Introduction
Several decades ago, the problem of smoking challenged millions of people around the globe, causing a variety of diseases such as cancer, heart diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and stroke. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, first electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) entered the market to replace regular cigarettes and reduce the level of harm (Truth Initiative 9).
As a rule, the majority of smoking initiatives are observed among teens and young adults, who strongly believe that vaping is less dangerous than tobacco smoking (Cullen et al. 2096). Multiple debates about the characteristics of vaping and smoking focus on the comparison of related products. Thus, it is expected to contribute to this discussion and develop a project, specifying the health harms of vaping. As soon as an appropriate search strategy is chosen, project challenges may be recognized and overcome. This research proposal aims at discussing potential research questions and the conversation about vaping and its dangerous influence on human health.
The research question to be explored will focus on identifying the adverse impacts of vaping abuse that are established by the evidence. It is also expected to pay attention to the role of environment in the cases when young people decide to use vaping devices. In particular, such factors as personal attitudes, as well as family relationships and views, will be discussed. This question has to be asked because of several reasons.
First, a distinctive feature of this project is the necessity to investigate the negative aspects of vaping without its comparison with smoking and its outcomes. Second, a specific group of people (teens and young adults) is chosen to underline the importance of this age period for understanding the vaping impact on health changes. Taking into consideration the above-mentioned explanations, the research question can be formulated in the following manner:
What are the most significant dangers of vaping abuse in young Americans in relation to their health, considering their family rules and personal attitudes?
Identifying Research Conversation, Search Strategy, and Project Challenges
At this moment, the debate about the benefits and harms of vaping continues and involves a number of people with different experiences and degrees. On the one hand, there are many supporters of e-cigarettes and other vaping products because they believe that this practice has fewer negative outcomes on human health compared to the one of conventional smoking. On the other hand, the point of vaping is not safe should be underlined. People may consider vaping as less harmful, but it is never safe for people to smoke (even using vaping products). In many discussions, people tend to compare traditional smoking and modern vaping in order to demonstrate how dangerous nicotine in conventional cigarettes can be.
In this proposal, an entry point is not a comparison but a discussion of the negative effects of vaping on human health. A critical insight is to describe the harms of vaping products from chemical, health, and social perspectives and to prove that vaping abuse cannot be ignored anymore or determined as an allowed substitute for conventional smokers. The major audience for this project is youth (teens and young adults) because this group is in need of additional provocative data to re-evaluate their needs, interests in vaping, and other related concerns.
Although this project is focused on the United States youth, it is also recommended to address the experiences of other countries (Canada or Australia as an example) to compare their health conditions with the American ones. Vaping is dangerous almost the same way tobacco smoking is, and it is just a question of time how long it takes for vapers to ruin their health.
To understand the importance of the given topic, it is essential to pay attention to the current statistics. As stated by Cullen et al., the survey of 10,097 school students revealed that 10.5% of middle school and 27.5% of high school students habitually used e-cigarettes within the last 30 days (2101). Since vaporizers can be filled with different concentrates, it can be rather difficult to determine what is used by a young person, while it can be marijuana, nicotine, or any other chemicals.
While the mentioned fact presents additional health risks, vaping abuse is associated with heart disease, cancer, and respiratory issues. It should be stressed that the short-term negative impacts of vaping may include dyspnea, acid reflux, fevers, nicotine dependence, and a higher risk of pneumonia. The adverse role of vaping in brain development is another problem, which is likely to increase the probability of future addiction on more potent drugs.
To explore the chosen research question and contribute to the issue offered for conversation, different types of sources should be used. For example, it is reasonable to find several professional healthcare or nursing organizations where experts share their knowledge about vaping, statistics, and other details. In this project, quick facts on vaping risks from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be mentioned to explain what e-cigarettes are and how they work.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse informs about different vaping devices and their distribution among youth. A similar source, the investigations of Truth Initiative, will be added to the list of references in this paper because of its discussion of the vaping epidemic in the United States. Information from these websites will be useful because it is based on multiple studies and surveys prepared by high-quality professionals.
In addition to these primary sources, several secondary articles have to be chosen because they contain rational evaluations of the topic. In particular, the secondary sources will be beneficial to understand the details of the research topic, including vaping abuse reasons, factors, controversial opinions, and so on. As for the most useful sources, it seems that both primary and secondary sources are effective in the development of this research, and online access promotes the possibility to use them anytime and find the required keywords and ideas quickly.
Despite being a properly prepared project, challenges of the work have to be recognized and discussed in this proposal. Firstly, time management and the lack of experience may prevent its successful complication. Therefore, to meet this challenge, it is necessary to develop a plan of work, set the deadlines for every stage, and establish goals. The next challenge is the lack of knowledge and the importance of searching for sufficient sources.
Taking into consideration the fact that several articles and websites have already been found, additional research and counseling with a writing expert should help to find this problem and succeed in discussing the chosen problem. The lack of guiding could also be a serious challenge in this research. The position has already been defined in this proposal, and it is expected to continue investigating the same field with the intention to prove the harmful health effects of vaping on people.
To minimize the mentioned challenges, a wide range of resources will be used with the aim of informing the proposed study. The articles from scholarly journals will be selected, focusing on their relevance to the target topic and the date of publication. For example, the article by Cullen et al. will be used to explore the prevalence of vaping product that has been dramatically increased among students and young adults.
The results mentioned by Kaur et al. about immunological and toxicological risks for passive vapers are important to clarify the impact of vaping (12). The usefulness of the above article is attention to the opinions of vapers and their attitudes toward smoking threats. Finally, the article by Nahhas et al. is necessary to discuss smoking and vaping rules in families with different cultural backgrounds and clarify why the use of vaping products is appreciated more than smoking traditional cigarettes (112).
Along with the availability of scholarly resources, the official websites of international and local organizations seem to be important to access valuable data to support the essay arguments, also locating some counterarguments. Such an approach is expected to provide the extensive background and sufficient information to appropriately answer the research question that was identified previously in this proposal. In addition, it is possible to ask for help online, plan writing through special applications, and use the Internet to access the required materials. The assistance from the faculty is another option to receive an expert opinion and advice in case of some difficulties that may occur in the process of research.
Conclusion
In general, this research proposal shows that the topic of vaping substance abuse has been narrowed down to understand the effects of e-cigarettes on human health among a particular demographic group, American youth. There are many reasons for people to choose vaping, and its potential benefits over conventional smoking are frequently discussed. To contribute to vaping research, a working claim that vaping has to be associated with health harms only should be justified. The offered plan of work, a list of primary and secondary sources, and the combination of qualitative and quantitative information are the major elements of future research.
Works Cited
Cullen, Karen A., et al. “E-Cigarette Use Among Youth in the United States, 2019.” JAMA, vol. 322, no. 21, 2019, pp. 2095-2103.
Kaur, Gagandeep, et al. “Immunological and Toxicological Risk Assessment of E-Cigarettes.” European Respiratory Review, vol. 27, no. 147, 2018, pp. 1-14. Web.
Nahhas, Georges J., et al. “Rules About Smoking and Vaping in the Home: Findings from the 2016 International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey.” Addiction, vol. 114, no. 1, 2019, pp. 107-114.