Study Question: Does binge

drinking cause MSU students

to drop out of college?
Study Question: Does binge drinking
cause MSU students to drop out of
college?
The research hypothesis is that the proportion of MSU students who
dropout and are binge drinkers will be greater than the proportion of
MSU students who dropout but are not binge drinkers.
The data table will appear as follows:

Dropout Status
Drinking
Status
Dropout None
Dropout
Binge
Drinker
None
Binge
Drinker
Study Design
Select a cohort (group with certain characteristics) of MSU students who have the
following shared characteristics:
1. Enrolled for the 2014-2015 academic year.
2. Earned high school GPAs of at least 2.0.
3. Scored at least 20 on the ACT or the equivalent on the SAT.
4. Agree to honestly report on their drinking habits while
enrolled at MSU.
5. Agree to contact their academic advisor if they decide to
withdraw from school and undergo an interview with their
advisor. This interview will of course be an intervention with the goal of
keeping the student enrolled. If this is not possible, the interview will
include questions concerning lifestyle habits and personality traits.
These interviews will keep track of students who withdraw due to binge
drinking.
Study Design Cont
At the end of the 2017-2018 academic year, the data will be analyzed
in terms of the proportion of students who drop out and are binge
drinkers vs the proportion who drop out and are not binge drinkers.
It is expected that the proportion of dropouts who are binge drinkers
will be larger than the proportion of dropouts who are not binge
drinkers.
A graphical depiction might be:
Binge
Drinkers
Non-Binge
Drinkers
Dropouts
Non-Dropouts
Dropouts
None Dropouts
Results
Since the proportion of binge drinkers who dropout is far greater,
perhaps 5 times greater, than the proportion of non-binge drinkers
who dropout, we conclude that binge drinking causes MSU students
to dropout!

Is this line of thinking correct???

Binge Drinkers









Non-Binge
Drinkers
Dropouts
Non-Dropouts
Dropouts
None Dropouts
1. Not sure about career goals.
2. Not committed to earning
degree.
3. Social life goals far outweigh
other goals.
4. Ran out of money!
5. Not very mature.
6. Poor estimate of self-efficacy.
7. Poor self-esteem.
8. Poor time manager.
9. Poor study habits.
10. Etc.