Posted: April 1st, 2015

Prostitution Study Proposal

Prostitution Study Proposal

Hypothesis
The hypothesis of this research project was that prostitution should be combated by focusing on the demand side of the demand/supply equation. It is hypothesised that reducing prostitution would be done by investigating the behaviour of men, who are alleged to be the buyers. As such, information that relates to men, who are the clients to prostitutes, was obtained. Therefore, the objective of the research is to establish the relationship between the likelihood of men engaging in prostitution, and the various factors that cause men to indulge in prostitution.

Conceptualization

The main term applied in this project is the client prostitution. This refers to men, who seek prostitution. In addition, men are perceived to be on the demand side of the demand supply equation. The data variables used in this study composed of background traits of men seeking prostitution, behaviours which are sex related among men seeking prostitution and the attitude of clients to violence against women. The dependent variable seeks to establish the likelihood of men engaging in prostitution. The independent variables show the various factors that cause men to engage in prostitution. The variables to be used in the study have been explained. The research variables are:

1. Prefer prostitution to relationship,
2. Like control during sex,

• Like to have a variety of partners,

1. Prostitution doesn’t harm anyone,
2. Prostitution is not wrong,
3. Currently married,

• Race,
• Age

1. Annual salary,
2. Support for the legalization or decriminalization of prostitution.

Therefore, it is evident that the concept and the variables of the study have been well explained. The concept indicates that men seeking prostitution show certain behaviours. These behaviours are explained by the variables used in the research. It is easy to understand the meaning of each variable. For example, it is clear that the variable, “prefer prostitution to relationship,” indicates that the respondents preferred engaging in prostitution than being in a relationship. The variable, “like control during sex,” means that the respondents preferred being controlled during sex. The variable, “like to have a variety of partners,” means that the respondents have many sex partners. The variable, “prostitution doesn’t harm anyone,” indicates that respondents the respondents agree that prostitution is harmless to all people. The variable, “prostitution is not wrong,” refers to the fact that respondents perceive prostitution to be wrong. The variable, “currently married,” seeks to get information about the marital status of the respondents. Race refers to the racial background of the respondents. Age refers to the age of the respondents. Annual salary refers to the earnings of the respondents in a year. The variable, “support for the legalization or decriminalization of prostitution,” enquires whether the respondents accept prostitution to be accepted legally.

Operationalization

The variables; prefer prostitution to the relationship, like to have a variety of partners, and like control during sex, were measured on a scale of 1 to 4. 1= Disagree strongly, 2 = Disagree Somewhat, 3= Agree Somewhat and 4= Agree. The variables; prostitution doesn’t harm anyone, and prostitution is not wrong and currently married, were measured on two scales. 1= No and 2= Yes. The variable, race, was measured on a scale of 1 to 4: 1 = Caucasian, 2= African American, 3= Hispanic and 4= Asian. There were no measures for annual salary and age. Lastly, the variable, support for the legalization or decriminalization of prostitution, had 2 measures: 1= No to not at all and 10= 10 Yes-absolutely.

Independent variables

1. Prefer prostitution to relationship,
2. Like control during sex,

• Like to have a variety of partners,

1. Prostitution doesn’t harm anyone,
2. Prostitution is not wrong,
3. Currently married,

• Race,
• Age

1. Annual salary,
2. Support for the legalization or decriminalization of prostitution.

Dependent variable

Likelihood to engage in prostitution

Research Method:

A). Method used to carry out the research

This study chose to use a detailed anonymous questionnaire in conducting the research study. These questionnaires were distributed to the participants, who were required to provide answers to the questions that were asked. The questionnaires used both English and Spanish languages to facilitate data collection from the respective categories of participants. This method was chosen by the first researcher due to its effectiveness in collecting such data. Anonymous questionnaire was the best method given the kind of information it was meant to collect. This is because some participants would not have been comfortable to give personal information that would cause them embarrassment. The use of the questionnaire as a method of data collection has been hailed as enhancing objectivity in a study. This is because the responses are collected in a standard manner. Although questionnaires may take a long time to be designed, they enhance data collection once administered. Also, questionnaires can enable the collection of data from a large population under study compared to other methods like interviews (Berdie, Anderson and Niebuhr, p. 17). On the other hand, there are various disadvantages that are associated with questionnaires, as a means of data collection. Since they are administered after an event, there is a likelihood of participants forgetting important aspects that might interest the researcher. In addition, since they are standardised, it becomes impossible for the participants to offer explanations on certain points. Also, the open-ended questionnaires may lead to the generation of enormous information that may pose challenges during analysis. Another disadvantage is that the respondents may give superficial answers especially when the questionnaire is detailed. Lastly, the use of questionnaires presents a challenge especially when the respondents need some guidance from the researcher (Berdie, Anderson and Niebuhr, p. 47). The researcher ensured that the questionnaires were formulated in both English and Spanish language, in order to address some of the shortcomings of the questionnaire methods. This was meant to facilitate data collection from participants who were conversant with either of the language. The questionnaires were also made simple for easy understanding by the participants. The respondents were also given ample time to fill the detailed questionnaire to avoid getting superficial answers. B).

The preferred method in conducting the research

This research can be best approached as an exploratory research, as opposed to an empirical approach. In this respect, the qualitative tools of data gathering are the best suited in gathering data. Essentially, this research sought to establish the background characteristics, attitudes, and reported behaviours of those individuals arrested while soliciting for prostitutes. Therefore, to get to the bottom of this research problem, the most appropriate design was an exploratory research design. Notably, exploratory research seeks to establish an in-depth understanding of a given aspect. Exploratory research design is usually effective in investigating an aspect that has not been comprehensively researched. The research problem chosen is an area that has not been studied by many scholars, and this makes the explorative research design as the most appropriate compared to the others (McNabb, p. 96). Having explored the disadvantages of using the questionnaire methodology is carrying out the previous research; I would use interviews as the most preferred method in conducting this research study. As a data collection method, interview is made up of a social situation between two individuals. In an interview, there is a psychological process involved that demands the individuals concerned to interact in a mutual respect. Interview is regarded as one of the critical tool in collecting data in a research process. Interview involves a direct and systematic interaction between the interviewer and the respondent. This enables the interviewer to capture relevant data regarding a certain research problem (Wood and Kerr, p. 182). Interviews are hailed to seek their capabilities to get a response even if the respondent is illiterate. Other methods such as the questionnaire are only useful when the respondents are literate. Interviews are also praised to seek their capability to offer the interviewer an opportunity to seek in-depth information from the respondents. It has also to be observed that interviews can lead to a higher response rate among the respondents compared to other methods, such as the questionnaire (Wood and Kerr, p. 183). Given the complexity of the research, interview method is the best to come up with reliable data. This is because interviews provide an in-depth understanding of the concept under study. Interviews explore the thinking and feelings of individuals on a certain issue. They are also good in investigating sensitive topics that individuals would not comfortably discuss in a focus group. This method also adds a human touch to impersonal data. In addition, it facilitates a deep understanding and explanation of statistical data. The major disadvantage associated with this method is that, it requires more time to implement than the other methods such as the questionnaire. Also, this method is said to be quite expensive, and cannot be effective when dealing with a large sample population. Another drawback regarding this method is that the interviewer can influence the data being collected if he or she lacks consistency (Westenholz-Bless and Achola, p. 119).

Sampling framework

The researcher made use of a simple convenience sampling method. This method of sampling enabled the researcher to gather information from all participants who had consented to taking part in the research process. The choice of this sampling method was necessitated by the advantages associated with this method. In essence, convenience sampling has few rules and thus easy to implement. Also, this method of sampling does not consume a lot of resources. This can be gauged in terms of money and time. Lastly, convenience sampling enables the researcher to gather data, which could not have been possible through probability sampling techniques (Fonseca-Becker and Boore, p. 51). Although this form of sampling was chosen as the best suited for the research, it has its shortcomings. It can be noted that this form of sampling is characterised by various biases. Therefore, the resulting samples may present the problem of over or under- representation. Another disadvantage associated with convenience sampling is that the resulting sample is often not representative of the overall population (Lewis-Beck, Bryman and Liao, p. 197). This is because there is no sampling frame for the study and the absence of randomness in choosing the sample population.