Plan to Protect Human Rights
Protection of the human rights of patients who will participate in the research is one of the priorities as weight issues may be a delicate matter. One of the key human freedoms that will be touched in the course of this study is the right to the confidentiality of participants’ medical records (Adinoff, Conley, Taylor, & Chezem, 2013). Such privacy will be granted to patients through non-recording their names in the course of data collection procedures. In this scenario, researchers will ensure the anonymity of each participant. Another basic human right is voluntary participation in any socially-significant research activity (Parahoo, 2014). Such freedom is preserved through a procedure of acquiring the written consent from each person acknowledging and recording that he or she participates in this research of his or her own volition and in a full account of the research nature and goals.
An important ethical issue that arises in the framework of this research is a concern for the absence of discrimination. Thus, since the research does not target a particular race or gender, it will under no circumstances deny participation to the people who express their desire for doing so provided they meet inclusion criteria. In addition, in attempts to form a sample of the required size, the author will not purposely choose participants of a specific sex, race, or orientation.
Limitations of the Proposed Study
The research does not have a specific time limit for observing the results of the intervention, which might cause bias. The researcher may be tempted to stop observing and influencing patients’ lifestyles due to the assumption that changes will not continue to happen. Having a certain time limit allows the researcher to make final conclusions on the effectiveness of the intervention within this set limit. Another limitation could be a small sample for the purposes of data generalizability. In addition, if patients of all age groups are included, then a proportion of each specific group would be too low, which again will negatively affect the external validity of the results. Another limitation is an overly general inclusion criteria in relation to BMI. The reasons for having high BMI might result from diseases such as diabetes which may undermine the quality of the data.
Implications for Practice
The results of the research have a potentially vast practical application. Certain changes in behavior that will be connected to the most significant weight losses may contribute to forming official clinical guidelines recommended by doctors to similar patients (Bray & Bouchard, 2014). Study results may become an evidence-based practice provided the research will yield positive results. Additionally, it will give another reason to opt either for surgery or diet changes depending on what the research is going to prove in the end. The comparison of two treatment options is always a benefit for their practical use as it allows identifying new clues as to whether it could be effective for a certain population. Thus, the research could further advance targeting the two methods. The research could reveal issues that the participants may have had due to the implementation of a certain weight loss technique. These data could be used to educate patients about the possible dangers or drawbacks of either of the approaches. The researcher will also implement the knowledge that will be received in the course of the project in order to advance practice in relation to obesity.
References
Adinoff, B., Conley, R. R., Taylor, S. F., & Chezem, L. L. (2013). Protecting confidentiality in human research. American Journal of Psychiatry, 170(5), 466-470.
Bray, G. A., & Bouchard, C. (Eds.). (2014). Handbook of obesity–volume 2: Clinical applications (Vol. 2). New York, NY: CRC Press.
Parahoo, K. (2014). Nursing research: Principles, process and issues. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.