Rebecca Bowman
Article Critique - Assignment #1
In the study done by Black, Weisz, Coats, and Patterson (2000), Sexual Assault
Prevention Programming was implemented and evaluated on a basis of effectiveness. The authors provided a significant amount of background information to explain the topic of sexual assault, as well as information to preface prevention programming strategies. In discussing sexual assault, the authors made a few assumptions about the knowledge of the reader. One example is the definition of rape, in which the authors mention the expansion of the previous definition, without explicitly stating the previous definition so as to recognize changes. However, they effectively covered sexual assault data that was relevant to
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In order to establish a more conclusive rate of effectiveness, the study would need to be replicated in a different college setting. The research may only prove to be positively affecting students at Wayne State University due to specifics of their college demographics or environment. The sample of participants in this study does not necessarily reflect the population that would benefit from the intervention. Black et al. (2000) found that the most frequently cited major of attendees was social work, which eliminates the variance of other majors that are equally as valuable to the prevention of sexual assault. The use of convenience sampling further added to the limitations of the method. It could be argued that random sampling would provide a stronger and more realistic representation of the population as a whole. Convenience sampling allows for participants that are more willing to adhere to the study, and therefore may impact the results of effectiveness among a true, varied population of students.
At the start of the study, at total of 150 students were identified as potential participants due to their attendance at the theatrical performance. Of those 150 students, 100 participated
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Aside from statistical data, the authors shared little to no analysis of the attrition in their study.
As a quasi-experimental study, this design is highly effective. The pretest, posttest, follow-up, and use of more than one treatment group provides the basis for a strong study.
Additionally, the ability to utilize a comparison group perpetuates the understanding of effectiveness by providing a baseline. The one downfall of using a quasi-experimental design in this study is the use of convenience sampling, as previously mentioned. Black et al. (2000) make conclusions regarding the effectiveness of their theatrical prevention programming for all college students, which is beyond their research. Replication on additional college campuses would be required in order to come to such a conclusion.
Threats to internal validity, including maturation or research reactivity were not at work at the beginning of this study, due to the short period of time between testing. However, maturation may have been a significant threat to internal validity during the time span between the posttest and follow-up. The authors acknowledge the attitudes that are able to change
2. What data and method does the author use to evaluate this intervention? Why was that data and method used?
I choose this topic because sexual assault is one of the most offensive crimes committed in our society. Not only is it a threat to the community, but it has a physically and psychologically effect on the victim in many ways. For the last couple of decades, sexual assault, rape, and child molestation has become the focal point of public concerns today. According to a 1993 National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, about 500,000 rapes or sexual assaults occur each year (Statistics, March 2010). The Department of Justice states that, “rape crimes have risen nearly three times as fast as the total crime rate”, although other studies have shown statistics that are in
This method selects a participant who satisfies certain predetermined rules. The rules include snowball sampling, taking samples from the referrals of the previous samples, or expert sampling, regarding the views by the respondonts as mode while getting into the conclusion (Devkota, n.d.). Third, heterogeneity sampling, selecting those elements which have the highest value of deviations from the average item, trying to collect the samples that will best represent the whole population. Fourth, modal instance sampling, taking samples around the modal criteria after finding out the modal class of items (Devkota,
I have decided to use this process because simple random sampling is a relatively basic, easy and inexpensive method method to evaluate the population in a fair, unbiased and representative way.
50 Subjects were recruited from the University community, and those subjects who met study inclusion
Additionally, the authors certainly expressed what they established in their research. The introduction provided sufficient information concerning the subjects. Furthermore, the authors provided in-depth information on how they selected the control sample.
The study I read for this paper was completed in 2012. It is a complex study that was
In order to better understand the results from our study, it will beneficial to look at past studies. This will help highlight the comparisons between our results and theirs. By doing this, it will become clear if their methods compared to ours, thus resulting in either more or less accurate results. This will make the strengths and weaknesses of our study more apparent.
Similarly, a prospective randomized controlled trial with 100 participants in both control and intervention groups also compared the use of a
This study will use convenience sampling, depending on my results I will determine whether to progress with the study in colleges across the country to generalize our results. Convenience sampling is the best form of sampling i can use in this project, due to time and lack of control over events.
“Truth” cannot be derived from a single study; it must be repeated to increase the precision of the study and therefore the strength of inference made about the results. Often, using the same sample and similar methods will not procure similar results, and therefore a consensus of studies should be provided to make a general claim. Studies that truly follow the scientific method and include randomization and repeatability will be closer to discovering the ‘truth’ than other studies.
Consequently, managing to retain in addition to deciding on participants for a research project for the duration of the study is a daunting task for many a researchers, they often therefore need to be able to get data from a smaller group or subset of the total population in such a way that the knowledge gained is representative of the total population (however defined) under study (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007) Needless to say for the purpose of this study, a sample of 50-100 will suffice.
This journal entry will define what non-probability sampling is and the different types such as snowball sampling, quota sampling, convenience sampling and purposive sampling. In addition, the pros and cons of non-probability will be discussed such as the correct sample size, determining the desired precision, and managing the variation in the population to name a few examples. Furthermore, this journal will discuss why a researcher might want to use non-probability sampling over other methods such as cluster sampling or systematic random sampling to name a few examples. Sampling is important in research and determining the sample size and population need to fit for the research because otherwise it might have inaccurate results.
The above study conducted for a period of 12 weeks has led to the following inferences: