2
Drafting a Research Proposal
Tiffany Marie Hymon
MCC 5321-01 Activating the Core: Research Methods
February 14, 2021
Drafting a Research Proposal
Introduction
Drug abuse has been a significant problem in the country for ages. Although the progress has been reducing significantly in the recent past, the use of mind and behavior-altering drugs has taken a significant toll on many people’s families and individual lives in the country. According to HealthyPeople.gov (2020), in 2005, an estimated 22 million citizens were struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. The numbers have been increasing rather than decreasing. Drug and alcohol abuse have many destructive results, including family, work disruption, financial stability, failure in school, domestic violence, and lack of productivity. Both social attitudes and legal responses have escalated drug and alcohol abuse as one of the most complex public health issues. Estimates identify that 600 billion USD is lost annually on matters related to drug abuse, such as crime and health-related costs (Healthypeople.gov, 2020). It is imperative to understand the social aspects of drug abuse, understanding the vulnerable in the community and why.
Literature Review
Different scholars have looked at the issue associated with drug abuse. According to Flaherty (2013), substance use disorders or SUDs are associated with diverse medical, financial, psychological, spiritual, and legal problems that significantly burden the affected families, societies, or individuals. People diagnosed with SUDs are more likely to suffer emotional issues such as frustrations, anger, anxiety, and depression. They are also more likely to suffer economic burdens, affecting how they spend or save their money on substances. Families are likely to experience the burden of drug abuse more due to violence or family breakup, or separation.
There are several social determinants of drug abuse. Social interactions can have drastic effects on drug usage. These effects include the way the brain responds to drug-associated cues. Ronka et al. (2021) reason out that drug-related mortality is associated with social disadvantage. The number of drug-related deaths is three times more than that of drug-induced deaths. Busto & Sellers (1986) purports that drugs that produce a physical dependence or have similar pharmacological profiles to the highly abused drugs are likely to be accepted in the market. Pharmacokinetic and non-pharmacokinetic effects play a huge role in determining whether drugs are tolerated in the market or not. Busto & Sellers (1986) add that pharmacological importance includes spontaneous and antagonist withdrawal effects, ability to maintain self-administration, and tolerance exhibited by the user to the drug.
Knowledge of drug and their effects plays a critical role in overall drug abuse. According to Yadav & Parajuli (2021), many teenagers and young adults lack enough knowledge of drug abuse and its related effects. The spectrum of drug abuse is broad, ranging from school withdrawal to severe and petty crimes to afford substances in the streets. The attitudes towards drugs also influence substance abuse. To alter a behavior, knowledge, and attitude towards the subject should be modified. Age transitions play a critical role in behavioral change. For example, transitioning from childhood to adolescence is a solemn period that initiates curiosity and satisfies the curiosity. Nur (2017) says that students and young adults lack the relevant knowledge about the devastating effects of drug abuse, incorrect attitudes towards the same, and presenting personal independence.
There have been numerous barriers attributed to drug abuse and the related effects. According to Spooner (2009), conducting relevant research on the topic and understanding the social determinants of drug abuse while at the same time finding policies and practices have been difficult, although necessary. Although our understanding of drug abuse and the related harm has expanded in the past few decades, a lot has to be done to improve the general nature of how we respond to the knowledge. This would present a viable analysis that would give comprehensive strategies that can be used to alleviate the social menace in society.
The protective effects of social interactions are not straightforward for humans. However, social scientists believe that understanding these social interactions can significantly influence the connectedness that we have as a society and help protect some but not all people against SUDs. Ibrahim (2020) says that the number of Malaysian youths that have been diagnosed with drug abuse disorders continues to rise. Despite initiatives aiming to improve the condition in the past, many youths continue to get involved in drug and substance abuse drastically. It is imperative to understand the social determinants of drug abuse and how vulnerable populations continue to be affected in the recent past.
Research Questions
Q1: what are some of the social determinants of drug abuse?
Q2: what is the most vulnerable population concerning drug abuse?
Q3: what causes drug abuse among the vulnerable population?
Q4: What measures have been implemented to create awareness and knowledge on drug and alcohol abuse?
Research Design and Explanation
A diversified pool of research methods can be used in this case to understand some of the social determinants of drug abuse. These methods range from surveys, interviews, and non-participant observations.
Surveys
Surveys involve collecting relevant information, usually from large groups of people. Surveys involving understanding drug abuse can be paramount in talking with drug abusers and understanding what parameters are in place, making it easy for them to use drugs (Pisetski et al., 2017). Surveys can involve different factors, such as interacting with drug abusers or the society with many drug abusers. Interacting with prostitutes, teens in drugs, and others such as parents whose children are in drug abuse would play a significant role in understanding the social determinants of drug abuse.
Interviews
Interviews can be part of surveys or independent. For a practical understanding of the menace, interviews should be conducted in person (Brown & Danaher, 2017). Finding a neutral place should be the priority in interviewing drug abusers and understanding the concept in which drugs are easily accessible in the streets. It should be paramount to come up with different ideas concerning drug abuse in society.
