Self Mulitation (Dissertat. Methodology Sample)

Self mutilation
Student’s Name
University Affiliation

Self mutilation
Introduction
This study will seek to determine why adolescent females at Jacksonville are prone to self-harm. Self-harm in adolescents take a wide variety of forms and occur for different reasons ranging from mental, psychological and peer influence. The acts of self-harm is prevalent among female adolescents at Jacksonville in Duval County and that forms the core of the study. This methodology of the dissertation will thus provide the step by step process that will be used to determine why self-harm in adolescents is prevalent among the females.
Methodology
In this section, the method used in the collection of data and the overall conduction of the study will be analyzed. The section will provide a descriptive analysis of the participants in the study, the nature of information collection and the design of the questionnaire.
Participants
In this study, participants were female students and adolescents within the Jacksonville area. The female adolescents in this study are distributed in different schools within the Jackson area of Duval County. A total of 20 female students from different schools within the Jacksonville area were selected for the study through a sampling method. The mean age of the female adolescent in this study was 19.6 with a standard deviation of 1.14. Of the 20 female students used in the study, 40% were majority whites while the remaining constituted of the minority groups in the country. Apart from the race and age, the study participants were also drawn from different residences within the country. Some were sampled from their school halls of residence while others resided from their homes with their parents. 34.2% of the participants were living within the schools’ hall of residence while the others were either living in the neighborhood independently or with their parents.
Procedure
To collect the required information and the views of the study participants on self-mutilation, a detailed questionnaire was designed. This questionnaire had open ended questions that targeted the participants and that provided room for students to provide their views and opinions. As most of the female students in the study are found within the Jacksonville area, the questionnaire was administered to the majority of them through personal delivery. Each participant was given time to go through the questionnaire and provide independent answers before they were collected. However, some student who could not be reached in person received a soft copy of the questionnaire by mail. Upon notification and confirmation of receipt, each participant was given an hour to answer the questions are detailed in the questionnaire. Before administering this questionnaire, I requested for permission from the Jacksonville administration. For participants who operated from their homes, their parents were notified of the study and its intentions. The school administrators in the Jacksonville area were also informed of the study, and their permission was given before the questionnaires were sent to the participants.
Depending on the location of the participant, the questionnaire collection period varied significantly. Those within the schools were allowed time to answer the questionnaire questions and return the forms within a specified time frame. The participants who operated from home were also allowed to attend to the questionnaire questions as the interviewer waited for the results. The mail participants sent their filled soft copy questionnaire to the same mail used to send the initial questionnaire. Each participant was incorporated into the study after signing the consent form and agreeing to be part of this survey. The study participants remained anonymous as they were not compelled to write their names. This increased confidence and reliability of the data collected from the adolescent participants.
Measures
In this study, the questions of the questionnaires were open-ended thus allowing the participants to provide independent responses. The answers provided were not predetermined as found in closed ended questions and this limited the use of mean score computation. The demographic information of the participants was also limited as the study targeted female adolescents within Jacksonville. However, the age of the participants, income bracket, ethnicity, grade attained in school, GPA of the students among other qualitative responses were analyzed and their mean scores obtained.
Variables
Variables in any research exercise have two dimensions, which are the independent and the dependent variables. Independent variables are the study parameters within the control of the researcher and the dependent variables which is presented as the measured response from the study. In this study, the different causes of self mutilation among adolescents in Jacksonville will be studied as the independent variables. In designing this as the independent variable, the research will evaluate the different causes as presented by the responses to self mutilation among adolescents. The causes that are related increased self mutilation in adolescents are habit forming, and their study can be subjected to manipulation in the study. While the causes of self mutilation behavior are used as the independent variable, the self mutilating behavior itself remains the dependent variable.
It is determined by the response of this study and the findings that it reveals. In designing the questionnaires, questions will be used to describe both the dependent and the independent variables. The causes of self mutilation in adolescents include the effects of peer pressure, the immediate neighborhood, the family situation and academic performance. To provide information on the factors touching on the independent variables, a number of questions will be administered which include.
In which area do they live in? Please choose from the following: Rural, Urban, or Suburban
What is the family’s income bracket? Please choose from the following: low, middle-class, high
What is the ethnicity? Please choose from the following; Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, Other.
What is the current grade level?
What is the cumulative grade point average?
Does the participant frequently experience feelings of depression and or anxiety? If so, please clarify.
From the questions in the questionnaire, the study will evaluate whether an adolescent’s neighborhood, family income, ethnicity, academic performance and psychological stability increases self mutilation behaviors. As a dependent variable, self mutilating behavior will be analyzed through a set of questions in the questionnaire including the following;
Has the participant ever considered self-mutilating?
Has the participant ever self-mutilated?
How many times has the participant engaged in self-harm? Why?
What are some of the emotions the participant felt that inspired her to engage in self-mutilation? (E.g. sadness, loneliness, a need for attention, etc.
If the participant has not self-mutilated, but have she considered it, how did she cope with her emotions?
Does the participant know of anyone (personally) that engages in self-mutilation?
If yes, what does the participant think might be the main causes of this behavior?
If the participant self-mutilate, what are some of the ways the participant harm herself? (E.g., cutting, burning, etc.)
These study questions provides an opportunity for the participants to provide their opinions about self mutilation in adolescents. As a result, the dependent variable is brought out by the responses of the study participants and their views on self mutilation.
Bivariate statistical inference
The development of bivariate statistical inference for the development of non-normal data set was done by Galton and Dickson. The modeling of this study and the nature of questions in the questionnaires makes it impossible to develop descriptive statistical data set. Descriptive data sets provide data for...