Dependent and independent variables
Variables
Socioeconomic status and susceptibility to diabetes.
Reasoning
In the case of the proposed research, the socioeconomic status of a respondent is the independent variable. On the other hand, susceptibility to type II diabetes is the dependent one. The rationale behind identifying these two variables is the fact that the research aims at finding out what is the influence of socioeconomic background on the health condition. It means that the latter depends on the first one (Polit & Beck, 2014).
Socioeconomic status is defined as a combination of different factors determining the position of an individual in their community or society. These determinants include the level of income and educational background, gender, ethnicity, immigration status, and age. In some cases, this list is supplemented with social and health behaviors, physical activities, and ethnic concentration (Rivera, Rosenbaum, & Rosela, 2015).
Causality
Central research question
What is the influence of socioeconomic status on the risk of type II diabetes?
Reasoning
Socioeconomic status is a complex phenomenon that is difficult to measure. Because it includes a wide range of constituents, it is close to impossible to involve all of them within the framework of the proposed research. Still, the education and financial status of an individual are those determinants that remain unchanged from the perspective of social value (Saydah, Imperatore, & Beckles, 2013). That is why the influence of socioeconomic status on susceptibility to type II diabetes will be studied based on investigating the level of education and income of respondents.
Logical reasoning
Some socioeconomic factors such as the level of income and educational background are closely connected to the risk of type II diabetes (Rivera et al., 2015; Saydah & Lohner, 2010).
Reasoning
For this reason, it is imperative to find out whether this correlation is common for any economic environment or only for the United States and Canada where the studies mentioned above were conducted. The specificity of these two countries is the existence of a significant income gap between different social classes. Unlike the U.S., the United Arab Emirates is the country with predominantly high income. Moreover, the proposed research will be beneficial for promoting preventative and educational measures in the environment of the country under consideration.
Contextualization and Constraints
People suffering from type II diabetes will make up the foundation of the sample for the research proposal because their personal health experience is appropriate for finding answers to research questions. This sampling technique is referred to as purposeful sampling (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2014).
Another sampling technique that will be deployed is a stratified sampling. It means that people will be chosen based on meeting some criteria such as a particular level of income. That said, those having a stable and unstable income, as well as people with low and high levels of income (i.e. belonging to different social classes), will be asked to participate in the study (Johnson & Christensen, 2014). Another criterion is the level of education. However, it a secondary factor, which does not have a direct impact on the choice of respondents.
Constraints
This study is limited in time and resources. That is why only two determinants of socioeconomic status will be included – the level of income and education. The timeframe for conducting the research is two months.
Location
A hospital setting located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
References
Johnson, R. B., & Christensen, L. (2014). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, L. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2014). Essentials of nursing research: Appraising evidence for nursing practice. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health.
Rivera, L. A., Rosenbaum, M., & Rosela, L. C. (2015). The influence of socioeconomic status on future risk for developing Type 2 diabetes in the Canadian population between 2011 and 2022: differential associations by sex. International Journal for Equity in Health, 14(1), 101-112.
Saydah, S. H., Imperatore, G., & Beckles, G. L. (2013). Socioeconomic status and mortality. Diabetes Care, 36(1), 49-55.
Saydah, S., & Lohner, K. (2010). Socioeconomic status and risk of diabetes-related mortality in the U.S. Public Health Reports, 125(3), 377-388.