- Restate your research question, your chosen approach, and your sampling plan.
- Identify the key elements of data analysis that are consistent with your chosen approach to propose your analysis plan. Be sure to cite sources specific to your approach as well as your textbooks.
- Choose one coding method and code both interviews. Indicate the codes in the text of the transcript or summary. You can use Excel or Word. Attach this document to your post
Week 4 discussion
Problem statement
Capital punishment is legal in the state of Texas. Since 1982, Texas has executed 578 people, with the most recent executions occurring this year (TCADP, 2022). In 2022 Texas executed 5 individuals. In the earlier years before 2004, the law permitted the execution of juveniles. However, with more controversies surrounding the execution of minors, the death penalty was revised only to affect adults – People aged 18 years and older (Holler, 2018). The impact of the death penalty on the affected parties has yet to be exhaustively researched. These include the immediate family members of the victims and other closely attached parties. The psychological impact of the death penalty on immediate family members is of great concern. Holler (2018) noted that the debate which led to the amendments on the age of the death penalty only to include adults was challenged from a psychological perspective. His research and most other researchers delve into the sentenced victim’s intellectual capacity, leaving out the mental impacts on the affected parties. The issue the topic intends to address is the psychological impact that capital punishment has on the immediate family members of the victim.
Purpose statement.
The gap in research is the psychological impacts of the death penalty on the immediate family members in the state of Texas. To address this gap, the research aims to investigate how immediate families of victims faced with the death penalty cope with the situation and how the situation affects their psychological well-being. This includes answering research questions: How do families that have had one of their family members executed cope with the circumstance of pronunciation of the judgment and after execution? What is their psychological well-being before and after the execution of the victim?
Instrument
Psychological well-being is a social construct and thus requires a scale constructed to measure this construct. Among the scales that can be used for the same include The Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being (Gao & McLellan, 2018). These shall be useful in collecting and measuring data used in the research. The paper shall take a qualitative approach to assess the situation, answer the research question and finally make recommendations over the same challenge.
2
Discussion
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Professor’s Name
Course Name
Due Date
This research aims to investigate the psychological impacts of the death penalty on the immediate family members of victims in the state of Texas. This research will strive to answer the questions: How do families that have had one of their family members executed cope with the situation, and how does the execution impact their psychological well-being? Using a qualitative approach, this research will focus on the stories and experiences of immediate family members to examine the psychological impacts of the death penalty.
The study will use a qualitative approach to explore the psychological impacts of the death penalty on family members. Qualitative research is particularly useful for understanding a phenomenon’s complexities and examining individuals’ lived experiences (Guillen & Elida, 2019). Therefore, this approach will be used to understand the death penalty’s psychological impacts on the victims’ immediate families. This approach allows for examining the individual experiences of the immediate family members and will provide a deeper understanding of their psychological impacts.
The study will employ a phenomenological approach to qualitative research. This approach will allow the researcher to examine the experiences of the immediate family members and explore the meaning they attach to the experience (Guillen & Elida, 2019). This approach will also allow the researcher to understand how family members cope with the situation and how the execution impacts their psychological well-being.
The data collection process will involve semi-structured interviews with immediate family members. This will allow for an in-depth exploration of the experience and will provide detailed information about the psychological impacts of the death penalty on the family members (Mahat-Shamir et al., 2019). The interviews will be confidential and non-judgmental to ensure that the family members feel comfortable sharing their stories and experiences.
The data will be analyzed using thematic analysis. This will involve identifying themes and patterns in the data in order to answer the research questions (Kiger & Varpio, 2020). The study will also use a reflexive approach to ensure that the researcher’s own experiences, values, and beliefs do not influence the interpretation of the data.
In conclusion, this research will provide valuable insights into the death penalty’s psychological impacts on the victim’s immediate family. This research will help inform policymakers and practitioners and provide guidance on supporting family members affected by the death penalty.
References
Guillen, F., & Elida, D. (2019). Qualitative Research: Hermeneutical Phenomenological Method.
Journal of Educational Psychology – Propositos Y Representaciones,
7(1), 217–229. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1212514
Kiger, M. E., & Varpio, L. (2020). Thematic Analysis of Qualitative data: AMEE Guide no. 131.
Medical Teacher,
42(8), 1–9. NCBI. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2020.1755030
Mahat-Shamir, M., Neimeyer, R. A., & Pitcho-Prelorentzos, S. (2019). Designing in-depth semi-structured interviews for revealing meaning reconstruction after loss.
Death Studies,
45(2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2019.1617388