Research

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Research Report

prepared for

Rise & Shine Corp.

December 2012

By George Bush, President

Bush Consulting Group

Background

On February 14, 1998, David Michael Anthony set out on a quest that would

change not only his life, but also the lives of millions of hungry people around the world.

In an attempt to raise money for World Hunger Year, this thirty-three year old engineer

cycled on his bike over 26,560 miles across 44 states pulling a trailer weighing 1,200

pounds. Anthony raised a total of 2.5 million dollars for world hunger by agreeing to

attach a sponsor sign on his tailor for anyone who donates $50,000 to a hunger

organization. His contribution towards world hunger was phenomenal.

Have you ever wondered what motivates people to take action like Anthony to

help great causes such as world hunger? Even the most passionate individuals will

sometimes not initiate a potential resolution. This is because an individual’s attitude

does not necessarily coincide with his/her behavior. Factors such as accessibility or

ease of donating, awareness, and financial status all effect donation behaviors.

Similarly gender and class sometimes have differing donation behavior and attitudes.

Studying these constituents, can be an important aid for changing the current trends on

donation.

Organizations such as the American Red Cross and World Vision preach, “Even

a small monetary donation from an individual could greatly impact the life of a starving

person.” Unfortunately, many people are simply unaware of the extent of world hunger.

Secondary data proves that world hunger is an issue that must sometime be seriously

addressed. For example, it has been proven that every 3.6 seconds someone dies of

hunger (think quest). In addition, the U.S. does not rank high when it comes to

providing assistance to the hungry people in other lands. We have a “stingy mixed

record on poverty-focused foreign aid” (Foreign aid and world hunger). In 1997, Jeff

Ambers of Yorkville Common Pantry quotes, “It used to be families coming (to pantries)

once or twice a month. Now over half of the families are coming four times a month”

(Ridgeway 40). The problem is by no means getting better and needs to be addressed.

However, how can an individual take action without jumping on a bicycle and peddling

cross country, and how can the next generation such as college students, take a more

active role at eliminating world hunger? In an attempt to answer some of these

questions a team of highly qualified experts at Lake Forest College conducted a

research project on donations for world hunger.

Problem Statement

In a research project “the problem must ask about the relationship between two

or more variables” (Wunsch 1). In addition it clearly identifies the purpose of the project.

The problem statement for this research project is stated below.

The problem of the study is to compare the donation attitudes and

behaviors between classes and gender with regard to world hunger

among college students at Lake Forest College.

Operational Definitions

Prior to the experiment two operational definitions were defined to make the

research more precise. The first definition was “donation.” Setting a monetary value on

the description of donation is necessary for classifying donors in the survey and focus

group. Therefore, the operational definition is given below

Donation – a gift given by the donator in the form of food or money with a

monetary value above $5.00.

The second word that required clarification is “awareness.” In this research project

awareness is used with regard to an individuals’ knowledge of contribution distribution.

As a result, awareness was defined as follows:

Awareness – knowledge of an individuals’ nationality, country, race, or condition,

which their donation will assist.

Research Objectives

Although the problem statement defines the purpose of the project, Wunsch also

admits “a single research project can be designed to answer more than one question”

(1). These questions are called objectives. The objectives for this research project are

stated below.

O1: Do people believe that their donation to world hunger will help the

problem?

O2: Do males or females tend to donate more to world hunger?

O3: Do freshmen or seniors tend to donate more to world hunger?

O4: Does awareness affect an individual’s attitude or behavior toward world

hunger?

O5: Does financial status affect donation habits?

O6: What motivates people to donate?

O7: How can donating become easier for college students?

O8: What messages and media should be used to encourage donating among

college students?

Hypotheses

A hypothesis is “a conjectural statement about a relationship between two or

more variables that can be tested with empirical data” (McDanials and Gates 28). This

research project is designed to answer the following hypotheses.

H1: No significant difference exists between males and females with regard to

donation attitudes.

H2: No significant difference exists between freshmen and seniors with regard

to donation attitudes.

H3: No significant difference exists between males and females with regard to

donation habits.

