The Use of Glutathione as Skin Whitener - Research Paper Example

?A. Research questions/hypotheses Research questions What are reported health problems regarding the use of glutathione as skin whitener? 2. What is the frequency of usage for glutathione in oral, injection or internal form as skin whitener? Is there a difference of dosage depending on skin type or color? 3. What is the level of association between the frequency/dosage of glutathione usage and some of its reported negative related-health problems as skin-whitener treatment? Hypothesis a. Null Hypothesis: There is a positive association between the frequency/dosage of glutathione usage as skin whitener and the number of health-related problems or poor personal health evaluation. This means that the more frequent or higher the dosage a person uses glutathione as skin whitener; the chance to acquire various diseases other than those skin related health problems is higher, and the personal health evaluation will tend to be poorer. b. Alternative Hypothesis There is no positive association between the frequency/dosage of glutathione usage as skin whitener and the number of health-related problems or poor personal health evaluation B. Theoretical/Conceptual framework Below is the general conceptual framework for this study. The use of glutathione is associated with various health-related concerns including skin whitening. This is the reason that particularly in Southeast Asian countries glutathione is renowned for its potential to whiten skin and gives it glow and substantial smoothness. Glutathione can be administered into the body through injection, oral and external process. However, glutathione for skin whitening treatment may turn out not that effective due to some significant factors. One important antioxidant that is affected by alcohol intake is glutathione (Maher, 1997). Sun exposure is associated with the decrease of some antioxidants in the body including glutathione (Cadenas & Packer, 2001). Finally, tobacco smoke is found to reduce the protective effect of glutathione (Halliwell & Poulsen, 2006). It is reported that glutathione for skin whitening treatment has certain likelihood to result to potential fatal diseases (Malaya, 2009). It is also reported as a “potential health risk factor for morbidity among the elderly” (Julius, Lang, Gleiberman, Harburg, Defranceisco, &, Schork, 1994, p. 1021). Higher concentration of glutathione may also create potential risks to gametes and embryos (Kim et al., 1999). Independent variables: dosage and frequency of use Shown in the above illustration is the conceptual framework for this study. Integrated in this framework are the dependent and independent variables that the proponent will try to measure. In the process or administration of glutathione, dosage and frequency of its use cannot be overlooked. It is in this reason that the proponent tries to find out certain connection of this to the claim that glutathione is associated with potential diseases which at some point can be fatal. At this point, there is enough and clear reason to incorporate in the study the frequency or dosage of use of glutathione knowing that it can be administered internally (injection, oral) and externally. Dependent variables: number of health diseases, personal health evaluation Although it is reported so far that glutathione for skin whitening is safe and reliable due to its positive effects, certain claims about its potential hazards (Malaya, 2009) need to be investigated in order to give significant proofs to them. It is in this reason that the proponent will try to consider the number of health diseases experienced by people using glutathione and their personal health evaluation upon using them. The personal health evaluation should be quantified in order to measure it objectively. C. Study design This study will employ quantitative design particularly an experimental design. The proponent will come up with two important groups in this study. These groups should be composed of healthy individuals with no claims or significant background regarding health-related problems. The first group should be the study group and this should be composed of individuals to use real glutathione for skin whitening treatment. On the other hand, the other group should be the control group with individuals who will be using fake glutathione with no potential health hazard or even positive result. In other words, the first group should be expected to have positive result while there should be none with the second group. The proponent will then record potential health-related concerns that occur between these two groups. There should be high expectation that the first group should report potential health diseases and poor personal health evaluation in order to prove the claim that glutathione is associated with potential health hazards. The above design will be selected because the proponent will try to achieve high chance to have control over the internal threats to validity. The proponent will also place a strong importance to find differences between the two groups. All of these considerations will be addressed by an experimental design (Imas & Rist, 2009). However, Imas & Rist (2009) pointed out that the experimental design is “difficult to conduct in public sector, and selection and attrition are significant threats too” (279). D. Threats to validity Statistical conclusion Statistical analysis will be employed in this study. Thus, finding for certain relationship between variables will require the use of statistical tools. Thus, the conclusion will be based on statistical results that will be obtained. The threat to wrong statistical conclusion is in line with the wrong inferences made (Madeyski, 2010). One of the threats to validity is finding a relationship when there is none or finding no relationship when in fact there is one. The proponent will take note of this problem because at some point, it can be rooted down to statistical conclusion that will be obtained. In order to avoid this, the proponent will use the appropriate statistical tool for the analysis. Understand their major strengths and basic disadvantages and their specific area of applications where they can be best applied. The proponent will also evaluate the data, understand their nature and basic components and take note of some assumptions that may arise. Internal Internal threat to validity gives completely wrong connections between the relationships of chosen variables leading to wrong conclusion (Ary, Jacobs, Razavieh, & Sorensen, 2009). Drop out as an internal threat to validity may probably exist in this study. The proponent may never know there might be other variables associated with the study that are to give significant impact. For example, the two groups which consist of healthy individuals may vary in their level of commitment. Commitment among the groups should be higher in order to achieve substantially high quality data for the analysis. Regarding this, the proponent will try to measure the level of commitment of the chosen respondents in order to ensure that the appropriate results are obtained. External In this study, it is important to know whether causal relationship holds over variations in persons. This is one of the most important issues concerning external threat to validity (Mader, 2009). There is a need to evaluate the samples and their general relationship with the entire population involved (Lee, 2010). There are two important external threats to validity: population validity and ecological validity. Population validity is most likely to be incurred in this study. The proponent should ensure that the conclusion that the study will obtain should apply to specific groups of people outside the study and control groups. In other words, if the proponent will use the groups of young people in the study with age ranging from 18 to 21 years old and all female, the results that will be obtain from them should represent the entire population of these groups. The proponent should come up with data showing the age bracket of individuals who most likely are using glutathione in order to achieve more meaningful purpose of who should be chosen as respondents. References Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., Razavieh, A., & Sorensen, C. (2009). Introduction to Research in Education (8th ed.). Belmont, California: Cengage Learning. Cadenas, A., & Packer, L. (2001). Handbook of Antioxidants: Revised and Expanded (2nd ed.). Basel: CRC Press. Halliwell, B., Poulsen, H. E. (2006). Cigarette smoke and oxidative stress. Berlin: Springer. Imas, L. G. M., & Rist, R. C. (2009). The road to results: designing and conducting effective development evaluations. NW, Washington DC: World Bank Publications. Julius, M., Lang, C. A., Gleiberman, L., Harburg, E., Difranceisco, & Schork, A. (1994). Glutathione and morbidity in a community-based sample of elderly. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 47, 1021-1026. Kim, I. H., Langendonckt, A. V., Soom, A. V., Vanroose, G., Casi, A. L., Hendriksen, P. J. M., & Bevers, M. M. (1999). Effect of exogenous glutathione on the in vitro fertilization of bovine oocytes. Theriogenology. 52, 537-547. Lee, R. (2010). Software Engineering Research, Management and Applications. Hiedelbergg: Springer. Mader, P. (2009). Rule-Based Maintenance of Post-Requirements Traceability. Wiesbaden: MV-Verlag. Madeyski, L. (2010). Test-Driven Development: An Empirical Evaluation of Agile Practice. Wroclaw: Springer. Maher, J. J. (1997). Exploring Alcohol Effects on Liver Function. Alcohol World: Health and Research. 21, 5-12. Malaya. (2009). FDA cites health risks of glutathione injections. Retrieved October 23, 2009, from http://www.malaya.com.ph/may13/news14.html Read More