Reductions in US Teen Smoking Stalled - Essay Example

Experiment: To Determine the Best Method to Help Teens Quit Smoking Name: Institution: Experiment: To Determine the Best Method to Help Teens Quit Smoking 1.0 Background Teenage smoking in the United States is extremely prevalent and the number of teenagers smoking seems to increase nowadays because there has not been a significant decline in smoking rates among the teens since 2009[Ste123]. Both teenage boys and girls are indulging in smoking with the latter more likely to smoke than the former[Ste123]. There are a number of reasons as to why teenagers start smoking such as peer influence; teenagers whose parents’ smokes are likely to start smoking; advertisements and movies showing smoking as a good thing[All11], among others. Most of reasons that influence people are psychological. Thus, you can only quit smoking after eliminating the psychological reasons that make you to smoke. Smoking addiction is a biological one caused by the nicotine found in the tobacco. For someone to kill this addiction, he/she have to break a psychological habit. This experiment is focused on helping teenagers to stop smoking. It will try to identify the best method to help them quit this habit. 2.0 Objective of the Study/Major Question of the Study The objective of this study is to determine the most effective method that can assist teens to quit smoking. The major question of the study is: What is the most effective method to help teens quit smoking? 3.0 Hypothesis of the Study There are several methods to assist teenagers to quit smoking and the effectiveness of each method varies depending on the willingness to quit smoking. 4.0 Participants Population The participants of the study will be teenage students who smoke. Their ages will range from 15 to 19 years old. I am intending to involve 20 participants and they will be divided into 4 groups, each group containing 5 students. Only students who are willing to quit smoking will be allowed to take part in this study. Each group will be subjected to a different quitting method so that I can determine which method is most effective. A survey of 10 ex-smokers will also be conducted to try to find out the method they have used to quit smoking. Surveying the ex-smokers will assist in validating the results of this research. 5.0 Independent Variable of the Study Teenagers 6.0 Dependent Variable of the Study Quit smoking 7.0 Method to Carry Out the Experiment Materials required to conduct this research will include: surveys, writing materials, and results analyzing tools such as MS Excel, and SPSS. A question-based survey will be designed to determine which methods the survey participants used to quit smoking. For the teenagers groups of smokers, they will be subjected to the following methods that will aid them to quit smoking: Using QuitCoach: QuitCoach is an online tool that helps people to quit smoking[Aus12]. It contains suggestions and ideas that assist someone before and after quitting smoking. The first group will use this method to guide them through the quitting process. Using prescription medications: This method will require the second group to see a health professional who will assist them on which prescription medications that will help them quit smoking. Quitting cold turkey: This method will require the third group to quit smoking suddenly without using any medication. Using nicotine replacement products: The last group will use nicotine replacement products that are readily available and can be used without any prescription. The research period is expected to be two weeks in which daily results of the teenager groups will be collected. For the survey participants, the survey will be administered within one week. It will involve finding 10 ex-smokers who are willing to participate in the research and presenting them with copies of the survey questions. They are expected to fill the survey forms within the first week. 7.1 Analyzing Results A statistical analysis of the survey results as well as the results of the teenager groups will be conducted. The results analysis will be conducted as follows: a) The first section will be to calculate the success rate of each method used by the ex-smokers as well as the students to quit smoking. b) The second section will be to analyze the unsuccessful attempts by the groups. c) The last section will be examining the statistical significance of the results. This will be done by testing the results against the hypothesis of the study. Limitations of the Experiment and Ethical Issues One of the greatest limitations of this study is that two weeks might not be enough for someone to quit smoking. Some people require more time to quit smoking[All11]. Therefore, the results of the study might not reflect the reality. More time is needed to conduct such a research. Research involving human subjects is formed from the relationship between the researchers and participants. According to medical ethics in the US, the main aspects which are most important include respect for the participants and confidentiality of their information[Sci10]. There also has to be a mutual understanding between the researchers and participants in order to maintain trust, as well as ethical equality. Showing respect to your participants should include treating them in a civilized manner and giving them the chance to take part in your study regardless of their ethical background. In this research, each individual has fair options, and, refusing to answer questions will not affect anyone in any way. This study also ensures that all information provided by participants is strictly confidential and anonymous. This is where the ground of trust is established between researchers and participants, and is imperative to the researcher. What Future Researchers Should Know when Replicating this Experiment Future researchers should understand that it takes multiple tries before someone is being able to quit smoking[Sci10]. As the saying goes ‘a habit is a disease’, it might not be possible for someone to quit this habit with a single try. Therefore, this experiment should be carried for a very long period so as to achieve candid results. The survey participants of this experiment may also have tried multiple approaches to quitting, thus, future researchers should include questions that will identify the number of attempts each participants have tried to quit smoking. The survey participants should also describe each method they used for every attempt. The survey should also be able to determine the average time the ex-smokers used to quit this habit. Future researchers should also discuss what other experiments can be follow-up experiments. References Ste123: , (Reinberg, 2012), All11: , (Carr, 2011), Aus12: , (Australian Goverment, 2012), Sci10: , (Science Buddies, 2010), Read More