H4: No significant difference exists between freshmen and seniors with regard

to donation habits.

Research Procedures

Secondary Data

One important advantage to secondary data is that it “may provide primary data

research method alternatives” (McDanials and Gates 84). For example, before the

study was conducted at Lake Forest College, the researchers were able to examine

other studies that might offer a better method for testing the variable. Examining a

study in which produces inconsistent or inadequate results is a warning sign for the

researchers telling them to possibly use an alternative testing method. Another major

advantage of secondary data is that it may help clarify the problem (McDanials and

Gates 84). A team of professors at Brown University conducted a study in 1996 to

address the long-term problems of world hunger. These professors compared the

number of hungry people counted between the years of 1992 and 1994 to the number

of hungry people counted between 1994 and 1996. Their results proved that in three of

the five countries there was an increase in the number of starving people and an overall

increase in hungry people worldwide. The results discovered by Brown University

supports Jeff Ambers’ analysis of hunger based on the increased number of hungry

families. When viewed together, this data redefines the problem and gives plausibility

to the project at hand.

Interviews

Interviews are can be a major factor in a research project for two main reasons.

Interviews permit open-ended questions, which allow the interviewee to give an in-depth

response. Interviews are also particularly useful at the beginning of a research project

when exploratory research is conducted to find out more information on the topic. The

research project conducted at Lake Forest College implemented a total of three

interviews. One interview was given by e-mail to Karen Ryerson, an employee of the

American Red Cross. (See Appendix) The research team hoped to gain specific facts

and trends about donating from the perspective of an expert. The second interview was

administered to Les Dlabay, a frequent donator to world hunger. (See Appendix) His

specific knowledge concerning the best method of donating to world hunger could help

the research team design valid survey questions.

Finally, the last interview was completed with Karen Hermann. (See Appendix)

Hermann is the advisor of Athletic Council, an organization, which promotes student

involvement in athletic events at Lake Forest College. As a community service project,

Athletic Council sponsors a food drive to benefit Libertyville Township Food Pantry. As

an organization on campus the research team was interested in finding the ways in

which the Lake Forest College community is involved in donating to world hunger.

When asked how Athletic Council gets students to participate, Hermann quotes, “We

hang signs in the cafeteria and around commons and we also hand out flyers at the

football game at the game prior to the collection.” However, the response to the drive

by the students is not always successful. Karen says, “Most of our donations come

from the parents at the games.” Responses such as these once again helped the

research group formulate survey and focus group questions in which the students

themselves could provide information on ways to increase involvement.

Focus Group

Besides interviews, another way to obtain qualitative information on a subject is

to conduct a focus group. According to McDanials and Gates, “A focus group consists

of 8 to 12 participants who are led by a moderator in an in-depth discussion on one

particular topic or concept” (111). The world hunger research team held a focus group

with the intent of discovering students’ attitudes and behaviors towards donating to

world hunger. Two members of the group acted as moderators while the other member

recorded the data.

The focus group was took place in a suite in Deerpath, in an informal

atmosphere. Verifying that each participant is comfortable can be an essential

component in order to obtain involuntary information. The ten members of the focus

group represented different ages, sex, and donation behaviors. For example, two of the

ten participants were senior males while one member was a freshman female. Since

the focus of the research project is to essentially study the donation attitudes and

behaviors between males and females and freshman and seniors, it is helpful that these

categories of people are included in the discussion. Similarly, at least three members of

our focus group identified themselves as contributors to world hunger by stating that

they have participated in or helped organize food drives.

Several bits of information were obtained from the focus group, which helped the

world hunger team create a conclusive survey in which to obtain quantitative data. (See

Appendix) Most importantly, of the ten people in the focus group only one could identify

an organization on campus where they knew they could go to donate for world hunger.

This proves the awareness at Lake Forest College is low.

The research group also obtained creative ideas from students concerning new

ways Lake Forest College could increase student involvement, which Hermann said

was lacking. When asked, “How can donating become easier for you?” a senior male

responded, have “One day where you donate your dinner money to the hungry. No

eating in the café one day.” Another great idea mentioned at the focus group was

donating extra flex dollars at the end of the semester to feed the hungry. In response to

these answers, the research team further investigated these ideas on their research

instrument.

Survey

By compiling different ideas and opinions from the interviews and focus group,

the research group was able to devise a survey, which focused on students’ attitudes

and behaviors about world hunger. (See Appendix) Kellerman and Thoms advise,

“Determine what information needs to be gathered: select the appropriate question type

to elicit the desired information; and choose a format that is easy to read” (38). The

world hunger group formatted the questions in order to meet the research objectives

established by the group. Also, prior to distribution, the survey was pre-tested. In order

to test the validity of the survey instrument, the instrument was read to a team of

experts in Professor Dlabay’s class. Validity “addresses the issue of whether what we

tried to measure was actually measured” (McDanials and Gates 258). Responses and

reactions were noted from the experts to aid the research team in improving its survey.

In order to obtain information about the entire population, a sample size must be

defined prior to the project. The population in the sample for world hunger consisted of

freshman and senior, male and female students at Lake Forest College since the

hypotheses aim to compare donation attitudes and behaviors among these groups.

McDanials and Gates point out that ideally, the population sample from which

information is obtained “should be a representative cross section of the total population”

(328).

The surveys were administered to a total of forty students. This included ten

male and ten female freshman and ten male and ten female seniors. These students

were randomly selected around campus through personal contacts and distribution in

highly populated areas such as the cafeteria and resident halls. Because participants of

the survey were selected randomly in a convenient fashion, a sample frame was not

necessary. Such a frame would include a full list of all senior and freshman students of

Lake Forest College. Instead, the research group chose to conduct a nonprobability

sample, or specifically, a convenient sample. This sampling technique is helpful

because it is “easy to collect” (McDanials and Gates 247). One hundred percent of the

surveys administered were returned, making for an efficient data collection method.

Findings and Conclusions

The results of this project are applicable to the Lake Forest College community.

Clubs and organizations interested in food drives or world hunger such as Athletic

Council, will obtain first class ideas, which have been presented by actual Lake Forest

College students. The conclusions will also be beneficial to larger nation wide hunger

organizations such as World Hunger and the American Red Cross, whose continual

mission is to increase donations. The findings can alert such organizations of current

trends in donation among college students and possibly assist in new campaigns.

Maybe these companies should allocate more expenditure on ad campaigns specifically

geared towards college students. This study could help settle debates on these issues.

Also, although all world hunger organizations have the same goal, it is important to

remember that they are still in competition with one another. The information obtained

during this research project, especially through focus group discussions, in-depth

interviews, as well as open-ended questions on the survey instrument, might provide a

new creative idea that will result in a boost of business above a competitor.

Volunteering is a service that can be compared to donating to world hunger.

Both activities are services provided by individuals wishing to improve the lives of other

less fortunate people. Michael Gerson reports “20 percent of volunteers say they have

cut back because they weren’t sure there work helped” (30). Such is the case with

donating because if people feel their donations are not making a difference, they will not

donate.

Objective 1 ~ Do people believe that

their donation to world hunger will help

the problem?

Hypothesis 1 ~ No significant

difference exists between males and

females with regard to donation

attitudes.

Hypothesis 2 ~ No significant

difference exists between freshman

and seniors with regard to donation

attitudes.

Objective one addresses the individuals’ attitudes towards donations for world

hunger. The first step to increasing the total donations received is to convince people

their donation will impact society. The research group surveyed the sample and

recorded response to the statement “one person can make a difference in our society.”

The opinion on this issue among males and females were as follows:

Survey item #7 N SA (5) A (4) N (3) D (2)

SD

(1) X

Males 20 4 12 4 0 0 4.0

Females 20 6 13 1 0 0 4.25

Among seniors and freshmen, the opinions were:

Survey item #7 N SA (5) A (4) N (3) D (2)

SD

(1) X

Seniors 20 7 12 1 0 0 4.3

Freshmen 20 3 13 4 0 0 3.95

A mean score of 4.0 indicates that people tend to agree with the statement. This was

the case in all four categories, but the senior and females ranked the highest in

approval. Therefore, this data does not indicate that the problem of world hunger is

linked with the attitude that a small donation will not make a difference.

