2008  The Relationship between  Alcohol and Students GPA

By: Jacob Kemble, Matt Kelly,                   Taylor Shannon  BUS 304  5/14/2008 

The Relationship between Alcohol and Students Introduction We started out our survey by sitting down and brainstorming ideas as for what we should complete our survey on. We wanted to make sure our topic would be on something that many students were involved with, with the intent to prove our hypothesis. We decided to focus our attention on the issue of if there is a relationship between alcohol and students. We constructed a survey of 13 questions, each question relating to alcohol behaviors inside and outside of school. We each passed out 25 surveys to various students in several different classes. All of the students we chose to survey were attending the College of Business at Cal State University San Marcos. Research Questions and the Value of Study: We used 13 questions in our survey. The survey was confidential and we asked that no names were put on the paper. They ranged from basic demographic information to very specific questions relating to alcohol and students. For demographic information we asked if they were male or female, as this was important for knowing whether maybe males or females drank more than the other and thus corresponded to having a lower grade point average. We wanted to know how old they were. First to see if they were even legally able to drink and if there was a correlation between the age and GPA. We had them circle a number one through seven relating to the number of days the student normally consumes alcohol. We also include a None option for those that did not drink. This question was to help us see how often the student was drinking on a weekly basis. We asked for the number of drinks they consume when they do drink at one sitting. We gave important serving sizes with the questions to help the students make a more

precise answer. We used a range that was small and only included two numbers; ex: 1-2, 3-4,…, 18+. Next, we wanted to know what type of drink they drank. This would help us to determine the amount they were really drinking. Someone who drank 10 glasses of wine versus a person that drank 10 beers would be different. We had four options: beer, wine, hard liquor, and variety. Variety was used to insure that if some people mixed, or didn’t stick to one type of drink they would also be included. We asked if they had ever gotten a DUI. With a DUI it would be more difficult to get to school, which could affect how well the student performed. We asked had they ever been arrested and if so how many times. This would also affect how a student does , because they could be locked up in jail due to drinking and miss class. We asked if they had gotten sick before and if so how many times. This would also help us to determine if they were drinking a lot and could miss classes due to bad health. Another question was if they had ever missed classes due to alcohol, which again could affect how they did and if their GPA was high or low compared to other who miss class because of drinking. Along with that question, we asked if the students had ever missed any assignments due to drinking and if so how many. If students were missing assignments due to alcohol they would be getting worse GPAs. We asked if they had ever had alcohol on campus to determine if they maybe had a problem with drinking and school. We also asked if they had ever been intoxicated in class. This could affect how the student learned while at school. The last question we asked was for the students’ grade point average. This was ever important in correlating all the other information we would be gathering based on the other questions.

Hypothesis: For our research, we decided to answer the question of whether or not alcohol affects students’ performance in school. We set out to find if there is any correlation between various alcohol related factors and students’ GPAs. Our null hypothesis was; Students who drink more than five nights a week will have a GPA lower than a 3.0. Our alternative hypothesis was: Students who drink more than five nights a week will have a GPA higher than a 3.0. This is our null hypothesis: H₀ = µ ≤ 3.0, and this is our alternative hypothesis: HA = µ > 3.0. Demographics: We had a total number of students surveyed equaling seventy five. Of those seventy five business students surveyed there were forty two males and thirty three females. The minimum age for males was twenty and the maximum age was forty six. The minimum age for females was also twenty and the maximum age was forty three. This gave a percentage outcome of fifty six percent males to forty four percent females surveyed. We looked at the age of people surveyed and the number of people surveyed and graphed the outcome. We found the Mean age was twenty four years old. We found the Median was twenty two years old. The Mode was twenty one. Meaning that the most people surveyed were twenty one years old. The Standard Deviation was 5.37. The Variance was 28.82. There were six students who drank that were under the legal age limit of twenty one years old.

25

Age of People Surveyed 20

Number of People in Survey

20

15

Mean: 24 Median: 22 Standard Dev: 5.37 Mode: 21 Variance: 28.82 Max:46 Min: 20

14 11

10

6

7

5

3 1

1 1

2

1

2

1

1

1 1

1

1

31 32 33

35

39 40

43

46

0 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Age

Question Results: Consumption per NightFor consumption per night we graphed the number of drinks students have and the number of students. We found that the Mean was 3.96. This states that the average student drinks a little less than four drinks when they do drink. The Median was 3.5. The Mode was also 3.5. The Standard Deviation was 3.72. The Variance was 13.83. The minimum amount drank by students was zero and the maximum was seventeen to eighteen drinks per sitting/night.

