Research Memo #1

Hypothesis:

Should authorities be more focused on domestic violence? According to the Family Peace Center, every fifteen seconds a women is beaten. Authorities need to step in and put an end or at least make an attempt to prevent domestic violence. My hypothesis is adolescents all across the country get affected because there authorities are not doing enough about this issue. Therefore, respondents to my survey will most likely agree that domestic violence is a severe issue.

 

Context:

I have conducted research to identify whether adolescents are exposed to domestic violence or either indirectly exposed to it. Indirect exposure may include hearing about an individual who was or is directly involved with domestic violence or knowing someone who encountered domestic violence. The targeted audience in this case was high school students. This was my targeted audience because adolescents are usually the ones who encounter the most domestic violence. The results are most likely reliable because I was careful in choosing my respondents.

Results:

Survey Question	Age 14	Age 15	Age 16	Age 17	Age 18
Scale of 1-10 What do you rate domestic violence as an issue?	2/2  scale 5 and above	11/11 scale 5 and above	3/3 scale 7 and above	7/8 scaled 7 and above	1/1 ranked scale 10
Check all that apply Directly Involved Someone known inv. Heard of involvement	2/2 answered heard of	11/11  heard of involvement	2/3 someone known involved	7/8  heard of involvement	1/1  heard of involvement
Children are likely to be abused if mother was true/false?	2/2 answered true	10/11  answered true	2/3 answered true	4/8 answered true	1/1 answered true
Has domestic violence increased?	2/2 answered yes	10/11 answered yes	3/3 answered yes	5/8 answered yes	1/1 answered yes
Are authorities doing enough to prevent domestic violence?	2/2 answered no	9/11 answered no	2/3 answered no	7/8 answered no	1/1 answered yes

Data Analysis:

Adolescents all over the world are being affected by domestic violence because authorities are not doing enough to prevent or put an end to domestic violence.

·         Over 80% of the respondents said that no, authorities are not doing enough to prevent domestic violence. More than half of the respondents witnessed someone being abused by their partner. Every respondent either was directly involved with domestic violence, someone they knew was involved, or heard about someone being involved. 99% of those surveyed believed domestic violence was an issue above five on the scale of one to ten.

·         The age groups or amount of surveys for each individual age was not varied enough.

·         I believe my respondents answered that authorities are not doing enough because all of them had some type of encounter with domestic violence even if it meant only hearing about someone who was involved. In addition, they probably responded in this manner because more than half of them had already witnessed it.

Follow Up:

I will continue to research how adolescents are affect from exposure to domestic violence using other essential questions as a base. I will make an attempt to determine what adolescents would do if they had more options to let authorities when they encounter domestic violence.

Conclusion:

Adolescents believe authorities are not doing enough to prevent domestic violence. All of the respondents where either directly or indirectly exposed to domestic violence. Most did not or are unsure of how to help someone who is experiencing domestic violence. Most respondents also believed domestic violence has increased in the past years. Therefore, it is obvious that authorities are not stepping in to help with this issue.