A survey by the New York City Coalition Against Hunger reported that due to lack

of food, in one summer, “73,000 people were turned away from emergency food

programs” (Ridgeway 40). In order to improve the current donation trend, it is important

to grasp the donation behavior of the individuals of interest: male and female, freshman

and seniors at Lake Forest College. Objective two attempts to answer the research

groups’ third hypothesis.

Objective 2 ~ Do males or females tend

to donate more to world hunger?

Hypothesis 3 ~ No significant

difference exists between males and

females with regard to donation habits.

The donation behavior of males and females was measured by survey question three.

The number (n) is out of the twenty surveyed and represents the number who

responded “yes.”

Survey item #3 Females (n) Females (%) Males (n) Males (%)

Have you ever donated $5 or

more to an organization that 8 40% 6 30%

provides assistance for

World Hunger?

These data tend to indicate that females donate more than males. Only thirty percent of

the males surveyed have donated compared to forty percent of the females survey. In

fact, Ryerson of the American Red Cross says, “Females make up the majority of

donors to Red Cross, although the average gift is higher among males.” Since this

study did not measure the average gift by males and females, a comparison cannot be

made about the average size of the gift. However, the research results do agree with

Ryerson’s claim that more women than men are likely to donate.

This research project is also interested in discovering the donation behavior

between freshman and seniors as expressed in objective three.

Objective 3 ~ Do freshman or seniors

tend to donate more to world hunger?

Hypothesis 4 ~ No significant

difference exists between freshman

and seniors with regard to donation

habits.

Although Hermann says “it is hard to guess as to whether freshman or seniors donate

more” at Lake Forest College, the survey results for this study revealed that a larger

majority of seniors donate when compared to freshman. In fact, almost half of the total

seniors surveyed admitted they have donated to world hunger. These results are

shown below:

Survey item #3 Freshman (n) Freshman (%) Seniors (n) Seniors (%)

Have you ever donated $5 or

more to an organization that 5 25% 9 45%

provides assistance for

World Hunger?

Prior to the research project, awareness was defined to be “knowledge of an individuals’

nationality, country, race, or condition, which their donation will assist.” Many people

are skeptical of the size of the proportion of their donation that is going directly to feed

the hungry. As a result, objective four remained on the research teams list.

Objective 4 ~ Does awareness affect an individual’s attitude or behavior toward

world hunger?

Les Dlabay, a frequent donator to world hunger, has been donating $22 a month

to World Vision. He sponsors one child in El Salvador and another in Gana. Despite

some negative criticism by the Tribune, he believes that World Vision is a “good strong

organization and accountable.” However, Ryerson did not offer numbers when asked,

“Do people know when they are donating, where their money is going and if it will be

sent to the right person or place?” Instead, she claims that most of donated money is

“used for disasters that are getting less media attention, but just as critical for those

involved.”

A recent study found that the amount of money given to charity to feed the

hungry has dropped. Schwartzberg quotes, “While the poor get poorer not because

they’re unemployed but because they can’t survive on what their jobs pay them – fewer

American households are giving anything to charity, and those that do are wiring

smaller checks” (36). Objective five addresses this issue.

Objective 5 ~ Does financial status affect donation habits?

In the focus group conducted for this study, on person commented, “If a person feels it

is important enough to donate, then they will. There are many wealthy people who do

not donate at all.” However, Ryerson of the American Red Cross says, “People with

greater resources give larger gifts, and people with less wealth give a greater

percentage of their income.”

In an effort to eliminate financial stability as a factor in discussing donations to

world hunger “The Hunger Site” has agreed to donate a days worth of rice or maize to

the “United Nations World Food Programme” for every visitor to their website. This

enables those financially unstable individuals the ability to “give without giving” (36).

Objective 6 ~ What motivates people to donate?

In the focus group conducted for this study, several members of the group

expressed that the reason they donate to world hunger was for self-satisfaction. One

member said, “I got to help those people that were in need and less fortunate than me.”

