Monday 2 May 2016

CLO5 Marriage and Divorce



Marriage and Divorce





Name: Mohammad Juma Alshamsi
ID: H00280882
Section: CJM
Instructor: Hedley Butterfield
Research Methods












Article 1
Section 1
            Source: From the HCT database under advanced search, it appeared among several of the other related articles.
Section 2
            Title: Marriage and Divorce among Young Adult Cancer Survivors.
Abstract
            The article covers the effects of divorce, especially, on patients afflicted with cancer. Aspects such as the type of cancer, gender, education and race were examined in this article. The article offers a concise arrangement of the events. It starts with an abstract that states the expected methods of research and findings. It discusses each of the subtopics in detail and simple language.
Reference
Kirchhoff, A., C. Yi, J. & Wright, J. (2012). Marriage and Divorce among Young Adult Cancer Survivors. Internet Resource.
Section 3
Research Techniques
Population     
Participants were chosen using the BFRS, which is a telephone survey conducted randomly at the national level once per year. The population consisted of adults of 18 years of age or older living in the United States of America, Puerto Rico, Virgin Island, the District of Columbia and Guam.
Research Approach
The approach to the research was qualitative in nature and involved conducting interviews. Each participant was asked “Have you ever been told by a doctor, nurse, or other health professional that you had cancer?” Statistical analysis of the data was then conducted to conclude the results.
Participant Selection
Participants eligible for selection were between 20 and 39 years of age. The intention was to select survivors who were past adolescence and approaching the age of marriage or of the age of marriage, and the cut-off age of 39 was used because above this age persons are not considered to be young adults by the NCI.
Main Results
The author concludes that that a diagnosis of cancer can affect young adults greatly in terms of finances and physical and psychological health. The behaviours of married young adult survivors may differ from others. As a young adult, they are also coping with financial and social demands, so a diagnosis of cancer at this time may be particularly burdensome on younger couples who do not have the resources to manage the implications.

Section 4
Article Evaluation
            Since the article analyses issues concerned with divorce rates among cancer patients, some issues, such as relationships and disease, are looked at. In the article, the authors start by discussing how youngsters commit. The authors state that most youngsters, usually, get into long term relationships, before they realize that they have terminal illnesses. In fact, a majority of cancer diagnoses occur when individuals are between the ages of fifteen and thirty-nine (Kirchhoff, Yi & Wright, 2012).  Due to this factor, marital issues end up being very stressful for young persons, because of the emotional, financial and health factors. On top of the already existing issues, the diagnosis of cancer, usually, causes more stress to the affected couple.
            The article uses different measures in conducting the search. For instance, the marital status of the participants, their health status and race were factors that were considered. Ultimately, the results were diverse. First, there were more female survivors. Secondly, the same group was, usually, diagnosed at a younger age, compared to their male counterparts. The findings, also, indicated that the female survivors faced a higher risk of divorce than the male survivors. The findings, also, showed that, since most of the young adults married at about the same age, their divorce rates were likely to be similar.



Article 2
Section 1
Source: HCT libraries> Discover> Electronic Resources
Section 2
Title: Marriage and Divorce of Immigrants and Descendants of Immigrants in Sweden.
Abstract
            In this article, another aspect influencing marriage and divorce is covered; that of immigrants and descendants in Sweden. Since they occupy a fairly large part of Sweden, their marital patterns indicate a significant trend.
Reference
Annderson, G., Obucina, o., & Scott, K. (N.D.) Marriage and Divorce of Immigrants and Descendants of Immigrants in Sweden. Internet Resource.
Section 3
Research Techniques
Population     
The population included all Swedish residents who were born in 1951 or later who at any time lived in Sweden between 1983 and 2001.
Research Approach
A qualitative approach was used to conduct the research. In adherence to traditional research on family demographics, the study was based on the marriage behaviour of women. The authors used Kaplan-Meier survivor functions, as well as multivariate analysis of event-history.
Participant Selection
An immigrant was specifically defined as persons born outside of Sweden and currently living in Sweden. These were the participants for the study. Register data from Sweden provided participants’ information relating to changes in civil status, as well as other socio-demographic information.
Main Results
The authors found differences in marriage and divorce patterns among immigrant groups and between Swedish-born persons and migrants. A few migrant groups were found to have high volatility in family relationships, with a significant number of marriages, divorces and re-marriages. Several factors affect the marriage behaviour of Swedish immigrants, such as variances in family systems and other aspects relating to the actual migration process and the selective nature of these migrants.


