Roselinde Kaiser

Math 5 Winter 04

Survey: Expansion of the Dartmouth social scene.

Introduction: After attending Dartmouth College for almost four years, I have had the opportunity to compare its unique social scene to those of other college campuses. Unlike colleges located in large cities, Dartmouth is situated in an extremely small and isolated town. In addition, Dartmouth itself is so small that social groups become almost familial, and the students become accustomed to interacting with the same people, in the same places, each night. I am curious as to how satisfied Dartmouth students are with the current social scene and what changes they would be the most comfortable with or eager for. The Dartmouth administration has made some efforts with regard to providing social spaces that are typically nonalcoholic, college supervised, and open to everyone. In my personal experience, these efforts have met with little success; few if any of my friends attend these events, and the consensus amongst my friends is that “Fuel” is “lame”. The administration is strenuously attempting to create non-Greek social options, with the result that many students may perceive the administration to be anti-Greek. The history of probations, security checks, and outright de-recognition seem to support this belief. My questions are as follows: What is the true opinion of the average Dartmouth student regarding the Dartmouth social scene? What options do Dartmouth students prefer in expanding the social scene? Do they think that more variety is necessary, or are they happy with what is currently available? In attempting to answer some of these questions, I designed the following survey.

Survey: The Dartmouth Social Scene

(Note: all information submitted will be confidential and anonymous. Please circle the answer that most closely describes your opinions and habits. If you have additional comments, please feel free to include them on the back of this survey paper.)

Class year: _________

Age: ______________

Gender: M F

1) I participate in some type of social scene on Dartmouth campus or in Hanover _____ nights a week.

a. 0

b. 1-2

c. 3-4

d. 5 or more

2) I am satisfied with the social options on Dartmouth College campus.

a. Yes

b. No

3) When I go out to socialize, I typically go to (choose all that apply):

a. Fraternities

b. Sororities

c. College sponsored locations (i.e. Fuel, Collis)

d. Local Hanover businesses (i.e. 5Olde, Molly’s)

4) From my experience, I think that fraternity parties are:

a. Fun

b. An ok way to spend a night

c. Lame

d. I’ve never been to any

5) From my experience, I think that sorority parties are:

a. Fun

b. An ok way to spend a night

c. Lame

d. I’ve never been to any

6) From my experience, I think that College sponsored social locations (i.e. Fuel, Collis) are:

a. Fun

b. An ok way to spend a night

c. Lame

d. I’ve never been to any

7) From my experience, I think that the social scene at local Hanover businesses (i.e. 5Olde, Molly’s) is:

a. Fun

b. An ok way to spend a night

c. Lame

d. I’ve never been to any

8) I would like to see more of this type of social scene:

a. Fraternities

b. Sororities

c. College sponsored locations (i.e. Fuel, Collis)

d. Local Hanover businesses (i.e. 5Olde, Molly’s)

9) It is important to me that alcohol is available when I go out.

a. Yes

b. No

10) I think the Dartmouth College administration is:

a. Pro-Greek system

b. Anti-Greek system

Results, analysis, and statement of problems.

The above survey was conducted on Friday, January 16th 2004 in Blunt on Dartmouth College Campus. It was given to a group of Math 5 students, with a total of 35 participants (one of which was not coded due to the lack of identifying information). All participants remained anonymous.

Below are the key results from the Dartmouth students surveyed, including freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and super-seniors. Please refer to the above survey and the attached corresponding graphs and data table.

· The Dartmouth students surveyed go out on average between 2-3 nights each week. (See question #1.)

· Dartmouth students show mixed feelings concerning the available local/campus social scene. (See question #2.) 75% of freshmen, 50% of sophomores, 50% of juniors, and almost 55% of seniors responded that they are satisfied with the local/campus social scene. However, only a third (33.33%) of super-seniors indicated that they are satisfied with the local/campus social scene.

