Drugs Report

My partner and I both currently attend courses on the sociology of drugs and youth and it was from these classes where we derived our question for this project. As these subjects were a shared interest we decided to focus our question on the drug habits of Stirling University students as we would have no access problems to a sample. Once our topic was decided upon

the specific question 'Have the drug habits of Stirling University third year students changed since coming to university'.

Even though the report had to be done in pairs this did not necessarily make the task any easier. I thought there would be a major benefit in the fact that we could negotiate reading duties between the pair of us but it emerged that for a really successful project we would have to have as wide a knowledge of the subject as possible.

Communication was paramount at all times as we wanted the report to flow as apiece and not appear to be obviously written by two separate people. I believe our communication with each other was a significant contributing factor to the success of our project. The fact that my partner and I share the same timetable at university was highly advantageous as we had ample opportunities to meet up and discuss any developments or problems that arose.

The only significant conflict that arose between my partner and I concerned the questions in which to ask our respondents during our interview. We had contradicting views as to what questions should and should not be asked and also about the wording of the questions. After some deliberation and by conducting 'mock' interviews with each other equilibrium was reached.

My personal progress throughout the report was aided considerably by the use of a research diary. This was used to chart any progress, queries, ideas or problems that occurred during the semester. The research diary assisted me by keeping a personal record to share with my partner whom also had a research diary filled with her own thoughts therefore ensuring we never forgot any information. Furthermore, the research diary was also used to record advice given to us by our tutor at class time and at personal meetings.

The true benefit of the diary, though, emerged when we finally came round to writing up our report as we had a physical reminder of problems and self-criticisms that would otherwise have been forgotten. Also the