Deliverable 7 - Scholarly Research Paper
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Research Paper
Adolescents are among the leading group that experiences serious mental health that leads to some committing suicide or developing suicidal thoughts. Suicidal thoughts develop when a teenager becomes depressed because of family challenges like divorce, poor academic grades, and peer pressure from colleagues on a good lifestyle they cannot afford. The issues that affect the youth need to be addressed through prevention approaches. There is a gap in the mental health department regarding the intervention required to assist the youth in overcoming depression because peer pressure has become a negative aspect that should be transformed positively. Research Question: “What is the impact of peer support intervention in preventing suicide among adolescents?" The research question discusses the impact of peer support intervention, which is to understand the elements of support that other youth that has overcome suicidal thoughts can assist colleagues and professionals in creating awareness of preventing suicide.
The research question is about understanding the peer support critical in addressing the suicide cases among adolescents. The focus of the research is to offer a solution to the research question considering the mixed research strategy (quantitative and qualitative) quantitative strategy as the technique that will give the best results.
I will use the mixed research strategy in answering the question because it is appropriate for the study. When conducting research, researchers must consider several factors, such as validity, generalizability, and dependability. Quantitative and qualitative research are regarded as good tools for research because of their reliability for quality results.
In quantitative research, the term "reliability" refers to a measure's capacity to produce consistent results across time, and this is possible where the data used is structured to promote the reproducibility of the data, and this helps in getting better inferences (Farrelly & Murphy, 2018). Quantitative research is an objective analysis worth the research question because it helps me as the researcher to affect the results. Additionally, it is easier to analyze quantitative research than qualitative research, which promotes a successful analysis of the research question and offers an effective solution to the problem (Leung, 2015). It is beneficial to use both tools because it makes it possible to leverage both their strengths. A qualitative research strategy effectively sources detailed participant feedback since the questions are open-ended. The research promotes a successful outcome that ensures that I make the right decision about interventions that will benefit mental health patients.
However, the main aim of a mixed research strategy is to source detailed data from the participants and classify and analyze the data to get a significant insight. This applies to the research questions where various elements of peer support are measured through counting to understand its impact on preventing suicide.
The quantitative research strategy has various steps that have to be followed to achieve the method section of the research paper successfully. The steps are as follows:
Theory
Both qualitative and quantitative research have a theory at the start. I will consider using the sociology theory that connects significantly with the research question and makes the research relatable. Sociology theory expresses the impact that peer pressure among the youth presses them to engage in activities that lead to them regretting later, resulting in depression (Leung, 2015). Excessive depression without an intervention result in them committing suicide.
Research Design
The descriptive and thematic research design is essential for mixed research. The step is critical in planning how the problem identified in the research question, suicide among adolescents, is addressed through the research. The framework is essential to conducting the research where various procedures are considered, including determining the method used in the research. In this case, I chose the interview method to collect the data, ensuring that the questions used were structured to give numerical figures (Leung, 2015). The sampling method best for the research is probability sampling through the stratified approach.
Probability Sampling
Probability sampling can be made based on data obtained randomly by researchers using this approach of random sampling. Using probability sampling as a researcher, I can collect data from members of the population they are trying to learn more about. I will obtain data at random from the chosen sample, thus, any chance of bias in the sampling process is eliminated (Leung, 2015). It is possible to select a random sample from a specific group of the target population using stratified random sampling. I consider the stratified sampling approach for this research because we need a group of mental health adolescents chosen randomly as the study's sample and the mental health professionals selected randomly.
The stratified sampling makes the work easier for the researcher since the process target professional that at times might be busy with work and should be within a given niche to get the right results. The mental health patients who have tried to commit suicide due to different elements of peer pressure are chosen from a given group to ensure they have the experience needed to make the right decisions.
Selection of Participants
Choosing the participants for the study is conducted by considering the random sampling in a stratified approach where the mental health patients and the professionals are targeted differently. The stratified sampling ensures that there is an equal number of patients and mental health professionals that may be chosen using any number of sampling approaches, depending on the research question under evaluation. In this case, we focus on ensuring that the mental health professionals chosen have the experience with the patients selected for the study to give reliable and accurate information that makes the research significant.
The process of choosing the participants in the research is voluntary, and the participant is assured of their privacy in the data shared. In this scenario, the participant is expected to sign the consent form before engaging in the process, which falls under ethical considerations (Leung, 2015). A representative sample must represent the assumption if it is to be tested, such as having both genders and a balanced number of mental health professionals and patients.
Development of the Interview Questions and the Requirements
The interview will consist of 10 questions that are designed for the participants. The interview questions will have structured, and unstructured questions to ensure that the data collected, both textual and numerical achieve the requirements for mixed research and a detailed outcome. The ten interview questions should be targeted to answer the research question. The questions will be structured and open-ended since the feedback is needed in quantitative and qualitative to make it measurable and thematic.
During the interview, a recorder and camera tapes are needed to take the audio and visual content needed for analysis. The data collected is immediately secured in a drive, both physically and on the cloud, for the security of the information. The data is encrypted for security if a cybercriminal penetrates through personal computers and systems.
Types of data
Quantitative data is needed for the research; in this case, they should be in numbers. All the questions for the interview are linked to numbers to get the numerical data that is critical in getting a good measure of how the peer pressure elements can be targeted to assist adolescents from suicide. On the other hand, qualitative research would need textual responses from participants.
Data collection Plan
Data collection is an important step for any research, and it determines the outcome's quality since the data's source determines credibility and reliability. In this study, we rely on the quantitative and qualitative approach to collecting the data, and the interview approach is the choice.
The patient and mental health professionals are the 20 participants needed for the research where they will be subjected to the interview. There would be a balance of 10 mental health patients and ten health professionals that would assist in representing the population in giving the information about the elements of peer pressure that should be considered in making interventions for preventing suicide among adolescents.
