Psychology Answer Note #28

Question 1 Read the research report below and answer the questions that follows An investigation on the ill effects of homesickness on first year students at a small Midwestern University Shelby Winn Concordia University, 2015 Introduction and background of the study 1. The transition to college can be exciting and also very scary for many young adults. For some individuals the move to college can be very smooth and easy; whereas, for others it can be almost unsustainable. Thurber and Walton (2012, p.1) explain that individuals who experience homesickness as “the distress or impairment caused by an actual or anticipated separation from home”. At the end of the day, it can be hard to adjust to new schedules and make friends. 2. There was a study conducted a few years ago that surveyed 101 first year college students. Of these students, 60% reported homesickness (Longo, 2010). Homesickness is really a phenomenon that has not gotten much attention over the years and is not really a formal diagnostic term, but all of the symptoms would most commonly be diagnosed as “Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood (Beck, Taylor, & Robbins, 2003, p.157). In another study, researchers focused on the dimensions of sociotropy, “which is a personality trait characterized by excessive investment in interpersonal relationships and have a strong need for social acceptance. In addition, they examined autonomy, which is the capacity of an individual to make informed, uncoerced decision” (Beck et al., 2003, p.163). They found that both of these were related to parts of homesickness and also depression scores. When looking at the personality side they explained that it had appeared that attachment- related distress can explain why a person with sociotropic traits may have a harder time with the transition to college (Beck et al., 2003). 3. Another study done by Urani, Miller, Johnson, and Petzel (2003) focused on the Page 3 of 11 relationship between homesickness and a number of different factors in first- year college students. Some of the findings within their first study suggested that “students who reported high levels of homesickness had a tendency to view their home environments in positive terms, suggesting that when they had positive experiences in their past, it made it harder for them to leave their homes behind” (p. 392). They also found that homesick individuals had greater psychological disturbances such as depression. In their second study (2003) they found that first year college students who “showed signs of insecurity and poor social skills prior to entering university life have a greater tendency to exhibit signs of homesickness during the sixth week of their first term” (p. 392). 4. The purpose of this study was three- fold, in which the author examined the prevalence of homesickness, studies the effect of homesickness on freshman students, and examined the coping mechanisms used by students. Although almost all students tend to experience some sort of homesickness while attending college, this study examined how it affects first year students. One reason this study was conducted was to look more into the topic because although there is some research out there, there is not a lot to fully understand homesickness. Looking further into why an individual feels homesick can help one understand why they choose to do certain behaviours or why they act the way they do. Three research questions guided this study: • Is there a connection between students who live close to home versus students who live further away from home and develop homesickness? • What impact has homesickness had on an individual’s academic and social health? • Is there a significant use of coping mechanisms in homesick students? Methodology 5. The population was included in this survey was first year students at a small Midwestern University. This survey provided an overview of the prevalence of homesickness among fresh men students. A questionnaire consisting of twelve Page 4 of 11 questions was distributed through email. Having easy multiple choice questions resulted in a greater completion rate (36%). I distributed the questionnaire to 308 freshman students and there were 112 respondents giving a return rate of 36%. In the study, there were 74 females and 38 males. There were two international students included in the study and they were both males. Data was analyzed by using simple descriptive statistics across tabulations. 