Research Paper on:
Campus Alcoholism/A Research Proposal

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
be categorized as "heavy episodic drinkers," which is defined, for a man, as having five or more drinks on one occasion during the previous two week period; and four drinks  for a woman (Wei, Barnett and Clark, 2010, p. 572) Qualitative research that addresses the influences of beliefs about alcohol that are prevalent among college undergraduates indicates that it  is typical for alcohol to be perceived as integral to student identity and they, therefore, "feel entitled to drink irresponsibly" (Crawford and Novak, 2006, p. 193). The following research  prospectus proposes a study that will utilize qualitative methods in order to explore the beliefs that lead college undergraduates to equate being a student with the idea that consuming alcohol  irresponsibly is part of their role. Specifically, the objective of the study will be to explore the nature of why young American men who drink heavily do not acknowledge that  they have a problem and, therefore, see no need for treatment. Proposed sample Study participants will consist of a convenience sample recruited from the student body at the university  being attended by the student researching this topic. Prior to recruitment, the student-researcher will obtain approval for the study and its design from the appropriate university ethics committee. Informed consent  forms will be given to all participants prior to the interview and participants will be informed that they are being recorded, but that confidentiality will be maintained by referring to  the participants by a specific and unique number, rather than by their names, when analyzing the data. Methodology Symbolic interactionism is a perspective on research that emerged during the  1930s and has it origin in American pragmatism and the influence of "theoreticians, social researches and social reformers at the University of Chicago" on the nascent science of sociology (Klenke,