Previous research indicates that there are a number of factors that affect the management and coping of stress by individuals. Among these factors are social support, problem directed coping and avoidance. Increased support has the effect of significantly moderating the association between the well-being of an individual and stress levels. In addition, research has established that frequent avoidance as a coping strategy to stress has the negative effect of accelerating the association between stress and well-being of an individual irrespective of the social support offered to the individual (Chao, 2010).
Studies also indicate that environmental enrichment can be used as a tool for the management of stress as indicated by a study that was conducted on captive animals. Enrichment is the alteration of the captive animals’ environment with the objective of escalating environmental complexity and increasing biological functioning (Fairhurst et al, 2011).
A study conducted by Wrosch and Heckhausen into the effects of controlled strategies as a tool for the management of stress among adults indicate that age-adapted endorsement of control strategies is appropriate for the well-being of the subjects if the individual is under financial stress (Wrosch & Heckhausen, 2000).
The purpose of this study is to determine the population that is most affected by stress and as a result determine the factors that lead to stress. It is also of interest to compute a standardized regression equation that will be used in the prediction of stress levels.
The research questions being considered in this analysis will therefore be:
Research Question
Which category of individual (gender, race , age, socioeconomic status) is most affected by stress and what are the contributing factors?
Research question
Which methods of mitigating and managing stress are most effective are they (environmental enrichment, social support, avoidance coping strategies or problem focused strategies)
The questions are administered to the respondents through the use of questionnaires whose items are structured in the form of a Likert scale. The viability of the questions in the capturing of the population with stress level and the methods of mitigating stress is determined through the use of reliability test to show that they indeed measure the variable of interest (Thorndike, 2005).
The hypotheses being tested are:
H0 – stress levels do not differ across the categories (age, gender, race and socioeconomic status) of the respondents.
Ha – stress levels do differ across the categories of the respondents.
The statistical test that will be used to test for the difference in categories is the independent sample t-test. ANOVA test will be used to come up with a standardized regression equation for estimating stress when the variables age, gender, race and socioeconomic status are known.
The second hypotheses being tested are:
H0 – The methods presented for the mitigation and management of stress (social support, avoidance, problem focus and environmental enrichment) are equally effective.
Ha – The methods for mitigation and management of stress are not equally effective.
The independent sample t-test is used to test if the methods used in the management of stress are equally effective or not.
Qualitative and mixed research involves the use and analysis of textual data and as such because most of the data collected involve numerical data, these techniques are inappropriate.
The quantitative approach that is best suited to capture the data that will be collected is random sampling technique. This is because all the elements of the population will stand an equal chance of being included in the sample and as such the sample will be a representative of the population. Stratified random sampling is considered because it involves the use of strata and therefore the categories being considered (gender, race and socioeconomic status) in the study will have significantly equal proportions and as such bias is eliminated.
The target population is the individuals of a certain geographical location that consists of individuals who possess our variables of interest. The participants will be recruited randomly after the identification of the target population so as to ensure that they are a representative of the whole population.
The sample size is greatly determined from the estimate of the population size. Once the population estimate has been determined from previous studies, then the sample size will be calculated using that sample size calculation tools available.
The independent variables being considered are age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, social support, avoidance strategies, problem focused strategies and environmental enrichment. The independent variables are stress levels and methods of mitigating stress.
The instruments used in data collection are questionnaires because they appropriately capture the variables under consideration and they are available for reference if needed. The data collection procedure used is direct questioning of the participants so that clarification can easily be made if the need arises and missing data can easily be realized by the researcher. Furthermore, the researcher is better placed to know how to record certain information for easy data entry and analysis. The data will help answer the research question because they will enable the statistical analysis of the variables of interest and statistical inference can be made using the outcomes. Some of the threats of validity that exist include regression artifacts and attrition. This is because some of the participants fall at the extreme ends of the measure. These threats can better be mitigated by inclusion of their effects in the interpretation of the results (Shadish et al, 2002).
The data collected is analyzed through the use of available statistical analysis softwares. Ethical consideration in the study includes the use of information collected for statistical analysis purposes only. The participants of the study are also informed on the objectives of the study and how the information they offer will be used. A informed consent for is administered with the questionnaire.
References:
Chao, C. R. (2010). Managing Stress and Maintaining Well-being: Social Support, Problem-Focused Coping, and Avoidant Coping. Journal of Counseling and Development. 89 338-349.
Fairhurst, G. D., Frey, M. D., Reichert, F. J. Szelest, I., Kelly, D. M., & Bortolotti, G. R. (2011). Does Environmental Enrichment Reduce Stress? An Integrated Measure of Corticosterone from Feathers Provides a Novel Perspective. Plos one 6 (3).
Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental
designs for generalized causal inference. Boston: Houghton- Mifflin
Thorndike, R.M. (2005). Measurement and evaluation in psychology and education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Wrosch, C., & Heckhausen, J. (2000). Primary and Secondary Control Strategies for Managing Health and Financial Stress Across Adulthood. Psychology and Aging. 15 (3) 387-399.
