Causal Theory Of Teenage Pregnancy

The issue of teenage pregnancy has been a dominant point of interest and contention in American politics and American popular culture, with shows like 16 and Pregnant or Teen Mom becoming a platform for a more open discussion of this issue in American media. Though, these shows are in most cases not a true depiction of this important issue, they are demonstrative of how prevalence and widespread teenage pregnancy has become in America. Therefore, it is important to ask what the the influencing factors are in the rise of teenage pregnancy. The causal theory in this case is that the sexual health curriculum has an effect on the rates of teenage pregnancy. The independent variable being restricted sexual health education and the dependant variable …show more content…
Religious ideology, especially in the US, has had an enormous effect on the way in which sexual health is dealt with in both the private lives of individuals and the sexual health education offered in the school system. Teenagers who grow up in a religious household might not be encouraged to use birth control methods or to terminate an unwanted teenage pregnancy. Therefore, we can assume in regards to this hypothesis that the Z variable, religious conservatism, can have a casual relationship to the Y variable which is an increase in teenage pregnancy rates. In relation to the X variable, being restricted sexual health education, we can expect to find a causal relationship because the religious ideologies prevalent in a particular state, state data being our unit of measurement in this research, can effect the school curriculum within jurisdiction. For example, states with a higher rate of religious conservatism are less likely to teach evolution to students. Applying this to the research at hand, one can assume that such states might not enforce schools to offer sexual health …show more content…
If there is a confounding variable then it is required of researchers to account for, or control for, the variable in the research process. An overestimated result would not meet research standards as the data would not be accurate.
Being an important issue in US politics, it is quite important to account for the the influential factors that can cause a rise in teenage pregnancy. Doing so will allow policy makers and educators to tackle this issue with a more clear understanding of the sexual health education system and how it can operate in an effective way. Taking into account the confounding variables in this case, if there proves to be a significant link between sexual health education and teenage pregnancy, then this information can be used to pass laws requiring all school within the United States to offer an all inclusive sexual health curriculum that will decrease the rates of pregnancy and allow for a better understanding of these issues amongst