Causes Behind Youth Depression Assignment Sample

• Subject Name : Arts and Humanities

Contents

Background.

Research Rationale.

Research questions.

Aim..

Objectives.

Research Methodology.

Research Design.

Sampling Procedure.

Data Collection Procedure.

Research Instruments.

Proposed Data Analysis.

Ethical Considerations.

Limitations and Strengths of the project

Timetable.

References.

Background of Causes Behind Youth Depression

Ranna Parekh of The American Psychiatric Association (2017) describes depression as a serious, however common, illness that has a negative impact on how one feels, acts, and thinks. Depression leads to feelings of sadness and results in one's loss of interest in activities once previously enjoyed. Symptoms of depression often include: feeling irritable, tired, worthless, losing interest in food, weight loss or weight gain, etc. Depression is not limited to age and can affect anyone, regardless of their age, race, sex, etc. However, this research paper will focus mainly on depression among young people. Key reasons behind youth depression result from having experienced adversity during adolescence, and Burns, Andrews, and Szabo (2002) explain that this is especially applicable to girls.

Research Rationale

The significance and novelty of this research lie in its aim to bridge the gap in the literature regarding depression among young people. Additionally, in the study of depression and the collective aim of both the government as well as the society to actively address issues of depression among the youth, such research will provide an efficient amount of data and knowledge for further studies to take place. Researching the various causes of depression on young people is a collective issue of society and has a great impact on society as a whole. Hence, this research paper will serve as a starting point for further investigations on how to mitigate and intervene in the lives of depressed youth. By using data from the research, clinical psychologists and psychiatrists together can planandimplement various counseling and medical relief and intervention methods and techniques to effectively deal with depression in the youth of the country.

Research questions

This research paper aims to address the following research questions:

What are the main causes of depression in young people?

What is the psychological and mental impact of depression on young people?

Aim

The key aim behind this research is to understand the contributors to youth depression and the depth of the impact depression has on people. The research paper aims to understand the mental as well as the psychological impact of depression and possible recommendations for improvement.

Objectives

The key objectives of this research are:

Research Objective 1: To uncover the root causes behind youth depression

Research Objective 2: To understand the psychological impact of depression on young people by conducting thorough research

Research Methodology of Causes Behind Youth Depression

Research Design

 A research design is a strategy which the researcher employs based on determined orestablished research questions. An effective research design helps the researcher in investigating and evaluating various research variables related to the research. There are three types of research designs which are: explanatory, descriptive, and exploratory questions (Rahi, 2017). This research will use the exploratory research design due to the lack of literature existing on the causes of depression in young people specifically. The exploratory research design is used by a researcher commonly due to the lack of existing prior research material that the research may use for reference.

Sampling Procedure

The research will visit ten different psychiatrists in the New South Wales region. The researcher will seek permission from ten psychiatrists to have an opportunity to interview three of their depression patients. Interviewing three patients from each psychiatrist will result in a sample size of thirty patients. In cases where the psychiatrist does not have young depression patients, the researcher will continue to visit various psychiatrists at random to complete the sample size. There will be no restriction in terms of the gender of the patient. The research will focus more on the number of patients instead of their gender as this will aid in data interpretation when it comes to analyzing gender-based trends in youth depression.

Data Collection Procedure

For this research, the researcher will use both primary and secondary data. Primary data refers to data that is collected fort-hand by the research (Ajayi, 2017). Secondary data, on the other hand, is data that is available and made publically accessible by established researchers from the past. Secondary data is data that already exists from the research of someone else. For the secondary data, the researcher will use various sources such as books, journals, peer-reviewed articles, and various websites.

The primary data to be collected will be from interviewing thirty young depressed youth who seek the aid of psychiatrists on a regular basis (Alshenqeeti, 2014). After asking for permission to be interviewed, the patients will all be asked the following questions:

1. Why do you think you are depressed?
2. What is your predominant mood?
3. What triggers you the most?
4. What kind of relationship do you share with your parents?
5. How has your school/college life been mostly?
6. What do you feel like doing when you are at your lowest?
7. Is there someone you wish to be with right now?
8. How has seeing a psychiatrist helped you in your depression?
9. When did you realize you were depressed?
10. How supportive is are your family and friends during this difficult time?

