Business Research Proposal: Smoking Habits of Kuwait College Students

This business research proposal investigates the factors motivating smoking among college students in Kuwait. The introduction highlights the negative health impacts of smoking and the rising prevalence among students, emphasizing the need for intervention. The research aims to identify and analyze psychological, societal, family, and demographic factors influencing smoking habits. The literature review explores these factors, referencing previous studies and highlighting the current status of the issue, including gap analysis. The research design and methods section outlines the participants, research design, data collection plan, and ethical considerations, including proposed data analysis and limitations. The proposal includes specific hypotheses regarding the impact of psychological, societal, family, and demographic factors on smoking habits. The study aims to provide valuable insights for developing effective strategies to reduce and prevent smoking among college students in Kuwait.

Running head: BUSINESS RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Business research proposal
TOPIC
“Investigation of the factors motivating
smoking among college students in
Kuwait”
Researcher:

1BUSINESS RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction.............................................................................................................2
1.1 Problem Statement.............................................................................................2
1.2 Rationale for the research...................................................................................2
1.3 Research objectives............................................................................................2
1.4 Factors Identified................................................................................................2
1.5 Research Hypothesis..........................................................................................3
1.6 Definition of terms...............................................................................................3
1.7 Summary including a restatement of problem....................................................4
2.0 Literature review.....................................................................................................5
2.1 Important factors.................................................................................................5
2.2 Current status of the topic...................................................................................6
2.3 Gap analysis.......................................................................................................6
2.4 New Factor..........................................................................................................6
2.5 Human Behaviour Theory...................................................................................6
2.6 Summary.............................................................................................................7
3.0 Research design and Methods...............................................................................8
3.1 Participants and number of samples..................................................................8
3.2 Research design.................................................................................................8
3.3 Data collection plan.............................................................................................8
3.3.1 Survey questions.............................................................................................8
3.4 Reliability and validity of the instruments............................................................9
3.5 Pilot study..........................................................................................................10
3.6 Ethical consideration.........................................................................................10
3.7 Proposed analysis of data.................................................................................10
3.8 Implication and Limitation of the study..............................................................10
4.0 References...........................................................................................................11
5.0 Appendices...........................................................................................................13

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1.0 INTRODUCTION
Smoking among students in college is a common phenomenon in majority of
higher education institutions. Smoking has been known to negative impact on health
of people resulting in cause of diseases such as oropharynx, oesophagus and
cancer of the lung larynx (Islam et al. 2016). Moreover, it causes chronic obstructive
pulmonary diseases and other diseases. This report proposes to examine the
various factors motivating students in college to smoke so that measures can be
taken to prevent these diseases. There are numerous factors that are expected to
affect the smoking habit and behaviour of the consumers. Previous studies suggest
that parents, classmates and friends have significant role to play in smoking habits of
students in college. Lee, Catley and Harris (2014) conducted a study is Kuwait to
highlight that smoking is widespread among male students and majority of these
respondents started smoking between the age of 15-20 years. Moreover, various
students have tried to quit but they have miserably failed to do so the study aims to
critically evaluate various factors so that an effective program can be developed to
address the issue.
1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Smoking is one of the major issue for the students in college as it results in
chronic pulmonary and other diseases which could be life threatening. However,
there has been significant rise in the number of students smoking in college and
none of the colleges have been able to control this phenomenon. Therefore, this
study aims to bring awareness among the management of different organisations to
make sure that smoking among students in college can be controlled, reduced and
stopped by providing effective guidance to them. Banning of smoking on college
campuses have reduced the number of on campus smokers but violation of the
university policies have been witnessed in various instances.
1.2 RATIONALE FOR THE RESEARCH
The purpose of conducting this study to examine and highlight the changes in
the behavioural patterns among smokers in college. Globalisation and modernization
has significantly changed the dynamics of the society at large and the current
situation needs to be evaluated to prevent chronic diseases and help colleges in
developing strategies to eradicate this major societal issue. It will also facilitate in
choosing a particular college and understand the scenario among those students to
gauge the condition among chosen sample population.
1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the current study are as follows:
 To examine the different factors motivating smoking among college students
in Kuwait
 To recommend suitable strategies to prevent and significantly reduce smoking
among college students
1.4 FACTORS IDENTIFIED
1. Psychological factors
2. Societal factors

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3. Family factors
4. Demographic habits
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
It can be seen from past researches that numerous students smoke due to
feeling of depression, acculturative stress and anxiety. Moreover, it is relatively
easier to motivate the college students to smoke due to peer pressure and
encouragement from the students in college. Similarly, psychological factors such as
stress and depression are common factors among students due to the significant
increase in competition and expectation. These factors have been considered as
critical factors responsible for affecting smoking habits of students. Moreover,
various students come from dysfunctional families where they have witnessed their
parents smoking and drinking. These factors affect their choices as they try to imitate
or follow on the footsteps of their parents. Moreover, there are various demographic
which impact the smoking habit of students so the study will also evaluate
demographic factors to understand the impact on smoking habit of students.
H01: Psychological factors, especially stress and depression have no impact on
smoking habits of students in Kuwait University
H11: Psychological factors, especially stress and depression have impact on smoking
habits of students in Kuwait University
H02: Societal factors, especially peer pressure have no impact on smoking habits of
students in Kuwait University
H12: Societal factors, especially peer pressure have impact on smoking habits of
students in Kuwait University
H03: Family factors, such as dysfunctional family and family member’s smoking habit
have no impact on smoking habits of students in Kuwait University
H13: Family factors, such as dysfunctional family and family member’s smoking habit
have impact on smoking habits of students in Kuwait University
H03: Demographic factors have no impact on smoking habits of students in Kuwait
University
H13: Demographic factors have impact on smoking habits of students in Kuwait
University
1.6 DEFINITION OF TERMS
 Stress: “A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse
or demanding circumstances”
 Depression: “A feelings of severe despondency and dejection.”
 Dysfunctional family: “A family with multiple 'internal'–eg sibling rivalries,
parent-child– conflicts, domestic violence, mental illness, single parenthood,
or 'external'–eg alcohol or drug abuse, extramarital affairs, gambling,
unemployment—influences that affect the basic needs of the family unit “

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 Demographic factors: “Socioeconomic characteristics of a population
expressed statistically, such as age, sex, education level, income level,
marital status, occupation, religion, birth rate, death rate, average size of a
family, average age at marriage”
1.7 SUMMARY INCLUDING A RESTATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The introduction part has provided a brief outline of the purpose of performing
the study and has defined the research problem. The main purpose of the study is to
examine and highlight the different factors responsible for affecting the smoking
behaviour among students in colleges in Kuwait. However, mainly four factors have
been identified that significant impact the behaviour of the students and they are
Psychological factors, Societal factors, Family factors and Demographic factors. The
study will evaluate this factor through suitable data collection and analysis to test the
hypothesis mentioned above in the research. The hypotheses in the study has been
formulated based on the analysis of the past literature which has helped in
identifying the research gap. Therefore, the study aims to test these hypotheses to
identify the factors relevant for the given case.

