Key Factors Influencing Binge Drinking
Richard Escalera
March 12th, 2016
SOC 004: Methods of Sociological Inquiry
Professor Grindal
Luke Klein
Section 26
Research Question
What influences binge drinking among undergraduate college students who are in fraternities?
Importance
Binge drinking has been rapidly expanding over the years and it is impacting the way in which undergraduate college students in fraternities socialize, culturalize, economize, and most recently discovered through research, the way in which they sexualize. More importantly, binge drinking can lead to alcohol-related crime and violence. By better understanding the underlying theoretical causes of binge drinking, it can determine ways that can minimize and stop binge drinking. Alcohol advertising may predispose young people to drink (Bonnie 2004). Alcohol related problems and consequences refer to a variety of negative life events that arise from drinking such as social problems, legal problems, educational/vocational problems, etc. (Galanter 2006).
Summary
The best way to answer the research question would be through survey questions. Through the participation of undergraduate students at UCR in fraternities the researcher would be able to come to gather data to answer the research question.
Theory
Certain factors influence individuals to go binge drinking which ultimately results in alcohol abuse. The younger and more social the individual the more likely they are to fall in the realm of peer pressure. Popular media such as movies and television shows make alcohol seem normative which leads students to binge drink. The higher socioeconomic status that the individual holds will also contribute to how likely they are to binge drink. Knowing how these factors drive individuals towards that lifestyle will lead to less partakers, therefore decreasing the amount individuals that partake in binge drinking.
Four Concepts:
• Socioeconomic Status – SES (conceptualized as a combination of variables, including occupation, education, income, wealth, and a place of residence)
• Peers (conceptualized as those that surround your daily life, which includes friends, family members, even acquaintances)
• Popular Media (conceptualized as a combination of television shows, press, radio, and cinema.)
• Binge Drinking (Based on the amount of drinks.)
Hypotheses:
• H1: Peer pressure is consistently implicated in the excessive drinking of college students.
• H2: Frequency of drinking was influenced by income with the higher income respondents drinking more often.
• H3: Television, radio, film, and popular music are sources through which young people learn about alcohol and are influences on young people's drinking and drinking problems.
Methods – Sampling
In order to identify what it is that influences binge drinking among undergraduate college students who are in fraternities it is best to have a population of people who are undergraduate college students. Therefore, the population would be individuals that are undergraduate college students at UCR. Unfortunately, the only way to get individuals that meet the criterion is to get a target population. The target population in this case would be undergraduate students that are in fraternities. Out of this population, a sample of 500 individuals whom are associated in a fraternity would be used.
For the best representation of the population, the sample must only contain individuals that are undergraduate UCR students and are associated with a fraternity. The best sampling method to use in this case would be systematic random sampling. With a systematic random sampling each individual would have a chance to be chosen from the population when gathering our sample. The primary purpose of the survey is to determine what influences binge drinking among undergraduate college students. Systematic random sampling is necessary, because if another method such as non-probability purposive sampling the result would show bias in the sense that the researcher would only be picking individuals that meet the criterion of what it means to binge drink.
Within the sample, the results would still allow us to generalize for a population. The reason for this, is because of the concepts that are being used as dependent variables and each one is used to describe different, yet various types of people. This study does not limit results to one certain population.
Methods – Data Collection Method
For this study, the best way to collect data would be through using survey methods. For this specific study, the best method would be a web-based survey and using a cross sectional design. The reason as to why a web-based survey would be the most beneficial is because it is very low cost. The survey would be low cost, because everything would be done through the internet and no assistants would be needed to go administer the survey in person. One of the drawbacks from having a web-based survey is that some individuals don’t have access to Internet. As students, all individuals have access to computers and Internet during most times of the day. Ultimately, the population would have access to the Internet.
Using a cross sectional design in this occasion would be best, because the researcher only has to gather data at one point in time. There is no need to collect data from this study more than once, because the researchers are not studying the long term influences of binge drinking among undergraduate students at UCR that are associated with a fraternity. Despite the fact that many influences can change overtime, in this study it is important to focus on the factors that are currently impacting those students. So, there is no need in examining the impact of time in this study.
Ensuring internal validity can be difficult in this case, but it is rather simple in asserting a controlled independent variable. In doing so, it would be apparent that one independent variable is what influences undergraduate UCR students associated with a fraternity to binge drink. This would point of the truthfulness of the assertion to a causal relationship.
Methods –Measures
The first independent variable is socioeconomic status, so it is important to realize that socioeconomic status is conceptualized as a combination of variables, including occupation, education, income, wealth, and a place of residence. SES will be measured as nominal. The questions would ask about a series of variables that can contribute to the individuals overall status. All the questions in this category would have to inquire about the individual’s income, education, occupation, and their place of residence.
