Human Drug Studies Flashcards
How are questionnaires used to study human drug-taking?
Questionnaires can be used to investigate the attitudes of individuals to drugs such as alcohol, nicotine and heroin and to gain important self-report data
How are questionnaires developed?
With a questionnaire a pilot study is often carried out on a small sample to check that the questions are appropriate and that is measures what it’s supposed to
How are questionnaires distributed?
Generally written and distributed remotely
e.g. handed to someone on paper or sen out via computer
How are closed questions used to study human drug studies?
Can be used to gather self-reported drug use
Closed questions gather quantitative data and only allow a short or limited answer e.g. ‘do you take illegal drugs? Yes/No’
May use Likert-type or ranked data scales such as whether someone strongly agrees or disagrees with certain statements
How are open questions used to study human drug taking?
Allow for in-depth qualitative data to be gathered e.g. ‘how do you feel when you are taking drugs?’
Provides respondent with an opportunity to explain their feelings and give reasons behind their answers
How is data from questionnaires analysed in human drug studies?
Data from closed questions can be analysed statistically by looking at percentages of respondents who use illegal drugs
Data from open questions will be analysed using thematic analysis e.g. looking for common themes about drug use in the answers provided
How can conclusions about data be made from human drug studies?
Can be made by comparing the responses of drug users with non drug users
How can you ensure the protection of participants in human drug studies?
Asking drug users about their own experiences may be distressing for them
May result in them recalling painful memories
Researcher has the duty to consider the levels of potential emotional distress on participants
How can you ensure the confidentiality of participants in human drug studies?
Duty of the researcher is to protect the participant and maintain a level of confidentiality
Depending on the nature of the study, the participant may disclose information about illegal activities and the researcher needs to have a clear understanding of how they plan to deal with this information
How can you ensure the consent of participants in human drug studies?
Drug users may not have the capacity to make fully informed consent due to being under the influence of substances
May be temporary at the time of intoxication and may be able to give full consent when asked sober
What are the strengths of using questionnaires in human drug studies?
In-depth data
Reliability
Objective
Sample size
What are the weaknesses of using questionnaires in human drug studies?
Subjective
Validity
Social desirability
Socially sensitive research
Sample size
Why is in-depth data a strength of using questionnaires in human drug studies?
Questionnaires can gather rich, in-depth data depending on the type of questions used
In-depth data leads to greater validity of findings
Open questions allow for individuals to provide detail to their answers without being restricted to answering ‘Yes/No’
Why is reliability a strength of using questionnaires in human drug studies?
Can be seen as high in reliability because they are comprised of standardised questions and so can be tested for consistency by carrying them out again on similar participants to gain similar results
Why is objectivity a strength of using questionnaires in human drug studies?
Strength of using closed questions is they produce quantitative data
Quantitative data is numerical and so can be analysed relatively easily and objectively
Why is sample size a strength of using questionnaires in human drug studies?
Questionnaires facilitate a large sample size which makes the conclusions of the study more representative of the wide population
Why is subjectivity a weakness of using questionnaires in human drug studies?
Open questions produce qualitative data which may not be easy to analyse and may be subjective thus open to misinterpretation
Why is validity a weakness of using questionnaires in human drug studies?
Participants may not give honest answers about their drug use and instead may give socially desirable answers
This lowers validity as the researcher isn’t gaining the actual level of drug use
Why is social desirability a weakness of using questionnaires in human drug studies?
Using self-report data from questionnaires can lead to social desirable answers as drug use is not socially acceptable behaviour
May lead to an under-reporting of drug-taking behaviour
Why is socially sensitive research a weakness of using questionnaires in human drug studies?
Researcher must be aware of the content of their questions as there is a risk of asking questions that may offend or upset people
Researcher needs to be confident they justify very clearly why that was necessary and appropriate
Why is sample size a weakness of using questionnaires in human drug studies?
Those who agree to complete the questionnaire may not be representative of all who originally took part, or of the wider population
Questionnaire may also result in a biased population as only those who are willing to talk about drugs will volunteer to take part
Why are PET scans used to study human drug taking?
PET scans have been used to get a picture of what happens inside the brain when drugs are taken
Can compare the levels of activity in different areas of the brain for drug users and controls
Scans allow the study of neurotransmitter activity and study the number of receptors individuals have in different areas of the brain
How are PET scans carried out to study human drug taking?
Radioactive tracer added to glucose injected into the body
Tracer reaches the brain, the brain uses the glucose as energy and the tracer begins to decay
How does the PET scanner produce an image?
As tracer decays, it gives off positrons which collide with electrons and form gamma rays that are picked up by the scanner and show the amount of energy being used by different areas of the brain after the person has used recreational drugs
How is drug use tested during a PET scan?
May involve the person having to use the substance whilst in the scanner
Results of these scans can be compared with a scan from a control
What do PET scans show us about drug taking?
More energy being used in different areas the more postitrons are being emitted
e.g. when someone takes drugs, the scan can assess opioid receptor activity
What is the supporting evidence/strengths of using PET scans to study human drug taking?
Scott et al (2004)
Pinpoint acitivity
Reliability
What are the weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?
Ethics
Hard to pinpoint activity
No baseline measure
Existing drug users
Validity
Why is Scott et al (2004) supporting evidence for using PET scans to study human drug taking?
Scott et al used PET scans to study smokers brains, showed siginifant differences in opioid activity between men smoking normal cigarettes (increased opioid activity) and those smoking low-nicotine cigarettes (less opioid activity)
Why is pinpointing activity a strength of using PET scans to study human drug-taking?
Unlike other scans such as fMRI, PET scans can pinpoint the activity in the receptors or neurotransmitters which is particularly useful when studying the action of drugs in the brain
Why is reliability a strength of using PET scans to study human drug taking?
They can be repeated with many other participants, using the same standardised procedure and the same results found
Furthermore, PET scan is high on test-re-test-reliability - if the same people were to be re-scanned they should produce the exact same results on the re-test
Why is ethics a weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?
The injection of a radioactive tracer is somewhat invasive procedure which can be distressing for some individuals
This stress could the reason for the neurotransmitter levels and not the drugs that the individual has taken
Why is hard to pinpoint areas a weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?
Although brain activity can be seen relatively clearly, it’s hard to pinpoint exact areas of the brain which are involved in the specific behaviours such as drug use
The area covered by the scan is large, whereas the brain area affected may be tiny
Why is no baseline measure a weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?
PET scan is unable to study the brain at rest therefore it’s not possible to obtain a baseline measurement of how the brain ordinarily looks
Why is using existing drug users a weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?
Most research will only use exisiting drug users for ethical reasons
This may make it difficult to study certain areas of drug-taking behaviour such as how the body reacts to substances
Those who have previously used the drug may have a different reaction due to developing a tolerance
Why is validity a weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?
Validity of PET scans is questionable in the sense that being asked to artificially use a drug whilst in the scanner doesn’t reflect a normal drug taking environment for the participant which may affect their behaviour
This ca affect how they respond to the drug, they may be reflected in the scan
