Andy Tran

Introduction to Psychology
Project Proposal

Statement of Purpose: When it comes to college one of the things that

students often comment about it is how stressful it is, whether it be the
tough curriculum, juggling classwork and a job, and a host of other
pressures. The purpose of this research is to analyze the types and levels of
stress that students at UW Bothell face, and their methods of coping with it.
This is an especially interesting question due to the fact that UW Bothell is
more like a commuter school than a normal university campus, which makes
it so that the environment of this study is different from that of previous
studies, which will allow for interesting comparisons.
Research Area involved: The psychological area that this project will revolve
around will be mainly health, stress, and coping, all of which are focused on
in chapter 13 of the book. The main portion of the study will be to analyze
the different stressors in students lives here at UW Bothell, while at the
same time analyzing their responses through that stress through coping
mechanisms, with some attention to student health.
Research Methods: The primary method in which this study will be conducted
will be by a survey given out to the students. In order to ensure that the data

is statistically sound the sample size of the data will be of 100 students or
more to make sure the study is reliable. The way that the surveys will be
distributed will probably be through having faculty distribute it and collect in
in their classes because that will eliminate volunteer bias, where only certain
people will volunteer to take the survey and those people may not accurately
represent the sample population. The survey will first take into account
gender and class standing in order to be able to distinguish the data gained
during analysis, however the survey will be anonymous in order to eliminate
researcher bias and keep the sample random. One of the first questions
asked during the survey will be what is their primary stressor? Which they
can choose between multiple choice answers such as academics. The next
question would be asking them to rate their average level of stress
throughout the school year on a scale of one to ten. The next question will be
what is their preferred coping method, with options listed? The following
question will be asking them how effective is their coping method in dealing
with their stress on a scale of one to ten. The final question will be whether
they feel that their stress has increased since they started question, stayed
the same, or decreased? After that the surveys will be collected, the data
collated, and then analyzed so we can attain our results.