How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?

How long is too long, for

Students at St. Benedicts’

College to spend in the
Cafeteria?
Name: Nycolas A. K. Awah
Teacher: Mr. S. Ali Class: 5G
Subject: Additional Mathematics
How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?

Table of Contents

Introduction/Purpose of Project 3

Data Collection 4

Presentation of Data 6

Analysis of Data 9

Discussion 11

Conclusion 12

Introduction
How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?

As a student of St. Benedict’s College, it is a daily struggle for us throughout the day as
we hustle and bustle to each class hoping not to reach late. Break time is very crucial to our
daily existence and survival as we sprint out of our classes to cool our brains for an extremely
short hiatus to the daily timetabled or organised chaos called School. Most children go straight
to the Cafeteria at the bell sounds.

Students jostle each other to buy what they want quickly, then leave to go and chat with friends a
conversation that we want to last forever. I personally find this a problem as I end up staying too
long torn between not wanting to behave in an uncivilized manner whilst maintaining proper
etiquette however more often than not, I end up leaving unsatisfied, empty-handed, hungry,
stressed and having to rush to my next class.

I know that I am not alone as complaints of hunger pangs due to missed breakfasts because of
early starts to the day have become compounded by an unfruitful recess refuel or start up plan.
As a student, I chose to do a survey to test the hypothesis that: Pupils at St. Benedict’s College
spend too much time in the Cafeteria.

Data Collection
 How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?

My data collected thus far is Primary Data where I asked five different students from each form
level, the same questions.
These sample questions were;
• What would you consider too long in the Cafeteria?

• How long do you stay in the Cafeteria?

• On average, how much time do you spend from entry to departure?

Some of these data values are affected by variables;

Independent variables; Form/ Classes (1-6)
Depending variables; location of class from cafeteria, time taken to reach the Cafeteria
Responding variable; time spent in Cafeteria

Form 1 Form 2 Form 3 Form 4 Form 5 Form 6

4.5 mins 5 mins 12 mins 1.5 mins 8 mins 4.5 mins

3 mins 2.5 mins 6.5 mins 6.5 mins 9 mins 12 mins

2 mins 10 mins 7.5 mins 3 mins 7.5 mins 13.5 mins

5 mins 3.5 mins 4 mins 5.5 mins 15 mins 7 mins

 How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?
1 min 7 mins 6 mins 13 mins 11.5 mins 5.5 mins

A Table showing all the times recorded in the Cafeteria of thirty (30) students
in St. Benedict’s College.

*.5 mins = 30 secs

Presentation of Data on a Stem and Leaf Diagram

1 0, 5
2 0, 5
3 0, 0, 5
4 0, 5, 5
5 0, 0, 5, 5
6 0, 5, 5
7 0, 0, 5, 5
8 0
How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?

9 0
10 0
11 5
12 0, 0
13 0, 5
14
15 0

*7|5= 7.5 mins

The School was separated into two main categories; Group A comprised of the juniors or lower
Forms (Forms 1-3) and Group B spanned the Seniors (Forms 4-6). Five random participants
were selected per Form level in each possible grouping or category with the questions remaining
constant. All the data was split between the groups and a back to back Stem and Leaf diagram
was made for each group. The average time taken by a student is six (6) minutes during the
inflexible allotted 10 minutes during break time.
How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?
0 1 5

5, 0 2 -

5, 0 3 0

5, 0 4 5

0, 0 5 5, 5

5, 0 6 5

5, 0 7 0, 5

- 8 0

Group A Group B

- 9 0

0 1 -
0
- 1 5
1
0 1 -
2
- 1 0, 5
3
- 1 -
4
- 1 0
5
How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?

Back to back stem and Leaf diagram showing data collected.

Analysis of Data
How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?

Mean = 795÷15= 5.3 mins

Mode = 5 mins
Median = 10 mins
114.01
Variance = ∑ ¿ ¿ ¿ = 14
=8.14 mins2

Standard Deviation = √ s2= 2.8 mins

Q1 = 3 mins
Q3 = 7 mins
IQR = 7-3 = 4 mins
Outliers =1, 12 mins
How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?

123
Mean = 15 = 8.2 mins

Mode = 5.5 mins

Median = 7.5 mins
189.25
Variance = ∑ ¿ ¿ ¿= 14
=13.5 mins2

Standard Deviation = √ s2= 3.6 mins

Q1 = 4.5 mins
Q3 = 11.5 mins
How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?
IQR = 11.5 – 4.5 = 7 mins
Outliers = 1.5, 13.5 mins

Discussion of Findings

This experiment showed that Group A has an IQR (Inter Quartille Range) and Mean or
average of 5.3 mins and 4 mins respectively.

Group B’s IQR and Mean was 8.2 mins and 7 mins. It was identified in the research that Group
B spends too much time in the Cafeteria.

The mean time and standard variation for group A is closer than group B. In order to elicit
further verification, it may or perhaps should be necessary to conduct another experiment, it
should be done a larger scale. A larger percentage of the student body can be targeted over a
wider time span with the aim to identify trends or inherent emerging patterns. These may be
singular to time of year or perhaps the time of the month. At this juncture, it is imperative to note
that the above specimen originated in an all Boys School environment.

With effort to either prove or negate the findings similar research can be executed at other single
gender institutions within and without the Educational District of San Fernando, Victoria. .The
use of other secondary schools in the Victoria Educational District such as St. Joseph’s Convent,
Presentation College, Naparima Boys’ College and ASJA Boys’ and Girls’ Colleges may also
help to shed some light on the time wastage or poor usage of the same given same gender
situations and opposite gender options. San Fernando West Secondary and Modern Secondary
are two possible sample school options to gauge the impact of co-ed existence and the mechanics
as they impact the time situation. Having several other schools such as five of them being one
How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?
gender and a mixed school may help to give us a truer comparison or contrast amongst different
environments.

Conclusion

The results that I found during this experiment were quite evident as it pointed
towards Group B, being that students in St. Benedict’s College spend too much
time in the cafeteria. This result was very predictable as most of my classmates do
arrive late for 4th period. Two ways to avoid the hassle is the installation of vending
machines as it is very convenient and saves us a lot of time. Another way of going
about this is having more workers in the cafeteria. They will be able to take more
orders therefore making it much more efficient. Drawbacks to these ideas are that
overcrowding the café can lead to a total breakdown of work and order. Vending
machines can be faulty if not serviced and be quite expensive. Vandalization is
also an occurring problem with the lower forms and they can destroy the machine.

Perhaps staggering the levels and their break time can assist in order maintenance
in addition to efficient time management on all fronts.
How long is too long… to spend at the Cafeteria?