Rob's Roommate Compatibility and Gender Study

So11C & 11D, Fall 2001 - 35 Completed Surveys by Oct. 8th. Thanks for all who took time to take this survey.

Here is Rob's on-line Survey that many of you took:

Rob's Survey

This survey is anonymous. Please take it only once.

What is your sex?

What is your class?

How old are you?

Where do you live?

Dorm room
Townhouse/Suite
Beach house
Commuter/Home

How many people currently share your living quarters (townhouse, house, suite, or dorm room)? (INCLUDE yourself in this number)

With how many OTHER people do you currently share your bedroom? . (do NOT INCLUDE yourself in this number)

Did you have a chance to pick your current roommate(s)?

How do you feel about your roommate(s)?

Very Compatible
Somewhat Compatible
Neutral
Somewhat Incompatible
Very Incompatible
Don't Have a Roommate

In the past week, have you had a significant verbal argument with your roommate(s)?

This year, has there ever been physical shoving/hitting between you and your roommate(s)?

Do you think that you might have a drinking problem?

Do you think that your roommate(s) might have a drinking problem?

What kind of high school did you go to?

What kind of high school did your roommate(s) go to?

Thanks for your help .... Press the "Send" Button to submit you answers

Here are some tables and graphs to examine. Remember, our goal is to prove or disprove Rob's hypothesis: Females are more likely to have roommate problems than males.

Frequency Tables (simple tables relating how questions were answered)

**Sex**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Male	7	20.0	20.0	20.0
	Female	28	80.0	80.0	100.0
	Total	35	100.0	100.0

**Class**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Senior	1	2.9	2.9	2.9
	Junior	4	11.4	11.4	14.3
	Sophomore	26	74.3	74.3	88.6
	Freshman	4	11.4	11.4	100.0
	Total	35	100.0	100.0

**Age**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	17	1	2.9	2.9	2.9
	18	6	17.1	17.6	20.6
	19	22	62.9	64.7	85.3
	20	2	5.7	5.9	91.2
	21	2	5.7	5.9	97.1
	22	1	2.9	2.9	100.0
	Total	34	97.1	100.0
Missing	missing	1	2.9
Total		35	100.0

**Type of Residence**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Dorm room	27	77.1	77.1	77.1
	Townhouse/Suite	5	14.3	14.3	91.4
	Commuter/Home	3	8.6	8.6	100.0
	Total	35	100.0	100.0

**House Mates**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	1	2	5.7	5.7	5.7
	2	21	60.0	60.0	65.7
	3	4	11.4	11.4	77.1
	4	7	20.0	20.0	97.1
	5	1	2.9	2.9	100.0
	Total	35	100.0	100.0

**Roommates**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	0	4	11.4	11.4	11.4
	1	20	57.1	57.1	68.6
	2	10	28.6	28.6	97.1
	3	1	2.9	2.9	100.0
	Total	35	100.0	100.0

**Pick Your Roommate?**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Yes	29	82.9	93.5	93.5
	No	2	5.7	6.5	100.0
	Total	31	88.6	100.0
Missing	No roommate	4	11.4
Total		35	100.0

**Feelings about roommate**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Very Compatible	18	51.4	58.1	58.1
	Somewhat Compatible	11	31.4	35.5	93.5
	Neutral	2	5.7	6.5	100.0
	Total	31	88.6	100.0
Missing	No roommate	4	11.4
Total		35	100.0

**Argue with roommate this week?**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Yes	7	20.0	22.6	22.6
	No	24	68.6	77.4	100.0
	Total	31	88.6	100.0
Missing	No roommate	4	11.4
Total		35	100.0

**Ever been shoving or hitting?**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	No	31	88.6	100.0	100.0
Missing	No roommate	4	11.4
Total		35	100.0

**You have drinking problem**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Yes	1	2.9	2.9	2.9
	No	34	97.1	97.1	100.0
	Total	35	100.0	100.0

**Roommate has drinking problem**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Yes	1	2.9	3.2	3.2
	No	30	85.7	96.8	100.0
	Total	31	88.6	100.0
Missing	No roommate	4	11.4
Total		35	100.0

**Kind of HS attended**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Public	24	68.6	68.6	68.6
	Catholic/Parochial	8	22.9	22.9	91.4
	Private	3	8.6	8.6	100.0
	Total	35	100.0	100.0

**Roommate's high school**
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Public	18	51.4	58.1	58.1
	Catholic/Parochial	7	20.0	22.6	80.6
	Private	4	11.4	12.9	93.5
	different kinds of HS's	2	5.7	6.5	100.0
	Total	31	88.6	100.0
Missing	No roommate	4	11.4
Total		35	100.0

Only 20% of our respondents were males, and one of them did not have a roommate, so we are going to have a problem definitively addressing our hypothesis with this data. Rob has to make sure, when doing his expanded study, to get about an even number of males and females to take his survey.

