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Introduction
Measuring the impact of vegetarian and meat
eating on health involves the consideration of health indicators in the
questionnaire in order to determine the overall health status of
vegetarian and meat eating people as basis for comparison. Overall health
status covers the physical and mental or psychological aspects of people.
Questionnaire Design [See
Appendix for the Questionnaire]
The questionnaire covers four parts. The
first part seeks to determine the independent variables surrounding the
food intake preferences of the participants such as name, which is
optional, age, gender and economic status. The last three variables
provide a very important context to the food diet of the research
participants since these could indicate the propensity of people to prefer
vegetarianism to eating meat as part of daily diet. These variables could
also explain similarities and differences in the answers provided by the
research participants.
The second part involves the lifestyle
characteristics of the research participants. This includes questions on
the possible habits of the participants such as smoking, drinking and
substance abuse that could influence their health status regardless of
their food diet preference. This part also includes the question on the
food intake preferences, as either vegetarian or meat eating, together
with the question of when the research participants assumed their food
diet preferences. This part determines similarities and differences in the
lifestyle of vegetarians and meat eaters that could indicate or explain
the nature and extent of the similarities and differences among the health
status of the research participants.
The third part covers the physical health
of the research participants. Physical health is measured through their
current weight, records of hospitalization or treatment for injuries and
illnesses, and the physical activities engaged in by the participants.
This part also asks the research participants about the specific injuries
or illnesses that caused the need for hospitalization or treatment. These
follow-up questions determine whether the injuries or illness sustained
are diet related or not. Another follow-up question on the type of
physical activity and the extent of engagement in the physical activity of
the research participants to determine their level of health based on the
assumption that greater levels of health allows people to engage more
extensively in their choice of physical activities.
The fourth part covers the mental or
psychological health of the research participants. This portion covers
questions on the self-rating of health status, self-esteem linked to
health status, self-rating of level of stress, and the perceived level of
stress coping mechanisms. These questions are designed to determine the
manner that the research participants view themselves in relation to their
food diet preference. The self-rating questions allow the researchers to
determine the extent of the personal outlook of the individuals about
themselves as linked to their food intake. The questions on stress offer
the researchers to gain insight into the nature of the relationship
between food intake and psychological health. Population Parameters
Population of the study comprise university
students. However, since there is no available statistics on the ration of
vegetarian students relative to the meat eating population, there is
initial need to determine the number in order to derive a representative
research population in case of a sizable number or tap them as research
participants in case of a limited number of vegetarians on campus. The
final number of research participants in the actual study, comprised of an
equal number of vegetarian and meat eating students, would depend upon the
number of vegetarian people surveyed to be enrolled in the university. The
pilot study determines two things, one is the population of the final
study and the other is the viability of the health status questionnaire.
It would be impossible to float
questionnaires to the whole university population due to the number of
students enrolled. However, in order to gain high degrees of
representation from different student groups and a wide scope of test
population, the pilot questionnaire was floated randomly in the different
colleges and departments. Overall, the researchers randomly floated 1000
pilot questionnaires all over campus. Normally, the pilot study population
comprise a representative portion of the final pool of research
participants. However, to achieve the goal of the pilot study of
determining an estimate of the number of the vegetarian students on
campus, the number pilot study participants are greater that the final
research participants.
Initially, the random sampling method (De
Vaus 2001), worked for the purpose of determining the final pool of
research participants but in the final study purposive sampling (De
Vaus 2001) was used because of the research requirement of having a
selected pool of participants based on food intake preferences. Random
method of selecting participants was used to determine the number of
vegetarian students or the ratio of vegetarian to meat eating students in
the university. The result would determine the final population for the
study through the application of purposive sampling.
Pilot Study Results
Questionnaire Return rate
Out of the 1000 questionnaires floated
around campus, only 750 returned or returned with significant answers that
the researchers could use. A 75 percent return rate for questionnaires is
overall acceptable since the people who never returned the questionnaire
or returned the questionnaires without relevant answers are spread
throughout the different colleges or divisions. This means that the goal
of achieving a wide range of respondents and representation for different
student groups was still achieved. However, people who did not return the
questionnaire or returned it without completing the answers could indicate
something about the viability of the questionnaire.
Based on a perusal of the questionnaires
with incomplete answers, majority of the questionnaires with incomplete
answers lacked answers on the space provided for name. This indicates that
there was hesitation or unwillingness on the part of the respondents to
divulge their names most probably because of the apprehension that doing
so would link their names to their answers particularly on the questions
about lifestyle. This assumption is supported by the fact that most of the
questionnaires without any names given also skipped on the first three
questions about lifestyle, particularly on smoking, drinking and illicit
drug intake habits. This implies that it would be better for the
questionnaire not to ask the names of the respondents in order to allay
any initial concerns about the confidentiality of the answers. It would
also help if in floating the final questionnaire, respondents will first
be assured of the purpose of the study and the confidentiality of the
results to ensure their full cooperation. Doing these would increase the
return of the questionnaires and increase the return rate for the final
study.