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2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 IMPORTANT FACTORS
Smoking related behaviour among the college students of Kuwait are
influenced by several factors. The different factors that influenced smoking related
behaviour among the college students of Kuwait are psychological, societal, family
and demographic. Pokhrel et al. (2014) opined that the stress and depression in the
adolescent age might result to development of smoking habits in young adults or the
college goers. Moreover, Kong et al. (2014) opined that stress and depression among
the college goers are often triggered through pressure of the exams, relationships
and the like, which might lead the students to develop acute smoking habits. The
development of stress and depression might lead the students to fall under the prey
of habits of smoking tobacco or marijuana as a relief agent from their depressions. It
is noted in a research that more than 56% of the college goers are habituated to
smoking due to the stress and depression that are faced by the same (Visser and
Hirsch 2014). Therefore, the psychological factors like depression and stress leads the
college going students to develop smoking habits as a relief.
The development of smoking habit among the college goers are also
subjected to the societal factors like peer pressure, bullying and the like which might
affect the mental health and cognitive growth of the students (Islam et al. 2016). The
enhanced rate of peer pressure and bullying not only affects the educational career
but also affects the mental growth of the college goers and drives the same towards
the development of smoking related habits in Kuwait. It has been noted that more
than 15% of the female college goers in Kuwait encountered peer pressure and
harassment due to the concerns relating to body weight (Lee, Catley and Harris 2014).
Therefore, the enhanced rate of peer pressure and harassment along with acts of
body shaming has influenced the rate of smoking related habit among students in
colleges of Kuwait.
Factors like dysfunctional family and the smoking habit of the family members
might also drive the interest of the college goers towards the development of early
smoking habits. Buckner et al. (2016) opined that the stress and depression that is
related through the evolution of dysfunctional families might affect the mental health
of the children from early ages and later drive the same towards increasing smoking
habits. On the other hand, Kim (2016) stated that the smoking related behaviour of the
parents inculcates an inclination of the children towards smoking in their early age,
out of curiosity. It has been noticed that with the growing years, children feel
attracted to the act of smoking and finally gets indulged in the habit in their college
years. Therefore, the family related factors play a major role in developing a potential
inclination among the college goers towards smoking.
According to Mee (2014), the Demographic factors plays a major role in
influencing the inclination of the college goers towards smoking. The demographic
factors like age, gender, occupation, annual income and education largely influences
inclination among the college goers towards smoking. It has been noted that 67%of
the smokers are not aware of the ill effects that are being done by the activity on
their health (Kang and Kim 2014). Again, more than 23% of the college goers, whose
parents earn a fair annual income are researched to be smoking (Sutfin et al. 2015).
The enhanced rate of affordability of the smokers and the lack of appropriate
knowledge of the ill effects of smoking are the major factors that influence smoking

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among the college students. Arens, White and Massengill (2014) opined that the age and
gender of the college goers are again an important consideration while realizing the
influence of their behaviour on the smoking habits. Therefore, the age, gender and
other demographic factors have a huge influence on the college goers while
developing habits relating to smoking.
2.2 CURRENT STATUS OF THE TOPIC
The factors that have been identified are increasing the rate of smoking
related habits among the college students in Kuwait. The enhanced contribution of
the factors clearly exhibited the growing rate of smokers among the college students
in Kuwait. It has been noted that most of the college students have developed the
habit of smoking due to their increased level of stress and depression. On the other
hand, the peer pressure and growing concern of the students related to relationships
has increased the rate of smokers in the colleges.
2.3 GAP ANALYSIS
H12: Societal factors, especially peer pressure have impact on smoking habits of
students in Kuwait University
It has been researched that the enhanced rate of peer pressure has resulted
to the enhanced rate of smokers among the college goers in Kuwait. The societal
factors play a major role in increasing the rate of depressions among the college
goers. On the other hand, the harassment that is encountered by the students mostly
develops aggression and a revengeful mind which might drive the students in
influencing the other college students to develop a quality of smoking.
2.4 NEW FACTOR
H13: Family factors, such as dysfunctional family and family member’s smoking habit
have impact on smoking habits of students in Kuwait University
The family related factors greatly influence the smoking habit among the
college going students of Kuwait. The major contributors to the development of
smoking habits among the college going students of Kuwait are generally based on
the family dysfunctional situations or the involvement of a family member in a similar
practice of smoking.
2.5 HUMAN BEHAVIOUR THEORY
Health Belief Model (HBM)
The HBM was designed to delineate the health-related behaviour in the individual
levels. The model was based on the assumptions made by Lewin and his peers and
reflected that behaviour had two variables. One of the variable being the value
created by an individual on a particular outcome and the other being the individual's
estimate of the likelihood of an action meeting the outcome (Chung and Joung 2014). In
this relation, the HBD would support in identifying the behavioural exposition and

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justification that are provided by the college goers for smoking relying on the
outcome.
Theory of self- efficacy
The theory was developed by Bandura, which clearly identified that the expectation
of personal mastery and success supports in idealizing whether a person will get
involved in a certain behaviour (Berg 2014). In this relation, the utilization of the theory
would support in identifying the different actions that are commenced by the college
goers and the manner in which the factors guided the same towards the
development of specific smoking habits.
2.6 SUMMARY
The literature clearly examined the different factors that guided the college
goers to develop a habit of smoking in Kuwait. The delineation of the different factors
are being justified through the utilization of the human behavioural theories for the
better assessment of the situation.

