DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

There are lots of different types of research one can do. There are two in general that many people use, which are traditional research and participatory action research (PAR). Although they are both types of research, these two are different in many ways.

 

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  • In traditional research, the people who do the research may not necessarily live in a particular area that they are researching about, which may be a problem since they can’t address a matter to a full extent. 
  • Another difference is the goals of each type of research. In traditional research the goal of the researcher is to get knowledge for their own use.
  • The methods of the two research types are also very distinct. Traditional research focuses on gathering data, background, and analysis while PAR’s method is similar but has a different technique. In PAR research, data is collected through people who are actually observing in the field they are researching about.

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In order to participate in PAR research, I was placed in a site that would help me discover and gather information about my research, and also allow me to take action steps towards fixing those problems.

 

According to the Organization Background from HOPE  “The Hispanic Office of Planning and Evaluation (HOPE) was established in 1971 by community activists, human/social service workers, academics and other professionals to advocate, develop, facilitate, coordinate, operate, and evaluate educational, health/human/social services, and community advancement programs to benefit Massachusetts’ Hispanic/Latino residents.”

 

Some of the programs that HOPE offers are:

  • a College Readiness program, which provides educational support for low-income students that come from disadvantaged backgrounds
  • an after school program, which allows students to participate in visual and performing arts, visual, public speaking, and youth leadership development.
  • tax clinics that help people with their taxes and a community technology center that helps people learn about modern day technology

 

 

HOPE provides support for people with have HIV/AIDS, and for people who just want to learn about those issues. Teens are extremely involved in these programs and are taught about the different ways that sexual behavior can affect them including HIV/AIDS, and STD’s. They have programs such as:

  • the Disease Prevention Education program, which provides peer education and peer leadership, violence prevention, substance prevention and more
  • the Health Promotion program which works to make people more aware of diseases and infections, and how to avoid it.

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To thoroughly prove my research question and why it’s important I will need to make a Geographic Information System (GIS). GIS is a method of organizing data geographically to reveal patterns. Geography is used as a primary organizer to compare things that are affecting society or a certain environment. The maps used in GIS are used to address real problems that are usually hidden.

 

Through a visual effect, the extremity of the problem will be more apparent. With these patterns, I will be able to see who are affected and where they are most affected, which will help me discover why it’s happening, along with what people can do to help stop it.

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.