presentation on the research proposal: Anti-depressants and Academic Performance. Below is a example of what it should look like and any notes on the topic.
TITLE OF YOUR
PROPOSED PROJECT
Your Name
St. Joseph’s College
Research Topic
Description of Topic
? Purpose of the Proposed Research
(Scientifically); i.e., why is this research
important/necessary?
? [Optional] Why chosen (Personally)
?
Literature
What theory is guiding your research?
(remember that a theory is an explanation
of the relationship between
concepts/variables, not just that a
relationship exists, but why it exists)
? Key findings from existing research that
inform your proposed project
e.g., Research finds a strong positive
correlation
between studying and test
scores (Johnson and
Smith 2003;
Lawrence 2001)
?
Key Questions/Hypotheses
?
What questions or relationships between concepts does
your proposed research seek to address/test?
? Questions are for qualitative research projects, hypotheses for
quantitative
?
e.g., Question 1: What do students find most meaningful
about the college experience?
?
e.g., Hypothesis 1: Course grades will be positively
associated with time spent on preparation for the research
proposal manuscript
Methods and Data
?
Identify the independent and dependent variables
?
What is your population, sample, and sampling method?
?
?
How will you gather data?
?
?
e.g., My population will be college students at a medium-sized private
college on Long Island, NY. My sample will be collected using a conveniencesampling technique, drawn from a random sample of courses offered in the
fall semester, 2012.
e.g., self-administered questionnaires, in-depth interviews, participant
observation, use of existing statistics
How will you analyze the data (e.g., code and input in Stata, then run
inferential statistics)?
Ethics [For projects involving human subjects]
?
Discuss any ethical issues that you
anticipate
?
Discuss how you will address any IRB
and informed consent requirements [You
can use this wording for the ethical concerns regarding human
subjects in your presentation and proposal: Ethical issues will be
addressed by providing each potential participant with an
informed consent form that they would read and approve prior to
participation. The informed consent form, which would be
approved along with an application, by the College’s Institutional
Review Board (IRB), would contain information on the voluntary
nature of participation, risks and benefits, and a guarantee of
confidentiality, among other information.
Strengths and Weaknesses
?
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of
your proposed project [related to validity
and reliability] and others you can
identify].
References
?
Provide reference list for sources cited in
professional citation style (either ASA or
APA)
Thank You
[Your Name]
St. Joseph’s College
1
Aselton, P, J. (2010). The Lived Experience of College Students Who Have Been Medicated
with Antidepressants. Open Access Dissertations. 235. https://doi.org/10.7275/1558933
This study delved into the lives of college students who have been placed on medication for
the treatment of depression. This study is guided by phenomenology which is the
philosophical study of human experience, looking to understand these experiencing
on a meaningful level. Data was gathered through web-based interviews from a
sample of 13 participants aged between 19 and 24. The independent variable was
being on medication for depression while the dependent variable was their lived
experience. The study found that themes such as childhood experiences, college
experiences and feelings of stress were major themes across the data. Outside of these
the results vary due to personal experience and anecdotal evidence. This study is
important as I can apply the theory of phenomenology to my own study and look at
the individual experiences of students in academia while dealing with depression and
medication.
Busch, S. H., Golberstein, E., & Meara, E. (2014). The FDA and ABCS: Unintended
Consequences of antidepressant warnings on Human capital. Journal of Human
Resources, 49(3), 540–571. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhr.2014.0016
This article looks at the effect of the wide publicization of the FDA’s warnings about
anti-depressants and what effects this has had on academic and behavioral outcomes on
adolescents, between the ages of 12 and 17, who were and were not affected by them. The
study is guided by human capital theory which states that human beings can be more
productive through an increase in knowledge and skills, making education detrimental to
fulfillment. The data used in this study came from the National Survey on Drug Use and
Health which gathered data from a population of 70,000 adolescents. This data measured
reported depression and use of medical and therapy services, as well as use of anti-
2
depressants. The outcome measures were academic achievement, substance use, and
delinquency, which were measured by grades for academic and then self-reported for the
other two. The independent variables included depression and the times pre and post FDA
warnings. The dependent variables were the academic and behavioral outcomes. The study
showed that the FDA warnings resulted in a sharp decline in grades, particularly for females
with depression. Substance use was less effected, however, delinquent behavior increased
sharply with the warnings, with females being most effected again. This is important to my
research as it shows how the language used around anti-depressants can be detrimental to
academic performance. The data from the survey used in this study will be useful to me for
analyzing what has happened in the past regarding language and stigma.
