MGT 207 Project v2

8/7/2019 MGT 207 Project v2

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Hypothesis:

"The amount of caffeine consumed by Zarb school of business students who have completed between one

and four semesters of study of their current academic program is positively correlated with those students grade

point averages.

Definition of Each Word in Our Hypothesis:

1. The: used as a function word to indicate that a following noun or noun equivalent is definite or has

been previously specified by context or by circumstance.

2. Amount: to reach a total :add up.

3. Of: used as a function word to indicate the component material, parts, or elements or the contents.

4. Caffeine: a bitter alkaloid C8H10N4O2 found especially in coffee, tea, cacao, and kola nuts and used

medicinally as a stimulant and diuretic.

5. Consumed: past tense of Consume - to eat or drink especially in great quantity.

6. By: through the agency or instrumentality of.

7. Zarb School of Business Students: Students, both graduate and undergraduate, who attend Hofstra

Universitys Business School, renamed the Frank G. Zarb School of Business in 1994 in recognition of

Frank G. Zarbs service as the Chairman of the Hofstra University's Board of Trustees.

8. Who: what or which person or persons.

9. Have: auxiliary verb - used with a past participle to form perfect tenses. i.e.She has gone.

10 Completed: past tense - to bring to an end and especially into a perfected state


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Representative Sample:

According to businessdictionary.com, a representative sample is a small quantity of a targeted group such as

customers, data, people, products, whose characteristics represent (as accurately as possible) the entire batch,lot, population, or universe. A representative sample attempts to accurately reflect the characteristics of the

population as a whole.

A survey sample's ability to represent a population has to do with the sampling frame; that is the list from

which the sample is selected. When some parts of the target population are not included in the sampled

population, we are faced with selection bias, which prevent us from claiming that the sample is representative

of the target population. So when it comes to getting a representative sample, sample source is more

important than sample size. If you want a representative sample of a particular population, you might want to

consider that the sample source includes the whole target population, the selected data collection method

(online, phone, paper, in person) can reach individuals, with characteristics typical of those possessed by the

population of interest, and the screening criteria truly reflects the target population

In summary, 100% of our sample was made up of students from Hofstras Zarb School of Business who have

completed between one and four semesters of study at either the undergraduate or graduate level. This tells

us that our sample strongly represents the entire student population at Hofstras Zarb School of Business. Our

ideal representative sample would be a sample of all students from the different areas of concentration as

well. However, since the survey was limited to Hofstra students, we cannot determine how and whether the

caffeine consumption affects study habits, for other students in different concentrations and other schools, in

the same manner.

Computer Applications:

Survey Gizmo: We used this free web based program to design, distribute, and conduct our survey. The

website allowed easy access to our target audience and also was able to give us more accurate results because

we were able to let the respondents remain anonymous. Survey Gizmo was also great in that it compiled all


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these programs were free for us, so for the cost end, we would not be affected nor would we need to cut

down. However, on the quality end, there might have been a few ways to improve the type of data we

obtained with the use of some sophisticated computer applications. If we would have created something that

could have created a more accessible way to take our survey, for instance something that could be accessed

via cell phone, we might have been able to have a bigger sample size to get more accurate information.

Our hypothesis was limited to the Zarb School of Business student body. However, if we were to

expand our hypothesis to the entire school, or to multiple schools, then a more sophisticated application

would be a great tool because it would help us reach more people remotely or without even having to know

them. But for the purposes of the study we are currently conducting, we dont think that a sophisticated

computer application would have improved the quality or reduced the cost of our testing.

We used the secondary research before we conducted the surveys to get an idea of what we could

expect as well as to see what type of results the factors we were testing would produce. We also researched

after conducting the survey to see if we could better understand our results based on other like data. For

others conducting a similar hypothesis, we would suggest that they counter act the survey by asking students

to touch on their academic performance during periods where caffeine was not consumed. Or create a

separate survey for students who do not consume caffeine and see what other methods they use to aid in

their studying. There are so many options where this survey can be adapted to ask other questions.

One that would be really interesting would be to see among the caffeine consumers, how long they

have been consuming caffeine in their lives to see if that affects anything. For example, if someone has been

drinking coffee regularly for the past 10 years, it may not have an effect on them in terms of increasing

alertness which would be used to study. We might also leave a blank text box for students to explain other

factors that might have affected their alertness during study such as exercise, sleep and other things that could

have affected their grades. The list of additional research that could be conducted is endless, but those are a

few points that we felt would make for interesting results.


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FINDINGS:

We sent out our survey to over 100 people, and received 32 completed surveys in return.