Personal Information
In considering the 750 questionnaires
returned to the researchers, it was determined that in terms of gender,
majority of the respondents were females with 55 percent and the remaining
45 percent comprised of male respondents. Although, there are more females
than males, the distribution of respondents across the genders represents
sufficient representation based on gender. With regard to age, the
respondents fall under the age range of 19 to 23 years of age with 70
percent of the respondents falling under the mean age between 20 to 21
years of age. In relation to economic status, 65 percent of the
respondents answered that they belong to middle class families, 20 percent
answered that they are members of low income families, and the remaining
15 percent answered that they belong to upper income class families.
The results showed that with the exception
of the name query, the part asking for the personal information of the
respondents was able to draw socio-demographic similarities and
differences across the respondent pool which is important as contextual
background for the answers and as rationale for the answers in the
succeeding portions. The socio-demographic trend would support and explain
results of the physical and mental health status of vegetarians and meat
eaters.
Lifestyle
Answers to the lifestyle portion indicate
that 63 percent answered that they smoke. Out of this percentage, majority
either smoke several times a month or occasionally. Although, a large
percentage of the respondents smoke, majority smoke only on occasion or a
few times every month. In addition, 72 percent of respondents answered
that they drink alcohol. Of this percentage, majority are concentrated in
the mean answers of drinking a few times a week, several times a month or
occasionally. Although, most of the respondents drink alcohol, the level
of intake is controlled. Moreover, 13 percent of the respondents admitted
to illicit drug use. From this percentage, respondents are almost spread
across the different answers but the highest percentage was attributed to
illicit drug intake a few times a week followed by occasionally. This
means that the extent of illicit drug intake cannot be generalized for the
pilot study population. The results from these answers show that the
questions were able to elicit information on the lifestyle of the
respondents to draw generalization as well as the lack of basis for
generalizations.
Answers to the question on food diet shows
that 11.07 percent or 83 of the 750 respondents are vegetarians. This
translates to a 1 in 10 ratio of vegetarian to meat eaters. In terms of
the time when the vegetarian food diet was started, 79 percent of the
vegetarian respondents answered that they been vegetarians since childhood
implying family influence as the factor for the preference, 15 percent
answered that they become vegetarians when they entered college implying
the influence of peers, and the remaining 6 percent became vegetarians in
high school indicating peer influence or conscious choice to loose weight.
Again, the questions suffice to provide researchers with a background on
vegetarianism.
Physical Health
Comparative statistics of the answers
provided by vegetarians and meat eaters indicate similarities and
differences. In terms of current weight, majority of vegetarians and meat
eaters, fall under the average weight category but of the remaining number
there is a significant number of meat eaters falling under overweight
category. In terms of hospitalization for injuries, majority of
vegetarians and meat eaters answered no. Out of the people who answered
yes, common causes for the injuries of both vegetarians and meat eaters
are slips and falls and vehicular accidents. With regard to
hospitalization or treatment for illnesses, again majority of respondents
answered no. Causes for hospitalization varied from diarrhoea to food
poisoning to asthma but the ration for hospitalization of vegetarian and
meat eater respondents weighed greater for meat eaters. With regard to
physical activity, there is a significant difference between the physical
activity engaged in by vegetarians and meat eaters and the extent of
engagement in the activity. This portion of the questionnaire was able to
determine the existence of differences in the physical health status and
the extent of difference in health condition of vegetarian and meat eating
respondents.
Mental/Psychological Health
Results of the answers given to the portion
measuring the mental or psychological well-being of the respondents show a
difference in the rating of the respondents of their current level of
health. While 85 percent of vegetarians answered that they are in
excellent health, only 65 percent of meat eaters believe they are in
excellent health. Concurrently, there were more very satisfactory
responses from vegetarians relative to meat eaters in terms of their
feelings about their current health status. There were also more meat
eaters rating their health status as unsatisfactory relative to
vegetarians.
In terms of stress level, majority of the
respondents fall under the average to high stress level category implying
that vegetarians and meat eaters face similar levels of stress. In terms
of the level of coping mechanism for stress, vegetarians showed a higher
satisfaction over their coping mechanisms for stress relative to meat
eaters with a margin of 21 percent. This means that despite the similar
level of stress faced by the respondents, vegetarians significantly have
higher satisfaction over their ability to cope with stress.
These results indicate that the questions
were able to determine the similarities and differences in the mental
health status of vegetarian and meat eater respondents.
Pilot Study Observations & Interviews
Researchers observed most of the
respondents answering the questionnaire on the spot. After the
questionnaire has been answered, an informal interview was conducted on
the time it took for the respondent to answer the question, the clarity of
the instructions, clarity of the questions, objection to any questions,
layout of the questions, as well as other comments.
