Alcohol Use in Teens - Research Proposal Example

The Relationship between Alcohol Use in Teens and the Effects on Academic Success and Health Research Question Is there a relationship between alcohol use by teens and the effects on academic success and health? Literature Review Teens make use of alcohol commonly due to many reasons. Most of the times, the teens are not aware whether alcohol is counted as a drug or not. The ratio of alcohol users among the teens is quite high. “According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, almost 80% of high school students have tried alcohol” (TeensHealth, 2006). Due to the use of alcohol, the teens are affected negatively in terms of their academic performance and health. According to TeenHealth (2006), the teens make use of alcohol due to “curiosity, to feel good, to reduce stress, to relax, to fit in and to feel older”. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2008) also mentions some reasons as to why teens drink alcohol which are “family history of substance abuse, depression, low self-esteem and consideration to be unfit or out of the mainstream”. In United States, the legal age to consume alcohol is 21 due to which, all the teens who are involved in drinking alcohol are involved in an illegal activity (TeensHealth, 2006). There are many problems in terms of health of teens that can be there because of consumption of alcohol such as liver damage, heart damage, brain damage, sexually transmitted diseases and much more (TeensHealth, 2006). “Drug use is associated with a variety of negative consequences, including increased risk of serious drug use later in life, school failure, and poor judgment which may put teens at risk for accidents, violence, unplanned and unsafe sex, and suicide” (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2008). All the mentioned outcomes of alcohol and drug use indicate towards destructive consequences for the teens, their academic careers, social security and financial stability. A study by the Institute of Alcohol studies states that if for those who drink excessively in their early teens, the likelihood of drug and alcohol abuse at age 40 is strong (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2001). Drug and alcohol abuse seems to have fuelled a ‘culture of intoxication’ in the US – the urge to achieve an ‘altered state of consciousnesses among the young. The supply and marketing of alcohol is adapting to this development (Brigman and Campbell, 2003). Short drinks packaged for rapid intoxication are currently very popular among the young. There are numerous other marketing campaigns meant to encourage young boys and girls to drink through easy availability (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2001). In fact, alcoholism may also be genetic, according to scientists in America, children having parents who are binge drinkers are more likely to become ‘alcohol – dependent’ than those whose parents did not drink (Bennett and Holloway, 2005). Concerned ministers are considering plans to tackle this wide spread problem. The Home Office plans to implement legislation on changed pub opening hours. This would discourage a single closing time and help avoid disruptive behavior (Kar, 2006). In the text Prozac Nation Young and Depressed in America published by Quartet Books (2003), writer Elizabeth Wurtzel deals with the problems relating to Nightmare with is predominantly caused by the sense of being alone and the sense of insecurity. Need of love what it is all about and with comparatively less parental attention (Wurtzel, 2003). Alcohol usage is also increasing as people are allowed to an extent to make usage of alcohol. Nevertheless, they are increasing this usage unlawfully. Alcohol drinkers are mostly young people who are misusing alcohol and can be considered as addicts to alcohol (Bennett and Holloway, 2005). “According to information issued from the U. S. government publication entitled Prevention Alert, teen alcohol abuse showed many negative side effects” (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2008). Not only teenagers get involved in consumption of alcohol but also in crimes related to alcohol usage (Prichard and Payne, 2005). Drug usage and crime rate are somehow related to each other. Teens are reported to steal money for getting access to alcohol and drugs (Prichard and Payne, 2005). Due to the increasing crime rate by teens, the usage of alcohol by teens is a crucial point that should be considered by authorities. Teens are being affected negatively due to alcohol usage, their education, their health and their moral building; every aspect is affected negatively due to alcohol usage (Prichard and Payne, 2005). Hypothesis Due to the use of alcohol, the teens are affected negatively in terms of their academic success and health. Research design The research design for my research will be based on quantitative research, as I will provide the participants with questionnaires containing small and understandable questions. Questionnaire is considered as a data-gathering instrument that is reliable and authentic. It is suggested by the social theory that actions of individuals are in fact inspired by the response of actions expected to bring. Dillman (1978) applied this theory to questionnaire design and it was noted that respondents are inspired to complete and thereafter return questionnaire if benefits, cost and confidence are appropriate. It should be ensured that respondents are properly rewarded for completion and thereafter returning the questionnaire and as narrated by Dillman (1978), these rewards can depict positive regard such as offering thanks, seeking advice, providing tangible benefits, making the format of questionnaire interesting and offering social validation (Dillman, 1978). For the sake of minimizing costs, it was suggested by Dillman (1978) that a questionnaire should have below mentioned characteristics also along with others: Evade subordinating language Avoid embarrassing questions Avoid inconvenience Make Questionnaire easy, simple and short Minimize such kind of requests intended to acquire personal information. It was further suggested that the sponsor of research should try to earn the confidence of respondents, with confidence is defined as a pledge that has been promised by the sponsor, as an advantage of study will occur. Further suggestion made by Dillman (1978) was to provide a token of admiration in prior obtaining response and sponsorship by a genuine authority support enhance confidence. Data gathering procedures Questionnaires will be provided to the participants through emails. Some people do not initially respond to a questionnaire and this could defiantly be a constraint in our data collection process. We plan to increase our response rate by sending two follow up reminders a week or two after the previous mailing to ensure we get our sample group to participate in healthy numbers. We also plan to offer all participants the results of our study. Previous data and research on my question already exists and is plentiful so I see no problems in that particular part of our data collection. My study will focus on teenagers using alcohol, and adults who used alcohol as teenagers. Four groups will be solicited for participation. The first two will all be teenagers (teenage groups). The current status of teenagers using alcohol will be assessed. The second two groups will be adults (adult groups). The first of the teenage groups will be composed of teens that do not drink alcohol. The second teenage group will be composed of teens that drink alcohol.  