TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page #
• Acknowledgements…………………………….02
• Executive Summary……………...……………..03
• Background……………………………………..04
• Research Process Methodology………………...05

o Observation……………………………….05

o Information Gathering…………………….05

o Formulation of a Theory…………………..06

o Hypothesis………………………………....06

o Data Collection Technique………………..06

o Questions………………………………….06-08

o Data Analysis………………………………08

• Conclusion………………………………………09
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Selecting an area or topic that would become focus of our project was a challenging task.

We wanted to do something different and innovative which affected our lives in a more

direct way. First of all, we are highly thankful to Allah Almighty, who has never let us

down at any stage. Almighty has always shown us the right path and enlightened us in the

hours of gloom. Secondly, we are also very grateful to our resource person Miss Hina

Shaukat who has been a great source of inspiration and without her support and

guidance, we would not have been able to do this work and complete the project to our

satisfaction.

Finally, we are also thankful to all respondents who have been very much informative

and cooperative throughout the whole project as without their help it was next to

impossible to do this project. We would welcome any comments and suggestions from

the readers.

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 Executive Summary

The number of university students who smoke is escalating. There are definitely certain

forces/factors which are influencing or driving students towards smoking. What can be

those factors? What are the strengths of those forces which have so important & intense

affect on the attitude of university students that they start smoking regularly and finally it

becomes unavoidable habit? The factors will be identified / revealed in this research with

respect to their influence & importance in a university student life which are driving them

towards smoking. Once factors are revealed then what are the ways to avoid and

discourage those forces to diminish the growing chain of students who smoke?

Back Ground

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Today it can be easily observed that mostly university student smoke and smoking has

become an integral part of their lives, the number of students who smoke is growing by

leaps & bounds. There are number of factors attracting / inviting students to smoke and

the growth rate of student who smoke is really alarming today. Those factors can be

identified by this research and we can come to know the affects of those factors on a

student life and foresee how those factors are igniting the habit of smoking in students.

As a matter of fact, today smoking seems as a very vital and inevitable habit in a

student’s life.

Research Process

Observation:
A research on “why do students smoke” can facilitate us to reveal those factors / forces
which are driving students to smoke. There are certain things which will be covered
under this research.

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Information:
The information is gathered directly from those students who smoke because only those
students can give us the accurate and best information about the factors which caused
them to start smoking. There are following ways to gather information from the
respondents.
• Secondary Information:
. Young smokers grow up to be adult smokers, and in many cases, die of smoking-related
diseases. Every day, an estimated 3,000 teenagers begin smoking. Nearly 85 percent of
all smokers say they started smoking before age 18. At least one out of five death in
society caused by disease directly related to cigarette smoking. Some say that they smoke
to relieve stress from school. Others say it gives them something to do at parties. Some
say they've tried to stop so many times but can't. Others say that their grandparents have
smoked all their life and are still alive and healthy. Most of the young smokers try
smoking for the first time in middle school.
• Primary Information:
o Dissatisfaction in Education
o Being Unhappy
o Parties
o Smoking Commercials
o Curiosity
o Tension Control
o Social Pressure
o Celebrities

Formulation of a Theory:
After gathering information theory is developed about the main factors that are:
• Students feel pressure at colleges.
• They think smoking control their tensions.
• Smoking make them feel better.
• Keeping Bad Company.
• Show Bizz

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Hypothesis:
From such theory various hypotheses for testing one among them are being generated.
That there must be the special kind of attention should give to these students. Parents
should take care for what they really need of. Parents should stop smoking in front of
students. Sales of Cigarettes to the student should be banned. Cigarette commercials
should be banned.

Data Collection:
Many young adults and teenagers that do smoke often don’t realize the harm that they
cause to their nonsmoking friends even though the cigarettes they smoke are always the
best brands like Marlboro, Gold Leaf, Benson and Dunhill. These are the most popular
brands among young smokers. The companies that make these products are often blamed
for their colorful ads and commercials that attract young adults to by these cigarettes. I
personally think that this is wrong because the only people that do get attracted by these
commercials and advertisements are teenagers of 12 to 16 years old that are still trying to
decide whether or not they should start smoking.

