research paper example senior high school

How to Write a Research Paper as a High School Student

By Carly Taylor

Senior at Stanford University

6 minute read

Read our guide to learn why you should write a research paper and how to do so, from choosing the right topic to outlining and structuring your argument.

What is a research paper?

A research paper poses an answer to a specific question and defends that answer using academic sources, data, and critical reasoning. Writing a research paper is an excellent way to hone your focus during a research project , synthesize what you’re learning, and explain why your work matters to a broader audience of scholars in your field.

The types of sources and evidence you’ll see used in a research paper can vary widely based on its field of study. A history research paper might examine primary sources like journals and newspaper articles to draw conclusions about the culture of a specific time and place, whereas a biology research paper might analyze data from different published experiments and use textbook explanations of cellular pathways to identify a potential marker for breast cancer.

However, researchers across disciplines must identify and analyze credible sources, formulate a specific research question, generate a clear thesis statement, and organize their ideas in a cohesive manner to support their argument. Read on to learn how this process works and how to get started writing your own research paper.

Choosing your topic

Tap into your passions.

A research paper is your chance to explore what genuinely interests you and combine ideas in novel ways. So don’t choose a subject that simply sounds impressive or blindly follow what someone else wants you to do – choose something you’re really passionate about! You should be able to enjoy reading for hours and hours about your topic and feel enthusiastic about synthesizing and sharing what you learn.

We've created these helpful resources to inspire you to think about your own passion project . Polygence also offers a passion exploration experience where you can dive deep into three potential areas of study with expert mentors from those fields.

Ask a difficult question

In the traditional classroom, top students are expected to always know the answers to the questions the teacher asks. But a research paper is YOUR chance to pose a big question that no one has answered yet, and figure out how to make a contribution to answering that question. So don’t be afraid if you have no idea how to answer your question at the start of the research process — this will help you maintain a motivational sense of discovery as you dive deeper into your research. If you need inspiration, explore our database of research project ideas .

Be as specific as possible

It’s essential to be reasonable about what you can accomplish in one paper and narrow your focus down to an issue you can thoroughly address. For example, if you’re interested in the effects of invasive species on ecosystems, it’s best to focus on one invasive species and one ecosystem, such as iguanas in South Florida , or one survival mechanism, such as supercolonies in invasive ant species . If you can, get hands on with your project.

You should approach your paper with the mindset of becoming an expert in this topic. Narrowing your focus will help you achieve this goal without getting lost in the weeds and overwhelming yourself.

Would you like to write your own research paper?

Polygence mentors can help you every step of the way in writing and showcasing your research paper

Preparing to write

Conduct preliminary research.

Before you dive into writing your research paper, conduct a literature review to see what’s already known about your topic. This can help you find your niche within the existing body of research and formulate your question. For example, Polygence student Jasmita found that researchers had studied the effects of background music on student test performance, but they had not taken into account the effect of a student’s familiarity with the music being played, so she decided to pose this new question in her research paper.

Pro tip: It’s a good idea to skim articles in order to decide whether they’re relevant enough to your research interest before committing to reading them in full. This can help you spend as much time as possible with the sources you’ll actually cite in your paper.

Skimming articles will help you gain a broad-strokes view of the different pockets of existing knowledge in your field and identify the most potentially useful sources. Reading articles in full will allow you to accumulate specific evidence related to your research question and begin to formulate an answer to it.

Draft a thesis statement

Your thesis statement is your succinctly-stated answer to the question you’re posing, which you’ll make your case for in the body of the paper. For example, if you’re studying the effect of K-pop on eating disorders and body image in teenagers of different races, your thesis may be that Asian teenagers who are exposed to K-pop videos experience more negative effects on their body image than Caucasian teenagers.

Pro Tip: It’s okay to refine your thesis as you continue to learn more throughout your research and writing process! A preliminary thesis will help you come up with a structure for presenting your argument, but you should absolutely change your thesis if new information you uncover changes your perspective or adds nuance to it.

Create an outline

An outline is a tool for sketching out the structure of your paper by organizing your points broadly into subheadings and more finely into individual paragraphs. Try putting your thesis at the top of your outline, then brainstorm all the points you need to convey in order to support your thesis.

Pro Tip : Your outline is just a jumping-off point – it will evolve as you gain greater clarity on your argument through your writing and continued research. Sometimes, it takes several iterations of outlining, then writing, then re-outlining, then rewriting in order to find the best structure for your paper.

Writing your paper

Introduction.

Your introduction should move the reader from your broad area of interest into your specific area of focus for the paper. It generally takes the form of one to two paragraphs that build to your thesis statement and give the reader an idea of the broad argumentative structure of your paper. After reading your introduction, your reader should know what claim you’re going to present and what kinds of evidence you’ll analyze to support it.

Topic sentences

Writing crystal clear topic sentences is a crucial aspect of a successful research paper. A topic sentence is like the thesis statement of a particular paragraph – it should clearly state the point that the paragraph will make. Writing focused topic sentences will help you remain focused while writing your paragraphs and will ensure that the reader can clearly grasp the function of each paragraph in the paper’s overall structure.

Transitions

Sophisticated research papers move beyond tacking on simple transitional phrases such as “Secondly” or “Moreover” to the start of each new paragraph. Instead, each paragraph flows naturally into the next one, with the connection between each idea made very clear. Try using specifically-crafted transitional phrases rather than stock phrases to move from one point to the next that will make your paper as cohesive as possible.

In her research paper on Pakistani youth in the U.S. , Polygence student Iba used the following specifically-crafted transition to move between two paragraphs: “Although the struggles of digital ethnography limited some data collection, there are also many advantages of digital data collection.” This sentence provides the logical link between the discussion of the limitations of digital ethnography from the prior paragraph and the upcoming discussion of this techniques’ advantages in this paragraph.

Your conclusion can have several functions:

To drive home your thesis and summarize your argument

To emphasize the broader significance of your findings and answer the “so what” question

To point out some questions raised by your thesis and/or opportunities for further research

Your conclusion can take on all three of these tasks or just one, depending on what you feel your paper is still lacking up to this point.

Citing sources

Last but not least, giving credit to your sources is extremely important. There are many different citation formats such as MLA, APA, and Chicago style. Make sure you know which one is standard in your field of interest by researching online or consulting an expert.

You have several options for keeping track of your bibliography:

Use a notebook to record the relevant information from each of your sources: title, author, date of publication, journal name, page numbers, etc.

Create a folder on your computer where you can store your electronic sources

Use an online bibliography creator such as Zotero, Easybib, or Noodletools to track sources and generate citations

You can read research papers by Polygence students under our Projects tab. You can also explore other opportunities for high school research .

If you’re interested in finding an expert mentor to guide you through the process of writing your own independent research paper, consider applying to be a Polygence scholar today!

Your research paper help even you to earn college credit , get published in an academic journal , contribute to your application for college , improve your college admissions chances !

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100 Interesting Research Paper Topics for High Schoolers

What’s covered:, how to pick the right research topic, elements of a strong research paper.

Interesting Research Paper Topics

Composing a research paper can be a daunting task for first-time writers. In addition to making sure you’re using concise language and your thoughts are organized clearly, you need to find a topic that draws the reader in.

CollegeVine is here to help you brainstorm creative topics! Below are 100 interesting research paper topics that will help you engage with your project and keep you motivated until you’ve typed the final period.

A research paper is similar to an academic essay but more lengthy and requires more research. This added length and depth is bittersweet: although a research paper is more work, you can create a more nuanced argument, and learn more about your topic. Research papers are a demonstration of your research ability and your ability to formulate a convincing argument. How well you’re able to engage with the sources and make original contributions will determine the strength of your paper.

You can’t have a good research paper without a good research paper topic. “Good” is subjective, and different students will find different topics interesting. What’s important is that you find a topic that makes you want to find out more and make a convincing argument. Maybe you’ll be so interested that you’ll want to take it further and investigate some detail in even greater depth!

For example, last year over 4000 students applied for 500 spots in the Lumiere Research Scholar Program , a rigorous research program founded by Harvard researchers. The program pairs high-school students with Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project . The program actually does not require you to have a research topic in mind when you apply, but pro tip: the more specific you can be the more likely you are to get in!

Introduction

The introduction to a research paper serves two critical functions: it conveys the topic of the paper and illustrates how you will address it. A strong introduction will also pique the interest of the reader and make them excited to read more. Selecting a research paper topic that is meaningful, interesting, and fascinates you is an excellent first step toward creating an engaging paper that people will want to read.

Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is technically part of the introduction—generally the last sentence of it—but is so important that it merits a section of its own. The thesis statement is a declarative sentence that tells the reader what the paper is about. A strong thesis statement serves three purposes: present the topic of the paper, deliver a clear opinion on the topic, and summarize the points the paper will cover.

An example of a good thesis statement of diversity in the workforce is:

Diversity in the workplace is not just a moral imperative but also a strategic advantage for businesses, as it fosters innovation, enhances creativity, improves decision-making, and enables companies to better understand and connect with a diverse customer base.

The body is the largest section of a research paper. It’s here where you support your thesis, present your facts and research, and persuade the reader.

Each paragraph in the body of a research paper should have its own idea. The idea is presented, generally in the first sentence of the paragraph, by a topic sentence. The topic sentence acts similarly to the thesis statement, only on a smaller scale, and every sentence in the paragraph with it supports the idea it conveys.

An example of a topic sentence on how diversity in the workplace fosters innovation is:

Diversity in the workplace fosters innovation by bringing together individuals with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, which stimulates creativity, encourages new ideas, and leads to the development of innovative solutions to complex problems.

The body of an engaging research paper flows smoothly from one idea to the next. Create an outline before writing and order your ideas so that each idea logically leads to another.

The conclusion of a research paper should summarize your thesis and reinforce your argument. It’s common to restate the thesis in the conclusion of a research paper.

For example, a conclusion for a paper about diversity in the workforce is:

In conclusion, diversity in the workplace is vital to success in the modern business world. By embracing diversity, companies can tap into the full potential of their workforce, promote creativity and innovation, and better connect with a diverse customer base, ultimately leading to greater success and a more prosperous future for all.

Reference Page

The reference page is normally found at the end of a research paper. It provides proof that you did research using credible sources, properly credits the originators of information, and prevents plagiarism.

There are a number of different formats of reference pages, including APA, MLA, and Chicago. Make sure to format your reference page in your teacher’s preferred style.

Analyze the benefits of diversity in education.
Are charter schools useful for the national education system?
How has modern technology changed teaching?
Discuss the pros and cons of standardized testing.
What are the benefits of a gap year between high school and college?
What funding allocations give the most benefit to students?
Does homeschooling set students up for success?
Should universities/high schools require students to be vaccinated?
What effect does rising college tuition have on high schoolers?
Do students perform better in same-sex schools?
Discuss and analyze the impacts of a famous musician on pop music.
How has pop music evolved over the past decade?
How has the portrayal of women in music changed in the media over the past decade?
How does a synthesizer work?
How has music evolved to feature different instruments/voices?
How has sound effect technology changed the music industry?
Analyze the benefits of music education in high schools.
Are rehabilitation centers more effective than prisons?
Are congestion taxes useful?
Does affirmative action help minorities?
Can a capitalist system effectively reduce inequality?
Is a three-branch government system effective?
What causes polarization in today’s politics?
Is the U.S. government racially unbiased?
Choose a historical invention and discuss its impact on society today.
Choose a famous historical leader who lost power—what led to their eventual downfall?
How has your country evolved over the past century?
What historical event has had the largest effect on the U.S.?
Has the government’s response to national disasters improved or declined throughout history?
Discuss the history of the American occupation of Iraq.
Explain the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Is literature relevant in modern society?
Discuss how fiction can be used for propaganda.
How does literature teach and inform about society?
Explain the influence of children’s literature on adulthood.
How has literature addressed homosexuality?
Does the media portray minorities realistically?
Does the media reinforce stereotypes?
Why have podcasts become so popular?
Will streaming end traditional television?
What is a patriot?
What are the pros and cons of global citizenship?
What are the causes and effects of bullying?
Why has the divorce rate in the U.S. been declining in recent years?
Is it more important to follow social norms or religion?
What are the responsible limits on abortion, if any?
How does an MRI machine work?
Would the U.S. benefit from socialized healthcare?
Elderly populations
The education system
State tax bases
How do anti-vaxxers affect the health of the country?
Analyze the costs and benefits of diet culture.
Should companies allow employees to exercise on company time?
What is an adequate amount of exercise for an adult per week/per month/per day?
Discuss the effects of the obesity epidemic on American society.
Are students smarter since the advent of the internet?
What departures has the internet made from its original design?
Has digital downloading helped the music industry?
Discuss the benefits and costs of stricter internet censorship.
Analyze the effects of the internet on the paper news industry.
What would happen if the internet went out?
How will artificial intelligence (AI) change our lives?
What are the pros and cons of cryptocurrency?
How has social media affected the way people relate with each other?
Should social media have an age restriction?
Discuss the importance of source software.
What is more relevant in today’s world: mobile apps or websites?
How will fully autonomous vehicles change our lives?
How is text messaging affecting teen literacy?

Mental Health

What are the benefits of daily exercise?
How has social media affected people’s mental health?
What things contribute to poor mental and physical health?
Analyze how mental health is talked about in pop culture.
Discuss the pros and cons of more counselors in high schools.
How does stress affect the body?
How do emotional support animals help people?
What are black holes?
Discuss the biggest successes and failures of the EPA.
How has the Flint water crisis affected life in Michigan?
Can science help save endangered species?
Is the development of an anti-cancer vaccine possible?

Environment

What are the effects of deforestation on climate change?
Is climate change reversible?
How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect global warming and climate change?
Are carbon credits effective for offsetting emissions or just marketing?
Is nuclear power a safe alternative to fossil fuels?
Are hybrid vehicles helping to control pollution in the atmosphere?
How is plastic waste harming the environment?
Is entrepreneurism a trait people are born with or something they learn?
How much more should CEOs make than their average employee?
Can you start a business without money?
Should the U.S. raise the minimum wage?
Discuss how happy employees benefit businesses.
How important is branding for a business?
Discuss the ease, or difficulty, of landing a job today.
What is the economic impact of sporting events?
Are professional athletes overpaid?
Should male and female athletes receive equal pay?
What is a fair and equitable way for transgender athletes to compete in high school sports?
What are the benefits of playing team sports?
What is the most corrupt professional sport?

Where to Get More Research Paper Topic Ideas

If you need more help brainstorming topics, especially those that are personalized to your interests, you can use CollegeVine’s free AI tutor, Ivy . Ivy can help you come up with original research topic ideas, and she can also help with the rest of your homework, from math to languages.

Disclaimer: This post includes content sponsored by Lumiere Education.

Research Paper Example - Examples for Different Formats

Published on: Jun 12, 2021

Last updated on: Feb 6, 2024

Research Paper Example for Different Formats

A research paper typically consists of several key parts, including an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, and annotated bibliography .

When writing a research paper (whether quantitative research or qualitative research ), it is essential to know which format to use to structure your content. Depending on the requirements of the institution, there are mainly four format styles in which a writer drafts a research paper:

Letâs look into each format in detail to understand the fundamental differences and similarities.

Research Paper Example APA

If your instructor asks you to provide a research paper in an APA format, go through the example given below and understand the basic structure. Make sure to follow the format throughout the paper.

APA Research Paper Sample (PDF)

Research Paper Example MLA

Another widespread research paper format is MLA. A few institutes require this format style as well for your research paper. Look at the example provided of this format style to learn the basics.

MLA Research Paper Sample (PDF)

Research Paper Example Chicago

Unlike MLA and APA styles, Chicago is not very common. Very few institutions require this formatting style research paper, but it is essential to learn it. Look at the example given below to understand the formatting of the content and citations in the research paper.

Chicago Research Paper Sample (PDF)

Research Paper Example Harvard

Learn how a research paper through Harvard formatting style is written through this example. Carefully examine how the cover page and other pages are structured.

Harvard Research Paper Sample (PDF)

Examples for Different Research Paper Parts

A research paper is based on different parts. Each part plays a significant role in the overall success of the paper. So each chapter of the paper must be drafted correctly according to a format and structure.

Below are examples of how different sections of the research paper are drafted.

Research Proposal Example

A research proposal is a plan that describes what you will investigate, its significance, and how you will conduct the study.

Research Proposal Sample (PDF)

Abstract Research Paper Example

An abstract is an executive summary of the research paper that includes the purpose of the research, the design of the study, and significant research findings.

It is a small section that is based on a few paragraphs. Following is an example of the abstract to help you draft yours professionally.

Abstract Research Paper Sample (PDF)

Literature Review Research Paper Example

A literature review in a research paper is a comprehensive summary of the previous research on your topic. It studies sources like books, articles, journals, and papers on the relevant research problem to form the basis of the new research.

Writing this section of the research paper perfectly is as important as any part of it.

Literature Review in Research Sample (PDF)

Methods Section of Research Paper Example

The method section comes after the introduction of the research paper that presents the process of collecting data. Basically, in this section, a researcher presents the details of how your research was conducted.

Methods Section in Research Sample (PDF)

Research Paper Conclusion Example

The conclusion is the last part of your research paper that sums up the writerâs discussion for the audience and leaves an impression. This is how it should be drafted:

Research Paper Conclusion Sample (PDF)

Research Paper Examples for Different Fields

The research papers are not limited to a particular field. They can be written for any discipline or subject that needs a detailed study.

In the following section, various research paper examples are given to show how they are drafted for different subjects.

Science Research Paper Example

Are you a science student that has to conduct research? Here is an example for you to draft a compelling research paper for the field of science.

Science Research Paper Sample (PDF)

History Research Paper Example

Conducting research and drafting a paper is not only bound to science subjects. Other subjects like history and arts require a research paper to be written as well. Observe how research papers related to history are drafted.

History Research Paper Sample (PDF)

Psychology Research Paper Example

If you are a psychology student, look into the example provided in the research paper to help you draft yours professionally.

Psychology Research Paper Sample (PDF)

Research Paper Example for Different Levels

Writing a research paper is based on a list of elements. If the writer is not aware of the basic elements, the process of writing the paper will become daunting. Start writing your research paper taking the following steps:

Choose a topic
Form a strong thesis statement
Conduct research
Develop a research paper outline

Once you have a plan in your hand, the actual writing procedure will become a piece of cake for you.

No matter which level you are writing a research paper for, it has to be well structured and written to guarantee you better grades.

If you are a college or a high school student, the examples in the following section will be of great help.

Research Paper Outline (PDF)

Research Paper Example for College

Pay attention to the research paper example provided below. If you are a college student, this sample will help you understand how a winning paper is written.

College Research Paper Sample (PDF)

Research Paper Example for High School

Expert writers of CollegeEssay.org have provided an excellent example of a research paper for high school students. If you are struggling to draft an exceptional paper, go through the example provided.

High School Research Paper Sample (PDF)

Examples are essential when it comes to academic assignments. If you are a student and aim to achieve good grades in your assignments, it is suggested to get help from CollegeEssay.org .

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Senior high school students' knowledge and attitudes toward information on their health in the kumasi metropolis.

$\nSimon Boateng$

1 Social Sciences Department, St. Monica's College of Education, Mampong, Ghana
2 Mampong Technical College of Education, Mampong, Ghana

The study examines senior high school students' understanding and attitudes toward information on their health in the Kumasi Metropolis. Multiple sampling techniques (convenient and simple random sampling techniques) were used in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 391 respondents for the study. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the sociodemographic data. Again, the study used Pearson's correlation coefficient to show the degree of relationship between the level of knowledge of health information and attitudes toward seeking and sharing health information. The study found students' knowledge of the causes and symptoms of malaria, cholera, and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) to be appreciably high as a result of readings from textbooks and health professionals. Again, the study found that the students preferred sharing their health information with friends than their parents and schools' authorities. The study further found that the major sources of students' health information included health professionals and textbooks. Lastly, even though some of the students claimed internet sources to their health information, it was not a major source to the student body at large. The study recommends strong health systems on the campuses of senior high schools as they have become communities on their own as a result of the emergence of the free senior high school program. The monitored positive peer-counseling group should also be encouraged by the schools' management and by extension the counseling units for the students to share views on themselves, particularly on health issues where they deem fit.

Introduction

Information about health is very important if society wants its citizens to stay healthy. Information on health is data collected regarding a person's medical history that include signs and symptoms of disease, diagnoses, medical procedures, and outcomes ( 1 , 2 ). To ensure improved information on people's health, a health information system is introduced (Chen et al., 2018) ( 3 ). The goal of health information systems is to improve treatment for patients by having the most current patient's data available to every healthcare practitioner who treats this client ( 3 , 4 ). However, health information system is available only at healthcare facilities and accessed and used by health professionals for treatment.

It is, however, imperative to note that a patient's information on health can be viewed in two ways; either gathered individually or through a gathered data set of the population ( 5 , 6 ). Apart from information on health gotten directly from physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health practitioners, it can be gotten from the internet, textbooks, and newsletters as well ( 7 , 8 ). However, not all the sources of information on health are credible. For instance, Hampton ( 8 ) indicated that people facing medical decisions often look beyond their physicians to social media, websites, videos, and mobile applications which do not proffer the needed remedy. It is further explained that these people who most often seek information on health from the internet have not experienced any positive change in their lives ( 8 – 10 ). This was confirmed by Keselman et al. ( 11 ) that most information on health on the internet is poor and not credible leading to more harm than good.

On the other hand, seeking information on health among the populace has brought some changes in the lives of people toward medical use and lifestyle due to increased understanding of health issues ( 12 – 14 ). McNicol ( 15 ) and Dutta-Bergman ( 16 ) explained that the current increase in consumer freedom to act in health care accompanied by the use of social media, websites, and mobile applications for information on health gathering has led to increasing interest of understanding the consumer health information. Osei-Assibey et al. ( 17 ) further noted that this act has led to increased adherence to medical prescriptions.

That notwithstanding, the youth have been deemed to be more vulnerable to information on health sourced from the social media and websites ( 18 , 19 ). Valle et al. further explained that senior high school students enter a critical transition and begin to become independent and responsible for their own health during high school years. Moreover, high school students are thought to be a vulnerable population in that they are exposed to all kinds of health risks ( 20 , 21 ). Common health risk among senior high school students (especially those in the boarding houses) includes skin rashes due to congestion in dormitory, malaria, and cholera due to unsanitary environment, and sexually transmitted diseases due to indiscriminate sex ( 22 ).

In view of this, more health education programs are organized from time to time by government agencies and non-governmental organizations for the students. The programs most often center on current diseases and infirmities and diseases that are more prevalent ( 13 , 17 , 23 – 25 ). However, despite these attempts, communicable diseases are prevalent in the senior high schools in the Kumasi Metropolis. This has raised concerns about students' understanding and attitudes toward seeking information on their health.

Again, despite the various attempts to increase knowledge on health among the students, understanding and attitudes among students toward some health issues are not positive. Ezeala-Adilkaibe et al. ( 26 ) revealed in South East Nigeria that the majority of students have poor knowledge, attitude, and practice of epilepsy. Brass et al. ( 27 ) added that students' knowledge about HIV or AIDS is inadequate and their attitudes were stigmatized. Meanwhile, Thanavanh et al. ( 2 ) noted that students with medium- and high-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding HIV or AIDS are likely to display a positive attitude toward people living with HIV.

In view of the importance of information on health among students, there have been several attempts to help senior high school students get more oriented with the information on their health. Thus, this study examines senior high school students' understanding and attitudes toward information on their health in the Kumasi Metropolis.

Materials and Methods

Research design.

This study was a cross-sectional study where primary data were collected from students in selected senior high schools in the Kumasi Metropolis. Based on the formulated research questions that the researchers wanted to answer and the nature of the study, the quantitative research design was most appropriate, hence its adoption in this study. The quantitative design helped the researcher to estimate the relationships between the variables understudy. Thus, in this study, the quantitative research design helped the researcher to determine the relationship among the level of knowledge and seeking and sharing health information among the students.

Study Population and Sampling Procedure

Students in senior high schools in the Kumasi Metropolis were the target population. The metropolis has a number of senior high schools, both near and far from the researchers. This study employed convenience sampling to sample the schools and students ( 28 ). The schools were selected based on proximity and the willingness of the schools' administration and individual students to participate. Based on these two criteria, five schools were sampled from the study area. The study considered proximity to be how the schools were closer to each other and to the researchers as well. The researchers choose 5 out of 21 senior high schools in the metropolis based on the assumption of similar characteristics of the students. The age range of senior high school students was between 15 and 18 years. This connotes homogenous adolescent characteristics for these students understudy; hence, the study's generalization is justified. The study admits that the heterogeneous socioeconomic background of students might have caused different perspectives about the problem understudy. However, since the students were all in the same schools facing virtually the same problems, such differences were not significant to be noticed.

Again, premised on the principle of anonymity and ethical consideration, the names of the schools have been withheld and classified them as Schools A, B, C, D, and E. It is imperative to note that Schools A and B were strictly boys' schools, C and D were strictly girls' schools whereas E was a mixed school (both boys and girls). These schools were chosen because they are considered as the elite schools with most of the best educational facilities for academic work in the study area. Again, as stated earlier, the researchers assumed that since the students were in their teens, their perspectives about their health information would not differ much. Based on the aforementioned assumptions, the schools were chosen for the study. The respective population of the sampled schools are shown in Table 1 .

Table 1 . Student population of sampled schools.

Aside the study sampling of the schools, the study sampled the students through convenience sampling. The criteria used here were “easy access to students” ( 29 ). This study realized four places where students could be found easily. First, in classrooms during the lesson; second, at dining hall during dining time; third, at the canteen during break time, and fourth, at school entrance both in the morning and after school. Among these four places, canteen during break time and at the entrance of dining hall after dining periods were most convenient due to time and activities of the students. The assumption for choosing these places was that at least, a student would be found at one of the venues at the time of data collection. The researchers first sought the consent of participants and assured them of strict confidentiality. The researchers then read and explained the questions to the participants before answers were required. Because the researchers had a fair knowledge about the exact number of sample size they were seeking to sample, they did not continue the data collection after accurately getting the exact number (391).

Sample Size Determination

The study employed Yamane ( 30 ) sample size determination formula in Equation (1) to compute the overall size for the study.

where: N signifies the population under study = 16523

e signifies the margin of error = 0.5

n signifies the sample size = 391

From the formula in Equation (1);

Therefore, the overall sample size for this study was 391. This study further used a proportionate stratified population sampling technique to determine the sample size for each school as shown in Table 2 .

Table 2 . Sample size for each student population of sampled schools.

Data Collection Instrument

Among the data collection instruments (questionnaire and interview guide), this study relied on the questionnaire to collect all primary data from the students. This study used a structured questionnaire because it helped the researcher to collect standardized data, and second to collect data at a cheaper administration cost ( 31 , 32 ). The questionnaire design has four sections. Section I focused on demographic data; Section II focused on the level of knowledge of health information; Section III focused on attitudes toward seeking health information; and Section IV on the attitudes toward sharing health information. All the questions contained in the questionnaire, except those under Section I (demographic data), were in the form of a five-point Likert scale.

Data Collection Procedures

This study collected all primary data between December 9, and December 13, 2020. The study sought permission from the headmasters or headmistresses of the selected senior high schools through an introductory letter obtained from St. Monica's College of Education. The researchers administered questionnaires in the selected schools by themselves. A strategy was devised to ensure a high response rate. This was achieved by encouraging all respondents to fill in the questionnaire in the presence of the researchers. This did not only ensure a high response rate but also offered the opportunity to clarify all misunderstandings surrounding some of the research questions.

The participation in the study was not compulsory but students willingly participated and gave out accurate data ( 33 , 34 ). The study informed the purpose of the study to all respondents and assured them strict confidentiality and anonymity. Before the actual data collection, this study ensured that the instrument used is valid and reliable. The researchers showed the research instruments to their colleagues who helped to restructure the questionnaire to be more consistent with the research objectives. For reliability, the researchers pre-tested the questionnaire at SIMMS Senior High School in the Kwabre East Municipality on 25 students. This was performed to ensure that errors in the questionnaire were corrected before actual administration.

Data Analysis

The data collected were analyzed with the use of descriptive and inferential statistics. The data were cleaned and entered into Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 21.0. For the descriptive analysis, frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the data. For the inferential analysis, this study used Pearson's correlation coefficient to show the degree of relationship among the level of knowledge of health information and attitudes toward seeking and sharing information on health. In furtherance, data were presented as numbers and percentages for categorical variables.

Ethical Approval

The study was approved by the Committee on Human Research, Publication, and Ethics of the School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology/Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital with reference number CHRPE/AP/317/20. Again, all participants gave verbal consent for their participation in the study.

Results and Discussion

This section presents and discusses data collected from 391 students in Kumasi Metropolis concerning health information through questionnaire administration. The presentations and discussions of data were in accordance with the arrangement of research questions. The sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents were first presented and discussed to form the basis of discussions in this study.

Sociodemographic Characteristics of Respondents

This section talks about the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents. These characteristics included sex, class, and program of study of students understudy. The sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents (students) are shown in Table 3 .

Table 3 . Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents ( N = 391).

From Table 3 , out of 391 respondents, 213 (54.5%) were boys whereas 178 (45.5) were girls. Even though gender parity at the senior high schools has been attained in Ghana, male students dominated in the study as against their female counterparts. This may be attributed to the willingness of the male students to take part in the study at the time of data collection. The class distribution of the respondents is shown in Table 3 as 165 (42.2%) for Form 2 and the remaining 226 (57.8%) for Form 3. The number of the Form three (3) students increased because, at the time of the data collection, all the Form 3 students were in school. However, only the gold track Form one and two students were present. This explained why the number of students from Form two was relatively lower compared with the Form three students. The students from form one were not considered since they were new to the schools; hence, any information from them may be insignificant since it would not be a true reflection of information on their health and usage behavior of the students on campus.

In relation to program of study in senior high schools in Kumasi Metropolis, Table 3 shows that 90 (23.0%) of the respondents offered home economics, 75 (19.2%) offered business, 100 (25.6%) offered general arts, 80 (20.5%) offered visual arts, and 46 (11.7%) offered science. The study shows that majority of the students offered general arts and home economics. This may be because general arts and home economic courses are now the mostly considered courses in the admission into nurses training colleges and colleges of education in Ghana. As a result, most students who want to pursue nursing end up pursuing general arts and home economics. Moreover, most of the students have the notion that general arts and home economics are easy to pass and this influences most of the students to offer both.

Level of Knowledge on the Sign and Symptoms of Common Diseases

The study sought the respondents' knowledge on the symptoms and causes of some common diseases (malaria, cholera, and STIs) among the students. The responses were collected from the questionnaire and summarized in Table 4 .

Table 4 . Level of knowledge on the sign and symptoms of common diseases.

From Table 4 , out of 391 respondents, 76 (19.4%) noted a low level of knowledge, 125 (32.0%) expressed a high level of knowledge, and 190 (48.6%) indicated a very high level of knowledge on the cause of malaria among students in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study shows that most of the students in Kumasi Metropolis have a high level of knowledge on the causes of malaria. This is because malaria is one of the common diseases that affect most of the students in the study schools. In addition, Table 4 further shows that 74 (18.9%) of the respondents expressed a low level of knowledge, 140 (35.8%) noted a high level of knowledge, and 177 (45.3%) indicated a very high level of knowledge on the symptoms of malaria. Thus, the study revealed that the majority of the respondents had a high level of knowledge on the symptoms of malaria. The respondents gave some of the symptoms of malaria to include feeling hot and shivery, headaches, vomiting, muscle pains, diarrhea, and generally feeling unwell. They however added that some of the symptoms are often mild and can sometimes be difficult to identify as malaria.

Again, Table 4 shows that 90 (23.0%), 135 (34.5%), and 166 (42.5%) expressed low, high, and very high levels of knowledge on the cause of cholera, respectively. The study shows that majority of students in Kumasi Metropolis have a high level of knowledge on the causes of cholera. This may be as a result of the fact that most of the students asserted, that they had suffered from the disease since they came to the school. The results in Table 4 reveal that 85 (21.7%) expressed a low level of knowledge, 145 (37.1%) showed a high level of knowledge, and 161 (41.2%) indicated a very high level of knowledge on the symptoms of cholera among students in senior high schools in Kumasi Metropolis. The results show that majority of the students have more information and knowledge about the symptom of cholera.

Moreover, from Table 4 , out of 391 respondents, 78 (19.9%) noted a low level of knowledge, 165 (42.2%) indicated a high level of knowledge, and 148 (37.9%) expressed a very high level of knowledge about the causes of sexually transmitted infections (gonorrhea and syphilis). The study revealed that students in senior high schools in the Kumasi Metropolis have a high level of knowledge on the causes of STIs (gonorrhea and syphilis). Table 4 shows that 88 (22.5%) noted a low level of knowledge, 158 (40.4%) indicated a high level of knowledge, and 145 (37.1%) expressed a very high level of knowledge on the symptoms of STIs in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study revealed that most of the students in Kumasi Metropolis know the symptom of STIs. They however could not give more important symptoms of STIs.

Attitudes Toward Seeking Health Information

The section further sought to determine the attitudes of students toward seeking information on their health in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study asked the respondents to indicate how often they use any of the following sources to seek information on their health. The responses were collected from the questionnaire and summarized in Table 5 .

Table 5 . Attitudes toward seeking health information ( N = 391).

Results from Table 5 show that 90 (23.0%) noted rarely, 145 (37.1%) not often, 75 (19.2%) often, 43 (11.0%) very often, and 38 (9.7%) expressed extremely often that they seek information on their health using the internet. This shows that most of the students in Kumasi Metropolis do not use the internet to seek information on their health. Again, from Table 5 , the results show that 34 (8.7%), 54 (13.8%), 48 (12.3%), 130 (33.2%), and 125 (32.0%) noted rarely, not often, often, very often, and extremely often, respectively, that they seek information on their health from health professionals. This clearly shows that the majority (77.5%) of the respondents often seek information on their health from the health professionals.

Moreover, results in Table 5 show that 39 (10.0%) indicated rarely, 42 (10.7%) not often, 20 (5.1%) often, 120 (30.7%) very often, and 170 (43.5%) extremely often seek information on their health from their friends. This suggests that the majority (79.3%) of the respondents asserted that they seek information on their health from their friends. In addition, from Table 5 , 37 (9.5%), 32 (8.1%), 30 (7.7%), 168 (43.0%), and 124 (31.7) of the respondents noted rarely, not often, often, very often, and extremely often, respectively, that they seek information on their health from textbooks. The study reveals that most of the students in Kumasi Metropolis seek information on their health from their textbooks.

Last but not least, Table 5 shows that 165 (42.2%) noted rarely, 80 (20.4%) not often, 50 (12.8%) often, 55 (14.1%) very often, and 41 (10.5%) extremely often that they seek information on their health from newsletters. This suggests that the students in Kumasi Metropolis do not seek health information from newsletters.

Association Between Information Sources and Level of Health Knowledge

This study used the chi-square test to test for a statistical association between each source of information on their health and the level of knowledge on the same. The results have been illustrated in Table 6 .

Table 6 . Association between level of knowledge and sources of information on health.

From Table 6 , the study found a significant association between the level of knowledge of the causes of malaria and seeking health information from the internet (chi-square value = 15.456, p = 0.014), health professional (chi-square value = 20.354, p < 0.001), friends (chi-square value = 18.867; p < 0.001), and textbooks (chi-square value = 19.578, p < 0.001). That is, as the students seek information on their health from the internet, health professionals, friends, and textbooks, their level of knowledge on the causes of malaria is increased.

Further, Table 6 shows that there is significant association between the level of knowledge on the symptoms of malaria and seeking information on their health from the internet (chi-square value = 13.322, p = 0.012), health professionals (chi-square value = 19.689, p < 0.001), and textbooks (chi-square value = 18.795, p < 0.001) at 5% significant level. This shows that students' level of knowledge on the symptoms of malaria increases when they seek information on their health from the internet, health professional, and textbooks.

The analysis in Table 6 shows that there is significant association between the level of knowledge on the causes of cholera and seeking information on their health from the internet (chi-square value = 14.482, p = 0.022), health professional (chi-square value = 21.856; p < 0.001), and textbooks (chi-square value =14.533, p = 0.022). This shows that students' level of knowledge on the causes of cholera increases when they seek information on their health from the internet, health professional, and textbooks. Similarly, the level of knowledge on symptoms of cholera was significantly associated with seeking information on health from the internet, health professionals, and textbooks. Again, from Table 6 , there is a significant association between the level of knowledge of the causes of STIs and seeking information on their health from the internet (chi-square value = 22.259, p < 0.001), health professional (chi-square value = 23.523, p < 0.001), and textbooks (chi-square value = 18.120, p < 0.001). That is, the more the students seek information on their health from the internet, health professional, and textbooks, the higher their level of knowledge on the causes of STIs. Similarly, the level of knowledge on symptoms of STIs is significantly associated with seeking information on health from the internet, health professionals, textbooks, and newsletters.

Attitudes Toward Sharing Health Information

Again, this section sought to know the attitudes of students toward sharing information on their health. The researchers asked the respondents to indicate the extent of their agreement or disagreement with each of the following statements. The responses were collected from the questionnaire and summarized in Table 7 . This study further used the chi-square to test the significance of association between attitudes toward sharing information on their health and the characteristics of the respondents.

Table 7 . Attitudes toward sharing health information by students.

From Table 7 , out of 42 respondents who noted strongly disagree that they share information on their health with friends, 18 (42.9%) were boys and 24 (57.1%) were girls. From Table 7 , out of 38 respondents disagreed that they share information on their health with friends and of out this number, 22 (57.9%) were boys and 16 (42.1) were girls. Furthermore, out of 391 respondents, 25 of the respondents who expressed neutral that they share information on their health with friends 10 (40.0%) and 15 (60.0%) were boys and girls, respectively. Among the 184 of the respondents who agreed that they share information on their health with friends, 58 (31.5) were boys and 126 (68.5%) were girls. In addition, out of 102 respondents who noted strongly agree, 37 (36.3%) were – boys and 65 (63.7%) were girls. The study further reveals that there is a strong association between the sex of student and sharing information on their health with friends (chi-square value = 17.285, p < 0.001). Thus, the study ascertained that female students strongly share their information on health with friends than their male counterparts.

Table 7 further revealed that out of 42 respondents strongly disagreed that they share information on their health with friends, 16 (38.1%) were in Form two and 26 (61.9%) were in Form three. Out of 38 respondents who noted disagree, 18 (42.4%) were in Form two and 20 (52.6) were in Form three. From Table 7 , out of 25 respondents who expressed neutral, 14 (56.0%) were in Form two and 11 (40.0%) were in Form three, and out of 184 respondents who indicated agree, 65 (35.3%) were in Form two and 119 (64.7%) were in Form three. In Table 7 , out of 102 respondents who strongly agreed that they share information on their health with friends, 52 (51.0%) were in Form two and 50 (49.0%) were in Form three. The study also reveals that there is a significant association between the class of the student and sharing information on their health with friends (chi-square value = 19.258; p < 0.001). Thus, the study gives an indication that Form three students strongly share their information on health with friends than Form two students.

In furtherance, Table 7 shows that out of 105 respondents who strongly disagreed that they share information on their health with parents, 60 (57.1%) were boys and 45 (42.9%) were girls. From Table 7 , out of 58 respondents who noted disagree, 32 (55.2%) were boys and 26 (44.8) were girls; and out of 55 of the respondents who expressed neutral, 18 (32.7%) were boys whereas 37 (67.3%) were girls. As shown in Table 7 , out of 125 respondents who agreed, 50 (31.5%) were boys and 75 (68.5%) were girls. Again, out of 48 respondents who strongly agreed, 28 (58.3%) were boys and 20 (41.7%) were girls. The study reveals that there is a significant association between the sex of student and sharing information on their health with parents (chi-square value = 13.285, p = 0.004). Thus, the study gives an indication that female students share information on their health with their parents more than their male counterparts.

The results in Table 7 show that out of 105 respondents who strongly disagreed, 30 (28.6%) were in Form two and 75 (71.4%) were in Form three, and out of 58 respondents who noted disagree, 24 (41.4%) were in Form two and 34 (58.6%) were in Form three. From Table 7 , out of 55 respondents who expressed neutral, 14 (25.5%) were in Form two and 41 (75.5%) were in Form three; out of 125 respondents who agreed, 68 (54.4%) were in Form two and 57 (45.6%) were in Form three. Table 7 shows that out of 48 respondents who noted strongly agree that they share information on their health with parents, 29 (60.4%) were in Form two and 19 (39.6%) were in Form three. The study found no significant association between the class of the student and sharing information on their health with parents (chi-square value = 9.527, p = 0.069).

Furthermore, Table 7 shows that out of 44 respondents who strongly disagreed that they share their information on health with the health professionals, 26 (59.1%) were boys and 18 (40.9%) were girls. Again, out of 49 respondents who noted disagree, 22 (44.9%) were boys and 27 (51.1%) were girls, and out of 38 respondents who expressed neutral, 16 (42.1%) were boys and 22 (57.9%) were girls. In addition, out of 145 respondents who indicated agree, 70 (48.3%) were boys and 75 (51.7%) were girls; out of 115 respondents who noted strongly agree, 82 (71.3%) were boys and 33 (28.7%) were girls who expressed that they share their information on health with health professionals. The study reveals that there is a strong significant association between the sex of student and sharing information on their health with health professionals (chi-square value = 17.987, p = 0.015). The implication of this is that female students share their information on health with the health professionals more than their male counterparts.

The results in Table 7 further show that out of 44 respondents who strongly disagreed, 16 (36.4%) were in Form two and 28 (63.6%) were in Form three; out of 49 of the respondents who noted disagree, 20 (40.8%) were in Form two and 29 (59.1%) were in Form three; out of 38 of the respondents who expressed neutral, 14 (36.8%) were in Form two and 24 (63.2%) were in Form three; out of 145 of the respondents who indicated agree, 60 (41.4%) were in Form two and 85 (58.6%) were in Form three; and out of 115 respondents who noted strongly agree, 55 (47.8%) were in Form two and 60 (52.2%) were in Form three, who noted that they share information on their health with health professionals. The study reveals that there is a significant association between the class of the student and sharing information on their health with health professionals (chi-square = 19.527, p < 0.001). The senior students were found to share their health problems with the health professionals.

From Table 7 , out of 32 respondents who strongly disagreed that they share information on their health with school authorities, 18 (56.3%) were boys and 14 (43.8%) were girls; out of 52 of the respondents who noted disagree, 32 (61.5%) were boys and 20 (38.5) were girls; out of 42 of the respondents who expressed neutral, 24 (57.1%) were boys and 18 (42.9%) were girls. Again, from 155 of the respondents who indicated agree, 85 (54.8%) were boys and 70 (45.2%) were girls, and out of 110 respondents who noted strongly agree, 54 (49.1%) were boys and 56 (50.9%) were girls. The study did not find any significant association between the sex of students and sharing information on their health with school authorities (chi-square value = 16.231, p = 0.023).

Table 7 further revealed that out of 32 respondents who strongly disagreed for sharing information on their health with school authorities, 17 (53.1%) were in Form two and 15 (46.9%) were in Form three; from 52 of the respondents who noted disagree, 17 (32.7%) were in Form two and 35 (67.3%) were in Form three; out of 42 of the respondents who expressed neutral, 19 (44.5%) were in Form two and 23 (54.8%) were in Form three; from 155 of the respondents who indicated agree, 69 (44.5%) were in Form two and 86 (64.7%) were in Form three and out of 110 respondents who noted strongly agree, 43 (39.1%) were in Form two and 67 (60.9%) were in Form three. The study also reveals that there is a significant association between the class of students and sharing information on their health with school authorities (chi-square value = 18.258, p < 0.001). Thus, the study gives an indication that Form three students strongly share information on their health with school authorities than Form two students.

The study examines senior high school students' understanding and attitudes toward information on their health on campus in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study found that the students had fair knowledge about the causes and symptoms of malaria. This is not surprising as malaria is a staple disease in the tropical regions where the study area (Kumasi Metropolis) falls. In fact, according to the Ghana Health Service ( 13 ), malaria is the number one outpatient disease in Ghana which is likely to underpin the students' familiarity with the disease. Again, the students expressed enormous knowledge on the causes and symptoms of cholera. The students asserted that they experience an occasional outbreak of cholera on campus, particularly when they eat contaminated foods on campus. It is worthy to mention that the students' familiarity with the causes and symptoms of cholera may be as a result of the perennial outbreak of the cholera disease in the study areas. Some of the respondents attributed the outbreak of cholera to contaminated sources, foods and drinks sold by market vendors, heaped human waste, and undercooked food from the dining.

Again, the students showed fair knowledge about the causes and symptoms of the sexually transmitted diseases (gonorrhea and syphilis). The students' awareness about these diseases could be attributed to the fact that some aspects of these STIs are treated as part of their curriculum content at the junior high and senior school levels. Subjects such as integrated science and social studies contain some contents that bother on these diseases. Again, several adverts are run on radio and television concerning these diseases giving the students fair knowledge and understanding about the causes and symptoms of STIs (gonorrhea and syphilis). This is an indication that students in the metropolis have in-depth knowledge on the causes of STIs and this supports the study conducted by KHademian et al. ( 12 ), Waldman et al. ( 14 ), and Thanavanh et al. ( 2 ), which reveals that students have a high level of knowledge about the causes of STIs, particularly HIV or AIDS.

Moreover, the study found that most of the students in the Kumasi Metropolis do not use the internet to seek information on their health. This may be attributed to the reason that most of the schools do not have access to the internet in their respective schools and this impedes their accessibility to internet facilities to seek information on their health while on campus. Again, the students are not permitted to use phones in the school which further hinders their accessibility to the internet. However, the students who asserted that they seek information on their health from the internet claimed that they had high knowledge of their health. This contravenes the study of Hampton ( 8 ) that the people who most often seek information from the internet have not experienced any positive change in their lives.

On the other hand, the students were found to seek information on their health from health professionals in their schools. This is due to the fact that the selected schools are urban schools and have access to health facilities (sick bays) being operated by the health professionals on their campuses. This makes most of the students go to them to seek information concerning their health issues. This confirms a study by Chen et al. (2018) and Jordan et al. ( 3 ) that there is the need for health professionals to help and guide efforts by educating children and adults about their health information (issues) through more comprehensive tests. It is those health professionals who can detect one's health problems through a series of medical tests. The study further found that the students sought information on their health from their friends. The students expressed that they were comfortable in sharing information on their health with their friends because they believe their friends could keep the information to themselves without divulging it to a third party. Also, the students claimed that they incur costs when they consult the health professionals so they rather attend to their friends they perceive to be knowledgeable for help. However, they noted that the information they seek from their friends is sometimes not authentic.

In addition, the study found that the majority of the students do not seek information on their health from newsletters. This is because most of the students do not have access to newsletters on health while on campus. Even the library which was supposed to be a repository of these materials did not have them and the students barely sought information on their health for this source. However, the study found that the students sought information on their health from their textbooks. The students claimed that the information they seek are part of the things they learn in school. Such information includes the signs and symptoms of some common diseases such as malaria, STIs, and cholera. They further noted that they get some of the ways to treat certain diseases in their textbooks. Finally, the study found a strong association between the students' level of knowledge on the causes and symptoms of malaria, cholera, and STIs and the seeking information on their health from the internet, health professionals, and textbooks.

With respect to sharing information on their health by the students, the study found that most of the students in Kumasi Metropolis share their information with friends. The students claimed that their friends are always around them any time they are in need of help especially in schools and make them feel comfortable by sharing their information on health with them. They further asserted that they have confidence and trust in their friends that they will not share their information with a third party. The study further found a strong association between the sex of students and the sharing health information with friends. Female students were found more to be sharing information on their health with their friends than their male counterparts.

That notwithstanding, the study found that the students were hesitant in sharing information on their health with their parents. This may be attributed to the fact that most of the students are boarders in their respective schools, and as a result, they spend less time with their parents. It may also as a result of the bully nature of many Ghanaian parents. Because of the intimidating nature of some parents, the motherly or fatherly relationship between child and parents is marred, which culminates into students finding it difficult to share information on their health with their parents. This makes them keep information on their health to themselves as Sbaffi and Zhao ( 20 ) and Paterson (2010) noted that young people have a strong desire to be in control of their own record than sharing with intimidating parents.

However, the study reveals that the students in the Kumasi Metropolis share information on their health with the health professional in the school. The students asserted that they believe the health professionals keep the information confidential. This gives them some comfort and confidence to share information on their health with them. Again, it may also be attributed to the fact that the students believe in them to have the expertise to solve their health problems and therefore are willing to share information on their health with these professionals. This corroborates the study of Tran et al. ( 23 ), Ghana Health Service ( 13 ), and Teixeira et al. ( 35 ) that sharing information on their health with health professionals is hinged on their knowledge and their ability to keep the information confidential. Again, the sex of students was found to have a strong association with the sharing information on their health with health professionals. Female students were found to share information on their health with the health professionals more than their male counterparts. This may be precipitated by the Ghanaian culture where female students are mostly found to access health care whenever they fall sick as compared to their male counterparts who will keep their health problems to themselves.

Conclusion and Policy Implications

The study examined senior high school students' understanding and attitude toward health information access in schools. The findings of the study have brought to the fore pertinent health issues that have been neglected in the educational sector for many decades, particularly in many developing countries such as Ghana. The study found students' knowledge of the causes and symptoms of malaria, cholera, and STIs to be appreciably high as a result of readings from textbooks and health professionals. Again, the study found that the students preferred sharing their health information with friends than their parents, particularly the female students. Again, the study found that the students felt uncomfortable sharing their health information with the schools' authorities for fear of stigmatization. Finally, the study further posits a strong association between the students' level of knowledge on the causes and symptoms of malaria, cholera, and STIs and the seeking health information from the internet, health professionals, and textbooks.

Following from the findings, the study recommends that the counseling units in the senior high schools should have a health professional in their team who would provide clinical counseling services to the students. Monitored positive peer-counseling group (this is where students are electronically and/or manually put into micro-groups of three in addition to a counseling expert for them to share their personal problems they feel to share hinged on the principle of trust and confidentiality) should also be encouraged by the schools' management and by extension the counseling units for the students to share views on themselves, particularly on health issues where they deem fit. In this case, the counseling expert would be able to moderate the conversations of the students and give expert advice appropriately. The study further proposes that schools' management should institute a telemedicine program in the schools to well-inform the students on health matters to prevent abuse of health information. Finally, the study recommends a strong health system on the campuses of senior high schools as they have become communities on their own as a result of the emergence of the free senior high school program.

Limitations of the Study

Despite the innovative contributions of this study to the literature and policy of health information among students, certain limitations that might affect the generalizability and accuracy of findings were inevitable, particularly during the design and data collection phases of the study. Therefore, it is incumbent to note that the findings of this study should be interpreted in light of such limitations. For instance, given time and financial constraints, only five schools were selected for the study out of convenience. As a result, the extent to which the findings could be generalizable to other students elsewhere in Ghana may be limited. In furtherance, whereas longitudinal analysis may be desirable, this study employed a cross-sectional design as opposed to a longitudinal study. This may limit the determination of any causal and temporal relationships among the various outcomes and explanatory study variables. The findings should, therefore, be taken as associations rather than being causal. More so, in Ghana, age and certain health problems are often not openly reported owing to the associated stigma.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Committee on Human Research, Publication and Ethics of the School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology/Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants' legal guardian/next of kin. Written informed consent was obtained from the minor(s)' legal guardian/next of kin for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: senior high school, Kumasi Metropolis, malaria, cholera, information on health

Citation: Boateng S, Baah A, Boakye-Ansah D and Aboagye B (2022) Senior High School Students' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Information on Their Health in the Kumasi Metropolis. Front. Public Health 9:752195. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.752195

Received: 03 August 2021; Accepted: 06 December 2021; Published: 13 January 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Boateng, Baah, Boakye-Ansah and Aboagye. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Simon Boateng, boateng.simon@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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The effects of alcohol use on academic achievement in high school

Ana i. balsa.

a Research Professor, Center for Applied Research on Poverty, Family, and Education, Department of Economics, Universidad de Montevideo; Prudencio de Pena 2440, Montevideo, 11600, Uruguay; Phone: (+598 2) 707 4461 ext 300; Fax: (+598 2) 707 4461 ext 325; yu.ude.mu@aslaba

Laura M. Giuliano

b Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, United States; [email protected]

Michael T. French

c Professor of Health Economics, Health Economics Research Group, Department of Sociology, Department of Economics, and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, United States; ude.imaim@hcnerfm

This paper examines the effects of alcohol use on high school students’ quality of learning. We estimate fixed-effects models using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Our primary measure of academic achievement is the student’s GPA abstracted from official school transcripts. We find that increases in alcohol consumption result in small yet statistically significant reductions in GPA for male students and in statistically non-significant changes for females. For females, however, higher levels of drinking result in self-reported academic difficulty. The fixed-effects results are substantially smaller than OLS estimates, underscoring the importance of addressing unobserved individual heterogeneity.

1. Introduction

In the United States, one in four individuals between the ages of 12 and 20 drinks alcohol on a monthly basis, and a similar proportion of 12 th graders consumes five or more drinks in a row at least once every two weeks ( Newes-Adeyi, Chen, Williams, & Faden, 2007 ). Several studies have reported that alcohol use during adolescence affects educational attainment by decreasing the number of years of schooling and the likelihood of completing school ( Chatterji & De Simone, 2005 ; Cook & Moore, 1993 ; Gil-Lacruz & Molina, 2007 ; Koch & McGeary, 2005 ; McCluskey, Krohn, Lizotte, & Rodriguez, 2002 ; NIDA, 1998 ; Renna, 2007 ; Yamada, Kendrix, & Yamada, 1996 ) Other research using alternative estimation techniques suggests that the effects of teen drinking on years of education and schooling completion are very small and/or non-significant ( Chatterji, 2006 ; Dee & Evans, 2003 ; Koch & Ribar, 2001 ).

