The study seeks to obtain information about the perceived benefits of yoga among school students in the urban setting. Namely, students’ ideas of advantages that they believe yoga to have on their physical and psychological development will be analyzed. The specified goal is sought to be achieved via qualitative analysis.
Maintaining physical and psychological well-being, especially in young people, has been one of the main goals of public health management. The specified objective has become particularly important to achieve recently due to the rise in exposure to health threats, particularly mental health concerns and anxiety (). In regard to the specified threat, young adults and teenagers are far from being entirely shielded from health problems either, which is why exploring alternatives for managing health issues is vital. Offering general recommendations concerning health management from theoretical and practical perspectives, the article also has a high scientific merit.
The study involves human subjects directly since the target audience, namely, students, participate in the research as its main focus and the subject of the researchers’ scrutiny. Namely, students who have been going to yoga classes have been recruited as members of focus groups, whose opinions have been examined thoroughly.
To investigate the key trends in students’ perceptions of yoga as a means of controlling their health and preventing health concerns, semi-structured focus groups were used. Specifically, dix focus groups were selected and implemented at four key locations in order to obtain the relevant data/. However, while three schools were selected since the yoga program had already been implemented in them for a while, the fourth location was represented by a school where the corresponding yoga program was only being launched as a part of an experiment.
As emphasized above, the study by Wang and Hagins (2015) sought to examine the changes in learners’ perception of yoga on their health and overall well-being after having participated in yoga for a certain period of time. Therefore, the only data used in the study involved the information gathered from focus groups, namely, from the students I questioned. Therefore, no existing information apart from the specified one was incorporated into the analysis.
The researchers were completely transparent about their intentions in regard to the nature of the study and its goals, which allowed for maintaining the existing ethical standards and ensuring participants’ safety, particularly the opportunity for them to give informed consent. The subjects were told about the nature and goals of the study, as well as their role in it. Specifically, they were made aware of the fact that the changes in their perception toward yoga will be monitored and relayed in the research.
The process of obtaining informed consent was quite simple. Namely, the participants were sent an email with a copy of consent that they had to read carefully and sign (see Attachment A below).
It is believed that the subjects of this research will not be subjected to any threats to their physical or mental health. Since the research will primarily involve conducting discussions within focus groups built to infer essential information about the changes in the participants’ perception of yoga and their attitudes toward it, it is believed that health risks will be virtually nonexistent in the specified context. However, even in case a slight unexpected risk emerges, it will be outweighed by the importance of the study implications, namely, the expected increase in the understanding of the role of yoga for students.
In the course of the study, the manipulations to the subjects are expected to take place in the school context, specifically during yoga classes. As tee learners are exposed to the philosophy of yoga and encouraged to participate in yoga-related activities and exercises, they are likely to change their perceptions and ideas of yoga as a physical and spiritual activity. The described changes will be registered accordingly during the discussions in the focus groups.
To ensure that the participants are safeguarded to prevent any possible harm to their well-being, their personal information will be kept completely private. Additional measures preventing data leakage, such as purchasing software that prevents instances of cyberattacks, will be considered as the means of increasing the safety of the research subjects. In addition, the names of the participants will not be revealed in the research; instead, they will be labeled as Participant A, Participant B, and so on.
The study will focus specifically on the experiences of school students. However, since the specified demographic is incapable of giving informed consent, having not reached the legal age yet. Specifically, children aged 14 and up will be invited to take part in the study. It will be necessary to involve their parents or legal guardians. Specifically, parents and guardians will have to familiarize themselves with the consent form and sign it if they find all requirements legitimate.
This research does not plan to utilize any psychological tests due to the nature of the research question. Namely, the study will use other instruments that will allow gauging the extent of change that students will have experienced after participating in yoga classes. Focus groups ad discussions conducted within these groups will be utilized as the main tool for assessing the changes experienced by the participants. Although the use of focus groups and observations introduces the possibility of a subjective interpretation of research data, the proposed strategy will not have any negative effect on the students.
The debriefing will involve asking the participants about their emotional experiences and detailing the concerns that they may have developed after the research. Thus, their emotional needs will be met properly.
To ensure the well-being of all those involved, several procedures for addressing possible accidents will be designed:
- In case changes to the discussion process occur, the participants will be informed via email;
- To mitigate the effects of unanticipated problems, an effective conflict management framework will be deployed;
- To address possible injury, communication with healthcare services will be established;
- In case of non-compliance, the research subjects will be relieved from their responsibility to participate in the study.
For research participation, the subjects will be offered a standard remuneration of $50 per day.
Reference
Wang, D., & Hagins, M. (2016). Perceived benefits of yoga among urban school students: a qualitative analysis. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2016, 1-7. Web.
Appendix A: Informed Consent Form
The purpose of this study is to examine how the attitudes toward yoga changes in students as they participate in yoga classes. The research will involve the use of focus groups. Specifically, participants will be grouped in teams of 4-5 people to discuss their perceptions and understanding of yoga and its significance in their lives. The author of this study seeks to recruit students from four local schools with yoga programs implemented in them. By signing this consent form, you agree to provide the relevant information about your participation in yoga classes so that it could be used in this research.