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Chapter Four

Introduction

This chapter presents the responses obtained from the respondents who took part in this study. Data analysisis presented in this chapter. In addition, data from the responses were analyzed and presented using tables; the findings were generalized in order to represent the entire population. The interpretation of the findings drew upon the theoretical framework (anomie) discussed in Chapter 1, and with regard to the research hypotheses. The study issued 41 questionnaires to respondents and reported a 100 percent response rate. Therefore, this chapter presented data analysis with a consideration of the following research hypotheses:

• Hypothesis 1: It is hypothesized that individuals with higher body weight, shorter height, less trendy clothes, and a special education disability are more likely to be bullied in comparison to individuals who do not possess these characteristics.
• Hypothesis 2:  It is hypothesized that teachers who are vigilant about preventing bullying have fewer incidents of bullying in their schools in comparison to teachers who are passive about this epidemic.

 Data Analysis

Data analysis had the objective of examining the relationship between the prevalence of bullying and a number of variables such as body weight, trendy clothes, height and special education disability among college students, as outlined in hypothesis 1. As aforementioned, questionnaires were used in gathering data; therefore, data analysis emphasized the data gathered by the researcher using questionnaires.

Hypothesis 1:  It is hypothesized that individuals with higher body weight, shorter height, less trendy clothes, and a special education disability are more likely to be bullied in comparison to individuals who do not possess these characteristics.

In order to refute or affirm this hypothesis, descriptive statistics made use of statistical variables by utilizing cross tabulations and chi-square. Cross tabulations and chi-square were used to compare the data describing individuals who have been bullied and those who have not been bullied for this hypothesis. The variables in this hypothesis included body weight, height, trendy clothes, and a special education disability.  Data gathered from questionnaires were fed into data analysis software, SPSS version 20, which was used to perform the cross tabs and chi-square for the variables. 

Chapter Five

Conclusion

Bullying is a serious issue of concern in learning institutions and has the capability of affecting the learning outcomes, and negatively affecting the learning environment. In this regard, learning institutions have to realize those factors that contribute to bullying in order to develop effective mechanisms to tackle bullying among students. This chapter draws conclusions and makes recommendations from the findings of this study, especially with regard to the relationship between bullying and a number of factors such as trendy clothes, height, weight, placement in special education and teacher vigilance. The study used the following research hypotheses to address the topic under study:

• Hypothesis 1:  it is hypothesized that individuals with higher body weight, shorter height, less trendy clothes, and a special education disability are more likely to be bullied in comparison to individuals who do not possess these characteristics.
• Hypothesis 2:  It is also hypothesized that teachers who are vigilant about preventing bullying have fewer incidents of bullying in their schools in comparison to teachers who are passive about this epidemic.

Research Outcome

Hypothesis 1

Evidence from the study pointed out a number of trends regarding the relationship between bullying and a number of factors such as weight, height, trendy clothes and placement in special education. Specifically, the findings pointed out those students with higher body weight are less likely to be bullied compared to students with relatively less body weight; and taller students are less likely to be bullied compared to shorter students; there is no relationship between bullying and wearing trendy clothes; bullying and placement in special education. From these findings, it is evident that H1 is not true in its entirety except for the relationship between bullying and height.

Hypothesis 2

Evidence from this study has pointed out that teacher vigilance reduces the prevalence of bullying; therefore, H2 is true and valid.

Limitations of the Study

This research looked into the perceptions of 41 students. However, despite the fact that this number generated an in-depth data source, it does not allow generalization to the entire population. Their views and considerations cannot represent the diversity existing within most schools. In addition, there is also limited capacity of information an individual can recollect. The study required participants to recall their previous experiences with bullying, and it is, therefore, difficult to tell what might have been disregarded due to the restricted amount of information that could be recollected over time and the precision of memories. Furthermore, the participants may have concealed some information in order to protect themselves. Some could have been bullied more, or taken the role of the bully, but could not relay this to the researcher.

Recommendations for Future Research

Apparently, students engage in bullying at elementary, middle, and high school for various reasons. To generate a better understanding of this phenomenon, it is important to establish when and how it starts. It is also apparent that clothing was mentioned as one of the reasons for bullying, particularly in middle school and not in the elementary grades. It is, therefore, important to find out the specific stage when students begin to recognize the role of clothing. Future research should be carried out to examine the effectiveness of professional development of the teachers regarding bullying. This would help provide direction regarding which forms of the professional development create the greatest opportunity for reducing and identifying incidents of bullying. It is also important to understand how teachers put into practice whatever they gain from professional development, so as to explain its effectiveness and the ability of the teachers to understand whether they have learned. More researches should also be done to assess the effectiveness of the programs dealing with bullying or those that are aimed at establishing environments where bullying does not occur, for instance, Character Counts. This will enable schools to address bullying more effectively.

It is also important to conduct further research in order to understand who gets bullied explicitly. It is very important to identify the potential victims and doers of such incidents are to be addressed in schools. Some factors suggested by the participants are worth being conducted in an in-depth analysis. Data obtained from this study also indicates that other students stand up for the ones who get bullied; thus, it would be significant to obtain such characteristics.