Research Proposal: Second Hand Smoke and Breast Cancer
Abstract
The purpose of this research proposal is to study the relationship between second hand smoke and breast cancer. Whether second hand smoke causes breast cancer in women is still under debate, but some recent studies indicate that women who have breast cancer might not have been smokers themselves, but their family members or co-workers do smoke. Therefore, they are exposed to a large amount of second hand smoke from time to time. Two methods will be provided to perform this study – (a) questionnaire, and (b) archival research, and the results are expected to demonstrate that second hand smoke contributes to breast cancer.
SECOND-HAND SMOKE AND BREAST CANCER
Introduction
When people talk about diseases related to smoking or second hand smoke, the first thing that come to their mind will usually be nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) or lung cancer, but few will think about that it might be one of the causes of breast cancer. There are nearly 0.2 million women in the United States who become patients of breast cancer each year, and in Taiwan, there are four thousand women who are diagnosed with breast cancer annually, and it has become the second leading cause of death following lung cancer (Chen, 2005).
Breast cancer has been one of the major illnesses in North American and Europe for many years (Department of Health, Taipei City Government, 2002). Now, it is “the number one cancer among women and the count of its victims are rising very rapidly” (Singh, 2005). In Taiwan, according to the statistics announced by Health Bureau, Executive Yuan on June 11, 2002, cancer was the first leading cause of death in Taiwan for the 20th year, and breast cancer has moved from the 5th place in 2000 to the 4th in 2001. The majority of breast cancer patients were women from 35 to 55 years of age; fewer young female adults (ages 20 to 30) and seniors (ages 70 to 80) become breast cancer patients. Obviously, breast cancer is one major health issue women should be paying attention to nowadays. In additions, based on local and foreign statistics, it is also possible for men to have breast cancer, and the male patient population is approximately 1% of the total patient population (Department of Health, Taipei City Government, 2002).
The breast undergoes a major period of development during adolescence, and studies in animals have demonstrated that this is a period of great susceptibility to cancer-causing agents (Warren, & Devine, 2002). Because the tissue inside the breast is highly sensitive to cancer-induce material in the cigarette, it is easier for female adolescents to have breast cancer if they are in contact with such material (Agency France-Presse, 2002). Five studies have been conducted to investigate the association of exposure to second hand smoke at a young age with breast cancer risk. Generally, these studies focus on exposure up to age 19. Four of them used women with no exposure to tobacco smoke as controls and reported roughly a doubling of breast cancer risk among women who were exposed to second hand smoke. The remaining study used women who never smoked as the comparison, and there was no association between tobacco smoke exposure and breast cancer risk (Warren, & Devine, 2002).
In Western countries, breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among women, and in North America, there are an estimated 233,000 new cases annually and 45,000 deaths. Although factors such as genetics, reproductive risk, physical activity, and alcohol are known to be major causes of breast cancer, more than half of breast cancer risk is still unexplained (Johnson, 2005). Second hand smoke is considered one of the causes related to many health problems including breast cancer, but it is still uncertain whether it has any impact on breast cancer risk (Warren, & Devine, 2002).
According to an article published on October 22, 2000, approximately 147,000 women who underwent a study show no correlation between exposure to second hand smoke and deaths from breast cancer. The study uses data from the American Cancer Society Prevention Study II, and its result contradicts preceding studies that have shown that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke does increase a woman’s risk for breast cancer. However, because of the nature and dimension of this study, researchers state that the results are important. In 1982, they followed 146,488 non-smoking, married women who were healthy when they enrolled in the study, and in 1994, there were 669 cases of breast cancer found among the women. The researchers discovered no difference in the death rate from breast cancer among the women whose husbands are non-smokers and those who married smokers. Considering the women’s exposure to second hand smoke at home and work, the researchers made a conclusion that there was no link between breast cancer deaths and second hand smoke (Imaginis News, 2000).
