Research Question
Is there a relationship between regimented physical activity and reduced intake of psychotropic medications in individuals suffering from severe psychosis?
Survey Research Method
Bernard (2005) asserts that “a survey is a systematic method of collecting quantitative data from a sample of the population such that the results are representative of the population within a certain degree of error,” (p. 67). The benefit of surveying to answer the research question is that a lot of information can be collected and analyzed within a short period. Most importantly, the survey would facilitate the generalization of the study’s results to the population of interest.
Hypotheses
Alternative hypothesis: There is a relationship between regimented physical activity and reduced intake of psychotropic medications in individuals suffering from severe psychosis.
Null hypothesis: There is no relationship between regimented physical activity and reduced intake of psychotropic medications in individuals suffering from severe psychosis.
Research Design
The population of the study
The population of the study consists of youths enrolled in a drug rehabilitation center. The youths are of both genders with the majority being males. They are aged between 18 and 30 years. The center enrolls drug addicts from different ethnic communities including White Americans, African Americans, and Hispanics. However, the majority of the enrollees are African Americans. The enrollees are also from different socio-economic backgrounds. The majority of them are from single-mother households although other family structures are also represented including intact households, divorced households, and remarried households. The majority of the enrollees are from low-income households while only a few are from middle-income households. Most of the enrollees have finished their high school education but only a few have attained college-level education.
Sampling
Stratified random sampling will be used to obtain a sample from the target population. This technique is crucial because of the heterogeneous nature of the target population (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005). This technique will entail classifying the population into different groups (based on age, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic background). Random sampling will then be used to obtain samples from each of the groups. The benefit of using this sampling technique is that it will ensure that the different groups of the population are equally represented in the sample. Moreover, this technique is a probabilistic technique and therefore the results of the study can be generalized to the entire population. Access to the sample would be facilitated by first obtaining permission from the administration of the center and then educating the potential participants about the study before they are invited to participate (Silverman, 2004).
Measure
The predictor in this study is the regimented physical activity. This would be assessed by the type of physical activity, the duration of the physical activity, and the intensity of the physical activity undertaken by the participants. The outcome of this study is the intake of psychotropic medications. This would be assessed by the type of medication and frequency of the intake of the medications. The researcher will collect data concerning the intake of psychotropic medications both before and after the introduction of the regimented physical activity program (Pelham & Campagna, 1991).
Ethical protection of participants
The only ethical issue I foresee with this study is being forced to reveal the participants’ private information such as their health conditions, drug abuse history, and medications. To avoid this, participants will be advised not to reveal their personal information including names and addresses. Instead, they will be referred by numbers thus making it difficult to know their identities. The potential risk of the participants taking part in the study is any adverse effect of the regimented physical activity program on their health. This would necessitate a preliminary medical examination to ensure that the participants are fit to take part in the study (Zikmund, 2003).
Reference List
Bernard, H. R. (2005). Research methods in anthropology: qualitative and quantitative approaches. London: Rowman Altamira.
Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2005). Practical research: Planning and design (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
Pelham, T., & Campagna, P. (1991). Benefits of exercise in psychiatric rehabilitation of persons with schizophrenia. Canadian Journal of Rehabilitation, 4, 159–168.
Silverman, D. (2004). Qualitative research: theory, method and practice. London: Sage.
Zikmund, W. (2003). Business research methods (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Thomson/South-Western.