García, C. B. G., Busch, D. W., & Russell, N. G. (2023). Best Practices for
Depression Screening among College Students: A Literature review. Journal of Psychosocial
Nursing and Mental Health Services, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.3928/02793695-20231024-02
`
This study examined many common practices used in the screen and care of
college-aged people with depression and concluded which of these could be considered best
practice. Data was gathered from 775 studies through a comprehensive literature review,
from which 17 articles were used. The study used the John Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice
model to evaluate the studies rating them from low to high quality in terms of screening and
care. The standard of care was evaluated making it the dependent variable while the
processes used were the independent variables. The study showed that there were four
important elements, these being universal based screenings, proper screening methods, proper
screening tools, and proper referral processes. This are finding which I can use to guide my
process in gathering data from work working with those who are being medicated for
depression. Not only can this guide my practices but also allow me to better understand the
3
systems that people often go through and what is needed in these systems to achieve better
results for those in care.
Hammonds, T., Rickert, K., Goldstein, C. M., Gathright, E. C., Gilmore, S., Derflinger, B.,
Bennett, B. L., Sterns, A. A., Drew, B. L., & Hughes, J. W. (2015). Adherence to
antidepressant medications: a randomized controlled trial of medication reminding in
college students. Journal of American College Health, 63(3), 204–208.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2014.975716
This study featured a randomized control trial examining how college student adhered
to medication-based treatment and the effects this adherence had on their treatment. The
study looked at the use of a phone app to remind students to take their medication. The study
featured a sample of 57 students who were placed in the treatment or control groups. The
dependent variable was the number of pills taken over the course of the program while the
independent variable was the use of the phone app as a reminder. The outcome was measured
by taking the number of pills taken and the expected amount and converting this to a
percentage. The study found that the use of the app as a reminder was beneficial for adhering
to regular medication, however, other factors like health beliefs, use of substances, and the
type of care received also played a role in adherence. Using a measure like number of antidepressants taken compared to the amount that should be taken over a period time is a useful
measure for my study as it allows one to see how the regiment really affects students.
The research to be carried out is aimed at examining the number of students using
depressant drugs and the effect it has on their performance. The dependent variable in the
research’s nominal definition is mainly academic progress, while performance is measured
through grade point average (GPA). Similarly, the independent variables in the research are
the students on anti-depressant drugs.
The data-gathering techniques included well-structured interviews. Students are
issued interviews where they give out their experiences, the effects associated with antidepressant drugs, and the effects on academic performance (Lorenzetti et al., 2022).
Furthermore, the sampling methodologies employed include a mix of snowball where the
student affected with anti-depressant drugs are asked to help identify their counterparts.
Convenience is another sampling methodology where students who are found around are
asked to be involved in the research due to their availability. Stratified sampling is also used,
where the students are divided into groups of five, each based on their characteristics. The
participants are obtained from the university health centers, hostels, classrooms, and online
media platforms.
Throughout the research, ethical issues are taken into consideration. One of the ethical
issues that were considered was that the students who were found to be using anti-drug
depressants had their identities hidden from the public (Suri, 2020). The students who were
discriminated against because of the use of anti-drug depressants were offered guidance and
counseling. Similarly, the students’ consent is obtained before the sampling to enable them to
learn about the exercise that was taking place.
References
Lorenzetti, V., Hindocha, C., Petrilli, K., Griffiths, P., Brown, J., Castillo?Carniglia, Á., … &
Freeman, T. P. (2022). The International Cannabis Toolkit (iCannToolkit): a
multidisciplinary expert consensus on minimum standards for measuring cannabis
use. Addiction, 117(6), 1510–1517.
Suri, H. (2020). Ethical considerations of conducting systematic reviews in educational
research. Systematic reviews in educational research: Methodology, perspectives and
application, pp. 41–54.