The Domains Identified for Tentative Selected Focused Observations - Research Paper

Introduction

The first domain in the ethnographic study of drug abuse among the youth is the community. In this regard, the study will delve into the risk factors that include the laws that favor drug use, low neighborhood attachment, high levels of disorganization within the community, norms that favor drug use, and perceived availability of the drugs in question. Additionally, the study will look into protective factors. The factors include rewards for involvement in social activities such as sports and the availability of the opportunities for pro-social involvement. The second domain is the school. The study should delve into the level of commitment to school (drug users tend to have relatively lower levels of commitments to school) and academic failure. Additionally, the research should delve into the protective factors that include the opportunities for engagement into pro-social life and accompanying rewards for pro-social life.

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The next domain is family. In this regard, the research will look into risk factors such as family conflict, poor management of the family, the attitudes of the parents toward the use of drugs, and the parental attitudes that encourage anti-social behavior (Pagano et al., 2018). Moreover, the study should look into protective factors that include attachment to the parents (both the mother and father), the rewards associated with pro-social involvement, and the opportunities for involvement in pro-social activities (Hojja et al., 2016). The final domain is the peer or the individual groups. The research should delve into the risk factors that include rebellion, initiation into drugs at a tender age, favorable attitudes of the peers towards drugs, peers' favorable attitude towards anti-social behavior, the rewards associated with anti-social behavior, and sensation seeking. A critical look into protective factors such as the level of belief in the moral order, rewards for involvement in pro-social behaviors, and the interaction with the peers who are pro-social.

Structural Questions

What is the significance of the topic "drug abuse among the youth?"

Identify the casuist research problem (such relate to the identification of the right and wrong questions through the analysis of the moral dilemmas such as the youths adherence to the moral order in the society, and how the same could help in rooting out the drug menace)

What is the difference in the research problems? (For example, what is the difference in consequences between drug abuse among the youths and adults?)

What is the descriptive research problem? (For instance, what is the purpose of describing the drug menace in society?)

What is the rational research statement? (For instance, what is the relationship between drug abuse and academic performance?)

What are the sources of the problems for investigation? (such normally applies conclusions form theories, settling on interdisciplinary perspectives, drawing from personal experience, interviewing practitioners, and the application of relevant literature)

Determining analytical questions about the research problems (such involve highlighting ambiguity, raising the visibility of the key ideas, complex analysis of drug use, and settling on a specific path and avoiding the temptation to elicit generalizations).

Observation Posts that Will Lead to Making of Better-Focused Observations

The first post is the adherence to the ethics of observing to come up with the right data or information on the topic (drug abuse among the youth). Secondly, there is need to quantify the results obtained using the right quantitative methods, the statement made by the participants, and occurrences of the behaviors. Moreover, the researcher should improve the validity and the reliability of the study by having various independent researchers on the same topic and then coding the notes. Closely, the observer may change posts for better results or observation. The observer may be a participant, complete (detached) and make the participant become the observer.

Activities for Better Observation by the Researcher

The researcher may act as a complete observer. In this regard, the participants do not hear of or see the observer, as he is completely detached from the research. Such is beneficial since it gives the participants the opportunity to act naturally and minimize the Hawthorne Effect (Spradley, 2016). Te second activity is that the ethnographer may from part of the participants. The participants know the ethnographer and the objective of various activities. Thirdly, the ethnographer may transform the participants into observers. The observer is more of a colleague or a friend than a neutral party in the course of observation. Finally, the ethnographer may be a complete observer, which means that he acts like a complete spy. The ethnographer engages with the participants and takes part in their daily activities or routines.

Enlarged Cultural Domains

Cultural domains have the propensity of shaping people's attitudes towards substance and the experimentation with drug use. The cultural domains in this regard include familism, showing respect to others based on race, authority, or age, and fatalism (Geramian et al., 2016). Fatalism refers to the belief or the personality that one's destiny is beyond their control. It is worth noting that fatalism is more of a personality than a cultural trait, but most cultures tend to promote the fatalist beliefs, as such, they believe, tend to promote interdependence (Barratt & Maddox, 2016). The fatalist construct is much similar to the external locus of control, which refers to people's outlook based on other perception. Respect then refers based on age, gender, and authority determines an individual's inclination towards certain habits such as violence and drug abuse. Essentially, adolescents that uphold respect tend to have lower affinity towards drug abuse.

Ethnographic Focus Based Cultural Domains

The ethnographic focus will be on the effect on family or familism on the inclination towards drug abuse. In this regard, the research should focus on the effects of divorce or dysfunctional families on the drug abuse by children who come from those families (Rashid, Caine, & Goez, 2015). Towards this end, the research will focus on the comparative analysis of families with both parents and the ones that only consist of a single parent, and the propensity to drug abuse based on the same. Observing various families based on the stated composition will certainly be insightful in determining the effects of family or the composition of family in determining drug abuse among the children. In general, children with proper parental guidance and care tend to engage less in drug abuse or related activities. A focused observation should be on various families with half having parents while the other having an absentee mother or father (Unger et al., 2014). The aim is to determine the influence of the composition of the family on the children's behavior. The assumption is that children who get proper parental guidance tend to behave will and have lower probability of indulging in wayward behavior such as drug abuse. Observing the contrast between the identified families will definitely give the right results.

References

Barratt, M. J., & Maddox, A. (2016). Active engagement with stigmatized communities through digital ethnography. Qualitative Research, 16(6), 701-719.

Geramian, N., Gharaat, L., Taheri, S. A., Mohebpour, F., Nahvizadeh, M., Farajzadegan, Z., & Heidari, K. (2014). Development of a questionnaire to assess drug abuse among high school students of Isfahan province, Iran: An action research. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 5(Suppl 2), S146. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4475999/

Hojjat, S. K., Golmakani, E., Khalili, M. N., Chenarani, M. S., Hamidi, M., Akaberi, A., & Ardani, A. R. (2016). The effectiveness of group assertiveness training on happiness in rural adolescent females with substance abusing parents. Global journal of health science, 8(2), 156. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3092814/

Rashid, M., Caine, V., & Goez, H. (2015). The encounters and challenges of ethnography as a methodology in health research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(5), 1609406915621421.

Spradley, J. P. (2016). Participant observation. Waveland Press.

Unger, J. B., Schwartz, S. J., Huh, J., Soto, D. W., & Baezconde-Garbanati, L. (2014). Acculturation and perceived discrimination: Predictors of substance use trajectories from adolescence to emerging adulthood among Hispanics. Addictive Behaviors, 39(9), 1293-1296. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3703317/