An Empirical Study: Seven Hour Sleep and Academic Performance

This report investigates the relationship between sleep duration and academic performance among college students. An online survey was conducted with 25 participants from KUL, focusing on their sleeping habits and study efficiency. The results indicate that students who sleep seven to eight hours per night demonstrate the highest study efficiency and concentration levels. Conversely, those with less than seven hours of sleep exhibit lower efficiency. The study concludes that adequate sleep is crucial for optimal cognitive function and academic success, supporting the hypothesis that seven hours of sleep directly enhances a student's academic performance. The findings also suggest that sleep deprivation can negatively impact decision-making, problem-solving, and overall motivation. This document is available on Desklib, a platform offering a wide range of study tools and resources for students.

Running Head: THE IMPACT OF SEVEN HOUR SLEEP IN NIGHT OVER THE ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
The Impact of “sleeping during the night” on the academic performance of the college
students: An Empirical Study
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Running Head: THE IMPACT OF SEVEN HOUR SLEEP IN NIGHT OVER THE ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
Abstract
Human brain never sleeps; even when we are sleeping our brain is active. Does that mean that
the time that we are investing in our sleep is wastage? This question also raises a few questions
for individuals that are pursuing academics. Does a regular sound sleep during the nights helps
an individual in performing better? In order to find out an answer, we conducted online research
where academic performance and the habit of having a good sleep during the night were the
primary fields of exploration.
In order to support the tangent of the research, we also explored certain areas like the impact of
the sleep over the cognitive functions, critical thinking, focus and memory of an individual. We
developed a survey form to measure the efficiency of the brain post-sleep and its effectiveness
on the academics. In the current report, we are sharing the findings of these results.
Introduction
Prior to launching a research program, we did the exercise of the literature review. The main
points that we collected with this literature review give us an idea that sleep is very crucial to
maintain a good and healthy lifestyle. It helps students in using an optimal level of the brain
during the studies. It helps all cognitive functions such as memory, learning, decision making,
and critical thinking (Werchan & Gómez 2014). This makes sleep extremely important for
academic performance (Boergers, Gable & Owens 2014).
Research also shows that lack of sleep is among one of the main reasons college students receive
low academic scores. Indeed, not everyone gets adequate amounts of sleep in order to function
properly throughout the day (Fullagar et al. 2015). This is why we can attribute poor sleep
quality and sleep deprivation as one of the major cause behind the poor academic performance is
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Running Head: THE IMPACT OF SEVEN HOUR SLEEP IN NIGHT OVER THE ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
among college students. The exercise of the literature review also gave us an idea about the
current changing trends in the world of circadian. It shows that students are spending less
number of hours in the activity of sleeping, with each passing year this number is decreasing and
dissatisfaction caused by the lack of sleep.
sleep dissatisfaction has increased (Lemola et al. 2015). Sleepiness is inversely proportional to
hours of sleep, and it may have a substantial adverse effect on general health and quality of life
(Cheng et al. 2012). Conversely, adequate sleep can lead to a better quality of life, physical and
social health, life satisfaction, performance, and longevity.
Research question:
What is the relationship between a “healthy sleep during the night” with the academic
performance of a college student?
Hypothesis:
Sound sleep of seven hours during the night directly increases the efficiency of a college student
and the result is better academic performance. It also helps them in delivering their optimal best
result based on their mental capacities and IQ levels.
Methodology
In order to find an answer to this question, an online survey was conducted regarding the effect
of sleep duration at night on study efficiency and concentration during lectures. The study
included a total of 25 participants, gender was not considered, aged between 18 to 25 (M = 21,5
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Running Head: THE IMPACT OF SEVEN HOUR SLEEP IN NIGHT OVER THE ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
SD = 3,5). We took the consent of all the participants based on their willingness to share the data
with us with a clause of no third party use of the data. This exercise was essential for us in order
to keep a check on the moral and legal grounds associated with our research program.
Participants were recruited from different campuses in KUL. The survey was placed on a student
platform on Facebook using SurveyMonkey. The students were asked about their sleeping period
at night, study efficiency and their focus during classes on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the
highest).
The following chart illustrates the number of hours the students sleep at night.
According to the chart, 60%(n=15, SD=3.4) of students sleep seven to eight hours per night,
while only 28%(n=7, SD=2.7) sleeps less than seven hours per night and 12%(n=3, SD=2.9) are
having more than eight hours of sleep at night.