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3.0 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
3.1 PARTICIPANTS AND NUMBER OF SAMPLES
Sampling is the method of choosing elements from the total population in
case of studies having large target population. Sampling facilitates in reducing the
complexity, cost and time taken for the research (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015).
The process of sampling consists of following steps, choosing the target population,
identifying the sampling frame, sample size determination and choosing the
sampling method. There are mainly two sampling methods, probabilistic and non-
probabilistic sampling method. Cluster random sampling, simple random sampling,
stratified random sampling and systematic random sampling. On the contrary, non-
probabilistic sampling consists of methods such as quota sampling, haphazard
sampling, purposive sampling and convenience sampling.
In this given study, the target population consist of all the college students in
Kuwait. The sampling frame consists of the students in the Kuwait University and the
sample size is 200. This study has chosen simple random sampling to choose
respondents from the university which consists of both smokers and non-smokers.
This will facilitate in providing a comparison between smokers and non-smokers. The
study has ensured to keep the sample size comparatively higher so that the margin
of error is relatively lower and is less than 5%.
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN
Research design can be defined as the choice between quantitative and
qualitative data analysis technique. In this given research, explanatory research
design has been chosen as it helps in establishing cause and effect relationship
between two variables (Creswell and Poth 2017). Explanatory research as the name
suggest is used for testing existing hypothesis developed based on the literature
review. This design will facilitate in reaching relevant conclusion by developing a
highly structured research design. The research design will make sure to maintain
objectivity. The research will focus on developing a close ended survey
questionnaire which will use three levels of measurement. This will include use of
nominal scale which consist of questions regarding gender. The next scale is the
ordinal scale which consists of questions about age and tenure of use. The third
scale is the ratio scale which will develop various questions on Likert scale and
develop a ranking system.
The tests will be conducted by using Likert scale and theory of self-efficacy to
understand the role of psychological, family and social factors on smoking habits of
the students. The questionnaire will consist of single scale where ranking will be from
1to5 which strongly agree and strongly disagree lie on the two extreme ends.
3.3 DATA COLLECTION PLAN
3.3.1 SURVEY QUESTIONS
This research will collect primary data by conducting public survey by
developing a close ended questionnaire. This will consists of questions on 5 point
Likert scale, multiple choice question and close ended questions. The questionnaire
will consist of proper information regarding the purpose of the research so that
anonymity of the participants can be maintained.

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Factor 1:
Demographic
questions
Q1: Close ended question
Q2: Multiple choice question
Q3: Multiple choice question
Factor 2:
Psychologica
l questions
Q4: Likert scale questions
Q5: Likert scale questions
Factor 3:
Societal
questions
Q6: Likert scale questions
Q7: Likert scale questions
Q8: Likert scale questions
Factor 4:
Family
questions
Q9: Likert scale questions
Q10: Likert scale questions
3.4 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE INSTRUMENTS
Reliability measures the reproducibility of the results using same instruments
and different data set. However, as this study is a cross sectional research data will
be collected only once. The consistency of the data collected will be measured using
the Cronbach’s alpha test which measures the internal consistency and scale
reliability of the collected data (Bonett and Wright 2015). Reliability of the data will be
maintained by developing standard questions and a large sample size.
Validity of the given data measures the appropriateness of all the instruments
used in the research. Validity will be measured using Bartlett test of sphericity and
Kaiser Meyer Olkin test of sampling adequacy (Turkyilmaz, Erdem and Uslu 2015).
These tests will measure the degree of relatedness of the given data and sampling
accuracy.
It is essential to maintain high level of reliability and validity to achieve the
objective in the research.

