Teenage Pregnancy and Depression in West Africa (Research Proposal Sample)

Research Proposal on Teenage Pregnancies and Depression in West Africa
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Table of Content
TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Table of Content PAGEREF _Toc438513380 \h 2Introduction PAGEREF _Toc438513381 \h 3Aims and Objectives of the Research Study PAGEREF _Toc438513382 \h 5Research questions for the proposed research study PAGEREF _Toc438513383 \h 6Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc438513384 \h 7Factors Leading to Increased Early Pregnancies in West Africa PAGEREF _Toc438513385 \h 7The Research Design PAGEREF _Toc438513386 \h 10Research Methodology PAGEREF _Toc438513387 \h 11a.)Data Collection PAGEREF _Toc438513388 \h 11b.)Data Analysis PAGEREF _Toc438513389 \h 12The Audience of the Research findings PAGEREF _Toc438513390 \h 12Limitation of the Research Study PAGEREF _Toc438513391 \h 13The research Timetable PAGEREF _Toc438513392 \h 13References PAGEREF _Toc438513393 \h 14
TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND DEPRESSION IN WEST AFRICA
Introduction
Teenage pregnancies in West Africa have been one of the serious issues that have given the leaders of the West African countries sleepless nights. Many girls in West Africa have been caught in the mad of early pregnancies that has brought to them more misery than before through the abandoning of their education which has continued to plunge them in the problem of early marriages among other issues (Omole-Ohonsi & Attah, 2010). The depressed girls that find themselves pregnant at an early age opt to get married or to switch to drugs or even some of them opt to abbot. All these messes up their lives and does no good to them for the only thing that results from such situations is suffering and dejection in the society from their peers that leads to more misery and more depression in their lives.
Several research studies that have been conducted on early pregnancies in the West African nations have been so peripheral in trying to dig deep to the cause of the early pregnancies in West Africa and the general effect of the early pregnancies to the economic situation of the countries and also to the demographic conditions of the western African region (Amoran, 2012). It is therefore important to find out what are the real causes of early pregnancies in West Africa and also delve in finding out the real implications of the early pregnancies and depression to the wellbeing of the West African countries. This will help to offer solutions to this problem and help to salvage the thousands of young girls whose future gets shattered by the early pregnancies. Furthermore, it is important to find out the best ways of helping the girls who find themselves in this mess to ensure that their lives are improved and a new hope is brought back to their lives.
Even though the studies that have been conducted regarding the situation in West Africa regarding early pregnancies and depression have not been categorical on the core causes of the increase in the cases, they have been clear on the statistics showing the percentages of the girls in West Africa who get pregnant at early age based on various research data. The fact is that almost 30% of the girls who join secondary schools in the West African countries find themselves pregnant at a very tender age below 18 years (Chandra-Mouli et al, 2013). The situation is really bad to an extent that even some girls get pregnant while still pursuing their primary education. Girls who find themselves in situations of becoming mothers at tender ages are normally faced with a lot of problems that lead to them being stressed up and hence a good number of them suffer from depression and related complications. The depression is very dangerous to the unborn and as such, many of them end up having premature births or even die from complications resulting from stress and depression. Some of the girls opt to hang themselves and even abbot the pregnancies so as to save themselves from the dejection and the depression that results from their physiological conditions. To a good number of the girls who get early pregnancies, education is usually cut shot especially to those girls that come from families whose religions revere early pregnancies so much.
This being the case, there is need to ensure that the entire population of the West African countries is sensitized about the problem of early pregnancies among the young girls in West Africa. This is the only way that the young girls of West Africa can be saved from the problem that has been among them for decades. This research study will therefore seek to find out the main cause of early pregnancies and depression in West Africa with and aim of coming up with appropriate recommendations on the best ways of trying to curb the situation so as to be able to save the West African female youths. The study will dig deep in finding out the main primary causes of the increased number of early pregnancies and also the causes of the increased cases of the depression and related complications among the girls who get early pregnancies. This will aim to change the general mentality of the West Africans towards the issue and therefore help in reducing the cases of depression among the young girls who get themselves in situations of early motherhood due to early pregnancies.
Aims and Objectives of the Research Study
The main aim of this research study will be finding out what the main causes of the increased number of early pregnancies are in West Africa. Also, the research will aim to provide an explanation behind the increase in number of incidences of depression among the young girls who get early pregnancies in West Africa. The main objective of the study will be to come up with clear reasons behind the early pregnancies in West Africa so as to put the relevant authorities in good picture about the situation and therefore help in coming up with recommendations and appropriate ways of curbing the menace that has seen the lives of thousands and thousands of young girls in West Africa go to waste by putting them in motherhood responsibilities at an early age. Therefore, below are the specific and overall objectives of the proposed research study:
1 To examine the causes of early pregnancies in West Africa.
2 To find out why pregnant young girls in West Africa suffer from depression.
3 To explore some of the factors leading to the thriving of the menace in West Africa.
4 To find out whether the culture of the West African people has a hand in the increase in the cases of early pregnancies among the girls in the region.
5 To critically look into some of the causes of the increased depression among the pregnant young girls in Western Africa.
6 To find out the efforts put in place by the relevant authorities in trying to curb the menace of early pregnancies and averting the situation.
7 To find out the general perception of the West African people regarding early pregnancies in West Africa.
Research questions for the proposed research study
For effective meeting of the above aims and objectives of this research study, the following questions will be used in the data collection to gather information. The answers to these questions will be a great milestone in presenting the actual facts and figures about the situation in West Africa with regard to the early pregnancies and depression. Therefore the following are some of the questions that will be used in the research:
1 What do you think is the main cause of early pregnancies in West Africa?
2 Apart from the factors you have mentioned above, are there any other causes of the early pregnancies among the young girls in West Africa?
3 Why do you think the young pregnant girls in West Africa get depression and related complications?
4 Do you think the society in West Africa contributes to the increased number of early pregnancies in the region?
5 If your answer to the above question (4) is yes, why do you think so?
6 How best do you think the issue of early pregnancies in West Africa can be dealt with?
7 What do you suggest the relevant authorities to do to ensure that you pregnant girls in West Africa do not suffer from depression?
Literature Review
Early pregnancies in West Africa have been on the increase and the world is generally concerned. The exponential increase has resulted to the upcoming of various activists that have tried to fight for the rights of the girl child in West Africa but many times the efforts have encountered a number of hitched due to the complexity that surrounds the issues especially on the main causes of early pregnancies in West Africa. However, all is not lost for people are now trying to come up with research studies that will put clear the reasons for the situation and present better recommendations that can actually help to solve the problem. It is prudent therefore to seek the factors behind the misery of young girls in West Africa with reference to early pregnancies and depression that has been termed by various non-governmental organizations in the region as the main cause of retrogression among the female gender in the West African society (Oladepo & Fayemi, 2011).
Factors Leading to Increased Early Pregnancies in West Africa
There are a number of causes that have been seen to increase the incidences of early pregnancies among the teenage girls in West Africa. One of the causes has been seen to be a retrogressive culture among the West African men. According to Izugbara (2015), the rich men in most of the West African countries such as Nigeria, Sierra Leon and Ghana have a habit of taking in young girls as their wives. The approach of such girls always proves very futile and difficult to many of them and thus, many of them opt to talking to their parents who just accept the proposal without considering the age of their daughters for money. The people affected by these are mostly young girls from poor families...