Causes Of Smoking During Pregnancy By Indigenous Women – Qualitative Research Plan

Phenomenon of Interest

Discuss about the Causes Of Smoking During Pregnancy By Indigenous Women.

There has been a rise in the number of Aboriginal women who smoke during pregnancy. The habit affects both the women and their unborn children. There are a significant number of women who quit smoking when they realize that they are pregnant. However, other indigenous women smoke during the pregnancy period. The Aboriginal women who are illiterate, jobless and tender age tend to smoke during pregnancy as opposed to the educated and gainfully employed women (Ashman et al., 2016). Smoking leads to placenta complications and can lead to the death of the infant (Passey, & Sanson-Fisher, 2015). Moreover, the smoking causes genital diseases to the fetus and disrupts the behaviors of the child. This qualitative research plan will explore the causes of smoking among the pregnant Aboriginal women. The program will also look at the data collection and analysis to be used in the study. Ethical considerations and vulnerable populations are also part of the qualitative plan.

The primary objective of this qualitative research plan is to synthesize and identify the relevant and credible evidence to answer the following question:

What are the causes of smoking during pregnancy by Indigenous women?

Phenomenon of Interest

The phenomenon of interest for this plan is the responses of the pregnant smoking women when asked about what causes them to smoke during pregnancy.

The study sample

The plan targets the Aboriginal women who are victims of smoking when they are pregnant. The participating women are of all ages, which are from the young to old ones. Moreover, the plan is silent on the pregnancy lengths of the participants. The research is solely on the Aboriginals.

The Qualitative research plan on the causes of smoking among the aboriginal women will use the Phenomenological design (Ingham-Broomfield, 2015). The researcher will interview the participants on the reasons why they smoke during pregnancy. The stakeholders will also read evidence-based documentations on the causes of smoking among the Aboriginal women. Moreover, the specialists will watch videos on the effects of tobacco on the women. The researchers will also visit health facilities and homes where the pregnant women are based. The answers that the women provide will form the basis for the research. The number of interviews will range from ten to fifteen per day.

The Study Variables

The first variable will be age. Any Aboriginal woman, who is pregnant and smoke, will undergo the interview regardless of their age. The gestation length of the pregnancy will form the second variable. The range will not stop the women from answering questions on what causes them to smoke. The researchers will interview the older mothers before, the younger ones. The interview will begin with the new mothers and conclude with the mothers who have conceded on more than one occasion.

The Study Sample

The Study Population

The population will focus on the Indigenous population. The study will then narrow down to the Aboriginal women. Moreover, the research will focus on the pregnant women who are cigarette smokers.  

Eligibility Criteria

The women must be pregnant and smoking a cigarette. They can be of any age and gestation period. The woman must be an aboriginal as the researchers will not interview the native Australians. The pregnant woman must show cultural continuity with the Aboriginal community for the interview to commence. The researchers must ascertain that the woman has links with the Indigenous individuals. 

Study Sample

 The researchers will interview twenty women by square kilometer per day. The women must be of an Aboriginal origin and pregnant at the same time. Moreover, the indigenous women must be smoking or were smoking before the pregnancy. 

Sampling method

Purposive sampling method will be used in the research (Parahoo, 2014). The researchers will gather the aboriginal women who are pregnant and are smoking into groups containing five individuals. The groupings will depend on their age, stage of pregnancy and how long they have been smoking. The researchers will ask the participants to talk about the causes of smoking during and before pregnancy.

The researchers will use both the direct and the indirect means to collect data (Parahoo, 2014). The specialists expect information on the causes of smoking among the pregnant indigenous women. The researchers will interact with the women orally to engage them on the reasons why they smoke when they are pregnant. Those who cannot speak will receive a written note questioning the causes of the smoking habit. The field officers will also read documents on the origins of smoking among the indigenous females. The researchers will first interview the women individually and record the findings. Later on, the interview will be in groups of fifteen to twenty groups.

The specialists will take the phone numbers of pregnant women from the various health facilities where the Aboriginal women seek treatment. Therefore, the researchers will conduct phone interviews for women who are away from the perimeter of the research area (Cleary, Horsfall, & Hayter, 2014). The researchers will also prepare questionnaires and issue them to the pregnant women. The questions in the document should ask the women to state the causes of smoking during pregnancy. The researchers can also ask the women to narrate the reasons why they started smoking. The field officers can reach the modern ladies through social media pages where the interviews can take place.

The Study Variables

Context

The context of this plan is the Indigenous women who smoke during pregnancy.

Researcher Role

The researcher should conduct interviews on the causes of cigarette smoking during pregnancy. Moreover, the researcher should issue questionnaires and conduct phone interviews. Furthermore, the specialist should record the findings and use the data to find solutions to the research question.

Experience of Interest

The researcher should be well versed with the sampling and data collection methods. Moreover, they should know how to separate an indigenous from a native. The researcher should have data analysis skills.

Method of Data Analysis

The Coding and Categorization method is the most appropriate technique since data collection was majorly through interviews (Elo et al., 2014). The method requires the researchers to criticize the responses of the participants and get rid of irrelevant information (Crowe, Inder, & Porter, 2015). The specialists also have the responsibility of categorizing the responses (Green, & Thorogood, 2018). The researcher should strike out the repetitions to end up with a refined data.

Rigor, Trustworthiness, and Limitation of the Proposed Study

The proposed study is rigor and policymakers will trust the results. There is no validity, reliability, or bias in the survey (Leung, 2015). The researcher will issue an audit statement at the end of the study (Quinn, & Fantasia, 2017). A significant number of researchers will collect data to eliminate bias (Reed, Fitzgerald, & Rae, 2016). The audit report will provide all the data obtained from the field (Forero et al., 2018). The report respects the feelings of the participants.

The researchers did not interview all indigenous women who are smoking when pregnant. Some participants submitted unfilled questionnaires. Some participants did not answer the researchers’ phone calls. Others did not turn up for the interviews. Therefore, the data is based on the women who responded to the researchers.

Ethical Implications on the Vulnerable Population

The proposed study raises ethical issues among the interviewed Aboriginal women. There are women who refused to disclose the reasons why they smoke during pregnancy. The researchers had to respect their confidentiality. The researchers must respect the autonomy of the participants (Brown, Edwards, Seaton, & Buckley, 2017). The field officers should only interview women who agree to participate. The researcher should also respect the privacy of the participants. The women should be free to provide and hide information at will. The researcher should keep the discussion with the participants as a secret and confidential.

The Study Population

The researcher should hide the identity of the participants in the final report. Moreover, the specialist should ensure that the interview benefits the participants, hence respecting the principle of beneficence (LeMone et al., 2015). The engagement should be in line with the policy of justice as all pregnant smokers deserve an interview chance with the researchers. The interviews should not conflict the cultural beliefs of the aboriginals. Moreover, the researchers should carry out the study with top-notch integrity.

Conclusion

Smoking among the Aboriginals pregnant women affects both the unborn child and the mother. The habit leads to complications of the placenta and behavioral abnormalities of the unborn children among other complications. The Qualitative Research Plan explores the causes of the cigarette smoking among the Aboriginal women. The plan uses phenomenological design to study the causes of smoking habits on the women. The study variables include the age of the women and the gestation of the pregnancy. The plan endeavor to interview ten to fifteen women per square kilometer in a day. Any pregnant Aboriginal woman who smokes is eligible for the study. The plan will use purposive sampling method during the study. Moreover, the study will use both indirect and direct ways to collect data. Interviews will be the principal data collection method. The data analysis will be through coding and categorization as the study will obey ethical principles.

References

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