7A - Testing Hypothesis (Part 1)

1)    Opportunity: According to the Washington Post, one in eight American adults is an alcoholic. Over the years, alcoholism has risen among adults and have become a hazard to society (including drunk driving, lowering work productivity, violence due to intoxication, sexual assault, etc.)

2)    About the opportunity

a.    Who: Any American can be affected

b.    What: They can be put in harm’s way by people with an alcohol dependency

c.    The Why: People who excessively drink often can’t control their actions 

3)    Hypothesis

a.    Testing the who: Any person here in the U.S. can be affected by this. The who encompasses not just people who may know alcoholics but even just bystanders. Children could also be affected by this. I feel that my “who” completely describes who share the need, although it’s a bit broad. 

b.    Testing the what: Not everyone one who is alcohol dependent is the same. They each deal with the problem differently and react differently. Some could become violent after drinking while others can become more reckless. There are also others you might not be able to even tell that they are dependent.

c.    Testing the why: Some people might not ever be affected directly by someone with a serious alcohol dependency. While others can be affected more often. Also, individuals might not believe this is a major problem because they haven’t experienced it. 

4)    Interviews

a.    Interview 1 – 18-year-old female student 

                                               i.     In this interview, she told me that she hasn’t had too many encounters with people who abuse alcohol. However, she still thinks it’s a pretty big problem for society. Although it hasn’t affected her she said she had seen a lot of things about alcoholism on the news. She also stated that she thinks there could be solutions but that it would require a lot of effort and support from the community. 

b.    Interview 2 – 21-year-old female student

                                               i.     The girl I interviewed actually told me that a close relative of hers is an alcoholic and that It has really impaired their life. She said that her grandfather, who is a doctor, says that alcohol is a legal drug can be more dangerous than other drugs you could find. Also, she thinks that the people who would be most affected by this would be the people’s families because they have a hard time understanding and dealing with someone with alcohol problems.

c.    Interview 3 – Male, mid-50s

                                               i.     He feels that alcoholism among adults has been rising over the years and that there hasn’t been enough done to help the situation. He believes that people with alcohol dependency are more likely to act rash and cause harm, even if not intentionally. Also, he thinks that bystanders can get hurt from this but that kids can also be affected, especially if related to someone who is an alcoholic. 

d.    Interview 4 – 20-year-old male student 

                                               i.     He actually felt that alcoholism isn’t a major problem in the US, but that other drugs are more dangerous. However, he believes that people most likely to be affected are those with any kind of relationship with a person with alcohol dependency. He stated that he believed that colleges might have more problems with alcohol, than society overall because most of the people that drink at colleges are minors. I know a lot of people that drink excessively because they are extremely stressed. 

e.    Interview 5 – Female, mid-40s

                                               i.     As a mother, she stated that her main worry is that her children get in a car accident with an intoxicated driver. As a mother of four, she has encouraged her older kids to be very cautious when they drink because she does not want them to build a dependency. She believes that the majority of people who begin to rely on alcohol are people with depression or financial issues so that in order to help them they need to fight at the root of the problem. 

5)    Summary/Reflection 

a.    After conducting these interviews, I realized that the “who” could actually be narrowed down a bit. Sure, theoretically anybody could be affected but there are some people more likely to be affect than others. For instance, two people believe that those related to or have any form of relationship with an alcoholic are more likely to be affected. 

b.    I also realized, that younger people might not believe it’s that big of a problem, but older people think it is. Also, the people interviewed thought that it was a problem for different reasons.