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The Effects of Alcohol Consumption on College Students GPA
Anthony MascarelloPUBHBIO 2210, 12/9/2015
Introduction:
For many years, GPA or grade point average has been implemented in schooling
systems to assess ones academic performance through their college career. Some might say
that ones grade point average reflects hard work, intelligence and organization. That might
be true for some people, but many would also agree there are other factors that play a role
in achieving a certain grade point average. I was very interested in the possible effects that
alcohol consumption had on a college students’ grade point average, since alcohol is such a
routine and advertised norm on most campuses around the nation, including The Ohio
State University. In fact, Patricia and Gary Holloway, of Villanova University, state that 80%
of college students consume alcohol. (Holloway) My interests in this association grew as I
reflected on my grade point average and alcohol consumption levels. I drink frequently and
in good amounts, and still obtain a cumulative GPA of 3.398, which is above the national
average 3.11. (Newlon) My curiosity to see if others weren’t affected by alcohol
consumption led me to doing my research question on the effects of alcohol consumption
on grade point average. Before the project I had a feeling that there was not going to be a
significant association, because I believed many students like me, could maintain above a
3.1 while still consuming alcohol frequently.
Survey Methods:
The data that was used to analyze and perform statistic tests were collected through
an online survey (Appendix 1) conducted through the survey-based site Qualtrics. The
survey was delivered to college students through class emails (primarily OSU students),
social media via Facebook and by word of mouth, by me and my project partner Samantha
Dustman. Although our targeted population was college students as a whole, our sample
could have more than well been made up of mostly OSU students from the Public Health
field. This is mainly because most of our survey advertising was distributed though class
emails, and since the majority of our classes were public health courses; there could very
well be a high percentage of Public Health students who submitted the survey.
The survey included two demographic questions specifying the respondent’s gender
and ethnicity. We did not ask the respondents what age they were to protect them from any
illegal information given, hence alcohol consumption for a minor. Along with the
demographic questions respondents were asked questions relating to consumption of
alcohol. These questions included how frequent the respondent consumed alcohol; the
number of drinks they consumed per setting, and how strongly they agreed or disagreed
that alcohol consumption has a negative impact on ones grade point average. These
questions were based off of my research question, the remaining survey questions applied
to my partner’s research question pertaining to diet and exercise. Our survey questions
were arranged to be easy and understandable to all respondents, and so we primarily used
closed ended multiple-choice questions or likert-type (scaled) questions. This made
analyzing the data much easier, with open-ended questions being harder to code and
analyze, as well as the possibility of many typing errors. For the question on how many
alcoholic drinks one consumes per setting we asked a close-ended multiple-choice
question. The respondent was given five different answers to choose from, and could only
choose one answer. The answers were listed as don’t drink, one drink, two-three drinks,
four-five drinks and more than five drinks. This made it easier for the respondent to
answer, us to code and gave all possible answers pertaining to the question.
Statistical Methods:
All summary statistics, which includes percentages/proportions, means and
deviations, were used to explain the respondents as a sample. The chi-square analyses
were used to test for associations between variables. All of our statistical analyses were
operated through the computer program JMP 11.
Results:
The sample consisted of 107 participants, with 106 participants responding to the
questions and only 1 who did not complete any of the answers. The respondent who did
not answer any of the questions was removed from the sample since that person’s data
couldn’t be recorded and applied to the research project. There were a total of 76 female
respondents making up 72% of the sample and 29 males respondents representing 27%,
and one individual who recognized them as other. The majority of the sample was white,
representing 84% of all the respondents. The second highest percent of respondents based
on race was multiracial, which made up 6% of the sample. Multiracial races included
White/African American, White/Asian or Pacific Islander, White/Native American and one
respondent who identified as White/African American/Native American. Followed by
Black or African American (4%), Asian or Pacific Islander at 3%, and Latino and Native
American (2% and 1% respectively), and one individual recognizing them as other.
(Table 1)
One of the most important and overarching questions of the research project was
how strongly one agrees or disagrees that alcohol consumption has a negative impact on
GPA. The question was a scaled likert-type question with five different answers. The
answers were scaled from strongly disagree, disagree, neither disagree nor agree, agree
and strongly agree in that coordinated order. This gave me an idea on whether college
students actually viewed alcohol as a negative factor of their GPA or not. Of the 106
respondents, 50 agreed to the statement. This made up 47.16% of the sample and was the
highest proportion of the questions. 29 of the respondents (27.36%) answered that they
neither agreed or disagreed with the statement. 13 respondents (12.26%) said they
strongly agreed that alcohol consumption has a negative impact on GPA, and the remaining
13.31% said they strongly disagreed (3.88%) or disagreed (9.43%), (Table 2). This
concluded that the majority of college students sampled were in agreement that alcohol has
a negative impact on ones GPA.
Respondents were also asked about their alcohol consumption rate. Originally there
were seven answers to choose from, but in order to further carry out statistical analyses we
had to group certain variables together in order to perform the test. We also conjoined GPA
into two groups (3.50 and under) and (3.51 – 4.0). Unfortunately along with the
respondent that excluded for not answering any questions, another respondent left the
questions pertaining to alcohol blank as well, so only 105 respondents were analyzed. Of all
respondents 33 (31.43%) said they drank multiple times a week, and another 33 (31.43%)
respondents said they drank once per week. These were the highest percentages of the
sample. Of the 33 respondents who said they drank multiple times a week, 63.64% had a
GPA of 3.5 and under. The other 36.36% had a GPA of 3.51-4.0. Of the 33 respondents who
said they drank once per week, 63.64% had a GPA of 3.5 and under while the remaining
36.36% had a 3.51-4.0. Only 19 respondents said they drank never to once a month and of
these 19, 36,84% had a GPA of 3.5 and under while 63.13% had a GPA of 3.51-4.0. A chi-
square test was conducted to see if there was significant association between ones alcohol
consumption rate and GPA. The chi-square analysis showed no significant association
between alcohol consumption rate and GPA. (P-value = 0.2241) (Figure 1)
Respondents were also asked about how many drinks they consumed per setting.
Again only 105 respondents were analyzed in the hypothesis test because of the blank
space left by two of the respondents. Due to testing problems we also had to join the
original 5 answer options to 3 in order to get enough data to perform the test properly.
More than half the respondents (56.2%) said they consumed 2-5 drinks per setting. Of this
56.2%, 34 respondents (57.63%) had a GPA of 3.5 and under while the other 25
respondents (42.37%) maintained a GPA of 3.51-4.0. Only 17 respondents said they drank
more than 5 drinks per setting. Of these respondents 52.94% had a GPA of 3.5 and under
while 47.06% had a GPA of 3.51 – 4.0. We performed another chi-square analysis to test
whether there was an association between how many drinks one consumes per setting and
GPA. The analysis showed no significant association between drinks per setting and ones
GPA. (P-value = 0.9259) (Figure 2) The resulting analyses suggest that there is no
association between alcohol consumption and GPA pertaining to college students.
Discussion:
Although there was no significant association found in any of the analyses, much can
be taken from the research project. A number of people would think that alcohol would
play an important role in affecting college student’s grades, we saw this in the sample as
59% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed to believe alcohol had a negative impact on
GPA. When I think of alcohol in a college setting, I think of drunken students not being able
to make it to early classes and losing focus on academics while focusing their time on social
drinking and partying. So this insignificant association actually brought significant
understanding to me. As I first hypothesized, I thought there wasn’t going to be significant
association. Now this sample definitely does not represent the college nation as whole, but
made me realize that maybe alcohol doesn’t really impact GPA all that much. As we saw in
the analyses there weren’t many major differences in GPAs from 3.5 and under and 3.51-
4.0 pertaining to alcohol consumption. Maybe students these days are prioritizing time
better, or are becoming more tolerant through their beginning years of drinking. No one
knows the answer for sure, but through our sample we see no impact on what many I think
would believe to be prevalent. Further evidence and research could change the way we
view alcohol, and could further create more lenient laws and policies regarding alcohol on
campuses around the nation.
There were many limitations that could have very well affected the study and
results. Males were extremely underrepresented in the sample only making up 27% of the
respondents. Also, many of the respondents were believed to belong to The Ohio State
University, specifically in the college of Public Health, which does not represent the college
nation accurately. And no questions were asked referring to respondent’s grade level, so
underclassman could possible skew the data on GPA. This is because they would have less
time have a lower GPA, especially ones that were in their first semester since they would
start out with a 4.0.
If the study were to be repeated again there would be many changes and utilization
of more specific questions. First we would change the GPA variable from categorical to
continuous, to see a more accurate representation of GPA, instead of just two broad
categories. We would also include questions referring to what specific college the
respondents were attending, as well as their major and grade level. This would give a little
more detail and background of the respondent, and could possible show associations
between alcohol consumption and what school or major they were in. A grade level
question would give further understanding of GPA, since underclassman are more likely to
have a higher GPA because of the less amount of classes they have taken. Certain majors
could possible show differences, since specific majors and colleges ask of higher GPAs, so
maybe those students wouldn’t drink as frequently or are more academically gifted so they
could sacrifice time to drinking.
Since people are affected by alcohol consumption if many different ways, and many
people have different reasons to drink, more specific questions on the individual’s health
and body may be beneficial to further research. Researching on body weight, height and
previous health conditions would give more in depth results. Other research could look at
the actual percentage of alcohol the individual drinks. It would be quite hard for
respondents to know those answers but would still be interesting. Maybe even certain
types of alcohol affect certain people as well. There are countless questions to test
associated with alcohol consumption on GPA, and the more research that is conducted
could further prove to find significance between the two variables.
