My research project, which explored, ‘How does sleep hinder student performance?’ through the use of quantitative data, in the form of a survey, allowed me to explore the affect that sleep can have on university student performance and in particular BCM212 students. I decided to pick a topic based on sleep because, the knowledge of sleep deprivation and the affects it has on factors such as focus and memory may not be common among individuals and therefore, I wanted to further address this through my research study.
Throughout this research project, I have developed my understanding for ethical research and it has allowed me to further develop my knowledge of research practices and quantitative data. The survey asked BCM212 students to answer 9 questions relating to sleep and their sleep habits in order for me to establish if there was a catalyst or issue that hindered performance. Within the results I found many students (18%) went to sleep later than 12am, which was surprising, however this maybe because students have working or other responsibilities which hinders the hours of sleep that they receive.
Moreover, I learnt that the use of a consent form within surveys is highly important as it conveys to individuals the use of your research and where their information and responses will be placed. The use of a consent form will allow for more ethical research and is an important factor.
If I were to conduct a research questionnaire again, I would aim to try and receive more responses as I did not believe that 11 was enough to formulate an accurate response, even though I did receive differing answers. I would also ask a few more specific questions that related more directly to the link between individual sleep patterns and their university study. I did ask one which asked, ‘Do you find that your sleep habits can have an affect on your overall performance at university?’ For this question 100% of my respondents answered yes, which conveyed to me that if I asked more questions relating to this area then maybe I would have gained more thorough answers. However, I was concerned to ask more in-depth questions as I did not want to be unethical and ask questions that may have been too personal.
Furthermore, in the future I would conduct a quantitative style of study again as I believe it allowed me to receive the most accurate responses that were formed into a percentage, which was easy to understand and comprehend.
Paris' Perspective 