<p>Dartmouth Alcohol and other Drugs Social Norms</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Ethestats/home.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouth.edu/~thestats/home.shtml</a></p>
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Dartmouth has collected information about student attitudes, perceptions, beliefs and behaviors for decades. Since 1996, the data collection process has been conducted by Dartmouth's office of Evaluation and Research. </p>
<p>How is this research conducted?</p>
<p>A random sample of 1,200 students is created from a full listing (via Banner) of those who are on campus and enrolled in classes during the Spring term. That random sample is sent a blitz asking them to participate in the web-based survey. We usually offer some sort of incentive to people, such as a coupon for a Ben and Jerry's ice cream cone. Participants are promised confidentiality. After the initial e-mail request, usually another 2 or 3 reminder e-mails are sent. You can see some of the information survey takers get here. </p>
<p>Usually we get a high rate of return on these surveys, about 50-60%. We check the demographics of the respondents against the total population and find that a representative sample of students return the surveys. We get people who drink a lot, people who don't drink at all, and people who drink moderately. </p>
<p>The survey is conducted in the Spring term, usually a month after the term started. This means that most questions we ask about would not be influenced by any spring break activities. We also conduct this before Green Key weekend so that it measures more regular activities as opposed to out of the ordinary behavior that some people engage around big weekends.</p>
<p>The office of Evaluation and Research is directed by John Pryor, a Dartmouth alumnus from the class of 1984. Student research assistants who work in the office often help create the questions and interpret and report on the data analysis. Dartmouth's research in this area is actually well respected in the field and the College recognized as a leader.</p>
<p>The most recent survey, conducted in the Spring of 2002 with a 60% response rate can be found .
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<p>In addition to the survey results there are also graphs and charts.</p>
<p>The 2002 alcohol survey focused on several key areas:</p>
<p>Alcohol Policy
Expectations of Alcohol Use
Behavior (use and consequences of use) </p>
<p>Policy</p>
<p>Forty-two percent of students thought that alcohol policy was too strict at Dartmouth, while 35% thought it was about right. More had no opinion (16%) than thought it was too lenient (6%).</p>
<p>There was widespread support for the following possible policies:</p>
<p>93% Offering alcohol-free residence halls
89% Using stricter disciplinary sanctions for students who engage in alcohol-related violence
68% Prohibiting kegs in residence halls</p>
<p>There was mixed support for:</p>
<p>45% Using stricter disciplinary sanctions for students who repeatedly violate campus alcohol policies</p>
<p>There was less support for:</p>
<p>31% Enforcing legal age restrictions on alcohol use
26% Parental notification for alcohol policy violations
10% Prohibiting kegs in fraternities and sororities
9% Making all residence halls alcohol-free</p>
<p>Expectations</p>
<p>What people expect when they drink alcohol has a great deal of influence on their drinking choices, and thus the survey asked some key questions used in expectancy research to examine this at Dartmouth. Only students who drink were asked to fill in answers to these questions.</p>
<p>Students were asked to agree or disgree to "For me, drinking alcohol..."</p>
<p>Widespread expectations</p>
<p>73% Makes me happy
70% Makes it easier to meet new people</p>
<p>Moderate expectations</p>
<p>59% Makes it easier to talk to people I am attracted too
56% Makes it easier to act on my feelings
55% Makes it easier to talk to people of the opposite sex
53% Makes it easier to forget pressure
50% Can negatively transform my personality
50% Gives me confidence
48% Can positively transform my personality</p>
<p>Less widely held expectations
(i.e., most students disagree)</p>
<p>39% Relieves boredom
20% Makes me less nervous about having sex
19% Makes me less accountable for my behavior
18% Limits other types of activities I am engaged in
17% Lowers my academic performance
15% Makes me feel lonely</p>
<p>Behavior</p>
<p>About half of the students think of themselves as either an abstainer (16%) or a light drinker (36%).</p>
<p>The survey also asks students to tell us how many drinks they consumed for each day in the past two weeks. A drink is defined as "a 12-ounce beer, a 12-ounce wine cooler, a 4 ounce glass of wine, a mixed drink, or a shot of liquor."</p>
<p>For the most recent Saturday night before the survey, 55% of students had nothing alcoholic to drink. Six percent had only one drink. Six percent also had 2 drinks. Another six percent had 3 drinks. Four percent had 4 drinks. Thus 77%, or 3 out of 4 students, had less than 5 drinks on a Saturday night. Numbers for the 2001 survey, shown below, were similar.</p>