IMRaD Report

Mason Knight

4/10/2015

Mr. Paudel

Alcohol Ideology and Actuality in the U.S.

Abstract

Does the public believe underage consumption/purchase of alcohol can be stopped and feels that is should be, or is it felt that it would be better just to legalize it because it happens anyway. A short survey was created using ten basic questions that address how the public feels about underage consumption/purchase of alcohol, and if it is something that they feel can truly be stopped altogether. Also addressing the issue that race and cultural could play a critical role in how a participant answers the questions.

NEED BULLET 3 AND 4!

Introduction

The topic of underage drinking is a large and varied issue in the U.S., forming due to the age related legality differences among the different major countries across the world. It is ‘widely’ believed in the U.S. that the minimum age for purchase and consumption of alcohol being set at 21 is a good marker for young adults, the term widely here is used jokingly because it is not actually the truth. All government funded sites and organizations will say that it is ‘widely’ believed that this age should be raised, however this is not only not the case but it is the complete opposite. Only referring to those who have served or are currently serving in any branch of the military, it is a commonly held belief that is you can fight and die for your country than you should be able to drink in it. So there is a clear gap in credibility to what the rest of the population believes, and this report is designed to attempt to fill some of the gap.

Methods

A questionnaire with questions relating to age, religion, and personal thoughts about underage purchase and consumption of alcohol has been create. Age and religion are included in the questionnaire because they could play a major role in why a participant believes in what they do, and this research wishes to show that as well. However, this survey mainly address if the population feels that underage consumption and purchase is a true problem and if it can really be stopped.

Participants

The survey was created and emailed out to multiple people ranging from 12 years of age to 80 years of age. As well as all cultures, races, religions, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Including these the survey was also posted on multiple social media websites including: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The survey itself is anonymous about names to protect the true identity of the participants, but it does require you to complete the: age, race, religion, and ethnicity questions to project the data gathered. However, the survey is ongoing and will remain open so the number of participants will continue to increase. The participant count for this report will be based off of the number of completed surveys when the information is collected for this report.

Procedures

Participants simply complete the survey, and the results are gathered.

Data Analysis

Data will be analyzed and weighted based on the participant’s answers to a selected number of important questions, the other questions are designed to be used as proof that this survey is not target a specific group of people. Previous surveys of this type have had a targeted audience, with the audience having the same general idea creating a type of faked result.  A few comment boxes are available under some questions to help gain a better understanding of where an individual belongs as far as culture and religion.

Results

For the sake of this Rough Draft, I would like to leave my survey open longer to get more participants than I currently have. If this is not acceptable please email me at mtknig03.louisville.edu so I may post the current results and resubmit.

Discussion

I feel like the discussion section is to talk about what my results mean and how they apply to the problem at hand. Since I have stated that the survey is to prove that most people are actually favoring changing the current drinking age, I need to wait until I post the results in this paper to have a discussion over it. Therefore, the discussion section should remain blank until I have completely evaluated my results.