Tipos de estrategias

This thesis focused on exploring the role of specific social factors in the alcohol consumption and drinking behaviour of UK university students. The social factors of interest were a specific social motive (image & reputation) and consequence (sense of belonging) which had previously been identified in qualitative studies involving young people and students in the UK. Three research studies were undertaken, each with the aim of addressing the unanswered questions raised above. The nature of the gaps identified in the previous literature suggests that understanding student drinking behaviour is complex and requires consideration from different perspectives. Thus, the three studies in this thesis involved the use of three different methods, quantitative analysis, qualitative interviews and a sociometric approach, to offer an informative yet complimentary insight into student alcohol consumption.

In the first study within this thesis, there was a need to use a quantitative approach to determine whether the specific social motive and consequence identified in previous qualitative research were relevant and related to student alcohol use in a UK sample. As a starting point for this research, the aim of this initial study was to establish the nature of the

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relationship between student alcohol consumption and motives pertaining to image and reputation, and feelings of belonging. During the second study, a qualitative research design was implemented to specifically gather more detailed information on the relationships identified in study one between student alcohol use, image and reputation, and belonging, whilst capturing information on how such motives and consequences influence students’ alcohol decision making and overall social experiences. This second study addressed a specific gap in the existing literature by exploring the social context and culture of alcohol behaviour among UK student-athletes through semi-structured interviews. Student-athletes are a discrete group who often have their own sub-culture on university campuses and have previously been identified as a high-risk group for hazardous alcohol consumption, thus making them an ideal group through which to explore unanswered cultural research questions. Finally, the third and final study was exploratory in nature, devoting attention to further examining the relationship between student alcohol consumption and peer judgements of social image and reputation using a sociometric approach.

Prior to embarking on the proposed mixed methods research, consideration was given to the philosophical assumptions which were likely to guide the studies within this thesis. An overview and conceptualisation of the four elements which influenced the philosophy of this programme of research is shown in Figure 3. The nature of mixed methods research poses a challenge for traditional perspectives because different methods are commonly associated with specific paradigms and there are elements within such worldviews which are in direct conflict with one another (Maxwell & Mittapalli, 2010). In seeking a resolution to this issue, there are two schools of thought, firstly there is the perspective that researchers should opt for a paradigm which accommodates the philosophical assumptions of both qualitative and quantitative research such as pragmatism or critical realism (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017; Maxwell & Mittapalli, 2010). The alternative is to follow the separate paradigms or philosophical assumptions of each method, known as a dialectic stance (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017; Maxwell & Mittapalli, 2010). With the current research in mind, the researcher examined both schools of thought and considered; i) a dialectic stance, adopting the paradigms of postpostivism and constructivism, and ii) a single paradigm, exploring the approaches of pragmatism and critical realism.

A dialectic stance suggests multiple paradigms can be used within mixed method research; however, each paradigm must be named explicitly and the contested arguments or opposing values of each paradigm are honoured (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017; Shannon- Barber, 2016). Mixed methods research which follows a dialectic stance should focus on the tensions, contradictions and divergence between the paradigms, and quantitative and

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qualitative findings (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017; Shannon-Barber, 2016). In this instance, a dialectic perspective was considered too rigid, requiring traditional research features to be followed with the inability to reconcile findings from qualitative and quantitative elements of this thesis. The researcher is of the perspective that there is value in both quantitative and qualitative data collected about the research topics within this thesis and it is the potential to combine or triangulate such data sources which provides the greatest insight. Therefore, the researcher opted against adopting a dialectic stance in this instance and pursued a further understanding of pragmatism and critical realism.

When considering pragmatism, the researcher could observe inherent value in a worldview which abandons the dichotomy between postpositivism and constructivism, permits the use of quantitative and qualitative research methods within a single research study, emphasises the importance of research questions above worldviews and seeks to identify shared meaning to inform practical or outcome orientated solutions (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017; Shannon-Barber, 2016). In this thesis, however, there were no plans to combine both quantitative and qualitative research methods in a single study and whilst the research questions posed were important, the researcher considered her ontological and epistemological beliefs to be of equal importance and believed that such concepts should be given more emphasis than permitted within the pragmatic approach. Therefore, for this thesis, the studies were undertaken from the perspective of critical realism.

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Figure 3. Philosophical elements which underpinned this programme of research.

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Critical realism is a philosophical position which accommodates and supports the key characteristics of both quantitative and qualitative research methods (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017; Maxwell & Mittapalli, 2010). Critical realists agree with positivists that there is a real and objective world which can be observed and studied, however our knowledge and understanding of this world is socially constructed (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017; Denzin & Lincoln, 2011; Maxwell & Mittapalli, 2010). Social phenomenon and mental entities such as emotions, beliefs and values are all part of reality and as a result human interpretation of the world should be studied (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011; Maxwell & Mittapalli, 2010). Importantly, the critical realist perspective advocates that an individual’s interpretation of the world and current social situation are real, yet separate phenomena, which can causally interact with each other (Maxwell & Mittapalli, 2010).

As a philosophical perspective, critical realism is consistent with the variables of interest in this thesis. For example, there is no desire to manipulate alcohol use in an empirical manner, however there is the intention to understand the social meaning of alcohol use in the context of a university setting and to explore how alcohol use may influence feelings of

1 _{Model adapted by Creswell and Plano Clark (2017) from Crotty (1998)}

Paradigm/Worldview Critical realism

Theoretical lens

The Motivational Model, Incentive motivation

Methodology Mixed Methods

Methods

Cross-sectional online survey Semi-structured interviews

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belonging and fitting in, and operate as a mechanism through which one’s image and reputation can be managed. Thus, implicit within the research problem and questions is the view that mental entities, social phenomena and situations are real and likely to interact to influence alcohol behaviour. The paradigm of critical realism is also consistent with the researcher’s background in psychological therapy, where cognitive behavioural therapy was used to address mental health problems. By adopting such a therapeutic approach, there is an assumption that mental entities are real and the application of this therapeutic method, which emphasises the relevance of emotions, beliefs and behaviour, is effective in changing an individual’s psychological state and circumstance.

As guided by the philosophical assumptions of critical realism, student alcohol consumption was viewed through a theoretical lens of the motivational model (Cox & Klinger, 1988). The motivational model has already proved a useful framework through which to examine the role of social factors within the existing student alcohol literature. There is also inherent value and flexibility in the large numbers of variables grouped within the three inter-related categories of the model and the suggested relationships between the categories in an effort to explain alcohol use (Cox & Klinger, 1988). For example, the motivational model acknowledges the interaction between an individual’s current situation and the cognitive processes which form alcohol expectancies and drinking motives. More specifically, the key assumptions of the motivational model, including the theory of incentive motivation on which the model is based, suggest firstly that individuals make choices about their alcohol use based on emotional and rational processes, and secondly that an individual’s alcohol use can be motivated by the incentives they associate with alcohol (Cooper et al., 2016; Cox & Klinger, 1988; Skinner & Aubin, 2010). The motivational model, therefore, provided the researcher with a structure through which to challenge traditional problem-focused approaches to student alcohol consumption and develop research questions regarding the social incentives and benefits students may associate with alcohol use.

The overall design of this mixed methods research involved fixed and emergent aspects, where the methods used in each study were fixed and pre-determined prior to commencement, however the research questions and lines of inquiry were influenced by the emergent findings as research progressed (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2010). An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was used, involving two phases, an initial quantitative phase (study one) followed by a qualitative phase (study two) (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017). A third and final phase, study three, dedicated research attention to the elusive concepts of image and reputation through peer nominations and sociometric approach.

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