Analysis of Newspaper Research Report Results Essay

A teaching recently published in the San Jose quicksilver News suggests the p arents of heavy children do non perceive their children as heavy. An abstract of this domain, its methods, and its identifyings is an important exercise in understanding the meaning and relevance of each(prenominal) research. The ability to read research critic all in ally and understand how it was generated allows us to come out possible design flaws or to realize the validity of its conclusions and make trance use of the data.The study was conducted through an profits research firm for the University of Michigan. Its object was to determine the voice of parents who realized their children are orotund and to compare it to the percent period of parents that do not realize their children are obese. The participants were selected by simple stochastic sampling and were considered a representative sample of American parents. The sample include 2060 respondents (Runk, 2007).The data appeared to b e self-possessed through internet surveys. The study was data-based and measured continuous data sets including the height, weight, long time, and gender of the participants children (Bennett, Briggs, & Triola, 2003). A body mass index greater than or equal to the ninety-fifth percentile in comparison to children the same age and gender was the criteria apply for corpulency in this study. The data from these children was then compared the home(a) parting of children considered obese by the same standards. Qualitative data pertaining to whether or not the parents vista their children were slightly overweight, very overweight, or about right was also collected (Runk, 2007).Although it was not specifically stated, I hypothesize the children studied were broken follow out into put ins by age and gender. The first bin comprised of obese girls six to 11 years gaga and the entropy bin obese boys six to11 years old. For the 12 to 17 year old base the first bin include obese gir ls 12 to 17 years old and the second bin included obese boys 12 to 17 years old. I further hypothesize the parents of children in each convention were binned according to their answer to the qualitative assessment of their childs weight. For each age group the first bin included parents who answered very overweight, the second bin included parents who answered slightly overweight, and the third bin included parents who answered about normal (Bennett, Briggs, & Triola, 2003).The findings in the six to 11 year old group revealed 15% of the children in this age group met the criteria for corpulency. This finding was not significantly different from the discipline figure which reports 17% of all children in the United States are obese by the standard of this study. Thirteen percent of the parents of obese children in this age group categorized their children as very overweight, 37% classified their children as slightly overweight, and 43% report their children were about right (Runk , 2007).The findings in the 12 to 17 year old group revealed 10% of children in this age group met the criteria for obesity. This finding is significantly lower than the national figure for obese children. Thirty one percent of the parents of obese children in this age group inform their children as being very overweight, 56% reported their children as slightly overweight, and 11% reported their children were about right (Runk, 2007).Researchers concluded both(prenominal) age groups under reported the relative incidence and severity of obesity when compared to the national statistic stating 17% of all children meet the criteria for obesity outlined in this study (Runk, 2007). I agree the severity of obesity was greatly under reported in both groups. However, I disagree with the assertion the incidence of obesity was under reported in the six to 11 year old group. I believe the difference between 15% and 17% could advantageously be a coincidence. It whitethorn also have resulted because the internet was utilise to collect data and poor children are more likely to be obese and less likely to have internet access (Vieweg, Johnston, Fernandez & Pandurangi, 2007).I do agree that obesity seemed to be considerably under reported in the 12 to 17 year old group. A statistically significant difference (about 7%) occurred between that age groups 10% incidence and the 17% national incidence of childhood obesity (Runk, 2007). Such a large difference is unlikely to be a coincidence and supports the surmise that obesity was under reported in this age group orconfounding was present (Bennett, Briggs, & Triola, 2003).Critical analysis of this data reveals many strengths and a few significant weaknesses in the design and implementation of this study. The goal is clearly stated, to determine the percentage of parents who realized their children are obese and to compare it to the percentage of parents that do not realize their children are obese. This goal was clearly dou ble-dyed(a) for all the study participants. The source of the study is the University of Michigan which can be considered a reliable, neutral source. The sampling is sufficiently large, but whether or not it is representative of childhood obesity in this country is questionable. A in effect(p) problem with the sample exists as a result of using the internet as the setting. High pro destinys of obese children are socioeconomically disadvantaged and may not have internet access.The internet setting is likely to count for the apparent under reporting of obese children noted in this study and as such is a probable source of confounding. The criterion for obesity is well defined and could be easily measured in all the subjects, but I remain concerned a significant portion of obese children may have been inadvertently omitted from consideration. In the end, however, I find there is a strong practical use for this data. Healthcare providers are made conscious of the fact that the parents are, more often than not, genuinely oblivious(predicate) their child is obese. This data supports the decision to open a dialogue with parents and offer teaching about the dangers and prevention of childhood obesity the clear phase of action.ReferencesBennett, J., Briggs, W., & Triola, M. (2003). Statistical Reasoning for EverydayLife, Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ Addison Wesley. Retrieved declination 5, 2007, from University of genus Phoenix rEsource HCS 438.Runk, D. (2007, December 24). Parents dont realize their kids are fat. MercuryNews (San Jose). Retrieved December 28, 2007, fromhttp//www.mercurynews.com/healthandscience/ci_7799918?nclick_check=1.Vieweg, V., Johnston, Fernandez, A., & Pandurangi. A. (2007). Correlationbetween high risk obesity groups and low socioeconomic status in school children. Southern Medical Association. Retrieved January 12, 2008, from University of Phoenix library EBSCOhost.