Evaluating the Research Process Paper

Evaluating the Research Process
Dalia M. Davidson
November 11, 2012
HCS/465
Terri Peters

Evaluating the Research Process Researchers take pride in organization and hard work in making sure information is accurate. Over the past years there have become an alarming number of teenage pregnancies occurring. The authors of this article has seen some changes while conducting their study of ways to help decrease the number of teens pregnant in the United States. During the survey and study performed by the author on middle school students who were educated on prevention methods and placed within an abstinence program were less likely to engage in sexual activities. The authors suggest that the United States as a developed country has the largest number of teenage pregnancies but there has been a decline within some races due to the preventive measures put in place. Black teenagers aged 15-17 demonstrated the most dramatic decline. Hispanic teen pregnancy and birth rates has been slower than any other ethnic groups. The overall trend of teens reporting ever having sexual intercourse parallels with the declining teen birth rates. The following article will explore the results and opinions concluded in the research study, statistical data, and other important information collected during the study,
Use of Literature Review The literature in this article in this research is to inform readers about the problem of teenage pregnancy in the United States and what were the results and the common solution. There is data from the Center of Disease Control that finds the cause of the problem. It gives the percentage of teens that are pregnant each year and their partners who are dealing with unwanted pregnancy. Literature review assessment is research that is data study subject where content is summarized and information is collected to arrange for analysis. Also, the study provides interpretations or content to verify studies and offer more information on study subjects. The literature assessment in this article introduces what could happen while being sexual active without using any preventive measures such as STD or pregnancy and offers available data on some solutions. The authors discuss that the literature produces study subject information regarding risky sexual behaviors causes teenage pregnancy because U.S. teenagers is less effective and infrequent use of contraceptives methods. The program evaluation literature on the prevention of teen pregnancy, STDs, and HIV/AIDS has begun a connection between children’s attitudes and their risky behavior. Thomas and Dimitrov (2008) provides information related to STDs associated with risky sexual behaviors what perils are associated with increasing education within schools and community instead of ignoring the problem. There were many sources of literature used in the research process. The article used 54 sources were used as references in this research article and all of them give relevant information on the theoretical explanation of the research. One reference in particular was information provided from a previous study performed during the first year of the program in the year 1999 with 600 seventh grade students in three middle schools. Much of the information found in the study was used again in the new study done by Thomas and Dimitrov (2008) with the exception more subjects were used for this particular study and instead of three middle schools; they used four middle schools in the Virginia public school system. The study utilized the common quantitative research method called a survey. The survey was conducted in person on middle school students in the 7th grade with 82 item survey about attitudes towards sexuality. In the study there were 1,136 students studied and questioned.
Ethical Guidelines The study was conducted following these ethical guidelines as it was not biased because the information was taken from the selected middle schools and the students were randomly selected. Also, the study was conducted by giving the students a post-intervention asking them a series of questions that remained the same for each subject no matter what middle school they were from. The rights of the subject were protected by random selection process and the participants had to have a permission form signed by the parent or guardian to enter the program. It is important to ensure anonymity of the subjects within the group because they are children. The subjects’ rights were protected because by no means did the subject attempt to encourage, promote or interfere in the lives of the subject. The questions that were asked of the students focused on self affirmation, love as justification, sex for approbation, personal efficacy, future orientation, and independence from peer influence (Thomas & Dimitriv, 2008).
Statistically Significant The validation of six hypothesized factors underlying the 22 item instrument indicated a good model fit for both the pre-and post-treatment data. All parameter estimates were statistically significant with critical ratios varying from 13.58 to 29.58. A critical ratio greater than 2.00 in absolute value indicates statistical significance of the parameter estimate. The results in Table 4 show the data was model fit. Also, the difference between the chi-square statistics with and without correlated residuals for the measures of individual items at Time 1 and Time 2 was statistically significant. The chi-square difference in Model 2 and Model 3 was not statistically significant for the two treatment groups at Time 1 and Time 2 showing that the intercepts were invariant across the treatment groups but not the case for gender. In Table 6, the chi-square differences obtained with testing for invariance of error variances across groups at Time 1 and Time 2 were statistically significant.
Conclusion
In conclusion this study provided evidence that the hypothesized constructs of teens’ attitudes toward risky sexual behavior are valid and sensitive to changes under the program intervention. The findings were limited to the domains of the study. The push to make the program to prevent teenage pregnancy nationally available to younger ages is something that will need to be studied further in the future to determine whether the current findings can be generalized beyond the study population. Also, the more information is needed to convey to what extent the ATS constructs relate to distal risky sexual behaviors. Meanwhile, there is desperate need for more information on the how ATS constructs operate within a system of child and adolescent support that includes the parents and community primarily focused upon the minority groups (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2002).
Effectiveness
The study was effective only for the subjects being used. The findings did not reveal that the data provided could be used towards a national population of adolescents. In order to base this information broader on the entire population future research has to be done and possible different questions would need to be used on the survey. The survey that was given as well as the program intervention was based on the students within those four middles and that particular county. The data provided at the end of the study possibly could not be subjected to another population of students located in an area heavily populated with minorities who have been raised differently or exposed to more. For example, this study may not work in New York where the lifestyles of people are a lot different and adolescents may be exposed to things that may not be in a small suburban type area. Many researchers hypothesize and try to reach a conclusion by providing accurate data. In this particular study performed by Thomas and Dimitrov, the authors were concerned with preventing the number of teenage pregnancy by providing prevention programs and education to adolescents about the consequences of risky sexual behaviors. Both contributions were supposed to decline the number of teenage pregnancies in the United States. However, there was decline overall in the number of teenage pregnancies but the number as far industrialized nations tends to be the same. Moreover, the decline in teen pregnancy does not address the large number of involuntary sex among the female teens is considered a problem. Another reason is that many teens are engaging in oral sex because it prevents pregnancies but are future prospects for contracting a STD including HIV/AIDS. The population studied showed statistically significant data and the study revealed findings that correlated with the hypothesis but cannot be used nationally at this time without further future research.

Work Cited
Thomas, C. L. & Dimitrov, D. M. (2007). Effects of a teen a pregnancy prevention program on teens’ attitudes toward sexuality: A latent trait modeling approach. Developmental Psychology, 43(1), 173-185.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. ( 2002). The identification and prevention of middle childhood precursors of risky sexual behavior (P. A. No. PA-02-101).

Cited: Thomas, C. L. & Dimitrov, D. M. (2007). Effects of a teen a pregnancy prevention program on teens’ attitudes toward sexuality: A latent trait modeling approach. Developmental Psychology, 43(1), 173-185. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. ( 2002). The identification and prevention of middle childhood precursors of risky sexual behavior (P. A. No. PA-02-101).