Non-participant Observations
Observations can be of two types: participants and non-participant comments. Participant observations involve the researcher being part of the existing group, in this case, drug abusers (Becker, 2017). It consists of fitting in, gaining the group members’ trust, and remaining sufficiently detached to carry substantial research on the group. On the other hand, non-participant observations involve the researcher being independent of the group. The researcher must decide the kind of behavior relevant to the study and be realistically observed. These observations can span for a period or regular, shorter periods to have essential data.
Non-participant observations have been chosen for this research as it involves understanding the characteristic behaviors of drug abusers (Handley et al., 2019). Some aspects of participant observation criteria can be incorporated through creating trust with drug abusers to facilitate comprehensive and relevant data collection without resulting in biasness.
Considerations
As a researcher, my involvement in the project will collect relevant data regarding drug abuse and usage. This will include interviewing drug abusers and families that have a member or members that are drug abusers. It will involve coming up with a strategy to assure them that their privacy will be respected, the information presented during the research will only be used for research purposes, and their identity will be hidden. Information such as where they get the drugs from will be confidential and relevant to the research at the same time. It would be imperative to use incentives to motivate them to give information without bias. I will also have to find areas with a large population of drug abusers, such as Los Angeles, New York, or Las Vegas. This would make the information to be diverse and not centered in one area or city.
In terms of ethical considerations, there is a need to assure participants that they will not be subjected to any physical or mental harm during the research. Full consent will be attained from the participants before the examination (Tolich & Tumilty, 2021). There will be the protection of privacy and an adequate level of confidentiality. This will be imperative in avoiding misleading information resulting from bias and having relevant communication, ensuring honesty and transparency during the research.
Projected Outcomes
The research will aim at addressing drug and alcohol abuse as a menace in society. It will benefit other researchers, giving relevant data and helping others who might need information regarding drug abuse. Others who will benefit include my classmates and future researchers. Organizations set to address issues regarding drug abuse in society will also benefit significantly from the research. The research will incorporate views on how to solve the menace in the community, projecting some of the ways through which drug abusers can be rehabilitated to improve their state. The main beneficially will be drug abusers themselves as the research will aim more on understanding what can be done to alleviate themselves from drug addiction and abuse. I hope the perception in society will change after the analysis. Providing relevant answers on the issue and how it affects society will be a significant move towards having a drug-free society. The research will also aim at changing the situation, helping participants to overcome drug abuse, and together with financiers, develop a strategy to rehabilitate them at their consent. The research will be delivered to publishers after every information has been gathered to determine whether it meets every consideration for a robust project, meets the ethical consideration, and whether every research question has been exhausted.
Conclusion
Researchers have dwelled on the issue of drug abuse for quite some time. Understanding the social determinants of drug abuse has not been addressed substantially, leaving a significant mark. The research will aim at understanding the social determinants, helping create a report on how these determinants play a role in drug abuse and misuse. The study will involve surveys, interviews, and non-participant observations, understanding what causes drug abuse among members and what can be done to eliminate this in society.
References
Becker, H. S. (2017). Problems of inference and proof in participant observations. Sociological Methods, 398-412. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315129945-35
Brown, A., & Danaher, P. A. (2017). CHE principles: Facilitating authentic and dialogical semi-structured interviews in educational research. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 42(1), 76-90. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727x.2017.1379987
Busto, U., & Sellers, E. M. (1986). Pharmacokinetic determinants of drug abuse and dependence. Clinical Pharmacokinetics, 11(2), 144-153. https://doi.org/10.2165/00003088-198611020-00004
Flaherty, M. (2013). Psychological aspects of substance use disorders, treatment, and recovery. Substance Use Disorders, 27-62. https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780199898169.003.0003
Handley, M., Bunn, F., Lynch, J., & Goodman, C. (2019). Using non-participant observation to uncover mechanisms: Insights from a realist evaluation. Evaluation, 26(3), 380-393. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356389019869036
Healthypeople.gov. (2020). Substance Abuse. Retrieved from Healthypeople.gov: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-lhi-topics/Substance-Abuse
Ibrahim, F. (2020). Social pressure among former drug addictsafter discharged from drug rehabilitation centre. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 24(4), 4517-4525. https://doi.org/10.37200/ijpr/v24i4/pr201554
Nur, S. (2017). Theory of planned behavior on the psycho-social determinants of drug use among adolescents in Samarinda, East Kalimantan. Journal of Health Promotion and Behavior, 02(03), 272-281. https://doi.org/10.26911/thejhpb.2017.02.03.07
Pisetski, V., Abaturova, I., Storozhenko, L., Savintsev, I., & Petrova, I. (2017). Solving the problems of obtaining geological information with using geophysical methods of research during engineering-geological surveys. 23rd European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.201701984
Rönkä, S., Karjalainen, K., Martikainen, P., & Mäkelä, P. (2021). Erratum to “Social determinants of drug-related mortality in a general population” [Drug alcohol depend. 181 (2017) 37–43]. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 224, 108740. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108740
Spooner, C. (2009). Social determinants of drug use – barriers to translating research into policy. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 20(3), 180-185. https://doi.org/10.1071/he09180
Tolich, M., & Tumilty, E. (2021). Do quantitative and qualitative research have similar ethical considerations? Finding Your Ethical Research Self, 67-82. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429056994-5
Yadav, P. K., & Parajuli, R. (2021). Knowledge regarding drug abuse among school students. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-226710/v1