Research Approach
There are three different research approaches for this research paper. They are descriptive, explanatory, and application research. The first theme titled ‘PTSD in correctional facilities’ will use the descriptive research approach. This section will determine the scope of PTSD among correctional officers. The second theme titled ‘Dealing with PTSD among correctional officers’ will use the explanatory research approach. This theme will explore the prevalence of PTSD and look for ways to eradicate the problem. The third theme titled ‘Analysis of Stress Levels in correctional facilities’ will use actual data from the correctional staff and use it to determine whether or not governmental remedies are useful for correctional staff. It will also determine the shortcomings, and provide recommendations. Hence, this theme will use the application research approach (Maxfield and Babbie, 2012).
There are a few ethical issues which can undermine the purpose of the research if the researcher chooses to abandon the core topic of a collective analysis of the data obtained in the research as opposed to individual records. The research paper’s focus is on the problem of mental illness suffered by the correctional staff. However, there are possibilities that the stress coping mechanisms in the targeted correctional facility provide positive outcomes. The researcher should provide accurate information on the success and not hide it for the sake of individualistic goals. The other concerns are that of privacy. The questionnaire should not have the names, signatures, or any written comments from the correctional officers. This type of information is useful to identify the data sample provider and create avoidable repercussions. The research on the correctional officers must have security checks in place to prevent overzealous research assistants from crossing the lines and creating additional problems for the participants (Dantzker and Hunter, 2011).
Research Methodology
The research methodology for this project will be quantitative. This part explains the methodology in the context of the project along with the identified dependent and independent variables. The reasons leading to the choice of research design will also feature in this part of the paper.
Quantitative Design
The research on the factors leading to mental health issues for correctional officers will contain statistical analysis which will point in the direction of the hypothesis. The possibility to test and measure the theoretical outcome are options only available in a quantitative research design. The project has the potential to uncover unexplored vulnerabilities within the correctional system faced by personnel which contribute to the wide scale presence of PTSD in this division of criminal justice. The research will gather data on independent variables and their contribution in affecting dependent variables (Maxfield and Babbie, 2012).
Dependent Variables
The dependent variables are sweaty palms, depression, exhaustion, suicidal thoughts, negative perceptions outweighing positive thinking, severe headaches, bowel sickness, Domestic violence, abuse towards children and intense arguments with family members, friends, colleagues, and superiors.
Independent Variables
The independent variables identified in this project are in the below table. All averages and numerical values are weekly projections.
Reasoning for choice of design
The quantitative research design is the most reliable option when trying to point towards the precise factors that contribute to mental health illnesses including PTSD among correctional staff. The availability of empirical data, statistical analysis, and measurement of outcomes make the quantitative methodology perfect for this project. Moreover, the use of structured questionnaires and structured interviews will enable the researcher to collect the relevant data efficiently. It is also cost-effective (Maxfield and Babbie, 2012).
Reliable outcomes - The outcome of any research should be subject to testing to gain any kind of validity within the institution. The only way to test the outcome is through statistical analysis and identifiable patterns. The quantitative research design
Budget constraints – Hiring too many graduate students will be expensive. However, the quantitative research will enable the researcher to employ junior college students for the majority of the data collection and leave only the complicated work for graduate students. This will help reduce the cost of the research considerably.
Time constrictions – Conducting a quantitative research will include statistical analysis and with the use of tools such as SPSS or Minitab, the work becomes easier to complete. This will save a considerable amount of time for the researcher.
Finally, the majority of social science researches for mental health care use the quantitative research design. Hence, it makes the case to use a proven methodology for such a leading-edge research project (Dantzker and Hunter, 2011).
Research instruments for data collection
Data collection in research projects uses a variety of instrumentation. This part has brief explanations on the instruments proposed for use in this research.
Structured questionnaire
The use of a structured questionnaire helps the researcher obtain responses pertaining to specific questions in the research. In this case, the researcher will look for patterns emerging which lead to the mental health issues among correctional staff. Hence, it will be important to restrict the responses to enable simple methods of statistical analysis. A structured questionnaire will enable the participant to choose ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as opposed to a detailed description which will be difficult to decipher.
Interviews
Interviews are an integral part of any research. The interviews in this research will be for the most experienced or even retired correctional officers. The recorded interviews will be critical in evaluating the government’s reforms in correctional system and test the validity of their studies.
Structured Interviews – The interviews will be for experienced (active) correctional officers. The objective of these interviews is to ascertain how their work affects the other areas of their lives. Veteran officers will not exhibit nervousness which will be present among the junior staff. The research is not for nervousness on the job, hence, it will be essential to obtain stress indicators from the senior staff. Furthermore, the interviews will follow a specific pattern of questions asked in the same sequence. They are easy to conduct would only require rapport building with the subject.
Focus Interview – This type of interview will allow the interviewer to ascertain control over the session and help focus on a particular objective. The graduate student or researcher who conducts the interviews will choose subjects who recently retired from active duty citing stress. These interviews are to look for evidence of mental illness in the subjects by planning question to trigger different types of emotional responses (Dantzker and Hunter, 2011).
Transcription
Recording interviews for research is a common practice and the researcher can use some junior students to transcribe the audio for the research. It will be impossible to ask correctional officers possibly suffering from stress to repeat if the interviewer attempts to take notes. In addition, the recordings will enable the researcher to look for evidence of stress or hidden stress by the tone and articulation of the subject.
Document reading
The researcher should study books, journal articles, and other research papers to show them as supporting evidence for the research project. This type of evidentiary support will help gain acceptance easily after publishing the research outcome (Dantzker and Hunter, 2011).
References
Maxfield, M. G., and Babbie, E. R. (2012). Basics of Research Methods for Criminal
Justice and Criminology. Cengage Learning. Belmont: CA. Pp. 1-231.
Dantzker, M. L., and Hunter, R. D. (2011). Research Methods for Criminology and Criminal Justice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Burlington: MA. Pp. 11-245.
