Research Proposal

Research question and Hypothesis

      The topic I have selected for my research is “Employment Issues Amongst Mentally Disabled Veterans” as mental issues are the most rising issues and have a serious impact on society. The aim and objective of this research are to provide better opportunities to mentally disabled veterans so that they could engage themselves with decent jobs. The research question for this study is why employment issues are very common among mentally disabled veterans apart from the presence of specific organizations for them? As their main role is to keep them employed. My hypothesis for this study is due to increased modernization, negative stereotypes and stigmas about mentally disabled veterans and increased demands of jobs; many employers usually prefer younger working employees that do not have military transitional to civilian work life issues especially mentally disabled veterans who are compromised in their proper job functioning. According to Cook (2006), research studies show that many individuals which includes veterans with disabling mental disorders desires paid employment, consider themselves able to work, and strongly expresses the need for job training programs, vocational rehabilitation services, and other support services (Cook, J. A. (2006). Hence this study will help create awareness especially amongst the populace who have negative stigmas against mentally disabled veterans in civilian workplaces (Carden-Coyne.A, 2007). Additionally, this study will also help with available strategies for employment programs that will assist with the hiring of mentally disabled veterans by providing them with better learning skills which will increase the chances of long-term employment (Deahl M.P, et al;2011)

                                      Research Methodology selection

      For this research work, I will select the mixed research method with the triangular-based framework design as it will be helpful in the development of theory then testing it as well.  This method helps in developing reasoning and suggests effective ways that how that reasoning can be answered effectively. This methodology includes a combination of various techniques which will be helpful in the continuation of my research work. After the development of the hypothesis, a theory will be developed, and subsequently, the collection of data and attestation of the theory that was proposed will be done.

References

Carden-Coyne, A. (2007). Ungrateful Bodies: Rehabilitation, Resistance and Disabled American Veterans of the First World War. European Review of History: Revue Europeenne d’histoire, 14(4), 543–565. https://doi.org/10.1080/13507480701752185

Cook, J. A. (2006). Employment barriers for persons with psychiatric disabilities: Update of a report for the president’s commission. Psychiatric Services, 57(10),1391–1405. https://doi.org/10.1176/PS.2006.57.10.1391

Deahl, M. P., Klein, S., & Alexander, D. A. (2011). The costs of conflict: Meeting the mental health needs of serving personnel and service veterans. International Review of Psychiatry, 23(2), 201–209. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2011.557059

Employment Issues Amongst Mentally Disabled Veterans

Research Question and Hypothesis

For my research, the topic I have selected is "Employment Issues Amongst Mentally Disabled Veterans," as mental issues are the most rising issues and seriously impact society. The aim and objective of this research are to provide better opportunities for mentally disabled veterans to engage themselves with decent jobs. The research question for this study is why employment issues are pervasive among mentally disabled veterans apart from the presence of specific organizations for them? As their main role is to keep them employed. The study hypothesis is: due to increased modernization, negative stereotypes and stigmas about mentally disabled veterans, and increased demands of jobs; many employers usually prefer younger working employees that do not have military transitional to civilian work-life issues, especially mentally disabled veterans who are compromised in their proper job functioning.

Research Methodology selection

          For this research work, I will select the mixed research method with the triangular-based framework design as it will be helpful in the development of theory then testing it as well. This method helps in developing reasoning and suggests effective ways that how that reasoning can be answered effectively. This methodology includes a combination of various techniques, which will be helpful in the continuation of my research work.

Dominant Method

          The qualitative research method will be the dominant method for this study. The method is suitable to help in better understanding of the general employment experiences for mentally disabled veterans and the factors affecting their ability to retain their employment for a longer term (Fuster Guillen et al., 2019). After developing the hypothesis, a theory will be developed, and subsequently, the collection of data and attestation of the proposed theory will be done. Purposeful sampling will be used to facilitate detailed exploration of the study topic. Qualitative researchers usually use this technique of sampling to recruit study participants who are able to give detailed and in-depth data about the study phenomenon (Ghaljaie et al., 2017). The technique effectively studies people's experiences or culture from experts or participants, preferably not more than 50 people.

The study data will be collected using semi-structured interviews focusing on mental health, employment, and reintegration. The interview questions will be open-ended, exploring how and if veterans can maintain employment for the long term. The interviews will last for an average of 45 minutes and last for between 30 minutes and 60 minutes. The interview will be audio-recorded and then transcribed. The interactive, inductive thematic approach of analysis will be utilized to analyze the transcripts.

Mixed Methods Approach Appropriateness

          The mixed-methods approach is very useful in reflecting on participants' viewpoints and ensuring the research findings are purely based on the experience of participants. The approach will ensure different data types are simultaneously collected, reducing resources and time (Fetters et al., 2013). The collected data will be more accurate to generate credible and reliable results because the study will benefit from the advantages of both the qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The quantitative method will allow data collection through questionnaires and analyzed using mathematical analysis methods. Additionally, the study involves testing hypotheses and theory, which are critical components of quantitative study design.

Justification of Mixed Methods Design

          The design provides great methodological flexibility allowing for the collection of more and accurate study information than when using only one method, for instance, the qualitative method. Integrating the two main study approaches allows for a complete story about people's experiences and ways of life as collected from rich and comprehensive study data (Regnault et al., 2018). Mixed methods design fosters scholarly interaction as it encourages qualitative and quantitative approaches, therefore providing a useful understanding of contradictions between the qualitative findings and quantitative results.

Study Ethical Consideration

          All eligible veteran participants will be contacted through phones, explained the research purpose, and offered an in-person or phone interview. If they agree to participate in the interview, they will be mailed a letter with detailed information about the research and the consent form. I will obtain participants' informed consent before the interview appointments. All the participants that agree to participate in the semi-structured interviews will receive a gift card of $25 as an appreciation token. The local Veteran Affairs (VA) medical center Institutional Review Board will review every study aspect.

 

 

 

 

 

References

Fetters, M. D., Curry, L. A., & Creswell, J. W. (2013, December 1). Achieving integration in mixed methods designs--principles and practices. Health Services Research, 48(6). https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1111/1475-6773.12117

Fuster Guillen, D. E. (2019). Qualitative Research: Hermeneutical Phenomenological