Despite a growing literature in this area, no study has convincingly answered the question of whether alcohol consumption inhibits high school students’ learning. Alcohol consumption could be an important determinant of how much a high school student learns without having a strong impact on his or her decision to stay in school or attend college. This question is fundamental and timely, given recent research showing that underage drinkers are susceptible to the immediate consequences of alcohol use, including blackouts, hangovers, and alcohol poisoning, and are at elevated risk of neurodegeneration (particularly in regions of the brain responsible for learning and memory), impairments in functional brain activity, and neurocognitive defects ( Zeigler et al., 2004 ).

A common and comprehensive measure of high school students’ learning is Grade Point Average (GPA). GPA is an important outcome because it is a key determinant of college admissions decisions and of job quality for those who do not attend college. Only a few studies have explored the association between alcohol use and GPA. Wolaver (2002) and Williams, Powell, and Wechsler (2003) have studied this association among college students, while DeSimone and Wolaver (2005) have investigated the effects of underage drinking on GPA during high school. The latter study found a negative association between high school drinking and grades, although it is not clear whether the effects are causal or the result of unobserved heterogeneity.

Understanding the relationship between teenage drinking and high school grades is pertinent given the high prevalence of alcohol use among this age cohort and recent research on adolescent brain development suggesting that early heavy alcohol use may have negative effects on the physical development of brain structure ( Brown, Tapert, Granholm, & Delis, 2000 ; Tapert & Brown, 1999 ). By affecting the quality of learning, underage drinking could have an impact on both college admissions and job quality independent of its effects on years of schooling or school completion.

In this paper, we estimate the effects of drinking in high school on the quality of learning as captured by high school GPA. The analysis employs data from Waves 1 and 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative study that captures health-related behaviors of adolescents in grades 7 through 12 and their outcomes in young adulthood. Our analysis contributes to the literature in several ways. First, we focus on the effect of drinking on academic achievement during high school. To date, and to the best of our knowledge, only one other study in the literature has analyzed the consequences of underage drinking on high school GPA. Second, rather than rely on self-reported GPA, we use objective GPA data from academic transcripts, reducing the potential for systematic biases in the estimation results. Third, we take advantage of the longitudinal nature of the Add Health data and use fixed-effects models to purge the analysis of time invariant unobserved heterogeneity. Fixed-effects techniques are superior to instrumental variables (IV) estimation when the strength and reliability of the instruments are suspect ( French & Popovici, 2009 ). Finally, we explore a variety of mechanisms that could underlie a detrimental effect of alcohol use on grades. In addition to analyzing mediators related to exposure to education (days of school skipped), we investigate the effect of drinking on students’ ability to focus on and adhere to academic objectives.

2. Background and significance

Behavioral research has found that educational performance is highly correlated with substance abuse (e.g., Bukstein, Cornelius, Trunzo, Kelly, & Wood, 2005 ; Hawkins, Catalano, & Miller, 1992 ). Economic studies that look at the link between alcohol use and educational outcomes have customarily focused on measures of educational attainment such as graduation (from high school or college), college matriculation, and years of school completed (e.g., Bray, Zarkin, Ringwalt, & Qi, 2000 ; Chatterji, 2006 ; Cook & Moore, 1993 ; Dee & Evans 2003 ; Koch & Ribar, 2001 ; Mullahy & Sindelar, 1994 ; Renna, 2008 ; Yamada et al., 1996 ). Consistent with the behavioral research, early economic studies found that drinking reduced educational attainment. But the most rigorous behavioral studies and the early economic studies of attainment both faced the same limitation: they were cross-sectional and subject to potential omitted variables bias. Some of these cross-sectional economic studies attempted to improve estimation by using instrumental variables (IV). Cook and Moore (1993) and Yamada et al. (1996) found that heavy or frequent drinking in high school adversely affects high school and college completion. Nevertheless, the validity and reliability of the instruments in these studies are open to debate ( Chatterji, 2006 ; Dee & Evans, 2003 ; French & Popovici, 2009 ).

By contrast, more recent economic studies that arguably use better estimation methods have found that drinking has modest or negligible effects on educational attainment. Dee and Evans (2003) studied the effects of teen drinking on high school completion, college entrance, and college persistence. Employing changes in the legal drinking age across states over time as an instrument, they found no significant effect of teen drinking on educational attainment. Koch and Ribar (2001) reached a similar conclusion applying family fixed effects and instrumental variables to NLSY data. Though they found that drinking had a significant negative effect on the amount of schooling completed among men, the effect was small. Finally, Chatterji (2006) used a bivariate probit model of alcohol use and educational attainment to gauge the sensitivity of the estimates to various assumptions about the correlation of unobservable determinants of these variables. She concluded that there is no evidence of a causal relationship between alcohol use and educational attainment when the correlation coefficient is fixed at plausible levels.

Alcohol use could conceivably affect a student’s quality of learning and academic performance regardless of its impact on school completion. This possibility is suggested by Renna (2008) , who uses a research design similar to that used by Dee and Evans (2003) and finds that although binge drinking does not affect high school completion rates, it does significantly increase the probability that a student graduates with a GED rather than a high school diploma. Drinking could affect learning through a variety of mechanisms. Recent neurological research suggests that underage drinking can impair learning directly by causing alterations in the structure and function of the developing brain with consequences reaching far beyond adolescence ( Brown et al., 2000 ; White & Swartzwelder, 2004 ). Negative effects of alcohol use can emerge in areas such as planning and executive functioning, memory, spatial operations, and attention ( Brown et al., 2000 ; Giancola & Mezzich, 2000 ; Tapert & Brown, 1999 ). Alcohol use could also affect performance by reducing the number of hours committed to studying, completing homework assignments, and attending school.

We are aware of five economic studies that have examined whether drinking affects learning per se. Bray (2005) analyzed this issue indirectly by studying the effect of high school students’ drinking on subsequent wages, as mediated through human capital accumulation. He found that moderate high school drinking had a positive effect on returns to education and therefore on human capital accumulation. Heavier drinking reduced this gain slightly, but net effects were still positive. The other four studies approached the question directly by focusing on the association between drinking and GPA. Three of the GPA studies used data from the Harvard College Alcohol Study. Analyzing data from the study’s 1993 wave, both Wolaver (2002) and Williams et al. (2003) estimated the impact of college drinking on the quality of human capital acquisition as captured by study hours and GPA. Both studies found that drinking had a direct negative effect on GPA and an indirect negative effect through reduced study hours. Wolaver (2007) used data from the 1993 and 1997 waves and found that both high school and college binge drinking were associated with lower college GPA for males and females. For females, however, study time in college was negatively correlated with high school drinking but positively associated with college drinking.

To our knowledge, only one study has looked specifically at adolescent drinking and high school GPA. Analyzing data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, DeSimone and Wolaver (2005) used standard regression analysis to estimate whether drinking affected high school GPA. Even after controlling for many covariates, they found that drinking had a significant negative effect. Their results showed that the GPAs of binge drinkers were 0.4 points lower on average for both males and females. They also found that the effect of drinking on GPA peaked for ninth graders and declined thereafter and that drinking affected GPA more by reducing the likelihood of high grades than by increasing the likelihood of low grades.

All four GPA studies found that drinking has negative effects on GPA, but they each faced two limitations. First, they relied on self-reported GPA, which can produce biased results due to recall mistakes and intentional misreporting ( Zimmerman, Caldwell, & Bernat, 2006 ). Second, they used cross-sectional data. Despite these studies’ serious efforts to address unobserved individual heterogeneity, it remains questionable whether they identified a causal link between drinking and GPA.

In sum, early cross-sectional studies of educational attainment and GPA suggest that drinking can have a sizeable negative effect on both outcomes. By contrast, more recent studies of educational attainment that use improved estimation methods to address the endogeneity of alcohol use have found that drinking has negligible effects. The present paper is the first study of GPA that controls for individual heterogeneity in a fixed-effects framework, and our findings are consistent with the more recent studies of attainment that find small or negligible effects of alcohol consumption.

Add Health is a nationally representative study that catalogues health-related behaviors of adolescents in grades 7 through 12 and associated outcomes in young adulthood. An initial in-school survey was administered to 90,118 students attending 175 schools during the 1994/1995 school year. From the initial in-school sample, 20,745 students (and their parents) were administered an additional in-home interview in 1994–1995 and were re-interviewed one year later. In 2001–2002, Add Health respondents (aged 18 to 26) were re-interviewed in a third wave to investigate the influence of health-related behaviors during adolescence on individuals when they are young adults. During the Wave 3 data collection, Add Health respondents were asked to sign a Transcript Release Form (TRF) that authorized Add Health to identify schools last attended by study participants and request official transcripts from the schools. TRFs were signed by approximately 92% of Wave 3 respondents (about 70% of Wave 1 respondents).

The main outcome of interest, GPA, was abstracted from school transcripts and linked to respondents at each wave. Because most of the in-home interviews during Waves 1 and 2 were conducted during the Spring or Summer (at the end of the school year) and alcohol use questions referred to the past 12 months, we linked the in-home questionnaires with GPA data corresponding to the school year in which the respondent was enrolled or had just completed at the time of the interview.

The in-home questionnaires in Waves 1 and 2 offer extensive information on the student’s background, risk-taking behaviors, and other personal and family characteristics. These instruments were administered by computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) and computer assisted self-interview (CASI) techniques for more sensitive questions such as those on alcohol, drug, and tobacco use. Studies show that the mode of data collection can affect the level of reporting of sensitive behaviors. Both traditional self-administration and computer assisted self-administered interviews have been shown to increase reports of substance use or other risky behaviors relative to interviewer-administered approaches ( Azevedo, Bastos, Moreira, Lynch, & Metzger, 2006 ; Tourangeau & Smith, 1996 ; Wright, Aquilino, & Supple, 1998 ). Several measures of alcohol use were constructed on the basis of the CAPI/CASI questions: (1) whether the student drank alcohol at least once per week in the past 12 months, (2) whether the student binged (drank five or more drinks in a row) at least once per month in the past 12 months, (3) the average number of days per month on which the student drank in the past 12 months, (4) the average number of drinks consumed on any drinking day in the past 12 months, and (5) the total number of drinks per month consumed by the student in the past year.

Individual characteristics obtained from the in-home interviews included age, race, gender, grade in school, interview date, body mass index, religious beliefs and practices, employment status, health status, tobacco use, and illegal drug use. To capture environmental changes for respondents who changed schools, we constructed indicators for whether the respondent attended an Add Health sample school or sister school (e.g. the high school’s main feeder school) in each wave. We also considered family characteristics such as family structure, whether English was spoken at home, the number of children in the household, whether the resident mother and resident father worked, whether parents worked in blue- or white-collar jobs, and whether the family was on welfare. Finally, we took into account a number of variables describing interview and household characteristics as assessed by the interviewer: whether a parent(s) or other adults were present during the interview; whether the home was poorly kept; whether the home was in a rural, suburban, or commercial area; whether the home environment raised any safety concerns; and whether there was evidence of alcohol use in the household.

Respondents to the in-home surveys were also asked several questions about how they were doing in school. We constructed measures of how often the respondents skipped school, whether they had been suspended, and whether they were having difficulties paying attention in school, getting along with teachers, or doing their homework. We analyzed these secondary outcomes as possible mediators of an effect of alcohol use on GPA.

Our fixed-effects methodology required high school GPA data for Waves 1 and 2. For this reason, we restricted the sample to students in grades 9, 10, or 11 in Wave 1 (N=22,792) who were re-interviewed in Waves 2 and 3 (N=14,390), not mentally disabled (N=13,632), and for whom transcript data were available at Wave 3 (N=10,430). In addition, we excluded 1,846 observations that had missing values on at least one of the explanatory or control variables. 1 The final sample had 8,584 observations, which corresponded to Wave 1 and Wave 2 responses for 4,292 students with no missing information on high school GPA or other covariates across both waves. Male respondents accounted for 48% of the sample.

Table 1 shows summary statistics for the analysis sample by wave and gender. Abstracted GPA averages 2.5 for male students and 2.8 for female students, 2 with similar values in Waves 1 and 2. Approximately 9% of males and 6% of females reported drinking alcohol at least one time per week in Wave 1. The prevalence of binge drinking (consuming five or more drinks in a single episode) at least once a month is slightly higher: 11% among males and 7% among females. On average, the frequency of drinking in Wave 1 is 1.34 days per month for male respondents and 0.94 days per month for female respondents, while drinking intensity averages 2.8 drinks per episode for males and 2.2 drinks per episode for females. By Wave 2, alcohol consumption increases in all areas for both males and females. The increases for males are larger, ranging from an 18% increase in the average number of drinks per episode to a 55% increase in the fraction who binge monthly.

Summary Statistics

Note : Based on responses to survey questions regarding most recently completed school year.

Of the Wave 1 respondents, 87% of males and 90% of females had skipped school at least once in the past year, with males averaging 1.47 days skipped and females averaging 1.37 days. Further, 11% of males and 7% of females had been suspended at least once. Regarding the school difficulty measures, 50% of male respondents in Wave 1 reported at least one type of regular difficulty with school: 32% had difficulty paying attention, 15% did not get along with their teachers, and 35% had problems doing their homework. Among females, 40% had at least one difficulty: 25% with paying attention, 11% with teachers, and 26% with homework.

