Observational Review Paper

The researchers provided a detailed description of human subject considerations that included protection of participants. Approval by the Institutional Review Board was obtained for this study. The researchers ensured confidentiality by not naming the universities or the participants and also specified that informed consent was obtained. They provided details as to what information each participant received about the study and specified that each survey was numbered, and that each participant used that number to sign the consent form. The researchers also noted special concern regarding emotional and personal safety of all participants. In effort to reduce emotional distress, each participant was informed that they could discontinue the study at any time if desired. Personal safety was preserved by having participant complete the survey either in their room or at the researcher’s table. To further minimize any risk, the researchers used designated areas of the campus and approached only those young women who were not accompanied by any males. Although the study reported no problems during data collection, a different method that could have been utilized to minimize …show more content…
The researchers did not offer any interventions. The independent variable of dating violence cannot be manipulated; therefore it utilized a nonexperimental design. More specifically, it was a retrospective study that used a cross-sectional design as the data on dating violence and the outcome variables were collected concurrently, although the dating violence had already transpired. A more rigorous design would not be feasible as there was no presumed causation to justify an observational cohort design. Neither would a descriptive correlational research design be suitable as the researchers specifically attempted to infer a connection between the independent and dependent variables as stated in the