Social and Psychological Effects on Physically Disabled People - Assignment Example

Disability and Society Evaluating Social and Psychological Effects on Physically Disabled People Research Proposal Executive Summary The research proposal objective is to investigate society’s overall behaviour and their effects on the psychological and social dimensions of the disabled people. For this objective, the researcher has crafted research questions addressing the psychological and social problems which are being faced by them. Additionally, the researcher will carry out the primary and secondary research. The primary research will be carried out by conducting face to face interviews from 20 selected respondents. Introduction Physical disability experiences negative attitudes and behaviours from society. Many people are borne with some sort of physical disability or they become affected by any accident caused in later part of life. Because of disability, the disabled people experience harsh and strange behaviours from all segments of society. Such bias is not only limited to any specific part of the world but is largely found throughout the world. And due to this strange behaviour, physically disabled people encounter social and psychological problems in their routine life which becomes more challenging when they are being tormented for something which has not done by themselves. The primary objective of this study is to explore and critically evaluate all those behaviours and their effects which directly or indirectly affect the life of physically challenged people around us. In the following parts of this proposal, first research aim and objectives have been provided. It is followed by the literature review part. Subsequently, methodology section has been included explaining type of research along with ethical issues. Research Aim The research aim is to investigate the society’s overall behaviour and its effects on the psychological and social aspects of physically disabled people. Research Objectives Evaluating different social theories relating to the social and psychological aspects of physically disabled people Highlighting the psychological difficulties that are encountered by physically disabled people after seeing or experiencing the strange behaviours of society Examining the social problems that are encountered by physically disabled people in their routine life Recommending strategies to overcome or the psychological and social difficulties faced by physically disabled people. Research Questions What are the previous social and psychological theories that directly or indirectly related to the social and psychological dimensions of physically disabled people? What are the psychological difficulties that commonly affect physically disabled people? What are the social problems that are being faced by physically disabled people? What are the practical strategies to overcome or reduce the psychological and social difficulties encountered by physically disabled people? Literature Review Definition of Disability United Nations has clearly explained disability: “Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others” (United Nations, 2006). The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has clearly defined disability and it’s both psychological and physiological dimension which represent inbuilt physical and non-physical weaknesses. Academically and theoretically, this definition largely satisfies the basic requirement of having an acceptable definition for defining the boundaries of such issues. However, the major hurdle is largely faced when problems are directly encountered by the disabled people in the real world life. In this regard, it is important to mention that, in the United States, first comprehensive study was carried out on this topic in the decade of 1960s (Novo-Corti, 2010). Numerous disability studies have been critically highlighted by various authors and academicians. For example, Gross and Hahn (2004) and Gronvik (2009) have contended that the surrounding circumstances of disability are those strong and influential factors that have substantial and overriding effects on defining this very concept. Moreover, Oliver (1996) has disagreed with the notion of only associating disability with the medical field. Based on this notion, it can be deduced that the disability cannot be only attached with the medical field as this has effects on the other aspects of human life. Social Inclusion “How cultures and societies stratify and divide; how they account for customs around inclusion, exclusion, belonging, and togetherness; and how the processes that include and exclude are talked about, desired, understood, and experienced, all provide some clues as to the role of social integration and stratification within a given society” (Allman, 2013, p.6). This definition reasonably elucidates both theories (social inclusion and social exclusion) and all those social norms, traditions and customs that directly affect the process of social inclusion or social exclusion. However, Bates (2002) contends that the conceptual underpinnings of social inclusion have a number of meanings that vary from one to another. Keeping this view in mind, Attitude as Barrier Attitude has tremendous effect on the disabled people. Attitude can be defined as a person’s bias for measuring a handicapped person’s surroundings or circumstances (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1974). Based on this definition, it can be extracted that bias against physically disabled people commonly found in today’s society where segregation between the disabled and the non-disabled people has been made; and this division creates different views for the normal people and for the disabled people. Moreover, this social exclusion of the disabled people has created strange and harsh attitudes against them which are do not only cause psychological torment but also increase their physical sufferings as