Good Research Problem Research Proposal Example

Psychology Research Proposal

Child obesity has always been a problem not only in America but across the world. However, the problem seems to more prevalent in America than in other nations in the world. In this country, one of out of every three kids is obese or overweight (Ebbeling Pawlak & Ludwig, 2002). This is a very damning statistic that places huge questions on kid’s feeding habits in the nation. Such a huge number of obese children predicts a very gloomy future for the nation in terms of health. Most of the people who are obese in their childhood continue with this characteristic even into their adulthood and for a nation whose future is largely dependent on the youth, this future looks bleak (Ebbeling Pawlak & Ludwig, 2002). Over the years, questions have been asked about the factors that facilitate childhood obesity. Psychologists have been investigating this issue for a long time and recent years have seen parenting techniques come under the microscope. Some psychologists have postulated that parental behavior is significantly related to childhood obesity, and that obesity is an indication of inept parenting (Lissau & Sorensen, 1991). This aspect acts as the premise of this research proposal. The research seeks to investigate the extent to which parental behavior neglect influences childhood obesity and whether childhood obesity is an indicator of some of parent neglect

Research Questions

Primary Research Question
Is parental neglect responsible for child obesity?
Secondary Research Questions
1. What specific parental behaviors can be directly related to childhood obesity?
2. What level of control does a parent have in regards to regulating a child’s eating habits so that the child does not become obese?
3. What are specific characteristics of parental neglect and how do they influence childhood obesity

Variables

Independent variable
The independent variable in this research will be parental neglect. This is the variable that is not dependent on other factors in the course of the study

Dependent Variable

The dependent variable in this study will be child obesity. It is dependent because its prevalence is caused or influenced by other factors. Therefore, the research will focus on this independent variable as influenced by the independent variable.

Study Population

The study will focus on a group of 100 infant children and their parents born during three month period beginning in May 1st to July 31st in a chosen city hospital. These children will be assessed for a period of six years where aspects including weight and parental behaviors will be measured at various times.

Research Hypothesis

This research aims to show that parental neglect together with other inept parenting techniques and behaviors are to a huge extent responsible for childhood obesity. The research will show that some parental behaviors that can be classed as ineffective significantly direct kids towards obesity where some become obese when they are as young as two years old. The research will show that behaviors such as little parental supervision (for example on eating habits), which constitutes neglect contributes towards child obesity and many of the children who are obese and even the parents whose children are obese can trace and element of neglect in the parenting techniques that has had a huge influence on the current weight status of the child. The main item aspect of neglect that will be explored in this study and whose influence on obesity will be exhibited is limited or total lack of supervision by the parents on the child.

Conceptualization and Measurement

Relationship between variables
Children normally stay with their parents during the early years of their lives. Parents are tasked with the duty of enacting control over the children in order to guide them towards a straight path. Parents are also expected to control various aspects that are meant to maintain the health of their children. One of this, for example, involves controlling the eating habits or behavior of their children. Parents who live with their children are expected to oversee what children put into their mouths and when they put it. Childhood obesity is usually a result of overeating and since the child virtually has no control of their diet, an obese child points to a lack of supervision or neglect on the parent’s part. This, therefore, shows that a great relationship exists between parent neglect and childhood obesity. This relationship will be shown in the study population where after several years, some form of parental neglect will be identified among the children who will be obese.

Operationalization of Variables

Independent variable: The parental neglect will be measured in terms of parental supervision. The parents of the participants will fill questionnaires that are meant to assess the amount of supervision they enact on their children in terms of number of meals per day, the kinds of foods allowable and the time they are allowable and finally the amount of pushing or encouragement of children to take part in exercise activities. The number of hours that parents spend with their children will also be an item of measurement.
Dependent variable: Childhood obesity will be assessed by measuring the weight of the participants and comparing it with standard average weight for other people of the same age to determine whether a particular participant is obese or not.

Measurements

Independent variable

Maximum time per day spent with the child

Amount of supervision on eating habit
Amount of supervision of foods consumed
Amount of exercise activity supervised by the parent
Dependent variable
Weight of the participant
Body Mass Index of the Participant
Since this is a longitudinal study, the measurements will be done at varying times. This longitudinal study will be six years long, and all the measurements for each variable will be done at intervals of one year with the final measurement being done when the children are six years old.
One major strength of the measurements, especially the ones on the independent variable is that that they all give a very good indication of parenting effectiveness. Therefore, they are reliable as predictors of childhood obesity. However, issues of validity might arise due the fact that the exact influence of each of the measures on the dependent variable cannot be authenticated (Elmes, Kantowitz, B & Roediger, 2011). Some of the measured parameters could be having accentuated influence or impact on the dependent variable while for some, the influence may be minute and it is only when they are put together than the overwhelming impact or influence becomes visible.

