This study seeks to examine the relationship between alcohol consumption and academic performance in university students in the United Kingdom. The study surveyed a sample of 379 University of Gloucester students. The survey was presented as a voluntary general health survey for which no credit or compensation was given which also included a few questions about academic performance. Following the survey, student grade information was gathered from University databases and used as an indicator for academic performance. The independent variable was student 's alcohol consumption and the dependent variable was their academic achievement.
1. The independent variable, alcohol consumption, is conceptualized drinking behaviors of students and is …show more content…
Only two survey questions pertained to academic performance; the third attribute, grades (as percentages), were obtained from university databases and are an interval level of measurement. The first question asks students how important they feel it is to obtain good grades. Students answer on a 4-step Likert scale ranging from “not important at all” to “very important” (ordinal-level measurement). The second question asks students how they would score their own academic performance compared with their peers – responses here are done on a 5-step scale with choices ranging from “much worse” to “much better.” This is, again, an ordinal-level measurement. For both variables, the researchers go into great detail explaining how and why they reached the operational definitions used. They made it clear that, based on prior research 's benefits and drawbacks, these operational definitions are the best choice for this specific study; I found this to be very clear and rigorously …show more content…
Alcohol consumption measurement could have been better operationalized by changing the survey questions used, particularly through the addition of one. I would have liked to see a question about drinking on school nights and the frequency of said behavior. This could be roughly conceptually defined as “consumption of alcohol in the evening/night prior to a day in which the student has, or is supposed to have, classes or exams.” This definition uses the language “is supposed to have” to account for students who choose not to attend class, likely on account of their drinking behavior the night before. This could be posed as a survey question: “In the past month, how many times have you consumed alcohol on a school night? (A school night being the evening prior to a day in which you have scheduled classes).” Responses would span a range, including “never”, “once”, “twice”, “3-5 times”, “6-9 times”, and “10+ times” (the same scale used in the question about binge drinking). This ordinal-level measurement may yield interesting correlations which are not examined or indicated in the present
1. The independent variable, alcohol consumption, is conceptualized drinking behaviors of students and is …show more content…
Only two survey questions pertained to academic performance; the third attribute, grades (as percentages), were obtained from university databases and are an interval level of measurement. The first question asks students how important they feel it is to obtain good grades. Students answer on a 4-step Likert scale ranging from “not important at all” to “very important” (ordinal-level measurement). The second question asks students how they would score their own academic performance compared with their peers – responses here are done on a 5-step scale with choices ranging from “much worse” to “much better.” This is, again, an ordinal-level measurement. For both variables, the researchers go into great detail explaining how and why they reached the operational definitions used. They made it clear that, based on prior research 's benefits and drawbacks, these operational definitions are the best choice for this specific study; I found this to be very clear and rigorously …show more content…
Alcohol consumption measurement could have been better operationalized by changing the survey questions used, particularly through the addition of one. I would have liked to see a question about drinking on school nights and the frequency of said behavior. This could be roughly conceptually defined as “consumption of alcohol in the evening/night prior to a day in which the student has, or is supposed to have, classes or exams.” This definition uses the language “is supposed to have” to account for students who choose not to attend class, likely on account of their drinking behavior the night before. This could be posed as a survey question: “In the past month, how many times have you consumed alcohol on a school night? (A school night being the evening prior to a day in which you have scheduled classes).” Responses would span a range, including “never”, “once”, “twice”, “3-5 times”, “6-9 times”, and “10+ times” (the same scale used in the question about binge drinking). This ordinal-level measurement may yield interesting correlations which are not examined or indicated in the present