a. Identify a social research question you are interested in.

Why do women suffer from postpartum depression? Do social issues contribute to that diagnosis?

b. Pick at least one of the research methods discussed in the readings that you think would be appropriate to use in trying to answer this question (i.e., survey, experiments, observation (a.k.a. participant observation), and existing sources (a.k.a. unobtrusive research). Explain why you would use that method.

I would would survey mother of all ages, and backgrounds. I would survey women who had babies 20 years ago, 15 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago, and last month. I would ask questions like:

1. How old was your baby when you started having symptoms?
2. Describe your symptoms.....sadness? anxious? insomnia? detachment?
3. How long did the symptoms last?
4. Did you receive medical attention?
5. Do you have a history of similar symptoms?

Also, basic history questions would be asked about age, race, financial, support at home?
I would also interview women.

c. How would you use it? Try to be specific.
I think some women would be more open and honest when answering a survey. At the same time, it is a complicated issue with many variables, which might be difficult to explain on paper. Thus, the interviewing would be useful.

d. What possible ethical issues might you confront using that method to try to answer your question? What would you do to try to avoid or minimize such issues?
It would be important to survey a large group of mothers, from all walks of life. Since some of the questions might be medical it would be important to make sure that all women could understand the questions and that the answers were confidential.