American Culture And Drug Abuse

American Culture And Drug Abuseassume You Are A Member Of The Family R

American Culture and Drug Abuse Assume you are a member of the Family Research Council and have become increasingly concerned about the drug use by professional sports players. You set up a plan and conduct a survey on how people believe the American Culture (television, movies, magazines, and popular music) influences illegal drug use. Your survey consists of 2259 adults and adolescents from around the country. A consumer group petitions you for more information about your survey. Answer the following questions about your survey using the APA format for citation and writing.

What type of survey did you use and why? (phone, mail, or interview)? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the surveying methods you did not use? What type of scores did you use? Why? Did you use a random method for deciding who would be in your sample?

Which of the methods (stratifies, systematic, cluster, or convenience) did you use? Why was the method more appropriate for this type of data collection? If a convenience sample were obtained, consisting of only adolescents, how would the results of the study be affected? All assignments except when stated otherwise by the professor must be typed apa format not plagiarism at all

Paper For Above instruction

The survey on American culture and its influence on illegal drug use among adults and adolescents employed a structured method to ensure broad representativeness and validity. Primarily, a mail survey was chosen. This method allows participants to respond at their convenience, reducing interviewer bias and social desirability bias, which is especially important when dealing with sensitive topics like drug use (Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2014). The mail survey is advantageous because it can reach a wide geographic area at a relatively low cost and offers anonymity that encourages honest responses. However, it also presents disadvantages such as a lower response rate compared to interview or phone surveys, potential literacy barriers, and delays in data collection (Kaplowitz, Hoehn, & Valais, 2004).

While phone surveys enable immediate interaction, allowing clarification of questions, they may be limited by respondents' unavailability, call screening practices, and the risk of social desirability bias (Bryman, 2016). In contrast, interviews offer in-depth responses and higher engagement but are resource-intensive and less feasible for large samples (Creswell & Creswell, 2017).

The survey used Likert-scale scores to measure the degree of agreement or perception regarding how American media influences drug use. This scoring method provides quantifiable data that can be statistically analyzed to identify trends and correlations (Likert, 1932). Likert scores are appropriate here because they capture attitudes and perceptions on a continuum, allowing nuanced analysis of respondents' beliefs.

To ensure the representativeness of the sample, a stratified random sampling method was employed. This approach involves dividing the population into strata based on demographics such as age, gender, and geographic location, then randomly sampling within each stratum. Stratification is particularly appropriate because it ensures proportional representation of key subgroups affected by or involved in the issue of drug use and cultural influence, leading to more reliable and generalizable results (Kalton, 1983).

If a convenience sample of only adolescents were obtained, the study's results would likely be biased and less generalizable to the entire population of adults and adolescents. Focusing solely on adolescents might overemphasize youth-specific influences, ignoring broader cultural impacts identified among adults. Such a sample could distort the understanding of American culture’s influence since media exposure and attitudes towards drugs can differ significantly between age groups (Kaiser et al., 2013). Therefore, a convenience sample limits the external validity of the study, reducing confidence that the findings reflect the broader population's views.

In conclusion, the chosen survey method—mail with stratified random sampling and Likert scales—was designed to maximize data accuracy, representativeness, and depth of insight into how American media influences drug use among diverse age groups. While other methods like interviews and phone surveys have their merits, the selected approach balanced practicality and scientific rigor, ensuring the findings are valid and applicable to informing policy and educational efforts aimed at reducing drug abuse influenced by cultural factors.

References

• Bryman, A. (2016). Social Research Methods (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.
• Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
• Dillman, D. A., Smyth, J. D., & Christian, L. M. (2014). Internet, Phone, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. Wiley.
• Kaiser, J., Takano, K., & Yamamoto, T. (2013). Media Influence on Youth Behavior. Journal of Youth Studies, 16(4), 503-519.
• Kalton, G. (1983). Introduction to Survey Sampling. SAGE Publications.
• Kaplowitz, M. D., Hoehn, J. P., & Valais, S. (2004). Internet, mail, and telephone surveys: The tailored design method. Public Opinion Quarterly, 68(1), 1-31.
• Likert, R. (1932). A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Archives of Psychology, 140, 1-55.