Two years later, the majority of breast cancer studies still compared women who are exposed to second hand smoke to women with no exposure to smoking, indicating that second hand smoke increases the risk of breast cancer, but only two of these studies demonstrate a certain “dose-relationship,” which means that more exposure to second hand smoke results in a higher risk of breast cancer. However, other studies report conflicting associations with breast cancer risk. These studies compare the risk of breast cancer of women exposed to second hand smoke to those who are nonsmokers or have never smoked; some studies report the increase in risk, some report a decrease in risk, and yet others show that there is no association with risk. Next, several studies have discovered comparable increases in breast cancer risk for both active and second hand smoke exposures, but some researchers have criticized their results. These researchers argue that this is not a likely result because smokers have much greater exposure to smoke both actively and passively. Therefore, further research will be necessary in order to resolve this issue (Warren, & Devine, 2002).
Although the link between second hand smoke and breast cancer is still under debate, a study by the California Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants and some recent studies indicate that women who have breast cancer might not be smokers themselves, but their family members or co-workers do smoke, so they are exposed to a large amount of second hand smoke from time to time (China Daily News Editorial Department, 2005), and a new study published in the International Journal of Cancer Online on May 31, 2005 suggests that long-term exposure to second hand smoke may increase breast cancer risk in women before menopause (Johnson, 2005).
Based on a report by the California Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants, women who expose to second hand smoke more than the average people have a 70% chance of getting breast cancer. This report also indicates that second hand smoke causes breast cancer in younger women, mainly those who are under 50 and have not experienced menopause, but it seems that second hand smoke does not have any effect on older, primarily post-menopausal women. In additions, women are particularly vulnerable to smoke exposure between the time of their first period and first pregnancy. According to public health physician Murray Laugesen, the research data indicates that exposure to second hand smoke results in up to one-fifth of newly found breast cancer cases in women under 50, more than 70 annually on 2003 figures, and nearly 50% of the risk comes from second hand smoke exposure at work (Chisholm, 2005).
Moreover, American scientists at a significant state agency have completed a draft report linking second hand smoke to breast cancer. It is said to be the first major report to draw that connection, and one of many findings related to the health effects of so-called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Drafted by scientists at the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, this report draws on over 1,000 other studies of the effects of ETS and details a variety of health problems caused by exposure to it, as well as establishes a connection between ETS and breast cancer, a disease that kills approximately 40,000 women in the United States annually. In additions, the report estimates that women exposed to second hand smoke have a greater risk of breast cancer up to 90% than women who have no such exposure (Associated Press, 2005).
We will, in this research proposal, make an effort to see whether second hand smoke causes breast cancer. Also, we will attempt to demonstrate in this proposal that if a person has been exposed to second hand smoke, she or he will have a greater risk of breast cancer. This project does not intend to solve all breast cancer-related medical problems caused by second hand smoke, but it may provide a stronger correlation between the disease and one of its causes.
Method 1
Meta-analysis will be the fundamental design and principal method of research for this project. To determine the impact of actively smoking and breathing in second-hand smoke on breast cancer development, the data gathered from several published studies will be analyzed on the subject matter. Related reports will be collected from institutions of higher education, local and national libraries, governmental agencies, related corporations, professional organizations, other institutions, and online journal database to determine whether the thesis of this research proposal is valid. It is essential to conduct this research from random samples to avoid bias.
Participant
The participants of this archival research will be:
1. Researchers
2. Professors
3. Medical professionals
4. Authors
5. Governmental employees
6. Students
Facility
The facilities necessary for conducting this research will be:
Research tools, including computer with internet accessibility, record keeping tools, calculator, and analyzing equipment.
Procedure
1. Information will be collected with research tools: thesis database such as Dissertation and Thesis Abstract System and ProQuest Digital Dissertations, professional journal database such as Worldcat, Proquest, and ScienceDirect, digital library resources, and other research tools to gather information regarding breast cancer and second hand smoke.
2. During the process, approximately 200 sources will be examined for this research, and the effort will be made in order to discover archives related to the topic of discussion.
3. Research participants will compare and contrast the results of collected studies in order to prove the validation of the thesis statement.