Number of People Who Drink

25

15

Mean: 3.96 Median: 3.5 Mode: 3.5 Standard Dev.: 3.72 Variance: 13.83 Min: 0 Max: 17.5

20

20

18

13

10

9 6

5

4

3 0

0 0

1 to 2

3 to 4

5 to 6

7 to 8

9 to 10

11 to 12

13 to 14

1

1

15 to 16

17 to 18

Number of Drinks

Preferred Drink TypeFor preferred drink type we used a pie chart to show the percentages of what students choose to drink. The majority chose to drink a variety of drinks. Variety was thirty two percent. Beer was second choice of drink picked at twenty eight percent. The None option was third with eighteen percent. Then it was followed by hard liquor with thirteen percent. And wine was the smallest at nine percent.

Total Number of People Surveyed: 75 9%

28% Beer (21)

32%

Hard Liquor (10) 13% 18%

None (13) Variety (24) Wine (7)

Nights per Week Students DrinkWe also graphed the nights per week students drank to the number of students in the survey. We found that the Mean was two. This states that the average number of nights students choose to drink is two. The Median was also two. The Mode was one. The means that the most amount of students only drink one night a week. The Standard Deviation was 1.73 and the Variance was 2.99. We found that thirteen people drank less than one time a week and only one person surveyed out of the seventy five drank every night of the week.

Number of People Who Drink

25

Mean: 2 Median: 2 Mode: 1 Standard Dev.: 1.73 Variance: 2.99

23

20

15

13

13 10

10

9

5

3

3 1

0 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Nights Per Week

Students with DUIs:

D UI vs . No D UI 69

DUI No DUI

6

7

The above pie chart is in relation to the question of whether or not the student taking the survey has gotten a DUI anytime in their past. Although this question may seem like it does not directly relate to a student’s GPA, it does have some significance and can affect a student’s schoolwork and therefore their GPA. In most cases people who get a DUI lose their license, usually up to a year. Not having solid transportation for school can cause many problems for someone, as they must find an alternative way to get to class. This can affect their GPA in many ways because it can force them to miss class as well as assignments that are due and quizzes and tests that are given in class. In our sample of 75 College of Business students, 6 students have had a DUI recently or in their past and 69 have never had a DUI. These numbers show that 8% of our sample has had a DUI. Out of those 6 students, the average GPA was 3.11, which was higher than we expected, and the average age was 23.

Students Being Arrested Due to Alcohol

75

Number of Arres ts  R elated to  Alc ohol

60 A rres ted 45

Multiple A rres ts Total A rres ts

30

15 0

10

3

16

The bar chart shown above relates to the question from our survey on whether the students surveyed have been arrested, and if so, how many times. This question was also one that may not seem to directly relate to a student’s GPA, but in many ways it can affect it. If a student is arrested, there is a possibility they might be jailed whether it is for a short or long period of time. They also will have court dates in the near future. Both of these can affect a student’s schoolwork and consequently their GPA because either of those issues may force them to miss class and schoolwork such as assignments, quizzes, and tests. Out of the 75 College of Business students we surveyed, a total of 10 had been arrested, which is 13.33% of the total sample. From those 10 students, 3 have been arrested multiple times and the total number arrests are 16. The average GPA of the arrested students was 3.025, and the student who had been arrested the most times, which was 4, had the lowest GPA of the group with a 2.70.

Number of Times Sick Due to Alcohol

Number of Times Students Become Sick  from Alcohol 30 + 26 to 30 21 to 25 16 to 20 11 to 15 6 to 10 1 to 5 0 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Above is a bar chart that relates to the survey question regarding how many times the survey taker has gotten sick from drinking alcohol. We decided to put this question in our survey because it can

also affect a student’s schoolwork which usually leads to a lower GPA. If a student is sick from alcohol they may not complete assignments that are due and can even miss class. Being sick can also affect how well a student does in class. If they are hung-over the next day after because of drinking the night before they may have a hard time following along in class, taking notes, and participating. All this can set them behind in the class. The graph above breaks down the numbers into ranges of how many times they have been sick and the following is the results: •

0: 19 = 25.33%

•

1 to 5: 30 = 40%

•

6 to 10: 15 = 20%

•

11 to 15: 4 = 5.33%

•

16 to 20: 1 = 1.33%

•

21 to 25: 5 = 6.67%

•

26 to 30: 1 = 1.33%

•

30 +: 0 = 0%

This data shows that the majority of the students surveyed have not been sick more than 10 times in their life from alcohol. The highest percentage lies in the 1 to 5 range, which we believe is fairly low.

