Methods/Research Design

Natalie Rivero

Research Methods in HDEV 311

Rachel Stryker

11/13/2023

Methods/Research Design

Variables and Data

My proposed study will use qualitative data to address the research question, How does narcissism contribute to antisocial behavior in men? So far, scholars have established that there is a significant positive relationship between narcissism and antisocial behaviors (Alexander et al., 2021; Jones et al., 2017; March et al., 2020). This study will further these researches by exploring different qualities of narcissistic personality which lead men to become antisocial. The variables of this study will include narcissism and antisocial behaviors. In the proposed study, narcissism will be measured in terms of the four renowned qualities of a narcissistic personality: an individual’s inability to handle criticism, excessive need for admiration, sense of entitlement, and disregard for other people’s feelings.

Antisocial behavior is an action that violates societal norms and other people’s rights (Mezquita et al., 2021). Therefore, since antisocial behavior will be one of the variables in the study, it will be defined in terms of the signs of antisocial personality disorder (APD), including disregard for wrong and right, persistent deceit to exploit others, being cynical, callous, and disrespectful to others, repeatedly violating other people’s rights through dishonesty and manipulation, abusive relationships, arrogance, increased problem with the law, and lack of empathy for other people (Howard & Duggan, 2022).

I will conduct semi-structured interviews to explore how narcissism contributes to antisocial behaviors. Interview questions will be self-constructed to ensure sufficient data is collected to address the research questions. Research subjects will be required to explain how various qualities of narcissism contribute to any of the signs mentioned above of APD. For instance, one of the interview questions will seek to determine how disregard for other people’s feelings leads to the violation of other people’s rights. The interview responses will produce nominal data.

Subjects/Sampling

The target population for my proposed study will be male students in a US-based public university who are above the age of 18 years. These subjects will be considered because the study aims to uncover how narcissism contributes to antisocial behavior in men. The sample frame I will select these subjects from will be a public university in the US. I have chosen this sample frame because I am a student from the same public university that I intend to use. Therefore, this will make it easy for me to identify potential participants in the study. The sample size for my proposed study will be 15 respondents (n=15). Vasileiou et al. (2018) urge that a minimum of 12 respondents are required for a qualitative study to achieve data saturation. Based on this recommendation, 15 respondents will be deemed sufficient for this study.

I will use a non-probability sampling technique for the proposed study. Specifically, purposive sampling will be utilized. Usually, the purposive sampling technique necessitates that researchers select a sample size based on their judgment and keeping in mind the goals and objectives of the research (Etikan et al., 2016). For this study, purposeful sampling will be preferred for several reasons. First and foremost, it will be suitable for the proposed study since it will allow me to select available, willing, and knowledgeable participants to inform the study. According to Etikan et al. (2016), respondents are selected for purposive sampling based on their ability to offer the pertinent information needed to answer the research questions. I will also consider using purposive sampling for my proposed study because it has been shown to be both simple and cost-saving by other researchers (Alvi, 2016). Also, since public universities have more male and female students, as well as male students below the age of 18 who might be willing to participate in this study, using purposive sampling will eliminate the chances of selecting these subjects.

Instrument and Procedures

This study will adopt a qualitative research design. According to Leppink (2017), a qualitative method is an exploratory approach that aids in examining a research problem through the opinions, perceptions, and lived experiences of those who are knowledgeable about or impacted by it. Therefore, I have chosen this research design because I believe it will be appropriate to explore the issue of narcissism and antisocial behaviors from the views, opinions, and lived experiences of knowledgeable participants about this problem. I will utilize semi-structured interviews to collect data for my proposed study. Since I will recruit respondents from the same school where I study, I will perform face-to-face interviews. I will interview one respondent at a time, and each session will take about 30-45 minutes. Interview sessions will be recorded using a mobile phone. Interviews will be conducted from the school compound. I believe conducting the interviews from the school compound will allow respondents to be more comfortable during the interview session. Consequently, this will allow them to provide detailed information to inform my study.

