SURVEY'S ACCURACY QUESTIONED

Henry Wechsler's "Harvard Study" of American college students may be inaccurate. The President of the American Council on Education and member of the original panel of advisors to the research, Dr. Sheldon Steinbach, stresses that "Other studies indicate that alcohol consumption among college students is not as great as this study would suggest."

Federally funded studies at research centers across the country repeatedly find reductions in the proportion of American college students who drink and in both the quantity and frequency of their consumption. The Wechsler research is funded by an organization that promotes and financially supports abstinence, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Reference:

  • Gose, Ben. Harvard researchers note an increase in college students who drink heavily. Chronicle of Higher Education (3/15/00).