Perceptions of health risk and smoking habit in young people.
Reserch Methods
(Word Count 2952)
Perceptions of health risk and smoking habit in young people.
1. Intruduction
Most people begin smoking when they are teenagers and go on to become regular smokers as adults. It has been suggested that young people are attracted to the 'image' they associate with smoking. The tobacco industry has created an image of smoking as being tough, cool, sexy or a form of rebellion. Although nicotine addiction keeps people smoking, young people usually start smoking because of the social image they want to present to others. Young people are also more likely to start smoking if their friends or family are smokers.
The present study is a quantitative reserch with young adult smokers (at the xxxxx Learning Centre) based on focus group discussions where a range of smoking-related topics were covered.
2. Sample
The sample in this study included 6 males and 4 females, aged between 13 and 17 years, 7 smokers and 2 non-smokers. Of this group of adolescents only 2 parents are non-smokers.
My aim was to maximise variation in our sample to include young men and women, smokers and non-smokers, and different age categories.
My discourse analytic perspective here concentrates on talk between speakers and allows me to highlight how meanings around smoking and health are worked up, debated and disputed in the group.
Informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to the Focus group interview (Appendix A and B). The focus group took place in the "Anonimus" Learning Centre. For anonimity reasons the name of the particitants have been changed.
3. Procedure
In this study we used two focus groups of five participants each. Focus groups mimic ‘natural’ peer groups, so that the data will likely be authentic, rich and informative. Focus groups have long been used in social science research, including psychology (Crossley, 2000; Wilkinson, 2003), and can be particularly useful in identifying both diverse individual accounts and
(Word Count 2952)
Perceptions of health risk and smoking habit in young people.
1. Intruduction
Most people begin smoking when they are teenagers and go on to become regular smokers as adults. It has been suggested that young people are attracted to the 'image' they associate with smoking. The tobacco industry has created an image of smoking as being tough, cool, sexy or a form of rebellion. Although nicotine addiction keeps people smoking, young people usually start smoking because of the social image they want to present to others. Young people are also more likely to start smoking if their friends or family are smokers.
The present study is a quantitative reserch with young adult smokers (at the xxxxx Learning Centre) based on focus group discussions where a range of smoking-related topics were covered.
2. Sample
The sample in this study included 6 males and 4 females, aged between 13 and 17 years, 7 smokers and 2 non-smokers. Of this group of adolescents only 2 parents are non-smokers.
My aim was to maximise variation in our sample to include young men and women, smokers and non-smokers, and different age categories.
My discourse analytic perspective here concentrates on talk between speakers and allows me to highlight how meanings around smoking and health are worked up, debated and disputed in the group.
Informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to the Focus group interview (Appendix A and B). The focus group took place in the "Anonimus" Learning Centre. For anonimity reasons the name of the particitants have been changed.
3. Procedure
In this study we used two focus groups of five participants each. Focus groups mimic ‘natural’ peer groups, so that the data will likely be authentic, rich and informative. Focus groups have long been used in social science research, including psychology (Crossley, 2000; Wilkinson, 2003), and can be particularly useful in identifying both diverse individual accounts and