1. Mindless Eating Mini-Research Experiment
Sam DiLandro
PHED 101
Spring 2018

2. Describe the topic and methods of the mini research study.
I conducted my Mini-Research Experiment at the Dorill Dining Hall. I stood at the entrance and asked random people at random intervals as they went up to swipe their Lancer Cards, “Do you think you’re going to end up finishing all of the food you’re going to get today in the Dining Hall?” I recorder their responses as well as their grade level.
I did this in a similar fashion, standing at the end of the Dish Room hallway and asked 10 more random people as they exited, “Did you end up finishing all of the food you got today in the Dining Hall?” I recorded their responses too and their grade levels.

3. Why is researching this particular topic and research relevant to the general population?
I believe that this topic is worth researching and experimenting on because often times a lot of food can be wasted and/or people over eat when dining at a buffet or “all-you-can-eat” type restaurants or venues. I can admit that I am a victim of this as well, I often do not finish most or all of the food that I get in the Dining Hall.

4. Who was studied?
For this experiment, the grand total of my interviewees is as follows: 5 Freshman males, 5 Freshman females, 3 Sophomore males, 0 Sophomore females, 4 Junior males, 0 Junior females, 1 Senior male, and 2 Senior females for a grand total of 20 interviewees.

5. What was the hypothesis?
My hypothesis is that the concept of an buffet or an “all-you-can-eat” restaurant or venue causes people to put more food on their plates than they are theoretically going to eat because they are taking advantage of the abundance of food they are in the presence of, which causes a lot of food to be wasted.

6. State the study’s methods.
When conducting this study, I stood in the foyer of the Dorill Dining hall for about minutes, asking 10 random people at random intervals if they thought they were going to finish the food they got in the Dining Hall, as well as their academic class.
After I was done eating, I stood at the end of the Dish Room hallway, asking 10 more random people at random intervals if they had finished the food they got in the Dining Hall, as well as their

7. What were the findings of the research?
Responses From Before Entering the Dining Hall:
Yes, Junior male
No, Sophomore male
No, Freshman male
No, Senior female
Yes, Sophomore male
Yes, Freshman female
Responses From Standing at the Exit of the Dining Hall:
Yes, Freshman female
No, Freshman male
Yes, Junior male
Yes, Senior male
Yes, Senior female
Yes, Freshman male

8. Were results similar throughout the subjects tested? Why or why not?
Most of the Freshman I interviewed answered yes to both questions asked, Sophomores answered yes to most as well, all of the Juniors interviewed answered yes, and the responses for the Seniors that were interviewed were split 2 out of the 3 answering yes.
A majority of the males I interviewed answered yes to both questions as well, but only one female answered no. I honestly found this surprising. I would think that most of the females I interviewed would answer yes to both questions.

9. Did the findings match the hypothesis? Why or why not?
No, my findings did not match my hypothesis. I felt strongly about this hypothesis though because I have witness myself many times as well as my friends in the past end up getting food, and not eating it because they simply did not want to. They got it because it looked good. In this case, the mindless eating can be correlated with the old saying that your eyes are bigger than your stomach.

10. What observations/opinions can you make regarding the results and the Longwood university population?
Based on my results, around a general 70% of the Longwood population are not mindless eaters. They do not just get food to get it because of the “all-you-can-eat” phenomena or because the food “looks good” when in fact they do not even eat it.

11. Can these results help to change “Mindless Eating”?
I do not think that the results will change Mindless Eating, but making the hypothesis and the fact that sometimes you might unconsciously get food because it looks good aware might change peoples eating habits.