Violence in relationships has been long acknowledged as a serious problem all over the world. I am interested in learning what age of person is most likely to be in a violent relationship, either as a victim or as a perpetrator. Violence in relationships can involve physical abuse, sexual abuse or emotional abuse (Chebucto). All can be equally as harmful.
I plan to conduct a study into which age of person is more likely to experience violence in a relationship. My hypothesis is that more violence occurs in relationships where one or both people are between the ages of 25 and 35.
In order to conduct this study, a random sample of people needs to be interviewed. There will be five different age brackets: 18-25, 25-35, 35-45, 45-55, 50 and upwards. Ten participants from each age bracket must be asked a series of questions exploring whether they have experienced violence in relationships and at what age. Furthermore, it should be ascertained whether the participant was the perpetrator or the victim of violence, and what type of violence was experienced (physical, sexual or emotional). It is vital that the interviews are carried out in private and confidential settings. Violence is a sensitive subject for many people, especially those who have experienced it, and the setting of the study needs to be appropriate for such sensitivity. Clearly, it has to be acknowledged that some people may not be honest with their answers due to the delicate nature of the subject matter.
The independent variable for this study is range of different age brackets that the participants fall into. The dependent variable is which age group contains the most experience of violence in relationships.
Works Cited
Chebucto. “Understanding Violence in Relationships.” 2011. Web. 18 Feb 2012.
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/CommunitySupport/Men4Change/violencerelate.html