Research Design and Data Collection

The research design for this case study is a longitudinal study. This is the kind of study where a select group of individuals is studied for an extended period (Elmes, Kantowitz, B & Roediger, 2011). This type of design is the most appropriate for the type of research proposed. This research aims to explore a progressive aspect, that is childhood obesity and relate with with a parenting concept and therefore, the best way to come with viable findings is to explore the issue using one group of individual where all the factors or elements of the research can be studied and the relationships between them effectively deduced (Luppino et al., 2010).
The data collection methods will comprise of questionnaires and physical measures when it comes to the dependent variable that is the dependent variable.
The data will be collected at one year intervals from the time the children are two years old to the time that they are six years old. The data from all the years will be recorded and assembled to be analyzed at the end of the six-year period.
The main strength of the research design and the data collection method is that both allow the recording of various measurements and factors for a specific group of individuals that can be studied to produce a general conclusion. Unfortunately, the fact that the research is centered on a group of individuals could lead to inaccurate results because much of the study rests on the participants trending towards a similar trajectory. For example, it is expected that a child who is obese at two years old will continue being obese at six years old. This is the only way the results obtained will be consistent with the hypothesis. However, the participants might exhibit various changes in the course of the study, and the dependent variable may be influenced by other factors that are not under study and in the end, inconclusive findings might be given.
There are not many ethical issues associated with this research design if parental consent has been given. However, in spite of parental consent, ethical issues might arise if the parents perceive that the questions in the questionnaires, for example, are too intrusive. Parents might be offended by questions asking them how much they control the amount and type foods that their children consume. Therefore, to make those questions culturally sensitive, they will be structured in a manner that is not offensive to parents and that guarantees the parents that the questions are for research purposes only and no judgment will be passed to the parents who answer the questions in a specific way.

Sampling Plan

The study will comprise a group of infants born in a three month period; between May 1st and July 31st, 2015 at a selected CITY maternity hospitals. It is expected that the total number of births in the hospitals will be around 200 during this period but since the study aims to focus on only 100 participants, a sampling technique will be adopted.
The sampling technique will be probability random sampling. From all the births that occur at the hospital during the three months period, 100 will be chosen at random, and the parents will be approached and asked of their willingness to participate in the study. Since there is bound to have parents who will be unwilling to take part in the study, random sampling will continue being used until the required number of 100 is reached.
The eligibility criteria for this study is quite simple. Babies who are born healthy without any significant health issues within the three-month period from May to July will be eligible to take part in the study.
The sampling plan used is very ethical. The fact that it is random means that virtually all infants born during the mentioned three month period will have a chance to appear in the study. This aspects also represents the strength of this sampling technique in that it is fully inclusive and increases the likelihood of individuals from all groups of the society being included in the study (Camic et al., 2003). This will increase the likelihood of the study being more representative of the society and in fact being more culturally sensitive. The only weakness is that the select group may be so culturally diverse and keeping in mind that this is a longitudinal study, making sufficient follow ups throughout the six year period might be hard due to the different dynamics of various society groups (Camic et al., 2003).

References

Ebbeling, C. B., Pawlak, D. B., & Ludwig, D. S. (2002). Childhood obesity: public-health crisis, common sense cure. The lancet, 360(9331), 473-482.
Elmes, D., Kantowitz, B., & Roediger III, H. (2011). Research methods in psychology. Cengage Learning.
Camic, P. M., Rhodes, J. E., & Yardley, L. E. (2003). Qualitative research in psychology: Expanding perspectives in methodology and design. American Psychological Association.
Lissau, I., & Sorensen, T. I. (1994). Parental neglect during childhood and increased risk of obesity in young adulthood. The Lancet, 343(8893), 324-327.
Luppino, F. S., de Wit, L. M., Bouvy, P. F., Stijnen, T., Cuijpers, P., Penninx, B. W., & Zitman, F. G. (2010). Overweight, obesity, and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Archives of general psychiatry, 67(3), 220-229.