4. At the conclusion of the research, the results of this research will be organized, analyzed, and presented with text description, tables, and graphs.Research participants should maintain ethical standards and pay attention not to violate laws and regulations during the process of research.
Method 2
Literature review will provide an alternate research approach, and it is expected that this method will also produce similar results as the principle method of research. The major methods used in related researches will be summarized, and the results will be reported. Then, conclusions will be drawn about the variables that affect the relationship of interest.
Participant
The participants of this archival research will be:
1. Researchers
2. Professors
3. Authors
4. Students
Facility
The facilities necessary for conducting this research will be:
Research tools, including computer with internet accessibility and record keeping tools.
Procedure
1. The research articles will be collected with research tools such as ProQuest Digital Dissertations, Worldcat, Proquest, and ScienceDirect, digital library resources, and other research tools to gather information regarding breast cancer and second hand smoke.
2. Approximately 200 sources will be examined, and research participants will summarize the major methods used in the related researches.
3. Research participants will report the results of the major studies found.
4. Research participants will then draw conclusions about the variables that affect the relationship of second hand smoke and breast cancer.
Research participants should maintain ethical standards and pay attention not to violate laws and regulations during the process of research.
Results
The results of this study will be categorized into two different categories in each of the methods to prove the thesis statement:
1. Demographics – the results will be arranged based on gender, age, and ethnic origin in this section.
2. Environmental factors – the results will be arranged based on the existence of second hand smoke at home, workplace, and public area in this section.
The results of this study will be organized into a result table and a graph to show the causal relationship between second hand smoke and the occurrence of breast cancer. The following measures will be calculated:
1. Mean – the margin of error should be less than 10%, and exposure to second hand smoke will be calculated from 0 to the most exposures per week. Then, calculate the mean by adding all the data and dividing by the number of pieces of data.
2. Standard deviation – this is calculated by taking the square root of the average squared deviation from the mean. If the resulting scores are normally distributed, the standard deviation will be adapted to measure the spread.
3. Interquartile range – this is calculated by ordering the scores in the distribution, and dividing the distribution into four equal parts. Then, find the score separating the lower quarter of the distribution (Q1) and the score separating the top quarter from the rest of the distribution (Q3). Q3 minus Q1 equals the interquartile range. In case the data collected from survey results is skewed, the interquartile range will also be calculated.The aforementioned procedure will help tabulate the research result and summarize this with a graph. In additions, a frequency distribution table will be provided to indicate whether the distribution is normal or skewed.
Discussion
Due to the nature of the subject matter, it is complex to personally find people who have exposure to second hand smoke, observe them for a long period of time, and then discover whether the passive smoking causes breast cancer among them, so meta-analysis and literature review are both cost efficient and convenient ways to conduct a research. In additions, since it is not possible to obtain such ethnic diversity of survey participants in Taiwan comparing to America, archival research will be the most efficient method for conducting this study in terms of cost and ethics.
The strength of meta-analysis is the utilization of statistical procedures to help researchers evaluate results across studies in a given research subject. Because of the statistical combination of the results from various researches, it is more scientific and objective technique. However, if the information in the reviewed studies is not comprehensive, some potentially important aspects of the subject matter might be overlooked. Next, it is also difficult to assess the quality of reviewed studies, and since it is common that various researches utilize vastly different methods and statistical techniques, making comparison of the results from them questionable.
Literature review, on the contrary, does not require statistical techniques. Generally, the researchers summarize what they have found in a variety of research articles and draw conclusions about the state of the literature in the subject matter. Literature review is more time efficient than meta-analysis, but the conclusions it draws are frequently subjective. Moreover, the conclusions may not accurately reflect the actual strength of the relationships handled in the review, and the validity will also be potentially questionable. Finally, the above procedure are all about descriptive statistics. As such, it would not help to draw any conclusions or inferences.
References
Agency France-Presse (2002). Adolescent smoking increases the risk of breast cancer. Kaohsiung Medical University. Retrieved August 9, 2005, from http://sunny.club.kmu.edu.tw/16.doc
Associated Press (2005). Report links second-hand smoke, cancer. CTV News. Retrieved August 10, 2005, from http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1110547043886_8?s_name=&no_ads=
Chen, C. W. (April 6, 2005). Second smoke increases the risk of having breast cancer. TSSD News. Retrieved August 9, 2005, from http://www.tssdnews.com.tw/daily/2005/04/06/text/940406a3.htm
China Daily News Editorial Department (June 5, 2005). Smoking and second hand smoke tremendously increase the risk of breast cancer. China Daily News Care. Retrieved August 9, 2005, from http://www.cdncare.com.tw/20050606/med/jkbj/400000002005060517362915.htm
Chisholm, D. (July 3, 2005). Second-hand smoke linked to breast cancer. Sunday Star Times. Retrieved August 10, 2005, from http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3333321a11,00.html
Department of Health, Taipei City Government (October 9, 2002). Taipei City’s medical team provides cancer prevention and treatment. Health News. Retrieved August 9, 2005, from http://www.webhospital.org.tw/essay/essay.html?pid=3390&category=%C5%40%B2z%B7%D3%C5%40&type=
Imaginis News (October 22, 2000). Study finds no link between second-hand smoke and breast cancer deaths. Imaginis, the Breast Cancer Resource. Retrieved August 10, 2005, from http://imaginis.com/breasthealth/news/news10.22.00.asp
Johnson, K. C. (May 31, 2005). The link between passive and active smoking and breast cancer. International Journal of Cancer. Retrieved August 9, 2005, from http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-06/jws-tlb060205.php
Singh, J. (2005). Passive smokers can get breast cancer. Cool Nurse. Retrieved August 10, 2005, from http://www.coolnurse.com/breast_cancersmoke.htm
Warren, B. & Devine, C. (2002). Smoking and breast cancer risk. Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors, Cornell University. Retrieved August 10, 2005, from http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/factsheet/diet/fs46.smoking.cfm
The purpose of this research proposal is to study the relationship between second hand smoke and breast cancer. Whether second hand smoke causes breast cancer in women is still under debate, but some recent studies indicate that women who have breast cancer might not have been smokers themselves, but their family members or co-workers do smoke. Therefore, they are exposed to a large amount of second hand smoke from time to time. Two methods will be provided to perform this study – (a) questionnaire, and (b) archival research, and the results are expected to demonstrate that second hand smoke contributes to breast cancer.
SECOND-HAND SMOKE AND BREAST CANCER
Introduction
When people talk about diseases related to smoking or second hand smoke, the first thing that come to their mind will usually be nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) or lung cancer, but few will think about that it might be one of the causes of breast cancer. There are nearly 0.2 million women in the United States who become patients of breast cancer each year, and in Taiwan, there are four thousand women who are diagnosed with breast cancer annually, and it has become the second leading cause of death following lung cancer (Chen, 2005).
Breast cancer has been one of the major illnesses in North American and Europe for many years (Department of Health, Taipei City Government, 2002). Now, it is “the number one cancer among women and the count of its victims are rising very rapidly” (Singh, 2005). In Taiwan, according to the statistics announced by Health Bureau, Executive Yuan on June 11, 2002, cancer was the first leading cause of death in Taiwan for the 20th year, and breast cancer has moved from the 5th place in 2000 to the 4th in 2001. The majority of breast cancer patients were women from 35 to 55 years of age; fewer young female adults (ages 20 to 30) and seniors (ages 70 to 80) become breast cancer patients. Obviously, breast cancer is one major health issue women should be paying attention to nowadays. In additions, based on local and foreign statistics, it is also possible for men to have breast cancer, and the male patient population is approximately 1% of the total patient population (Department of Health, Taipei City Government, 2002).
