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Textbooks: Are They Necessary?

Autor:   •  February 8, 2018  •  2,857 Words (12 Pages)  •  475 Views

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Primary research was gathered by way of a focus group, as well as a survey. The focus group was done first and helped the researchers better identify the types of questions that needed to be asked in the survey. The focus group was held at Southwest Minnesota State University and included eight students that attend SMSU. Each of these students studied a different discipline within the university. The participants answered open-ended questions that built upon one another, this allowed the research team to get a better understanding of their perceptions about the necessity of textbooks in four-year colleges.

A survey was administered to 77 students of the same university with more probing questions to gather information on various aspects of textbook purchase and rental. The students were randomly asked to complete the survey, which included 22 questions. The questions ranged from how students acquire textbooks, to their usage of the books. The survey also included general demographic questions, which aided in analyzing the data collected.

Data Analysis and Findings

Through this study, we have learned that on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University, money and availability play a significant role in how we obtain our textbooks. Survey results show that about 75% of people said that their major does directly affect whether they buy or rent their textbooks and 80% of people said that if money was not a factor they would feel more obligated to buy their books. Figure 1 below shows where students are most likely to get their textbooks. As you can see they prefer to buy/rent their textbooks from the on-campus bookstore. This could be for several reasons including convenience and last minute accessibility. Figure 2 shows the extended details of the “combination” category of where students are most likely to get their textbooks. 8% of students use a different combination of ways to get their textbooks. Figure 3 shows how students get their textbooks ranging from used to new and rented to borrowing from friends. Other is representing the students that get their books from amazon. Figure 4 shows the expanded details of the “combination” category of Figure 4. The number one combination is renting and buying new. Figure 5 below shows the relationship between the age of students surveyed their main motivating factors for purchasing or renting their textbooks. The graph shows most the 18-19 age group’s main factor for purchasing/renting is that they will need the textbook for their assignments or exams. That factor was also the most important to age group of 20-21-year-old, as well as 22-24-year-old. The age range of 25+ had equal answers for ‘having it for the first day of class’, ‘my professor requires it’, I need it for assignments/exams’, ‘my professor uses it in class’, ‘the price is right’, and “other” which is represented by ‘will use it for my job’. Figure 6 shows why students shop online. The number one reason students shop online is because it is cost effective. And the second reason is because it is due to instructions by professors. Figure 7 shows the number of students who used their textbooks to study for tests or quizzes. The highest amount was “Sometimes” (15 times a semester) at 36% and “Often” (2-3 times a week) being the second highest at 28%. The smallest was at 4% as “Rarely” (1 or less times a semester). Figure 8 and 9 show what the main motivating factors to purchase/buy/or rent textbooks are. Figure 9 shows the details on what combination of reason students need to use their textbooks. Both graphs indicate that the main reason that students purchase/rent their textbooks is because of assignments for class. Figure 10 shows the amount of times professors reference the textbook in class. As you can see, 46.67% of students answered “often” (2-3 times a week) which although it is not a majority, it is significantly higher than the next highest which was “Very Often” (5 or more times a week) at 26.67%. The smallest was “rarely” (1 or less times a semester) at 4%. This really points to acquiring textbooks so that you can follow along with the professor since he uses it so often. Figure 11 shows the number of students that use their textbooks for homework assignments or to study for homework. The highest answer was “Often” (2-3 times a week) at 36% but the answer “Sometimes” (15 times a semester) was not far behind at 33.3%. The smallest was “Rarely” (1 or less times a semester) at only 1.33%. Figure 12 below shows that there is no significant difference between the buying habits of students with different income levels and whether they buy new, rent, buy used, find them online, get government funding, or a combination of the five. Figure 13 shows that there is a significant difference between what year the student is and whether their professors require the textbooks. Figure 14 shows that the Masters students are the outliers, one master’s student stated that their professor does not require the textbook. Figure 15 shows that there is no significant difference between student GPA and how often the students use their textbooks to study for an exam or quiz. Figure 16 shows the distribution of majors of people surveyed. There were a larger majority of business type majors surveyed such as Marketing, Finance, Accounting, and Business Administration which could skew the data.

Conclusion

What the information shows us is that if money were no issue, student at SMSU would buy more textbooks and they are more likely to buy books related to their majors. It also shows us that some students do not think they use their textbooks that often and other believe that the investment is well worth their money. Our hypotheses were that if money were no object students would buy more textbooks; this was true. Another one of our hypothesis was that student would buy more textbooks that related to their majors. We were wrong, proving the null hypothesis to be true.

Detail of Findings

The research methodology was that of a focus group and a survey. These methodologies were conducted on the SMSU campus, with SMSU students participating.

Our research team found that there were some limitations in the research. The survey was only handed out to students on the Southwest Minnesota State University campus, so the results shown are partial to this campus, and this campus alone. To get an analysis of value, our team would have needed to complete 341 surveys to get an accurate sample size; our team had only collected 77 surveys. completing these 341 surveys would have given our information a 95% confidence level with a five percent margin of error. Another limitation that

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