Let's see what we can learn from the limited data that we do have. We really want to examine the tables that will tell us if there is anything to our hypothesis. There are three "Crosstabulation Tables" that examine how males and females answered our three questions about roommate compatibility -- how you feel about your roommate, did you have a verbal argument with your roommate this week, did you ever have a shoving match with your roommate. Since not one of our respondents ever had a shoving match with his or her roommate, we only need to examine two tables:

**Feelings about roommate * Sex Crosstabulation**
			Sex		Total
			Male	Female	Total
Feelings about roommate	Very Compatible	Count	3	15	18
	Very Compatible	% within Sex	50.0%	60.0%	58.1%
	Somewhat Compatible	Count	2	9	11
	Somewhat Compatible	% within Sex	33.3%	36.0%	35.5%
	Neutral	Count	1	1	2
	Neutral	% within Sex	16.7%	4.0%	6.5%
Total		Count	6	25	31
Total		% within Sex	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

**Argue with roommate this week? * Sex Crosstabulation**
			Sex		Total
			Male	Female	Total
Argue with roommate this week?	Yes	Count	1	6	7
	Yes	% within Sex	16.7%	24.0%	22.6%
	No	Count	5	19	24
	No	% within Sex	83.3%	76.0%	77.4%
Total		Count	6	25	31
Total		% within Sex	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

With respect to our subjective assessment of roommate compatibility question -- there does not seem to be much of a gender connection. Not one respondent feels any incompatibility with his or her roommate -- and half or more of both sexes are "very compatible" with their roommates. Only one respondent of each sex is "neutral" about their roommate, although this is a higher % for males... When it comes to verbal arguments, there is a slightly higher % of females who had an argument with their roommate during the past week than for males.... but again, our small number of male respondents makes it impossible for us to have much confidence in this finding...

Well, it looks as though we do not have much reason to believe that their are real gender differences in roommate compatibility... But a larger study, especially one with more male respondents, is needed before we can say that we have really tested this hypothesis.

In preparation for this expanded study, are there any other relationships relevant to roommate compatibility that Rob should keep in mind? Let's examine several additional crosstabulation tables to see... If there are additional variables relevant to compatibility, then when additional males get entered into the sample, we would be able to "control" for these possibly relevant "intervening" variables: .

**Feelings about roommate * Class Crosstabulation**
			Class			Total
			Junior	Sophomore	Freshman	Total
Feelings about roommate	Very Compatible	Count	1	16	1	18
	Very Compatible	% within Class	33.3%	64.0%	33.3%	58.1%
	Somewhat Compatible	Count	2	8	1	11
	Somewhat Compatible	% within Class	66.7%	32.0%	33.3%	35.5%
	Neutral	Count		1	1	2
	Neutral	% within Class		4.0%	33.3%	6.5%
Total		Count	3	25	3	31
Total		% within Class	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

**Feelings about roommate * Type of Residence Crosstabulation**
			Type of Residence			Total
			Dorm room	Townhouse/Suite	Commuter/Home	Total
Feelings about roommate	Very Compatible	Count	15	2	1	18
	Very Compatible	% within Type of Residence	60.0%	40.0%	100.0%	58.1%
	Somewhat Compatible	Count	8	3		11
	Somewhat Compatible	% within Type of Residence	32.0%	60.0%		35.5%
	Neutral	Count	2			2
	Neutral	% within Type of Residence	8.0%			6.5%
Total		Count	25	5	1	31
Total		% within Type of Residence	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

**Feelings about roommate * Pick Your Roommate? Crosstabulation**
			Pick Your Roommate?		Total
			Yes	No	Total
Feelings about roommate	Very Compatible	Count	18		18
	Very Compatible	% within Pick Your Roommate?	62.1%		58.1%
	Somewhat Compatible	Count	9	2	11
	Somewhat Compatible	% within Pick Your Roommate?	31.0%	100.0%	35.5%
	Neutral	Count	2		2
	Neutral	% within Pick Your Roommate?	6.9%		6.5%
Total		Count	29	2	31
Total		% within Pick Your Roommate?	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

**Argue with roommate this week? * Class Crosstabulation**
			Class			Total
			Junior	Sophomore	Freshman	Total
Argue with roommate this week?	Yes	Count	1	4	2	7
	Yes	% within Class	33.3%	16.0%	66.7%	22.6%
	No	Count	2	21	1	24
	No	% within Class	66.7%	84.0%	33.3%	77.4%
Total		Count	3	25	3	31
Total		% within Class	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

**Argue with roommate this week? * Type of Residence Crosstabulation**
			Type of Residence			Total
			Dorm room	Townhouse/Suite	Commuter/Home	Total
Argue with roommate this week?	Yes	Count	6	1		7
	Yes	% within Type of Residence	24.0%	20.0%		22.6%
	No	Count	19	4	1	24
	No	% within Type of Residence	76.0%	80.0%	100.0%	77.4%
Total		Count	25	5	1	31
Total		% within Type of Residence	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

**Argue with roommate this week? * Pick Your Roommate? Crosstabulation**
			Pick Your Roommate?		Total
			Yes	No	Total
Argue with roommate this week?	Yes	Count	6	1	7
	Yes	% within Pick Your Roommate?	20.7%	50.0%	22.6%
	No	Count	23	1	24
	No	% within Pick Your Roommate?	79.3%	50.0%	77.4%
Total		Count	29	2	31
Total		% within Pick Your Roommate?	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Class. Type of Residence, and Picking Own Roommate, all appear to be potentially relevant "intervening variables" for this study. All we need now is more data -- especially from males.