Human Drug Studies

Question 1

How are questionnaires used to study human drug-taking?

Answer 1

Questionnaires can be used to investigate the attitudes of individuals to drugs such as alcohol, nicotine and heroin and to gain important self-report data

Question 2

How are questionnaires developed?

Answer 2

With a questionnaire a pilot study is often carried out on a small sample to check that the questions are appropriate and that is measures what it’s supposed to

Question 3

How are questionnaires distributed?

Answer 3

Generally written and distributed remotely

e.g. handed to someone on paper or sen out via computer

Question 4

How are closed questions used to study human drug studies?

Answer 4

Can be used to gather self-reported drug use

Closed questions gather quantitative data and only allow a short or limited answer e.g. ‘do you take illegal drugs? Yes/No’

May use Likert-type or ranked data scales such as whether someone strongly agrees or disagrees with certain statements

Question 5

How are open questions used to study human drug taking?

Answer 5

Allow for in-depth qualitative data to be gathered e.g. ‘how do you feel when you are taking drugs?’

Provides respondent with an opportunity to explain their feelings and give reasons behind their answers

Question 6

How is data from questionnaires analysed in human drug studies?

Answer 6

Data from closed questions can be analysed statistically by looking at percentages of respondents who use illegal drugs

Data from open questions will be analysed using thematic analysis e.g. looking for common themes about drug use in the answers provided

Question 7

How can conclusions about data be made from human drug studies?

Answer 7

Can be made by comparing the responses of drug users with non drug users

Question 8

How can you ensure the protection of participants in human drug studies?

Answer 8

Asking drug users about their own experiences may be distressing for them

May result in them recalling painful memories

Researcher has the duty to consider the levels of potential emotional distress on participants

Question 9

How can you ensure the confidentiality of participants in human drug studies?

Answer 9

Duty of the researcher is to protect the participant and maintain a level of confidentiality

Depending on the nature of the study, the participant may disclose information about illegal activities and the researcher needs to have a clear understanding of how they plan to deal with this information

Question 10

How can you ensure the consent of participants in human drug studies?

Answer 10

Drug users may not have the capacity to make fully informed consent due to being under the influence of substances

May be temporary at the time of intoxication and may be able to give full consent when asked sober

Question 11

What are the strengths of using questionnaires in human drug studies?

Answer 11

In-depth data

Reliability

Objective

Sample size

Question 12

What are the weaknesses of using questionnaires in human drug studies?

Answer 12

Subjective

Validity

Social desirability

Socially sensitive research

Sample size

Question 13

Why is in-depth data a strength of using questionnaires in human drug studies?

Answer 13

Questionnaires can gather rich, in-depth data depending on the type of questions used

In-depth data leads to greater validity of findings

Open questions allow for individuals to provide detail to their answers without being restricted to answering ‘Yes/No’

Question 14

Why is reliability a strength of using questionnaires in human drug studies?

Answer 14

Can be seen as high in reliability because they are comprised of standardised questions and so can be tested for consistency by carrying them out again on similar participants to gain similar results

Question 15

Why is objectivity a strength of using questionnaires in human drug studies?

Answer 15

Strength of using closed questions is they produce quantitative data

Quantitative data is numerical and so can be analysed relatively easily and objectively

Question 16

Why is sample size a strength of using questionnaires in human drug studies?

Answer 16

Questionnaires facilitate a large sample size which makes the conclusions of the study more representative of the wide population

Question 17

Why is subjectivity a weakness of using questionnaires in human drug studies?

Answer 17

Open questions produce qualitative data which may not be easy to analyse and may be subjective thus open to misinterpretation

Question 18

Why is validity a weakness of using questionnaires in human drug studies?

Answer 18

Participants may not give honest answers about their drug use and instead may give socially desirable answers

This lowers validity as the researcher isn’t gaining the actual level of drug use

Question 19

Why is social desirability a weakness of using questionnaires in human drug studies?

Answer 19

Using self-report data from questionnaires can lead to social desirable answers as drug use is not socially acceptable behaviour

May lead to an under-reporting of drug-taking behaviour

Question 20

Why is socially sensitive research a weakness of using questionnaires in human drug studies?

