Psychology for Design Cross Sectional Design - MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about thePsychology for Design Cross Sectional Design. Answer: Is brain injury in childhood associated with violent criminality in adulthood? Design- Cross-sectional study design. Two different group of men are considered for the study wherein one group had head injuries while the other group did not have head injuries. The survey with the above mentioned two groups of the population was done to understand the level of development of violent criminality. The aim of the selecting this design was to demonstrate that brain injuries have a relation with violent crime rates. Taking part in criminal acts would be different for men having brain injuries in childhood and men not having brain injuries in childhood. The difference, if significant, would imply that men having head injury indulge more in criminal activities. The cross-sectional study design was selected due to the wide range of advantages they would bring in to the study. With cross-sectional studies, a representative sample can be obtained through taking a cross-section of the population. This was advantageous for the present study as individuals facing head injury at childhood and individuals not facing head injury at childhood could be selected as a representative of the total population. With a cross-sectional study, all the measurements of the sample, pertaining to act of violence, could be obtained at a single point of time. A cross-sectional study is mainly ideal for having an estimation of the prevalence of behaviour in a population. Prevalence refers to the proportion of the population engaged in a particular behaviour (Leary 2016). Such a design is easy to conduct, and the process is rapid too. Long periods of follow up are not required in this case. It was easier to make up two groups of participants and then carry out the res earch. Data on the independent and dependent variable could be collected at once. In addition, the prevalence of all factors could be measured easily. Cross-sectional studies are suitable for descriptive analyses and generation of the hypothesis is aided in such cases (Takeuchi et al. 2015). There lie some risks of obtaining unfavourable data if cross-sectional studies are carried out. Primarily, there is a chance of coming across non-response bias if the potential participants, who provide initial consent to participate in the study, differ from those who do not, leading to constructing a sample that cannot be perceived as a proper representative of the population. In addition, since data from each participant can be recorded only once, difficulties are faced in inferring the temporal relationship between the outcome and the risk factor. Thus, there is no scope for identifying causation from cross-sectional studies (Kratochwill and Levin, 2015). Non-response bias can be avoided by avoiding short data collection periods, sending reminders and communicating effectively prior to data collection and ensuring confidentiality. Being flexible with the time frame of data collection would reduce the chances of non-response bias dramatically. More completed responses can be colle cted if strong communication is maintained with the respondents. Since the data on experiencing head injuries and violent acts are personal in nature, it is necessary that the participants are assured that the data would be kept confidential (Simonsohn, Nelson and Simmons 2017). The study design that was secondly thought of was Case-control study design. Such study design is presented with a number of disadvantages. Firstly, chances of selection bias are more for such deigns. Such studies are inefficient for exposures that are rare. Though case control studies are beneficial when data is hard to obtain, the disadvantages of such design are more in weight in comparison to cross-sectional studies, and therefore this design was rejected. The longitudinal study design was not considered as it requires more amount of time and there lies a risk of gathering data that is not completely reliable. In addition, a large sample size is required, which might not be possible in the present case. Cross-sequential studies are more complex in nature and time-consuming in nature and therefore was not considered for the present research (Panneerselvam 2014). Is brain injury in childhood associated with violent criminality in adulthood? Formal description- A cross-sectional study to find the relationship between brain injuries in youth and violent crimes in adulthood. Participant- Data for the study are to be collected from 250 male and 250 female state prison offenders. The offenders would be aged 18 years and above and would have completed an English comprehension screen. In addition, they would not have any disabilities or similar conditions that can potentially impair the individuals ability to provide informed consent. Random sampling would be done for the proposed research. They would be recruited separately by their gender and would be stratified by the kind of release. Separate sampling would be done for men and women for attaining approximately equivalent samples. Materials- A private, one-time comprehensive in-person structured interview would be carried out for the research with a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire would be divided into different section and would cover Buss-Perry Aggression Scale Questionaire, The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) subscales, The Sensation Seeking Scale of ZuckermanKuhlman Personality Questionnaire, Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, The Abbreviated Dysregulation Inventory Scale, TheWide Range Achievement Test as well as questions covering violent crime, childhood adversity and social support. Procedure- Face-to-face interviews would be conducted with the participants in private areas within the prisons. Time allotted for explaining the study, getting informed consent, and conducting the interview would be about 60 to 120 minutes. Data analysis would be done with the help of the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) 9.3 (Brewer-Smyth, Cornelius and Pickelsimer 2015). Internal validity- For achieving reliable results that are statistically significant, the sample size would be selected as 500 participants. The big sample size would eliminate chances of inconsistent results. Bias for gender-specific results in the research would be eliminated by selecting an equal number of male and female participants. External validity- External validity would be maintained by using random sampling for the study. In such a case participation would be determined randomly with a random number generator prior to initiation of the study for ensuring that there is no systematic bias present (Willcutt et al. 2014). It is hypothesised that between brain injuries in youth lead to violent crimes in adulthood. This communication is regarding the invitation to participate in the research study titled Is brain injury in childhood associated with violent criminality in adulthood? that would be conducted at the state prison in the coming one month. Your name and details have been received from the state prison database after ethics approval from the concerned authority. The purpose of the project would be to study the relationship between brian injury in childhood and acts of violence in adulthood. If you agree to take part in the research, you would be requested to make your contribution in the following manner. You would need to fill up a questionnaire pertaining to study outcomes such as childhood adversity, violent crime, mental health, psychopathy and dysregulation. The interview would be conducted as per your convenient time. It is ensured that confidentiality and your anonymity would be maintained to the fullest possible extent. Your personal details would be stored separately, out of reach of intruders. In the final report, you would be referred to by a pseudonym. Please note that your participation in the study is solely voluntary. You have the complete right to withdraw from the study at any stage as per your convenience. There is no involvement of the researchers in the process of ethics application. If you agree to participate, please indicate that all details of the research are clear to you by signing the consent form accompanied with this piece of communication. The researchers would then contact you for arranging a mutually convenient time for the proposed interview. In the case of any query, please contact Mr XXXX at XXXX. You are welcome with the queries. References Brewer-Smyth, K., Cornelius, M.E. and Pickelsimer, E.E., 2015. Childhood adversity, mental health, and violent crime.Journal of forensic nursing,11(1), pp.4-14. Kratochwill, T.R. and Levin, J.R. eds., 2015.Single-Case Research Design and Analysis (Psychology Revivals): New Directions for Psychology and Education. Routledge. Leary, M.R., 2016.Introduction to behavioral research methods. Pearson. Panneerselvam, R., 2014.Research methodology. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.. Simonsohn, U., Nelson, L. and Simmons, J., 2017. Research Methodology, Design, and Analysis.Annual Review of Psychology,69(1). Takeuchi, H., Taki, Y., Hashizume, H., Asano, K., Asano, M., Sassa, Y., Yokota, S., Kotozaki, Y., Nouchi, R. and Kawashima, R., 2015. The impact of television viewing on brain structures: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.Cerebral Cortex,25(5), pp.1188-1197. Willcutt, E.G., Chhabildas, N., Kinnear, M., DeFries, J.C., Olson, R.K., Leopold, D.R., Keenan, J.M. and Pennington, B.F., 2014. The internal and external validity of sluggish cognitive tempo and its relation with DSMIV ADHD.Journal of abnormal child psychology,42(1), pp.21-35.