The research proposal discusses researching medical advancements for PTSD. It notes the urgency for new technologies to help diagnose and treat increasing PTSD cases in veterans. The group wants to learn what safety nets and treatments have been developed since WWI. Their primary research questions focus on needed medical advancements, how the military and VA help soldiers with PTSD, and actions taken to prevent PTSD. Their research plan involves using databases, citation tools, and Prezi for the final project.

1. Jacob Hewgley, Alex Dulong, Logan Ridings
10th Honors Literature/Composition
Lester and Hamilton
29 March, 2012
Research Design Proposal
Research Topic
Our research topic is over medical advancements and PTSD subjects. With all of the new PTSD
cases and combat situations, medical advancements are becoming urgent. Our armed forces
and Veterans Association need to put more money towards screening programs and other
medical technologies to help detect PTSD and other psychological diseases.
What We know About This Topic at This Point and Why We’re Interested
PTSD is usually diagnosed with other psychological diseases, it is very rarely diagnosed simply
as PTSD. The Armed Forces usually prescribe multiple prescription drugs to help soldiers cope
with PTSD. Medical advances in the field are becoming more urgent because war is imminent
and more soldiers are being diagnosed with PTSD and other psychological diseases than ever
before. The Iraq war is comparable to Vietnam in soldiers dying from wounds, further pressing
the urgency for medical advancements in combat to save soldiers’ lives.
What We Want to Learn
We want to know what medical advancements and new technologies have been put in place
since WWI to help soldiers cope with shell shock better known as PTSD. Through our research
project we want to find out what new technologies have been put in place to help prevent PTSD,
and what medical advancements are to come in the near future. The United States Armed
Forces have come a very long way since WWI by helping soldiers cope with shell shock, and
how to prevent it. PTSD was called Shell Shock up until vietnam, during vietnam it was renamed
PTSD. Why was the name changed from shell shock to PTSD? We hope to find all this out.
Initial Questions
1. How is PTSD formed?
2. Is there anything we can do to prevent PTSD?
3. What medical advances have been made since the first world war?
4. When was PTSD originally discovered?
5. Why was PTSD originally called “Shell Shock”?
6. Why was the named changed to PTSD?
7. What were the first treatments for PTSD?
8. What are the treatments for PTSD now?
9. What PTSD treatments have the most progression among PTSD victims?
10.What PTSD treatments have the least progression among PTSD victims?
11.Are there any new treatments for PTSD (within a year)?
12.Can a PTSD victim ever recover one hundred percent from PTSD?

2. 13.What is the lowest age someone can be diagnosed with PTSD? Oldest?
Three Primary Research Questions
1. Why are new medical advancements and technologies needed for PTSD?
2. How are the Veterans Association and the Armed Forces helping soldiers medically with
PTSD?
3. What “safety nets” and other actions have been put in place since WWI to help prevent
PTSD?
Our Research Plan
● The resources that look the most promising to our group at the moment are GALE
Opposing Viewpoints, Sirs, and our books that we read. Most of our articles have came
from these two online databases.
● We plan on using Symbaloo to keep all of our websites and articles in one place. We
have shared all of our documents with each other through gmail. We have all of our
citations together in Jacob’s EasyBib account, so we are all on the same page.
● The citation management tool we are using is EasyBib, we as a group liked EasyBib
better, and thought it was easier to work with.
● Jacob, Alex, and I are working in a group on this research project. The first challenge we
have experienced was today, when Alex was absent. Other than this minor “bump in the
road” the project has went very smooth so far. We have shared all documents through
Google Docs., EasyBib, and Symbaloo. This project is going a lot smoother than the
research project we did last semester.
Content Creation Tools
1. Prezi- Our final product will be done through prezi, we did our project last semester through
Prezi. Since, we have learned about it, I think we will do a lot better this time, because we are
more familiar with the program.
2. EasyBib- We are using EasyBib to cite all of our citations and I used it last year in Mrs.Frost
class. EasyBib is an easy tool to work with, however there is always something new to learn.
3. Symbaloo- We are using Symbaloo to keep all of our websites and anything else we use in
one place. Symbaloo is a easy tool to work with, that’s why we like it.
Final Learning Project
Our final learning project will be done through Prezi. We used Prezi last semester for our

