Lab Report on Caffeine Consumption Behaviors of Students

This experiment analyzed the caffeine consumption behaviors of some students in a certain institution. The hypothesis of this experiment was that less than 50% of the students are heavy caffeine consumers when in the school environment. The experiment concluded by explaining some of the possible for these obtained results.

Running head: LAB REPORT 1
A Lab Report on Caffeine Consumption
Student’s Name
Student’s Number
Course (PSYC1000)
Date of Submission
The Tutor/Tutorial Group

LAB REPORT 2
Abstract
Caffeine is one of the most elements found in many drinks, especially white and black coffee.
Caffeine is mainly known as a stimulant which has some significant impacts on the nervous
systems of the users. This lab experiment was done to study the caffeine consumption habits of
some students in a certain institution. 200 participants were selected to take part in the
experiment. Of the two participants, the experiment showed that 42 of them were heavy caffeine
consumers when in the school environment, 101 did not consume caffeine when in the school
environment, and 66 did not take any drinks when in the school environment. The experiment
concluded by explaining some of the possible for these obtained results.

LAB REPORT 3
A lab report on caffeine consumption behaviors of students
This experiment analyzed the caffeine consumption behaviors of some students in a
certain institution. As the main experimenter, I was the one who did the entire experiment
starting from selecting the topic, collecting the data, analyzing the data, and preparing a
comprehensive report to summarize the whole experiment. Prior to starting the experiment, I did
thorough research and review of the available literature to understand the habits of people,
especially students, of consuming caffeine and the effects of consuming caffeine. From my
research and literature review, I came to understand that caffeine is a good stimulant of the
nervous system, and is one of the most commonly psychoactive drugs. There are many sources
of caffeine where some of these major sources are cocoa beans, tea lives, chocolate, kola nuts,
yerba mate, guarana berries, white and black coffee, among other sources (Verster & Koenig,
2018). The research also revealed that most of the students always consume caffeine in either
drinks or meals, and their levels of caffeine consumption vary depending on the types of drinks
and meals which are regularly taken by the students. Research which has been done shows that
caffeine has numerous benefits and some drawbacks or downsides on the users. Some of the
main benefits of caffeine consumption include reducing the chances of getting stroke, reducing
the chances of getting some kinds of cancer such as mouth and throat cancer, reducing the
chances of getting type 2 diabetes, among others (Doepker et al., 2016). To the downsides, some
of the major downsides of caffeine consumption include elevating the blood pressure of the
users, increasing the chances of heart attacks, increasing the stress levels of the users, among
others. This prior research was very crucial in my experiment as it helped me to understand
many concepts about caffeine.

LAB REPORT 4
Our lab experiment aimed to study the caffeine consumption behaviors of some students
where we collected the data of the students who consume caffeine, those who did not consume
caffeine, and those who did not consume any drink at all. The hypothesis of this experiment was
that less than 50% of the students are heavy caffeine consumers when in the school environment.
Method
Participants: 209 PSYC1000 students were selected to take part in the experiment.
Materials: The main methods of data collection, which was used in this experiment were
interviews and the questionnaire method (Afolayan & Oniyinde, 2019). There were different
materials which were used in the data collection and analysis processes some of the main
materials being questionnaire forms, dome recording devices, some data storage devices such as
phones and computers, some calculators to help in data analysis, among other materials (Sutton
& Austin, 2015).
Procedure: To do this experiment accordingly and appropriately, the procedure followed
entailed first preparing the materials required to collect the required data and information, going
the field (school) to interact with the students and collect the required data and information about
their habits of caffeine consumption, recording the saving the collected data and information,
analysis of the collected data and information, and finally, preparing a comprehensive report to
summarize the main findings of the experiment.
Design and data analysis: The students selected to participate in the experiment were divided
into three groups namely those who drink caffeine, those who don’t drink caffeine, and those
who don’t take any drink. These three groups were used to form the three variables which were
used in data analysis.

LAB REPORT 5
Results
As already mentioned above, 209 students were selected to take part in the experiment or
study. After interacting with all the selected participants during the data collection process, I
found that of the 209 selected students, 42 were heavy caffeine consumers when in the school
environment, 101 did not consume caffeine when in the school environment, and 66 of them did
not take any drink when in the school compound. In percentages, these results can be interpreted
as 20.1% of the students were heavy caffeine consumers, 48.3% did not consume caffeine when
in the school compound, and 31.6% of the students did not consume caffeine when in the school
environment. The obtained results can be summarized by the table below:
PVT Number Standard error
Caffeine 346 42 18.7
No caffeine 342 101 17.9
No drinks 340 66 15.1
The given results can be represented by the bar graphs shown below, which consider the
number of students and the standard error which could have been made in the experiment. Bar
graphs have been proved to be among the most important tools which help in presenting data
visually (Blecher, Brennan, & Knopfmacher, 2016).

LAB REPORT 6
Caffein Users No Caffeine No drinks
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
A bar graph showing the results obtained
Number Standard error
Discussion
The results obtained in the experiment agree with our initial hypothesis, which asserted
that less than 50% of the students are heavy caffeine consumers when in the school environment.
There are different possible reasons and arguments which can be given to explain these results.
Firstly, coffee and tea are among the main sources of caffeine, and there are very few tea and
coffee joints in the school environment. Therefore, due to the great competition in the few coffee
and tea joints located in the school environment, most of the students don’t get a chance to take
these two drinks which are known to be among the main sources of caffeine. Another possible
reason for the low number of students taking caffeine in the school environment is the drawbacks
or downsides associated with caffeine. Some of the students understand that there are many
drawbacks or downsides associated with caffeine consumption, and thus always avoid
consuming drinks known to have high contents of caffeine. Also, religious reasons could have
accounted for the low rate of caffeine consumption witnessed in the school. There are some

LAB REPORT 7
students from some religions which discourage their followers from taking tea leaves, coffee,
and some other drinks which contain caffeine due to different reasons (Turton, Piché, & Battram,
2016). Such students always remain loyal to their religions, and so, do not take such drinks
which consequently lowers the percentage of students who consume caffeine in the school
environment. These reasons are among the many reasons which could have contributed to the
results obtained in this lab experiment.
To conclude the report, it can be argued that there are many reasons and factors which
affect the habits of students of consuming or not consuming caffeine when in the school
environment. These reasons and factors are what led to the results obtained in our lab
experiment.

LAB REPORT 8
References
Afolayan, M. S., & Oniyinde, O. A. (2019). Interviews and Questionnaires as Legal Research
Instruments. JL Pol'y & Globalization, 83, 51-54.
Blecher, A., Brennan, C., & Knopfmacher, A. (2016). Combinatorial parameters in bar graphs.
Quaestiones Mathematicae, 39(5), 619-635.
Doepker, C., Lieberman, H. R., Smith, A. P., Peck, J. D., El-Sohemy, A., & Welsh, B. T. (2016).
Caffeine: friend or foe? Annual Review of Food Science and Technology, 7, 117-137.
Sutton, J., & Austin, Z. (2015). Qualitative research: Data collection, analysis, and management.
The Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy, 68(3), 226-228.
Turton, P., Piché, L., & Battram, D. S. (2016). Adolescent attitudes and beliefs regarding
caffeine and the consumption of caffeinated beverages. Journal of nutrition education
and behavior, 48(3), 181-189.
Verster, J. C., & Koenig, J. (2018). Caffeine intake and its sources: A review of national
representative studies. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 58(8), 1250-1259.