Drunk driving prevention and consequences

Drunk Driving: A Review of Four Journal Articles

Introduction great deal of literature has been written on drunk driving. Some of it involves underage drinking and antisocial behaviors, some involves the court system and the penalties for drunk driving, and some of it simply attempts to address the reasons and causes behind why so many people seem to think that driving drunk is acceptable behavior. In the course of the next ten pages, four separate journal articles will be examined. While these articles are not all on the same aspects of drunk driving, they all deal with the subject in various ways, from juvenile delinquency to penalties from the courts.

For each article an explanation of why the study was conducted and the reasons behind it will be made, as well as an explanation of what and how the results were measured. The various hypotheses that the researchers addressed will be mentioned as well as the dependent and independent variables. Any specific intervening variables that may have caused difficulty with the study will also be addressed. The conclusions of these four articles will be summarized, and personal opinions and perspectives on the value of the research and the methods used will be interjected at that time.

The goal of this paper is to examine the worthiness of studies that have been done on drunk driving, and to determine where weaknesses lie so that further studies can be conducted that may fill in the gaps that present research has left. In order to understand what research is still needed, it is important that past research be brought to light. In this way, the potential flaws in past research can be noted so that those who intend to perform these same types of studies in the future will not consistently make the mistakes that have been made in past studies. This will keep research into drunk driving concerns moving forward.

Article 1: Adolescents and Advertising

This article deals with the advertising for beer and cigarettes and how it influences adolescent behavior. This study was conducted in order to determine whether product warnings about dangerous substances such as alcohol and tobacco affect the rates at which adolescents use these products. It correlates with the drunk driving issue because many adolescents who heed product warnings will be less likely to drink and then get behind the wheel of a car, while adolescents who see product warnings as unimportant will be more likely to drink and then drive, largely because they assume that accidents only happen to others (Krugman, et.al, 1998).

In order to determine just how important adolescents see product letting us on alcohol and tobacco, researchers studied their feelings and opinions about these things as well as their behavior. For this particular study, researchers used eye tracking methods to measure how adolescents looked at print advertisements. By doing this, researchers were attempting to measure whether there was a correlation between the length of time that an adolescent looked at a print ad and the ability to remember the warning message that was presented there (Krugman, et.al, 1998).

The theory was that adolescents who spent a longer period of time studying the advertisements and warning messages would be less likely to use the products that they were warned about, so researchers wanted to see whether ads for tobacco and alcohol were studied for a longer period of time than ads for soft drinks and suntan lotion, for example (Krugman, et.al, 1998).

The variables in the study included the gender of the participants, age and grade level of the participants, and the fact that the advertisements were shown in a particular order. Had the ads been shown in a different order, different results may have ensued. Despite the variables, the researchers found no specific differences related to gender or age in their study. What they did discover, however, was that adolescents in general have a great interest in smoking and drinking, and that this often leads to behavior is such as drinking and driving that cause devastation among the younger population. Drinking and driving kills many adolescents every year, and is one of the leading causes of accidents and death for teenagers (Krugman, et.al., 1998).

The researchers do not identify any variables that might have intervened with their study, but there is concern over the fact that the advertisements were shown in a particular order. In an effort to make sure that all of the test results were accurate, they showed the advertisements to each participant in the same order.

While it is not suggested that they should have chosen the order at random for each participant, because this would have created skewed results for the study, the thought remains that they might have tried the study several different times on different groups of participants, while changing the order that they provided the advertisements in. Perhaps this would have given some indication as to whether there was as strong a correlation between the length of time alcohol and tobacco ads were viewed and the length of time other ads were viewed as the researchers intimated.

The researchers' basic conclusion was that adolescents are extremely interested in behaviors that are dangerous. Smoking and drinking are behaviors commonly believed to be dangerous by society as a whole. The interest in drinking by those in the adolescent age group indicates that this behavior is likely to be occurring. Statistics show that adolescents who drink are likely to get behind the wheel of a car as well. Because of this the correlation between the interest in adolescent drinking and the number of adolescent who are killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents can be easily reached (Krugman, et.al., 1998).

This research is very valuable because it actually looks at whether young people are looking at the warnings and the print advertisements that are available on dangerous substances. It also gives indication into the fact that, while these adolescents are looking at the advertisements and the warnings, they are not really seeing them for what they truly mean. In other words, ad campaigns against drunk driving must be adjusted because adolescents are not heeding the warnings that are available now when looking at print advertisements that involve alcohol.

Article II: College Students and Alcohol Consumption

This study dealt with college students and other under age individuals, and how much alcohol they consumed. It was conducted in order to determine how attending college affects underage drinking and driving. Before the researchers began their explanation of their method of study, they pointed out that those who attend college tend to drink more than their peers of the same age. They also found that while underage college students cannot drink as often as those who are in college and legal drinking age, they tend to drink more heavily when they do consume alcohol (Weschler, et.al., 2002).

This creates problems for students who must drive, as they often drink and then drive either off-campus, to campus, or to their college friends' homes. Because of this, researchers were interested in discovering how much of a correlation there was between underage drinking and driving, as it related to college students.

The researchers used a self reporting method to get the information that they were looking for. In general, they were looking to see how many students reported themselves as underage, and then correlating that with what the students reported to the researchers about their alcohol consumption behavior, including whether or not they got behind the wheel after consuming alcohol. Also examined were the rates of binge drinking, defined as having more than five alcoholic beverages, the reasons why students state that they drink alcohol, and whether getting drunk was a goal of drinking alcohol for them (Weschler, et.al., 2002).

After this information had been examined, researchers also asked students about any health or medical related problems that correlated with their drinking, such as if they had been in any kind of automobile accident or if they had driven or been arrested while they were drunk, or whether they had driven after they had drank alcohol even if they were not believed to be drunk. The data was then analyzed and weighted to find the most accurate reporting possible (Weschler, et.al., 2002).

The hypothesis, which was not actually spelled out by the researchers but can be intuited from the methods and outcomes that they were interested in, was that underage drinkers who go to college binge drink and consume alcohol at a higher rate than those who do not go to college. It was believed that these students also tends to drink and drive more than their peers, possibly because many students can get away with things that college that they could not get away with in their hometowns around family and friends that they have grown up with (Weschler, et.al., 2002).

Included in the study was the age of the respondents to the survey, as well as their gender, and whether they were full-time or part-time students in college. Variables were somewhat hard to determine because the study relied on individual participants to give correct answers to these questions, instead of researchers actually discussing these questions and answers with students, using some other method to get information that was not potentially affected by the students perception of how much they drank, whether they were drunk when they got behind the wheel of a vehicle, and whether they wanted to be honest about the amount they drank in this survey. This was the largely intervening variable; there was no way to know with any type of accuracy whether or not be participants who took the survey gave honest answers, or only gave the answers they felt that they wanted to give (Weschler, et.al., 2002).

Researchers found that college students who were under age tended to binge drink more than those who were able to buy alcohol legally, but that underage students did not drink as often as older students. They also found that underage students were more likely to have alcohol-related problems such as forgetting where they were or having altercations with police, however, they were less likely to get behind the wheel of a car after they had been drinking than were students who were a legal drinking age. This finding was surprising, and went against the hypothesis that the researchers had set forth (Weschler, et.al., 2002).

That this research is valuable is without question. All information that relates to underage drinking and driving is valuable, because it gives law enforcement and other individuals information about what younger people are doing, and can therefore help them to formulate campaigns and other informational events that might help underage drinkers and those of legal drinking age think twice before consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, especially if they will be driving within a few hours.

The main problem with this research, and the reason that its value may not be as significant as some of the research done on the same subject, is that the researchers relied on surveys taken by college students. No real effort was made to solicit answers that the researchers believe to be correct and honest, and no other methods of acquiring information were attempted. In other words, the researchers simply had to take the students at their word, and many young people misrepresent what do to in regards to behaviors related to drinking and other events that they feel adults likely would not approve of.

Some students will underrepresent how much they drink for fear of reprimand or other problems. Other students will overrepresent how much they drink because they feel that their friends think it is necessary to drink in order to be accepted. Perhaps this underrepresentation and overrepresentation by various students balances out, but the opinions of the students' behavior can still affect the results of the survey, and therefore skew the results that the researchers arrived at.

Article III: Gender-Linked Behavior

There may be some evidence that some forms of antisocial behavior, such as drunk driving, are related to the gender of the individual. Researchers in this study looked at whether the gender of an individual was related to whether they exhibit antisocial behaviors; one of these behaviors being driving while under the influence of alcohol. This study was conducted to make a determination whether gender was actually a factor in this type of behavior, so that decisions about different treatment options and other necessary concerns could be made in the future.

The study looked at both males and females and used a self-reporting questionnaire much like the one listed in the above article. In this survey, researchers asked individuals about different antisocial and aggressive behaviors. One of these behaviors was drunk driving. Researchers were looking to see whether being male or female affected someone's propensity to drive while intoxicated. The study results were divided between males and females, and then the results were tabulated from there (Marcus, 1999).

The hypothesis that the researchers had to begin with was that males were more likely to exhibit aggressive and antisocial behavior such as drunk driving than females were. They based this information on other studies that had been done, as well as some personal opinion that males also were the more dominant and aggressive group of individuals. The researchers did not see women as being as aggressive as men, nor did they see women as taking as many risks as men do. Therefore, they believed that male individuals would have a higher propensity to drive drunk than females would (Marcus, 1999).

In the study of these individuals, the main variable had to do with whether students reported information accurately. It was entirely possible that individuals did not give information that was accurate on the surveys. This could have either been because they simply were unaware that their behavior may fall into a certain category, or it could have been that they were uncomfortable admitting they had a certain trait or behavior. Either way, it could easily affect the results of the study.

The conclusion that researchers came to was that both males and females participate to some extent in this type of behavior, however, males are more likely to engage in aggressive or violent antisocial behaviors. Drunk driving was included in these behaviors. While females were more likely to be drunk in a public place, males while more likely to get behind the wheel (Marcus, 1999). Therefore, the hypothesis that the researchers put forth was seen to be accurate, at least based on the results of this study.

This study is somewhat important, but the results are not surprising. Many people believe that males also have a greater propensity to be antisocial and somewhat violent than females do, and while this is not the case with everyone, it seems to hold true as a general observation between the genders. Because of this, the research into this topic does not hold any surprises for the researchers or the public.

It seems as though surveys are extremely popular ways of gathering information, but it also seems as though are one of the least reliable. The only information that researchers have is what is given on the survey, and they have no way of measuring whether or not the answers given were accurate. Because of this, it seems as though other methods of testing this type of information should be found, so that there can be more assurance that the data released to the public is actually accurate.