25% of respondents were male, and 75% were female. A majority of returned surveys were from Graduate

students, likely more sympathetic and aware of the required hypothesis study for Management 207 Class.Among the survey participants, 22% were under-graduate, and 78% were graduate students. In summary, our

findings cause us to reject our hypothesis for the time being because we find no positive correlation between

amount of caffeine consumption and grade point average for Zarb School of Business Students.

Unexpectedly, however, we did find that grade point average is negatively correlated with the amount of change

in caffeine consumption between an average day and a day on which a student studied for exams. It appears

that the more that a student changed his/her caffeine consumption when studying for exams, the lower that

student's GPA.

In greater detail, the data collected from our survey participants include the following:

75%

25%

Gender

Male Female

Student EducationLevel

Graduate Undergraduate

Semesters CompletedOne Two Three Four


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The range of students surveyed, are from a variety of departments and in a large variety of study areas:

The average GPA associated with each different field concentration includes:

25%

25%22%

16%

13%

Fields of Study

Finance

Acct, Taxation, legal studies in

business

Marketing, International Business

Management, Entrepeneurship,

General Business

IT, Quantitative Methods

3.8

3.9

4

GPA Average based on Concentration


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Considering the limited sample size and seeing if GPA might have any correlation with academic concentration, we

analyzed the Standard Deviation of each sample set of GPA scores. Considering the wide overlap of the lines

when analyzing just one standard deviation from the median, it is fair to say that many other factors, aside

from concentration, attribute to ones cumulative GPA.

The average GPA was 3.57. Some participants did not fill in their SAT score, but among those that did, the

Average SAT was a 1271 (on a 1600 scale). This was computed by taking the average of each range and then

averaging the 25 participants that filled in their SAT scores. SAT scores are used by school admissions to

estimate students intellect, and if they can succeed among similar peers. Using that logic, we measured SAT

scores to see if it would be an accurate indicator of GPA. The results are below:

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

4

Accounting,

Taxation and

Legal Studies in

Business

Finance Information

Technology and

Quantitative

Methods

Management,

Entrepreneurship

and General

Business

Marketing and

International

Business

Lines Represent One Standard Deviation


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Among the 32 students surveyed and varied average consumption of caffeinated servings per person is below.

A majority of individuals may consume coffee, while very few students use caffeine pills. However the below

graph is the aggregated sum of all consumed caffeine divided by the 32 students surveyed. It demonstrates

the scope of caffeine consumption among Zarb Business students, and how the average increases near exam

time.

Caffeine consumption per person is a normal part of most Business School Students life. While several

surveyed participants did not use Caffeine at all, the average servings of caffeine per person are below. The left

bar represents the average consumption on a regular day, while the red represents the caffeine consumed in

anticipation of an Exam. The red bar is approximately a 40% increase of the blue.

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

Avg

Coffee

Exam

Coffee

Avg

Soda

Exam

Soda

Avg Tea Exam

Tea

Avg E

Drinks

Exam E

drinks

avg C

Pills

exam/C

Pills

Avg Coffee

Exam CoffeeAvg Soda

Exam Soda

Avg Tea

Exam Tea

Avg E Drinks

Exam E drinksavg C Pills

exam/C Pills


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Below is a scatter-plot testing our actual hypothesis. It compares the GPA with the aggregated caffeine

consumption of each individual. This is computed by adding up each individuals different forms of caffeine

consumption and then the sum of the individuals consumption is represented on the x-axis. The Y-axis

represents the GPA, organized in ranges based on the range of the survey questions.

3

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

4

0 2 4 6 8 10

GPA

Sum of Average Daily Caffeine per person

AVG Caffeine/GPA AVG

GPA AVG

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

4

GPA

Exam Caffeine/ GPA AVG


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The below chart analyzes the differences in peoples Caffeine Consumption when they are preparing for exams

verse a regular day. The differences are mostly positive, as more people increase consumption in anticipation

of exams:

An important conclusion is consistency and having no increase in caffeine consumption is most highly

correlated with a higher GPA.

Policy Recommendations:

Based on our finding that grade point average is negatively correlatedwith the degree of change

caffeine consumption between average days and days on which the survey respondents studied for exams, we

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

4

-4 -2 0 2 4 6 8

GPA

Difference of Regular and Exam Prep Caffeine Consumption

Difference in Caffeine/GPA AVG

GPA AVG


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Imperfections:

1. Length and Repetitiveness of the Survey

Although we submitted the survey via email to approximately 160 students, only 32 students fullycompleted the survey. In addition, 27 potential students abandoned the survey after starting it. Although

32 responses is adequate for our convenience sample, survey respondents may have found the survey

quicker to complete if the survey had been fewer than twenty questions. In addition, the repetitiveness of

the survey may have required a respondent to read a question more than once to identify the subtle

difference between questions. Although this repetitiveness was necessary in order to quantify different

forms of caffeine consumption, a less repetitive survey may also have been easier to complete.