The breast undergoes a major period of development during adolescence, and studies in animals have demonstrated that this is a period of great susceptibility to cancer-causing agents (Warren, & Devine, 2002). Because the tissue inside the breast is highly sensitive to cancer-induce material in the cigarette, it is easier for female adolescents to have breast cancer if they are in contact with such material (Agency France-Presse, 2002). Five studies have been conducted to investigate the association of exposure to second hand smoke at a young age with breast cancer risk. Generally, these studies focus on exposure up to age 19. Four of them used women with no exposure to tobacco smoke as controls and reported roughly a doubling of breast cancer risk among women who were exposed to second hand smoke. The remaining study used women who never smoked as the comparison, and there was no association between tobacco smoke exposure and breast cancer risk (Warren, & Devine, 2002).
In Western countries, breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among women, and in North America, there are an estimated 233,000 new cases annually and 45,000 deaths. Although factors such as genetics, reproductive risk, physical activity, and alcohol are known to be major causes of breast cancer, more than half of breast cancer risk is still unexplained (Johnson, 2005). Second hand smoke is considered one of the causes related to many health problems including breast cancer, but it is still uncertain whether it has any impact on breast cancer risk (Warren, & Devine, 2002).
According to an article published on October 22, 2000, approximately 147,000 women who underwent a study show no correlation between exposure to second hand smoke and deaths from breast cancer. The study uses data from the American Cancer Society Prevention Study II, and its result contradicts preceding studies that have shown that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke does increase a woman’s risk for breast cancer. However, because of the nature and dimension of this study, researchers state that the results are important. In 1982, they followed 146,488 non-smoking, married women who were healthy when they enrolled in the study, and in 1994, there were 669 cases of breast cancer found among the women. The researchers discovered no difference in the death rate from breast cancer among the women whose husbands are non-smokers and those who married smokers. Considering the women’s exposure to second hand smoke at home and work, the researchers made a conclusion that there was no link between breast cancer deaths and second hand smoke (Imaginis News, 2000).
Two years later, the majority of breast cancer studies still compared women who are exposed to second hand smoke to women with no exposure to smoking, indicating that second hand smoke increases the risk of breast cancer, but only two of these studies demonstrate a certain “dose-relationship,” which means that more exposure to second hand smoke results in a higher risk of breast cancer. However, other studies report conflicting associations with breast cancer risk. These studies compare the risk of breast cancer of women exposed to second hand smoke to those who are nonsmokers or have never smoked; some studies report the increase in risk, some report a decrease in risk, and yet others show that there is no association with risk. Next, several studies have discovered comparable increases in breast cancer risk for both active and second hand smoke exposures, but some researchers have criticized their results. These researchers argue that this is not a likely result because smokers have much greater exposure to smoke both actively and passively. Therefore, further research will be necessary in order to resolve this issue (Warren, & Devine, 2002).
Although the link between second hand smoke and breast cancer is still under debate, a study by the California Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants and some recent studies indicate that women who have breast cancer might not be smokers themselves, but their family members or co-workers do smoke, so they are exposed to a large amount of second hand smoke from time to time (China Daily News Editorial Department, 2005), and a new study published in the International Journal of Cancer Online on May 31, 2005 suggests that long-term exposure to second hand smoke may increase breast cancer risk in women before menopause (Johnson, 2005).
Based on a report by the California Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants, women who expose to second hand smoke more than the average people have a 70% chance of getting breast cancer. This report also indicates that second hand smoke causes breast cancer in younger women, mainly those who are under 50 and have not experienced menopause, but it seems that second hand smoke does not have any effect on older, primarily post-menopausal women. In additions, women are particularly vulnerable to smoke exposure between the time of their first period and first pregnancy. According to public health physician Murray Laugesen, the research data indicates that exposure to second hand smoke results in up to one-fifth of newly found breast cancer cases in women under 50, more than 70 annually on 2003 figures, and nearly 50% of the risk comes from second hand smoke exposure at work (Chisholm, 2005).