Table 2 tabulates changes in dichotomous measures of problem drinking by gender. Among males, 82.6% did not drink weekly in either wave; 8.1% became weekly drinkers in Wave 2; 4.8% stopped drinking weekly in Wave 2; and the remaining 4.5% drank weekly in both waves. Among females, 88.5% did not drink weekly in either wave; 5.3% became weekly drinkers in Wave 2; 3.7% stopped drinking weekly in Wave 2; and 2.5% drank weekly in both waves. The trends in monthly binging were similar, with the number of students who became monthly bingers exceeding that of students who stopped bingeing monthly in Wave 2. The proportion of respondents reporting binge-drinking monthly in both waves (6.6% and 3.4% for men and women, respectively) was higher than the fraction of students who reported drinking weekly in both waves.

Tabulation of Changes in Dichotomous Measures of Alcohol Use By Gender

4. Empirical methods and estimation issues

We examined the impact of adolescent drinking on GPA using fixed-effects estimation techniques. The following equation captures the relationship of interest:

where GPA it is grade point average of individual i during the Wave t school year, A it is a measure of alcohol consumption, X it is a set of other explanatory variables, c i are unobserved individual effects that are constant over time, ε it is an error term uncorrelated with A it and X it , and α, β a , and β x are parameters to estimate.

The coefficient of interest is β a , the effect of alcohol consumption on GPA. The key statistical problem in the estimation of β a is that alcohol consumption is likely to be correlated with individual-specific unobservable characteristics that also affect GPA. For instance, an adolescent with a difficult family background may react by shirking responsibilities at school and may, at the same time, be more likely to participate in risky activities. For this reason, OLS estimation of Equation (1) used with cross-sectional or pooled longitudinal data is likely to produce biased estimates of β a . In this paper, we took advantage of the two high school-administered waves in Add Health and estimated β a using fixed-effects techniques. Because Waves 1 and 2 were only one year apart, it is likely that most unobserved individual characteristics that are correlated with both GPA and alcohol use are constant over this short period. Subtracting the mean values of each variable over time, Equation (1) can be rewritten as:

Equation (2) eliminates time invariant individual heterogeneity ( c i ) and the corresponding bias associated with OLS estimation of Equation (1) .

We estimated Equation (2) using different sets of time-varying controls ( X it ). 3 We began by controlling only for unambiguously exogenous variables and progressively added variables that were increasingly likely to be affected by alcohol consumption. The first set of controls included only the respondent’s grade level, indicators for attending the sample school or sister school, and the date of the interview. In a second specification, we added household characteristics and interviewer remarks about the household and the interview. This specification includes indicators for the presence of parents and others during the interview and thus controls for a potentially important source of measurement error in the alcohol consumption variables. 4 The third specification added to the second specification those variables more likely to be endogenous such as BMI, religious beliefs/practices, employment, and health status. A fourth specification included tobacco and illegal drug use. By adding these behavioral controls, which could either be mediators or independent correlates of the drinking-GPA association, we examined whether the fixed-effects estimates were influenced by unmeasured time variant individual characteristics.

The fifth and sixth specifications were aimed at assessing possible mechanisms flowing from changes in alcohol use to changes in GPA. Previous research has found that part of the association between alcohol consumption and grades can be explained by a reduction in study hours. Add Health did not directly ask respondents about study effort. It did, however, ask about suspensions and days skipped from school. These school attendance variables were added to the set of controls to test whether an effect of alcohol use on human capital accumulation worked extensively through the quantity of, or exposure to, schooling. Alternatively, an effect of alcohol use on grades could be explained by temporary or permanent alterations in the structure and functioning of an adolescent’s developing brain with resulting changes in levels of concentration and understanding (an intensive mechanism). To test for the mediating role of this pathway, we added a set of dichotomous variables measuring whether the student reported having trouble at least once a week with each of the following: (i) paying attention in school, (ii) getting along with teachers, and (iii) doing homework.

Finally, we considered the number of days the student skipped school and the likelihood of having difficulties with school as two alternative outcomes and estimated the association between these variables and alcohol use, applying the same fixed-effects methodology as in Equation (2) . To analyze difficulties with school as an outcome, we constructed a dichotomous variable that is equal to one if the student faced at least one of the three difficulties listed above. We estimated the effect of alcohol use on this variable using a fixed-effects logit technique.

Separate regressions were run for male and female respondents. The literature shows that males and females behave differently both in terms of alcohol use ( Ham & Hope, 2003 ; Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2007 ; Schulenberg, O’Malley, Bachman, Wadsworth, & Johnston, 1996 ; Wechsler, Davenport, Dowdall, Moeykens, & Castillo, 1994 ) and school achievement ( Dwyer & Johnson, 1997 ; Jacob, 2002 ; Kleinfeld, 1998 ). These gender differences are clearly evident in the summary statistics presented in Table 1 . Furthermore, the medical literature suggests that there may be gender differences in the impact of alcohol consumption on cognitive abilities (e.g. Hommer, 2003 ).

In addition to examining differential effects by gender, we tested for differential effects of alcohol use along three other dimensions: age, the direction of change in alcohol use (increases vs. decreases), and initial GPA. These tests, as well as other extensions and robustness checks, are described in Section 6.

Table 3 shows the fixed-effects estimates for β a from Equation (2) . Each cell depicts a different model specification defined by a particular measure of alcohol use and a distinctive set of control variables. Rows (a)-(d) denote the alcohol use variable(s) in each specification, and Columns (1)-(6) correspond to the different sets of covariates. Control variables are added hierarchically from (1) to (3). We first adjusted only by grade level, sample school and sister school indicators, and interview date (Column (1)). We then added time-varying household characteristics and interviewer assessments (Column (2)), followed by other individual time-varying controls (Column (3)). Column (4) adds controls for the use of other substances, which could either be correlates or consequences of alcohol use. Columns (5) and (6) consider other potential mediators of the effects found in (1)-(3) such as days skipped, suspensions from school, and academic difficulties.

Fixed effects Estimates; Dependent Variable = GPA

Notes : See Table 1 for list of control variables in each model specification. Robust standard errors in parentheses;

The results for males provide evidence of a negative yet small effect of alcohol use on GPA. No major changes were observed in the estimates across the different specifications that incrementally added more controls, suggesting that the results are probably robust to unmeasured time-varying characteristics. In what follows, therefore, we describe the results in Column (3), which controls for the greatest number of individual time-varying factors (with the exception of tobacco and illicit drug use). Weekly drinking and monthly binge drinking are both negatively associated with GPA, but neither of these coefficients is statistically significant (Rows (a) and (b)). The continuous measure of alcohol consumption has a statistically significant coefficient (Row (c)), suggesting that increasing one’s alcohol intake by 100 drinks per month reduces GPA by 0.07 points, or 2.8% relative to the mean. The results in Row (d) suggest that variation in both the frequency and the intensity of alcohol use contributes to the estimated effect on grades. An increase of one day per month in drinking frequency reduces GPA by 0.005 points, and consumption of one additional drink per episode reduces GPA by 0.004 points.

Columns (4)-(6) report the estimates of interest after controlling for use of other substances, days skipped or suspended from school, and difficulties with school. Relative to the effects identified in Column (3), controlling for tobacco and illegal drug use reduces the negative effect of total number of drinks on GPA by 9% or 0.006 GPA points (see row (c), Column (4)). Adding the school attendance variables to the set of controls in Column (3) results in a point estimate of −0.06 or 0.01 GPA points below the coefficient in Column (3) (see Column (5)). Adding the school difficulty variables results in a reduction in GPA of 0.007 GPA points or a 10% decrease relative to the estimate in Column (3). While not shown in the table, the inclusion of both school difficulty and attendance variables as controls explains approximately 20% of the effect of alcohol use on grades, with the alcohol use estimates remaining statistically significant at the 10% level.

For females, the estimated coefficients are much smaller than those for males, and for two measures (binge-drinking and drinking frequency), the estimates are actually positive. However, none of the coefficients are statistically significant at conventional levels. 5 Interestingly, after controlling for substance use, difficulties with school, and school attendance, the estimates become less negative or more positive. But they remain statistically non significant.

Table 4 shows the effect of alcohol use on the number of school days skipped during the past year. These results are qualitatively similar to the findings for GPA, suggesting some small and statistically significant effects for males but no significant effects for females. For males, increasing the number of drinks per month by 100 leads to an additional 0.72 days skipped (p<0.10) when controlling for household features, interviewer comments, and individual characteristics such as body mass index, religiosity, employment, and health status (see Column (3), Row (c)). Controlling for tobacco and illegal drug use reduces the coefficient slightly to 0.69 days. The results in Row (d) suggest that this effect is driven mainly by variation in drinking intensity, with an additional drink per episode resulting in an increase of 0.06 days skipped.

Fixed-effects Estimates; Dependent Variable = School Days Skipped

Notes : Robust standard errors in parentheses;

Table 5 contains estimates of the relationship between alcohol use and our dichotomous measure of having difficulty in school. For males, we found one small but statistically significant effect: consumption of an additional 100 drinks per month is associated with a 4% increase in the probability of having trouble in school. For females, the estimated coefficients are all positive and larger than those found for males, and four out of five are statistically significant. The probability of having trouble in school is roughly 11% higher for females who drink weekly relative to those who do not, and there is a similar effect for monthly binge drinking (Rows (a) and (b)). Furthermore, the likelihood of difficulties increases by 7% with an additional 100 drinks per month (Row (c)). These findings suggest that female students suffer adverse consequences from alcohol consumption, even if these effects do not translate into lower grades. Finally, in Row (d), we see that these adverse effects are driven by increases in drinking frequency rather than drinking intensity.

Fixed-effects Logit Estimates; Dependent Variable = Difficulty with School

Notes : Dependent variable is a dummy variable equal to one if respondent had trouble at least once a week with one or more of the following: (1) paying attention in school, (2) getting along with teachers, or (3) doing homework. Robust standard errors in parentheses;

Our main results thus far point to two basic conclusions. After controlling for individual fixed effects, alcohol use in high school has a relatively minor influence on GPA. But there are also some interesting gender differences in these effects. For males, we find small negative effects on GPA that are partially mediated by increased school absences and difficulties with school-related tasks. For females, on the other hand, we find that alcohol use does not significantly affect GPA, but female drinkers encounter a higher probability of having difficulties at school.

Our basic estimates of the effects of drinking on GPA complement those of Koch and Ribar (2001) , who find small effects of drinking on school completion for males and non-significant effects for females. However, our analysis of school-related difficulties suggests that females are not immune to the consequences of drinking. Namely, females are able to compensate for the negative effects of drinking (e.g., by working harder or studying more) so that their grades are unaffected. This interpretation is consistent with Wolaver’s (2007) finding that binge drinking in college is associated with increased study hours for women but with reduced study hours for men. It is also reminiscent of findings in the educational psychology and sociology literatures that girls get better grades than boys, and some of this difference can be explained by gender differences in classroom behavior ( Downey & Vogt Yuan, 2005 ) or by greater levels of self-discipline among girls ( Duckworth & Seligman, 2006 ).

When interpreting our results, there are some important caveats to keep in mind. First, we must emphasize that they reflect the contemporaneous effects of alcohol use. As such, they say nothing about the possible cumulative effects that several years of drinking might have on academic performance. Second, we can only examine the effect of alcohol use on GPA for those students who remain in school. Unfortunately, we cannot address potential selection bias due to high school dropouts because of the high rate of missing GPA data for those students who dropped out after Wave 1. 6 Third, we acknowledge that our fixed-effects results could still be biased if we failed to account for important time-varying individual characteristics that are associated with GPA differentials across waves. It is reassuring, however, that our results are generally insensitive to the subsequent inclusion of additional time-varying (and likely endogenous) characteristics, such as health status, employment, religiosity, tobacco use, and illicit drug use. Finally, we cannot rule out possible reverse causality whereby academic achievement affects alcohol use. Future research using new waves of the data may provide further insight on this issue. In the next section, we discuss some additional issues that we are able to explore via robustness checks and extensions.

6. Robustness checks and extensions

6.1. ols versus fixed effects.

In addition to running fixed-effects models, we estimated β a using OLS. Separate regressions were run by gender and by wave. We first regressed GPA on measures of alcohol use and the full set of time-varying controls used in the fixed-effects estimation (see Column (3), Table 3 ). Next, we added other time-invariant measures such as demographics, household characteristics, and school characteristics. Finally, we controlled for tobacco and illegal drug use. The comparison between fixed-effects and OLS estimates (Appendix Table A1 ) sheds light on the extent of the bias in β ^ a OLS . For males, OLS estimates for Wave 1 were 3 to 6 times larger (more negative) than fixed-effects estimates (depending on the measure of alcohol use), and OLS estimates in Wave 2 were 3 to 4 times larger than those from the fixed-effects estimation. The bias was even more pronounced for females. Contrary to the results in Table 3 , OLS estimates for females were statistically significant, quantitatively large, and usually more negative than the estimates for males.

OLS Cross-sectional Estimates; Dependent Variable = GPA

6.2. Outlier analysis

Concerns about misreporting at the extreme tails of the alcohol use distributions led us to re-estimate the fixed-effects model after addressing these outliers. A common method for addressing extreme outliers without deleting observations is to “winsorize” ( Dixon, 1960 ). This technique reassigns all outlier values to the closest value at the beginning of the user-defined tail (e.g., 1%, 5%, or 10% tails). For the present analysis, we used both 1% and 5% tails. As a more conventional outlier approach, we also re-estimated the models after dropping those observations in the 1% tails. In both cases we winsorized or dropped the tails using the full Wave 1 and Wave 2 distribution (in levels) and then estimated differential effects.

After making these outlier corrections, the estimates for males became larger in absolute value and more significant, but the estimates for females remained statistically non-significant with no consistent pattern of change. 7 For males, dropping the 1% tails increased the effect of 100 drinks per month on GPA to −0.15 points (from −0.07 points when analyzing the full sample). Winsorizing the 5% tails further increased the estimated effect size to −0.31 points.

We offer two possible interpretations of these results for males. First, measurement error is probably more substantial among heavier drinkers and among respondents with the biggest changes in alcohol consumption across waves, which could cause attenuation bias at the top end. 8 Second, the effect of drinks per month on GPA could be smaller among male heavier drinkers, suggesting non-linear effects. Interestingly, neither of these concerns appears to be important for the analysis of females.

6.3. Differential effects

Thus far we have reported the differential effects of alcohol use on GPA for males and females. Here, we consider differential effects along three other dimensions: age, direction of change in alcohol use (increases vs. decreases), and initial GPA. To examine the first two of these effects, we added to Equation (2) interactions of the alcohol use measure with dichotomous variables indicating (i) that the student was 16 or older, and (ii) that alcohol use had decreased between Waves 1 and 2. 9 For males, the negative effects of drinking on GPA were consistently larger among respondents who were younger than 16 years old. None of the interaction terms, however, were statistically significant. We found no consistent or significant differences in the effect of alcohol consumption between respondents whose consumption increased and those whose consumption decreased between Waves 1 and 2. All results were non-significant and smaller in magnitude for females. It should be noted, however, that the lack of significant effects could be attributed, at least in part, to low statistical power as some of the disaggregated groups had less than 450 observations per wave.

To examine whether drinking is more likely to affect low achievers (those with initial low GPA) than high achievers (higher initial GPA), we estimated two fixed-effects linear probability regressions. The first regression estimated the impact of alcohol use on the likelihood of having an average GPA of C or less, and the second regression explored the effect of drinking on the likelihood of having a GPA of B- or better. For males, we found that monthly binging was negatively associated with the probability of obtaining a B- or higher average and that increases in number of drinks per month led to a higher likelihood of having a GPA of C or worse. Frequency of drinking, rather than intensity, was the trigger for having a GPA of C or worse. For females, most coefficient estimates were not significant, although the frequency of drinking was negatively associated with the probability of having a GPA of C or worse.

6.4 Self-reported versus abstracted GPA

One of the key advantages of using Add Health data is the availability of abstracted high school grades. Because most educational studies do not have such objective data, we repeated the fixed-effects estimation of Equation (2) using self-reported GPA rather than transcript-abstracted GPA. To facilitate comparison, the estimation sample was restricted to observations with both abstracted and self-reported GPA (N=2,164 for males and 2,418 for females).

The results reveal another interesting contrast between males and females. For males, the results based on self-reported grades were fairly consistent with the results based on abstracted grades, although the estimated effects of binging and drinking intensity were somewhat larger (i.e., more negative) when based on self-reported grades. But for females, the results based on self-reported grades showed positive effects of alcohol consumption that were statistically significant at the 10% level for three out of five consumption measures (monthly binging, total drinks per month, and drinks per episode). Furthermore, with the exception of the frequency measure (drinking days per month), the estimated effects were all substantially larger (i.e., more positive) when based on self-reported GPA. This suggests that females who drink more intensively tend to inflate their academic performance in school, even though their actual performance is not significantly different from that of those who drink less. Males who drink more intensely, on the other hand, may tend to deflate their academic accomplishments.

6.5. Analysis of dropouts

In Table 3 , we estimated the effects of alcohol consumption on GPA conditional on being enrolled in school during the two observation years. While increased drinking could lead an adolescent to drop out of school, reduced drinking could lead a dropout to re-enroll. Our GPA results do not address either of these possible effects. Of those who were in 9 th grade in Wave 1, roughly 2.3% dropped out before Wave 2. Of those who were in 10 th and 11 th grades in Wave 1, the dropout rates were 3.7% and 5.0%, respectively. Our core estimates would be biased if the effect of alcohol use on GPA for non-dropouts differed systematically from the unobserved effect of alcohol use on GPA for dropouts and re-enrollers in the event that these students had stayed in school continuously.

To determine whether dropouts differed significantly from non-dropouts, we compared GPA and drinking patterns across the two groups. Unfortunately, dropouts were much more likely to have missing GPA data for the years they were in school, 10 so the comparison itself has some inherent bias. Nevertheless, for those who were not missing Wave 1 GPA data, we found that mean GPA was significantly lower for dropouts (1.11) than for those students who stayed in school at least another year (2.66). Dropouts were also older in Wave 1 (16.9 vs. 15.9 years old) and more likely to be male (54% vs. 48%). They also consumed alcohol more often and with greater intensity in the first wave. While there is evidence of differences across the two groups in Wave 1, it is unclear whether dropouts would have differed systematically with respect to changes in GPA and in drinking behavior over time if they had stayed in school. Due to the small number of dropout observations with Wave 1 GPA data, we could not reliably estimate a selection correction model.

6.6. Attrition and missing data

As described in the data section, a large fraction of the Add Health respondents who were in 9th, 10th, or 11th grade in Wave 1 were excluded from our analysis either because they did not participate in Waves 2 or 3, did not have transcript data, or had missing data for one or more variables used in the analysis. (The excluded sample consisted of 7,104 individuals out of a total of 11,396 potentially eligible.) Mean characteristics were compared for individuals in the sample under analysis (N=4,292) and excluded respondents (N=7,104) in Wave 1. Those in the analysis sample had higher GPAs (both self-reported and abstracted, when available) and were less likely to have difficulties at school, to have been suspended from school, or to have skipped school. They were less likely to drink or to drink intensively if they drank. They were more likely to be female and White, speak English at home, have highly educated parents, have a resident mother or father at home, and be in good health. They were less likely to have parents on welfare, live in commercial areas or poorly kept buildings, and smoke and use drugs.

The above comparisons suggest that our estimates are representative of the sample of adolescents who participated in Waves 2 and 3 but not necessarily of the full 9 th , 10 th , and 11 th grade sample interviewed at baseline. To assess the magnitude and sign of the potential attrition bias in our estimates, we considered comparing fixed-effects estimates for these two samples using self-reported GPA as the dependent variable. But self-reported GPA also presented a considerable number of missing values, especially for those in the excluded sample at Wave 2. Complete measures of self-reported GPA in Waves 1 and 2 were available for 60% of the individuals in the analysis sample and for less than 30% of individuals in the excluded sample.

As an alternative check, we used OLS to estimate the effects of alcohol use on self-reported GPA in Wave 1 for the excluded sample, and compared these to OLS coefficients for our analysis sample in Wave 1. The effects of alcohol use on self-reported grades were smaller for individuals excluded from our core analysis. Because the excluded individuals tend to consume more alcohol, the finding of smaller effects for these individuals is consistent with either of the two explanations discussed in Section 6.2 above. First, the effect of consuming alcohol on GPA could be smaller for those who drink more. And second, measurement error is probably more serious among heavier drinkers, potentially causing more attenuation bias in this sample.

To summarize, the analysis described above suggests that some caution should be exercised when extrapolating the results in this paper to other populations. Due to missing data, our analysis excludes many of the more extreme cases (in terms of grades, substance use, and socioeconomic status). However, our analysis suggests that the effects of alcohol use on grades are, if anything, smaller for these excluded individuals. It therefore supports our main conclusions that the effects of alcohol use on GPA tend to be small and that failure to account for unobserved individual heterogeneity is responsible for some of the large negative estimates identified in previous research.

7. Conclusion

Though a number of investigations have studied the associations between alcohol use and years of schooling, less is known about the impact of adolescent drinking on the process and quality of learning for those who remain in school. Moreover, studies that have examined the impact of drinking on learning have faced two important limitations. First, they have relied on self-reported grades as the key measure of learning and are therefore subject to potential biases that result from self-reporting. Second, they have relied on cross-sectional data and suffer from potential biases due either to unobserved individual heterogeneity or to weak or questionable instrumental variables.

In the present study, we contribute to the existing literature by exploiting several unique features of the nationally representative Add Health survey. First, we measure learning with grade point averages obtained from the respondents’ official school transcripts. Second, we exploit Add Health’s longitudinal design to estimate models with individual fixed effects. This technique eliminates the bias that results from time-invariant unobserved individual heterogeneity in the determinants of alcohol use and GPA. Finally, we explore a variety of pathways that could explain the association between alcohol use and grades. In particular, we examine the effects of alcohol consumption on both the quantity of schooling—as measured by days of school skipped—and the quality—as measured by difficulties with concentrating in school, getting along with teachers, or completing homework.

The main results show that, in general, increases in alcohol consumption result in statistically significant but quantitatively small reductions in GPA for male students and in statistically non-significant changes for females. For both males and females, comparisons of the fixed-effects models with standard cross-sectional models suggest that large biases can result from the failure to adequately control for unobserved individual heterogeneity. Our findings are thus closely aligned with those of Koch and Ribar (2001) and Dee and Evans (2003) , who reach a similar conclusion regarding the effects of drinking on school completion.

Our analysis also reveals some interesting gender differences in how alcohol consumption affects learning in high school. Our results suggest that for males, alcohol consumption has a small negative effect on GPA and this effect is partially mediated by increased school absences and by difficulties with school-related tasks. For females, however, we find that alcohol use does not significantly affect GPA, even though it significantly increases the probability of encountering difficulties at school. Gender differences in high school performance are well documented in the educational psychology and sociology literatures, yet no previous studies have estimated gender differences in high school learning that are directly associated with alcohol use. Our study is therefore unique in that regard.

Finally, our study also highlights the potential pitfalls of using self-reported grades to measure academic performance. Not only do we find evidence that use of self-reports leads to bias; we also find that the bias differs by gender, as drinking is associated with grade inflation among females and grade deflation among males. Hence, the conceptual discoveries uncovered in this research may be as important for future investigations as the empirical results are for current educational programs and policies.

Acknowledgements

Financial assistance for this study was provided by research grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01 AA15695, R01 AA13167, and R03 AA016371) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (RO1 DA018645). This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website ( http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth ). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis. We gratefully acknowledge the input of several colleagues at the University of Miami. We are also indebted to Allison Johnson, William Russell, and Carmen Martinez for editorial and administrative assistance. The authors are entirely responsible for the research and results reported in this paper, and their position or opinions do not necessarily represent those of the University of Miami, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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1 Due to a significant fraction of missing responses, we imputed household income and household welfare status using both predicted values on the basis of other covariates and the sample mean for households that were also missing some of the predicting covariates. We added dummy variables to indicate when an observation was imputed.

2 Grades and numerical grade-point equivalents have been established for varying levels of a student’s academic performance. These grade-point equivalents are used to determine a student’s grade-point average. Grades of A, A-, and B+ with respective grade-point equivalents of 4.00, 3.67, and 3.33 represent an “excellent” quality of performance. Grades of B, B−, and C+ with grade-point equivalents of 3.00, 2.67, and 2.33 represent a “good” quality of performance. A grade of C with grade-point equivalent of 2.00 represents a “satisfactory” level of performance, a grade of D with grade-point equivalent of 1.00 represents a “poor” quality of performance, and a grade of F with grade-point equivalent of 0.00 represents failure.

3 Note that some demographics (e.g., race, ethnicity) and other variables that are constant over time do not appear in Equation (2) because they present no variation across waves.

4 Of particular concern is the possibility that measurement error due to misreporting varies across waves—either because of random recall errors or because of changes in the interview conditions. (For example, the proportion of interviews in which others were present declined from roughly 42% to 25% between Wave 1 and Wave 2.) Such measurement error could lead to attenuation bias in our fixed-effects model. On the other hand, reporting biases that are similar and stable over time are eliminated by the fixed-effects specification.

5 We tested the significance of these differences by pooling males and females and including an interaction of a gender dummy with the alcohol consumption measure in each model. We found statistically significant differences in the effects of monthly bingeing, drinks per month, and drinking days per month.

6 If alcohol use has small or negligible effects on school completion - as found by Chatterji (2006) , Dee and Evans (2003) , and Koch and Ribar (2001) - then such selection bias will also be small.

7 These results are not presented in the tables but are available from the authors upon request.

8 Examination of the outliers showed that only 15% of those who reported a total number of drinks above the 95th percentile of the distribution did so in both waves.

9 These fixed-effects regressions were adjusted by the same set of controls as in Table (3) , Column (3).

10 More than two-thirds of those who dropped out between Waves 1 and 2 were missing Wave 1 GPA data

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100+ High School Research Paper Topics [Updated]

Hey there, high school students! Have you ever felt a bit overwhelmed when your teacher mentioned a research paper? No worries – it’s totally normal. In fact, tackling a research paper is like embarking on an exciting journey where you get to explore topics you’re interested in, do your own research, and become a critical thinking pro! This blog post is like your trusty map for this adventure. It’s here to help you create top-notch high school research paper topics without the stress.

What is The Significance of Research?

Table of Contents

Before delving into the intricacies of crafting a research paper, it’s crucial to understand the significance of this academic exercise. Research papers serve as a platform for students to explore a chosen topic in depth, analyze existing literature, and contribute to the broader conversation within a particular field.

The process of conducting research enhances critical thinking, analytical, and communication skills—essential attributes for success in higher education and beyond.

How to Write a Research Paper?

