BIRTH OUTCOMES FOR ARABIC-NAMED WOMEN IN CALIFORNIA BEFORE AND AFTER SEPTEMBER 11* - Assignment Example

Article: Birth outcomes for Arabic d Women in California before and after September 11 Article: Birth outcomes for Arabic d Women in California before and after September 11Lauderdale’s (2006) study is a helpful study for understanding effects of ethnicity-related stress on birth outcomes. Phenomenon under study The study sought to understand effects that discrimination against Arabs, which resulted after the 9/11, had on the birth outcomes of women of Arab descent. The discrimination could have had direct and perceived effects.

Direct effects were for those women of Arab descent who were openly discriminated, harassed, or treated violently after 9/11. Perceived effects happened to women of Arab descent who feared such things befalling them (Lauderdale, 2006). Research questionThe research question of the study is not stated explicitly but could have been whether post-9/11 discrimination affected the birth outcomes of pregnant women of Arab descent (Lauderdale, 2006). Motivation for the studyLauderdale’s (2006) study was motivated by the hypothesis that stress or discrimination that ethnicity-based raises the chances of low birth weight and preterm birth in pregnant women of the targeted ethnic group.

Pregnant women of Arab descent were selected for this study because 9/11 sparked discrimination and harassment generally against persons of Arab descent (Lauderdale, 2006). Issues surrounding sample selection The identification of the population is one of the issues of sample selection faced when studying the phenomenon under study. Difficulties surrounding this identification include the fact that Arab is not registered as an ethnic category and is neither it nor race. The other issue is the identification of birth outcomes caused by effects of discrimination and other stressful events and not other things such as smoking (Lauderdale, 2006).

Use of natural experiments To address sample selection, Lauderdale (2006) uses certain children of birth weights