6. The first question that was asked of the students was how many hours they live away from home. The majority of the participants (39%) live more than seven hours away from home. This was the top answer question, but about 23% of participants live only one or two hours away from home. About 15% of people live 0-60 minutes from home or 3-4 hours away from home. 7. The participants were then asked to what degree they have experienced homesickness. The answer ranged from always to never. The answers were also significantly different between males and females in that females showed that they experienced homesickness more often than males. The question asked participants if they have experienced anxiety, decrease motivation, irritability, loneliness, sadness, social withdrawal, or loss of confidence. In almost all of the results the majority of males answered “never” and the majority of females answered “sometimes”. The participants were then asked what the intensity of their homesickness was. In each of the results both females and males said the intensity was either low, extremely low, or they did not experience it. 8. Homesickness can appear anytime within the first semester and participants showed that majority of the time it appears one to two month into the semester. More females (22%) compared to males (14%) said that their homesickness symptoms first appeared right away within the first or second week of the semester. The numbers were spread out among the results, but females seem to have started experiencing homesickness before males ever did. Surprisingly, there was 13% of females and 32% of males who never experienced home sickness during their first semester. 9. The next two questions that were asked had to do with how homesickness has Page 5 of 11 impacted the participants either academically or socially. The majority of respondents for both males and females answered “not at all” to both questions. Although the majority answered “not at all”, 19% of females and 22% of males said that homesickness impacted them negatively. There were fewer males who said that homesickness did not impact them at all compared to females which is interesting because many males explained in earlier questions that they had not experience homesickness at all. 10. The participants were then asked about their use of different coping mechanism. The different coping mechanism included calling home, skype or video chatting, journaling, exercising, texting or emailing, overeating and excessive sleep. A high number of both males (58%) and females (45%) said that they call home at least one or two times a week. Few participants said that they never call home and the remaining participants called home more than three times a week and 9% of females called home seven or more times a week. Over 50% of participants, both males and females, said they never use skype or video chatting, journal, get excessive sleep or overeat. One of the more positive mechanisms, exercise, was hardly used by many of the participants. The highest result for males was never on all coping mechanism, but then the next was exercising seven or more times a week. About 43% said they never exercised as a way to cope with home sickness. For texting and emailing, females text home more frequently at about four or more times a week compared to males who text only one or two times a week. 11. Next the participants were asked two questions about how often they have been home or had a family member or relative visit them since school started. A handful of respondents have been home three or more times and this could be because of their distance from home. The people who went home more than three times (75%) only lived less than 60 minutes away. 79% of students who lived seven or more hours away said that they had not been home since school started and only nine of them had been home once. Many of the students also did not have any family or relatives visit them since school had started. Between both males and females, about 32% of them never had a family member visit them. Surprisingly, males had more visits, in a few cases, Page 6 of 11 from their family members than did females. For the most parts the numbers were close. Conclusions 12. It is evident that first year college students experience home sickness and this can be related to both their gender and distance from home. As shown in the analysis, there is a connection between the distance from home and the severity of the homesickness symptoms. The overall impact of homesickness on the participant’s academic and social life was relatively low and did not impact them at all. The author thought there would be a higher use of coping mechanism for the students who experienced homesickness, but for the most part students hardly used coping mechanisms. Overall, the biggest conclusion that came from this research study is that there is a connection between the distance an individual lives away from home and their gender when it comes to having homesickness during college. The school can get involved when trying to prevent homesickness among college students and particularly freshman. The author recommends a few different strategies to help prevent homesickness among students. The first strategy is to provide orientation information about the school and its culture. Students who know more about the school they are going to attend helps make them feel less anxious. The second strategy that can be implemented through the student life offices would be to help shape attitudes about the school. Thurber and Walton (2012) state that “the more incoming students know about what to expect and where to fund supports and resources when they arrive, the less anxious they will feel” (p. 3). The strategy the author recommends is educating both new and returning students. All students should know where they can seek help when they need it. The author also recommends that more study be done on