How Do Student Athletes and Non-Athlete Students Compare?

Sydni Boyd, Emma Gould, Saudi Palacios: A6

EDT 180A

Gary Lewallen

April 17, 2017

Introduction:
STUDENT ATHLETES VS NON-STUDENT ATHLETES: A6

Before initiating this research, our group decided to research and compare student athletes to non-

athlete students. What we were hoping to get out of this research was a clear answer on whether playing a

sport affects the GPA of students. The question that was initially asked was How do student athletes and

non-athlete students compare? The tool that we used to collect our data was Google Docs Form. Using

this form we created a survey for students to answer that would allow us to collect the data that we

needed. In the survey, the participants were asked what their gender was, the college they are currently

enrolled in, their grade, what their GPA is, and if they play and ASU sponsored sports. The form was

given to students with different majors, and in different grades. In total, we received 127 responses and

the majority were from students who do not take part in any ASU sponsored sport. The majority of the

results also came from Female participants and from students in the Teachers College. From this survey

we anticipated to receive enough information to create a conclusion. Unfortunately, our results were

inconclusive with the limited amount of data received. Although we did not get as much data as we would

have liked, the data we did collect is below.

Discussion:

1
STUDENT ATHLETES VS NON-STUDENT ATHLETES: A6

In looking at the different colleges our participants are in, it can be concluded that the majority of

the participants are from the Teachers College coming out to be 42.5% of the total people that participated

in the study. The second largest group of

participants come from the Liberal

Arts & Sciences College which was

23.6%. It is interesting to see the

variety of students that participated in the

study. It may seem that the only thing that

have in common is whether they play a

sport or not.

When all the data was put together the minimum, maximum, mode, median, and average of the

data was found. This graph helps represent the overall GPA of the students that participated in this study.

The minimum of people stated that they have equal to, or less than 1 as their GPA. The maximum amount

of people have a GPA of 4.25, and the mode falls under 3. The median is 3.2, and the average is 3.2

2
STUDENT ATHLETES VS NON-STUDENT ATHLETES: A6

The data in this graph is used to represent the people that participated in the study. The people

that took part in this study were asked for their gender, and were given the option to answer: male,

female, prefer not say, and other. Out of the 127 participants, one of them answered prefer not say while

the rest answered whether they were male or female. In this study there were 31 male participants, and 95

female participants in total. This data has a closer representation of who answered yes and who answered

no from the genders. The red shows those who answered no and the green shows those who answered yes.

From the person who answered that they prefer to reveal their gender, they answered that they did not

play any sports. Overall, the majority of the participants from both genders answered that they dont play

any sports.

3
STUDENT ATHLETES VS NON-STUDENT ATHLETES: A6

Going off of the data above, it was seen that there was more people that answered that they dont play

sports compared to the people that said they do. Out of the different sexes that took part in this research, 5

male said yes and 26 of them answered no. For females, 5 of them said yes and 90 of them said that they

didnt play sports. With this we can conclude that overall 10 people answered yes, and 117 answered no.

From the only person that answered prefer not say they answered that they did not play and ASU

sponsored sports.

4
STUDENT ATHLETES VS NON-STUDENT ATHLETES: A6

The two graphs below are in representation of the different grades that took part in this study. From the

results, it was realized that only Freshmen, Juniors, and Seniors participated in this study with the

majority of them being Freshmen. Then it was Juniors, and lastly Seniors. The top graph represents those

who mentioned that they do play sports. Since Freshman was the largest group of participants they take

half of the final results. For those who answered no, the majority of them were still Freshmen at 68.4%.

5
STUDENT ATHLETES VS NON-STUDENT ATHLETES: A6

Analysis:

In looking at the final results, it is difficult to come to a conclusion on whether playing an ASU

sport affects the GPA of students. If more data was received then it would be probable to come to a

conclusion. Since there wasnt enough data to support a conclusion, other questions come to mind. If

more questions would have been asked, it can help backup the data that is present and it can support the

idea on whether sports do or dont affect the GPA of students. To be more specific, the questions would

ask how many credits a student was taking per semester, and compare the difficulties of the college they

are in.

If the results of this research could be changed, we would have the participants answer if they

play any sports in general, whether it be an ASU sponsored sport or a sport students are part of outside of

school affect their GPA. If the question was opened up to those that play sports that arent ASU

sponsored, it could be possible to have received much more participants who answered yes.