Moreover, American scientists at a significant state agency have completed a draft report linking second hand smoke to breast cancer. It is said to be the first major report to draw that connection, and one of many findings related to the health effects of so-called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Drafted by scientists at the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, this report draws on over 1,000 other studies of the effects of ETS and details a variety of health problems caused by exposure to it, as well as establishes a connection between ETS and breast cancer, a disease that kills approximately 40,000 women in the United States annually. In additions, the report estimates that women exposed to second hand smoke have a greater risk of breast cancer up to 90% than women who have no such exposure (Associated Press, 2005).
We will, in this research proposal, make an effort to see whether second hand smoke causes breast cancer. Also, we will attempt to demonstrate in this proposal that if a person has been exposed to second hand smoke, she or he will have a greater risk of breast cancer. This project does not intend to solve all breast cancer-related medical problems caused by second hand smoke, but it may provide a stronger correlation between the disease and one of its causes.
Method 1
Meta-analysis will be the fundamental design and principal method of research for this project. To determine the impact of actively smoking and breathing in second-hand smoke on breast cancer development, the data gathered from several published studies will be analyzed on the subject matter. Related reports will be collected from institutions of higher education, local and national libraries, governmental agencies, related corporations, professional organizations, other institutions, and online journal database to determine whether the thesis of this research proposal is valid. It is essential to conduct this research from random samples to avoid bias.
Participant
The participants of this archival research will be:
1. Researchers
2. Professors
3. Medical professionals
4. Authors
5. Governmental employees
6. Students
Facility
The facilities necessary for conducting this research will be:
Research tools, including computer with internet accessibility, record keeping tools, calculator, and analyzing equipment.
Procedure
1. Information will be collected with research tools: thesis database such as Dissertation and Thesis Abstract System and ProQuest Digital Dissertations, professional journal database such as Worldcat, Proquest, and ScienceDirect, digital library resources, and other research tools to gather information regarding breast cancer and second hand smoke.
2. During the process, approximately 200 sources will be examined for this research, and the effort will be made in order to discover archives related to the topic of discussion.
3. Research participants will compare and contrast the results of collected studies in order to prove the validation of the thesis statement.
4. At the conclusion of the research, the results of this research will be organized, analyzed, and presented with text description, tables, and graphs.Research participants should maintain ethical standards and pay attention not to violate laws and regulations during the process of research.
Method 2
Literature review will provide an alternate research approach, and it is expected that this method will also produce similar results as the principle method of research. The major methods used in related researches will be summarized, and the results will be reported. Then, conclusions will be drawn about the variables that affect the relationship of interest.
Participant
The participants of this archival research will be:
1. Researchers
2. Professors
3. Authors
4. Students
Facility
The facilities necessary for conducting this research will be:
Research tools, including computer with internet accessibility and record keeping tools.
Procedure
1. The research articles will be collected with research tools such as ProQuest Digital Dissertations, Worldcat, Proquest, and ScienceDirect, digital library resources, and other research tools to gather information regarding breast cancer and second hand smoke.
2. Approximately 200 sources will be examined, and research participants will summarize the major methods used in the related researches.
3. Research participants will report the results of the major studies found.
4. Research participants will then draw conclusions about the variables that affect the relationship of second hand smoke and breast cancer.
Research participants should maintain ethical standards and pay attention not to violate laws and regulations during the process of research.
Results
The results of this study will be categorized into two different categories in each of the methods to prove the thesis statement:
1. Demographics – the results will be arranged based on gender, age, and ethnic origin in this section.
2. Environmental factors – the results will be arranged based on the existence of second hand smoke at home, workplace, and public area in this section.
The results of this study will be organized into a result table and a graph to show the causal relationship between second hand smoke and the occurrence of breast cancer. The following measures will be calculated:
1. Mean – the margin of error should be less than 10%, and exposure to second hand smoke will be calculated from 0 to the most exposures per week. Then, calculate the mean by adding all the data and dividing by the number of pieces of data.
2. Standard deviation – this is calculated by taking the square root of the average squared deviation from the mean. If the resulting scores are normally distributed, the standard deviation will be adapted to measure the spread.
