School Crime and Safety - Term Paper Example

School Crime and Safety Population This study aims at establishing a relationship between childhood bullying in female victims and post-traumatic stress disorder in early adulthood. Early childhood is defined as the age between 9 and 12. The research assumes that the post-traumatic stress disorder will be visible amongst the victims between the ages of 20 and 25, which we also define as early adulthood. The population of a study is defined as the total collection of elements for which we wish to make inferences (Cooper & Schindler, 2010). Generally, we take a small sample out of the population such that it is the representation of the entire population. Based on our findings for the sample, we will conclude our results for the entire population. We wish to perform the research for the entire country, but because of costs associated, we would limit out study to the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. For this specific study, our population is females who are at present in the age of 20 and 25 and had one or more bullying experience between the age of 9 and 12 in the city of Minneapolis. The results that we find with our identified sample will be applicable/not applicable to the above population based on the results of hypothesis tests we conduct. Bullying is a common phenomenon across all the schools. Various organizations in the US such as US Department of Health and Human Services and National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention carry out specific research in the area of childhood bullying and the ways to deal with it. A national student survey in the year 2007 revealed that 33% of the female students reported that they were being bullied at school (Dinkes et al., 2009). Research has shown that the bullying pattern for females is different from that of males. Females are generally the target of internet harassment and teasing or emotional bullying. In research by Finkelhor et al., it was revealed that girls were more likely than boys to be sexually victimized. The female population between 9 and 12 is not measured by the US census. Based on approximation of the data available in the US census, the population of females in Minneapolis is 8000 (US Department of Commerce, 2010). Assuming that approximately 33% of the females are bullied, the total population of females bullied between the ages of 9 to 12 is 2640. Sample Sampling is a method by which we identify a small group of subjects that will be representative of the entire population. Few of the major compelling reasons for sampling include lowering of costs, greater speed of data collection, and easy availability of data collection sources. For this research, we would want to draw out a sample that is representative of females between the ages of 20 and 25 who had bullying experience between the age of 9 and 12 in Minneapolis. The type of sampling design that we wish to implement depends upon whether we want to have a probability or a nonprobability sample type. While nonprobability sampling is arbitrary and subjective, probability sampling is founded on the idea of random selection – a controlled procedure that assumes that there is a known non-nil probability that each person will be selected; our study focuses on a specific group of females. In addition, we don’t have the judgment and knowledge to select sample participants. Hence, the appropriate method of selection for our research is Probability sampling. There are various ways of conducting probability sampling: simple random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling, area sampling, and double sampling. The simple random sampling is the easiest and most convenient way of performing probability sampling, where each element of the population is having a known and equal chance of getting selected. However, it requires a list of population elements which might not be easy to obtain. Another approach is systematic sampling where every kth element in population is sampled. This sampling method has the problems of biases that can arise out of periodicity in the population. In stratified sampling, the population is segregated in mutually exclusive sub populations also called strata. Stratified sampling is statistically more accurate as compared to other sampling techniques. Another popular way of sampling is cluster sampling, where the population is split into groups of elements with some groups randomly selected for study. For this particular research, the sample shall be collected so that we are able to measure all our variables in a way that they are representation of the entire population. The sample is to be administered a set of questionnaires. The subjects are adult enough to answer the questions on their own. For our study, we will employ the methodology of simple random sampling. We will request random females at popular places to fill out the questionnaires. We will briefly describe them the purpose of the study and ensure them that their privacy will be maintained. The determination of sample size is an important part of the research as it will have a major impact on the accuracy of the study. The sample size depends on confidence level, confidence interval and the population size. For this research, we aim to have a confidence level of 95% with a confidence interval of 10. With the total population to be 2640, the minimum sample size calculated comes out to be 93. Taking into account data that might not be correct for few subjects, few subjects who might not answer the questions, and various other discrepancies possible, we would like to collect the data for 120 subjects. References Cooper, D.R., & Schindler, P.S., (2010). Business Research Methods, 11th ed. McGraw-Hill Companies,Incorporated. Dinkes, R., Kemp, J., Baum, K., & Snyder, T. D. (2009). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2009. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., Ormrod, R., Hamby, S., & Kracke, K. (2009). Children’s exposure to violence: A comprehensive national Survey. U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/227744.pdf U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk Read More