IMRaD Paper Introduction and Methods

Mrinalini Manektala

Writing and Reading

Hem Paudel

14 April 2016

Introduction

As students get older and advance through school, the workload they receive grows larger and larger and it seems like the amount of sleep they gets decreases. This is concerning because a lack of sleep can be detrimental to health, and possibly negatively affect academic performance. This is especially concerning in college students because poor academic performance during undergraduate years can have a big impact of what their future is, so it is a subject that needs to be studied and hopefully solved. What has been found in the past is that a lack of sleep or disrupted sleep causes daytime sleepiness the next day, which in effect results in poor academic performance. There are multiple reasons why college students get a lack of sleep or have disrupted sleep which include alcohol use and poor time management skills. What was not said in past studies is specifically how little or how much sleep students get, and how it directly affects their GPA. Most studies that were researched would use phrases like “a lack of sleep” or “a disrupted sleep cycle” but would not include the specific amount of sleep which is an important factor when researching how it affects academic performance. The current research will help with this unknown knowledge because it has asked students in a survey and in interviews specifically how much sleep they get, what it causes, and how it affects their academic performance.

Methods

Participants

            The participants used in this study consisted of all college students, ranging from the ages of 18-21 years old. There were around 30 participants used in this study who were all full time students at the University of Iowa.

Procedures

            There were both a survey and an interview used in this study, the survey consisting of six questions and the interview consisting of seven questions. The survey was taken online while the interviews were done in person. The questions for the survey included:

1. What is your age?

under 18

18-20

21 and over

2. What is your gender?

Female

Male

Other

3. On average, how many hours of sleep do you get per night?

5 or less

6-7

8 or more

4. How difficult is it for you to focus in class after an average night of sleep?

very easy

somewhat easy

somewhat difficult

very difficult

5. On average, how many times per week do you skip class because of sleepiness?

never

1-2 times

3 or more times

6. What is your current GPA?

3.6 - 4.0

3.1 - 3.5

2.6 - 3.0

2.1 - 2.5

2.0 or below

The interview questions included:

1.     Do you usually sleep well at night or is your sleep often disrupted? If so, why?
2. If your sleep is disrupted or if you get a lack of sleep, do you find it harder to be productive the next day?
3. Would you find it easier to be alert during class if you got more sleep?
4. Do you often take naps during the day if you're tired from not getting enough sleep the night before?
5. If you do take naps, how does it affect the amount of homework you get done during the day?
6. How much sleep do you get per night when you're studying for a test versus when you're not studying for a test?
7. Do you think getting less sleep to study the night before a test helps you perform better on the test? Why or why not?

Data Analysis

            The data that came from this survey was automatically recorded online through the website SurveyMonkey, which was what was used to create the survey. The author personally analyzed the interviews that were conducted.