Research Blog # 4: Research Proposal

Marla Durand

Research Proposal

1) Working Title: Aspects of the Commuter Lifestyle that Affect their Academic Success

2) Topic: I will explore commuter student lives and residential student lives and investigate which factors from each respective group contribute to their academic success or shortcomings. The paper will further address different aspects of commuter students’ lives in detail and use data analysis from different studies to answer the research question.

3) Research Question: Do commuter students have a higher or lower academic success rate than residential students? If not, what factors account for this gap?

4) Theoretical Frame/Approach: There are a number of theories that have been used to address this topic and which were also used to propose solutions as well. According to John Garland’s article Commuter Students: Myths, Realities, Helpful Theoretical Frameworks, some of these theoretical frameworks have been established as “Hierarchy of Needs”, “Student Engagement”, “Environmental Models” and “Adult Learning Theories”. Other articles, such as Judith L. Johnson’s Commuter College Students: What Factors Determine Who will Persist or Who Will Drop Out? and John J. Newbold’s article, Lifestyle Challenges for Commuter Students, also address these theories in their research. I believe these theoretical frameworks are important because they address the very exact questions that need to be investigated to gain understanding about the factors that affect commuter student college life and success.

However, there is much debate and opposing conclusions arguing in fact if there is in fact any difference in academic success between commuter and residential students. So far, most of the research I’ve come across does suggest that commuter students are at risk of being less successful in college due to limited academic opportunity. For example, Ray Gasser includes in his Addendum Educational and Retention Benefits of Residence Hall Living that “research further shows that students who live in residence halls consistently persist and graduate at significantly higher rates than students who have not lived in a residence hall” (3). However, in contrast, some researchers declare that there is no distinct difference between the two groups, and even sometimes, commuters seem to do better and are better prepared during and after their college experience. For example in Ciara Rouege’s article Commuter Lifestyle Gives Students a More Realistic Life Experience, and in Lifestyle Challenges for Commuter Students by John J. Newbold, both authors cite research that show that the added responsibility that commuter students have over residential students is exactly what makes them have better endurance to handle college coursework and to be more successful at it. This contrast in views is interesting and definitely worth investigating more.

5) Research Plan/Case/Additional Question: My research plan is to examine both sides of the argument and to further investigate whether or not choosing to be a commuter student has detrimental consequences that will affect one’s academic success. With this in mind, I will need to also look at what aspects of the residential student’s life has proven to make a positive influence and impact on these students’ academics. In my paper, I plan to distinctly break down different aspects of a “typical” commuter’s life and college experience, and use what I find, alongside previously conducted research on the topic, to determine what effects, if any, positive or negative, they have on commuter students.

6) Working Bibliography:

Alfano, Halley J and Nina B Eduljee. “Differences in Work, Levels of Involvement, and

Academic Performance Between Residential and Commuter Students.” College Student Journal 47.2 (2013): 334-42. Academic Search Premier [EBSCO]. Web.

Chickering, Arthur W. Commuting versus Resident Students:. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,

1974. Print.

"Commuter Students: Myths, Realities, Helpful Theoretical Frameworks." (2006): n.

pag. Magna Publications Inc. Web.

Ernest Pascarella. Cognitive Impacts of Living on Campus Versus Commuting to College. 

Tech. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Forbus, Patricia, John J. Newbold and Sanjay S. Mehta. “A Study of Non-Traditional and

Traditional Students in Terms of Their Time Management Behaviors, Stress Factors, and Coping Strategies.” Academy of Educational Leadership Journal 15 (2011): 109-25. Literary Reference Center [EBSCO]. Web.

Gasser, Ray. "Educational and Retention Benefits of Residence Hall Living." Review. 2008: n. pag. Web.

Jiang, Qi, Cynthia E. Anderson, Jane S. Reid, and Mark F. Toncar. "Commuter and Residential

Students: Differing Expectations for College Selection and Student Life." International Journal of Business Research 7.4 (2007): n. pag. Web.

Johnson, Judith L. "Commuter College Students: What Factors Determine Who Will

Persist or Who Will Drop Out?" College Student Journal 31.3 (97): n. pag. Web.

"Learning Communities for Commuter Students." (2004): n. pag. Magna Publications

Inc. Web.

Newbold, John J. "Lifestyle Challenges for Commuter Students." Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Wiley

Online Library, 2015. Web.

Rouege, Ciara. "Commuter Lifestyle Gives Students a More Realistic Life

Experience." The Daily Cougar (2013): n. pag. Web.