Ariana Anderson, Laura Fanizza, Dru Jones, Aaron Persh, Beth Thompson, and Kendall Sanders

 Do students prefer to use the stairs, or elevator, in the Chichester Science Center (the new science building) when ascending floors, and if gender and time of day are contributing factors?  This topic was important to us simply because of our curiosity for what our fellow students prefer to use.

 Operational definition of I.V. one = gender, either male or female.  Operational definition of I.V. two = time of day, either morning or afternoon. morning as between 8:45 A.M. and 10:10 A.M. afternoon as between 1:45 P.M. and 2:10 P.M.  Operational definition of D.V. = method of ascending floors, either stairs or elevator.

 Prediction: When ascending floors, girls are more likely to use the elevator, regardless of the time of day.  Possible underlying reason: In general, girls are more likely to “dress up” for class. Climbing stairs to arrive at their designated floor increases the potential risk of sweating, which could then “ruin” their hair, and/or make-up.

 We chose unobtrusive locations to observe from. During our designated observation times, we observed our research behavior from one of the following two locations: 1.) the chairs in the lobby area of the ground floor. 2.) the hallway bench in the main hallway on the ground floor.

 In our study, we used systematic time sampling, as well as situation sampling.  Systematic time sampling- We chose times to observe our research behavior based on when students are generally changing classes.  Situation sampling- We chose observation locations based on the best possible way to observe our research behavior unobtrusively.

 Our participants were any person who entered Chichester Science Center (the new science building), and used either the stairs or elevator during our designated observation times.

 Inter-rater reliability- Having multiple researchers observe the same behavior from different locations.  Not observing the behavior from the same location can cause possible bias.  People obstruction- When observing people from either location, there were groups of people standings along the hallway walls, slightly obstructing our view of the stairwell and elevator entrances.

 Total sample = 357 Females = 229 Males = 128  Females that took the stairs = 119 out of 229, or 51.96%  Females that took the elevator = 110 out of 229, or 48.04%  Males that took the stairs = 77 out of 128, or 60.15%  Males that took the elevator = 51 out of 128, 39.84%

 Total sample = 357 Morning = 130 Afternoon = 227  People that took the stairs in the morning = 69 out of 130, or 53.07%  People that took the elevator in the morning = 61 out of 130, or 46.92%  People that took the stairs in the afternoon = 127 out of 227, or 55.94%  People that took the elevator in the afternoon = 100 out of 227, 44.05%

 The results supported our hypothesis.  Time of day didn’t seem to affect participants choice on taking either the stairs or elevator.  It appeared that more males used the stairs when it came to ascending floors, whereas females preferred to use the elevator, regardless of the time of day.

 Designate a universal observation location for all researchers to use. By doing this, we could eliminate any type of bias.  Have two researchers observe the behavior at each designated time. During each designated time, one researcher would be stationed in the chairs in the lobby of the ground floor, and another on the hallway bench. After the observation period has ended, compare results. By doing this, we could increase inter-rater reliability.