Consequently, a shorter and less repetitive survey may have resulted in a higher number of fullycompleted surveys, and a higher response rate.

2. Difficulty in Comparing Different Types of Caffeine Consumption

Our survey included a series of similar questions aimed at quantifying a respondents caffeine

consumption from different common sources such as caffeinated coffee, energy drinks such as Redbull,

soft drinks such as Coca Cola, and caffeine pills. Although the goal of these questions was to obtain a

more comprehensive understanding of caffeine consumption within the convenience sample, it is difficultto compare the amount of caffeine in each of these types of caffeine consumption. For example, it can be

misleading to compare someone who consumes five cups of coffee per day to someone who consumes

two cans of Redbull per day, since the five cups of coffee may contain vastly more or vastly less caffeine

than the Redbull, depending on the quality of the coffee. We were able to obtain average amounts of

caffeine content in each of the caffeinated items we tested for. However, we could not test for differences

in the amount of caffeine within each category that we tested, since this would have made the survey far

too lengthy and repetitive. Consequently, although this is an imperfection of the survey, it was an

imperfection we were willing to accept.

h id d ki d ki d l


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was highly variable so that it was difficult for respondents to estimate their average consumption, the

respondent's answers may be inaccurate, causing an imperfection in the survey results.

5. Lack of Specificity in Measurements of GPA, SAT Scores, and GMAT ScoresWhen analyzing our survey results, we found that the vast majority of responses fell into one or two

categories. It is possible that a correlation would be more apparent if the increments in our categories for

GPA and caffeine quantities were each smaller, in order to demonstrate relationships within those smaller

increments. Since we limited our increments of caffeine to whole cups, servings, or pills of caffeine, and

limited our measurement of GPA increments to three tenths of a point, relationships what would be

evident by measuring smaller increments have not been measured by our survey results.

What led us to test this theory?:

As students, we all spend a lot of our money on coffee and/or caffeinated drinks and supplements to keep us

going during exam times and as a group we were curious if students really consume more caffeine when exam

time comes around and whether it actually helps them improve their grades. Each one of us, in our group,

claims that we increase our caffeine intake during exam times and we actually wanted to see if there is any

sort of correlation between the two. Then, when we started looking into this topic more thoroughly, we found

other tests that were conducted and we wondered if what results we would achieve amongst our own

community at Hofstras Zarb School of Business. This question helped us transform a simple assumption into a

study that demonstrated whether this is to remain a simple assumption or whether students actually do

perform better on exams if they increase their caffeine intake.

Additional, Related Research:

Loke Wing Kong. (1990). Effects of Repeated Caffeine Administration on Cognition and Mood. HumanPsychopharmacology, Vol. 5, 339-348. Retrieved November 26, 2010, from EBSCOHOST database.

This publication examines the effects of repeated caffeine administration on cognitive and mood tasks The


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Paul Hewlett, Andrew Smith. (2007) Effects of repeated doses of caffeine on performance and alertness: new

data and secondary analyses. Human Psychopharmacology. Vol. 22, 339-350. Retrieved November 27, 2010,

from LexisNexus database.

The present study aimed to determine whether caffeine withdrawal influenced mood and performance by

comparing regular consumers who had been withdrawn from caffeine overnight with non-consumers.

Following this repeated caffeine doses were administered to test the claim that repeated dosing has no extra

effect on mood or performance. Secondary analyses of data collected after a day of normal caffeine

consumption were also carried out to examine some alternative explanations of their results which showed

effects of caffeine after a day of normal caffeine consumption. The baseline data showed no effect of overnight

caffeine withdrawal on mood or performance. In contrast, caffeine challenge improved vigilance performance

and prevented decreases in alertness induced by completion of the task battery. The magnitude of these effects

increased as a function of the number of doses of caffeine given.

Susan V. Heatherley, Robert C. Hayward, Helen E. Seers, Peter J. Rogers. (2005). Cognitive and psychomotor

performance, mood, and pressor effects of caffeine after 4, 6 and 8 h caffeine abstinence.

Psychopharmacology. Vol. 178, 461-470. Retrieved November 26, 2010, from EBSCOHOST database.

Energetic mood was strongly affected by caffeine, being significantly increased by caffeine (versus placebo)

when given after 8-h caffeine abstinence, but not when given after 4- and 6-h abstinence. This result is

confirmed by the significant overall effect of caffeine and the significant caffeineinterval interaction effect.

