Research Memo

Hypothesis:

                Approximately 2.5 million people are affected by Multiple Sclerosis worldwide although that can seem like a great number; however, there are 7 billion people in the world. (National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2010) The first question on the survey asked the respondents if they know what Multiple Sclerosis is and if they are aware of the affects of it; therefore, announcing the topic of my survey to them.  As I conduct my research, I expect that my respondents will not be aware of what Multiple Sclerosis is and how it affects the people living with it.  Multiple Sclerosis is a neurological disorder that affects the nervous system and the brain. This disorder is extremely hard to diagnose; therefore, this is why I chose to research this so people will become aware of the disorder.

Context:

                The target audience of this survey was any age group. The reasoning behind not choosing a particular age group was to test the overall knowledge all age groups had on Multiple Sclerosis. I feel that not having a target audience did not hurt my data because it helped me to gather the overall information I was looking for.  Two questions I asked in the survey were asking the same for the same information; however, type of possible answer was different. During the time I surveyed my audience, I chose to change one of the two questions that asked the same information. In addition, I chose to change the question asking about sudden paralysis because not only can there be sudden paralysis but also progressive paralysis. Another question that was on the survey could have also given away the answers to a previous question and needed to change before I continue surveying.

Results:

Question	Yes/True	No/False	Not Sure
Do you know what Multiple Sclerosis is?	5 out of 20	10 out of 20	5 out of 20
MS affects app. 2.5 mil people worldwide.	11 out of 20	0 out of 20	9 out of 20
There is a cure for MS	1 out of 20	6 out of 20	13 out of 20
How many people are diagnosed with MS daily?	A. 15 people 2 out of 20	B. 50 people 5 out of 20	C. 200 people 11 out of 20	D. 500 people 2 out of 20
How does MS affect the human body?	9 out of 20 said I don’t know 3 out of 20 said the back or bones 7 out of 20 said the nervous system 1 out of 20 said the mind
The government should be more involved with the research for MS	13 out of 20	0 out of 12	7 out of 20
Worth taking the medicine	3 out of 20	6 out of 20	10 out of 20	1 blank
MS is hereditary	8 out of 20	0 out of 20	12 out of 20
Easily diagnosed	2 out of 20	3 out of 20	7 out of 20

Difficulty Walking	12 out of 20
Abnormal pains	14 out of 20
Pain and loss of vision	12 out of 20
Tremors	13 out of 20
Slurred speech	12 out of 20
Sudden paralysis	11 out of 20

Data Analysis: 

During the analysis of my data, trends were commonly found. Over half of my recipients were not aware of what Multiple Sclerosis is.  Not only were over half of my recipients not sure if there was a cure for Multiple Sclerosis , but also over two thirds of them were not aware that Multiple Sclerosis is not hereditary.

Conclusion:

                In conclusion, the hypothesis I made was correct. Many people are unaware of Multiple Sclerosis and anything having to do with the disorder. As my blog continues, I plan to educate my audience and others on Multiple Sclerosis is and the struggles that the people living with this disorder have to deal with on a daily basis. In addition, I plan to research what our government is doing to help those people living with this disorder because it is unfair for the government to have a form of favoritism to support the research for some disorders and not others.