students. These results lead us to conclude that participants who indicated that they do engage in drinking alcohol achieved significantly higher GPAs than those who indicated they do not drink. While students who drink did show to be in the higher GPA category, only 24.1% of the students had a 3.5 or higher.
  • 15. When looking solely at the factor of GPA, the SDSU students had an average grade point average of 3.25 with a standard deviation of .32. In comparison between the entire SDSU sample and that of students in any student organization the average for those involved in an organization was 3.28 with a standard deviation of .31706. Within that student organization umbrella falls the student athletes; we found that the average cumulative GPA is 3.32 with a standard deviation of .31. Also, included in the student organization category is students that participate in AS, these students had an average GPA of 3.36 with a standard deviation of .27. The next group we analyzed within the student organizations were students involved in Fraternities and Sororities, as a whole, this group had an average GPA of 3.29 with a standard deviation of .31. As we can see, the athletes, those in AS and those in Greek life had a higher average GPA but based on the Sig. (2-tailed) for each, none were statistically significant due to their participation. We were interested, not only in if students drink and the result that has on their GPA, but also how many days a week on average SDSU students are drinking. Figure 2 shows the overall results of the average number of days a week students drink, the average days a week students drink are 2.15 with a standard deviation of 1.19, the next highest chosen was one day, leading us to believe most drinking is done on the weekends. From our research we found that, surprisingly, there was a statistically significant correlation (p<.05) between the number of days a week a student drinks and their cumulative San Diego State GPA.
  • 16. Figure 2: Amount of Days in the week Students Drink When we looked into which groups drank the most times a week, we found that the group with the highest consumption per week are students belong to Associated Students. They had the highest average of days a week with 2.38 and a standard deviation of 1.06. The groups with the lowest average went to those students that are athletes with an average of 1.55 days a week and a standard deviation of .93. There was not a relevant relationship between the number of drinks they had and their GPA. We looked deeper into the drinking habits of the students, by examining the place and time of when students consume alcohol. Figure 3 shows the averages on a 1 to 5 scale of the different attributes. The averages refer to the degree of agreement with the statements. The sample subjects were asked to respond to statements as they correspond to their personal habits. For example, one statement said “I drink alcohol at parties”. The respondents were presented with a scale ranging from 1 to 5 (where 1 = Always, 2 = Most of the Time, 3 =Sometimes, 4 =Rarely, 5 = Never). In the chart below, the average answer for this question was 1.93. The lower the average the more likely students are to drink on the occasion or circumstance. For our
  • 17. example, students were more likely to drink alcohol while attending a party. We chose to treat these variables as metric level data, even though they are ordinal level. The variables are labeled on a one to five scale, allowing us to run tests on them as a metric level variable. Figure 3: Likeliness to Drink on Specific Occasions Attributes of SDSU Students Alcohol Consumption Where/When Alcohol is Consumed Average SD With Meal 3.36 0.942 On Campus 3.95 1.065 At Parties 1.93 0.888 During the Day 3.49 0.702 Before Attending Class 4.74 0.511 Between Classes 4.63 0.638 In Evening 2.08 0.659 With Friends 1.38 0.614 *Scale: 1=”Always” and 5=”Never” This shows that drinking between/before class is very rare among students, yet students do, on occasion, drink alcohol on campus. Students also drink most often with friends and at parties in a social setting. It is important to note that most of the respondents rarely or never drink before class. These findings indicate that our respondents are in some ways consistent with our original expectations for students’ alcohol consumption habits. There are other factors, such as the positive relationship between GPA and amount of alcohol consumed, that do not coincide with our original expectations.
  • 18. Conclusion Our findings show that contrary to our initial belief, San Diego State University students’ drinking habits are not negatively linked to GPA. Our sample determined that there is a positive correlation between GPA and the amount of alcohol consumed, causing us to reject our original expectations. This is likely due to the sample that responded to our survey having above average grade point averages and also an overall tendency for respondents to be dishonest when describing personal drinking habits as well as the stigma that goes along with a low GPA. We also found that students involved in Associated Students consumed alcohol more frequently and on a regular basis. There was also a significant correlation between students in the Greek system and drinking more than average students; the highest concentration of drinkers were associated with either a fraternity or sorority. Although being involved in on campus organization takes time away from school work, our sample showed that being involved in student organizations contributed to a higher grade point average. Our sample provided interesting results that only sometimes correlated with our original expectations; for some of our results, such as the correlation between drinking and GPA, our original expectations were proven entirely wrong.
  • 19. Recommendations Based on the conclusions formed from our research and analysis we recommend that further research be conducted in regards to drinking habits and the grade point average of San Diego State University students. This is due to our sample being inconsistent with previous literature and studies performed at other universities in the United States. Solely based on our research, we are able to recommend that students join on-campus organizations because there is a positive relationship with being involved and grade point average. Although our research is inconclusive, based on our sample we can say that students can continue to drink responsibly because our finding show there a positive correlation between alcohol consumption and higher GPA. According to our analysis we found that drinking does not necessarily mean students will perform poorly in their courses due to common misconception. We recommend another study be conducted to determine why being involved on campus resulted in a higher GPA. We also recommend conducting further primary analysis to study the relationship between which organizations resulted in the educational success and why. In the future, it is recommended that a larger sample be taken from San Diego State University to determine whether or not there is a negative trend between alcohol consumption and GPA’s, as displayed in previous research.
  • 20. Limitations After conducting and analyzing our research and data results, we were pleased with the information collected and our success in conducting the research study. Despite our initial satisfaction, we realize there are ways to improve the research. Our study encountered issues with time constraints and non-response errors as well as response size and representation, all of which can be improved. One of the constraints on our research was lack of proper time dedicated to collecting data and non-response error. Since we sent out our survey digitally, a majority of our respondents filled it out during class or business hours. As a result of this, students may have not responded due to being in class, work or other commitments. Aside from these roadblocks, another difficulty with sending our survey during work and school hours is that many respondents get a large amount of emails per day, especially during these hours. As a result of this, our survey may have gotten buried under other emails or neglected due to more important responsibilities. The results we got were beneficial, but we may have reached a wider response audience if we varied the times we sent the survey. There could also be bias in the results caused by fellow students participating in the survey and experiencing response bias. Another limitation we encountered was our sample size and representation of the SDSU population. According to the San Diego State University Admissions website, there are about 30,000 students, about 25,000 of which are undergraduate students. College portraits, another website, gave more specific numbers, saying that there were a total of 33,483 students in the Fall 2014 semester and 28,394 of which were undergraduates. We had a total of 117 usable responses, only .412% of the undergraduate population. To further our sample representation
  • 21. error, we had a response of 24.8% male and 75.2% female when the actual SDSU Undergraduate population is 45% male and 55% female. Another misalignment with the SDSU population is our number of respondents that are involved in the Greek system. The average SDSU Undergraduate GPA for the Fall 2014 semester was 2.915 and the entire Greek system had an average GPA slightly higher at 2.979. Since our sample was made up of 46.8% of Greek members, this may have had a skew in the overall GPA on our study, resulting in a positive correlation between drinking and higher GPA. Lastly, our data could have been skewed due to convenience sampling. Our study was mostly targeted to people we know. We sent the survey to people already within our network and to people within the college of business that we have taken classes with previously. This most likely changed our results because some of us are involved in various organizations on campus and we were more like to receive responses from our friends. We also might have received different results if we has received more responses from students outside of the College of Business.
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