Similarly, caffeine improvedhedonic tone and tended to improve overall mood when given after 8-h

abstinence. Caffeine also increased jitteriness and, to a lesser extent, clear-headedness (not significant), but

these effects did not vary systematically with duration of prior caffeine abstinence. Scores on the physical

sensations light-headed/feeling faint and heart pounding were generally very low and were not analyzed.


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14.The Merriam Webster Dictionary. Definition of the word semesters. Available at:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/semesters. Accessibility verified November 30, 2010.

15.The Merriam Webster Dictionary. Definition of the word study. Available at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/study. Accessibility verified November 30, 2010.

16.The Merriam Webster Dictionary. Definition of the word their. Available at: http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/their. Accessibility verified November 30, 2010.

17.The Merriam Webster Dictionary. Definition of the word current. Available at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/current. Accessibility verified November 30, 2010.

18.Dictionary.com. Definition of the word academic. Available at:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/academic. Accessibility verified November 30, 2010.

19.Dictionary.com. Definition of the word program. Available at:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/program. Accessibility verified November 30, 2010.

20.The Merriam Webster Dictionary. Definition of the word is. Available at: http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/is. Accessibility verified November 30, 2010.

21.The Merriam Webster Dictionary. Definition of the word positively. Available at:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/positively. Accessibility verified November 30, 2010.

22.The Merriam Webster Dictionary. Definition of the word correlate. Available at:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/correlate. Accessibility verified November 30, 2010.


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Caffeine Consumption @ Hofstra's Zarb School of Business

Instructions: Please only complete this survey if you are a currently a student in Hofstra'sZarb School of Business and you have completed between one and four semesters of studyat your current academic level, whether undergraduate or graduate. Under each question,please select the answer that best describes you.

1. Are you male or female? *This question is required

Male

Female

2. Are you an undergraduate or a graduate business student? *This question isrequired

undergraduate

graduate

3. How many semesters of your current academic program have you completed? *This

question is required

1


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5. On average, approximately how many cups of caffeinated coffee (not decaffeinatedcoffee) do you consume per day? (one cup is 8 fluid ounces) *This question is required

0

1

2

3

4 or more

6. On a day when you study for an exam, approximately how many of cups ofcaffeinated coffee you consume? (one cup is 8 fluid ounces) *This question is required

0

1

2

3

4 or more

7. On average, approximately how many cups of caffeinated soft drinks (soda) do youconsume per day? (one cup is 8 fluid ounces) *This question is required

0

1


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9. Approximately how many cups of caffeinated tea (both iced tea and warm tea) doyou consume per day? (one cup is 8 fluid ounces) *This question is required

0

1

2

3

4 or more

10. On a day when you study for an exam, approximately how many of cups ofcaffeinated tea (both iced tea and warm tea) do you consume? (one cup is 8 fluidounces) *This question is required

0

12

3

4 or more

11. Approximately how many energy drinks do you consume per day? (e.g. Redbull,Rockstar, 5 Hour Energy, etc.) *This question is required

0


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13. Approximately how many caffeine pills do you consume per day? *This question isrequired

0

1

2

3

4 or more

14. On a day when you study for an exam, approximately how many caffeine pills doyou consume? *This question is required

0

1

2

3

4 or more

15. What range does your current GPA fall into? *This question is required

0 to 2.002.01 to 2.32

2 33 to 2 66


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17. What range does your GMATscore fall into? (on a 800 scale)?

200 - 300

310 - 500

510 - 600

610 - 700

710 - 800

18. When do you usually start preparing for an exam/test?

Two or more weeks in advance

One week before the test

Two to three days prior to the test

The night before / the day of the test

19. Do you feel that consuming caffeine helps you perform better academically? *Thisquestion is required

yes

nosometimes


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Participant # Are you male or female?

Are you an undergraduate or

a graduate business

student?

How many semesters of

your current academic

program have you

completed? What is your department in the Zarb School of Business?

