Assignment

Please see attachment 

The methods section you wrote should include the following sections: participants, materials/instruments/apparatuses, procedures, and design. Consider the following and include additional information into sections in your Methods where appropriate:

1. How many participants will your study need? (include in the participants section)

2. Include your hypothesis. (Include in the introduction for this section.)

3. What is your sample size? Why did you decide on that size? (Include in the participants section.)

4. What is your methodology? Why did you choose that methodology? (This should be presented in the design section.)

5. Include a conclusion paragraph that summarizes your research proposal. Provide enough information so your proposed study can be replicated by others.

Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
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Research Proposal

Student Name

Institution-Affiliated

Research proposal

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive quantitative research is to explore whether the decriminalization of Abortion reduced stigma. In conducting the study, a sample of 50 participants will be selected through convenience and purposive sampling. Subsequently, data will be collected using quantitative questionnaires and interviews to obtain their views regarding the implications or decriminalizing abortion and its effects on stigma. Once this is achieved, several statistical tools such as SPSS and Bivariate correlation will be utilized to analyze the data.

Introduction

Stigma or in other words the deeply discrediting attributes towards other individuals that reduced them form whole people to discredited and tainted individuals is considered a major obstacle in the provision of some important health services and subsequently medical care (Cárdenas, Labandera, Baum, Chiribao, Leus, Avondet & Friedman, 2018). This is especially so when it comes to abortion in which people’s opinions and perceptions towards abortion are influenced not only by the legal provisions but also by their cultural and religious beliefs.

Despite this, more than 40 million women have an abortion the world today with such statistics considered low given that some women opt for unsafe abortions due to stigmatization associated with the procurement of abortions (Cárdenas, Labandera, Baum, Chiribao, Leus, Avondet & Friedman, 2018). However, social stigma is still very high when it comes to abortion and is usually expressed in the forms of increased secrecy and negative attitudes by both the clinicians involved in the abortion process and the women procuring abortion services.

According to research, Abortion still faces numerous barriers even after decriminalization including healthcare providers who are not supportive of abortion due to their personal, social, religious and cultural beliefs. This has led to increased discrimination and stigmatization of women seeking to procure abortion services

Increased stigma towards abortion, therefore, is one of the biggest barriers to the women that seek to terminate unwanted pregnancies while also proving a major challenge to providers of abortion services (Clauss-Ehlers, Chiriboga, Hunter, Roysircar & Tummala-Narra, 2019). This is because due to stigma, providers of abortion services are marginalized while the women seeking the services are shamed into silence hence perpetuating the increased misunderstandings and myths regarding abortion.

To address the issue of stigmatization due to abortion, many countries have enacted laws decriminalizing abortion. This is following the available research indicating that decriminalizing abortion not only reduces the risks that women face to their lives when getting abortion services but also reduces the stigma associated with abortions (Hanschmidt, Linde, Hilbert, Riedel‐Heller & Kersting, 2016).. However, there exists insufficient and inconclusive research regarding whether decriminalization has any influence on the reduction of stigma towards abortion among both the service providers in clinics, the women who seek abortion services and society (Makleff, Labandera, Chiribao, Friedman, Cardenas & Baum, 2019). Given this, the paper is not only significant but also very relevant as there exists a need for additional research and literature regarding the topic.

The purpose of the paper, therefore, is to examine the attitudes perceptions of healthcare providers and patients towards abortion to understand whether stigmatization continues to exist even after the decriminalization of abortion.

Hypothesis

Null, H0: The decriminalization of abortion ahs reduced abortion-related stigma in healthcare settings.

Alternative, HA: The decriminalization of abortion has had no impact on the reduction of stigma in healthcare settings.

Methodology

In carrying out the study, a descriptive quantitative research design will be utilized to assess the association between intercultural sensitivity and intercultural communication. The study will be conducted in a clinical setting where respondents in the study will comprise both healthcare staff responsible for administering abortion or reproductive care services and women who have sought such services.

