Methods and Techniques of Social Research – Professor Ted Goertzel

Former Student Interviews Analysis

By Daria B. Janka

                      Reading all responses from the interviews, it appears that tuition and unavailability of certain major appear to be some of the most common reasons for leaving Rutgers University. Unavailability of a major is the trend that I am going to examine for the purpose of this paper. I selected three interviews where I am going to discuss the frequencies, magnitudes, Processes, causes and consequences.

                      Interview number 33, 53 and 77. We are looking at 79 interviews listed. However after more precise examination I was able to account for 82 people interviewed.

Studying the frequencies of major unavailability all three interviews selected checkmark for it. The magnitude of the unavailability applies only to Rutgers-Camden, which does not have pharmacy school. The structure would include the different types of unavailability as related to this particular pharmaceutical major. This would include not only the unavailability of the school itself, but also classes that could possibly be taken here and transferred to New Brunswick or somewhere else. The process as an element of the structure being able to implement classes for people who wish to attend pharmacy school, even if Rutgers-Camden does not offer such. It appears that two of the interviews studied have attended community colleges to study pharmacy. As far as the suggestions, one student would have liked a school of pharmacy to be opened at Rutgers-Camden and more availability of classes for students that study nighttime. Analyzing causes on this particular pattern we are studying would be a difficult task. However, due to the fact that Rutgers does not offer classes teaching pharmacy, therefore these students have left Rutgers- Camden.

                       Looking through the whole report there are exactly nine people that have left the premises and found their major elsewhere. In more detailed analysis it appears the majors are as follows: civil engineering, massage therapy, Italian major, others that do not state major and of course the most frequent one being pharmacy.

                       Throughout the whole report there are several other reasons are among the top, which are the once unstated and considered personal. Women leaving after childbirth. This could be linked to tuition and childcare problems. Certain schools like Camden County College are able to provide students with childcare services on the premises. This could be another study and it could be a prediction whether such percentage of students will return back and for what percentage they will make up for the student body.

                      Based on what we have collected as data, it shows that opening a pharmacy school on the premises of Rutgers-Camden or at least having some classes that could be transferred to other school would probably keep more students within our school. Some of the data collected was rather disturbing, describing students who were seniors or at the end of their junior year and not be able to pay for school due to the high tuition cost. In a larger interview we would be able to confirm our pattern and even show a larger percentage of people leaving Rutgers-Camden because of financial or unavailability of major reasons.