Relationships and Students Overall Grade Point Average - Research Paper Example

Psychology Year: Assignment: Relationships and Overall GPA Every human being has feeling and a desire to be in emotional contact with someone. This is because as humans, we are social creatures, and interaction with others is an essential part of the existence. All human seek some emotional connectivity to some. These reactions are triggered by a chemical response in the brain. These chemicals also determine whom we are attracted to. In college, most of the attendants are of a mature age. Due to their development, they also seek to have these relationships (Vockell, 1972). This has led to a lot coupling in the colleges and universities. Due to the nature of these relationships, some of them are very time consuming and they get the students very involved. In college the amount of work the student has to deal with is also substantial. Focus on relationships can affect the performance of the student’s results. This is the research project under analysis. Introduction The main reason for this study is to determine the relationship between intimate relationships in colleges and the overall student performance on their grade point average. The research explores all the variables that re involved in the student’s life in general. This involves the number of hours spent studying, the number of hours focused on the relationship, their financial status among other variables in the student’s life. These variables will help give a clear picture of the lifestyle and mentality of the average student in colleges. Related studies have been done before on the factors that affect the students’ grades. Many factors were analyzed and how they affect the student’s overall grade (Vockell, 1972). Some of the factors that were determine were, relationships with other students, working outside of school hours, the stresses of finances, and general social factors like alcoholism. These factors were analyzed and the severity of their effect on the grades determined. Current Study In this current study, the research looks at only one aspect of the factors that affect grades, which is, relationships. This factor is studied extensively and all the variables that are remotely involved are analyzed for pattern generation. This study intends to show how severely student relationships affect the student’s academic performance. This analysis shows the relationship between the different variables that affect the student and how they are related. Methods The methods used in this research involved doing interviews with willing participants and collecting information from them. This information is then used for the analysis. The participants involved in this exercise are from different levels of study in college, these varies from, sophomore juniors and freshmen to Bachelor Degree holders. The targeted sample group was college students of different ages, and different levels of education. The sample targeted is as diverse a group as possible. This would yield results that would be as accurate as possible. The targeted participants were studied in their natural environment, to get them when they are most comfortable. This would make them more relaxed when they are responding to the researchers. Apparatus Used The main instrument of statistics used in this research, is the use of questionnaires. This was the most important tool of data collection used. The researchers were given questionnaires with all the relevant questions, and sent to collect information from the participants. The use of the SPSS program was also employed for the data input and analysis part. Procedure During the data collection part of the research, several researchers were given questionnaires and sent out to interview a specified number of students. The participants were informed of the research that was taking place and asked if they could volunteer to take part in the survey. Personal information about the participants was not to be disclosed. Only their answers and choices were to be used in the analysis. The researcher had to be polite and patient with the participants, and make them be as comfortable as possible. This environment would inspire them to be more honest. The results collected from the participants were in two formats. There were the response variables, and the explanatory variables. The response variables were measured on a scale of one to five; this was from strongly disagreeing to strongly agreeing. The explanatory responses were also limited to a number of options that would be classified together. Results The data analysis was done mostly by graphical representation of the data collected. This was achieved with the help of the SPSS program. The graphs and data representation was essential in the data analysis. The data represented the relationship between the variables that affect the overall GPA of the students. The results were also shown relative to the expected outcome of the results. This was represented in the graphs showing the results of the research compared to the normal graph. The statistical significance is in the representation of the collected results in relation to the normal graphs. The resultant graphs from the analysis are shown below. 5 Histograms Normal Q-Q Plots Discussion The most important variables that were analyzed in relation to the hypothesis were; the intimate relationship that students have and how these affect their GPA. This analysis was carried at all the levels of college education and the results acquired had very small variations. This shows that the effect of relationship is the same across the whole student body. This is in line with the theoretical aspect of this research question. The theoretical aspect states that if students focus on relationships, they tend to have little time left for their studies and this in turn affects their GPA. The results from the data collected also reflect this point. The results tend to support this hypothesis. The major limitations that were encountered in this research were mostly from the participants. This was mainly because of dishonesty. The students were not all honest about their choices and their GPA’s. This would interfere with the general outcome of the results. The other major problem is the missing of data. Some of the participants did not provide all the information required for a full analysis. Most of the missing values were from the GPA table. Some students were not very comfortable in sharing their GPA and this was the most important variable for this analysis. This research complements all the other studies that are conducted on the factors affecting student’s grades in colleges. It gives an in-depth analysis of one of the major factors. This research has explored the effect of relationships and all its variables in the academic performance of students. References Myers, D. (2004). Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers. Vockell, E, L., Asher, J, W., (1972). Dating Frequency among High School Seniors. Psychological Reports, 31, 381 – 382. Appendices These are some of the other graphs from the analysis. Histograms Normal Q-Q Plots Detrended Normal Q-Q Plots Boxplots 31 Histograms Normal Q-Q Plots Detrended Normal Q-Q Plots Boxplots 13.29 Histograms Normal Q-Q Plots . Read More