1

Data
The research question was interested in one topic. Other variables were added into the
survey to measure other variables that may, or may not have, influenced the results once
analyzed in SPSS. The main ideas the survey asked are as follows:
How often do your parents drink?
How often did your older siblings drink?
How often do you drink?
What is your GPA?
How important is your body weight maintenance?
The project uses these variables to hypothesize the following:
(IV=Independent Variable. DV=Dependent Variable)
1.

IV-how often did your parents drink alcohol?

DV- what is your GPA?
Ho (null)- Students' GPAs are not affected by their parents' drinking
Ha(alternative)- Students' whose parents drink heavily will have lower GPAs then students' whose
parents do not drink heavily.

2.

IV- how often did your older siblings drink?

DV- what is your GPA?
Ho (null)- There is no difference in GPA between students whose siblings drink and do not drink
Ha (alternative)-. Students who have siblings who drink will have a lower GPA then students
whose siblings do not drink.

3.

IV- What importance do you place upon health?

DV- What is your GPA
Ho (null)- There is no difference in GPA between students who maintain their health and do not
maintain their health.
Ha (alternative)- Students who maintain their health are likely to have better GPAs then students
who do not maintain a healthy body weight.

The variable referring to eating habits was split into two groups. The first grouping looked at students
who said they had a GPA of 3.5 or less. The second grouping recoded the variable into students with a 3.6
or more grade point average.

Analysis
Hypothesizes
Ho= Student's GPAs are not affected by their
parents' drinking.
Ho= There is no difference in GPA between
students whose siblings drink and do not
drink

ODDS(B)

Exp(B)

Sig.

-.383

.682

.6

-.087

1.091

.89

Ho= There is no difference among students

who maintain a healthy body weight and
their GPA using 3.5 GPA as a standard.
Ho= There is no difference among student
who maintain a healthy body weight and
their GPA using a 3.6 GPA as a standard.

1.504

4.504

.000

-.368

.692

.025

Frequencies of 171 students.

Frequency

Percent

Parents drink

37

23.4

Parents don't drink

120

75.9

Older Siblings drink

77

82.8

Older siblings do not drink

14

8.2

Students drink

141

87

Students do not drink

19

11.1

Some students may not have answered all of the questions. Other students may not have older siblings.
The small sample size of 171 University of Central Florida (UCF) students is not sufficient for this type
of research.
Results
The first two tests both fail to reject the null hypothesis. There is no relationship between drinking
within the family and attitudes towards academia; additionally there is no relationship between siblings
drinking and attitudes towards academia. The significance levels imply that the ODDS and the Exp(B)
both happened by chance. The research question about body weight became an extra variable that was
added into the survey to examine another variable that may impact a student not drinking in order to be
healthy. The first test on this variable recoded the GPA into two groups. Students below and above an
average of 3.5 and 3.6 GPA.
Both tests about drinking in the family said to fail to reject the null. This means that there is no
relationship between drinking in the family and academic performance. The test about body weight both
tested to fail to reject the null. This means that there is a relationship between the two variables. The first
test said that students who exercise are likely to have above a GPA of 3.5. Examining students who
perform better in school, in the 3.6-4.0 range still have a significant relationship with body maintenance,
however, it goes the opposite way. The students who have over a 3.6 GPA tend to exercise less.