this topic. There has not been much research on homesickness and there needs to be more focus on how to help prevent homesickness among students and how to integrate treatment programs into schools to help students adjust. Page 7 of 11 Question 1: Research writing [8] 1.1 Which word/words in the title capture the type of action being done? (1) 1.2 Why did the researcher carry out the study reported on in this article? (3) 1.3 What was the data gathering instrument used in this study? (1) 1.4 Quote a sentence from the article which summarises the principal finding of the study. (3) Question 2: Characteristics of Academic Writing [6] 2.1 Underline the hedging (tentativeness) from the following statements: a) Students tend to experience some sort of home sickness while attending college. (1) b) There would be a higher use of coping mechanisms for the students who experienced homesickness. (1) 2.2 The statement below (take from para. 5) is subjective. Rewrite it to make it objective. (2) I distributed the questionnaire to 308 freshman students. 2.3 Which characteristic of academic writing was violated by the statement below; taken from paragraph one? (2) Question 3: APA referencing [16] Read the unit on APA referencing style before attempting the questions. 3.1 Select the correct description of the reference entries below. 3.1.1 Thurber, C. (2012). Homesickness in students. Journal of Health, 60(5), 415- Page 8 of 11 419.419. (2) a) A reference entry of a journal article b) A reference entry of a book c) A reference entry of a journal book d) A reference entry of a chapter in a book 3.1.2 Beck, R. & Robbins, M. (2003). Missing home: Sociotropy and autonomy (pp. 34- 35). In K. Musso, (ed.), Anxiety and coping. London: Oxford Publishing. (2) a) A reference entry of a book with an editor b) A reference entry of an online article c) A reference list of a chapter in a book d) A reference list of a journal article 3.2 Circle the correct usage of in-text citation. 3.2.1 “Internship programmes can be beneficial in that they help boost motivational levels of interns”__________ (2) a) (Bukaliya, 2012, page 143). b) (Bukaliya, 2012). c) (Bukaliya, 2012, p. 143). d) (Bukaliya, 2012, p. 143). 3.2.2 According to __________, the term ‘internships’ is commonly used in experiential education. (2) a) Bukaliya, Smith (2014) b) Bukaliya & Smith (2014) Page 9 of 11 c) Bukaliya and Smith (2014) d) Bukaliya and Smith, 2014 3.2.3 _________ found low correlation between parental involvement or encouragement and academic achievement. (2) a) Koskei, (2010) b) (Koskei, 2010) c) Koskei (2010) d) Koskei, (2010) 3.4 Compile a reference list entry using the information provided below. (6) Title of the book: Academic reading Subtitle: Reading and writing across the disciplines Place of publication: New York Year of publication: 2018 Publisher: Pearson Education Limited Authors: Lynne Gaetz and Suneeti Phadke Answer Question 1: Research Writing 1.1 Which word/words in the title capture the type of action being done? (1) - "Investigation" and "ill effects" 1.2 Why did the researcher carry out the study reported on in this article? (3) - The researcher wanted to examine the prevalence of homesickness among first year college students and its impact on their academic and social health. - The existing research on homesickness is limited and there is a need for further understanding and prevention of homesickness among students. - The researcher was specifically interested in studying the coping mechanisms used by homesick students. 1.3 What was the data gathering instrument used in this study? (1) - A questionnaire consisting of twelve questions, which were distributed through email. 1.4 Quote a sentence from the article which summarises the principal finding of the study. (3) - "The biggest conclusion that came from this research study is that there is a connection between the distance an individual lives away from home and their gender when it comes to having homesickness during college." Question 2: Characteristics of Academic Writing 2.1 Underline the hedging (tentativeness) from the following statements: a) Students tend to experience some sort of homesickness while attending college. (1) - tend to b) There would be a higher use of coping mechanisms for the students who experienced homesickness. (1) - would 2.2 The statement below (taken from para. 5) is subjective. Rewrite it to make it objective. (2) - "I distributed the questionnaire to 308 freshman students." - The questionnaire was distributed to 308 freshman students. 2.3 Which characteristic of academic writing was violated by the statement below; taken from para. 1? (2) - Objectivity Question 3: APA Referencing 3.1 Select the correct description of the reference entries below. 3.1.1 Thurber, C. (2012). Homesickness in students. Journal of Health, 60(5), 415-419. (2) - A reference entry of a journal article 3.1.2 Beck, R. & Robbins, M. (2003). Missing home: Sociotropy and autonomy (pp. 34- 35). In K. Musso, (ed.), Anxiety and coping. London: Oxford Publishing. (2) - A reference entry of a book with an editor 3.2 Circle the correct usage of in-text citation. 