well. Interestingly, such attitudes are not only restricted to one part or one country of the world but are commonly found in all countries of the world. Consequently, those attitudes have disregarded all those humane values that are prerogative to every human being regardless of its physical, psychological, economic, social, cultural, racial identifications. Methodology Methodology refers to determining relevant and appropriate method for carrying out research (Burns and Bush, 2006). However, methodology is a highly complex process (Jonker and Pennink, 2010). Within this context, Mouton and Marais (1998) contend that decision making process, in methodology, involves number of issues and techniques and their limitations are taken into account as well. Methodology provides a basic mechanism through which data and information is collected for completing research aim and objectives of study. However, as each research activity has different research aim and objectives, separate research methodology steps are carried out. Research process Research process involves orderly steps (Ross, 2012; Sines et al., 2009) a. In this process, various steps are carried out which follow a pre-determined flow of activities (Galicano-Adanza and Nazareno-Martinez, 2002). Additionally, research process has been defined as a way that starts from the step of topic selection and ends by drawing conclusions; and this research process includes: Topic selection, review of literature, conceptual developments, research questions, research design, data collection, data analysis and conclusions (Gratton and Jones, 2010). Additionally, there are uses of research process. For example, research process facilitates locating information in the research project (Boateng, 2014). In this study, face to face interviews will be used for collecting data. For this objective, a representative sample representing the population will be selected by personally visiting those facilities that look after the physically disabled people. At least, 20 respondents will be selected and their consent will also be obtained. And this consent will also be secured from the institution as well. Qualitative Research Qualitative research has been defined as inquiry in which research about subject’s experiences is carried out (Chilisa and Preece, 2005). In this type of research, respondents provide their views and understanding about the questions, issues that are being discussed with them. In addition, in this type of study, data analysis is carried out through subjective understanding of data under analysis. In other words, the central mechanism for analysis is not any other instrument except for the subjective knowledge and understanding of the researcher. Under this situation, it is possible that researcher may not be able to avoid the problem of bias while analysing the data. Commonly, every person retains some sort of bias or partial understanding or opinion about issues. Under such circumstances, it is not possible that the person would be able to put away the bias for providing fair and impartial analysis or opinion about the issue. In this research, qualitative research approach will be used for carrying out the process of data analysis. The researcher will collect primary data from the respondents using face to face interviews in which close-ended and open-ended questions will be asked. However, there are inbuilt limitations to using closed-ended questions and open-ended questions. For example, the close-ended questions only provide certain options and respondent is required to select the most appropriate answer from the given options. In this situation, it is possible that the respondent may not know the answer but selects the option randomly. Additionally, it is also possible that the respondent may not have properly understood the question and just have skipped choosing one option from the choices. As a result, the entire research objective would not be achieved as intended at the beginning of the research process. At the same time, it is also possible that the respondent, instead of asking for explanation, ticks one option for just completing the question requirement. On the other hand, there are certain limitations associated with the open-ended questions as well. First, this type of questions enables a respondent to answer as they consider appropriate. Sometimes, respondents do not address the question requirements and they utter words to complete the answers. Second, the open-ended questions are not sufficient to satisfy research aim and objectives as the respondents have full personal leeway while answering to an open-ended questions. Consequently, the provided answer may not relevant for using the further data analysis process as well. Third, it is also possible that the open-ended questions are wider in scope and it is very difficult to extract the crux point for using in the data analysis process. Quantitative Research In the health and social care, quantitative research is used to collect, analyse and interpret statistical information (Elizabeth and Drennan, 2014; Barry and Yuill, 2008). More importantly, this research process relies on applying theories for establishing facts and evaluating casual relationships (McWay, 2014).As a result, the quantitative research is mainly based on the use of objectivity in which the researcher is not required to use personal understanding for carrying out the research process instead it relies on the findings which are provided by statistics or application of any mathematical software, such as STATA or SPSS. In other words, the researcher only relies on the use of mathematical data and the application of related statistical tool. However, there are certain shortcomings in the quantitative research method. For example, mostly numerical data is used for carrying out the research and it involves substantial amount of risk while collecting or analysing data and even a small error can render the entire data