Running head: ABORTION: TWO SIDES OF A COINS 1

Abortion: Two Sides of a Coin

A Pilot Research

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PROBLEM OF PRACTICE 2

Introduction

Abortion is one of the most talked about and controversial issues today. Whether abortion

is a crime or not is still a matter of personal opinions. Millions of fetuses are expelled from the

womb every year. An abortion can occur accidentally during pregnancy or it can be induced by

doctors. Many women lose their lives or develop subsequent pregnancy complications whenever

and abortion is carried out. Undergoing an abortion also leaves the mothers with psychological

problems and a lot of pain from reproductive organs despite the use of painkillers.

According to UNICEF, 250,000 women lose their lives every year because of abortions.

To some extent and in some countries, abortion is legally practiced. The aim of this study is to

prove that even though abortion might be permitted in some cases its disadvantages and harm it

brings are greater than its benefits.

Research Questions

By answering the following questions, the research results will be considered reliable and

valid.

1. What is the difference – with respect to mortality rate – between illegal and legal

abortion?

2. What is the relationship between abortion and the rate of death in mothers?

3. What can be done to reduce the cases of abortion?

4. In what age range is the rate of abortion highest?

5. In what age range is the rate of abortion lowest?

6. What is the relationship between abortion and level of income?

7. What is the relationship between abortion and the level of education?

Variables and Hypotheses

The following are the variable that were studied: age, level of income, level of education,

level of income, race, ethnicity, abortion, mortality, legal and illegal. Below are the null

hypotheses.

1. There is no difference – with respect to mortality rate – between illegal and legal

abortion?

2. There is no relationship between abortion and the rate of death in mothers?

3. There is nothing that can be done to reduce the cases of abortion.

4. There is no particular age range with the highest rate of abortion.

5. There is no particular age range with the lowest rate of abortion.

6. There is no relationship between abortion and level of income?

7. There is no relationship between abortion and the level of education?

Research Design

The research designs that will be used are descriptive and correlational research design.

Descriptive statistics such as mean, mode, and standard deviation will be used to analyze

demographic variables such as age, religion, nationality, race, level of education, level of

income, ethnicity and so on.

Correlational research design will be used to determine if there is a positive, no

correlation, or negative correlation between variables. A positive correlation will mean that one

variable leads to the occurrence of another variable. In other words, when one variable increases,

the other variable also increases. A negative correlation means that when one variable increases,

the other one decreases.

Data Collection Methods

The research was carried out on a population of 1100 participants. In order to

qualify as a participant, the researcher considered the age of the respondent. The other

demographic variables came after the age. Participant must be between the age of 18 – 50. To

ensure that there was random sample, researchers randomly selected participants. Researchers

considered using random sampling because there is equal chance of selection and equal chance

means an equal representation.

The sample size was calculated at 95% confidence interval and a 5% margin of error

and the resulting sample was 285. Therefore, the results will be based on a sample of 285

participants. Because this is quantitative research study, data was collected using questionnaires,

surveys, and interviews. Out of 1100 participants, 996 completed questionnaires, therefore, the

sample size is based on the number of participants who completed the questionnaires and sat

through the interview.

Data Collection: Recording and Managing

The data collection took place within a period of 5 weeks. The questionnaires were then

fed into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for results and analysis. First, a reliability

test was carried out using Cronbach’s alpha. A reliability test ensures that the internal

consistency of a research study is on point. The Cronbach’s Alpha test of reliability confirmed

that the questionnaires produced similar results under the consistently applied conditions.

Even though the sample was randomly selected, the internal consistency test confirmed

that the scores were not as a result of randomly occurring events. Reliability and validity go hand
PROBLEM OF PRACTICE 5

in hand. A study results cannot be reliable unless it is valid and also there is no scenario that is

superior to the other. Validity refers to the reasonableness of the results. Are the results

reasonable or believable?

An internal consistency score higher than .7 is considered a high reliability score,

however, this pilot research yielded a value of .811 which means that the questionnaires were

highly consistent internally. After the internal consistency test, the data was subjected to

descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation test.

Limitations

Limitations are the factors that the researcher could not control. They are conditions,

shortcomings, and influences that the researchers had no power over. Some of the limitations

were finding study participants, getting institutions to participate, limited prior research topics on

the topic, language barriers, confidentiality issues, limited resources, and inability to control the

environment.

Finding study participants that were willing to participate in the study was not easy.

Many qualified participants failed or refused to participate because of the psychological trauma

caused by abortion and others also decided not to participate citing personal reasons. Getting

non-governmental organizations and other welfare groups to participate in the research was also

a challenge because they were not willing to release any information they have on the state of

abortion in their respective regions. There are a number of previous research works conducted

with respect to abortion, however, there are limited resources talking about the legality and

illegalities of abortion. Many studies have concentrated on the situations that might lead to an

abortion but neglected whether it should be legal or illegal.

A research of this caliber ought to be all inclusive. Participants must be selected

regardless of their tribe and ethnicity. This resulted into a situation of language barrier. Some

participants could not respond to questions in English and also were semi-illiterate and resorted

to explaining themselves using signs. This was a limitation to the study because such people

could not complete questionnaires and respond to interview questions. Other potential

participants cited confidentiality issues. They asked to sign a confidentiality agreement before

participating in the research. Because we did not draft a confidentiality agreement before-hand

we lost this lot.

The research team was also working on limited resources. Our resources could not allow

us to cover a larger region. The data collection process was time consuming, expensive, and

tedious. We could not work on the budget that was earlier stipulated. Inability to control the

environment limited our abilities to obtain responses from participants. In some places, people

became hostile and wild when we presented them with questionnaires.