Posted by Anthony
Mission: To find out whether the UNCSA high school student body has more “true friends” than the national average of 2.
Answer: Yes!
Noah and Anthony each collected separate data from a random sample* of UNCSA students.
One of the difficulties in this study was defining what a “true friend” actually was. Therefore,
Noah asked people how many true friends they had, with the qualification that a “true friend” = a close friend whom you could trust with anything.
Anthony asked people how many true friends they had, with the qualification that a “true friend” = an above-average friend upon whom you could depend.
Noah’s average (# of true friends per student): 3
Anthony’s average (# of true friends per student): 5
Conclusion: Both these numbers are above the national average for true friends. One reason for this might be because students at UNCSA live on campus and constantly interact with each other. UNCSA has a concentrated bubble of socialization, and therefore it can be said that this school has a greater amount of social capital than America as a whole.
*our research team does not discriminate with respect to race, age, gender, orientation, art school , height, hair color, shoe size, vocal range, number of socks, musical preference (except if you like Taylor Swift), or favorite TV show.
I think being such a small community forces us to be closer to one another and communicate more than the average American. Sharing space, meals, and classes forces us to be a but more accepting of others.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nancy. Additionally, I believe that artists in general are more accepting of different personalities. Instead of avoiding people because they are different, we admire their innovation. It also helps that we share so many similar interests, it allows the students here to connect on a very personal level.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all that has been said. What also may be a factor in this is that we are younger and therefore are less busy than an average adult. We have more time to socialize and hangout with friends. We are also more connected with those we know. I wonder what older people would say about their number of true friends.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with everything that has been said so far as well as Anthony and Noah's conclusion. Here at UNCSA students are with each other almost 24/7 compared to the rest of America, so they have a better chance oh having a higher social capital. Also i feel that when people first move here, their more willing to make new friends and can open up more causing to have more "true friends".
ReplyDeleteLike my fellow classmates have said, being here at UNCSA among a community of artists that share common goals is definitely a factor that increases friendship. While we are in close proximity to eachother twenty four hours a day for the majority of the year, students at other schools spend weekends apart and only spend eight hours a day with eachother in a school environment. Also, being away from our families causes us to have to learn to trust other people and be able to lean on our friends as our support systems, which increases greatly to our social capital. Also, as a returning student, I have learned that not only do you have your friends that are at school, you also have the friends from last year that have moved on to college or jobs, whom you can still rely on for support, which causes you to have social capital in many places.
ReplyDelete-emerson
Artists seem to be much more connected to one another than "the average American". When comparing my past high school years to UNCSA, people of this school seem to genuinely care for others and accept people as they are. This lab was well thought out, and I think it speaks a lot of truth to who we are as a community.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was a better way to find out if people had true friends, like stick them in a situation which would involve trust.
ReplyDeleteI really thought you guys did a fantastic job of experimenting with social capital and then thinking deeply about the social world you inhabit. You guys were very thorough and thoughtful in your work! Thanks for the excellent video and the great job you did!
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