Correlation of Missed Classes and GPA

C orrelation B etween Number of C las s es  Mis s ed and  GP A 4.00

GPA

3.50 3.00

GPA

2.50 2.00 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Numbe r of C la sses Abse nt Due to Alc ohol

The Correlation chart above is in relation to the question asked on the survey about how many times the College of Business student has missed a class due to alcohol. We asked the 3 previous questions all to lead up to this specific question. One issue that we wanted to answer was how much missing classes affects your GPA, specifically if you missed the class due to alcohol. As seen in the graph, there is a negative correlation between classes missed due to alcohol and student’s GPA. The large majority of the sample of 75 students that we surveyed did not miss any classes due to alcohol. But as the number of classes missed due to alcohol increases, the student’s GPAs do not exceed a 3.00.

Alcohol on Campus Question eleven on the survey asked “Have you ever had alcohol on campus?” Out of the 75 students who answered, 59 students said that they had not had alcohol while on campus. On the other hand, 16 students said that they have had alcohol while on campus. With these results, I decided to generate a pie chart illustrating the percentage of students who have had

alcohol on campus versus those who have not. Below is figure 1.1, which represents the pie chart showing the relationship between the two.

Yes 21%

No 79%

Totals: Yes: 16 Students No: 59 Students Figure 1.1 Obviously, the majority of students have not had alcohol on campus. When looking at the average GPA’s of those who said “yes” to those who said “no,” there is a small difference between the two. Out of those who said “Yes,” the lowest GPA was a 2.70. While the highest GPA out of the 16 students came out to be a 3.50. I then computed the mean GPA out of the 16 students by adding all of their GPA’s together and dividing it by the total number of students (16). In doing so, I came out with 3.05 as the mean GPA. Out of those who said “No,” the lowest GPA was a 2.60, and the highest GPA was a 3.80. I then computed the mean of the “no” group, which came out to be 3.13.

W When compaaring the relaationship of those t who saaid “yes” to the mean GP PA, there is only a slight difference d fro om the meann of those whho said “no.”” The differrence was .08, giving it an a 8% differrence. The result r of the difference inn GPA betw ween the two groups doess agree with our hypothessis. In regard ds to our hyppothesis, thee alcohol relaated factor of o a student having h alcohhol while on campus doees formulate a positive correlation. This T means that t those whho drink alcohol while on campus hav ve lower GPA A’s to those to do not haave alcohol on o campus. Numberr of Nights a Student Drrinks In a Week W and th heir GPA W created a scatter plot in order to better We b undersstand the corrrelation betw ween the num mber of nights drinking an nd GPA. Froom the scatteer plot, one can c see that there t is a positive relatioon between the number of nights a student s drinkks, and their GPA. As thhe number of nights per week a sttudent drink ks, the more their t GPA decreases. Thhe sample mean m for the GPA came out o to be 3.12, with w the low west GPA beiing 2.6 and the t highest GPA G being 3.8. 3

Missed Assignment A s W created a question thaat dealt withh the numberr of missed assignments We a at school duue to alcohol. The questio on asked, “H Has drinking caused you to t miss assiggnment deaddlines this semester?” All 75 an nswered the question, annd 17 said “yyes” while 58 said “no.” After obtaining the totalss, I decided to t create a hiistogram of the t number of o students and a how manny school assignmeents missed due d to schoool. Figure 1.2 displays thhe results off the histograam below.

Histogram of N Number of peop ple and h how many  scho ool assiggnmentss missed due to alcohol 60 0

57

Number of People

50 0 40 0 30 0 20 0 7

10 0 3

4

2

1

6

7

0 0

1

2

3

Number of Missed Asssignments

The minnimum amou unt of assignm ments misseed was obvioously 0, whille the highesst amount off assignmeents missed was w 7. Bothh the median, as well as the t mode froom the data came c out to be 0. The meann from the sample of 75 was 1, and the t standardd deviation was w 1.4578777. The variaance between the data wass 2.125405. I also decidded to break up u the data into i two grouups, group A and group B. Those who o had 0 misseed assignments are categgorized as Group G A and those who have h had 1 or more missed d assignmennts are categoorized as Grooup B.

