Comparison of Sleep Deprivation Between Science and Non-Science Majors at UNG, Cumming Campus

Abstract

Sleep is an essential component of health that affects the wellbeing and individual’s quality of life. Previous study has documented that college students, mostly women, have more sleep disturbance than men (Buboltz et al. 2001). At the University of North Georgia, Cumming campus college students are taking science or non-science courses for their major field of study. This study investigates whether being science- or non-science major affects the amount of sleep the students have. The null hypothesis is that science- or non-science majors have no significant difference in their amount of sleep time. A survey was conducted separately to 15 students that declared either science- or non-science majors. Results showed that employed non-science majors have more sleep (~ 7 hours) compared to science majors (~ 5 hours). However, the unemployed non-science majors have ~8 hours of sleep while the science majors have ~ 6 hours. This indicates that whether students are employed or not, non-science majors generally get more sleep than the science majors. This tied to the impression provided by the students in the survey implying that 58% of the science majors believed that the amount of sleep affected their academic performance whereas 42% of the non-science believed otherwise. Considering that sleep is a very big factor on individual’s quality of life, students’ sleep deprivation need to be addressed to make the students at the University of North Georgia in the Cumming campus be more academically equipped and with good time management.