Section 4
Article Analysis
            Like the previous article, this one is divided into segments that further analyses the issue at hand. The article starts by analyzing Sweden as a country. It looks at its geographical location and immigrant history based on marriage and divorce. The article mainly discusses women, how they get into marriage, how they co-habit and how they divorce. The article explains how most women move to Sweden unmarried and, ultimately, find marriage partners, especially, among working men. The article explains how immigration disrupts the normal marriage pattern, and how its selectivity leads to altering behaviors in Sweden.
            In its findings, Sweden is seen to have a declining trend in the incidences of marriage. The country had, also, promoted the aspect of co-habitation, in preference to marriage. Additionally, the authors further explain that obtaining a divorce in Sweden is very easy. This is especially so, since marriage in Sweden offers limited benefits, and has ever-increasing risks. The article also states that there have been rising rates of immigrants in the game (Annderson, Obucina & Scott, N.D.). Comparisons between current and precious statistics are used see how marriage and divorce rates are trending.
            The results indicate that a majority of women usually divorce by the fifteenth year of marriage. Most immigrant workers who form relationships in Sweden, also, end up experiencing more incidences of divorce. On the same note, individual immigrants who grow up in Sweden have higher divorce rates, than those who marry as adults. This finding shows how much the Swedish culture impacts the longevity of marriages in Sweden. Another important finding in the article is that the descendants of immigrant Swedes experience higher divorce rates than native Swedes. This is attributed to the possible strong relationships that may be disrupted by migration. The authors of the article are very careful in providing detail and evidence relating to the issue at hand.
Ranking in descending order
1.      Annderson, G., Obucina, o., & Scott, K. (N.D.) Marriage and Divorce of Immigrants and Descendants of Immigrants in Sweden. Internet Resource.
2.      Kirchhoff, A., C. Yi, J. & Wright, J. (2012).Marriage and Divorce among Young Adult Cancer Survivors. Internet Resource.

The article discussing the rate of divorce and marriages among Swedish immigrants is exemplary in its elaboration of the topic. As well as discussing Swedish immigrants, the article discusses traditional Swedish views on marriage and divorce. It helps the reader to get a more comprehensive understanding of the issue at hand. Other than that, the article makes extensive use of data, providing sufficient evidence of the case researched.
            The findings from the article are useful in a number of ways. First, it would be helpful to marriage counselors, since they could use the data from the findings to determine the issues leading to divorce. The findings could, also, be used to find solutions pertaining to migration. If the root causes of unstable relations are mindsets of either the native or immigrant Swedes, the findings could be used to determine how to solve them.
            To further elaborate on the topic, more information on contradictory factors, like why immigrants who grow up in Sweden have higher divorce rates than adult immigrants married in Sweden, should be carried out. The behavioral trends of the Swedish natives and other immigrants could, also, be helpful in determining the situation in the study.


Sunday 6 March 2016

Research CLO3

Research CLO3



Justification:

   With the advancement in technology, exposure to video games is increasing. People are more confined towards spending there most of the time over playing video games. Younger generation cannot live without video games. It is a source of their relaxation, and greater part of their life. So much exposure to these sites can lead to bad health. Many studies revealed that it created many psychological problems in humans. They get angry and rude. They avoid sitting amongst family members. On the other hand, these video games can be used for educational purpose as well. These video games are good source of increasing cognitive ability in children. Cognitive process is the method and ability of learning, which the human brain acquires through attention. These video games gives the chance to enhance the memory storage by making it develops at a faster speed at the level of creativity.
The utility of the video games determine their influence. Some video games are skill teachers. And on the other hand some video games promote violent, unethical actions and aggression making individuals to face problems in their relationships. It entirely depends upon the fact that what content does the video games contain; is it abusing or teaching to be constructive.


Research Background:
As experts dealing with understanding of the human behavior and brain activity like neurologists are organizing well planned and structured researches that are beginning to spill some real highlights on how video games actually affect human beings. There is no doubt in the fact that video games exert several types of consequences in the human brain and mostly such activities are even not obvious. They take place at a point where overt behaviors don’t get identified. This is due to the misconception that video games are only a source for amusement; here the influences are subtle for sure.