3.2.1 “Internship programmes can be beneficial in that they help boost motivational levels of interns” (Bukaliya, 2012, p. 143). (2) - (Bukaliya, 2012, p. 143). 3.2.2 According to Bukaliya and Smith (2014), the term ‘internships’ is commonly used in experiential education. (2) - Bukaliya and Smith (2014) 3.2.3 Koskei (2010) found low correlation between parental involvement or encouragement and academic achievement. (2) - (Koskei, 2010) 3.4 Compile a reference list entry using the information provided below. (6) Title of the book: Academic Reading Subtitle: Reading and Writing Across the Disciplines Place of publication: New York Year of publication: 2018 Publisher: Pearson Education Limited Authors: Lynne Gaetz and Suneeti Phadke - Gaetz, L., & Phadke, S. (2018). Academic reading: Reading and writing across the disciplines. New York: Pearson Education Limited. Question 2 Read the research report below and answer the questions that follows An investigation on the ill effects of homesickness on first year students at a small Midwestern University Shelby Winn Concordia University, 2015 Introduction and background of the study 1. The transition to college can be exciting and also very scary for many young adults. For some individuals the move to college can be very smooth and easy; whereas, for others it can be almost unsustainable. Thurber and Walton (2012, p.1) explain that individuals who experience homesickness as “the distress or impairment caused by an actual or anticipated separation from home”. At the end of the day, it can be hard to adjust to new schedules and make friends. 2. There was a study conducted a few years ago that surveyed 101 first year college students. Of these students, 60% reported homesickness (Longo, 2010). Homesickness is really a phenomenon that has not gotten much attention over the years and is not really a formal diagnostic term, but all of the symptoms would most commonly be diagnosed as “Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood (Beck, Taylor, & Robbins, 2003, p.157). In another study, researchers focused on the dimensions of sociotropy, “which is a personality trait characterized by excessive investment in interpersonal relationships and have a strong need for social acceptance. In addition, they examined autonomy, which is the capacity of an individual to make informed, uncoerced decision” (Beck et al., 2003, p.163). They found that both of these were related to parts of homesickness and also depression scores. When looking at the personality side they explained that it had appeared that attachment- related distress can explain why a person with sociotropic traits may have a harder time with the transition to college (Beck et al., 2003). 3. Another study done by Urani, Miller, Johnson, and Petzel (2003) focused on the Page 2 of 11 relationship between homesickness and a number of different factors in first- year college students. Some of the findings within their first study suggested that “students who reported high levels of homesickness had a tendency to view their home environments in positive terms, suggesting that when they had positive experiences in their past, it made it harder for them to leave their homes behind” (p. 392). They also found that homesick individuals had greater psychological disturbances such as depression. In their second study (2003) they found that first year college students who “showed signs of insecurity and poor social skills prior to entering university life have a greater tendency to exhibit signs of homesickness during the sixth week of their first term” (p. 392). 4. The purpose of this study was three- fold, in which the author examined the prevalence of homesickness, studies the effect of homesickness on freshman students, and examined the coping mechanisms used by students. Although almost all students tend to experience some sort of homesickness while attending college, this study examined how it affects first year students. One reason this study was conducted was to look more into the topic because although there is some research out there, there is not a lot to fully understand homesickness. Looking further into why an individual feels homesick can help one understand why they choose to do certain behaviours or why they act the way they do. Three research questions guided this study: • Is there a connection between students who live close to home versus students who live further away from home and develop homesickness? • What impact has homesickness had on an individual’s academic and social health? • Is there a significant use of coping mechanisms in homesick students? Methodology 5. The population was included in this survey was first year students at a small Midwestern University. This survey provided an overview of the prevalence of homesickness among fresh men students. A questionnaire consisting of twelve Page 3 of 11 questions was distributed through email. Having easy multiple choice questions resulted in a greater completion rate (36%). I distributed the questionnaire to 308 freshman students and there were 112 respondents giving a return rate of 36%. In the study, there were 74 females and 38 males. There were two international students included in the study and they were both males. Data was analyzed by using simple descriptive statistics across tabulations. 