A complementary approach to studying this question would be to survey students about
their study habits. A survey could ask students directly how much they study with classmates
and where they met their study partners. It could ask whether they sought help from more
advanced students and whether dorm contact played a role in finding these mentors.
However, a survey alone could not answer the more central question of this paper, which is
whether studying with dorm-mates or mentoring by dorm-mates leads to improved academic
performance. Only by linking the results of the survey with actual grade outcomes could one
effectively assess whether students who study with dorm-mates earn higher grades.