¶ … Social Work The research in this study is exploratory and descriptive. The study begins with the declaration that this topic of study has been pursued in the past, yet the sampling methods used proved ineffective in defining or describing why less Asian-Americans utilize healthcare services in the United States. This research seeks to describe the problem of little use of healthcare with their study. The research in this study classifies the phenomenon of lack of healthcare service use/participation by Asian-Americans. The research problem is that Asian-Americans are not using the healthcare services available to them for a variety of reasons. The research problem is stated clearly in the first two pages of the study. In this study, there were no listed hypotheses, instead there are objectives. The objectives of the study are:

…(1) examine rates of mental health-related service use among immigrant and U.S.-born Asian-Americans during a 12-month period, (2) identify patterns of help seeking as they varied by need and immigration-related characteristics, (3) explore perceptions of satisfaction with care and helpfulness, and (4) compare differences in patterns of mental health-related service use among individuals who had a probable need for services…and those who had no probable need for services…(Abe-Kim et al., 2007,-Page 92)

The methodology used in this study was to take the data from other surveys such as the NLAAS (National Latino and Asian-American Survey), the NCS-R (National Comorbidity Survey Replication), and the NSAL (National Survey of American Life). The sampling took...

The first stage was core sampling, the second stage was high-density supplemental sampling, and the third stage was second respondent sampling to recruit participants that were previously deemed ineligible. (Abe-Kim, et al., 2007,-Page 92) The sampling methodology seemed appropriate, but it could have been more fresh and exact. The researchers could have not based their samples on previously sampled participants. Instead part of their study could have been to seek out new participants, such as in the third stage of their sampling methods. The population is very clearly identified. The population of the participants is central to the validity to the study; therefore, the researchers took additional time to identify strong samples as well as review participants that were previously deemed ineligible or irrelevant to the study so as to include as many participants of Asian descent residing in America as possible. The population in question is Asian-Americans. The researchers sought Asians who immigrated from outside of the United States, specifically straight from Asia. They sought Asian-Americans who were not born in the United States but have been residing in the U.S.A. For the long-term. They included as many peoples available from across Asia in their study. The participants were mainly adolescents and adult Asian-Americans. Approximately 2, 100 persons participated in this study that fell within the criteria of the researchers.
An issue of validity for the research team has to do with the reliability of the other sources from which they gather their data. As aforementioned, the researchers used data from…