The idea behind this research project is to investigate the prevalence of abusive substances that are used by students at Kansas Wesleyan University. The main statistical piece of information that is desired is the specific drug that is most commonly used by the students. We also want to briefly discuss the psychology involved – whether or not the user feels dependent on the substance they are using. It is also worth mentioning the social stigma associated with these abusive substances. Furthermore, we would like to draw conclusions related to the average GPA of the students involved as well as the relation to their activities. The official research question is “how common are these different abusive substances on the KWU campus?” The hypothesis is that alcohol is the most commonly used abusive substance on the KWU campus.
Literature Review …show more content…
In the article “Self-Control and Substance Use Among College Students,” substance abuse among college students is described as something that deals with an individual’s psyche (Ford, 2013). According to Ford, “Gottfredson and Hirschi 's self-control theory has generated considerable academic interest and has become one of the most influential theories in the past 20 years. The current study seeks to confirm and extend this line of research by examining the generality of self-control across several forms of substance use: binge drinking, marijuana use, prescription drug misuse, and other illicit drug use” (Ford, 2013). The author boils everything down to the personal self-control of each human. Even though self-control seems like something that is only dealt with the inner self, there are outside influences that can change how people make decisions for