Mathematics
Introduction
Since 1980, over 150,000 Cambodian refugees have resettled in the United States. Many of these refugees had suffered from trauma during the four years of Khmer Rouge terror. The trauma suffered during conflict has been aggravated in the case of the refugees, as they had to assimilate themselves in a new culture in the USA, learning new a language, developing new community ties and engaging in new occupations. The researchers- Sack, Clarke and Seeley- wished to study the subsequent developmental impact of the early war stressors on the Khmer youth in their late childhood or early adolescence. Their goal was to relate war trauma, resettlement stress and recent stressful events experienced by two samples of Khmer and young adult refugees to their PTSD and depression psychopathology. The fact that the researchers were constrained by a convenience sample, coupled with a predominantly urban sample from one region of the USA, substantially weakens the results of their study.
Overview of the Statistical Study
Previous clinical experience had indicated that adult refugee subjects were very vulnerable to intercurrent stressors. The researchers posited that youth reporting PTSD symptoms would also report more evidence of resettlement stress during their first year in the United States. They also predicted that subjects reporting depressive symptoms would report more recent stressful events but would not report significant war trauma or resettlement stress. To prove their hypotheses, the researchers undertook a study of Cambodian adolescent refugees.
Roughly 35,00 Cambodian people live in the greater Portland area, most having arrived between 1981 and 1986. From this population, the researchers obtained a sample of 170 adolescents from two sources in a single western community in Portland. The first group of 64 adolescents was a non-random sample (a sample of convenience) of 64 Khmer youth interviewed during the pre-test year of the study (1990-1991). To arrive at the sample for the second group, the researchers prepared a list of potential subjects by combining the records of a local community service agency dealing with refugee populations with Khmer student enrollment lists from high schools and community colleges. From this list, 106 adolescents and a parent were randomly selected for an interview in 1991-1992. 23% of the sample was under the age of 17 when interviewed, implying this group was under the age of 5 or less during the Cambodian War. The average age of the sample was 20 years. Gender distribution was roughly equal. The random sample showed a higher SES level and a longer period of time in the United States. The researchers noted the occupational status in the pre-immigration status of the sample. The samples were combined to provide adequate Ns in each diagnostic category.
Critique
The first sample taken by the researchers was a convenience sample of 64 Khmer youth. A convenience sample is easy to obtain, as the researchers needed only to approach all youth they could find, so long as they were of Khmer origin. The convenience sample, while easy to obtain and resulting in minimizing cost and effort, has a major lacuna of non-representativeness (Kothari, 2004, p.15). The youth chosen were not adjusted for gender and age. The researchers had no way of knowing from which part of Cambodia they arrived. Therefore, the convenience sample, being non-representative of the entire population of Cambodian youth, could have vitiated the results.
Even the second group chosen by the researchers was non-representative of Cambodian refugees. The researchers restricted their sample to a single region of the USA- Portland. It cannot be said with certainty that the Cambodian refugee population in Portland represents the entire Cambodian refugee population that emigrated from Cambodia. For instance, assuming that the population that moved to Portland was originally from the borders of Cambodia and Laos, and not from the areas close to the capital, Pnom Penh. In such a case, the population would have probably faced slightly less of the tribulations of war trauma as compared to others who came from areas close to the capital and therefore under greater terrorizing control of the Pol Pot regime. Therefore, the results of the study would not be possible to be generalized.
Further, it is likely that the resettlement stresses on the Cambodian population that migrated to Portland is not representative of the stresses faced by other groups that moved to other cities in the USA. For instance, those who moved to New York might have faced a larger amount of stress in resettlement, as compared to the relatively slower pace of life for people who moved to Portland. Therefore, the correlations of stress and PTSD would be different for different groups of Cambodian refugees. As the sample was only from Portland, the correlations of stress might be misleading.
The sample of Cambodian refugees was predominantly urban. This aspect further adds to the weakness of the study, as the sample was non-representative of the entire population of Cambodian refugees. It is likely that the stresses faced by refugees of rural background would be significantly different from those of urban backgrounds.
Conclusion
The study by the researchers to determine the relationships between PTSD, resettlement stress and recent stressors amongst Cambodian refugees runs afoul of the tenet of representativeness, due to infirmities in the two samples chosen. While the first suffered from being a convenience sample, the second suffered from an urban character and from being taken only from Portland. Thus, the results of the study could not be readily applied to the entire population of Cambodian refugees.
Another moot point to consider is the ethical angle in such a study. Given that the Cambodian refugees had fled a war ravaged country and were trying to assimilate into a new country, asking them questions related to their past and about their efforts at assimilation would have undoubtedly opened dormant memories of persecution and stress (Research Ethics, n.d.). Instead of helping them to forget the past, the study would have only served to make them once more aware of the precarious situation they find themselves in.
References
Kothari, C.R. (2004). Research methodology: tools and techniques. New Delhi: New Age.
Research Ethics. (n.d.). Asking questions of participants. Retrieved March 8, 2016, from http://www.ethicsguidebook.ac.uk/Asking-questions-of-participants-100
Sack, W.H., Clarke, G., & Seeley, J. (1996). Multiple forms of stress in Cambodian adolescent refugees. Child Development 67/1: 107-116.
