Introduction
This is an assessment of the relationship between the immigration status and drug use. The relationship between the immigration status and drug use has been a subject that has brought about debates in America. Many people in the world believe that immigrants increase crime rates. This is the reason why many people have decided to do research on the matter. Policy decisions have also been based on the connection of the immigration and crimes. According to most of the researches conducted, it has found out that there are positive and negative relationship between crimes and immigrants (Bersani).
The control variable that was used in this research analysis was the dependent variable that was the immigration status and the independent variable was the drug use in the country. There are many sociological and criminal theories that can be found from the variables. The two variables are theoretically relevant. An example of a sociological theory that shows the linkage of drug use and immigration is based on the cultural perspectives. Some of these cultural perspectives are the culture of poverty and conflict. Immigrants are subjected to unfair conditions in the society. This fact causes them to live in poverty. Poverty has caused many immigrants to be involved in gang activities that usually sell drugs throughout the country (Bersani). There are numerous conflicts between the immigrants and the locals. The conflicts have caused many immigrants not to get jobs and, therefore, their lack of jobs has caused them to result in many mischievous or criminal deeds. In the independent variable, the theory that can be used to explain it looks at what brings about drug use. One of the factors that cause drug use has been linked to immigration. According to most researchers, the Mexican immigrants are the ones responsible in selling drugs in America (Butcher & Anne, p.460).
The unit of analysis that was looked at in the research was the immigrants and the relationship they have to the drug use. This unit of analysis will be able to determine exactly what makes the immigrants to be connected or linked to drug use or crimes in the society.
The research method that was used was the combination of the qualitative and quantitative methods. In the qualitative method, the researcher will be able to look at the past researches and compare to the research they have conducted (Charles, Andrew & Michael). The quantitative research looks at the collected data that is transformed into numerical form to provide exact figures of the findings
Sampling
The data was collected for a period of one year between 2007 to 2008. The ADAM sampling technique was the one used to collect the data information (Charles, Andrew & Michael). The researcher will do a qualitative analysis of most of the researches conducted by other people. This will provide the researcher with enough evidence that will prove that there is a connection between drug use and immigration. The sampling frame for the research will come from the Maricopa County in Arizona. The researcher will look at the illegal immigrations in the area and the cases of drug use. The study shows that the sampling size was 3,050 participants both men and women. According to the findings of the survey, seventy-seven percent of the participants were men while twenty three percent were women (Butcher & Anne, p.469). These arrested individuals will be closely monitored in order to get the right findings. The data was collected quarterly in all the facilities. Interviews were done with the arrestees for a span of two weeks. The researcher ensured that the arrestees who took urinal testing have not been locked up for a period of more than 48 hours. This is because they want to get the real results of the urine. The urine samples collected were tested for a variety of drugs.
The AARIN survey instrument was the one used in the research (Charles, Andrew & Michael). This instrument will be able to provide with the report on the demographic variables. The participants were asked questions regarding their ethnicity, education, marital status and age. The answers were then recorded to the instrument. Before the research was conducted, the researcher looked at the records of the arrestees in order to find out whether the offences committed were caused by drug use or their ethnic background.
Validity and reliability of the data
According to the research conducted, the validity of the data had its shortcomings (Charles, Andrew & Michael). One of the main reasons was that there were many restrictions in that the researcher would not have been able to get the immigration status of the arrestees. This fact will therefore, hinder the researcher from been able to get the real information about the immigration status in the country. Some of the arrestees refused to take part in the research. If they had all taken part in the research then the researcher would have been able to get more data that could have been reliable. The participants could lie about their background or their ethnicity. This fact will therefore, distort the finding of the research. In looking at the qualitative analysis, the demographic data of researches conducted are limited. This fact makes it hard for the researcher to get earlier results that could be compared to the findings of ,the research conducted.
How could the methodology be improved?
The methodology could have been improved if the researcher would have conducted the same research in different parts of the country apart from Arizona. The findings would have given the researcher different results about the relationship between the immigrants and crime (Charles, Andrew & Michael).
Work cited
Bersani, Bianca. Are Immigrants Crime Prone? A Multifaceted Investigation of the Relationship Between Immigration and Crime in Two Eras. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2010.
Butcher, Kristin F. and Anne Morrison Piehl. Cross-City Evidence on the Relationship between. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (1998): 457-493.
Charles M. Katz, Andrew M. Fox & Michael D. White. Assessing the Relationship between Immigration Status and Drug Use. Justice Quarterly, 2010.
