After 4 years, they’re not on the roster anymore.
What are the degrees of people you associate with?
I was in engineering and a distinct minority graduated in 4 years. I suspect that other STEM degrees are similar, but that polisci majors (say) aren’t generally faced with the same difficulties.
Why don’t you start by providing us with a methodology describing where you looked?
Saying “randomly on facebook” doesn’t describe it. How do you know it was random? You need a methodology to determine randomness, otherwise you introduce bias by mistaking haphazard sampling for random sampling, when they are not at all the same thing.
You do know that many athletes return later to get their degrees, don’t you?
You probably don’t. Which means you’re making statements about a population without knowing the first thing about it.
Maybe that should be a clue.
Or a elementary course in statistics. That would work wonders.
Under NCAA rules a Division I student has five calendar years to complete four years of athletic eligibility. So, after four seasons on the roster, they’re ineligible to compete regardless of whether they graduated, dropped out or went part-time, whether they started as a freshman or were redshirted until their sophomore year.
I am reminded of the old tale about the New York intellectual who was shocked when Nixon was re-elected: “How could he have won? No one I know voted for him!”
Merged with previous thread.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
You’re telling the truth man. Ain’t no 40% of dudes with degrees in my cell block. Not even 4%.
According to the NCES in the Profile of 2007-08 First-Time Bachelor’s Degree Recipients in 2009 (Table 1.1) , 2/3 of people who graduate from college do so at age 23 or younger. Now that’s 2/3 of college graduates not 2/3 of people who go to college, but you’ve already said that you know very few people who are not college graduates. Also, 23 is not 22 or 21, but I’m a little surprised that you know the exact ages of all your friends.
In addition, from the same source (Table 2.8) , 44% of college graduates (again not the same as people who go to college) get their degree in 48 months or less, with the median at 52 months. 66% graduate within five years, which basically matches the “23 and under” category. Average graduation times are higher because of a small but significant group that takes over 10 years to graduate.
Interestingly, Table 2.8 gives a few additional insights into which students take shortest and longest to graduate. For example, the median graduation time for an unmarried student with no children - what I at least would think of as a “typical college kid” - is only 45 months. Likewise, students going to 4-year schools off the bat (v. attending community college first) tend to graduate earlier, as do those going to private schools, those who have not received Pell grants, and those whose parents have college degrees. I think it would be interesting if the OP also surveyed his friends to see which subcategories they fall into.
So a few weeks ago, I asked why everyone I looked up on any social media site had earned earned a Bachelor’s Degree before they turned 23, despite these statistics.
I was told that this was because social media is bias and those without degrees are less likely to have social media accounts. So I decided to go out in the real world. In these past 3 week, I’ve gone to 4 different nightclubs and 3 different synagogues, have met with people there, and I’m still getting the same results. I didn’t talk to one person who didn’t earn a Bachelor’s Degree before they turned 23. And there was nothing bias about where I was looking. These places were in different cities. I got as random as I could. What am I doing wrong?
Are you sure that there isn’t one common denominator in all the surveys you have been doing…?
You’d probably get a more accurate sample if you walked to the local grocery stores, corner stores, and delis as well. Everyone needs to buy food. Only small portions of the population go to nightclubs and synagogues. I’d also say that until your sample sizes reach into the thousands across all demographics, you’re still just scratching the surface.
It also depends on how your questions are phrased. These articles include people who never graduated from college at all and dropped out.
What are you doing wrong: Failing to learn from experience and what we’ve been telling you.
Your samples are still hopelessly biased.
How may residents of small towns did you talk to? How many people of a different ethnicity than yourself? How many people of different age groups? How many prisoners, military members, and ultra-rich people? etc.
Especially in cities, where it can be quite expensive, going to nightclubs is a habit of young professionals, who would all have bachelor’s degrees at least. Jewish culture also places a high value on education, so synagogues are likely to have a skewed sample as well.
I suspect you need to get out of the cities to construct a representative sample. Urbanites tend to be more highly-educated than average.
I’ve merged your new thread with the old one. It’s the same topic with some added information, and your “old” thread was active as of three days ago.
I don’t even think that is necessary. He should try walking into the kitchen of the nightclubs he frequents and ask how many line cooks and dishwashers got their bachelor’s degrees before the age of 23.
It would be hard to find a more biased location to sample, since 58% of Jews have a college degree.
It didn’t that 58% of Jews got their degree before they turned 23 though.
But they’re still places that don’t require you to have a Bachelor’s Degree and have nothing to do with education.
The people who can afford to go to nightclubs are people who are reasonably successful in life, which tends to correlate nicely with education.
As suggested upthread, talk to the people who WORK at the nightclub, particularly in the more routine/menial jobs such as kitchen or janitorial (bartenders and DJs may vary, depending on your location and type of nightclub). In a typical kitchen, you’re very likely to find a good chunk of the staff never even completed high school.
If you ignore the kitchen staff, ignore the janitors at your workplace, ignore the people who don’t attend synagogue, ignore the bus drivers and trash haulers in your city, ignore the electricians and plumbers and other tradespeople who keep your utilities working, ignore the postal clerks and FedEx drivers who deliver your goods, and so forth, you’re not going to get a representative sample.
For example, the current annual report of the Kansas Dept of Corrections reveals (printed page # 14) that of 9567 prison inmates whose educational attainment is known, fewer than a thousand (actually, 844) have ANY education beyond high school, while 4282 (about 45%) have neither a high school diploma nor a GED. How many of those people, or people like them, have you included in your sample?