Works Cited:
Holloway, Patricia B., and Gary M. Holloway. "Alcohol Use in College." Alcohol
Use in College. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2015.
Newlon, Cara. "College Grade Inflation: Does 'A' Stand for 'average'?" USA
Today. N.p., 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
Tables and Figures:
Table 1: Demographics of respondents from Qualtrics survey referring to the effects of alcohol consumption on college students GPA
DemographicsNumber of respondents 106Female Sex, No. (%) 76 (72%)Male Sex, No. (%) 29 (27%)Other, No. (%) 1 (0.9%)Race, No. (%) White 89 (84%) Latino 2 (2%) Black or African American 4 (4%) Native American 1 (0.9%) Asian/Pacific Islander 3 (3%) Other 1 (0.9%) Multiracial 6 (6%)____________________________________________________No. = Number of Respondents
Table 2: Respondents answers to what level of agreement they have with the statement that alcohol consumption has a negative impact on GPA
How much one agrees or disagrees that alcohol negatively impacts GPANumber of Respondents 106
Strongly Agrees, No. (%) 13 (12.26%)Agrees, No. (%) 50 (47.16%Neither Agrees or Disagrees, No. (%) 29 (27.36%)Disagrees, No. (%) 10 (9.43%)Strongly Disagree, No. (%) 4 (3.88%)
____________________________________________________________No. = Number of Respondents
Figure 1: Mosaic plot of association between respondent’s frequencies of alcohol consumption versus his or her GPA. No significant association was found between the two variables.
GPA
Frequency of consuming alcohol
Figure 2: Mosaic plot of association between respondent’s amounts of consumed alcoholic drinks per setting versus his or her GPA. No significant association was found between the two variables.
GPA
Drinkers per setting
Appendix 1:
Q1: What gender do you identify with?
( ) Male( ) Female( ) Other
Q2: Check all races you identify with.
( ) White( ) Latino( ) Black or African American( ) Native American or American Indian( ) Asian/ Pacific Islander( ) Other
Q3: What is your cumulative GPA?
( ) 3.51-4.00( ) 3.01-3.50( ) 2.51-3.00( ) 2.01-2.50( ) 1.51-2.00( ) 0.00-1.50
Q4: On average how many hours of sleep do you get each night?
______________________________________________________________
Q5: How would you rate the following statements regarding sleep?
You feel as if you receive an adequate amount of sleep to perform daily tasks (circle one)
Never Rarely Sometimes Often All the time
You maintain a normal sleep schedule (circle one)
Never Rarely Sometimes Often All the time
Q6: How often do you exercise?
( ) Daily( ) 5-6 times a week( ) 3-4 times a week( ) 1-3 times a week( ) Once a week( ) A couple times a month( ) Never
Q7: What is your most common form of exercise?
( ) Lift weights( ) Cardio (Any exercise that aims to elevate heart rates)( ) Home workout videos( ) Team sports( ) Group fitness classes( ) I do not exercise regularly( ) Other (please specify)__________________________________
Q8: Do you believe there is a positive a positive correlation between exercising regularly and maintaining a higher GPA?
( ) Yes( ) No( ) I don’t know
Q9: How many times do you eat a balanced meal per day?
( ) More than 4 meals ( ) 3-4 meals ( ) 2-3 meals( ) 1 meal per day( ) Never a full meal per day
Q10: How often do you eat a meal before class?
( ) Always( ) Most days( ) Not that often( ) Never
Q11: How would you rate the following statement regarding your diet?
How healthy do you believe you diet is from 1-5?
Very unhealthy =1 Very Healthy =5 (circle one)
1 2 3 4 5
Q12: How would you rate the following statement regarding nutrition?
You feel as if you get the right amount of nutrition your body needs (circle one)
Never Rarely Sometimes Often All the time
Q13: On average, at what time do you eat your last meal of the day?
( ) Before 5 PM( ) Between 5 PM and 7 PM( ) Between 7 PM and 9 PM( ) Between 9 PM and 11 PM( ) After 11 PM
Q14: How often do you consume alcohol?
( ) Never( ) Less than once a month( ) Once a month( ) 2-3 times a month( ) Once a week( ) Multiple times a week( ) Daily
Q15: On average, How many alcoholic drinks do you consume per setting?
( ) Don’t drink( ) 1 drink( ) 2-3 drinks( ) 4-5 drinks( ) More than 5 drinks
Q16: Do you believe a positive correlation between consuming a health diet and maintaining a higher GPA exists?
( ) Yes( ) No( ) Don’t know
Q17: How would you rate the following statement regarding alcohol and GPA?
You believe alcohol can have a negative impact on GPA (circle one)
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree or Disagree Agree Strongly Agree