29th Annual Student Research Conference
Qualitatively Understanding the Quantitative: Using Qualitative Research to Understand College Students' Behaviors
Ashley L. Bond
Dr. Roberta Donahue and Dr. Nancy Daley-Moore, Faculty Mentors
There are many risk factors commonly associated with poor health outcomes seen among college students. Often times, quantitative research is done to identify these risk behaviors. However, quantitative research only tells part of the story. The purpose of this study is to analyze quantitative data obtained from the Missouri College Health Behavior Survey (MCHBS) to identify areas that can be expanded qualitatively. A content analysis was conducted to examine the 2014 and 2015 MCHBS surveys and compare the Truman student responses to the aggregate Missouri college student responses. Responses where there was a significant discrepancy between the Truman student responses and the overall Missouri college responses were coded using key words. Similar codes were grouped into the following three themes: 1) mental health, 2) binge drinking and social norms, and 3) drug use. Based on these results, three different qualitative research studies were designed to further expand the identified themes.
Keywords: College Students, Qualitative Research, Risk Behaviors
Topic(s):Health Science
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 8-3
Location: GEO-SUB
Time: 3:30