The methodology of the research program was based random sampling method.
An online questionnaire was provided to students containing questions concerning their sleep
duration at night and their study efficiency. The prima facie results gave us a clear idea that
students spending 7 to 8 hours in sleep during the night showed the highest efficiency whereas
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Running Head: THE IMPACT OF SEVEN HOUR SLEEP IN NIGHT OVER THE ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
the students lacking sleep during the night showed less efficiency. Thus, 7 to 8 hours of night
sleep are required for a brain to function optimally which leads to high academic performance.
This result clearly establishes a connection between the sleeping hours during the night and the
efficiency of the students in the academics.
The data we have collected shows that the students that sleep seven to eight hours have a study
efficiency between 70%-85%, Most of the individuals that were deprived of a sound sleep during
night and sleeping less than 7 hours showed the efficiency ratio in between the range of 30%-
50%, Lastly, just above 10% of students are having more than eight hours of sleep per night with
study efficiency that varies between 50%-70%.
The graph represents the relationship between the hours of sleep per night and the level of focus
and attention during lectures.
Looking at the graph it is obvious that those who sleep seven hours had the highest level of focus
and attention. However, those who are the least concentrated during lectures are those are having
less than seven hours of sleep.
Discussion
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Running Head: THE IMPACT OF SEVEN HOUR SLEEP IN NIGHT OVER THE ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
In this paper, we have investigated the effects of sleep at night on the academic performance.
From the results that we have received, we can see that according to our
Hypothesis, in order to maintain a good academic performance, the human body requires at least
seven hours of sleep every night (Werchan & Gómez 2014). Studies show that a good night’s
sleep enhances learning. In other words, sleep helps improve our learning and problem-solving
skills as well as paying attention, making decisions and creativity (Fullagar et al. 2015). Studies
also show that lack of sleep makes changes to activity in some parts of the brain. Thus, if you're
having a lack of sleep you may have problems in making decisions, solving the problem,
concentrating and motivation.
Moreover, there are some unanswered questions, for instance, is there a difference between
going to bed at a certain hour and another (sleeping from 10 pm to 5 am or from 12 am to 7 am).
Furthermore, is there a difference between sleeping every day at the same hour and going to
sleep at a different hour every day regardless of the sleep duration (Werchan & Gómez 2014).
The individual IQ level of a student was another variable; students with higher IQ levels were
bound to perform better in comparison with the students that have average or lower IQ levels.
The ability to focus on a particular subject may vary from person to person. In order to erase this
variable we studied the answers given by individuals in the same IQ levels again and compare
them to figure out a margin of error in our universal findings.
According to the study, it is found that sleep deprivation has affected the ability of student for
performing well in their classes (Fullagar et al. 2015). Sleep deprivation can be considered as a
major contributor to dismal academic performance (Cheng et al. 2012). Another interesting
finding came our way when we realize that Sleep has been an effective measure for increasing
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Running Head: THE IMPACT OF SEVEN HOUR SLEEP IN NIGHT OVER THE ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
performance of students. The results of the comparison of the performance in the similar IQ
groups give us an idea that sound sleep of seven hours during the night helps an individual in
performing well. This study also corroborates the fact that relaxation received by the brain
during the sleep increase the efficiency of the human brain. Studies also show that a lack of
sleep makes changes to activity in some parts of the brain (Fullagar et al. 2015). Therefore we
can jump on this conclusion that due to lack of sleep, students are not able to perform well in
their academics (Werchan & Gómez 2014). We can also put our findings in a numerical
expression that says “number of hours slept by the students at night have been directly
proportional to the performance in their studies. The results of our endeavor after discussing
them under the purview of the variables shows that those students who used to sleep around 7 to
8 hours in a day have better academic performances.
Conclusion
During sleep, our body is working to support healthy brain functioning and preserve our physical
health. Sleep deprivation can harm our body over time. For instance, not getting good quality
sleep can increase the risk for some chronic health problems. Moreover, it can affect the way you
think, react, learn and concentrate.
This is substantial for students because some of them are not aware of the risks of sleep
deprivation which has a huge impact on their performance and concentration during classes. This
connection also proves that hypothesis made by us prior to the research is true barring some of
the variables like exceptionally high IQ levels and gifted individuals.
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Running Head: THE IMPACT OF SEVEN HOUR SLEEP IN NIGHT OVER THE ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
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