PTSD in Adolescents - Research Proposal Example

PTSD in Adolescents Research QuestionsWhat are the events that cause PTSD in adolescents?What are the risk factors for adolescents with PTSD?How does PTSD present in adolescents?How is PTSD in adolescents treated and does the trauma cause any other effects?How can technology be used to improve PTSD research in adolescents?HypothesesH1: PTSD in adolescents is, as a result, of neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and psychological abuse.H2: Risk factors for adolescents with PTSD are related to reaction of parents to trauma, severity of the trauma, and the distance of the adolescent from the trauma (Smith, 2010).

H3: PTSD in adolescents has similar symptoms to those in adults, although they are more likely to be aggressive and impulsive (Smith, 2010). H4: PTSD in adolescents presents with loneliness, isolation, anger, sadness, worry, and fear (Smith, 2010).H5: PTSD in adolescents can be treated through Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.Can your idea be tested with any of the various types of experimental designs? No, it cannot because there will be no introduction of a procedure or treatment for the researcher to observe an outcome.

In addition, the experimental design is too artificial to make generalized conclusions that can be applied to the entire population, while the settings for experiments may alter responses and behaviors of the participants (Bryman & Burgess, 2009). Finally, PTSD cannot be studied through an experimental design because of ethical reasons. What is your design? Why have you chosen that design? This research study will use a descriptive research design, particularly because it is the best for answering the questions what and how associated with the specific research problem (Bryman & Burgess, 2009).

Also, it useful in obtaining information regarding a phenomenon’s current status, in this case PTSD in adolescents and possibility for the use of technology in research. What is your target population? How would you identify and recruit participants? The population for this research study will be adolescents aged between the ages of 13 and 19 who meet the DSM IV criteria for PTSD. In addition, the guardians or parents will have to provide written permission for the participation of the minors.

The participants will be recruited via purposive sampling that will only consider a specific subset of the population (Bryman & Burgess, 2009), in this case adolescents presenting with PTSD symptoms. What data collection method might you use? How would that data help answer your research question(s)/hypotheses? Data will be collected through both primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources will include previous research studies and peer-reviewed articles, while primary data will be collected through interviews.

The secondary data will provide information about earlier use of technology in PTSD research, while the interviews will present information about perceptions and behavior of adolescents with PTSD. The interview will have a general inquiry plan with no specific set of questions or any particular order to avoid making the participants uncomfortable (Bryman & Burgess, 2009). How consistent are these data collection methods with methods used in existing research on your topic? Why did you choose these methods?

What are the alternatives? The Structured Interview for PTSD has been utilized in numerous studies and assesses symptoms of PTSD, as well as behavioral guilt, survival, and risk factors (Bryman & Burgess, 2009). These are the issues, which the research study is seeking to address. It has 17 items that assign severity rating reflecting intensity and frequency. This method was chosen because it takes less time, around 20-30 minutes, which is important given the mental state of the participants.

Other methods that could have been used include document review and observational methods. How would you ensure quality and reliability of the data? Reliability of data, which is referent to the extent to which there is similarity of measurements, will be ensured through carefully wording and structuring the interview, as well as pilot testing the questions with others not present in the sample and getting the highest possible response rate (Marshall & Rossman, 2012). Data quality will be ensured by using internal consistency through reviewing the integrity of the instrument, wording, phrasing, order of questions, and the overall research design.

How might you analyze the data? Data will be analyzed through grounded theory analysis by marking key points in collected data with codes, grouping these into similar concepts, forming categories from the concepts, and finally forming a theory to test against the hypotheses (Marshall & Rossman, 2012). What are the target audiences for your findings? This research study can be used by various professionals working with adolescents, including healthcare staff, social workers, teachers, and the families of the adolescents.

ReferencesBryman, A., & Burgess, R. G. (2009). Qualitative research. London: SAGE. Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2012). Designing qualitative research. Newbury Park, Calif: Sage Publications. Smith, P. (2010). Post traumatic stress disorder: Cognitive therapy with children and young people. London: Routledge.