Critical Issue Analysis Paper
Critical Issue Analysis
Jessica Bogunovich
PSYCH 626
June 26, 2015
Stephane Isgitt
Critical Issue Analysis In today’s society, there is a diverse population of people living in America. Each culture has different morals, values, behaviors, and practices. One of these differences amongst cultures is the way in which children are raised. The article Racial Differences in Parenting Style Typologies and Heavy Episodic Drinking Trajectories (Clark, McClernon, Yang, & Fuemmeler, 2015) discusses many of these differences, as well as the impact that alcohol has on these childrearing practices.
Article Summary The article Racial Differences in Parenting Style Typologies and Heavy Episodic Drinking Trajectories (Clark et al., 2015) …show more content…
examines the racial differences between black and white parenting methods and the association with the “changes in heavy episodic drinking from adolescence to young adulthood” (p. 697). The researchers implored a study utilizing an analytical sample of 9,942 adolescents coming from a National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, and the ages ranged from 12-31 (Clark et al., 2015). A confirmatory factor analysis and factor mixture modeling were used to compare parenting styles based on parental acceptance and control. Heavy Episodic Drinking (HED) trajectories were evaluated using a “zero-inflated Poisson multi-group latent growth curve modeling approach” (Clark et al., 2015, p. 698).
The mixture model found four heterogeneous groups were different based on the variables, parental acceptance and control.
As a result there was a balance of 65.8% of the entire sample, authoritarian was 12.2%, permissive was 19.4%, and neglectful represented 2.7%. No matter if the subject was black or white, 12 year olds who were children of authoritarian parents had a higher likelihood of not becoming or engaging in HED than others in the study (Clark et al., 2015). However, black youth who stated HED at 12 years old, were found to have a higher association between authoritarian parenting and HED. This increased yearly as the age increased. For white children, neglectful, permissible, and authoritarian parenting was not associated with HED as age increased. As a conclusion, the article argued that the influence of parenting methods on HED during childhood persists into young adulthood and differs by race for youth involved with HED (Clark et al., …show more content…
2015).
Strengths and Weaknesses As with any article, this article had several strengths and weaknesses.
One of the strengths of the article was that the researchers used a great deal of valid and reliable evidence and research to substantiate their findings. Another strength was that the study used a rather large subject base of nearly 10,000 participants that matched the criteria of being between 12-31 and white or black. There was a great amount of statistics presented and visual graphs and charts were used to represent and describe these statistics for those who are more visual learners. The researchers did a thorough job describing and presenting the results of the study through various analyses, graphs, and charts as
well. One downfall with this study is that there was no mention of the demographics for the participants, so the audience would not be able to determine the area in which this study took place, if the subjects could be compared to other areas with similar demographics, or if the population was a true representative of the overall United States. Another weakness of the study was that it was not known how each researcher contributed, if the study was cohesive and done together or if each researcher had a different part, or how the researchers collaborated the statistics and overall collection of the data. It is important for the audience to understand exactly how each researcher participated and how the study was conducted when there are multiple researchers involved. One extreme weakness is that there was no mention of alcoholism or the use of alcohol until almost the end of the study. However, based on the title and the methodology described, it seems that alcohol should have been a variable within the study.
Credibility
According to McGraw Hill Education (2003), a credibility checklist should be used in order to determine whether or not a resource is valid and reliable. This checklist is called CARS and includes credibility, accuracy, reasonableness, and support. There are important decisions that people make based on evidence, information, reliability, and credibility of research, so believability is critical. A credible resource would be unbiased, present accurate statistics and information, use other literature to support the study’s finding, and provided sufficient evidence to make the argument presented within the study persuasive (McGraw Hill Education, 2003). Another way to test the credibility is to check the credentials of the researchers. This will help the audience determine if the information presented can be trusted and believed. One additional way to determine whether or not something is credible is to see if it has been peer-reviewed. A peer-reviewed article has already come to the conclusion that the information can be trusted.
Conclusion
As a behavioral health researcher, this article would be important to determine how the use of drugs and/or alcohol impacts parenting methods of white and black parents. This study also touched on how the brain operates while intoxicated and the implications this has on children as they are growing and developing. Overall, this study was quite powerful as it shared a lot of statistics important in understanding the differences between how children are raised between different cultures. Additionally, the research provided suggestions on how parents can prevent their own children from growing up to be neglectful parents.
References
Clark, T. T., McClernon, F. J., Yang, C. & Fuemmeler, B. F. (2015, June 7). Racial differences in parenting style typologies and heavy episodic drinking trajectories. Health Psychology, 34(7), 697-708. Retrieved from ProQuest database.
