The Final Presentation

We changed topics from our original proposal topic of student athletes to reasons why students drink. We did this for the following reasons.
It is a common stereotype that university students consume vast amounts of alcohol. Being students our self we think this is only partly true and therefor found it to be a something interesting as well as relevant to ourselves to research at a more deeper level. At first we were hoping to look at whether or not being a member of a university sports team affect the level of alcohol consumed in comparison to a non-sports team student. However due to us not having ethical clearance to do our own research on university sports team members we would have had to use secondary data. We found this to prove difficult to find results reflecting our specific question whether team pressure is one of the main reasons for   student drinking. This then led us to modify our research question to look at the Reasons Behind such High Levels of Consumption.


The findings to the right are from a survey conducted by CORE Institute on the Alcohol and Drug use of University students. They were the percentage of responses who answered yes to the reasons for drinking alcohol. This shows that enhancing social activity and connection with peers stems from drinking alcohol, and as a new student who is most likely living away from home, this will be of particular importance. Hutching et al., (2011) also backed up this figure with the majority of students asked reported reasons for drinking alcohol was for social reasons.


A figure which is surprisingly lower than expected was that of dealing with stress, at only 43.9% saying yes. As a young adult the stresses of moving to university and adapting to the heavy work load and making new friends. Quite a shocking result was that to do with sexual opportunity and feeling sexier, a figure which shows that being sexually active and feeling attractive is a important issue for some students. Young et al (2006) also found that enhanced sexual performance and experience was a noticeable factor, being the third popular behind affective change such as mood change and assertion, such as having more self confidence.


Another finding that has not been mentioned in the CORE findings is that of peer pressure, or fitting in with a particular group. Affiliation with interuniversity athletic teams is associated with heavier drinking (Meilman et al.,1999). Athletes have reported high levels of conformity motives; the need to fit in with their peers (Hutching et al. 2011). This could be due to the societies they have which often celebrate on gameday as a weekly occurrence. Hutching et al. (2011) also found that males in sports teams were more likely to drink
alcohol excessively and fall into conforming to their peers, particularly on nights such as initiation into the group. 


Each individual will have their own personal reasons for consuming alcohol, nevertheless as students have such a high prevalence of alcohol consumption it is obvious that there must be a correlation between the factors of being a university student and the need for alcohol.

University is known for its social side as well as the high levels of work; the findings suggest that alcohol consumption is generally done as a group experience, and that it enhances the experiences they have together, thus highlighting the effects of peer pressure. A worrying finding is that of sexual enhancement which was a key reason for people wanting to drink; with figures as high as 474,000 students having unprotected sex as a result of alcohol intake in 2001 (Higson et al. 2009) this is a very dangerous result of risky behaviour which takes place when intoxicated. This is also a result that many people regret, but still continue to drink alcohol, therefore furthering that alcohol drinking may be something they think they must do to ‘fit in’. The involvement in university societies, particularly sporting societies, also is a huge reason behind drinking as the societies plan nights around excessive drinking and partying. The regular finding is that students feel the need to consume alcohol to be considered ‘normal’ and ‘the same’ as their peers. 

Research Proposal

Research Question:

Does being a member of a university sports team affect the level of alcohol consumed in comparison to a non-sports team student?

Method:

To answer the research question we will first look at what previous research conducted on university students and drinking. For our own research we will be conducting surveys on both students who are sports team members and those who are not. As part of the survey we will be asking students to identify their own drinking habits and reasons as well as their perception of other students. We are going to focus our survey on the sports team members and if alcohol consumption is an integral part of team membership and identity looking more closely at initiations. When looking at the sports team members we will also try and see if there is a differentiation between the different sports teams and whether this reflects their stereotype. The reasons for us using surveys as oppose to interview is that its quicker and easier to get a larger response as we can use social media sites to gain participants. Interviews would involve finding a time and place to conduct them which can be time consuming in itself. Also surveys through social media enable us to get students from all over the country to participate in our research. We are not focusing our research on just one university as it will give a more representative view of students all over England as well as other countries.

Concerns with research and ethical issues

Due to us using surveys, which are going to be posted through social media the participants will have chosen to do the survey therefor they are consenting to participation. All survey participation is anonymous and therefore we are safeguarding the interests of those involved. Due to the fact that we are not conduction a covert research all our participants will be aware that this is part of a research project and so they may change their answers to reflect the stereotypes.

Time Frame

We will be conducting the survey over a time period of 2 weeks as people do not always respond straight away when it comes to social media. Also people especially students have a tendency to overlook things so we will be posting the links on multiple occasions.

Kate Walsh, Sport and Drinking

Last Wednesday I had the privilege to attend an interview with Kate Walsh, the GB hockey captain, and Rob Richardson, the GB sitting volleyball captain. Kate and Rob spoke about the build up to the 2012 Olympics and the time at the games and in the Olympic village. The focus unsurprisingly was on when Kate had her jaw broken in one of the matches during the Olympics. She spoke about how there was great uncertainty about whether or not she'd be able to participate in the rest of the Olympics.

Although her injury was the main focus of the interview Kate also spoke about all the choices she had to make in preparation of the games and also the choices she had to make to get her to become an Olympic athlete. One of these choices is that she cuts alcohol out of her diet apart from an occasional glass of wine.


It is not surprising that Olympic athletes or any sort of serious athlete does not part take in serious drinking. This however made me think of our research on University Sports teams and Alcohol consumption. It made me wonder as to why alcohol was such a big part of University sports teams when it is such a big no no for professional athletes? Do sports teams not really care about sport?

According to Professor Ron Maughan of the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Loughborough University, "ingestion of alcohol will increase the risk of hypoglycaemia [abnormally low levels of blood sugar] due to the suppression of glucose production by the liver. This may be of particular concern during prolonged moderate-intensity exercise when glucose output from the liver is an important source of energy." So should that suggest that there is a correlation between the amount of Alcohol a team consumes and the league position of a team? and that there is therefor a correlation between the seriousness the team takes the sport to their position? Therefor suggesting that university sports teams don't really care about how they do in the sport.


I think that the university sports teams alcohol consumption idea is a lot more complex then it may at first appear but that at the same time it is it a lot more simple. I for one being part of a sports team myself definitely think that there are many players who train the hardest but then also drink the hardest.   I am not sure if they see the alcohol as a reward for hard training as that would just seem very naive. I am now very excited to see the results that our survey uncovers. 

The length people go for animals

From dragging dolphins back out to shore to crawling across ice to save a dog. People go to great lengths to save animals.


Pets

Owners will do anything for their pets but why? I think that there is a strong link between owners and their pets especially dogs. I find that the saying 'A dog is man's best friend' is very true. Dogs are not just pets they are part of the family and are companions of life. The bond however goes both ways between owner and dog. This is shown firstly by the man in essex who crawled over ice covered river to resque his dog that had fallen in. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-17048574 This shows the blind loyalty that owners have that they will risk their own life for their dogs. On the other hand you have the loyal dog that refused to leave a soldiers side even after he died. This shows how strong the connection is between master and dog. It is a long lasting friendship that is often stronger than that between humans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZPx2Wnc0lI


Wild Animals

People will help any animal in need not just their pets. I think often people are more willing to help animals than humas which I think comes from the idea that people have that animals cannot help themselves because it is humans that are making their life difficult. This is the case of animal conservation anyway. But then you also have those people who save animals in need such as in Brazil where a pod of dolphins got stranded on the beach and people dragged them back to sea. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17309949


I think that the main reason why people help animals because they feel it is their duty and because they sympathise for them.

Autoethnography - Eating habits

General Eating
I wouldn't say I am a fussy eater however I am not an adventurous eater either.
When left to my own devices my meals are fairly basic, pasta with sauce and sometimes some vegetables and meat. This is very strange as my family mainly my mother and brother love trying new dishes and experimenting with different flavours. I think that my boring food habits come simply from the fact that I am to lazy to spend hours in the kitchen making these elaborate recipes.

Restaurant Foods
When It comes to eating out I will always stick with things I know. I think that has to do with generally not liking to be out of my comfort zone in general. I am not a person very keen on change. This again is strange as my family has always moved around and I have always gone to international schools where being out of your comfort zone is the norm.

Trying new foods
My friends at school would always have all sorts of different foods for lunch as we all came from completely different parts of the world and so many of them would always swap around and try new things but I like to stick to the food I know I like. However if someone offers me some I will always try a bit. This however has nothing to do with trying new foods but more as to be polite. For instance when going to someones house even if I do not like the food or am full I will always try and finish the plate as  I was always told that is the polite and proper way to act.

Going abroad
When going abroad my eating habits change slightly in that I am more willing to try new things and get to know the culture. For instance when we went to South Africa I tried things like crocodile or when I went to Sri Lanka I tried eating with my hands(not a very easy task especially when the main food is rice) I think this change in eating habit can be again linked back to my parents teachings of being polite and using proper etiquette. When entering another culture I find that you have to adapt to them rather than them adapting to you and so if everyone eats with their hands that is what you should be doing.

I would say that my eating habits largely come from my family life which included a lot of change, which I for the most part have no power over and so I try when possible to keep certain things that I can control the same such as my heating. However when there is a change in place such as a restaurant, country or house I try and fit in ,as that is what I was taught to be the correct way, whilst still keeping to my comfort zone. Thus comes a balance between comfort and not wanting to stick out.

Hello World,

Thanks to the set up of my modules next year it would seem that I am not in University until the second semster and so I would like to make the most of my time and participate in a six month placement. I am very interested to do this with  Laureus Sport for Good Foundation for varied reasons including it is the focus of a possible dissertation topic. They are a non-governmental organization that 'harness the power of sport to promote social change'

I am very interested in working with children when I have finished University and being a very keen athlete myself with hockey being my main sport.  The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is definitely an organization that I would be very much interested in working for in the future.

With having this great interest in the  Laureus Sport for Good Foundation it only seems logical to base my dissertation on the foundation. I am therefore hoping to discover as to how far sport can make an impact on a childs developement and education.

Henrike