Impact of attending entertainment events on first year retention and success

Proctor Neff, Megan (2023) Impact of attending entertainment events on first year retention and success. Doctoral thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Abstract

This study examined the relationship between attendance at entertainment events and first year retention. First year retention is a strong indicator that a student will persist through to completion of a bachelor’s degree. The purpose of the study was to determine if a significant relationship exists between student attendance at social events on campus and student academic achievement and first year retention at the university level. This study utilized a quantitative methodology, specifically a retrospective (ex post facto) causal comparative research design was used to examine the retention rates of first-year students who attended on campus entertainment events and those who did not. The population included freshmen full-time, degree-seeking undergraduate students. The two sources of information for this study included event attendance data and student retention and academic data. To answer the research questions for this study, the researcher utilized several different analysis procedures. The first and third questions intended to use an Independent Samples t-test and the Shapiro-Wilk test while utilizing the Levene’s Test to determine the homogeneity of variance. The Mann-Whitney U test was utilized as a non-parametric statistic when the Independent Samples t-test assumptions were not met. The second question used an analysis of variance (ANOVA). The researcher predicted that there would be a significant relationship between attending on campus entertainment events and first year retention. This outcome advances the research related to successful retention tactics and may serve to increase the value of the events to the institution.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Publisher’s Statement:	© Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords:	Entertainment events; First year retention; retention; student success; College students
Subjects:	L Education > LC Special aspects of education
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status:	Student
Department/Unit:	Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations College of Education > Educational Leadership
Date Deposited:	23 Jun 2025 17:00
Last Modified:	23 Jun 2025 17:00
URI:	https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/6194

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