Are traffic fatalities another consequence - Case Study Example

Are traffic fatalities another consequence?French and Gumus authored the article, ‘Are traffic fatalities another consequence?’ The authors noted that many college students travel for spring break and spend billions of dollars in the process. They postulated potential negative effects of the spring break on traffic safety with knowledge gap I the area that they sought to bridge. The researchers do not state, explicitly, their research questions but the title of the article and the scope of the study suggest the following research question.

Is the summer break a significant factor in increasing the number of fatal passenger vehicle crashes?The research question is consistent with the article’s title that is also expressed in a question form. The inferred research question is important because it clarifies the problem of the study and the basis for developing research methodology. With the identified problem of information gap on potential effects of summer break on reported accidents, the question affirms the study’s objectives through the established clarity.

Elements of a study’s methodology section such as the type of data to be collected and the approach to data collection also depends on such clarity of objectives that the research question achieves. Failure to outline the research question is the main reason for potential difficulty in answering the research question because the inferred question may not have been what the researchers intended to answer. The researchers could have similarly have a different objective into the study than answering the inferred question and the lack of focus could be a challenge.

The authors attempted to answer the research through a quantitative approach. They used a survey design to sample data from ‘summer break’ destination areas. A database that the National Highway maintains was the source of data for the study and a non-probability sampling approach used to select 21 areas for the study. Quantitative data analysis that generated descriptive and inferential statistics then established a basis for answering the research question in order to bridge the gap that the researchers noted.

Results show that the summer break spots have a significant mean fatality incidence that contributes to the overall number of fatalities in the considered areas. There is also a significant difference in average weekly incidents of fatality between summer break weeks and other weeks. The rates are higher in summer break weeks and ‘summer break’ destination areas. Results further show that fatality incidence is more significant among drivers from other states and indicates that summer break visitors contribute to the reported rates.

The results therefore show significance of summer break in increasing number of vehicle fatalities. One of the implications for the research on health policy relates to resource allocation for response to traffic accidents. With scarcity in resources, the results suggest temporary need for more health care resources in the summer break destinations during the summer break season. The results also call for awareness policies for safety precautions in the areas during the seasons in order to prevent traffic fatalities that increase during the season.

This can be achieved in collaboration with community based organizations law enforcement agencies as a public health policy initiative.