Professor comment

Week 7 (“Applying Basic Statistical Tests to a Research Scenario”) is about choosing the appropriate statistical test for your chosen variables. Have you considered how you might analyze data in which you are examining mental health as it is associated with domestic violence?

Also, regaridng your variables, how would you measure mental health? What is your specific focus (one, two, or more conditions)? How are you defining domestic violence which can be captured as a measured variable? I see that you expect to use a convenience sampling approach but have you considered how to reach and recruit individuals who have experienced or perpetrated domestic violence? This seems much more difficult than simply using a convenience sampling method. I also am a bit confused by your approach as written–because you are phrasing this as mental health “contributing to” domestic violence (with mental health as the IV and domestic violence as DV), I am thinking you are interested in studying whether those with mental health issues are more likely to perpetrate domestic violence (IV –> DV). However, later you indicate that you would be recruiting “victims” of domestic violence. This is an alignment issue. Note that if the latter, there is a large literature on victims of domestic violence or related trauma and its impact on mental health. You will need to consider a novel angle for a dissertation study if this is the topic you would like to pursue.

Lastly, note that because you plan to study extremely sensitive and traumatizing topics (domestic violence, mental health), you will need to engage IRB early in the process to understand their requirements and what is feasible to do in a study. Happy to answer any questions.

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discussion question 

Program of Study: Forensic Psychology.

Social Problem: Domestic violence is a critical issue in the United States. Research indicates that over 10 million Americans experience domestic violence every year (Huecker et al., 2022). Domestic violence involves psychological, emotional, sexual, physical, and economic abuse of adults, children, or elders. Several factors, including some forms of mental health illnesses such as depression and Schizophrenia may contribute to domestic violence.

Quantitative Research Problem: The scholarly community does not know the extent to which mental health illnesses contribute to domestic violence

Quantitative Research Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study is to determine the extent to which mental health illnesses contribute to domestic violence.

Quantitative Research Question: To what extent is mental illness a contributing factor to domestic violence?

Theory or Conceptual Framework: Exosystem Factor Theory. According to the theory, stressful life events can predict the occurrence of domestic violence (Hyde-Nolan & Juliao, 2012). However, life stressors result in domestic violence when other specific factors exist. These include social isolation, low marital satisfaction, and most importantly, mental health illness. This theory will provide a phenomenon for understanding the above-mentioned social problem and interpreting research results.

Quantitative Research Design: The study design will be a correlational research design, which

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would be used to determine the relationship that exists between mental health illness and domestic violence. The design will be suitable for the scenario because it will help determine the cause and effect relationship between mental health illness and domestic violence. There will be no treatment that will be applied in the study, rather participants will be interviewed through questionnaires.

Quantitative Sampling Strategy: A convenience sample will be used due to the nature of the topic since it is difficult to get a large number of victims of domestic violence. Participants will be recruited and enrolled based on their availability. The sampling strategy will be suitable because the focus of the study will be to obtain information from the participants.

Quantitative Data Collection Method: Structured questionnaires will be used to collect data from the participants. Participants will be requested to fill in the questionnaires after agreeing to participate in the study. The questionnaires will consist of a list of questions that will be used to gather information from the participants about their opinions, experiences, or attitudes on the various aspects of the topic.

Variables: The independent variable will be mental health illness while the dependent variable will be domestic violence. It is expected that mental health illness would be associated with the occurrence of domestic violence. The variable that will be measured will be domestic violence. Nominal measurements will be used to categorize the data with fixed levels such as age, gender, and ethnicity. For other variables such as income level and other variables with groupings and codes, ordinal measurements will be used.