However, this is not the only reason that causes people to donate. Survey results from

this study reveal that most people don’t feel that money raised for world hunger should

be used to assist only U.S. allies, as shown in the following tables:

Survey item #8 N SA (5) A (4) N (3) D (2) SD (1) X

Money raised for world

hunger should be used 40 5 3 16 10 6 2.775

only to assist US allies.

Because the mean score is below three, people tend to slightly disagree with the

statement. People sometimes are motivated to donate based on where and to whom

their donation is assisting. These results indicate that people will tend to donate less if

their money were to assist only U.S. allies.

Objective 7 ~ How can donating become easier for college students?

Survey results from this study also reveal that ease of donating is also an

important issue at Lake Forest College. Males especially believe that donating to world

hunger is not very convenient. The results are shown below:

Survey item #5 -

males N SA (5) A (4) N (3) D (2)

SD

(1) X

Making donations at

Lake

Forest College for

World 40 2 6 5 7 0 3.15

Hunger is

convenient.

Women on the other hand, tended to have more agreement with the statement, and

therefore don’t find donating at Lake Forest College as inconvenient as the men. The

results for the females are shown below:

Survey item #5 -

females N SA (5) A (4) N (3) D (2)

SD

(1) X

Making donations at

Lake

Forest College for

World 40 1 7 3 8 1 2.95

Hunger is

convenient.

It is important to note that the mean score for both men and women are very close to

neutral. This data indicates that there is definite room for improvement when it comes

to accommodating students.

In the focus group conducted for this study, a participant offered a creative idea,

which could possibly increase total donations given by Lake Forest College students.

This response also specifically addressed the teams objective seven. At the beginning

of each semester, students have a predetermined amount of “flex dollars” on their

student identification, which can be used to purchase food at one of the three coffee

houses located around campus. One member of the focus group quoted, “Extra flex

dollars can be donated towards world hunger.” This idea sparked an interest in the

group, which not only caused further discussion about the topic but also convinced the

research group to highlight this suggestion when developing their survey.

Survey item #4

Freshman

(n)

Freshman

(%) Seniors (n) Seniors (%)

Would you be willing to

donate

your extra flex dollars left

over at 20 100% 19 95%

the end of the semester

towards

World Hunger if under

$5.00?

Of the total sample surveyed, 97.5% stated that they would be willing to donate

their extra flex dollars to help eliminate world hunger. In addition, the research group

also discovered that 68 % (25 of 37) of students would rather donate to world hunger

via campus organizations. This data shows that students wish to donate at Lake Forest

College as opposed to a world hunger organization. One student said that she would

rather donate to a campus organization because, “It would promote community

involvement.” However, convenience is still an issue. Another student stated that she

would donate “on campus if it is convenient.”

Objective 8 ~ What messages and media should be used to encourage donating

among college students?

Athletic Council was not the only organization at Lake Forest College, which

sponsored food drives. During National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week, the

Community Service Coalition and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. presented an annual

food drive to help those who are less fortunate during the upcoming holiday season.”

Like Athletic Council this drive targeted participation by the students and used signs and

flyers in order to increase awareness. (See Appendix) However, evidence from the

focus group concludes that their technique to gain awareness is not effective.

By reviewing all the data collected during the project, the research team was able

to design some better promotional suggestions applicable to Lake Forest College

community, as well as to world hunger organizations. One major issue discovered

during the project was the inconvenience of donating. Organizations or clubs at Lake

Forest College looking to increase the total donations from the students should address

this issue first. The study revealed that not only do the female and senior students think

that donating on campus is more convenient in comparison to the male and freshman,

but also they tended to donate more. As a result, the research team believes that a

campaign aimed to accommodate the freshman and male students would be a great

idea. Populate the all male and all freshman dorms with signs about donating.