6. The first question that was asked of the students was how many hours they live away from home. The majority of the participants (39%) live more than seven hours away from home. This was the top answer question, but about 23% of participants live only one or two hours away from home. About 15% of people live 0-60 minutes from home or 3-4 hours away from home. 7. The participants were then asked to what degree they have experienced homesickness. The answer ranged from always to never. The answers were also significantly different between males and females in that females showed that they experienced homesickness more often than males. The question asked participants if they have experienced anxiety, decrease motivation, irritability, loneliness, sadness, social withdrawal, or loss of confidence. In almost all of the results the majority of males answered “never” and the majority of females answered “sometimes”. The participants were then asked what the intensity of their homesickness was. In each of the results both females and males said the intensity was either low, extremely low, or they did not experience it. 8. Homesickness can appear anytime within the first semester and participants showed that majority of the time it appears one to two month into the semester. More females (22%) compared to males (14%) said that their homesickness symptoms first appeared right away within the first or second week of the semester. The numbers were spread out among the results, but females seem to have started experiencing homesickness before males ever did. Surprisingly, there was 13% of females and 32% of males who never experienced home sickness during their first semester. 9. The next two questions that were asked had to do with how homesickness has Page 4 of 11 impacted the participants either academically or socially. The majority of respondents for both males and females answered “not at all” to both questions. Although the majority answered “not at all”, 19% of females and 22% of males said that homesickness impacted them negatively. There were fewer males who said that homesickness did not impact them at all compared to females which is interesting because many males explained in earlier questions that they had not experience homesickness at all. 10. The participants were then asked about their use of different coping mechanism. The different coping mechanism included calling home, skype or video chatting, journaling, exercising, texting or emailing, overeating and excessive sleep. A high number of both males (58%) and females (45%) said that they call home at least one or two times a week. Few participants said that they never call home and the remaining participants called home more than three times a week and 9% of females called home seven or more times a week. Over 50% of participants, both males and females, said they never use skype or video chatting, journal, get excessive sleep or overeat. One of the more positive mechanisms, exercise, was hardly used by many of the participants. The highest result for males was never on all coping mechanism, but then the next was exercising seven or more times a week. About 43% said they never exercised as a way to cope with home sickness. For texting and emailing, females text home more frequently at about four or more times a week compared to males who text only one or two times a week. 11. Next the participants were asked two questions about how often they have been home or had a family member or relative visit them since school started. A handful of respondents have been home three or more times and this could be because of their distance from home. The people who went home more than three times (75%) only lived less than 60 minutes away. 79% of students who lived seven or more hours away said that they had not been home since school started and only nine of them had been home once. Many of the students also did not have any family or relatives visit them since school had started. Between both males and females, about 32% of them never had a family member visit them. Surprisingly, males had more visits, in a few cases, Page 5 of 11 from their family members than did females. For the most parts the numbers were close. Conclusions 12. It is evident that first year college students experience home sickness and this can be related to both their gender and distance from home. As shown in the analysis, there is a connection between the distance from home and the severity of the homesickness symptoms. The overall impact of homesickness on the participant’s academic and social life was relatively low and did not impact them at all. The author thought there would be a higher use of coping mechanism for the students who experienced homesickness, but for the most part students hardly used coping mechanisms. Overall, the biggest conclusion that came from this research study is that there is a connection between the distance an individual lives away from home and their gender when it comes to having homesickness during college. The school can get involved when trying to prevent homesickness among college students and particularly freshman. The author recommends a few