Testing A Hypothesis

     My hypothesis is "University of Florida's freshman students often need access to quick cash, and they would be willing to sell their clothes to another student on campus for money."
     The what, who, and why framework is detailed below.
        Who? Poor college students at UF.
        What? There is a big need on college campuses for quick cash that is accessible by students.
        Why? The students are poor; they are willing to do just about anything for money, which includes selling personal items like clothing. They are stretched thin between the costs associated with college, a social life, and being alive.
     Some of the questions I asked my interviewees to determine if there is a bigger who out there were: "Do UF college students need quick access to cash? Does this need go beyond UF campus? Does this need go beyond freshman? Does this problem persist outside of college?" To speak further to the "What?" response, I asked, "Are students willing to sell personal items? Clothes? Shoes? Jewelry? Are students willing to sacrifice future value for instant cash?" I asked interviewees more about their financial position "Why do you have financial problems? How pressing are these to you? Do you even perceive a problem? Do you think that you will make any lifestyle changes to adapt to this problem? Do you think that the status quo is better? Would quick cash interest you?"
(All the interviewees will be referred by his initials and, for the sake of further anonymity, will be referred to in the English nonspecific pronoun set: he, him, and his.)
     My first interviewee was N.B. He is a first year natural resource conservation student at UF. He indicated that he agreed with most of the questions about the "Who?" As for the "What?" set questions, I received little feedback, but generally "yes" responses. When I pressed further, he said it would really depend on how desperate he would be for him to start selling personal items. When I asked more about his financial position, I received more feedback. From my understanding, N.B. has loan debt and other financial strains with which he must cope. Jobs are hard to come by, so even though he may want to change his financial position, it proves to be difficult. He did report that his financial problems were not super pressing, and that they think about them only sometimes.
     K.B. was my second interviewee. He was also a freshman at UF but is studying dietetics. When I asked him to help me define the "Who?" and "What?" more, he gave little feedback beyond "yes". Much of his answers were "yes", and I assume it is because he was in a hurry. Upon asking more about his financial position, he spoke far longer and gave much more depth to his answers. He stated that he was in his current fiscal position because of bad habits and did perceive a problem with it. Although he thought about his financial position daily, he said he was not about to make life changes to resolve them. When asked if he made the best decision by not working, he replied "Sometimes I think so, but I really think I made the right decision by not choosing to work." He replied with a yes to being interested in quick cash.
     The third interviewee, R.E, is a second year political science student at University of Florida. When I asked him to speak further to the "Who?" questions, he pointed out that money, or the lack thereof, will follow college students for the foreseeable future and is a consistent problem. He said he would be inclined to sell his personal items if under financial pressure. When I asked more about the nature of his financial dilemmas, he brought up things I had not since heard. He said that food is expensive, and housing is most of his living cost. Even bare necessities cost a lot of money. When I asked how often he thought of his financial problems, he said weekly, though he does think they are a problem. He said he is actively searching for ways to better his financial position via jobs and scholarships. When I asked why he wanted to better his financial position, he replied with, "I don't want this to become my parents problem." When I asked if he was interested in quick cash, He replied with "Generally no. But given specific circumstances, yes."
     L.L., the fourth interviewee, is a biomedical student at Asbury University in Kentucky. He generally agreed with the idea that he and a majority of college students do want access to quick cash. However, he did not think that he would sell personal items to make money. When asked why, he said he could think of other things he could do to make more money. When asked about his financial position, he said that there were problems that worried him, but there was not much he could do. he said he was heavily involved in sports and extracurricular activities; therefore, he lacked time for a job. He said he was not actively trying to put himself in a better financial position but was not satisfied with the status quo. When I asked about his interest in quick cash, he did not give an exact answer, but I would guess that his position is that he would not be interested.
     The fifth interviewee will only be referred to by the initials, A.K. He is a second year music studies student at the University of South Florida. He agreed with the fact that college students need quick access to cash, and it is a universal need. He further specified that the average American college student will find themselves needing quick cash. He says that it is specifically due to student loan debt which amasses for parents and students to pay. To the question "Will this problem persist outside of college?" he responded with "Hopefully not, but probably yeah." For all the questions I asked about a student's willingness to sell personal items such as clothes, shoes, and jewelry, he responded with yes all around. He also believed that the majority of students would sacrifice future value for present needs. When I asked more about why he was in his current financial position, he responded with the fact that he had no job, no financial aid, and poor fiscal habits. He said he daily feels 70% of the pressure to be in a better financial position but was in a pretty good financial position at the time. Although he said he did not perceive a problem with his own financial position right now, he did say he actively seeks to be in a better one. When I asked if he would be interested in quick cash, he said yes.
     All of the interviews gave me three pieces of information about my original set of premises. The "Who?" is much broader than I previously thought. It expands across year, location, and major. I am not surprised as the student debt crisis is still looming. The responses to the "What?" were mostly expected. However, the diversity of answers I received to the "Why?" was shocking. While some of my interviewees were under a shocking amount of debt, they didn't seem to care all that much. However, others who were in a better financial position than most college students had serious problems with not being better off. It was strange oxymoron of sorts. This was an altogether strange experience, but worthwhile.