· Between 80-90% of Dartmouth freshmen and sophomores go to fraternities when they go out; between 20-30% of juniors go to fraternities when they go out; between 70-80% of seniors go to fraternities when they go out; between 30-40% of super-seniors go to fraternities when they go out. (See question #3)

· Between 10-15% of Dartmouth freshmen go to sororities when they go out; approximately 25% of sophomores go to sororities when they go out; approximately 0% of juniors go to sororities when they go out; between 25-30% of seniors go to sororities when they go out; between 30-35% of super-seniors go to sororities when they go out. (See question #3.)

· Approximately 50% of Dartmouth freshmen go to College sponsored locations (like Fuel or Collis) when they go out; between 10-20% of sophomores go to College sponsored locations when they go out; approximately 0% of juniors, seniors, and super-seniors go to College sponsored locations when they go out. (See question #3.)

· Between 10-15% of Dartmouth freshmen go to local Hanover businesses (like Molly’s or 5Olde) when they go out; between 35-40% of Dartmouth sophomores go to local Hanover businesses when they go out; approximately 50% of Dartmouth juniors go to local Hanover businesses when they go out; approximately 55% of Dartmouth seniors go to local Hanover businesses when they go out; between 65-70% of Dartmouth super-seniors go to local Hanover businesses when they go out. (See question #3.)

· On average, Dartmouth freshmen, sophomores, and juniors find fraternity social scenes to be fun, while seniors and super-seniors find fraternity social scenes an ok way to spend a night. (See question #4.)

· On average, Dartmouth freshmen find sorority social scenes to be between lame and an ok way to spend a night, whereas sophomores, juniors, seniors, and super-seniors find sororities to be somewhere between fun and an ok way to spend a night. (See question #5.)

· On average, Dartmouth freshmen find College sponsored locations to be between fun and an ok way to spend a night, whereas sophomores, juniors, and seniors find College sponsored locations lame. Super-seniors rated College sponsored locations an ok way to spend a night. (See question #6.)

· On average, all Dartmouth students find local Hanover businesses to be between fun and an ok way to spend a night, with sophomores leaning to between lame and an ok way to spend a night. (See question #7.)

· Although most Dartmouth students indicated a high level of satisfaction with the available social scene, when asked which social option they would like to see more of, most showed the desire for expanded Hanover businesses. Small proportions (between 10-25%) of freshmen, sophomores, and seniors surveyed expressed interest in an increase of Fraternities instead, while approximately 25% of freshmen and 10% of seniors preferred an increase in the Sorority scene. Another 25% of freshmen chose to vote for more College sponsored social options, although no respondent from any other class chose this option.

· On average, alcohol was an important element in the social scene of choice for Dartmouth students. 62.5% of freshmen, 75% of sophomores, 50% of juniors, 72.73% of seniors, and 66.67% of super-seniors consider alcohol to be an important part of their social life.

· On average, Dartmouth sophomores (87.5%), juniors (75%), seniors (90.91%), and super-seniors (100%) believe that the college administration is anti-Greek system. Dartmouth freshmen are ambivalent, with 50% viewing the administration as anti-Greek and 50% viewing the administration as pro-Greek.

· The key question in the above survey was: are Dartmouth students satisfied with the available social scene? Out of all the 34 students surveyed, (not including the participant who did not include identifying information) 19 answered that they were indeed satisfied with the current options. In a rough Margin of error calculation, this means that:

§ (p) = 19/34 = .559 or 55.9% success (satisfaction)

§ MoE = 2*Square root of [p(1-p)/n]

§ MoE = 2*Square root of [(.559(1-.559))/34]

§ MoE = 2*Square root of [(.559*.441/34]

§ MoE = .170 or 17% margin of error

The survey was constructed to gather opinions and habits of Dartmouth students regarding the current social scene, as well as possible options to expand the social scene. Students were questioned about Greek social options, College-sponsored social options, and local Hanover businesses. The survey introduction informed participants that their identities would remain anonymous and asked them to feel free to include comments on the back of their survey sheet. Surveys were then collected, data was coded by class year, and analysis begun.