McGraw Hill Education. (2003). The CARS checklist: Credibility, accuracy, reasonableness, Support. Retrieved from http://novella.mhhe.com/sites/0079876543/student_view0/research_center-999/research_papers30/conducting_web-based_research.html
Jessica Bogunovich
PSYCH 626
June 26, 2015
Stephane Isgitt
Critical Issue Analysis In today’s society, there is a diverse population of people living in America. Each culture has different morals, values, behaviors, and practices. One of these differences amongst cultures is the way in which children are raised. The article Racial Differences in Parenting Style Typologies and Heavy Episodic Drinking Trajectories (Clark, McClernon, Yang, & Fuemmeler, 2015) discusses many of these differences, as well as the impact that alcohol has on these childrearing practices.
Article Summary The article Racial Differences in Parenting Style Typologies and Heavy Episodic Drinking Trajectories (Clark et al., 2015) …show more content…
examines the racial differences between black and white parenting methods and the association with the “changes in heavy episodic drinking from adolescence to young adulthood” (p. 697). The researchers implored a study utilizing an analytical sample of 9,942 adolescents coming from a National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, and the ages ranged from 12-31 (Clark et al., 2015). A confirmatory factor analysis and factor mixture modeling were used to compare parenting styles based on parental acceptance and control. Heavy Episodic Drinking (HED) trajectories were evaluated using a “zero-inflated Poisson multi-group latent growth curve modeling approach” (Clark et al., 2015, p. 698).
The mixture model found four heterogeneous groups were different based on the variables, parental acceptance and control.
As a result there was a balance of 65.8% of the entire sample, authoritarian was 12.2%, permissive was 19.4%, and neglectful represented 2.7%. No matter if the subject was black or white, 12 year olds who were children of authoritarian parents had a higher likelihood of not becoming or engaging in HED than others in the study (Clark et al., 2015). However, black youth who stated HED at 12 years old, were found to have a higher association between authoritarian parenting and HED. This increased yearly as the age increased. For white children, neglectful, permissible, and authoritarian parenting was not associated with HED as age increased. As a conclusion, the article argued that the influence of parenting methods on HED during childhood persists into young adulthood and differs by race for youth involved with HED (Clark et al., …show more content…
2015).
Strengths and Weaknesses As with any article, this article had several strengths and weaknesses.
One of the strengths of the article was that the researchers used a great deal of valid and reliable evidence and research to substantiate their findings. Another strength was that the study used a rather large subject base of nearly 10,000 participants that matched the criteria of being between 12-31 and white or black. There was a great amount of statistics presented and visual graphs and charts were used to represent and describe these statistics for those who are more visual learners. The researchers did a thorough job describing and presenting the results of the study through various analyses, graphs, and charts as
well. One downfall with this study is that there was no mention of the demographics for the participants, so the audience would not be able to determine the area in which this study took place, if the subjects could be compared to other areas with similar demographics, or if the population was a true representative of the overall United States. Another weakness of the study was that it was not known how each researcher contributed, if the study was cohesive and done together or if each researcher had a different part, or how the researchers collaborated the statistics and overall collection of the data. It is important for the audience to understand exactly how each researcher participated and how the study was conducted when there are multiple researchers involved. One extreme weakness is that there was no mention of alcoholism or the use of alcohol until almost the end of the study. However, based on the title and the methodology described, it seems that alcohol should have been a variable within the study.
Credibility
According to McGraw Hill Education (2003), a credibility checklist should be used in order to determine whether or not a resource is valid and reliable. This checklist is called CARS and includes credibility, accuracy, reasonableness, and support. There are important decisions that people make based on evidence, information, reliability, and credibility of research, so believability is critical. A credible resource would be unbiased, present accurate statistics and information, use other literature to support the study’s finding, and provided sufficient evidence to make the argument presented within the study persuasive (McGraw Hill Education, 2003). Another way to test the credibility is to check the credentials of the researchers. This will help the audience determine if the information presented can be trusted and believed. One additional way to determine whether or not something is credible is to see if it has been peer-reviewed. A peer-reviewed article has already come to the conclusion that the information can be trusted.
Conclusion
As a behavioral health researcher, this article would be important to determine how the use of drugs and/or alcohol impacts parenting methods of white and black parents. This study also touched on how the brain operates while intoxicated and the implications this has on children as they are growing and developing. Overall, this study was quite powerful as it shared a lot of statistics important in understanding the differences between how children are raised between different cultures. Additionally, the research provided suggestions on how parents can prevent their own children from growing up to be neglectful parents.
References
Clark, T. T., McClernon, F. J., Yang, C. & Fuemmeler, B. F. (2015, June 7). Racial differences in parenting style typologies and heavy episodic drinking trajectories. Health Psychology, 34(7), 697-708. Retrieved from ProQuest database.
McGraw Hill Education. (2003). The CARS checklist: Credibility, accuracy, reasonableness, Support. Retrieved from http://novella.mhhe.com/sites/0079876543/student_view0/research_center-999/research_papers30/conducting_web-based_research.html