3. research project and liked it. It was easy to work with and a very clean crisp product came out in
the end. To me it is a newer form of PowerPoint, and it is a fun way to show our information.
We will most likely use some kind of shaping sheet to help us throughout the project. This will
help us organize our topics and subtopics. It will also organize our questions.
Works Cited
(2010). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web.
"Appendix C Iraq: The Human Cost." Sweet Search. Dulcinea Media, Inc. Web. 28 Mar.
2012. <http://mit.edu/humancostiraq/mortality-study/appendix-c.html>.
Associated Press. "US Soldier Charged in Afghan Shooting Rampage." ABC News.
ABC News Network, 23 Mar. 2012. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://abcnews.go.com/
International/wireStory/us-soldier-charged-afghan-shooting-rampage-15988311>.
Bilmes, Linda. "Soldiers Trapped in Limbo." Boston Globe. 2007. A9.
Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://
ic.galegroup.com:80/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?
displayGroupName=Viewpoints&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=2&cat
Id=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010638228&userGroupName=cant48040&jsid=f84ff45
364f1f5932b18dfcda2f8396b>.
Butler, Katy. "Researching PTSD: The Biology of Fear." Psychotherapy Networker. July/
Aug. 1996: 38-45. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 29 Mar 2012.
"Controversy Iraq: The Human Cost." Controversy: The Human Cost of the War in
Iraq. Dulcinea Media, Inc. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://web.mit.edu/humancostiraq/
controversy.html>.
Fishkoff, Sue. "When the Nightmares Never Stop." Jerusalem Post (International)
(Jerusalem, Israel). 01 May 1992: Mag. Sec. 12+. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 29
Mar 2012.
"Introduction to Mental Illness: Opposing Viewpoints." Mental Illness.
Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2012. Gale Opposing
Viewpoints In Context. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://ic.galegroup.com:80/
ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?
displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=2&cat
Id=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010154154&userGroupName=cant48040&jsid=d50c1c
16e4dc99e06bc3c11312cd1298>.
Javidi, H. "Javidi." Www.theijoem.com. The International Journal of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine, Jan. 2012. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://www.theijoem.com/
ijoem/index.php/ijoem/article/view/127>.
Johnson, ScottDehghanpisheh, Babakjohnbarry. "It's Worse Than You Think."
Newsweek 144.12 (2004): 30. Student Research Center. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http:/
/proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=mih&AN=14392962&site=src-live>. Considers the price paid by the
United States for the Iraq War. Reference to the U.S. death toll, which has topped
1,000; Strengthening of the insurgency in Iraq; Efforts to train Iraqis to maintain public
order; Plans for the Iraqis to hold elections before the end of January; Avoidance of a
growing number of towns by United States troops. INSET: The Price We Have Paid.
Morley, Jefferson. "Is Iraq's Civilian Death Toll 'Horrible' -- Or Worse? - World
Opinion Roundup." 301 Moved Permanently. Dulcinea Media, Inc., 19 Oct. 2006.
Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldopinionroundup/2006/10/

4. is_iraqs_civilian_death_toll_h.html>.
Pivac, Nela, Dragica Kozarić-Kovačić, and Dorotea Mück-Šeler. "Biological Markers
in Croatian War Veterans with Combat Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder." Novel
Approaches to the Diagnosis & Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder 6.1 (2006):
3-12. A9h. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http:/
/search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=31841183&site=ehost-
live>.
Pols, Hans, and Stephanie Oak. "War & Military Mental Health: The US Psychiatric
Response in The..." American Journal of Public Health Vol. 97, No. 12. Dec. 2007:
2132-2142. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 30 Mar 2012.
"Post-traumatic Stress Disorder." 03. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://www.school.eb.com/
eb/article-9399280>.
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)." Opposing Viewpoints
Online Collection. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2010. Gale Opposing
Viewpoints In Context. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://ic.galegroup.com:80/
ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?
displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=2&catI
d=&documentId=GALE%7CPC3010999027&userGroupName=cant48040&jsid=5b52c1
7305ccde4be36175b9da25e81d>.
"Safer Than 'Nam." Wilson Quarterly 32.1 (2008): 72-73. Student Research
Center. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=wdh&AN=28338671&site=src-live>.
The article presents statistics concerning the soldier mortality rates of the Iraq War.
Details are given comparing the mortality rates between the Vietnam and Iraq Wars,
pointing out that the Iraq War has a lower casualty rate. Mortality risk among various
branches of the armed forces is outlined, describing less risk for women and greater risk
for Marines.
Saperstein, Robert, and Dana Saperstein. "The Emotional Wounds of War." Military
Review. Jan. 1992: 54-61. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 29 Mar 2012.
"Who Are the Dead?" National Journal 36.22 (2004): 1694. Student Research
Center. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=13522170&site=src-live>.
Presents a demographic profile of the U.S. troops causalities in the war in Iraq and
Afghanistan as compared to that in the Vietnam war. Percentage of war dead by rank
and by pay grade; Average age of war dead; Ethnicity and gender distribution of the
casualties; Distribution of the deaths by family status, service branch and cause of
death.