The questions asked were clear to respondents (none included comments indicating a lack of understanding) and most participants responded to all question with their opinions, fulfilling the goal of the survey. Efforts were made, in the wording of the questions, to prevent bias; the wording of each question was kept consistent regardless of which social scene was being rated. However, a bias does exist in that the survey only questions participants as to four social options; it is possible that other social options exist that should be examined to create a more complete picture of the present social scene and what future social scenes should be expanded. In particular, two respondents noted that a favorite/habitual social scene in which they participate is “friends’ houses”; this could mean dorm rooms or off-campus houses. By generating a longer list of social alternatives, the true opinions and habits of Dartmouth College students could be attained. The resulting composite of social opinions would be more valid as it would measure that which the survey is designed to measure: students’ opinions about the Dartmouth social scene.

In addition, there is no way of knowing whether the results are reliable (repeatable with a different sample). This is due in part to the extremely skewed sample that was surveyed; the population targeted was Dartmouth College students, but the students sampled were not randomly selected. All students were those enrolled in a particular mathematics course; this relationship could possibly affect participants’ opinions/habits, as specific personal characteristics that determine enrollment could be common to all participants and affect surveyed opinions. Out of the students surveyed, much larger proportions were freshmen, sophomores, and seniors; only four juniors and three super-seniors were included. Therefore, the proportion data, presented in the graphs included here, is much more affected by individuals in the junior class than by individuals in the senior class. To make the results more reliable, a random sample must be obtained, through randomized face-book selection of enrolled students or some form of randomized blitzing.

Another problem that arose during surveying was that of non-response, or skipped questions. Several participants inexplicably chose to skip a question, without commenting as to why they chose not to respond. The sample size was not large enough for the surveyor to ‘fill in’ the response with the response of a comparable participant; therefore, there are pieces of data missing in analysis.

Finally, the set-up of the survey, or pretest, was flawed: the operation conducted on January 16th was neither an informative pretest (with direct feedback required of all respondents) nor a reliable survey. A pre-test would optimally indicate some sort of interaction with participants, a debriefing or review with participants. Alternately, a preliminary survey could be conducted with an appropriately randomized sample. Neither case was true with the above survey.

In the future, this survey could be conducted and results could be found with confidence provided that several key changes are made. First, the survey itself must be revised to include more varied social options about which participants may respond. Second, a true pretest should be conducted, including debriefing and surveyor/participant interaction as to what might be done to improve the survey and make it more ‘user-friendly’. Third, a randomized sample of Dartmouth students should be obtained, at an optimum size of 125 participants, with approximately 25 respondents from each academic class. (One reason for an increased sample size is that, in voluntary surveys, it is to be expected that less than 100% of participants will respond. In addition, with a larger sample size, the resulting data can be regarded with more confidence that it accurately and representatively measures student opinions. Even with a sample size of 125, the margin of error for each individual class will still be fairly high – 20% - but the margin of error for the total population of Dartmouth students will be reduced from approximately 17% to 9%.)

Despite the many flaws in the above survey and data, if one generalizes the results to the greater population of Dartmouth students, the information regarding opinions on the local/campus social scene is intriguing. The upper-class student population is split on the topic of social scene satisfaction, while the freshmen seem more highly satisfied with the available options. Future studies might probe this distinction, with the goal of discovering whether satisfaction declines over the course of student years at Dartmouth (longitudinal study required), or whether current upperclassmen are merely finding existing social options lacking in comparison with the Dartmouth social scene of the past. Questions regarding the effects of the Student Life Initiative on the campus social scene would be especially interesting. These interpretations may also apply to another aspect of the survey; students were asked what their perception is of the College administration’s attitude toward the Greek system. As student year increased, the percentage of students who consider the administration to be anti-Greek increased as well. Is this because students become convinced over time that the administration is anti-Greek, or is it because older student classes have seen a gradually building hostility toward the Greek system on the part of the College? These are questions which the above survey is not equipped to answer.

