Population Health: A Research Perspective 2022

Running Head: Population Health: A Research Perspective
Assignment 3: Quantitative Research
Population Health: A Research Perspective
Topic: Illicit Drug Use among people in Australia
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Referencing Style: APA Referencing

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Population Health: A Research Perspective
REPORT
Quantitative Research Aim/ Question
The aim of the quantitative research is to investigate whether the illicit drug use has become
normalized practice among the youth in Australia
Justification of the items
Instructions:
The purpose of this study is to conduct quantitative analysis of illicit drug use among the
Australian youth. Data was collected through online web based questionnaire asked from the
respondents though email to which they responded back with complete answers. The results
indicated that the youth aged 25-44 years are more inclined towards drug use and reported
negative experiences of illicit drug use (Nathan, 2016).
The questions are based on the findings from previous research and statistics obtained from a
report ‘Australia’s Health 2018’ submitted by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; and a
quantitative study by Boys, Marsden & Strang (2001).
Questions
The questions were mainly based on six target substances mainly (Cannabis, Amphetamines,
Ecstasy, LSD, Cocaine and Alcohol). The interview questionnaire was conducted using
appropriate research protocol. Interviewees were re-contacted over telephone to eliminate the
inconsistencies and verify the collected data.
Response Options

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Population Health: A Research Perspective
The questionnaire included 17 item scale from five domains (Changing moods, Physical effect,
Social Purpose, Facilitate Activity and Manage effects from other substances). For the first
question, the responses were measured using five point Likert scale showing 0-5 for Never to
Always. For drugs Cocaine, Ecstasy and Amphetamine, the interviewees were asked whether
they have ever used these drugs for reducing weight? For Alcohol and Cannabis, the question
was: Have you ever taken drugs to help you sleep?
The responses were collected from 25 participants who were selected through personal contacts.
The participants were all young people aged between 16-35 who were doing job after completing
their college or were studying at college. The mean age of the participants was 19.2 years. 12/25
were unemployed at the time of data collection, 5 was in education, 5 was in full time
employment and remaining 3 was in part time job. The monthly disposable income was
approximately 0 to 1000 AUD (median 200 AUD). The responses revealed that the drug with
highest lifetime use was cannabis (96%) followed by Amphetamine (52%), cocaine (50%) and
ecstacy (48%) (Day, 2018). Most of the participants were poly substance users. The studies
showed no gender differences in drug usage.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Topic Related Items
1. Do you take any drug? If yes, which drug you use?
2. Since how many years you are taking it? The responses included four options: <1 year, 1-
3 years, >3 years, Lifetime.
3. Why do you take it? The response to this item was explanatory open ended and was
falling into one of the five domains.
4. How often you take it? Multiple times in a day OR Once a day.
5. How you started taking illicit drugs? How did you come to know about these drugs for
the first time? The answer to this question should be the description of circumstances
which triggered the drug taking habit.
6. Is there any side effect if you miss a dose of regular use? Response was descriptive and
open ended. It varied from person to person.

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Population Health: A Research Perspective
Demographic Questions
1. What is your name?
2. What is your age, gender, highest qualification and current job?
3. May I know, if anyone in your family takes illicit drugs?
4. Are you married/Divorced or unmarried? Married OR Divorced OR single
5. How many Children you have? None OR One OR >1.
6. Do you think stress can be relieved by the drug use?
7. Does the drug intake habit affect your family life?
Discussion of Pretesting Procedure
The pretest process used in this research was Think Aloud Approach’ through telephonic
conversation. The five participants who were educated with good educational backgrounds were
contacted through telephone. The potential problematic questions that were skipped, erased,
overlooked, misread or not answered by the participants and also the questions which took long
time to be answered were identified and noted down. Out of 25 respondents who filled up and
sent the questionnaire back to us through email, we conducted telephonic pretest for 5
respondents.
The feedback collected from the pretest found that the questionnaire was comprehensive and
gave the participants full opportunity to explain their point of view. Depending on the feedback,
I reordered few questions to improve the readability and understanding level to suit the subjects
of all education standards. The participants also reported that they need to be provided brief
general instructions and context of the questionnaire before they start answering the questions.
They also said that their identity should be kept confidential and safe without disclosing their
name at any point of time in the results. Appropriate punctuation question marks were put in the
questionnaire wherever needed. They suggested using hyperlinks to provide more information
about the question by giving some examples. For example – ‘Read if necessary’ hyperlink can be