Qualitative data will be collected from the above interview. Qualitative data is data that research receives from primary sources and uses to observe and analyse patterns (Daniel, 2016). The interviewees will be reassured that their information is confidential and that they can answer the questions confidently. This is important to ensure that the data received is valid.

Research Instruments

Since the data collection from primary sources will be via interviews, the researcher will essentially require a pen and paper to note down the responses of the patients. Additionally, a recorder will also be needed to record the responses, this will help the research revisit the interviews when analyzing the data and findings, also, in such cases, it is essential that the interviewer clearly explains the purpose of the interview (Zohrabi, 2013). For the secondary data, the researcher will need access to the internet and for that, a laptop will be required along with stable Wi-Fi connectivity. Additionally, the researcher will also need access to various databases to gain access to secondary resources such as peer-reviewed articles and journals.

Proposed Data Analysis

Analyzing the collected data from the research helps the researcher process the data and make sense of it by observing key patterns and other criteria that aim to answer the research question and either accept or reject the research hypothesis. 

The data collected from secondary sources will be analyzed using the thematic analysis tool. The thematic analysis tool will help the researcher to improve the save time as thematic analysis takes less time but also helps improve the accuracy of the results (Nowell et al., 2017). The thematic analysis method is used when dealing with qualitative data. The researcher will pen down the research interview answers in the form of a transcript to observe possible patterns and common trends among the interviewees. Additionally, the researcher will also use the secondary data collected as a point of reference to relate, correspond, or reject existing data and literature against the findings.

Ethical Considerations

Ethics refers to a set of written or unwritten rules that one ought to abide by and follow in order to govern one's own behavior (Yip et al., 2016). Taking into account ethical issues during the research as well as during the research analysis is an integral part of the research. The presence of a predetermined code of conduct is essential when carrying out research as well as when interpreting the data collected during the research. The ethical considerations that the researcher ought to consider for this research are to keep the identities of the patients anonymous. Since the interviewees will be reassured that their identity will remain confidential, the researcher will have to follow that code of practice.

Furthermore, the researcher will have to maintain a neutral ground during the research. This will entail that the research will neither project nor have any type of bias throughout the research and data will be interpreted for its independent value and not measured against the prejudice of the researcher.

Limitations and Strengths of the Project

The strengths of research are what put the research in an advantage. The strength of this research is that the primary source of data will be taken directly from those suffering from depression first-hand. Hence, the validity of the data is guaranteed. Additionally, the research will not only rely on one source of data but will rather be collecting data from both primary as well as secondary sources.

However, there is a limitation to the age group that the research focuses on. Research limitations are influences on the research which are outside the control of the researcher (Olufowote, 2017). While this sheds light on youth depression, it dims the light on those suffering from depression but belongs to other age groups. Another limitation, although unlikely, will be the untruthfulness of the interviewees. The interviews may agree to the interview but may also not be comfortable enough to answer honestly and hence may lie in their answers to the questions.

Timetable

References for Causes Behind Youth Depression

Burns, J., Andrews, G. &Szabo, M. (2002). Depression in young people: What causes it and can we prevent it? The Medical Journal of Australia, 177(2), 93-96.

Parekh, R. (2017). What is depression? Retrieved from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression

Daniel, E. (2016). The usefulness of qualitative and quantitative approaches and methods in researching problem-solving ability in science education curriculum. Journal of Education and Practice, 5(15), 91-100.

Rahi, S. (2017). Research design and methods: A systematic review of research paradigms, sampling issues and instruments development. International Journal of Economics & Management Sciences, 6(2), 1-5.

Alshenqeeti, H. (2014). Interviewing as a data collection method: A critical review.English Linguistics Research, 3(1), 39-45.

Zohrabi, M. (2013).Mixed method research: Instruments, validity, reliability and reporting findings.Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3(2), 254-262.

Nowell, L., Norris, J., White, D. &Moules, N. 2017. Thematic analysis: Striving to meet trustworthiness criteria.  The International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), 1-13

Yip, C., Han, N.L.R. &Sng, B.L. 2016. Legal and ethical issues in research. Indian Journal OfAnaesthesia, 60(9), 684.

Olufowote, J. (2017). Limitations of research. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328748941_Limitations_of_Research

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