Thursday, June 7, 2018

Assignment 9A - Testing The Hypothesis, Part 2



My first interview was of one of my good friends Ross, a recent graduate from UF. He never experienced the seating problem at West as he would regularly go to the Law Library to study. This library was never crowded and has plenty of seats for students to study at. If he couldn’t get into the Law Library, he would use the designated study rooms in the house he lived in.

I conducted my next interview by asking a random student at Library West, named Jamie. He claimed to not experience this issue at all because he would go to the graduate floors which has restricted access. Before graduate school he experienced this issue from time to time, mostly during exam weeks, but he no longer has this need.

My next interview was of a friend of mine named, Joe. Joe is a sophomore at UF and he claims that he only goes to the library when he has dibs on a study room. He prefers to know that he has somewhere to study. By only using study rooms he doesn’t ever have to deal with the issues faced by going to the regular library.

My next interview was of Sarah a Junior at UF. Sarah never goes to the library so the seating issue is never relevant to her. She prefers to study in her apartment because she can get everything she needs to done without getting distracted. She hasn’t been exposed to this issue, which is surprising considering she has been at UF for two whole years.

My final interview was of Josh a Senior at UF. Josh occasionally goes to Library West, but he prefers to study from public establishments such as Starbucks or Panera. According to him when he goes to West he never has an issue with seating, but he usually goes alone and not in a group.

Who: There are students that are exactly the same as the students that fall inside the boundary for my hypothesis. The only reason that they don’t have the same need is because they either don’t go to Library West or Newell, or don’t go to the libraries on campus at all.

What: After these interviews I realized that this need applies to a broad range of students, but there are those that don’t relate to this problem at all.  

Why: The main cause of the difference in these needs is the fact that some students just don’t go to the library as much as others so they aren’t exposed to the issue. Being students at UF is what groups them together, but their daily routines and library going habits are what determines if they fall inside or outside the boundary for the need.


Inside the boundary      
Outside the boundary

Who is in: Any student that regularly goes to the library.

Who is Not: Students that don’t go to the more popular libraries or attend the library at all.

What the Need is: The need is to be able to find a seat without wasting significant amounts of time looking for one.

What the Need is Not: The need is not to find a seat in the crowded library, because there are other places to study.

Why the Need Exists: This need exists because the library doesn’t have enough seats.

Alternative Explanations: Some students don’t go to the library at all, while others go only under certain circumstances. It all comes down to the individual student’s preferences for studying and where they choose to do that dictates if they have the need or not.



3 comments:

  1. Chris,

    I think your interviews were very effective at assisting you in your testing of your hypothesis. In particular, I think the second interview was the most useful because the interviewee was a random student at Library West, which is the setting of the opportunity. This particular student expressed that they experienced the overpopulated libraries during their undergraduate years. Overall, I think this activity successfully helped you test your hypothesis further.

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  2. Chris,
    I think your interviews gave a good representation of the seating situation experienced by most students at UF. I too have experienced library seating issues, especially at Marston on the third floor during exam week. I liked that you interviewed a range of people, including those who rarely used the library and studied at home and those who go every single day. Overall, you did a great job!

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  3. Chris,

    I think you did an amazing job with your interviews as they offered what I can attest to be the average mindset when it comes to the problem of the seating situation. I liked the amount and range of people you interviewed and overall I can only say good job and I hope you continue to refine your thoughts so that this problem can be laid to rest.

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