WK7AssgnMagee_A

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1 Quantitative Research Study Critique Audrey Magee Master of Social Work, Walden University SOCW-6301-19: SW Practice: Research I Dr. Balfour April 13, 2023

2 Quantitative Research Study Critique The study I chose to analyze was titled Service Providers’ Perspectives on Sex Trafficking of Male Minors: Comparing Background and Trafficking Situations of Male and Female Victims. This study was conducted by interviewing professionals who have experience working with at-risk youth as well as victims or offenders of child sex trafficking. I found this article to be intriguing as it was conducted via telephone interviews and had a large sample consisting of 323 participants (Cole, 2018). Overall, I found this article to be a very credible source and provided important insight into this devastating issue. Title and Author Author, Jennifer Cole, is affiliated with the University of Kentucky and is appointed Research Title Series Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral Science and the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research. Additionally, Dr. Cole is a faculty associate of the Center on Trauma and Children in the College of Medicine (University of Kentucky College of Medicine). Dr. Cole has published 19 other articles, with topics ranging from trauma, partner violence, and an additional article on sex trafficking. “In the past six years, Dr. Cole first- authored 8 peer-reviewed articles, co-authored 16 peer-reviewed articles, gave 11 conference presentations/posters and 12 speaking engagements, served as an ad hoc reviewer for 31 journals, and as a reviewer for three special emphasis panels for the CDC” (University of Kentucky College of Medicine). I would agree that the title of this article describes the study and the key elements of the study.

3 Literature Review The literature review begins by stating “Sex trafficking of minors is not a new social problem, but it is one that has undergone an evolution in its conceptualization” (Cole, 2018) and goes on to explain the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which is explained to have shifted societies perception and understanding of youth victims being exploited and provides the definition of sex trafficking under the act. Additionally, the article points out that there is evidence of the degree that males are exploited, but there is limited evidence and mentions a previous study in which the research on male minors was scarce. Another article is identified as having “serious methodological problems that prevented them from examining the state of the research literature on commercial sexual exploitation of boys…” (Cole, 2018). The literature review does a good job of helping the readers understand the purpose behind the research. is a better understanding of male sex trafficking victims and how systems interact (ie. Law enforcement and social workers) sometimes fail to see males as victims. “The assumption that sex trafficking of male minors rarely occurs is common among professionals and may only exacerbate the stigma and shame victimized boys experience and decrease opportunities (Cole, 2018). Strategy of Research With the aim of this study being to better understand male sex trafficking victims and stating that previous research and knowledge are scarce, I would describe the strategy of research to be exploratory as there is little known about this topic, although it has been explored. “When very little is known about a problem and there are many more questions than answers, exploratory research designs are indicated. These designs are used when a researcher is exploring a subject area that is relatively new and unstudied” (Yegidis et al., 2018).

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4 Methodical Approach and Design The research design is appropriate as the author explained that while searching for participants, she found that many had worked with both males and females, while some had only worked with females and be described as a cross-sectional approach. “…this analysis focused on individuals who could be classified as working with male victims exclusively (n=26) or female victims exclusively (n=81)” ( Cole, 2018), the qualitative approach to this study would be appropriate as it is evaluating the number of social workers that interact with exclusively male victims versus female victims. Threats to Internal Validity One of the methods that I noticed was used within the study was the use of both open- ended and closed-ended questions and the data analysis of these questions were done in a very precise manner as the surveys were theme coded in several phases. “…using NVivo to organize the data…For any question that yielded reliability <.90, the process was repeated until intercoder reliability was .90 or higher” (Cole, 2018). Additionally, open-ended questions searched for masculine terms to identify information on male victims. Lastly, “quantitative analysis was conducted comparing the close-ended and themes identified in open-ended responses of professionals who reported they worked exclusively with male victims (n = 26) versus professionals who worked exclusively with female victims (n=81) to examine how sex trafficking of male minors may differ or be similar to sex trafficking of female minors” (Cole, 2018). The data analysis utilized within this study helped to prevent any opposing results, which would lead me to feel confident about the quality of the study.

5 Application to Practice The findings of this research is certainly knowledge that could prove to be valuable within my practice in the future. (Cole, 2018) states this research has contributed to filling the gap within previous literature as the exploitation of male minors is more common than many professionals recognize. This study also identified two common pathways to the exploitation of male minors. The first of which includes being coerced or forced by family members to help the family financially and/or with their family member’s substance abuse. The second pathway for males becoming victims of trafficking includes the issue of homelessness as male minors in order to support themselves and/or their own substance abuse problems (Cole, 2018). It is very important to bring this to light as social workers should be knowledgeable not only about how to interact with male minor victims but to also potentially identify a victim.

6 References Cole, J. (2018). Service providers’ perspectives on sex trafficking of male minors: Comparing background and trafficking situations of male and female victims. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 35(4), 423–433. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-018-0530-z Jennifer E Cole. University of Kentucky College of Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2023, from https://medicine.uky.edu/users/jecole2 Yegidis, B. L., Weinbach, R. W., & Myers, L. L. (2018). Research methods for social workers (8th ed.). Pearson.

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