Alcohol-Related Fatalities in Houston - Essay Example

Research proposal on determining to what extent violation of law contributes to alcohol-related fatalities in Houston Background and rationale for study Alcohol-related motor vehicles accidents are a major public health problem in the United States although there has been a substantial progress is reducing alcohol-related traffic fatalities in the last two decades. People recognize that drinking and driving is not safe. Drivers believe that drinking and driving is a threat to their personal safety. Statistics also demonstrate that there were 40 million episodes annually where the drivers agree that they had “perhaps too much to drink”. According to some others, drivers take more than 82 million driving under intoxication (DUI) trips per year at blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or higher which translates into 10% of all trips where at least some alcohol use is present (Dula, Dwyer & LeVerne, 2007). Various laws are in existence to achieve the Healthy People 2010 target for alcohol-related motor vehicle related fatalities to 4.0 per 100,000 persons or fewer. This would translate into a further decrease of 31% in the alcohol-related fatalities. Laws in force include the BAC level, the minimum legal drinking age and the minimum legal driving age. While statistics and data are available for the United States as a whole, no separate data for Houston is available on the extent to which the laws are being adhered to and to what extent violation of laws increases the number of alcohol-related fatalities. Hence the objective for this research would be to ascertain: 1. The age group that is usually involved in the alcohol-related fatalities in Houston. This would give details of the number of law violators both in case of minimum legal drinking age and minimum legal driving age. 2. The BAC level of those involved in alcohol-related fatalities. 3. To determine whether legal action was initiated against the violators in Houston. Initiating legal action can work as a deterrent for future and hence this data would enable corrective actions for the future. Literature Review According to NHTSA (2006), during 2005, 15,195 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, representing 39% of all traffic-related deaths (cited by Dula, Dwyer & LeVerne, 2007). Among the most widely used strategies in reducing alcohol-impaired driving has been the laws to deter such driving along with measures to reduce the sale or public consumption of alcohol (Shults et al., 2001). Community-based interventions and training programs for servers of alcoholic beverages have also been implemented. While majority of the drivers are dissuaded by the potential of a crash, injury or punishment, these disincentives are considered to be too insignificant to overcome the immediate reward value of driving to their destination. Deterrence can occur when people are convinced of the consequences. According to Kennedy, Isaac, Nelson & Graham (1997) deterrence strategies increased enforcement and tougher sanctions for driving under the influence have also been used as a means of formal social control. Media campaigns too emphasize responsible drinking and stigmatize the behavior of drunk driving. States adopting a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21 in the early 1980s experienced a fall of 10-15% in alcohol-related traffic deaths compared to the states that did not adopt this legal age (Hingson et al., 2002). MLDA has also decreased drinking among people between the ages of 21-25 who grew up is states where the MLDA was implemented. Age of drinking onset has been strongly related to having experienced alcohol dependence during one’s life. Research suggests that those who start drinking before the age of 14 experience alcohol dependence in life. Research philosophy and methodology Any decision is based on a body of knowledge. This body of knowledge is produced through research. By applying the appropriate methodologies and the research method, the body of knowledge can be established and advanced with confidence. Research relies on facts and experience, data, concepts and constructs, hypotheses and conjectures, and principles and laws (Amaratunga, Baldry, Sarshar, & Newton, 2002). The ultimate purpose of this research is to determine to what extent law violation is responsible for the number of alcohol-related fatalities in Houston. Hence the subjects that would be studied are those involved in the alcohol-related accidents and their family members. Data would also be collected from the local police stations to ascertain the action that has been taken by them against the offenders. Data would also be collected from the pubs and restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages. According to Taylor et al., (1995) quantitative data is numerical in form. Questionnaires and interviews are the usual research methods used under this paradigm. Questionnaires are an inexpensive way to collect data and very often it is the only method to collect information for analysis (Fao, n.d.). In the administration of questionnaire, the researchers control is limited (Gatech, n.d.). Hence the validity of the results is more reliant on the respondents. This makes it difficult to claim complete objectivity with questionnaire data. As far as those involved in the alcohol-related accidents are concerned, the variables against which they will be measured include: a. Their age b. The age at which they started drinking c. Whether this was the first time they were involved in alcohol-related road accidents d. Whether they were alone at the time of driving. e. Whether the companions with them were also drunk. The details that would be collected from the police stations would be: a. How many alcohol-related accidents occur per month? b. The age group of those involved in such fatal accidents. c. How many of such accidents lead to death and how many result in permanent injury. d. Whether the local police is aware of the number of people who were accompanying the driver at the time of the accident. e. Whether the BAC was measured at the time of the accident. The data collected from the pubs and restaurants would include the following: a. If they were aware of the legal restrictions on minimum drinking age. b. If they displayed prominently such restrictions. c. On an average per week, how many groups/individuals left their pubs in a drunken state? d. Was there any person in the group who had not consumed alcohol? e. What percentage of people visiting their pubs were regulars and how regularly did they leave the pub in drunken state? Data Analysis Analysis and interpretation is the major part of the research process. Data analysis will be done by constructing a bar chart of the responses and exhibiting them on a spread sheet. Charts and graphs give a compact and structured synthesis (AIVS, 2006). Details, similarities and differences can be demonstrated in a small area. Graphs visually impart information that cannot be easily read from a data table. Excel will be used to prepare the bar chart and spreadsheet. The chart would be supported by textual interpretation so that details do not overlook the main message of the data collected. Bar chart will help to compare values of the same category on a common scale. Charts will be used to analyze data graphically. Through the spread sheet it will be possible to control information and how the chart will be displayed. A comparative study of the three different subjects interviewed would help to corroborate facts about maintaining the minimum legal; age for drinking and driving. Outcome and limitations Any research has limitations. While the outcome is expected to give a clear picture of the extent to which violation of law contributes to alcohol-related fatalities in Houston, problems could arise during data collection. Qualitative research method is known to have constraints as it tends to neglect the social and cultural construction of the variables studied. Besides, it is difficult to ascertain how many have registered true opinions. References: AIVS (2006), Analysis of Indicators Using Visual Presentations, 18 July 2007 Amaratunga, D., Baldry, D., Sarshar, M., & Newton, R., (2002), Quantitative and Qualitative Research in the built environment: application of mixed research approach, Work Study, Vol. 15 No. 1 2002, pp. 17-31 Dula, C. S., Dwyer, W. O., & LeVerne, G., (2007), Policing the drunk driver: Measuring law enforcement involvement in reducing alcohol-impaired driving, Journal of Safety Research 38 (2007) 267–272 Fao (n.d.), Marketing Research and Information Systems, Chapter 4, 18 July 2007 Gatech (n.d.), Questionnaire Design, 18 July 2007 Hingson et al., (2002), Age of drinking onset, driving after drinking, and involvement in alcohol related motor-vehicle crashes, Accident Analysis and Prevention 34 (2002) 85–92 Kennedy, B. P., Isaac, N. E., Nelson, T. F., & Graham J. D., (1997), Young male drinkers and impaired driving intervention: results of a US telephone survey, Accid. Anal. and Prev., Vol. 29, No. 6, pp. 707-713, 1997 Shults et al., (2001), Reviews of Evidence Regarding Interventions to Reduce Alcohol-Impaired Driving, Am J Prev Med 2001;21(4S) Read More