Including donation sites not only in the male and freshman dorms but also in every dorm

on campus, which would increase the convenience of donating and accommodate more

people. One student felt that “dorm competitions” would be a good way to promote

donating for world hunger. Another student suggested that an organization could “hold a

contest between dorms and give a prize to the winner.” A competition between

freshman and seniors or males and females could possibly increase the donations by

the freshman and males also. (See Appendix for a possible flyers)

Karen Ryerson of the American Red Cross comments that “several campaigns

over the last several years have specifically targeted this group (students). One was

called Generation X.” World hunger organizations such as the American Red Cross

might consider another campaign specifically targeting males, since only 30% of the

males surveyed had ever donated $5. This approach would attempt to increase

donations by convincing the males they should donate as often as the females.

Limitations

Several weaknesses of the research project should also be noted. First, as

Wunch points out in a survey “a representative sample has the same characteristics of

the population, and the data that the sample provides is the same data that the

population would have provided had the total population been surveyed” (31).

However, during this research project for world hunger, this was not the case. Every

participant in the study was a student at Lake Forest College. It is also hard to conclude

that Lake Forest is a good representative college, since the average tuition for the

school is higher and the average student body population for the school is lower than

other schools.

Another flaw in the project was that due to a time constraint the team chose to

use a small sample size. One way to validate a survey by increasing the confidence

level, decrease the allowable error, or create a diverse study, is to increase the total

number in the sample. The research group also used a convenient sample when

choosing their participants. A convenient sample is “a non-probability sample used

primarily because data are easy to collect.” Surveys were administered at random to

people that were willing to participate. This creates a weakness in the study because

the team is taking the chance that the sample randomly chosen will represent the

population.

Some flaws in research projects are hard to avoid and impossible to eliminate.

For example, one weakness is that respondents to the survey are limited by responses

based on the wording of the instrument. If one person has an opinion that is not offered

as a selection on the survey, he/she must compromise and select a different option.

For example, if one student preferred donating to a local food drive rather than online, a

world hunger organization, or a campus organization, he/she would have not choice but

to select one of the alternative choices. Therefore, the survey instrument is not truly

measuring this person’s opinion on donating. Another weakness that is hard to

eliminate is the validity of the respondents’ remarks. In the world hunger case, the team

must take for granted that Les Dlabay (a frequent donator to world hunger) is an expert

in this field. The information that he provides is considered the correct and valid

information, even though this might not be true.

One final flaw in this project is that although the team properly set up the

procedures that were needed for drawing conclusions, they did not statistically analyze

their data. Given more time and better resources the team would have also been able

to calculate the results and make better comparisons.

Recommendations

1. To increase the total donations given by students at Lake Forest College

students should be offered the option of donating their “flex dollars” to world

hunger at the end of the semester.

2. To encourage students to donate on the Lake Forest College campus action

should be taken to organize an inter-dorm, “battle of the sexes”, or “battle of the

classes” competition.

3. To increase the total donations world hunger organizations should receive they

should target males and freshmen in college.

4. In future studies, researchers should consider a survey to compare the average

gift among males and females to see if Karen Ryerson’s claim that the average

gift is higher among males.

5. Conduct a similar project but by using a stratified random sample instead of a

convenient sample in order to obtain more accurate results.

6. Conduct a similar project but by choosing a sample which could be generalized

to the whole population.

Conclusion

This research project was hopefully able to open the eyes of some members of

the Lake Forest community who are too busy to take time to help a worthy cause. The

project also aimed to provide world hunger organizations as well as campus

organizations with information regarding the opinions and donation trends of students,

which is useful when organizing a campaign to increase total donations. The longer

people wait to take action, the worse the world hunger problem will become. This

research project proved that donating to help such an important cause could be more

convenient, but it is by no means difficult. It only takes a fraction of David Anthony’s

ambition to make a difference in the life of a starving person.

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Kellerman, Debra K. and Karen J. Thoms. “But It’s Only a Questionnaire.” Business

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McDanials, Carl and Rodger Gates. Marketing Research Essentials. University of

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@ Arlington, 2001

Ridgeway, James. “Feeding Desperate People.” Source Village Choice v42n50.

December 1997: 40.

Schwartzberg, Jason. “Virtually Selfless.” Village Voice. December 1999: 36.

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<http://www.thinkquest.org/>

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