On average, approximately how

many cups of caffeinated coffee

(not decaffeinated coffee) do you

consume per day? (one cup is 8

fluid ounces)

1 Male graduate 4 Finance 2

2 Female undergraduate 4 Accounting, Taxation and Legal Studies in Business 2

3 Male undergraduate 2 Marketing and International Business 1

4 Female undergraduate 3 Marketing and International Business 0

5 Female undergraduate 3 Marketing and International Business 1

6 Male undergraduate 3 Accounting, Taxation and Legal Studies in Business 07 Male graduate 3 Management, Entrepreneurship and General Business 0

8 Male graduate 2 Management, Entrepreneurship and General Business 0

9 Male graduate 1 Accounting, Taxation and Legal Studies in Business 0

10 Female graduate 1 Management, Entrepreneurship and General Business 0



13 Male graduate 3 Marketing and International Business 0


15 Female undergraduate 4 Accounting, Taxation and Legal Studies in Business 2


17 Male undergraduate 4 Finance 1

18 Male graduate 2 Information Technology and Quantitative Methods 1

19 Female graduate 2 Accounting, Taxation and Legal Studies in Business 3

20 Female graduate 2 Finance 0












32 Female graduate 4 Accounting, Taxation and Legal Studies in Business 3

23


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Participant #

1

2

3

4

5

67

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

On a day when you study for an

exam, approximately how many

of cups of caffeinated coffee

you consume? (one cup is 8

fluid ounces)

On average, approximately how

many cups of caffeinated soft

drinks (soda) do you consume

per day? (one cup is 8 fluid

ounces)

On a day when you study

for an exam, how many

cups of caffeinated soft

drinks (soda) do you

consume?

Approximately how many cups

of caffeinated tea (both iced tea

and warm tea) do you consume

per day? (one cup is 8 fluid

ounces)

On a day when you study for

an exam, approximately how

many of cups of caffeinated

tea (both iced tea and warm

tea) do you consume? (one

cup is 8 fluid ounces)

Approximately how many

energy drinks do you

consume per day? (e.g.

Redbull, Rockstar, 5 Hour

Energy, etc.)

4 or more 0 0 0 0 0

4 or more 2 2 0 0 1

0 1 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 1 1 0

2 1 1 3 3 1

0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 2 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

0 1 1 0 0 0

2 2 3 0 1 0

2 3 2 1 2 2

0 1 0 0 0 1

0 1 1 2 2 0

4 or more 0 0 0 0 0

2 2 2 0 0 0

2 0 0 0 0 0

2 0 0 2 3 0

3 1 1 1 1 0

0 0 0 2 4 or more 0

1 0 1 0 0 0

2 1 1 2 2 0

1 0 0 1 1 0

1 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 2 3 0

0 0 0 3 3 0

0 1 0 0 0 0

1 1 1 0 0 0

0 1 1 1 1 0

4 or more 0 0 0 0 0

0 1 1 3 3 0

3 0 3 0 0 0

24


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Participant #

1

2

3

4

5

67

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

When do you usually start preparing for an

exam/test?

Do you feel that consuming

caffeine helps you perform

better academically?

In your own estimation, the reason for most of your caffeine consumption (including coffee, tea,

energy drinks, soda and caffeine pills) is:

One week before the test yes to be more productive at work/in school (i.e. a cup of coffee before class or work)

Two to three days pri or to the test someti mes wh en un der pressu re to perform (i.e. crammin g for a test or worki ng on a ti ght dea dline)

som et imes t o be mo re product ive at wor k/ in schoo l ( i.e. a c up of cof fee befor e c lass or wor k)

The night before / the day of the test sometimes other

Two to three days p ri or to the test someti mes to b e more p rod uctive a t work /in s chool (i.e. a cup of coffee b efore class or work)

The night before / the day of the test no otherOne week before the test no other

One week before the test no because you like the taste or the way it makes you feel

One week before the test no other

Two to three days prior to the test no other

One week before the test sometimes when under pressure to perform (i.e. cramming for a test or working on a tight deadline)

Two or more weeks in advance no other

The night before / the day of the test sometimes because you like the taste or the way it makes you feel

The night before / the day of the test no because you like the taste or the way it makes you feel

The night before / the day of the test yes when under pressure to perform (i.e. cramming for a test or working on a tight deadline)

Two to three days prior to the test no to be more productive at work/in school (i.e. a cup of coffee before class or work)

Two to three days prior to the test yes to be more productive at work/in school (i.e. a cup of coffee before class or work)

One week before the test yes when under pressure to perform (i.e. cramming for a test or working on a tight deadline)

Two to three days prior to the test sometimes because you like the taste or the way it makes you feel

One week before the test sometimes to be more productive at work/in school (i.e. a cup of coffee before class or work)

The night before / the day of the test no to be more productive at work/in school (i.e. a cup of coffee before class or work)



no because you like the taste or the way it makes you feel

Two or more weeks in advance yes when under pressure to perform (i.e. cramming for a test or working on a tight deadline)

One week before the test no other

Two to three days prior to the test sometimes other

Two to three days prior to the test no other



Two to three days prior to the test yes because you like the taste or the way it makes you feel


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Documents

MGT 207 Project v2