Primary sources are those that are sourced by the person looking for data/information. Instead of reading and sourcing data has already been collected, the researcher goes and gets the data/information themselves. A secondary source is one that has already been written. The research has been done for you. You simply read through the data/information and pick out what is relevant to you. You have to be careful when picking secondary sources and make sure you always consider the reliability and accuracy of the information. For example, can anyone enter information on this source? Has it been done by professionals? If a website, does it have ‘.org./.gov’ in the URL.
Primary Sources
Interviews- I plan on using interviews to get further
information on how the school feels towards mental health and how they think it
affects their students. I have arranged a meeting with my head of year here at
Deyes to discuss the subject. I will record the interview as a voice memo on my
phone and use the audio as evidence. I plan to ask at least five questions of
real importance and relevance to the topic of my planned article.
Questionnaires- I will also use questionnaires to reach a wider
audience. As teachers will be too busy to answer my online questionnaire, I
will target this at students. The maximum amount of questions I will have is
ten, as I feel any more will lose the users interest. Of course the questions
will all be focused on the topic of mental health and will aim to get answers
that I wouldn’t be able to get from teachers.
Secondary Sources
https://home.bt.com/lifestyle/health/wellness/worried-your-teen-is-depressed-heres-how-parents-can-spot-the-signs-and-what-to-do-about-it-11364257914509
- “research suggests 20% of adolescents experience a mental health problem in any given year”
- “some depressed teens may also show signs of self-harm, changes in appetite (either not hungry or comfort-eating) and poor concentration, leading to a decrease in academic performance.”
- “one in 10 young people have a diagnosable mental illness at any one time”
- Suggests an increase in the “availability of counsellors in schools”.
- Talk more about “the signs and symptoms of mental health conditions”.
- “avoid expelling and suspending students” if they have demonstrated behavioural issues.
- Lists mental health problems. e.g. anger, depression and loneliness.
- Lists treatments. e.g. antidepressants, mindfulness, sleeping pills.
- “A raft of reports shows a collective neglect of children”
- “only 25% of children and young people” have access to the treatment they need for their mental health.
- “News research reveals a 55 per cent rise over 5 years” in the number of girls suffering from emotional problems. This is between 2009 to 2014.
- “increasing pressure on girls to perform academically, coupled with anxiety over body image”. This is “amplified by social media”.
Within an interview, many techniques can be employed to make the interview as worthwhile as possible. One technique I will use is varied question types. In the interview itself I will use open questions. Open questions are questions that encourage a larger, more specific answer with an explanation and other details. The question should be able to spark a conversation between the interviewer and interviewee; this is great because a fluid conversation may lead to more questions (that haven’t been asked/haven’t been pre-prepared) being answered. This can lead to more and better information. In my questionnaires, I will have closed questions. This is a quicker questioning method that lessens the chance of you getting an irrelevant answer, as you basically choose the set of answers from which they can choose. I believe this is more suitable for my questionnaire as it will be located online and will be done by more than one person (the amount of people I am interviewing), to get more response, it will be more efficient to have a smaller, shorter question filled questionnaire that can be done quickly so it does not inconvenience the user. Another technique I can use in my interview is to keep eye contact with the interviewee. If I am able to do this, the person I am interviewing may see that I am interested and listening closely to what they have to say. This could lead to the interviewee responding to my questions with better, more detailed answers. My body language could also be used, with a generally open body position showing that I am interested and willing to learn. The positioning of my legs can also be used. If they are pointing towards the person I am interviewing, this indicates that I am interested in them and what they have to say.
Evaluation of sources
For my primary research, my sources will be the Head of
Sixth Form (my interview) and other students (questionnaire). The Head of Sixth
Form is a reliable source as he is very aware of what is going on throughout
school. As Head of Sixth Form, he will also have accurate answers due to him
having to be well informed on all of the school’s procedures, and having
experience dealing with students who may be struggling with their mental
health. As for my questionnaire, it may be less reliable sue to the fact that
people may want to rush filling it in. However, I feel as if the chances of
this are low as I am asking students questions about them, showing an interest
in how they feel. Students of Deyes High are a reliable source as they will
just tell me how they feel, meaning it will be hard to label what has been said
as a right or wrong answer (unless an open question gives me a ridiculous
answer that isn’t relevant to the question).
My secondary sources are all websites I found when
researching my articles topic. My first source is on the health and lifestyle
section of the BT website. Throughout the article, the writer refers to “Dr
Zwanenberg”, a trained and experienced “Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist” (http://www.priorygroup.com/professionals/results/dr-hayley-van-zwanenberg).
This means she is reliable because she has been studying and working within and
around this subject for a while, increasing the chance of the data and
information being accurate. The second source I have found was an article on
ABCs “13 on your side” website. The information in the article is courtesy of
“Dr. Matthew Clark” from the Clark Institute. This is reliable as he is also
experienced in his field, being a “Fully Licensed, Doctoral Level, Clinical
Psychologist” (http://theclarkinstitute.com/index.php?link=drmatthew).
As he is trained in this particular field, he is a trustworthy source of
information, as if he was to be untruthful, it could harm his reputation as a
psychologist. The third source I found a charity named “Mind”. As it’s a well
reputable charity, I feel that it is a very trustworthy source, especially
since it is a not-profit organisation. To build up a good reputation and to be
sufficiently donated to, their information has to be helpful and accurate,
otherwise of they are found out not to be accurate, they could lose a significant
amount of donations. The fourth source I have found is an article on the
Guardian Online, for the information I have picked from it, they refer to GP
Online as their source. GP Online is a reliable source as they refer to the
Care Quality Commission (CQC), which is a public body of the Department of
Health and Social Care of the Government of the United Kingdom. As it’s a government
organisation, we can assume that it is professionally ran and the research they
have done has been through and accurate. The final source I have found is an
article on the Telegraph Online which refer to the University College London. This
is trustworthy as it’s an established, well reputable, public research
university. As research is its speciality, it shows they have been recognised
specifically for their quality research. The article also refers to the Anna
Freud Centre. This is a reputable and trusted organisation that is focused on “delivering
pioneering mental health care”. As they’re so informed on the subject of mental
health and because people trust them, information that they publish has to be
accurate, otherwise they could risk losing this trust they have built up with
any stakeholders they may have. If this was to happen, donations could
significantly decrease, therefore inaccurate information would be too costly
for them to pubish.
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