Introduction
Opioid substance abuse has been on the rise recently, and so has the death rate related to opioid overdose. The market of illegal substances has undergone significant changes in recent decades as well, as new types of drugs have been introduced. In the earlier years, naturally produced and extracted drugs were the most widespread, including opioids. The developments in the chemical industry have affected the drug industry, and at the current moment, synthetic drugs are among the most used ones.
Research Question
Synthetic opioids contribute to the death rate rise related to substance abuse in general, and the percentage of deaths caused by synthetic opioid overdose has also been growing. The research question is: how and to what extent has the growing popularity of synthetic opioids contributed to the rise in drug addiction and opioid-caused deaths?
Methodology
Sampling
First, the sample for this research will be selected by gathering information about individuals who have a history of substance abuse and information about deaths caused by substance overdose in recent years in general. Then, it will be necessary to focus on more specific details, that is, individuals with a history of opioid abuse and the cases of deaths related to opioid abuse. The following step will focus on the cases of synthetic opioid abuse and overdose and the deaths caused by it.
The primary sampling method is non-probability sampling, meaning that there will be a specific focus on individuals who have been systematic opioid and synthetic opioid users. Among the researched death cases, preference will be given to the cases of these types of individuals as well. The general information will be about a larger population; however, for more in-depth research on how synthetic opioids affect drug addiction and death rate, it will be necessary to reduce the studied group.
Findings and Limitations
When it comes to the findings’ generalizability for this particular population, that is, the systematic synthetic opioid users, they could be considered precise. However, there are some limitations, as there can be overdose and death cases of individuals who were not systematic users or drug users in general, which could affect generalization to a certain extent.
Research Design
The type of research design appropriate for this research question is the descriptive type. The goal is to understand how synthetic opioid abuse contributes to addiction and deaths in general. Thus, it will be necessary to focus on observations. The necessary part is to reach a thorough understanding of this phenomenon. This can be achieved through the general observation of the trends, for which gathering general information about substance abuse and overdose deaths is required.
For more in-depth comprehension, surveys or more detailed interviews with people addicted to synthetic opioids can be applied (Harris, 2019). The theoretical framework would mainly consist of two parts, that is, to what extent synthetic opioids contribute to the drug addiction issue and how they do that. Thus, this kind of research design responds to this framework. The reviewed literature would also be helpful in making observations about the impact of synthetic opioids and the way they affect those addicted to them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, to conduct research on how and to what extent synthetic opioids affect drug addiction and contribute to overdose deaths, non-probability sampling seems to be the most appropriate. In this case, focusing on certain population representatives will be necessary for a more in-depth understanding. The descriptive research also seems to comply with the research problem, theoretical framework, literature review, and hypothesis.
Reference
Harris, D. (2019). Literature review and research design: A guide to effective research practice. Routledge.