• Questions:
o What is your annual income? (Multiple choice)
• A) Less than $10,000
• B) $10,000 to $39,999
• C) $40,000 to $69,999
• D) $70,000 to $99,999
• E) $100,000 or more
o Which type of home do you life in?
• A) Apartment
• B) House
• C) Condo
• D) Townhome
• E) Other
o What is your current class standing?
• A) Freshman
• B) Sophomore
• C) Junior
• D) Senior
o What is your occupation? (Fill in the blank)
The second independent variable is peers. Peers can have the upmost influence in the way that an individual acts. Peers can have more of an influence on students at school than family, because they are more likely to be present in daily life. Peers will be measured as ordinal. This can include friends, relatives, and acquaintances. With a four item response options of: strongly agree (4), agree (3), disagree (2), strongly disagree (1). Questions would relate to the influence their peers emit.
• Questions:
o My peers support my decision to drink.
• Strongly Disagree
• Disagree
• Neither agree nor disagree Agree
• Strongly Agree
• Not sure/not applicable
o My peers actively drink.
• Strongly Disagree
• Disagree
• Neither agree nor disagree Agree
• Strongly Agree
• Not sure/not applicable
o My peers encourage my decision drink.
• Strongly Disagree
• Disagree
• Neither agree nor disagree Agree
• Strongly Agree
• Not sure/not applicable
The third independent variable is popular media, which is conceptualized as a combination of television shows, press, radio, and cinema. Popular media has been known for influencing many people to do things unconsciously. Popular media will be measured as ordinal. Many things that have to do with media include subliminal messages in their advertisements or even in their shows or movies. One way that the independent variable can be measured is through a series of multiple-choice questions.
• Questions:
o When watching a show, approximately how many advertisements do you see that are alcohol related?
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Very often
• Not sure / not applicable
o How often do you drink while watching a show or a movie?
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Very often
• Not sure / not applicable
o How likely are you to see an image of your favorite celebrity drinking?
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Very often
• Not sure / not applicable
The fourth independent variable is binge drinking. This is one of the most important independent variables to test, because it defines exactly what binge drinking is. Binge drinking will be measured as ordinal. Binge drinking can be conceptualized by the consumption of an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time. These serious of questions would be multiple choice and would ask regarding consumption of alcohol.
• Questions:
o How often do you drink?
• Never
Once or twice a semester
• Once or twice a month
• Once or twice a week
• More than twice a week
o Do you engage in binge drinking? (5 or more drinks in one sitting)
• Never
Once or twice a semester
• Once or twice a month
• Once or twice a week
• More than twice a week
o Are you always able to stop drinking when you want to?
• Yes
• No
• Don’t Know
o Do you ever drink to get drink?
• Yes
• No
• Don’t Know
o Have you ever passed out or experienced memory loss due to drinking? (Blackout)
• Yes
• No
• Don’t Know
Validity and reliability are important in any study and the way of ensuring these are through doing a pretest and focus group. A focus group would have the ability to look over questions and raise questions about eliminating possible bias in the question or even steering. Also, with doing a pretest on a small group of people it would show that it is actually measuring what it is supposed to measure rather than something else. If this is done repeatedly the researcher could test the reliability and the validity of the study. Overall, the survey ensures measurement reliability and validity through the measurement chosen to test the variables.
Methods – Data Analysis Procedures
Quantitative methods like surveys allow for statistical analysis, which can help us describe something within the sample (descriptive statistics). In this case, because of the multiple variables, the data will be analyzed by multivariate measures of association. Socioeconomic status, peers, binge drinking, and popular media would all be included as independent variables. Logistic regression would be appropriate, because there are one or more independent variables that determine an outcome.
Methods – Ethics Statement
The most important part in the research surveys is for the participant to know their rights before they take the survey. The participant will receive a description of what the survey is about and will have the option to skip over questions if they feel uncomfortable with answering any of the questions. It is also important that the participants are informed that the survey in completely confidential. If the participant chooses to not have any of their data selected for the purpose of the research, then their data will not be used. Also, at the end of the survey it will have a number to resources that they can communicate with in case the participant needs assistance with recovering from the survey emotionally. The research proposal has also been submitted to the institutional review board (IRB), for approval in order to ensure that the appropriate precautions are taken to protect the welfare of the participants.
Conclusion-
Binge drinking among undergraduate students at UCR who are in fraternities are more vulnerable to outside influence. The source of influence can come from many places, even within the person. Many of those who are being influenced now know the reason in which they began to binge drink and it is important to conduct a study to see what exactly influences those individuals. By gathering those individuals and testing them against their socioeconomic status, peers, popular media, and their binge drinking the world can better understand where the source of influence comes from. Something as simple as a self-administered survey can reveal information as to where the source of influence comes from for those individuals who binge drink.