Interview Method
Data is often gathered through the use of in-depth interviews with individuals. As a result, quantitative and qualitative data are collected more systematically, where researchers ask a standard and open-ended set of questions. The questions are answered based on a rating from 1 to 10, from strongly agree to disagree strongly. The participant also adds detailed information on a topic beyond the numerical feedback for a significant result.
I will explore conducting interviews over the phone or in person, depending on participant preferences. For many years, telephone interviews were the gold standard for gathering data. As a result, there has been a considerable increase in conducting video interviews through the internet, Skype, or other online video calling platforms.
I consider technology a blessing that made it possible for us to interview without much pressure, especially for the mental health professionals that might be busy can consider using the telephone or skype to make sure that they respond to the interview questions. Interviewing participants face-to-face is a reliable method for obtaining data directly from the people involved. It facilitates the acquisition of high-quality data since it provides the opportunity to ask more in-depth questions and probe further to gather more detailed and insightful information.
Face-to-face (F2F) surveys allow for the collection of non-verbal data through observation or exploring complicated and unknown subjects, regardless of the participant's literacy level (Heale & Twycross, 2015). F2F interviews have higher response rates even though they are more expensive and time-consuming. I prefer the F2F interview approach because the participant can become more involved and determined to respond to the questions and ensure we have reputable feedback. If some participants find themselves committed and may not be available in person, we can use the telephone as an alternative method to make the research work.
10 Interview Questions
1. Do you agree that youth experiencing suicidal thoughts require monitoring and support from family? If yes, at what percentage? Kindly explain the topic in detail.
(Yes 100%, Yes 80%, Yes 50%, Yes 20% or No)
(0-100%)
3. Do you agree that involving youth that has overcome depression and suicidal thoughts in mental health awareness program will prevent more cases of suicide? Share your opinion.
(Strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree)
4. What is the effectiveness of using technology in creating awareness about suicidal thoughts? If effective, have you used it before? Share your experiences.
(More effective, effective, neutral, not effective or ineffective)
5. Do you support that suicide cases among the youth are caused more by peer pressure? If yes, how?
(Yes (0-100% or No
6. At what percentage do you agree that counselors or therapists are addressing the challenge of suicide among the youth? Explain your answer.
(0-100%)
7. In the rate of 1-10, indicate the contribution of family background to the suicide cases reported among the youth? Please share your experiences or understanding about it.
8. What percentage of emotional support that the youth need to overcome depressive challenges? (0-10%) Explain how family achieves emotional support for their sick teenage son or daughter?
9. At what rate does religious and social support help in preventing suicide among the youth?
(0-100% ) Share your thoughts.
10. What percentage role do the mental health professionals contribute to preventing suicide among the youth? (0-100%) Are they doing it currently? What are the future expectations?
Data Processing
The data collected in an interview are both in textual and numeric forms. Developing the interview questions will consider having some questions attached to percentages and some numerical like 1 to 9 in giving opinions and responses (Mohajan, 2017). There is also the data that is processed and analyzed to have themes. Information is likely to need to be coded or transformed for improved analysis. Immediately the interview data is collected when the data is processed, turning all the information into a numerical format that makes it easy for analysis.
Data Analysis
As a researcher, I will employ various statistical tools in his hunt for meaningful connections between variables. I will consider the data being analyzed using Graphs and pie charts, the most common methods for visualizing the relationship between variables. These tools are essential for communicating the results of quantitative data analysis to others. The textual data is subjected to thematic analysis, and the research question is addressed in the form of themes.
According to standard statistical techniques like the Chi-squared test, quantitative research must be considered seriously for its findings to be accepted (Mohajan, 2017). Big data has made it much easier to do what many sociology students despise. Analysis of the interview data is vital to get the percentage data about the best intervention that the mental health facility should consider. The data analysis is a crucial section of the research method that determines the findings and conclusions concerning the answer to the research question.
Findings and Conclusion
Based on data analysis, as a researcher, I have to interpret the data collected and analyzed to get inferences concerning the intervention towards addressing suicide cases among adolescents. Understanding the collected data helps the mental health facility adopt the best elements of peer pressure during therapy sessions to ensure that the patient receives the best therapy programs to prevent suicide (Heale & Twycross, 2015). The study outcome is about how the youth would benefit from family and fellow youth support in creating mental health awareness and battling suicidal thoughts to avoid them from happening. The research results will include the effectiveness of mental health professionals and how emotional, social, and religious support contribute to preventing suicide. Prevention is key to minimizing costs associated with treating adolescents.
Discussion
The research has limitations, especially on the interviewed participants, because the family, friends, and community are not included in the study and affect the outcome. The opportunity there is using technology to get the interview done in case some participants decline face-to-face interviews. The study adds value to the fight against suicide and mental health issues in general among the youth. The study ensures a proactive approach to mental challenges that affect the youth.
References
Farrelly, T. and Murphy, T. (2018) ‘Hindsight is 20/20 vision: what international students wished they had known before coming to live and learn in Ireland’, Journal of International Students, 8(4), pp. 1848-1864.
Heale, R. and Twycross, A. (2015) 'Validity and reliability in quantitative studies, Evidence-Based Nursing, 18(3), pp. 66-67.
Leung, L. (2015) 'Validity, reliability, and generalizability in qualitative research, Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 4(3), pp. 324-327.
Mohajan, H. (2017) 'Two criteria for good measurements in research validity and reliability, Annals of Spiru Haret University, 17(3), pp. 58-82.
Noble, H. and Smith, J. (2015) 'Issues of validity and reliability in qualitative research, Evidence-Based Nursing, 18(2), pp. 34-35.
