Custom «Research Proposal on Underage Alcohol Abuse» Essay Paper

It is approximated that 18% of the population between the age of 12 and 20 has engaged in binge drinking and 6% of the same age group engages in heavy drinking. This is according to the National Survey on drug use, and, as they say, the trend of binge drinking was slightly increasing with time. Binge-drinking refers to drinking five or more drinks for the last 14 days. Medical experts say that alcohol can be used to increase metabolism, also aid in digestion in human beings. This is achieved by the appropriate use of alcohol, systems of older people can be stabilized, therefore, alcohol became more accessible to people with advanced age but, lately teenagers and young adults have engaged themselves in serious underage drinking which has brought about increasing demand for the banning of alcohol by the government.

Also despite the fact that it is unlawful for college and high-school students to obtain alcohol, there is extensive experience in the consumption of alcohol among this group. Although alcohol is said to be useful, excessive consumption has led to negative outcomes and side effects such as societal and personal problems. It is evident that teenage and adolescent alcohol abuse are fundamental problems that need to be addressed in the society by our leaders, teachers and moreover the parents of these teenagers. Despite the interventions in eliminating, if not, reducing the influence of alcohol in our community, there is still the prevalence of alcohol among the underage.

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The Purpose of the Study

The intent of the proposed research is to come up with the best way of eliminating or reducing the amount of alcohol been abused by teenagers. The research will focus on selected teenagers in different colleges and high school. The objective of this study is to identify factors that make teenagers to unlawful consumption of alcohol, to find facts of teenage alcoholism, to find out the family structure, environment and personality of the teenager and to come up with the effectiveness of treatment and healthcare facilities including rehabilitation centers. The study will also be aimed at finding ways to reduce the number of teenagers engaging in alcohol by first establishing the causes which have led to the spreading of the behavior. The proposed study will also be used to find out the teenagers reactions to alcohols side effects such as sensations effects, sleepiness and hangovers. The research is also important such that it will come up with ways to rescue the teenagers from the effects of alcohol since alcoholism is the one of the factor which leads to juvenile delinquency. Alcohol can also cause early deaths after affecting the teenager. Definitions

For this study, the word teenager means a person between the ages of 13 – 20.

Nature and Limitations of the study

The proposed research will involve a qualitative research approach, which will involve semi structured interview as the primary method. The interview will involve teenagers of the ages of 13 - 20 from different high schools and colleges. Design of the study: Qualitative approach

Setting

The goal of this research will be to study teenagers of ages 13 – 20. A sample of no more than 100 teenagers will be obtained by placing advertisements in the respective colleges and high schools. A small token, for example, a book on the effects of alcohol abuse will be issued to the teenagers who volunteer for the research. Every teenager who agrees to the interview will fill a questioner which will ask questions on teenage alcohol abuse, an oral interview will also be conducted. The teenagers will further be assured that they will remain anonymous.

Research Perspective

A qualitative research is selected for this study. Using this approach the information collected will not include only the words, the data collected will also include attitudes, feelings, intonations, and facial expressions. Qualitative approach is also good since it will entail the full experience and is also good for testing the underlying assumptions and theories.

Research design and procedures

Qualitative approach lays its basis on the real experience of people who are involved in communication. The theoretical perspective associated with this kind of approach is phenomenology, using this approach, the researchers understand the meaning in the event and interactions with human, and the perspective is also good for the interpretation of data. In this approach, the researcher the meaning of other people situations. The researchers will describe and interpret the data they will collect in their social contexts. By use of semi structured interviews as the primary research approach, the interviewing process will begin by asking unstructured questions such as “Have you ever taken alcohol?” the teenagers will diversify their fields of discussions. The same interview will be conducted to more teenagers and the data collected after completion of data analysis from the beginning. All interviews will be recorded on tape and will vary in lengths of about 30 minutes and 45 minutes. The interviews will be open-ended, and will be carried out in a conversational style, questioners might also be issued.