Some Questions asked from the smokers:

Do you smoke?

This question is the very basic question on which the research is based. The question
is placed on the first position so as the respondent comes to know subject of study at
the very inception. The options are:

The options are:

1. Regularly - Which means 5 or more cigarettes every day.

2. Occasionally –Only on special occasions. 3 times in a month

3. Tried Once/Twice - These respondents are the starters and have taken only one
or two puffs sometime.

4. No - This option is for those who don’t smoke.

29% Regularly
46% Occasionally
Tried Once/Twice
15% No
10%

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At What Age You Started Smoking?

This question is only valid for smokers only. The question ask respondent about the
age at which they started smoking. By this we can conclude the most vulnerable age
for starting smoking.

The data will be useful in finding correlation with other smoking habits also.

Following chart shows the various responses to the question:

23 2
22 2
21 8
20 7
19 17
18 35
AGE

17 24
16 37
15 21
14 13
13 16
12 11

0 10 20 30 40
No. of Responses

Who is your favorite hero?

This question is an indirect question about the favorite hero of the respondent. The
question has been put up to find out influence of celebrities over smoking habits of
students and to find out relation between favorite hero and frequency of smoking.

The options are :

• ShahRuk Khan, John Abrahim & Salman Khan: These icons are chain
smokers and have been kept to find out their influence on the respondent.
• Amir Khan: He is a nonsmoker hero.

17% 1% ShahRuk Khan

38% John Abrahim
Salman Khan
18%
Amir Khan
26% Others

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Where do you spend most of your free time?

This question is also an indirect question asking about where the respondent sends
their free time. Through this question we wanted two find out a cprelation between the
smoking habits and the place where people send most of their free time.

The responses will also reveal that how much they are influenced by style factor when
they smoke.

The options are:

• Roaming with Friends- if a respondent a smoker and ticks this option he

might be influenced by friends.
• Watching Movies – if a respondent a smoker and ticks this option he might be
influenced by film stars.
• Club-Disco - if a respondent a smoker and ticks this option he might be
influenced by style factor.
• With Family - if a respondent a smoker and ticks this option he might be
influenced by some member of his family (father etc.).

Roaming with
Friends
20%
Watching Movies
5%
50% Club-Disco
25%
With Family

Data Analysis:

This kind of information provide that all students start smoking at the age of 15, At
this age they don’t know the difference of good and bad. They inspire from their
Family members, Celebrities, Friends, and many other.

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 CONCLUSION

A major trend has been observed towards increasing habits of smoking among
students. The students are the backbone of every nation and they have to take a great
care of their health towards achieving higher goals in life and contributing to the
economy. Also cigarette companies and the government have to take initiative to
provide students with those cigarette products which don not cause health hazards to
the students. More and more students adopt cigarette for the style factor in early age
and then later it become addiction. Banned the sale to the students. Parents should be
more responsible. They must take care of their children’s. Colleges must held anti-
cigarettes programs. The prevalence of smoking among college students is a cause for
concern, and trend indicates a higher preponderance among government college
students compared to private college students. This study also reports that the
initiation of smoking among students is significantly associated with the smoking
habits of their peers. Another interesting fact was the association between low
socioeconomic status of the parents and smoking among students. There is also a
need felt to involve college students in healthy recreational activities as indicated in
our study. Therefore, any intervention should include concerted efforts to involve
students in healthy recreational activities, initiate tobacco control programs in
colleges which have shown to have a beneficial effect as indicated by studies in U.S
colleges and to create awareness among general public about ill effects of smoking
through print and electronic media. As our study focuses on college students, the
findings would be especially helpful to initiate effective tobacco control programs in
colleges.

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