different strategies to help prevent homesickness among students. The first strategy is to provide orientation information about the school and its culture. Students who know more about the school they are going to attend helps make them feel less anxious. The second strategy that can be implemented through the student life offices would be to help shape attitudes about the school. Thurber and Walton (2012) state that “the more incoming students know about what to expect and where to fund supports and resources when they arrive, the less anxious they will feel” (p. 3). The strategy the author recommends is educating both new and returning students. All students should know where they can seek help when they need it. The author also recommends that more study be done on this topic. There has not been much research on homesickness and there needs to be more focus on how to help prevent homesickness among students and how to integrate treatment programs into schools to help students adjust. Page 6 of 11 Question 1: Research writing [8] 1.1 Which word/words in the title capture the type of action being done? (1) 1.2 Why did the researcher carry out the study reported on in this article? (3) 1.3 What was the data gathering instrument used in this study? (1) 1.4 Quote a sentence from the article which summarises the principal finding of the study. (3) Question 2: Characteristics of Academic Writing [6] 2.1 Underline the hedging (tentativeness) from the following statements: a) Students tend to experience some sort of home sickness while attending college. (1) b) There would be a higher use of coping mechanisms for the students who experienced homesickness. (1) 2.2 The statement below (take from para. 5) is subjective. Rewrite it to make it objective. (2) I distributed the questionnaire to 308 freshman students. 2.3 Which characteristic of academic writing was violated by the statement below; taken from paragraph one? (2) Question 3: APA referencing [16] Read the unit on APA referencing style before attempting the questions. 3.1 Select the correct description of the reference entries below. 3.1.1 Thurber, C. (2012). Homesickness in students. Journal of Health, 60(5), 415- Page 7 of 11 419.419. (2) a) A reference entry of a journal article b) A reference entry of a book c) A reference entry of a journal book d) A reference entry of a chapter in a book 3.1.2 Beck, R. & Robbins, M. (2003). Missing home: Sociotropy and autonomy (pp. 34- 35). In K. Musso, (ed.), Anxiety and coping. London: Oxford Publishing. (2) a) A reference entry of a book with an editor b) A reference entry of an online article c) A reference list of a chapter in a book d) A reference list of a journal article 3.2 Circle the correct usage of in-text citation. 3.2.1 “Internship programmes can be beneficial in that they help boost motivational levels of interns”__________ (2) a) (Bukaliya, 2012, page 143). b) (Bukaliya, 2012). c) (Bukaliya, 2012, p. 143). d) (Bukaliya, 2012, p. 143). 3.2.2 According to __________, the term ‘internships’ is commonly used in experiential education. (2) a) Bukaliya, Smith (2014) b) Bukaliya & Smith (2014) Page 8 of 11 c) Bukaliya and Smith (2014) d) Bukaliya and Smith, 2014 3.2.3 _________ found low correlation between parental involvement or encouragement and academic achievement. (2) a) Koskei, (2010) b) (Koskei, 2010) c) Koskei (2010) d) Koskei, (2010) 3.4 Compile a reference list entry using the information provided below. (6) Title of the book: Academic reading Subtitle: Reading and writing across the disciplines Place of publication: New York Year of publication: 2018 Publisher: Pearson Education Limited Authors: Lynne Gaetz and Suneeti Phadke Answer Question 1: Research Writing 1.1 The word "investigation" captures the type of action being done in the title. (1) 1.2 The researcher carried out the study to understand and address the issue of homesickness among first year students at a small Midwestern University. Specifically, the study aimed to examine the prevalence of homesickness, study its effects on academic and social health, and investigate coping mechanisms used by students. (3) 1.3 The data gathering instrument used in this study was a questionnaire consisting of twelve questions. (1) 1.4 "Overall, the biggest conclusion that came from this research study is that there is a connection between the distance an individual lives away from home and their gender when it comes to having homesickness during college". (3) Question 2: Characteristics of Academic Writing 2.1 a) "Students tend to experience some sort of homesickness while attending college." (1) b) "There would possibly be a higher use of coping mechanisms for the students who experienced homesickness." (1) 2.2 The questionnaire was distributed to 308 freshman students by the author. (2) 2.3 Objectivity. (2) Question 3: APA Referencing 3.1 3.1.1 a) A reference entry of a journal article. (2) 3.1.2 b) A reference entry of a book with an editor. (2) 3.2 3.2.1 c) (Bukaliya, 2012, p. 143). (2) 3.2.2 c) Bukaliya and Smith (2014). (2) 3.2.3 b) (Koskei, 2010). (2) 3.4 Gaetz, L., & Phadke, S. (2018). Academic reading: Reading and writing across the disciplines. New York: Pearson Education Limited. (6)