The following will be done with conjunction with the interviews, field notes will be written, follow up interviews will be conducted then there will be observation and social encounters with the subjects. Memoranda will also be prepared while listening to the recorded tape, and typed materials, all collected data will be entered to computer files, I will later use the ethnographer in coding, and the hard copies will be coded using color pens to mark margins with the appropriate numbers and letters. The qualitative approach is good since it is flexible, convenient in the basis that a researcher can interact with the subject and use the most appropriate language and terms depending on the situation. The approach also provides a good view of phenomena under study. On the other hand, the study might have its limitations since the researcher can arrive at different conclusions given the same information. The researcher can also experience difficulty in telling the difference in quality and quantity of data collected, experience is necessary and sometimes lack consistency and reliability.

Qualitative design will be used as it will allow the experience of more complex aspects of people been studied. Another reason for the use of qualitative analysis is that few assumptions are made, moreover not all things been studied can be quantified i.e. the individuals experiences. Qualitative design also allows the samples to be studied in depth also the samples been studied can provide the data required in their own words so as the data collected is more clear. Population and Sample

The research is to be conducted in the teenagers who study in colleges and high schools in the state of California; the teenagers will be of ages 13 – 20. The colleges and high schools will be selected randomly so as to avoid bias, a sample of about 10 students will be chosen through 10 different schools in the state. The samples will consist of both male and female in the ratio of 1:1. The samples will consist of bright students and under average students. Private schools and public schools will be included in the study.

Data Collections

Data will be collected from the teenagers in the sampled schools; one school every one week, data will be corrected by use of questioners and interviews.

Data Analysis Plan

The information provided by the teenagers will include the age of the teenager, the year of study, the number of times he/she has taken alcohol and the frequency, the students will be asked to explain facts like where they get the finances of alcohol and how they deal with the effects of alcohol. The students will also be asked to explain how they got involved into alcohol and whether they see any chance of ceasing in the future.

 Ethical Consideration (Human Subject Protections)

After the collection and processing of all data, it can then be submitted to the Institutional review board where it is approved, monitored and reviewed with the aim of protecting human rights and welfare. The institutional review board performs thorough oversight functions for research conducted on human subjects that are ethical and regulatory. (Bonnie, 2004) The students will be asked to volunteer, and there will be a friendly interview between the student and the researcher. A letter requesting the cooperation of students is to be posted in the schools magazines in order to ensure students are familiar with the exercise.

Bias

In research, bias is usually inevitable, in this research bias may be in the categories of moderator bias, this refers to the moderators body movements such as facial expressions, tonal variation, age, social status or even gender. Also, the research can contain biased questions and the researcher should avoid asking leading questions, which suggest the answers to the student been interviewed, hence keeping the questions neutral. To avoid this, the questions asked should be general, unaided questions, positive questions and behavioral questions. Other forms of bias include consistency bias, dominant respondent bias, error bias, hostility bias, overstatement bias, sensitivity bias and social acceptance bias. The research should avoid biased reporting by keeping an open mind. Bias should be avoided at all cost since if can affect results and decisions. Appendix A:

Potential threats to validity

Validity of the proposed research may face threats of bias by both the samples and the researchers, also the problem of lack of cooperation from the samples also low numbers of volunteers. To curb the threat of bias, as stated earlier the researcher should keep an open mind. To improve cooperation from students, they should be assured that they would stay anonymous, and the number of volunteers should be improved by posting advertisement in the school's newspaper.

Appendix B:

Limitations

The weaknesses of this research are that it will only cover a small proportion of the said population, and will only include the teenagers who go to school only. This is because there is no other clear way of involving those who don’t go to schools.

Conclusion

The proposed research is necessary as it will help the researcher to come up with ways which will assist in finding the solution of underage drinking providing answers which have been searched for long by parents, teachers and even leaders. This will aim at finding the ultimate solution of this undying problem. The research will also tend to find what causes the problem and know where it’s necessary to provide counseling to the students.