Writing a research paper can seem like a daunting task, but with a structured approach, it becomes much more manageable. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you through the process:

Choose a Topic
Pick a topic that interests you and is relevant to your assignment.
Make sure it’s not too broad or too narrow; find a balance.
Conduct Preliminary Research
Gather some initial information to ensure there’s enough material available.
Note down key points and potential sources.
Develop a Thesis Statement
Formulate a clear and concise thesis statement that outlines the main purpose or argument of your paper.
Create an Outline
Form an outline that is structured based on your research and ideas.
Assign headings to the sections of your work, such as introduction, methods, findings, discussion, and conclusion.
Write the Introduction
Provide background information on your topic.
State the purpose of your research and present your thesis statement.
Review the Literature
Summarize existing research related to your topic.
Identify gaps or controversies in the literature.
Detail the Methodology
Explain your research design (e.g., experiment, survey, case study).
Describe the data collection process and justify your chosen method.
Present the Results
Showcase your findings using tables, graphs, or charts.
Analyze the results and connect them to your thesis statement.
Discuss Your Findings
Compare your results to existing research.
Explore the broader implications and practical applications.
Encourage critical thinking and discussion.
Write the Conclusion
Summarize the key findings.
Restate your thesis and highlight its importance.
Suggest directions for future research.
Cite Your Sources
Compile a list of all sources cited in your paper.
Use a specific citation style (e.g., APA, MLA) as per your assignment guidelines.
Revise and Edit
Review your paper for clarity, coherence, and grammar.
Make sure your arguments flow logically, and check for any spelling or punctuation errors.
Seek Feedback
Ask a friend, family member, or teacher to review your paper.
Consider their feedback and make necessary revisions.
Finalize Your Paper
Double-check formatting and ensure your paper adheres to any specific requirements.
Submit your well-crafted research paper on time!

100+ High School Research Paper Topics

Climate Change: Impact and Mitigation Strategies
The Effects of Social Media on Teenagers’ Mental Health
Cybersecurity: Protecting Against Online Threats
The History and Impact of Vaccines
Gender Inequality in the Workplace
Artificial Intelligence: Boon or Bane?
Environmental Pollution: Causes and Solutions
The Influence of Pop Culture on Society
The Importance of Financial Literacy for High School Students
The Rise of E-commerce and Its Effects on Traditional Retail
Bullying in Schools: Causes and Prevention
The Role of Women in History
Genetic Engineering: Ethical Considerations
The Impact of Video Games on Adolescent Behavior
Youth Activism: Examining Movements and Causes
The Relationship Between Diet and Academic Performance
The History and Impact of Space Exploration
Mental Health Stigma: Breaking the Silence
The Future of Renewable Energy
The Evolution of Language: From Ancient to Modern
The Influence of Art and Music on Society
Cultural Appropriation: Understanding the Debate
The Rise of Online Education: Pros and Cons
Human Trafficking: A Global Issue
The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Academic Performance
The Impact of Social Class on Educational Opportunities
The History of Civil Rights Movements
Technology Addiction: Causes and Solutions
The Role of Government in Public Health
Animal Testing: Ethical Dilemmas
The Influence of Literature on Social Change
Gun Control: Balancing Rights and Safety
The Importance of Diversity in Education
The Rise of Single-Parent Families: Causes and Effects
The Role of Mass Media in Shaping Public Opinion
The Future of Space Travel and Colonization
The Impact of Globalization on Local Cultures
Teenage Pregnancy: Causes and Prevention
The History and Impact of Rock and Roll Music
The Ethics of Cloning and Genetic Modification
The Effectiveness of Anti-Smoking Campaigns
The Impact of Social and Economic Inequality
Human Rights Violations: A Global Perspective
The Role of Religion in Shaping Societal Norms
The History and Impact of Hip-Hop Culture
Online Privacy: Balancing Security and Freedom
The Effects of Fast Food on Health
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Employment
Climate Change Denial: Causes and Consequences
The Influence of Ancient Philosophers on Modern Thought
Internet Censorship: Balancing Free Speech and Security
The Effects of Parental Involvement on Academic Achievement
The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Consumer Behavior
Renewable Energy: Exploring Alternatives
The History and Impact of Feminism
Technology and Education: Enhancing or Hindering Learning?
The Role of Social Institutions in Shaping Behavior
The Impact of Colonialism on Indigenous Peoples
The Evolution of Human Rights
The Influence of Advertising on Consumer Choices
The Importance of STEM Education
The Effects of Peer Pressure on Teenagers
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Healthcare
The Role of Religion in Shaping Political Beliefs
Cyberbullying: Causes and Solutions
The Influence of Literature on Cultural Identity
The Impact of Social Media on Political Activism
The Importance of Critical Thinking in Education
The Effects of Air Pollution on Health
The History and Impact of LGBTQ+ Rights Movements
The Impact of Social Media on Body Image
The Influence of Technology on Human Relationships
The Role of Education in Combating Racism
The History and Impact of the Internet
The Effects of Childhood Obesity on Long-Term Health
The Role of NGOs in Addressing Global Issues
The Impact of Immigration on Society

Tips For Successful High School Research Paper

Choose a topic you’re passionate about and align with the assignment.
Start your research early to allow sufficient time for thorough investigation.
Craft a clear thesis statement that encapsulates your main argument.
Create a well-organized outline to structure your paper effectively.
Use reliable and diverse sources for a comprehensive literature review.
Clearly explain your research methodology, showcasing its relevance.
Present your findings using visual aids like graphs or charts.
Engage in critical discussion in the results and discussion sections.
Conclude by summarizing key findings and suggesting future research.
Follow the prescribed citation style diligently for accurate referencing.
Revise and edit your paper for clarity, coherence, and grammar.
Seek feedback from peers or teachers to enhance your paper further.
Pay attention to formatting details to meet assignment requirements.
Proofread carefully before submission to catch any last-minute errors.

Crafting a high school research paper is an intellectual journey that allows students to explore their passions, hone critical skills, and contribute to the academic discourse.

By following the outlined structure, students can navigate the process with confidence, producing a well-organized and impactful research paper that not only fulfills academic requirements but also serves as a testament to their intellectual curiosity and prowess. I hope this topic on high school research paper topics will help you out with a number of suggestions.

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How to Write a Research Paper as a High School Student
Create a folder on your computer where you can store your electronic sources. Use an online bibliography creator such as Zotero, Easybib, or Noodletools to track sources and generate citations. You can read research papers by Polygence students under our Projects tab. You can also explore other opportunities for high school research.
Sample- Research- Paper
Sample- Research- Paper. Course. Senior High school (HUMSS 306) 206 Documents. Students shared 206 documents in this course. University Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan. ... THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM The senior high school program is the additional two years in high school, wherein the students are placed according to tracks and ...
How to Write a Research Paper in High School
The following guidelines on formatting are considered a standard for research papers, and can be altered as per the requirements of your specific assignments, just check with your teacher/grader! Start by using a standard font like Times New Roman or Arial, in 12 or 11 sized font. Also, add one inch margins for the pages, along with some double ...
100 Interesting Research Paper Topics for High Schoolers
Composing a research paper can be a daunting task for first-time writers. In addition to making sure you're using concise language and your thoughts are organized clearly, you need to find a topic that draws the reader in. CollegeVine is here to help you brainstorm creative topics! Below are 100 interesting research paper topics that will ...
Campus Bullying in the Senior High School: A Qualitative Case Study
Three senior high school students who experienced bullying in the campus were chosen through purposive sampling. In-depth interview, observation and field notes were utilized in the gathering of data.
(Pdf) Research Writing Ability of Senior High School Students As
Senior High School students are required to present write-ups of scientific inquiry process, draft experiments, business concepts, marketing ideas, essay on current social issues, critique papers ...
PDF Challenges and Self-efficacy of Senior High School Students in Lcc
and Self-Efficacy and the demographic profile of the Senior high School students In LCC Silvercrest. A total of 217 participants aged 16-19 years old of which 78 are males and 139 are females. The descriptive-correlational method of research was employed. The data were
Full article: The impact of stress on students in secondary school and
Previous research indicates that academic-related stress can reduce academic achievement, decrease motivation and increase the risk of school dropout. ... secondary/high school (defined here as junior/lower secondary education and senior/upper secondary education)] ... For example, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ...
Effective Implementation of the Senior High School Curriculum: A
questions of this paper. ... There were 30 senior high school teacher-respondents from the selected National Senior High Schools. ... The research sample included 18 physics teachers and 494 ...
A Quantitative Study Comparing Traditional High Schools and High
Paper 1838. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1838 This Dissertation - unrestricted is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital ... High School Reform Model . 2 ABSTRACT A Quantitative Study Comparing Traditional High Schools and High Schools ... succeed and with views about high school that were often inaccurate. Research ...
Qualitative Research for Senior High School Students
Teaching Practical Research in the Senior High School was a challenge but at the same time a room for exploration. This study investigated the key areas in the interconnected teaching strategies employed to grade 12 students of which are most and least helpful in coming up with a good research output and what suggestions can be given to improve areas that are least useful.
PDF Sophomore Research Packet
Your student will begin the senior research paper next week in his/her English class. This research ... For example, research papers can be categorized by cause/effect relationships, comparisons, persuasive ... "58.3% of high school tudents let omeone else copy their work i n 1969, and 97.5% did o i 989"-- The ...
Research Paper Example
If you are working on your research paper for the first time, here is a collection of examples that you will need to understand the paper's format and how its different parts are drafted. Continue reading the article to get free research paper examples. On This Page. 1. Research Paper Example for Different Formats.
Frontiers
Keywords: senior high school, Kumasi Metropolis, malaria, cholera, information on health. Citation: Boateng S, Baah A, Boakye-Ansah D and Aboagye B (2022) Senior High School Students' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Information on Their Health in the Kumasi Metropolis. Front. Public Health 9:752195. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.752195
(DOC) Senior High School Sample Thesis
Academia.edu is a platform for academics to share research papers. Senior High School Sample Thesis (DOC) Senior High School Sample Thesis | Sysyr Catama - Academia.edu
(PDF) QUALITATIVE RESEARCH for Senior high School
Abstract. This book is an introduction to Qualitative research for the beginners but not limited to senior high school students. It is written in a simple language. Concepts developed primarily ...
The effects of alcohol use on academic achievement in high school
Abstract. This paper examines the effects of alcohol use on high school students' quality of learning. We estimate fixed-effects models using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Our primary measure of academic achievement is the student's GPA abstracted from official school transcripts.
100+ High School Research Paper Topics [Updated]
Writing a research paper can seem like a daunting task, but with a structured approach, it becomes much more manageable. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you through the process: Choose a Topic. Pick a topic that interests you and is relevant to your assignment. Make sure it's not too broad or too narrow; find a balance.
RESEARCH-PAPER-G12-A-FINAL
FACING A NEW CHAPTER: FACTORS AFFECTING THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL CAREER PREFERENCE OF GRADE 11 STUDENTS OF HIPONA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL A Research Paper Submitted to Mr. Nashrudin C. Roxas In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in Practical Research 2 Ace Artisano Hilary Dolfo Andresito Besante Jr. Joel Diestro Jun Ralph Solis November 2017 Abstract Senior High School is a new phase of a ...
PDF Jerome High School
The Paper A research paper that proves a specific thesis—MLA documentation style, 6-10 pages in length, 6-10 sources for your research. Works Cited and Works Consulted Pages need to be included. This will be completed within Senior English. The Project Could be any of the following examples:
Research examples(qualitative research) senior high school ...
A Practical Research 1 Presented to the Faculty of Senior Highschool Department Of St. Vincent College of Cabuyao In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Practical Research Pamela Rein Bolences Catherine Crizaldo Mark Angelo Sta Ana
FORMAT FOR RESEARCH PAPER FOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 11 AND ...
FORMAT-FOR-RESEARCH-PAPER-FOR-SENIOR-HIGH-SCHOOL-GRADE-11-AND-GRADE-12-AND-fACULTY-RESEARCHERS-1 - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. ang ipinagbabawal na teknik
Research Paper example.pdf
2 SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL Overall business subjects can affect the buying behavior and perspective of each or every ABM student towards the product/ services offerings, but the students does not know what mostly it is about. Therefore, the researchers came up with this study on The Effect of Business subjects on the Buying Behavior of the ABM students of STI Tacurong and Koronadal.

How to Write a Research Paper as a High School Student

What is a research paper?

Choosing your topic

Ask a difficult question

Be as specific as possible

Would you like to write your own research paper?

Preparing to write

Draft a thesis statement

Create an outline

Writing your paper

Topic sentences

Transitions

Citing sources

Feeling Inspired?

What are your chances of acceptance?

Your chancing factors

100 Interesting Research Paper Topics for High Schoolers

Introduction

Thesis Statement

Reference Page

Mental Health

Environment

Where to Get More Research Paper Topic Ideas

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Research Paper Example for Different Formats

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Examples for Different Research Paper Parts

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Literature Review Research Paper Example

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Keep reading

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Study Population and Sampling Procedure

Sample Size Determination

Data Collection Instrument

Data Collection Procedures

Data Analysis

Ethical Approval

Results and Discussion

Sociodemographic Characteristics of Respondents

Level of Knowledge on the Sign and Symptoms of Common Diseases

Attitudes Toward Seeking Health Information

Association Between Information Sources and Level of Health Knowledge

Attitudes Toward Sharing Health Information

Conclusion and Policy Implications

Limitations of the Study

Data Availability Statement

Ethics Statement

Author Contributions

Conflict of Interest

Publisher's Note

Senior High School Sample Thesis

The effects of alcohol use on academic achievement in high school

Laura M. Giuliano

Michael T. French

1. Introduction

2. Background and significance

4. Empirical methods and estimation issues

6. Robustness checks and extensions

6.2. Outlier analysis

6.3. Differential effects

6.4 Self-reported versus abstracted GPA

6.5. Analysis of dropouts

6.6. Attrition and missing data

7. Conclusion