Besides, interviews and quantitative questionnaires will be utilized to collect primary data from participants. In addition to the interviews and quantitative questionnaire, an extensive literature review will be carried out as a basis for examining what other studies have found out regarding the association between abortion and stigma after decriminalization. This not only provides important secondary data but will also be used as a basis for triangulation hence increasing the validity of the findings from the study.

To select participants for the study, purposive and convenience sampling will be used to obtain 50 participants to take part in the study. This is to enable the data collectors to reach individuals with important information depending on their availability and ability to complete the study. All participants will be expected to participate in the study voluntarily and will, therefore, be provided with consent forms upon which to append their approval for participation.

Results and discussion

Once, the data has been collected descriptive tests will be used to analyze the data. To achieve this, the statistical software SPSS will be employed to establish frequencies and percentages. Further, the bivariate correlation will be used to establish the correlations between intercultural communication and interactions between individuals (Polit, 2017). This will be conducted using a confidence interval of 0.05.

Given this, significant results which imply that the findings from the study are probably true based on the confidence interval and degrees of freedom will be achieved if the results fro the analysis fall within the confidence interval.

To ensure that the study falls within the APA guidelines on the ethics of conducting a study, the following measures will be undertaken. First, the researchers will obtain permission from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) as a guarantee that they will act in a manner that protects the welfare and rights of all the human participants that will participate in the study (Polit, 2017).

Secondly, debriefing statements will be used to provide a brief but detailed explanation regarding the purpose of the study, its expected outcome as well as any potential benefits and risks that participants may face by choosing to participate in the study. The debriefing statement will be accompanied by a consent form through which the participants in the study will be required to provide written consent for participation in the study (Polit, 2017). This is to further ensure that the participants have understood the purpose of the study and that they participate in the study voluntarily. Moreover, the consent form assures the participant of confidentiality and allows them to quit participating in the study at any point they choose to during the process of the study.

The study may face several limitations as described in the preceding section. One given that the study does not use random sampling techniques in selecting the participants, not all members of the population will be given an equal chance of being selected (Polit, 2017). Subsequently, this may raise limitations regarding the representativeness of the sample to the population and consequently the ability to generalize the findings from the study to the entire population. In conclusion, While the study attempts at exploring the association between stigma and abortion in a decriminalized setting, it does not use an experiment. Subsequently, there is a need for further studies with controlled variables to provide additional evidence regarding the topic.

References

Cárdenas, R., Labandera, A., Baum, S. E., Chiribao, F., Leus, I., Avondet, S., & Friedman, J.
(2018). “It’s something that marks you”: Abortion stigma after decriminalization in
Uruguay. Reproductive health, 15(1), 150.

Clauss-Ehlers, C. S., Chiriboga, D. A., Hunter, S. J., Roysircar, G., & Tummala-Narra, P. (2019). APA Multicultural Guidelines executive summary: Ecological approach to context, identity, and intersectionality. American Psychologist, 74(2), 232.

Makleff, S., Labandera, A., Chiribao, F., Friedman, J., Cardenas, R., Sa, E., & Baum, S. E. (2019). Experience obtaining legal abortion in Uruguay: knowledge, attitudes, and stigma among abortion clients. BMC Women’s Health, 19(1), 155.

Hanschmidt, F., Linde, K., Hilbert, A., Riedel‐Heller, S. G., & Kersting, A. (2016). Abortion
stigma: a systematic review. Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 48(4), 169
177.

Polit, D. F. (2017). Clinical significance in nursing research: A discussion and descriptive analysis. International journal of nursing studies, 73, 17-23.

Appendices

Sample consent template

Participant Name	Participant ID	Region	Having understood the objective of the study, expectations, risks and potential benefits, I voluntarily choose to participate in the study.
Agree	Disagree

Sample debriefing template

Study Objective

Participation guidelines

Expected outcomes

Ethical considerations

Reporting