Research Study Proposal: Cults and Psych Disorders

kitties_and_horses_oh_my!

Hi everybody! I know I haven't been around for awhile, but a main reason is that I'm going to school for my psych degree and it's a lot of work. That being said, I have the opportunity to do some undergrad research work funded by Washington State University. I have to submit a proposal and if it's accepted they'll fund my work to a limited amount. Now, this won't be anything like a major study designed by PhD's, but it's a start. (I'm headed towards my PhD, so I have to start doing a lot of research, presenting findings, etc., hence this project.)

I've thought about ideas and what came to me was actually simple: we've discussed on here, countless times, the prevelence of mental health disorders in cults.

My question, before I delve into this headfirst, is who would be willing to go to a website and fill out an anonymous but highly personal questionnaire about mental health, length of time as a dub, etc.?

Thank you!!!

(Of course, the compiled results and paper will be available for everyone.)

bikerchic

I'm just crazy enough to be the first volunteer! Count me in!

Nice to see ya kitties!

steve2

Sounds a fascinating proposal. Among many other things, you'd have to be specific about who your target group is and draw conclusions from that. I've read some ambitious but ultimately disappointing research projects because the researcher was not clear about who the participants were. In this case, it would not just be ex-JWs per se, but ex-JWs who presently participate in internet forums - probably quite a select group of people who may not be comparable with ex-JWs in general.

One of the most important things when doing surveys is to hold as many variables as possible constant, so that you have uniformity of comparisons across variables such as gender, age, ethnicity, years spent in the religion, whether born into the religion or a convert, and, if so, age of conversion, main reasons for leaving, etc. On the othger hand, your proposal may be more modest and less sweeping in its intent.

Go to it. all the best.

bikerchic

(Of course, the compiled results and paper will be available for everyone.)

Oh no! Now everyone will know just how crazy I am! Will it be anonymous? Just kidding I don't care, much.

kitties_and_horses_oh_my!

To clarify, the paper and compiled results would NOT name individual subjects. No one will have any way of identifying you personally, even my professors.

Steve, thanks for your insights. At this point I'm just beginning to rough out the study. On one hand, narrowing the sample to "ex-jws who pub present" etc. will help - I think it's better to go into a subject with a simple, well-defined question and get the clearest answer you can, esp at my beginning level of research. I'll be working my profs to design the study in accord with appropriate scientific methedology (sp? it's late) and to really make this study of some benefit - perhaps a starting off point for future research by myself or others. I hate "junk science" (aka Psychology Today) which just detracts from people's respect for the field and half the time propogates misunderstandings. (There's enough of that done by real researchers! lol) You sound like you have some knowledge of research methedology - would you mind looking over the study as I map it out? I'd be interested in your take on things.

Thanks everyone, this might be quite exciting!

Kitties

kitties_and_horses_oh_my!

Okay, more thoughts:

I do need to narrow down so many factors, so here's a further question: what is everyone's main interest in psych disorders and cults? A couple of possible specific areas I could research include:

- rates of illness; but you have to narrow that down, too - by illness, whether it was a personal or medical dx (and what type of doctor dx it, diff if a psychiatrist dx vs a gen practitioner), if you were ill prior to entering the dubs, if you got ill while in it, at what point you were dx, how long you'd been seeking tx prior to dx, then control for factors like prior abuse (a whole other thing!) and then there's the issue of prior abuse contributing to your choosing to become a dub...

- types of illness: personality disorders vs. mood disorders vs. things like schiozphrenia - and then there's the other issue we've talked about, the auto-immune disorders. Auto-immune disorders might not appear to be a psych thing at first glance, but there's a lot of argument that they're very related to psych issues.

Okay, this is going to take some work!!! Ideas, discussion? Help me out!!!

steve2

Sounds like you are putting some really good preparation into this which will pay off in the longer term. I would not specifically focus on professionally diagnosed mental disorders per se, because you would automatically limit your subjects. You might want to include something more wide-ranging such as measures of locus of control, mood or anxiety. You'd also need to have a rationale for this. If it's to evaluate prevalence or rates of something, you'd need a comparison group - this is where it could get tricky.

I completed my PhD five years ago. I did a comparative study on the use of health care use of New Zealand Vietnam war veterans and their wives. Very boring, I'm afraid, but a viable subject.

I was raised a JW but left in the early 80s - around the same time as Ray Franz. I work as a clinical psychologist at the local community mental health service affiliated with the general hospital. Feel free to share ideas and I'll give feedback if its wanted.

steve2.

lisavegas420

I would be happy to help out in any way I can.

And congradulations...

Lisa

prophecor

One willing participant over here Kitties

Gill

Would love to!

Gill

Research Study Proposal: Cults and Psych Disorders

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