meaningless. For example, a researcher collects data from 36 respondents and while putting this data to the STATA software, the researcher inputs 63 instead of 36. Under this condition, this small error puts profound effect on the subsequent results because the subsequent findings will only reflect the outcomes based on the number of 63 whereas the primary data was collected from 36 respondents. Furthermore, quantitative research is complex and expensive. This type of research requires a number of complex steps in which a high-level of work is needed. For example, the use of STATA and SPSS clearly signifies that the data analysis is costly process as both softwares are not freely available and subscription cost is required for using them. Ethical Issues Obtaining free consent remains the biggest ethical issue in the social and health care research. This type of research is highly sensitive as a direct interaction will be made with physically disabled people. Generally, it has been observed that such people avoid social contact and do not prefer to share their issues, problems and apprehensions. This is mainly caused by the fact that the non-disabled people treat them unfairly and retain negative perception about them. Keeping this view in mind, they (the disabled people) do not want to meet with the non-disabled people. Under this condition, it will be very challenging to convince them and ensure them that the objective of this research will only be raise awareness of social and psychological problems faced by physically disabled people. Simultaneously, they will also be informed that their free consent is required as this will enable the researcher to highlight this issue and decrease the current level of bias against them. Carefully crafted questions will also be an ethical issue. While developing questions, it is highly essential that only those questions should be posed which do not hurt their sensitive feelings but they should only encourage them to share their feelings, issues and problems in a professional or informal way. As it is and it will not be the intent of this study to hurt the feelings of physically disabled people, the researcher will ensure that only those questions will be asked which do not hurt them. Confidentiality of personal information is another important ethical issue which is normally encountered by the researchers. Many respondents do not easily share their personal information, views and experiences just because of confidentiality issue as they do not want to share their views and opinions with others besides ensuring their secrecy as well. In this research, the respondents will be assured that their personal information, views, opinions and other information shared will not be provided to any third party or person. And, the researcher will also make sure that the collected data will be placed securely as well. Conclusion Physically disabled people face harsh behaviours from the non-disabled people. This bias has put substantial effect on the life of physically disabled people. The major effects include social and psychological aspects in which they feel alienated and frustrated as well. Due to such behaviours, social inclusion of such persons has become a major issue in the recent social and health care studies. For highlighting this issue, this research attempts to highlight those social and psychological problems which are being faced by physically disabled people. References Allman, D. (2013). The Sociology of Social Inclusion. Sage Open, January-March, pp.1-16 Bates, P. (Ed.). (2002) Working for inclusion .London: Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health. Barry, A., & Yuill, C. (2008). Understanding the Sociology of Health: An Introduction. 2nd ed. London: SAGE. Boateng, R. (2014). Research Made Easy. Ghana: PearlRichards Foundation. Burns, A.C., & Bush, R.F. (2006). Marketing Research. 5th ed. New Delhi: Pearson. Chilisa, B., & Preece, J. (2005). Research Methods for Adult Educators in Africa. Cape Town: Pearson. Elizabeth, A.C., & Drennan, J. (2013). Quantitative Health Research: Issues and Methods. New York: Open University Press. Fishbein, M., and Ajzen, I. (1974). Attitudes toward objects as predictors of single and multiple behavioral criteria. Psychological Review, Vol.81, pp.59-74. Galicano-Adanza, E., & Nazareno-Martinez, F. (2002). Methods of Research for the Health Professions. Manila: Rex Book Store. Gratton, C., & Jones, I. (2010). Research Methods for Sports Studies. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge. Grönvik, L. (2009). Defining disability: effects of disability concepts on research outcomes. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. Vol. 12, No. 1, February, 1–18 Gross, B.H., and Hahn, H. (2004). Developing issues in the classification of mental and physical disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, Vol.15, No. 3, pp.130–134. Jonker, J., & Pennink, B. (2010). The Essence of Research Methodology: A Concise Guide for Master and PhD Students in Management Science. New York: Springer. McWay, D.C. (2014). Today’s Health Information Management: An Integrated Approach. New York: Delmar Cengage Learning. Mouton, J., & Marais, H.C. (1998). Basic Concepts in Methodology of the Social Sciences. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. Novo-Corti, M.I. (2010). Attitudes Toward Disability and Social Inclusion: An Exploratory Analysis. European Research Studies, vol. 13, no.3. pp.83-106 Oliver, M. (1996). Understanding disability: From theory to practice. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Ross, T. (2012). A Survival Guide for Health Research Methods. New York: Open University Press. Sines, D., Saunders, M., & Forbes-Burford, F. (eds.). (2009). Community Health Care Nursing. Chichester: Wiley. United Nations, (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Available: http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtmlAccessed: 2 December, 2014 Read More