With regard to the length of the
questionnaire, it was three pages so that respondents initially had a
negative reaction to the time its takes to finish the questionnaire but
upon explanation that the questionnaire involves a 13 multiple choice
questions with some open-ended follow-up questions, most of the
respondents approached agreed to complete the questionnaire. In terms of
the clarity of the instructions, there were several respondents repelled
by the idea of having open-ended questions so that there was need to
explain the reason for the explanations. In terms of the clarity of the
questions, most of the respondents had no problem understanding the
questions and answering it but there are several respondents who felt
confused about questions 1 and 2 in part IV on the mental or psychological
health status. In terms of any objections to answering any of the
particular research questions, no respondent felt in any way offended by
the questions except the hesitation to provide an answer to the questions
on lifestyle because of the apprehension over the possible implications to
them.
Observations and informal interviews (Blaxter,
Hughes & Tight 1998; Robson
2002) of some of the respondents show the
overall viability of the questionnaire in allowing the researchers to
gather data on the impact of vegetarianism and meat eating to health.
Conclusions & Recommendations
On the aggregate, the research
questionnaire comprises a viable tool in eliciting the data requirements
of the study. This is so in the sense that on the technical side, the
instructions and questions were overall clear and there were also no
strong negative reactions against any of the questions. Questionnaire
viability was also supported by the ability of the questions to draw
information from the answers given by the respondents relevant to the
study.
However, there are also changes that need
to be done in the questionnaire and the manner of floating the
questionnaire in order to optimize viability. In relation to the
questionnaire itself, the space asking for the name should be removed. In
addition, question 1 and 2 in part IV on the emotional or psychological
health status should be clarified. In terms of the manner of floating the
questionnaire, there should be an initial briefing of respondents in order
to explain the purpose of the research and the technical aspects of the
questionnaire together with the assurance of confidentiality to achieve
full participation from the respondents.
References
Blaxter, L Hughes, C & Tight, M 1998, How to Research, Open
University Press, Buckingham.
De Vaus, D 2001, Surveys in
Social Research, 5th ed, Routledge, London.
Robson, C 2002, Real World
Research, 2nd ed, Blackwell, Oxford.
Appendix
Health Status Questionnaire
for the Pilot Study
Instructions: Please fill in the blank items or place a check mark on your
chosen answer in the multiple choice questions.
I. Personal Information
Name
Age
Gender
Economic Status
Instructions: Please
II.
Lifestyle
1. Do
you smoke?
_____Yes _____No
If yes,
how often do you smoke?
_____Everyday
_____A
few times a week
_____Several times a month
_____Occasionally
_____Sparingly
2. Do
you drink alcohol?
_____Yes
_____No
If yes,
how often do you drink alcohol?
_____Everyday
_____A
few times a week
_____Several times a month
_____Occasionally
_____Sparingly
3. Do
you take-in illicit drugs?
_____Yes
_____No
If yes,
how often do you take-in illicit drugs?
_____Everyday
_____A
few times a week
_____Several times a month
_____Occasionally
_____Sparingly
4.
Describe your type of food diet?
_____Vegetarian _____Meat Eating
5. How
long have you engaged in this food diet preference?
_____Since Childhood
_____High School
_____College/University
_____Others, please specify ___________________
III.
Physical Health
1. How
do you assess your current weight?
_____Extremely Underweight
_____Underweight
_____Average Weight
_____Overweight
_____Obese
2. Have
you been hospitalized or treated in the past year for injuries?
_____Yes
_____No
If yes,
what type of injury caused your hospitalization or treatment?
________________________________________________________________
3. Have
you been hospitalized or treated in the past year for illness?
If yes,
what type of illness caused your hospitalization or treatment?
________________________________________________________________
4. Do
you engage in physical activities?
_____Yes
_____No
If yes,
what type of physical activities do you engage in?
________________________________________________________________
If yes,
how often do you engage in physical activities?
_____Everyday
_____A
few times a week
_____Several times a month
_____Occasionally
_____Sparingly
IV.
Emotional/Psychological Health
1. How
do you rate your current level of health?
_____Excellent Health
_____Good Health
_____Average Health
_____Low Health
_____Poor Health
2. How
do you feel about your current level of health?
_____Very Satisfied
_____Satisfied
_____Average
_____Dissatisfied
_____Very Dissatisfied
What
are the reasons for your answer?
_______________________________________________________________
3. How
do you rate your level of stress?
_____Very Low
_____Low
_____Average
_____High
_____Very High
4. How
do you rate your stress coping mechanism?
_____Very Unsatisfactory
_____Unsatisfactory
_____Average
_____Satisfactory
_____Very Satisfactory
What
are the reasons for your answer?
_______________________________________________________________
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