  Data collection procedures:
                  At the end of this research, I made a survey and I asked the students inside the college and some people outside the college 10 questions about my research into Video Games.  The results of my questionnaire are in the pie charts A to J. I collected different opinions from the people. Some of the people didn’t have a good background about video games because they didn’t use them, and some of them stopped playing because they felt that it will affect their studies and they didn’t have enough time, and some of them were always playing.


The results and interpretation of the findings:




                The research findings say that people have different views on video games. One way they think that video games are good for developing observational skills, then on the other side the majority of the people don’t agree on cognitive skill development. There is some misconception prevailing amongst people about video games. Some people agree that video games influence the mind of the users while others think it doesn’t. The finding proposes that 60% of the participants agree that playing games is multitasking and an effective way of learning things. It also helps in making memory strong and is a key to cognitive skill development. The other question asked was do students learn anything from educational video games; 80% of the people agree with this concept that playing video games helps in gaining new knowledge through observing things. Few people do not have proper knowledge about videos games and their results. We got mixed reviews for the participants of the research. On questioning about inductive reasoning and hypothesis, 66% people said video games are not helpful while 34% said they are extremely helpful.
Video games affect the behavior of the users and 60% of the answers were in favor of yes that aggressive behavior and pro-social support is very common. Videos games have confusing realities because they are fiction and an example of unreality. It is virtual reality and has a strong impact on the minds of users. It is important to limit the video games usage duration because over exposure can lead to many negative impacts on children. Since the majority of the people accepted that students learn new things from video games then it cannot be denied that over-exposure to video games can help children to learn bad habits as well. Though participants of this research denied that playing video games cannot have effects like obesity and seizure but in reality obesity is a common problem due to reduced physical work. We can say that video games are indirectly related to the obesity problem because they isolate people from society.







Tuesday 23 February 2016

Video Games survey

Following are the research questions regarding the positive and negative impact of the video games:-
Questions
Yes
No
A.  Video games are influencing their users positively (developing cognitive skills, multitasking, effective strategic planning, excellent working memory)?


B.  Students, by playing educational video games, get help in learning?


C.  Enhanced capability to rapidly and accurately identify visual data and information increases while playing video games?


D. Video games are able to develop cognitive abilities and skills of the users?


E. Video games help their users in understanding inductive reasoning and testing of the hypothesis?



F.  Video games are influencing their users negatively (aggression, violent behavior, reduced pro- social support)?


G.  Do video games have the potential of confusing reality with illusion?


H. Should parents limit the time period of children regarding playing video games?


I.  Especially children, due to immense usage of video games, can suffer from health problems such as obesity and seizures?


J. Addiction to video games causes isolation from society?












At the end of this research, I made a survey and I asked the students inside the college and some people outside the college 10 questions about my research into Video Games.  The results of my questionnaire are in the pie charts A to J. I collected different opinions from the people. Some of the people didn’t have a good background about video games because they didn’t use them, and some of them stopped playing because they felt that it will affect their studies and they didn’t have enough time, and some of them were always playing. 

Sunday 31 January 2016








Research Methods
“The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games”
[Mohammad Juma Alshamsi]
[H00280882]
[CJM]









“The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games”





Mind Map









Introduction

Video games have been a popular source for entertainment and amusement for many decades and for individuals of all ages. Video gaming in the contemporary era is a million dollar industry that earns more financial income as compared to movies and music industry. On the other hand the genres of video games widely differentiate from each other. With the passage of time as technology and internet are advancing, video games have become more realistic and sophisticated. Various video games are connected to the internet where individuals of all age groups can have intellectual conversations and discussions on random topics. Analyzing the effects of video games consists of immense importance as many conflicting reports are witnessed in the past on how video games affect human brains, society and the way we socialize.
If one research suggests that video games cognitively help and develop brains and support in learning, another research may imply that it is negatively affecting its users, as people start to copy violent behavior, aggression and repeated episodes can be witnessed as well. Douglas A. Gentile claims that it is a matter of either or proposition (Bryant & Vorderer, 2016). Video games have the capability of influencing its users negatively and positively as well. A determined line or boundary cannot be marked for which part of the game will effect negatively or positively. It entirely depends upon the researchers who may test the specific game under supervision.
Today video games are used for various purposes including educational and learning purposes, for passing time and for entertainment. However how video games are affecting human beings is an integral question. The research carries crucial importance as it will determine the effects of the video games. This research will help us also understand that videogames can offer more utility and less negative impacts.

Research Background

As experts dealing with understanding of the human behavior and brain activity like anthropologists, neurologists are organizing well planned and structured researches that are beginning to shed some authentic highlights on how video games actually affect human beings. There is no doubt in the fact that video games exert several types of consequences in the human brain and mostly such activities are even not obvious. They take place at a point where overt behaviors don’t get identified. This is due to the misconception that video games are only a source for amusement; here the influences are subtle for sure.

Positive influences of Video games

Educational video games tend to give positive outcomes at a wide range. Students having difficulty in their subjects can get some help out of such video games where they are made aware of various problems. Video games that have genres of strategy planning tend to help players to effectively plan, manage resources and logistics in their games. Same skills are required in real life. The American Planning Association has reported that due to the famous video strategic game SimCity, large numbers of its users have been motivated to have their careers in urban planning and development (Pamf.org, 2016). Various games also train players to become efficient problem solvers and how to cope with logical issues. While playing “Cut the Rope”, “Angry Birds” the brain is trained in such a way that it comes with up new creative ideas so that the puzzles can be solved.
Popular shooting games tend to help develop the eye- hand coordination that leads to the enhancement of motor and spatial skills. In such games typically the player has to run and shoot at the same time, even in action games like “Hit man”, “Commandos”. To play such games the user has to keep an eye on the position of the player, where it is headed and aiming. All of these issues have to be dealt at the same time.
While playing such similar games, users have to be very attentive towards there coordination between the brain’s understanding and the reaction with the motion of the fingers. This technique being very simple to many people is immensely helping out the brain as it requires a wide range of visual spatial capabilities. Even today’s air force fighters are being weaned on video games for their training.

Negative impact of video games

According to the study by the Journal of Psychology and Popular Media Culture individuals spending excessive time while playing video games tend to suffer impulsive behavior disorders that may also involve attention issues as well. Attention issues further involve making difficult for the individuals to engage and sustain their social relationships. While some of the video games tend to be helpful while majority of the popular games tend to base upon inappropriate materials and focus on negative themes. Video games such as “GTA”, “Mafia”, and “Crackdown” promote the following negative aspects as stated below (Google Books, 2016):
·         Murdering someone.
·         Being a hit man.
·         Disrespect and dishonesty towards law and justice.
·         Violent and criminal behavior.
·         Unethical and sexual exploitation.
·         Gender stereotypes.
·         Abuses.

Research Questions

Following are the research questions regarding the positive and negative impact of the video games:-
Questions
Yes
No
1.  Video games are influencing its users positively (developing cognitive skills, multitasking, effective strategic planning, excellent working memory)?


2.  Students, by playing educational video games, get help in learning?


3.  Enhanced capability to rapidly and accurately identify visual data and information increases while playing video games?


4. Video games are able to develop cognitive abilities and skills of the users?


5. Video games help their users in understanding inductive reasoning and testing of the hypothesis?


6.  Video games are influencing its users negatively (aggression, violent behavior, reduced pro- social support)?


7.  Do video games have the potential of confusing reality with illusion?


8. Should parents, limit the time period of children regarding playing video games?


9.  Especially children, due to immense usage of video games, can suffer from health problems such as obesity and seizures?


10. Addiction of video games cause isolation from society ?





 

Proposal for Research

The topic of the research will assist in understanding to what extent and how video games tend to affect human brain activity and our society. The research is based on extensive studies as there are mixed reviews and reports that have their own notions and objectivity upon video games. Research analysis of various variable strengths has been labeling video games to exert both effects on equal basis, positive and negative as well. Often the discussion ends up with the phrases of evil vs. good. It is very fair to state that both effects are developed by the usage of video games but video games cannot be judged solely (Greenfield, 2014).
The utility of the video games determine their influence. Some video games are skill teachers. And on the other hand some video games promote violent, unethical actions and aggression making individuals to face problems in their relationships. It entirely depends upon the fact that what content does the video games contain; is it abusing or teaching to be constructive.







References

Bryant, & Vorderer,. (2016). Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences. Google Books. Retrieved 26 January 2016, from https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=TRkivm_sFYAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=effects+of+video+games&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi1qdbOzcjKAhUD1I4KHZapB2oQ6AEIJjAC#v=onepage&q=effects%20of%20video%20games&f=false
Greenfield, P. (2014). Mind and Media. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Pamf.org,. (2016). The Impact of Video Games | Media Information for Parents. Retrieved 26 January 2016, from http://www.pamf.org/parenting-teens/general/media-web/videogames.html