Social Norms of State University Students Concerning Alcohol Use

Social Norms of State University Students Concerning Alcohol Use

Alcohol use on college campuses has been a hot issue for students and faculty for many years. Yet, there is still no concrete evidence as to the effects of alcohol use on college students. The perceived situation is college students binge drink and their grades are adversely affected. Is this a social norm? The question is whether these perceived social norms towards alcohol use on college campuses are in fact the social norms of college students. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the true social norms of State University student’s attitude and practice in regards to alcohol. The sample is significant to Bradley University, using only Bradley students. The study will benefit the Wellness Center in its current social norms campaign. The study’s goal is to better understand the attitudes and practices of Bradley students toward alcohol consumption.

METHOD SECTION

Before we decided what methods we were going to use to collect the information, a mock focus group was held. The mock focus group consisted of Bradley students ranging in ages from 18 through 22, and was a mixture of on-campus and off-campus students. The purpose of the mock-focus group was to decide what types of questions should be chosen to get the most useful information for the social norms campaign. The mock focus group led the study in the direction of asking students not only their personal alcohol uses, but also how other students’ drinking affects their lives. We were looking for quantitative data; therefore, the idea of a focus group was immediately rejected. Constraints of money, time and manpower prevented the use of any probability sample. Many sampling...

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.... The questions were not in depth, but did give direction for further study. A larger and more age-diversified study may help correct possible errors in this survey. The fact that ninety percent of students in the study resided on-campus may also have effected the campaign and should be checked for errors. The study was limited to answers provided, in majority, by those students who can not legally drink, which is a factor that could limit the study. The two areas presented above as areas of significance could benefit from further study, as more in-depth research could provide more accurate results. The results of the study indicate the perceived social norms of college students may not be true. College students are perceived as heavy drinkers, yet the results seem to indicate a majority of students consume only a few drinks per week. More in depth study is suggested.