Benefits_of_Research_in_Social_Science

Social research is the purposive and rigorous investigation that aims to generate new knowledge. It is the intellectual tool of social scientists; social research is about discovery, new ideas, expanding the horizons and new conclusions on aspects of life. Research is diverse and pluralistic, varying in focus, purpose, procedures and theoretical foundations. Research may focus on people and the physical and social environment or on hidden structures n meaning. It can aim to increase scientific knowledge or to help people and change their lives. (Sarantakos 2005) John Dewey (1859-1952) was an American psychologist, philosopher, educator, social critic and political activist. In 1933 Dewey came up with 5 stages to research these are: * Recognition and definition of problem needing to be resolved. * Observations, collection and classification of data which is considered relevant to problem. * Formulation of tentative hypothesis. * Hypothesis verification. * Formulation. There are many types of research. The most used areas of research are qualitative and quantitative. However two more popular methods of research are Longitudinal and Descriptive. Longitudinal research studies social issues on more than one occasion using the same or different samples. In sociology these studies can be used to study life events throughout lifetime or generations, these studies tend to be more accurate. Types of longitudinal study are cohort studies and panel studies. Descriptive research is a sort of conclusive research that aims to describe characteristics and data of the item being studied. The Purpose of social research is to: * Explain social life and explain why we do things. * Understand human behaviour and actions. * Make predictions. * Develop and/or test theories. * Suggest possible solutions to social problems. * To empower and liberate people. There are many reasons why social research takes place, it can be used to educate and inform the public, to provide support to political plans and programmes. The principles of research are precision in measurement, accuracy, validity, reliability, objectivity, replication, generalising and representativeness. There is some sort of measurement to be had in research. There are four levels of measurement: * Nominal * Ordinal * Interval * Ratio Levels Underage drinking is a wide-spread problem among adolescents ages 12 to 20. There is a great number of researches that has been conducted regarding teens and their use of alcohol, and from this research a profound base of information has been gathered regarding the subject. Alcohol use by young people ages 12 to 20 is dangerous, not only because of the risks associated with mental impairment, but also because of the threat to their long-term physical and mental development and well-being. Also, frequent heavy drinking by some underage teens has been linked to increased cases of mild brain damage. Underage drinking studies have also shown that alcohol use contributes to youth-related violence, suicide, secondary school drop-out rates, and other problem behaviours. All of these teen-related issues are magnified by the age of the drinker. The younger the drinker the worse the problems will be. These studies have noticed that there are more youth that drink, that those that use tobacco or other illegal drugs. Other data from the surveys showed that early alcohol use may contribute to the risk of developing future alcohol abuse problems. The most well known danger is road accidents, because of drinks impairment to visibility. Studies have shown that alcohol impairment has been the cause of one-third of the fatalities in the youth’s traffic accidents. Another problem for the rise in underage drinking is the availability of the alcohol. Even though it is illegal to sell or give alcohol to youths under the age of 18, the teens do not have a hard time getting the alcohol; even getting it from adults. Many of the studies conducted regarding underage drinking have noticed that the youth drink alcohol because society views alcohol use as a normal, even desirable behaviour; citing the images and messages that advertising provides regarding alcohol use. Another common thread that researchers found is the absentness of the parents’ participation in their teens’ life. Nothing that teens with “hands-on parents” were much less likely to be involved in underage drinking. And also noted that teens whose parents talked to them about the risks associated with underage drinking and other harmful behaviours were less apt to drink and/or drive because they felt that they were important to their parents. Due to the information obtained by these various studies, effort are being made to bring the danger of underage drinking into the public view, not only for teens, but also for their parents, teachers, government officials. Many National Campaigns have been launched to help get the message of the dangers of underage drinking out to the community. These agencies believe that having a united stance and approach to the problems of underage drinking will be a major part of the solution to the problem. They also strongly believe helping young people and adults, along with policy changes will help seek solutions that will significantly reduce underage drinking and help to create healthier, safer lives and communities for everyone involved. In conclusion, we see that research has proven that there are very real danger regarding underage drinking, leading even to brain damage and death. But we also see that there is a growing awareness about underage drinking as well as various programs being started to help reduce the occurrence of underage drinking. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse in America, the first use of alcohol is typically reported to begin around the age of 12. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, children who began drinking before the age of 15, have a four times greater chance of becoming alcoholic as an adult than those who begin at the legal drinking age of 21. Among 12-20 year olds, approximately 7.2 million (19%) reported having engaged in binge (drinking 5 or more drinks in a row); and 2.4 million (8%) in heavy drinking. A 2007 study found that more males than females 12-20 years old reported alcohol consumption, binge drinking, and heavy drinking. According to an annual survey of U.S. youth, three-fourths of 12th graders, more than two-thirds of 10th graders, and about two in every five 8th graders have consumed alcohol. Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking; this includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicides, as well as hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drowning. Studies have also found that when teens drink they tend to drink intensively, often consuming four to five drinks at one time. Data from these studies have shown that 11 percent of 8th graders 22 percent of 10th graders, and 29 percent of 12th graders have engaged in heavy or binge drinking. Reference List Sarantakos, S. (2005) Social Research; 3rd Ed. New York; Palgrave Macmillan David, M. Sutton, C. (2004) Social Research: the basics, London; SAGE. http://dewey.pragmatism.org 08-10-2009 http://wikipedia.org 13-10-2009 http://www.gsociology.icap.org 14-10-2009 http://www.nida.nih.gov/ 14-10-2009 Smyth, C and MacLachlan, M. (2004) Binge drinking and youth culture: alternative perspectives, Dublin; Liffey Press.