The first of the Adult groups will be composed of adults who did not drink alcohol as teenagers, and the second group will be composed of adults who did drink alcohol as teenagers. We are trying to see if after the teenagers used alcohol during their younger years, if and how if effected they are today. This pertains to health, social skills, and financial stability. Consideration of ethical issues Confidentiality and informed consent will be there while conducting the research. All participants will fill out an "informed consent form".  Participants will be told about the overall nature of the research problem but not specifics. This is to avoid a social desirability response or any embarrassment that can lead to false answers. These issues would be the main threat to the validity in the study, so keeping some of the specifics a secret is detrimental to our success. Another threat could be related to people being worried about their true identities being reveled. Participants will be asked to create identities for themselves that will not be able to be traced back to their real names. We will assure them that their confidentiality will be kept, thus improving the chance of people answering questions honestly. When our study is in its proposal stage, we will have it reviewed by an "internal review board". We will then be sending informed consent forms to all the participants. The unit of analysis of my study will be person and group. There will be a mix, however I may decide when it comes down to the final analysis to only use person If I feel the results are strong enough to draw a conclusion to my hypothesis as results and data begin to come in. The dependant variables are my participants’ behaviors and attitudes, and the independent variable is alcohol. We will be trying to find out the effects of my independent variable (alcohol) has on my dependant variables, which are the people or participants in the study. The participants are the most important variable because how they answer each question will determine if this experiment works. They need to be honest, but more importantly they should be comfortable. Hence, I am not thinking about any social non-acceptance or out casting due to their answers. This is why huge role for us will to be to make sure their identities are kept secret, thus keeping them comfortable about giving honest information. I will be administering a questionnaire to each participant. The data gathered from those questionnaires will describe and analyze my quantitative data. I think there are some limitations to the external validity of my study. The main concern in that we are dealing with human beings and there are drastic differences in every person. I can try to create a "similar group" of people but the differences are so many that you can never tell why answers to certain questions may be different. People are incredibly diverse in terms of culture, educational opportunities, personality characteristics, and so on. Being that we are so diverse in so many ways could always pose a problem.  This one variable is not in my hands, and is more or less uncontrollable. Quantitative studies The results obtained from the questionnaires will be assembled in form of percentages. The obtained answers by participants will be divided from the total number of participants and then the results will be multiplied by 100 such as Percentage = number of responses in Yes or No or amount of option selected / Total number of Participants * 100 The results will be considered and calculated in numeric format and numeric data will be calculated to get percentages relevant for the study. The questionnaire has 12 questions in totality that point towards the topic of the research. After attainment of results from the questionnaire, the results will be used to present a conclusion and recommendations for further improvement towards future research and how to control the alcoholism of teens in order to safeguard them from harmful effects of alcohol on their study and health. References American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. (2008). Teens: Alcohol and Other Drugs. Facts for Families. http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/teens_alcohol_and_other_drugs Bennett, T. and Holloway, K. (2005). Understanding Drugs, Alcohol and Crime. New York: McGraw-Hill International. Brigman, G. & Campbell, C. (2003). Helping students improve academic achievement and school success behavior. Professional School Counseling, 7, 91-98. Dillman, D. A. (1978). Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method. New York: Wiley-Interscience. Kar, P. (2006). History of Drug Abuse. Kolkata: Dasgupta & Chatterjee. National Institute on Drug Abuse (2008). Commonly Abused Drugs. Retrieved March 2nd, 2008 from http://www.drugabuse.gov/DrugPages/DrugsofAbuse.html Prichard, J & Payne, J. (2005). Alcohol, Drugs and Crime: A Study of Juveniles in Detention. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. Retrieved November 9, 2008 from http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=233554 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, (2001). Preliminary Estimates from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Rockville, Md.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2001) TeensHealth. (2006). Alcohol. Retrieved on 3rd March 2009 from http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/alcohol/alcohol.html Wurtzel, Elizabeth. (2003). Prozac Nation Young and Depressed in America. Washington: Quartet Books. Appendix Name: Age: Sex: No Questions Responses Q # 01 How often did you use alcohol during high school? Not at all/ Rarely/ sometimes/ frequently/ very frequently Q # 02 Before you began to use alcohol what was your GPA? 1. 1.0 2. 2.0 3. 3.0 4. 4.0 Q # 03 After using alcohol regularly for 2 years, what was your GPA? 1. 1.0 2. 2.0 3. 3.0 4. 4.0 Q # 04 Have you ever had a drink the day of an exam? Yes/No Q # 05 If so, was the grade for that exam a high grade? Yes/No Q # 06 Was that grade lower than your average grades in that same class when NOT having a drink before an exam? Yes/No Q # 07 Have you ever got drunk the night before an exam? Yes/No Q # 08 If so, were the grades you received on those exams high? Yes/No Q # 09 On average, were they lower then times when you did not drink the night before an exam? Yes/No Q # 10 Before you started using alcohol, did you plan on attending and completing college? Yes/No Q # 11 Are you now a college graduate? Yes/No Q # 12 What is your highest level of education completed? 1- Middle School 2- High School 3- College or University 4- Graduate Programs Read More