MEDIA: SallyM
Wed 27-Feb-13 17:15:06
Hello. If you are a mum with children aged under 16, you could be eligible to take part in a survey I'm doing to investigate the relationships between alcohol and parenting. It's totally anonymous, takes around 20 minutes, and you could win an ipad if you take part. You will not be asked any upsetting or controversial questions. The research is backed by King's College London, where I am doing a PhD, looking at which bits of parenting are affected by alcohol, and which bits are not. To take part, follow the link at the end of this message. The first page of the link gives detailed information about the study, which we're required to do both legally and ethically. Whatever ages your children, just answer all the questions as best you can, even if you feel some of them don't relate to you. We need all the answers from you in order to be able to run the proper statistics on all the replies. This is a really important piece of research - we can't even begin to give advice and support to mothers about drinking if we don't know exactly which parts of parenting are affected. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to getting your responses - you might even win the ipad! survey.iop.kcl.ac.uk/TakeSurvey.aspx?PageNumber=1&SurveyID=mlKK6823
ibbydibby
Fri 01-Mar-13 18:31:44
Done - though a bit surprised when you say "For boring statistical reasons I have to get everyone to answer every question, or the statistical analysis isn't valid, so apologies you had to go through that." I am a non-drinker, so questions like "on days when you do drink how much do you have" (or words to that effect) I needed a not applicable option, which there wasn't. I have ticekd an answer, but it is not correct as it implies I do drink.
soroptimist
Fri 01-Mar-13 19:06:18
Hi ibbydibby, and thanks for taking part in the survey. Basically if I include a not applicable option, I reduce what is known as the statistical power of the sample. In order to make the survey valid from a statistical viewpoint, I have to force people into a choice. Academic surveys are a bit different to market research surveys from this point of view. Because I have also asked you elsewhere in the survey about your drinking, I can link the fact you are a non-drinker to your responses after I have done the overall analysis, and then do what is known as a sensitivity analysis. I know it seems bonkers, in fact statistics often seem bonkers, but that's the way it is! Surveys have to be able to show an internal statistical rigour to "prove" they are measuring what they say they are measuring.
The important thing is that you did it, and thank you again for that. I hope you entered the prize draw - you might even win it!
MrsSham
Sat 02-Mar-13 13:32:42
Done but on the last page I wasn't sure if some of the questions related to my own attitude about alcohol in general or my own behaviour.
Bluestocking
Sat 02-Mar-13 14:03:21
Done! I wondered if my input would be any use, as neither DP nor I drink at all, but soroptimist says she's interested in non-drinkers too. Any other dry households out there?
eminemmerdale
Sat 02-Mar-13 14:08:01
Interesting to do - had I done this about 16 years ago, the answers would have been very different. makes me realise how my drinking used to be with dd1 now in her twenties 
CabbageLeaves
Sat 02-Mar-13 14:14:38
Done. I think I'm becoming a pedant in my old age but the spelling errors disappointed me
I was also curious about the ambiguity of the 'drinking alcohol means/makes/causes...' questions. Surely it's the amount you drink not just one dry sherry at Christmas type of drinking?
I gave positive answer for the have you ever been advised to drink less because GP nurse did a 'new patient' check and gave it routinely. No comment box to qualify that
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