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3.5 PILOT STUDY
Pilot study measures the appropriateness of instruments by using a survey.
The questionnaire will be sent to 10 respondents to check whether the questions are
relevant or not and whether any of the questions are leading or not. Pilot study will
rectify the survey questionnaire by taking feedback from peer group and other
relevant sources.
3.6 ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
The research will adhere to all the ethical guidelines prescribed by the
university. The research will maintain the highest level of objectivity and provide all
the information regarding the purpose of conducting the research. Informed consent
will be used to make sure that the respondents make voluntary participation in this
research. The research will protect the privacy of the respondents by maintaining
confidentiality and anonymity of the given data. The research will not use any
discriminatory, political and religious question which may offend or hurt the sentiment
of the respondents.
3.7 PROPOSED ANALYSIS OF DATA
The collected data will be analysed using statistical tools and techniques such
as SPSS (statistical tool for social sciences). The data collected will be represented
in the form of graphs and charts to highlight the response frequency of the
respondents. Descriptive statistics will be calculated by generating mean, mode,
median, standard deviation and variance (Palinkas et al. 2015). Correlation analysis
will be used where Pearson’s correlation method will develop a correlation matrix to
measure the degree, nature and direction of relationship at two tailed significance.
On the other hand, Regression analysis will; be used to develop a trend equation to
perform trend analysis and test the hypothesis in the research.
3.8 IMPLICATION AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The major implication of the research is to develop a program and strategies
to reduce the habit of smoking among college students. In order to do so, the
different factors will be identified and relationship between the variables will be used
to develop strategies to reduce smoking habit.
The major limitation of the research is the fact that the study is only relevant
for the students in Kuwait University and the results may vary for other places.
Moreover, the research uses a single design and a mixed method would have
provided better results.

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4.0 REFERENCES
Arens, C.R., White, T.L. and Massengill, N., 2014. Attitudinal factors protective
against youth smoking: an integrative review. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46(3),
pp.167-175.
Berg, C.J., 2014. Reasons for nondaily smoking among young adults: Scale
development and validation. Journal of smoking cessation, 9(1), pp.17-25.
Bonett, D.G. and Wright, T.A., 2015. Cronbach's alpha reliability: Interval estimation,
hypothesis testing, and sample size planning. Journal of Organizational
Behavior, 36(1), pp.3-15.
Buckner, J.D., Jeffries, E.R., Terlecki, M.A. and Ecker, A.H., 2016. Distress tolerance
among students referred for treatment following violation of campus cannabis use
policy: Relations to use, problems, and motivation. Behavior modification, 40(5),
pp.663-677.
Chung, S.S. and Joung, K.H., 2014. Risk factors for smoking behaviors among
adolescents. The Journal of School Nursing, 30(4), pp.262-271.
Creswell, J.W. and Poth, C.N., 2017. Qualitative inquiry and research design:
Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.
Islam, F., Salloum, R.G., Nakkash, R., Maziak, W. and Thrasher, J.F., 2016.
Effectiveness of health warnings for waterpipe tobacco smoking among college
students. International journal of public health, 61(6), pp.709-715.
Islam, F., Salloum, R.G., Nakkash, R., Maziak, W. and Thrasher, J.F., 2016.
Effectiveness of health warnings for waterpipe tobacco smoking among college
students. International journal of public health, 61(6), pp.709-715.
Kang, M.K. and Kim, I.K., 2014. Drinking motivation, daily stress, and problem
drinking behavior of female university students. Journal of the Korea Academia-
Industrial cooperation Society, 15(8), pp.5053-5061.
Kim, K.A., 2016. A study on the factors related to smoking and smoking conditions
among college students in some area. Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial
cooperation Society, 17(8), pp.465-476.
Kong, G., Morean, M.E., Cavallo, D.A., Camenga, D.R. and Krishnan-Sarin, S.,
2014. Reasons for electronic cigarette experimentation and discontinuation among
adolescents and young adults. Nicotine & tobacco research, 17(7), pp.847-854.
Lee, H.S., Catley, D. and Harris, K.J., 2014. Improving understanding of the quitting
process: psychological predictors of quit attempts versus smoking cessation
maintenance among college students. Substance use & misuse, 49(10), pp.1332-
1339.
Lee, H.S., Catley, D. and Harris, K.J., 2014. Improving understanding of the quitting
process: psychological predictors of quit attempts versus smoking cessation
maintenance among college students. Substance use & misuse, 49(10), pp.1332-
1339.
Mee, S., 2014. Self-efficacy: a mediator of smoking behavior and depression among
college students. Pediatric Nursing, 40(1), p.9.