In terms of specific social options, it seems that a high proportion of students in general go out to fraternities and find them to be a “fun” social space; however, students do not in general indicate any desire for more fraternities, which seems to support the theory that students are happy with the available fraternity social scene. Meanwhile, fewer students overall attend sororities when they go out; many more seniors and super-seniors attend sororities, but very few freshmen participate in this social scene. This could be due to the fact that sorority open parties are rarer, and other sorority events (such as tails) are usually closed to the general student population. Therefore, it is usually upperclassmen who have the opportunity to attend sorority events. It is interesting to note that all upperclassmen (‘06s, ‘05s, ‘04s, and ‘03s) responded that sororities are a “fun” social scene, whereas freshmen, who said they rarely went to sororities, responded that sororities are “ok” to “lame”. It may be that as students grow older and attend/are invited to more sorority events, their enjoyment of sororities as a social option increases. Next, in examination of student opinions on College-sponsored locations, note the extreme differences between freshman and upper-class attendance and opinions; while 50% of freshmen report going to College-sponsored locations, only 12.5% of sophomores go to these locations, and 0% of juniors, seniors, and super-seniors go to College-sponsored locations. In addition, while freshmen reportedly consider College-sponsored locations between “fun” and “ok”, sophomores, juniors, and seniors display a general consensus that these locations are “lame”. Interest in expanding the College-sponsored social scene is slight, as only 25% of freshmen show a desire for this expansion, and no upper-class students show any desire for more College-sponsored social options. One possible interpretation of this difference is that Dartmouth upper-classmen have more social options; friends who live off-campus might have parties, and no freshmen live off-campus. Therefore upperclassmen are not likely to spend social time under the supervision of the College. Following this idea, one might regard the increasing satisfaction with Hanover businesses as students become older as a sign that upper-class students, particularly seniors and super-seniors, shift their social goals from College-sponsored locations to local businesses (bars and restaurants) because they are able to consume alcohol at local businesses once they reach a legal age. Freshmen may be more likely to consume alcohol covertly in dorms (something not addressed by the present survey) and then congregate at fraternities or “Fuel”, while older students are more likely to spend the evening at a local bar before going to fraternities or sororities. Along these lines, the existing data that shows upper-class students desiring more local Hanover business options makes sense. This issue of alcohol availability is only hinted at in the above survey, but the influence of alcohol on students’ social choices is important and should be more fully considered in future research. A majority of each student class responded that alcohol is an important part of their social life, and in the total population surveyed, 67.64% of students (with a 16% margin of error) reported that alcohol is an important component of their social life. Even at the lowest point of the data range within the margin of error (67.64% - 16%, or 51.64%) we still find that a majority of students view alcohol as an important factor in their social choices. Also, in terms of incidents or accidents related to drinking, it would be extremely interesting to discover whether College-sponsored locations (where alcohol is typically not available) truly attract a more “sober” or “safe” crowd. It is possible that younger students simply become intoxicated before attending “Fuel” or similar options, and feel more pressure to consume quickly and secretively before going out -- a practice that is conducive to binge drinking.

It might be interesting to examine future data, gathered from results of a more reliable survey, in several new manipulations; data may be coded by gender, by Greek status, by GPA, or by other categorization. A new survey design could be longitudinal, and compared to the current cross-sectional design. Questions that are more detailed could be asked, delving into student opinions on; alcohol, alcohol safety, how comfortable/available specific social options are to them, and what role Dartmouth students feel the College administration plays in the development of the campus social scene. The information gathered could truly aid the College in its quest for an expanded social scene that provides options for students, without stunting or destroying the currently available social scene that is highly regarded by students.