3. Interquartile range – this is calculated by ordering the scores in the distribution, and dividing the distribution into four equal parts. Then, find the score separating the lower quarter of the distribution (Q1) and the score separating the top quarter from the rest of the distribution (Q3). Q3 minus Q1 equals the interquartile range. In case the data collected from survey results is skewed, the interquartile range will also be calculated.The aforementioned procedure will help tabulate the research result and summarize this with a graph. In additions, a frequency distribution table will be provided to indicate whether the distribution is normal or skewed.
Discussion
Due to the nature of the subject matter, it is complex to personally find people who have exposure to second hand smoke, observe them for a long period of time, and then discover whether the passive smoking causes breast cancer among them, so meta-analysis and literature review are both cost efficient and convenient ways to conduct a research. In additions, since it is not possible to obtain such ethnic diversity of survey participants in Taiwan comparing to America, archival research will be the most efficient method for conducting this study in terms of cost and ethics.
The strength of meta-analysis is the utilization of statistical procedures to help researchers evaluate results across studies in a given research subject. Because of the statistical combination of the results from various researches, it is more scientific and objective technique. However, if the information in the reviewed studies is not comprehensive, some potentially important aspects of the subject matter might be overlooked. Next, it is also difficult to assess the quality of reviewed studies, and since it is common that various researches utilize vastly different methods and statistical techniques, making comparison of the results from them questionable.
Literature review, on the contrary, does not require statistical techniques. Generally, the researchers summarize what they have found in a variety of research articles and draw conclusions about the state of the literature in the subject matter. Literature review is more time efficient than meta-analysis, but the conclusions it draws are frequently subjective. Moreover, the conclusions may not accurately reflect the actual strength of the relationships handled in the review, and the validity will also be potentially questionable. Finally, the above procedure are all about descriptive statistics. As such, it would not help to draw any conclusions or inferences.
References
Agency France-Presse (2002). Adolescent smoking increases the risk of breast cancer. Kaohsiung Medical University. Retrieved August 9, 2005, from http://sunny.club.kmu.edu.tw/16.doc
Associated Press (2005). Report links second-hand smoke, cancer. CTV News. Retrieved August 10, 2005, from http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1110547043886_8?s_name=&no_ads=
Chen, C. W. (April 6, 2005). Second smoke increases the risk of having breast cancer. TSSD News. Retrieved August 9, 2005, from http://www.tssdnews.com.tw/daily/2005/04/06/text/940406a3.htm
China Daily News Editorial Department (June 5, 2005). Smoking and second hand smoke tremendously increase the risk of breast cancer. China Daily News Care. Retrieved August 9, 2005, from http://www.cdncare.com.tw/20050606/med/jkbj/400000002005060517362915.htm
Chisholm, D. (July 3, 2005). Second-hand smoke linked to breast cancer. Sunday Star Times. Retrieved August 10, 2005, from http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3333321a11,00.html
Department of Health, Taipei City Government (October 9, 2002). Taipei City’s medical team provides cancer prevention and treatment. Health News. Retrieved August 9, 2005, from http://www.webhospital.org.tw/essay/essay.html?pid=3390&category=%C5%40%B2z%B7%D3%C5%40&type=
Imaginis News (October 22, 2000). Study finds no link between second-hand smoke and breast cancer deaths. Imaginis, the Breast Cancer Resource. Retrieved August 10, 2005, from http://imaginis.com/breasthealth/news/news10.22.00.asp
Johnson, K. C. (May 31, 2005). The link between passive and active smoking and breast cancer. International Journal of Cancer. Retrieved August 9, 2005, from http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-06/jws-tlb060205.php
Singh, J. (2005). Passive smokers can get breast cancer. Cool Nurse. Retrieved August 10, 2005, from http://www.coolnurse.com/breast_cancersmoke.htm
Warren, B. & Devine, C. (2002). Smoking and breast cancer risk. Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors, Cornell University. Retrieved August 10, 2005, from http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/factsheet/diet/fs46.smoking.cfm
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