GPA

(Group A) GPA

(Group B) GPA

Lowest

2.60

2.70

Highest

3.80

3.25

Mean

3.16

2.98

As the results show, Group A’s mean is somewhat larger than Group B’s. The difference between the mean of the two groups is .18, giving it an 18% difference. Also, The highest GPA in Group A is .55 more than Group B’s GPA. However, Group A’s lowest GPA is less than Group B’s, but only by .10. Overall, we can conclude that the correlation between the amount of assignments a student missed due to alcohol and their GPA is relevant. Intoxicated In Class At first we weren’t sure if the question we wanted to put on the survey would even be applicable to any students. However, one member of our group was positive that some students have done this act of irresponsibility, and he was right. The question I have been referring to is, “Have you been intoxicated while in class, and if so, how many times?” After collecting all of the data, I computed the mean, mode, and standard deviation of the GPA. The mean GPA for those who have been to class intoxicated 0 times is 3.13. The mean for those who have been to class one or more times intoxicated was 3.10. As one can see, there was not much of a difference. The mode for those who never went to class intoxicated was 3.00 and the standard deviation was .321661. The mode for those who have been to class intoxicated was 3.25 and the standard deviation was .22873.

In order to get a better perceptive on the results, we created a scatter plot with the amount of times a student has been intoxicated in class to their GPA. When constructing the scatter plot, we disregarded the one student who said they had been intoxicated 20 times in class. The reason for doing this was because with that one statistic included the scatter was not so widespread. Figure 1.3 is the scatter plot.

Scatter Plot of # of Times intoxicated in  class to GPA 4.00 3.80 3.60

GPA

3.40 GPA

3.20

Linear (GPA) 3.00 2.80 2.60 2.40 0

1

2

3

4

5

# of Times intoxicated in class

6

7

Figure 1.3

There is a slight negative correlation between the number of times a student has been intoxicated in class and their GPA. As the amount of times a student comes to class intoxicated, their GPA decreases.

Regressioon Analysis W also complleted a regresssion analysis that compareed the number of nights stuudent drink We alcohol too their GPA. We W used GPA A as the depenndent variablee (y), and the number of niights drinkingg alcohol ass the independ dent variable (x). Below iss the finished regression annalysis that we came up wiith.

Conclusioon

40 40 35

28

30 25 20

GP PA over 3.0

15

GP PA equal or und der 3.0

10

3

5

4

0 Drinking overr 5 nights  per we eek

Drinking lesss than 5  nights per week

Inn the end, we concluded too not reject ouur null hypothhesis that studdents who drinnk over 5 nighhts a week willl have a GPA lower than 3.0. The data in i the above bar b chart show ws that there were w a total of o 7 students who w drank over 5 nights peer week. Out of o those 7, 4 of o the studentts, which is ovver 57%, hadd a GPA loweer than a 3.0. The majorityy of the studennts we surveyyed, 44 whichh is over 58%,, have a GPA A lower thann a 3.0. Improvem ments O Overall we feltt that that we answered thee question wee aimed to ansswer, which was w how doess the number off nights a stud dent consumees alcohol relaate to their GP PA. Howeverr there were a few circumstaances that we felt we couldd have improvved on our surrvey. First wee believed thaat if we decreaased the numbeer of question ns we had on our survey we w could have gone more inn depth with the t primary questions we needed to o answer the problem p we set s forth for uss. We also used ranges in certain c questiions, such as when w we asked d how many drinks d they coonsumed per night. n We couuld have beenn more specifi fic in

the question without the use of ranges for their answers. Finally we all agreed that we would have liked to have a larger sample size than we used for our survey. However with losing a teammate at the last minute, we were unable to recover his data and because we split up the surveys equally among the 4 original team members, we lost 25% of our data. With those in mind, we all believe we worked great together and overcome a few obstacles to produce a great analysis on how much consuming alcohol can affect a student’s GPA.

SAMPLE SURVEY

Drinking and School

Disclaimer: This survey is confidential: DO NOT PLACE YOUR NAME ON THIS SURVEY Are you?

Male

Female

How old are you? How many nights per week do you drink? Circle one None

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

When you drink how many drinks do you consume per sitting? (Serving Size Circle one:

1.5 oz. Liquor 12 oz. Beer 1-2

3-4 5-6

7-8

9-10

What do you drink? Circle one:

6 oz Wine) 11-12

Beer

13-14

15-16

17-18

Wine

18+

Hard Liquor

Variety

Have you ever gotten a DUI? If so how many times? Have been arrested for being under the influence? If so how many times? Have you ever become sick after drinking too much? If so how many times? Has drinking caused you to be absent in class this semester? If so how many times? Has drinking caused you to miss assignment deadlines this semester? If so how many times? Have you ever had alcohol on campus? Have you ever been intoxicated while in class? If so how many times? What is your current grade point average?