Effects of Drugs on Ones Future

The target population in the research is black and Latino youths living in Harlem, New York. The target population was chosen because it is the only area with a higher number of the two races and also because of the assumption that black people and Latinos abuse drugs more than any other race in the United States. This is because some are from poor backgrounds where they are little or no chance of proceeding to get college education and make it in life. The method of random sampling will be used where every single person in the entire sample population will get an equivalent uncertainty of getting chosen. The advantage of random sampling is that the sample selected represents the entire population and in the process eliminates bias associated with sampling CITATION Sur13 \l 1033 (Chandra & Sharma, 2013).

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Choice of Methodology

The study of "effects of drugs on one's future" will use the quantitative research methodology. This type of research methodology is particularly useful when a researcher wishes to find out common forms of behavior such as studying the effects of drug use on a particular age group. Quantitative research typically explores specific and clearly defined questions that examine the relationship between two events, or occurrences, where the second event is a consequence of the first event. For example in this study, the use of drugs in teenagers is linked to their failing in life. Such a question might be: what effect did the abuse of drugs have on teenagers during their adult life?' To test the causality or link between the program and children's school performance, quantitative researchers will seek to maintain a level of control of the different variables that may influence the relationship between events and recruit respondents randomly.

The Quantitative data is collected with the use of surveys and questionnaires that are carefully developed and structured to provide the reader with numerical data that can be explored statistically and yield a result that can be generalized to some larger population. The main advantages of using surveys and questionaries are that the researcher is able to get first-hand information from the respondents especially where there is a guarantee of maintaining the anonymity of the respondent CITATION Dav04 \l 1033 (Ketchen & Bergh, 2004).

Data Collection

The process of collecting data to be used in this study focused on drug-related legal changes as compiled from 2006 in Harlem, New York. This data set used a sample approach as well as a key expert approach designed to access both published and unpublished research materials. Three steps were used in the search strategy and they included; doing a search on different research sites such as www.scholar.google.com, criminal justice abstracts sociological abstracts and PubMed. The databases used in this study cover a variety of information sources from peer-reviewed articles, research indexes, and literature from backgrounds such as social sciences and medical. The research, the methodology also used specialized libraries and databases to search for the information. Manual searching was used on library collections such as center for social research on alcohol and drugs and the research institute for public health and addiction. Some of the quantitative data collection methods included self- completion questionnaires, structured interviews and structured observation. Questionnaires will be useful in this study because they are good in collecting data on simple and easy topics such as "effects of drugs on ones future" CITATION Ren04 \l 1033 (Panneerselvam, 2004).

Reflexivity Statement

I have friends and family members who have been affected by drugs and their lives ruined just because they decided to experiment with drugs. One gets the true picture of the situation when they visit mental hospitals or alleys where these drugs are being sold and see how the users are suffering. My assumption is that drug abuse is more prevalent in poor black and Latino neighborhoods. Jobless people especially the youth experiment with drugs because they are idle or they have given up on making it in life CITATION Ran05 \l 1033 (Kumar, 2005).

Data Analysis

Quantitative data analysis is very helpful in the evaluation because it gives the researcher easy, quantifiable results. Quantitative analysis of data takes many forms and ways and the most important thing done before conducting the analysis knows which measurement levels can influence the analysis, and they include nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. Quantitative methods of analyzing data are of a magnificent value to the researcher who is trying to extract significant conclusions from a substantial body of qualitative data. The main beneficial aspect is that it provides the means to separate out a large number of confounding circumstances that often cover the principal qualitative findings. Different statistical tests such as frequencies, percentages, ratios, mean, median and modes will also be used in the process of analyzing data in the study.

Limitations of the Study

Limitations of the study are the influences, shortcomings and conditions in the study that the researcher cannot control. The most common limitation of the research project is its cross-sectional design. Conclusions in the study are hard to be drawn because the population sample included teenagers of different races from black Americans, whites, and Latinos. Drug abuse in teenagers is not a static case as it changes with time because it is a developmental process. The methods of data collection were not exhaustive because most teenagers especially blacks were not willing to give out information. This meant that the researchers had a hard time trying to convince them to do the interviews or fill the questionnaires. The research study was confined to only one city across America. Harlem in New York was chosen because of Latinos and black teenagers who live in the area. The populations of these two ethnic groups are more concentrated in Harlem more than any other city in the United States.

The study made assumption that black people and Latinos were the most affected in the consumption of drugs as compared to other ethnic groups CITATION Ran05 \l 1033 (Kumar, 2005).

Ethical Considerations

Considering ethics in a study is very important in conducting research. For a researcher, it is critical that they understand the basics of ethical research and how these ethical issues might affect the process of conducting the research project. Since the research project involves the interaction with different people from different backgrounds, ethical considerations should be taken into account. Some of the ethical considerations in this study are psychological, financial and social harm. The psychological harm comes when the respondents are reminded of their failures in life because of using drugs. The researchers should be careful when conducting their research so as not to make the respondents feel worthless. Financial harm may come in the way of people getting fired after information leaks out that they are drug users. Due to this, the information should be treated confidently to prevent third parties from accessing it. The social harm comes in if people who associated with the victims discover that they are abusing drugs, hence they could be victimized CITATION Sur13 \l 1033 (Chandra & Sharma, 2013).

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Chandra, S., & Sharma, M. K. (2013). Research methodology . Oxford : Alpha science .

Ketchen, D. J., & Bergh, D. D. (2004). Research methodology in strategy and management. Boston: Elsevier.

Kumar, R. (2005). Research methodology : a step-by-step guide for beginners. London : Sage .

Panneerselvam, R. (2004). Research methodology. New Delhi: Prentice hall.