Research Methodology in Health and Social Care

The topic that I have chosen to look at is obesity. The aim of this topic is to find out whether “the ignorance of genetics as a contra factor of obesity”. I have chosen to look at this topic because obesity is concerns me. Obesity has always been a bid debate for a long time now and I was intrigued to find out more about the topic and the cause of obesity. The fact that obesity has made deadlines news in recent years. There are a lot of misconceptions about obesity such as overweight is caused by a sow metabolism.

There have been a lot of beliefs and myths about obesity in society today and he above myths is on of them.According to Donnellan (1998) ‘ ‘people who are overweight have told their doctors that they eat no more and sometimes even less that their friends but they still get fat. He argued that is not true because he tested thousands of overweight people and every single one had a normal metabolism’’. This belief or myth has interested me to do research on obesity and find out whether “we are what we eat or whether genetics is to blame for being overweight as well as obesity”. Obesity has always been a controversial topic and this was also the reason why I decided to look at this part of the topic.Over recent years, the cause of obesity has been debated because they are not sure of the exact cause. This topic fascinates me because it is always being talked about and recently the study found that pregnant women are having a major impact on the NHS due to the increased risk of complications and the need for extra equipment and staff.

http://news. aol. co. uk/bigstorynews/fat-pregnant-women-burden-on-nhs/article/20070307070509990004 (17/04/08). The study found out that obese pregnant mothers need more one to one care, which can have an impact on waiting tomes for the patients.This also means that the NHS will have to spend a lot of money for these services. I chose this topic because my younger sister she overweight.

By comparing the information of her BMI from child to teen differences by giving the same details they both reflect a different health outlook. Her BMI on child test says she is healthy, although if she was to maintain her weight for 2 years when she turn 13 and class as an teenager for this test then the results will show she is obese (http:/apps. nccd. cdc. gov/dnpabmi/Results (15/03/08).This can suggest that there is more leeway when weighing children and teenagers than there is with adults. Does this mean it is socially acceptable for teenagers and children to be overweight? This can present a problem for children when they become teenagers because the weight that is seen as acceptable during childhood years will be classed overweight in teenager.

If this trend continues, one quarter of children will be clinically obese by the year 2010. There have been different myths and sayings that obesity is caused by the genes not the food or lack of exercise.Due to the issue that some scientists still believe that genetics is the cause of obesity, I was very intrigued to find out the cause of this and this pushed me to carry out my research about this topic. [pic] The research that I will carry out it will be based on about what is the cause of childhood obesity. My hypothesis is “do children have to eat healthy and exercise for them to maintain a healthy lifestyle in later on in life”? To carry out this research I will use questionnaires to find out what my fellow parents perspectives.In the questionnaire I will use closed and open ended questions. This enabled me to collect all the results that I needed.

My primary research questions are based on valid data. This is because parents will expressed their feelings about how to maintaining healthy lifestyle for their children at home. Green (2000) ‘‘argued that validity is the guarantee that whatever is being referred is both genuine and well founded. She goes on explaining that something is valid if the reader/researcher knows that it is true, accurate and that it measures what it is claiming to measure.In research terms validity is described as something which actually gives a true representation of what was being researched’’. From what has been said about validity, I would say that my research would be addressed on what has been stated that children have to eat healthy for them to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The advantages of using questionnaires for my research are as follows: It is quick to gather information that I needed for the research.

The questionnaires will be given out at my placement, church and class, so that the information will collect from a large portion of a group.According to www. uc. ie/resources (025/02/08) ‘‘argued that questionnaires give the researcher feedback from the point of view of the user’’. Using this type of research method, I can understand what I would have used other type of research method Taylor et al (1995) ‘‘argued that participant observation offers the best opportunity to discover how people see the world in which they live. It also provides the kind of insight, fresh information and new directions for research which are less likely to come from other methods. ’’ [pic]While carrying my research I will questionnaires to collect my primary data and this will assist me to gain lots of different answers, for me to be able to understand my research more.

According to the daily mirror science editor (15/05/08) The problem is that you could have type 2 diabetes for up to 12 years without knowing it simply because the symptoms are often quite general, seem unrelated and are easy to put down to ageing. [pic] The research finding was understood that the theoretical habits of fellow participants. The purpose of this research was to help me develop my knowledge which would help to improve my own practice.Compared to the literature review that I used, the purpose and role of my research has improved my practice as I was able to find out that this literature review supports my hypothesis. As it stated that people tend to eat more than they need which leads to a poor lifestyle such as obesity and illnesses. According to Tull (1996) ‘ ‘obesity is caused by eating more food than the body needs and argues than in this century people have machines such as hovers and many more entertaining games which are stopping people from exercising.Having all these machines prevents individuals from doing any physical work or activities’’.

The respondents from my questionnaire also stated that a poor lifestyle could lead to obesity. This means that my research literature proves my hypothesis as it signifies that our children have to eat healthy to maintain a healthy lifestyle. For example, if an individual who does not exercise and eats too much he/she is more likely to become overweight. This will mean that this individual will become unhealthy.Walsh et al (2000) states) ‘‘that the purpose and role of research in child care field is to produce knowledge that is useful to child acre practitioners. The literature review that I have used also produced the knowledge that was useful as it was able to prove my hypothesis undertaken. The literature review signifies that in UK most households have televisions, therefore, people take less exercise than they did in the past Cole-Hamilton (1987) ‘ ‘states that this has an affect on health patterns, long with the dietary changes.

This actually proves my hypothesis which clarifies that children have to eat healthy to maintain a healthy diet. According to Green (2000) ‘‘the purpose and role of research in child care and education is to provide information and it enables society to develop new ideas based on enquiry. ’’ This literature review that I used was also carried out with research. Research is important because with no research we would not be able to available information to support the improvements of facilities and to compare standards between different settings. Because of research I was able to use the literature review to prove my hypothesis.This also enabled me to use facts such as questions from my questionnaire to have different views from the respondents who where involved in the research. Questions asked about their children’s health such as how many their children eat a day; this enabled me to conclude that those who eat too much are healthy as those who do not In child care and education there are a lot of reasons why research is carried out.

Before the research the researchers needs a specific focus group in the form of a hypothesis. A hypothesis can suggest which way the outcome is likely to be and can be proven right or wrong.An open ended hypothesis because it does not suggest a prediction, but simply refers that on factor will affect another. A researcher with the information needed including different perspectives from the respondents and the literature review that was undertaken to prove or disprove this hypothesis. My literature review was to agree or disagree with my hypothesis. In general my literature review has proved that research is important in child care and education as it provides the researcher with more knowledge and understanding more about what they are searching. [pic] [pic]As a researcher while carrying out me researches I consider and respect all of my participant’s ethnicity no matter what their age are.

I did not discrimination my participants regardless of their race, culture, gender, age, disability and sexuality. I did value the diversity of each individual who took part in completing my questionnaires. I did make sure that I did not make assumptions but try to understand and value diversity of each individual by not making assumptions and judgments. When designing my questionnaires I ensure that I include every one, this is based on ethnic issues.