Having developed an interest into researching lone parents as a group I felt I should write about some of the findings about the group that made me want to research into lone parents further and why I chose interviewing.
Research into lone parents as a group have been split into either demographic/statiscal information, policy information and socio-economic information. Many projects have only focused on lone parents as sub-group and have not really looked into the real reasons behind what they are doing. In addition, the information generally paints a negative picture about lone parents, either in terms of poor health status for lone parents or their children, or the poor financial and living circumstances lone parents are in.
Another gap I have found is, at present the majority of research carried out on lone parents is statistical and does not consider the point of view of lone parents. This for me this is an important aspect of conducting my research. I really want to get an understanding of the total experience of being a lone parent and then of being a lone parent suffering cancer, as I feel it will provide a lot of information that I will be able to analyse and feedback, thereby, informing cancer support groups and lone parent support organisations. Understanding the life of a lone parent prior to having cancer will provide insight into how much things have changed for them since they were diagnosed and also hearing what information and support you would like to have been given and what you felt could have been left out, from the moment of diagnosis will help give me the details required to feedback and hopefully make future experiences for lone parents suffering from cancer more informed.
I want to get in touch with lone parents from all backgrounds, ethnicities,lifestyles and regions in the UK, as anyone can suffer from cancer, and if I am able to get my information from a diverse sample will provide me with better information for my doctorate. Therefore, please do not feel that you would not be included in my research project. The more information I can get, the better the understanding and the better support. |
