Bethuel Best Methods PP and Abstract

Methodology Section: PTSD Veterans

Student

Methodology Section: PTSD Veterans

Research Design

Target Population

Variables

Sampling Method

Sampling would permit the researchers to learn about the target population of interest without having to include the total population in the research study (Knight & Tetrault, 2017). Sample selection and sampling method for this study will be done using a two-stage sampling technique. Stage one sample will identify the possible cluster sampling units who will be included on the study. Stage two of the sampling units will be veterans who qualify for PTSD treatment.

Rationale for Two-stage Sampling

The choice of two-stage sampling is appropriate for this study because it involves sampling a national population. Mirakhmedov, Jammalamadaka & Ekestrom (2015) suggests that a two-stage sampling is part of a multistage sampling, which refers to a population plan where units are selected from large samples to narrow down to small samples. For the present study, the target population is the national population, which will be narrowed down using a two-stage sampling method using a selection of primary to secondary units that will be used in the study.

Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

The inclusion criteria for this study are veterans who will be recruited to any intervention program for PTSD in this country will qualify to be included in the study. The target study participants who have been in the program for more than one year will be included in the study. The PTSD must be currently suffering from this condition. Those who do not consider the PTSD as a health challenge, those who have healed and those who started PTSD health programs within the past year will not be recruited into this study.

Participant’s Screening

Screening for this study will be done for the selected participants to determine their eligibility to the study. Screening involve obtained non-public information hence this step will require ethical review. For the current study, screening will occur to determine when the selected participants were first recruited into the PTSD program (Rischardson, Frueh, & Acierno, 2010). Screening is necessary to determine whether the patients qualifies to the study according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria.

Briefing of the Participants

Participants briefing will be done at an individual level through contact and consenting process. Contact for veterans receiving PTSD programs will be obtained from veteran healthcare facilities nationwide.

Research setting

Research setting will be contacting individuals at designated healthcare centers where veterans are likely to visit for treatment. There are cases where qualified veterans will be followed to their home for convenience purposes.

Instruments

The instrument of choice for this study is the PTSD interview (PTSD-I). The PTSD-I is designed for veterans. The criteria for PTSD diagnostic symptoms include three clusters that aim at re-experiencing, avoidance and arousal. The PTSD diagnosis will require presenting at least the concepts of revised DSM-III designed specifically veterans. The assessment strategies for PTSD include using a scheduled interview that adequately diagnoses the disorder among the target population. The most common measure includes a self-report on the severity of the symptoms that include assessment of the intrusive and avoidance symptoms among the target participants. Other measures include the history of trauma symptoms that focus on determining whether individuals meet criterion A and E of the duration of disturbances. The instrument has 22 items, 5 sections categorized as History of trauma, re-experiencing, avoidance, arousal, and duration of symptoms. The PTSD-I was developed to meet substantial validity and reliability. The instrument meets high internal consistency of Crochba's (Alpha=.92), test-retest reliability of (Total score r=.95 and diagnostic agreement =87%). Other numerical values of PTSD include sensitivity=0.89, specificity =0.94, the overall hit rate = 0.92 and the kappa =0.84. The peer-reviewed literature indicates that PTSD-I instrument meets validity and reliability criteria. The PTSD-I interview has. The choice of PTSD-I instruments is that it is designed for veterans. The instrument is used during differential diagnosis for psychiatric disorders among veterans. The instrument measure all psychiatric disorders among the target population making it a golden standard tool for measuring these conditions among patients (Iribarren et al., 2005).

Some of the sample questions for PTSD-I include the following:

1. Have you witnessed life-threatening event that caused intense fear?

2. Do you witness the event in repeated, distressing memories?

3. Does the remainder of the event affect you in at least feeling detached from other people?

4. Are you unable to remember something important in a Traumatic event?

5. Have you had difficulties concentrating since the traumatic event?

PTSD-I provides nominal data. Nominal data is described as providing discrete variables that cannot overlap (Knight & Tetrault, 2017). The data obtained from this instrument is an unordered categorical variable that requires veterans to answer yes or no. The variable of interest in this study is the role that the source of traumatic stress plays in PTSD conditions. Therefore, the instrument is important because it identifies an assessment that evaluates the ability to determine the initial source of trauma that occur among veterans.

Procedure

Data Analysis

Nominal data will be obtained from this study. Data from PSTD will be analyzed used SPSS statistical software version 22. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be used to make a conclusion about plastic bag management is the study area. Descriptive statistics will be used to evaluate qualitative data whereby, results from baseline of the study will be expected to be different from data at the end the intervention. Differences in the results depicted by descriptive statistics are supposed to show the impact of the intervention. On the other hand, quantitative results will be analyzed using inferential statistics to give a response to the hypothesis. With a chosen p-value of 0.05, the inferential analysis will indicate whether there will be a significant difference between baseline status and status after the intervention.

References

Cox, D. W., Westwood, M. J., Hoover, S. M., Chan, E. K., Kivari, C. A., Dadson, M. R., & Zumbo, B. D. (2014). Evaluation of a group intervention for veterans who experienced military-related trauma. International journal of group psychotherapy, 64(3), 367-380.

Iribarren, J., Prolo, P., Neagos, N., & Chiappelli, F. (2005). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: