Why don't students at NMsU join a Greek organization? Bethany Naylor Marketing 310 December 6.2002
Table of Contents Introduction Hypotheses Objectives of research Methodology Analysis and Findings Cross tabulations 30 Limitations Conclusion and recommendations Appendices Appendix A: Survey Appendix B: SPSS frequencies and cross tabs
Introduction: My research question for this project is: Why do students not join a Greek organization? I will conduct a survey from a sample of 100 students at NMSU to research this question. The Greek community at NMSU consists of six sororities and fourteen fraternities. This number is quite small for a Greek community. NMSU has a population of about 15, 000 students but the number of students that are members of fraternities and sororities is low. I believe that although currently New Mexico State University has a small Greek community that this campus has the potential to increase its population. So often on this campus you hear the Greek community giving out reasons advocating the joining of a Greek organization, yet the Greek community on this campus often struggles for membership. On other campuses around the country a large percentage of the student population join Greek organizations. It seems that on other campuses students are more responsive to the greek community. Not only are the number of fraternities and sororities smaller but so is the number of members each sorority and fraternity has. On many campuses the individual Greek organizations have one hundred members, but on our campus each chapter has forty to sixty members. The motivation behind my interest in this subject is due to the fact that I have been involved in a Greek organization for three years and I am currently in charge of membership for my sorority In conducting a survey I will try to gain knowledge on why students at nmSU are not as responsive to the greek community. From this survey I would also like to gain knowledge about what changes the greek community can make in order to increase interest. I hypothesize that many students on this campus have not joined a greek organization due to the issues of money, time, negative stereotypes, whether or not their
parents were in a Greek organization, parents'approval and not having friends in a greek organization Hypotheses Many students have not joined a sorority/fraternity because they do not want to spend money Many students who are not in a Greek organization have parents who were never members in a Greek organization Many students are afraid to join a Greek organization because they think their parents will not approve Many students have not joined a Greek organization because they believe that Greeks on this campus have a negative image Many students have not joined a Greek organization because they believe it will take up too much of their time Research Objectives To determine if there are negative stereotypes about the greek community on our campus To determine the reasons behind students not joining a greek organization To determine which sororities or fraternities on this campus have a bad image To find ways to improve the Greek organization as a whole These objectives are found in some of my questions in the survey. These objectives will be discussed later in the report to help me analyze my findings. I believe that these objectives helped me compose a good survey and will lead me to determine why students at NMsU are not interested in joining a Greek organization Sample Methodology One hundred students on this campus were surveyed for this research question Surveys were passed out to fellow classmates, and to students walking to and from class This sample was very random) Analysis and findings (All results and data are based on 100 participants Question 1: Are you currently a member of either a non academic sorority or non academic fraternity? I did not analyze the data for this question because all 100 students to this question. If any of the students had answered yes to this question they would not
have completed the survey because it was a requirement for these students to not be involved in a Greek organization Question 2: Have you ever pledged into a fraternity/sorority? rg Dilative Valid 93 Total 100100.01000 Only seven students out of 100 answered yes to this question. Seven percent of the sample population had pledged into a fraternity or sorority but then dropped out of the Greek organization that they had joined. I expected this number to be low because most people who join a sorority or fraternity tend to stay in the fraternity or sorority. This percentage is about as low as I expected it would be Question 3: Was your mom ever a member of a non academic sorority? mom member of sorority Mom member of sorority vaid「 Cumulate frequency Percent PercentPercent 170 17.0 83830830 100.0 Total 1001000100.0 Question 4: Was your dad ever a member of a non academic fraternity?