Research Methodology on Childhood Obesity - Essay Example

"Research Methodology on Childhood Obesity" is a decent example of a paper on child development.
The research focuses on determining whether obesity has health benefits such as favorable heart rate, blood pressure, and glucose. The obese children under the analysis are those between 8 to 18 years old. The children’s body mass should be at or above the 95th percentile of the sex-specific CDC BMI for age growth charts. The researcher selects a representative sample from the population for examination.

The research to determine whether health benefits will increase such as heart rate, blood pressure and blood glucose takes place in Tampa, Florida. Tampa city lies in Seat of Hillsborough County in the United States. The region has an area of approximately 441 square kilometers with a population 352, 950 by the 2013 statistics.

Sampling Strategy

The research employs the use of both probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling methods. In the probabilistic strategy, each member of the population under study has equal chances of selection. The researcher identifies the interested participants both healthy and obese and randomly picks a representative sample from them. The selected members then undergo a medical monitor to establish and observe the study objectives.

The second strategy employed in the research is stratified random sampling. The researcher will first subdivide the population of interest into homogenous strata using obesity and health as the unifying qualities for groups. The researcher then selects a sample using a simple random sampling method. The selected sample should be representative of the whole population encompassing healthy and obese children.

Research Design

Experimental designs and quasi-experimental designs are the design methods used in extracting the valuable information essential for this research. The methods incorporate the data collection plan, the analysis plan, and the sampling plan. The research design enables the research to focus on the fundamental variables under investigation.

Experimental Designs

The experimental designs will enable me as a researcher in maintaining maximum and rigorous control over the research on childhood obesity health associated benefits. The research will use the process of randomization and manipulation in its implementation. Control will help in the regulation and checking of all the elements essential for the study. The steps involved in the data extraction through experimental design include, first, identifying the study population like in Tampa, Florida. After the identification process, the researcher isolates a portion of the population that will help in the study. The third step is to assign half of the sample an arbitrary experimental nametag and the other half as the control group. The researcher then observes and records the obese characteristics of the two groups. To the group with the experimental nametag, introduce an obese child. After some duration, observe the healthy in both the two groups. Then compare the alterations in the two groups of study and record them.

The Quasi-Experimental Design

The researcher identifies the population strata and the number of individuals required in each stratum. In this case, both the obese and the healthy children participate in a medically supervised weight loss program in an identified clinical facility in Tampa, Florida. The medical attention on the sample of the population under study enables identification of the health-associated benefits (Polit & Beck, 2014).