The term least harm is the minimum injury to the safety, rights, or welfare of research participants that may entail social, physical, financial, psychological, or economic aspects. Usually, it is the role of the researcher to prevent or minimize harm to research subjects. My proposed study does not have any potential harm to the participants. However, as the researcher, I will ensure to uphold ethical standards to protect participants’ dignity, integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. Firstly, I will ensure that all respondents sign an informed consent form before taking part in the study. The consent form will outline the research purpose, the duration of research, and what is expected from respondents; a clear statement that respondents will be willing to withdraw from the research at any given time without being asked a brief description of the benefits of taking part in the study, and a detailed description of how participants’ confidentiality will be maintained. To ensure the anonymity and confidentiality of respondents, no identifiable data such as names, addresses, and phone numbers will be recorded during the interviews. Also, pseudonyms will be used to identify participants. Furthermore, I will maintain the three principles of ethical research: justice, respect, and beneficence. Lastly, I will be the only person with access to the collected data.

Validity

Validity refers to the degree to which conclusions drawn from a study accurately reflect the phenomenon being measured. Internal validity examines if the study’s planning, execution, and analysis provide unbiased answers to the research objectives. Two examples of internal validity include content validity and construct validity. Content validity assesses whether a research method is suitable for the study. To achieve this type of validity in my proposed study, I will ensure my supervisor, who is an expert in this field of study, approves the suitability of my research method. On the other hand, construct validity focuses on examining if the test measured what it was intended to measure. To achieve construct validity, I will utilize relevant existing knowledge to develop my interview questions.

External validity assesses whether the study’s findings are generalizable to other contexts. Two examples of external validity include ecological validity and population validity. Population validity examines how best the study findings from the research participants can be generalized to a wider group of people. To ensure this, I will collect data from students in a public university. Usually, students in a university are from diverse backgrounds. Ecological validity entails how well study results can be applied to real-life situations. To ensure the applicability of the study in real-life situations, I will use men as the study’s participants as the study is specific on how narcissism contributes to antisocial behavior in men.

A confounding variable is an unmeasured variable that affects the dependent and independent variables in a study. One example of a confound that may be associated with my proposed study is history confounds. Also, time of study confounds may be associated with my proposed study. I will adhere to the provided time deadlines for the submission of each part of my study to ensure that I do not lose track of time during my study.

References

Alexander, M. B., Gore, J., & Estep, C. (2021). How need for power explains why narcissists are antisocial. Psychological reports, 124(3), 1335-1352.

Alvi, M. (2016). A manual for selecting sampling techniques in research.

Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5, 1-4. doi:10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11

Howard, R., & Duggan, C. (2022). Antisocial Personality: Theory, Research, Treatment. Cambridge University Press.

Jones, B. D., Woodman, T., Barlow, M., & Roberts, R. (2017). The darker side of personality: Narcissism predicts moral disengagement and antisocial behavior in sport. The Sport Psychologist, 31(2), 109-116.

March, E., Grieve, R., Wagstaff, D., & Slocum, A. (2020). Exploring anger as a moderator of narcissism and antisocial behaviour on Tinder. Personality and Individual Differences, 161, 109961.

Maxwell, J. A. (2019). Distinguishing between quantitative and qualitative research: a response to Morgan. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1-6. doi:10.1177/1558689819828255

Mezquita, L., Bravo, A. J., Pilatti, A., Ortet, G., Ibáñez, M. I., & Cross-Cultural Addictions Study Team. (2021). Preliminary validity and reliability evidence of the Brief Antisocial Behavior Scale (B-ABS) in young adults from four countries. PloS one, 16(2), e0247528. https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0247528Vasileiou, K., Barnett, J., Thorpe, S. & Young, T. (2018). Characterizing and justifying sample size sufficiency in interview-based studies: systematic analysis of qualitative health research over a 15-year period. BMC medical research methodology, 18(1), pp.1-18.