research - Associated Student Government, Northwestern University

RESEARCHism are more visible, while in suburban areas, politicstakes the form of community engagement.(4) Youth Background and Parental InvolvementAs Figure 5 and 6 both clearly show, exposure tovolunteering starting at a young age is a powerful indicatorof civic commitment later in life. Across allmotives, there is a significant increase in fervor due toobservations of parental and youth involvement whichthen shapes ones actions particularly at the universityage.B. Inferential StatisticsTable 1 shows that the public interest motive has thesmallest P-value, proving statistical significance. Multipleregressions allowed us to establish the adjusted r-squared value. This technique was utilized to minimizethe statistical effect that the four variables had on eachother, in essence to account for statistical shrinkage.Finally with an adjusted R-squared Value at 0.5225, wecan conclude that there exists a strong positive correlationbetween public interest and civic action returns.V. ConclusionWhile it is understood that the sample populationsurveyed here does not represent claims that can begeneralized to the public at large, we feel that the findingsof the Northwestern University students providesvaluable information in regards to exploring the overallmotivation and retention factors of individuals whotake part in voluntary service. For Northwestern Universitystudents, our findings showed that the type ofservice that one takes part in no way an indication ofones compassion level or likelihood of their civic actionreturn. However, those who took part in VES had higherrates than those who participated in VS generally inregards to their attraction to public policy, commitmentto public interest and self-sacrifice. The clearest signalof participation in VES and VS later in life is parentalperceptions and individual engagement at a young age.This assessment is a start to the future explorations ofenvironmental service, but by no means is a completeassessment of the overall goals of undergraduates engagedin VES or VS. For example, areas such as politicalaffiliation, majors of study and career goals would alsoprovide valuable information to this study. Finally, ourresearch shows while there are fundamental similaritiesamong undergraduates who are civically engaged, therestill exist many distinctions between the motivating factorsof said service, and the willingness for undergraduatesto return to serve.AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank all of the undergraduateparticipants, who made this study possible. 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Keynote Presentation, ThirdInternational Education and Social Action Conference, University of Technology Sydney.December. VOLUME 7, 2011-2012NORTHWESTERN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL69