Latinos and other races Essay

Researchers did a try out on motorbike helmet use in a rural Georgia town. They observed tikeren travel wheels during specified days and times over a five month period, both before and after incentive programs like free helmet dispersion and bike gum elastic education. An some other incentive was that kids bicycles would be impounded if they were found riding without a helmet. Researchers canvassed the towns on Friday afternoons and most of the day Saturday, as these were determined to be the most popular riding times.They observed the riders indirectly and noted the claws come along, gender, race, and helmet use. Data was collected for children who were between the maturates of 5 and 13, which atomic number 18 the ages that the helmet right covered. The researchers found that these rounds increased helmet use from 0% to about 45%. sample for this study was somewhat difficult. Because the researchers were using only observation, and they did not track some(prenominal ) individual riders or interact with them in any way, they were unable to indorsement that the riders were actually of the targeted age.This is especially true of older kids, between the ages of 10 and 13, as these kids give extremely varying sizes and presence or absence of trisolelyary sexual characteristics, which were two of the determining factors in determining the childs age. Sampling the older convocation was in any case difficult because not everyone in this age group actually received a helmet, since they went to a extensiver school that included children from another town. The results for this age group, then, are believably reorient and possibly not very valid.The towns racial take out up, too, was intemperately slanted towards black children, with 75% black and 25% discolor children. Due to cultural differences between black and white children, researchers may fatality to repeat these studies in communities where racial make up is more than heavy white , and communities which include Asians, Latinos, and other races. Each culture is individual and each would in all likelihood have a assorted reaction to the helmet laws and police enforcement. Within this company, the researchers probably should have used only the 5 10 years age group, as this group could be more carefully controlled.Researchers were aware that this age group, which attended elementary school, did all receive free helmets and bicycle education. They in addition would possibly have an easier time observing age, as size is more indicative in younger children rather than in older children. This study was somewhat valid. The researchers admit that they were unable to track individual riders, so when they had quartet observers canvassing the town at once, it was possible that certain riders may have been recorded several times (a possibility that the researchers themselves are aware of, but are not concerned with).Noting, as they said, rides instead of riders also is a limitation, although the researchers felt that their method of observation led to more accurate info than self-reported data via telephone or mail surveys. It is possible that the similar group of children was observed multiple times during each session, and in fact boilersuit helmet use was lower. This, too, depends on how the researchers define rate of helmet use, because flesh of rides where a helmet is used, and the name of riders who use a helmet is a different measure.Another issue with rigour is that it was impossible for researchers to track how frequently individual riders wore their helmets. It is possible that some children forever and a day wore one, and other children seldom or occasionally wore one. A relegate measure of helmet use would have been to track individual children and to note how frequently they wore their helmets term riding their bikes. Police enforcement is another issue in this study. Every community who adopts a program of this type may c hoose a different kind of enforcement, or none at all.This community allowed parent citations (which were rarely used) and bike impoundment (parents had to go and pick the bike up at the police station, where they proved helmet ownership or were offered a free helmet, and they were also re-educated on bike safety). Other communities may rely more heavily on citations, or they may choose fines. Fines were not a trade good option for this community, as it was a rural community where a large minority lived below the poverty line.Another issue is that the police may be perceived differently in different areas. As the researchers noted, regular the knowledge of police presence and enforcement was enough for many a(prenominal) children to put one over their helmets. This suggests a respect for the police force, which is common in rural areas. In other areas, especially urban, police may not be regarded so highly, and enforcement may become a larger problem. In an urban area, the sheer number of children would also possibly be prohibitive.This study was fairly reliable. Researchers followed up on the helmet use unofficially after 2 years and came up with equal results, which indicates both that helmet use was continuing and that the study was able to obtain the same results. Other studies, if they used the same observation methods, would probably also achieve similar results. This study is repeatable as written, despite its flaws. A better way to do this study would be to gather two groups of children experimental and control.Both groups would be surveyed and observed for their helmet use at the beginning of the study, and these number would be compared. Then, the experimental group would be presumption the bicycle safety education and be offered free helmets. The second group would be told they should wear helmets but not offered extensive bicycle education or given free helmets. The researchers would then track individual riders through observation on at l east a weekly basis to see how many in each group wore their helmets on a frequent basis.This would allow researchers to track riders instead of simply rides, and to make sure that each child was only counted once in their statistics. It would also show the effect of bicycle education and offering free helmets on helmet use. It is likely in this picky study that children only began to wear their helmets because they were offered free helmets. If they had been asked to go and buy helmets, damage would likely have been prohibitive in a rural, low socio-economic area. Therefore, providing the helmets was a key point in the plan.It may be interesting to do a study where children are provided with bicycle education and a numerate of resources on where to purchase helmets, but not actually provided with them. This study would trounce be done in a suburban area where the socio-economic consideration was higher, and would show the effect of bicycle education and possibly police enforce ment on helmet use. Since further studies are possible and needed, and since the researchers themselves are aware of the studys limitations, it would be prudent not to extend these results to all communities and situations.The study is lofty for the researchers purposes but has a highly limited scope. Overall, this research is very interesting. careless(predicate) of the studys limitations, introducing bike safety and helmets into the community resulted in statistically significant increases in helmet use, which purportedly resulted in fewer bike-related injuries and deaths. This is a quality in the right direction, and although more research and more community programs are needed to both increase helmet use and decrease injuries, this study shows that programs are effective and change is possible.