Question selection

The drug abuse study attracts me much for some reason. I chose NESARC’s dataset. From experience of myself, it seems the reason why a person started using drugs isn’t simple. Was it for fun? Or was the life too hard without some kind of matter for relief? And different from tobacco use, the access to drug can be significantly harder. There are many factors involved, like income, use of drug etc.

To narrow down the range, I decide to find out if there is a correlation between TOTAL PERSONAL INCOME IN LAST 12 MONTHS [S1Q10A] (a sign of life status, social position etc.) and EVER USED AMPHETAMINES [S3BQ1A4] (this drug was chosen for some reason too..) and how they are correlated. So, there can be three results: 1. A positive correlation between income and use duration. 2. Negative correlation 3. No significant correlation, by statistical deduction.

There are also other variables to be considered, like why we didn’t choose cannabis as a target. As cannabis is more applied than amphetamine, somewhat in a way of tobacco use, it can lead to bias to result.

Google scholar suggests low-income people are vulnerable to drug use. My hypothesis is therefore The drug use is negatively correlated with income.

References

• O’Donnell, J., Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., Abbott, R. D. and Day, L. E. (1995), PREVENTING SCHOOL FAILURE, DRUG USE, AND DELINQUENCY AMONG LOW-INCOME CHILDREN: Long-Term Intervention in Elementary Schools.
• American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 65: 87–100. doi: 10.1037/h0079598
• Prevalence of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Among Homeless and Low-Income Housed Mothers