Eduardo Fernandes de M. Pimenta
MET 301-02
M. Brooks
Feb 2 11 2003

Research proposal

1) Background:
Smoking population has risen considerably across the world in the past 2 decades. Government agencies seems to be spending more each year in campaigns against tobacco. Also, the nicotine guns, and pills appears to have reached the market at a larger rate. The health care costs are probably one of the government main concerns in the quest of trying to persuade people o stop smoking. In the past years, the people began smoking at a younger age, and this keeps on going. Some statistic show that a good percentage of 15 years old already smoke. The attitudes being taken to try to persuade people to quit smoking are very clear. A few years ago, we did not see those huge panels covering more than half of the cigarettes packages front and back, reminding the consumer about the consequences of  smoking. But are those shocking images affective for both the smoker, former smoker and non smoker? To who those policies are aimed a specific section of the population, or is it general?


2) Rational:
I am looking forward to find out why the number of smokers has risen so fast in the past decades, specially, in the younger age groups. I will be looking for what might have been influencing people to start smoking, as well as what are the major influences that makes them stop smoking. With what ideas does a new cigarette brands  enter the market? I am expecting to learn if they can predict if the total percentage of smokers in the Canadian population will decrease in the upcoming years.


3) Focus:
The study will mainly focus in the question: Why has policies against smoking increased significantly in the past 10 years? I will analyze how much has the government spent in the those campaigns against smoking and their success, concerning if the amount of smoking is decreasing or increasing. 


4) Disciplines:
This study will involved some fields of Economics, like marketing while calculating the costs of the advertising. It will also involved psychology, when analyzing how consumer reacts to the advertising, and their consequent behaviors. And politics, or how the government feels toward the smoking habits.


5) Resources:
Most information should come from the school database (EBSCO).
Some internet sites and web pages found in search engines, such google or yahoo.
Government articles, and surveys, or Stat Canada.


6) List:
Some of the resources that will be useful to convey the purpose of this study has already been found. Here is what some of them are about:
Reports that the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey has found that only about one in five Canadians smokes. Decline in the level of smokers from the level set in 1985; Indication that smoking is declining in all age groups, and remains most common among males aged 20 to 24; Fall in the number of teenagers who smoke; Way that smoking rates are lowest in British Columbia and Ontario, and are highest in Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Manitoba.
Focuses on the need to prevent teen smoking in Canada. Why Canada is lagging behind other countries in efforts to prevent teen smoking; Anti tobacco initiatives in Canada, with goals to reduce proportion of people who smoke and cigarette sales; Canadian Pediatric Society which is urging physicians to back the Tobacco Youth Protection Act.
A survey found in Health Canada "primary objective is to track changes in smoking status and the amount smoked, especially for populations most at risk, such as those aged 15 to 24. This survey should help keeping tack of the populations which smokes, and its increases and declines across the past years.
Among the government attitudes towards smoking, some reports that the Canadian government ordered cigarette makers to include a list of the amounts of benzene, hydrogen cyanide and formaldehyde contained in smoke on cigarette packages were found. I also found that the campaign for tobacco warning led by Canada's Non-Smoker's Rights Association published some reports of its announcement by Canadian Health Minister Allan Rock of regulations for tobacco labeling. How the regulations state that cigarette packages must carry health warning that cover 50 percent of the front and back.