Answer 20

Researcher must be aware of the content of their questions as there is a risk of asking questions that may offend or upset people

Researcher needs to be confident they justify very clearly why that was necessary and appropriate

Question 21

Why is sample size a weakness of using questionnaires in human drug studies?

Answer 21

Those who agree to complete the questionnaire may not be representative of all who originally took part, or of the wider population

Questionnaire may also result in a biased population as only those who are willing to talk about drugs will volunteer to take part

Question 22

Why are PET scans used to study human drug taking?

Answer 22

PET scans have been used to get a picture of what happens inside the brain when drugs are taken

Can compare the levels of activity in different areas of the brain for drug users and controls

Scans allow the study of neurotransmitter activity and study the number of receptors individuals have in different areas of the brain

Question 23

How are PET scans carried out to study human drug taking?

Answer 23

Radioactive tracer added to glucose injected into the body

Tracer reaches the brain, the brain uses the glucose as energy and the tracer begins to decay

Question 24

How does the PET scanner produce an image?

Answer 24

As tracer decays, it gives off positrons which collide with electrons and form gamma rays that are picked up by the scanner and show the amount of energy being used by different areas of the brain after the person has used recreational drugs

Question 25

How is drug use tested during a PET scan?

Answer 25

May involve the person having to use the substance whilst in the scanner

Results of these scans can be compared with a scan from a control

Question 26

What do PET scans show us about drug taking?

Answer 26

More energy being used in different areas the more postitrons are being emitted

e.g. when someone takes drugs, the scan can assess opioid receptor activity

Question 27

What is the supporting evidence/strengths of using PET scans to study human drug taking?

Answer 27

Scott et al (2004)

Pinpoint acitivity

Reliability

Question 28

What are the weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?

Answer 28

Ethics

Hard to pinpoint activity

No baseline measure

Existing drug users

Validity

Question 29

Why is Scott et al (2004) supporting evidence for using PET scans to study human drug taking?

Answer 29

Scott et al used PET scans to study smokers brains, showed siginifant differences in opioid activity between men smoking normal cigarettes (increased opioid activity) and those smoking low-nicotine cigarettes (less opioid activity)

Question 30

Why is pinpointing activity a strength of using PET scans to study human drug-taking?

Answer 30

Unlike other scans such as fMRI, PET scans can pinpoint the activity in the receptors or neurotransmitters which is particularly useful when studying the action of drugs in the brain

Question 31

Why is reliability a strength of using PET scans to study human drug taking?

Answer 31

They can be repeated with many other participants, using the same standardised procedure and the same results found

Furthermore, PET scan is high on test-re-test-reliability - if the same people were to be re-scanned they should produce the exact same results on the re-test

Question 32

Why is ethics a weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?

Answer 32

The injection of a radioactive tracer is somewhat invasive procedure which can be distressing for some individuals

This stress could the reason for the neurotransmitter levels and not the drugs that the individual has taken

Question 33

Why is hard to pinpoint areas a weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?

Answer 33

Although brain activity can be seen relatively clearly, it’s hard to pinpoint exact areas of the brain which are involved in the specific behaviours such as drug use

The area covered by the scan is large, whereas the brain area affected may be tiny

Question 34

Why is no baseline measure a weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?

Answer 34

PET scan is unable to study the brain at rest therefore it’s not possible to obtain a baseline measurement of how the brain ordinarily looks

Question 35

Why is using existing drug users a weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?

Answer 35

Most research will only use exisiting drug users for ethical reasons

This may make it difficult to study certain areas of drug-taking behaviour such as how the body reacts to substances

Those who have previously used the drug may have a different reaction due to developing a tolerance

Question 36

Why is validity a weakness of using PET scans to study human drug taking?

Answer 36

Validity of PET scans is questionable in the sense that being asked to artificially use a drug whilst in the scanner doesn’t reflect a normal drug taking environment for the participant which may affect their behaviour

This ca affect how they respond to the drug, they may be reflected in the scan