CURRENT SMOKERS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL INQUIRT

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议调查的目的是获得内部人士对当前吸烟者的了解。重点将是吸烟对吸烟者的意义，吸烟发生的背景，导致吸烟和吸烟升级的途径，以及社会规范和价值观的变化如何影响吸烟者的社会角色。具体目标是：（1）研究吸烟者对吸烟的主位意义，以及这种意义在社会环境中的变化程度;（2）研究社会对吸烟的看法的变化对吸烟者的影响，包括他们对吸烟的意义和他们作为吸烟者的社会角色;（3）研究目前吸烟者的吸烟生涯，包括开始吸烟、继续吸烟和戒烟的途径。这种定性研究的指导理论视角是现象学和符号互动。将对300名目前吸烟者进行开放式、深入的生活史访谈，所有这些人都将是 18岁或以上，符合当前吸烟的标准（曾经吸过至少100支香烟，目前每天或几天吸烟）。将采用被动和主动招募以及有针对性的和理论上的抽样。这项拟议研究的意义部分在于它的定性性质，因为我们对吸烟的认识大部分来自定量研究。除了调查吸烟对吸烟者的意义外，我们还将重点关注社会规范和价值观对吸烟者的影响程度，包括他们的社会角色，以及吸烟的意义与使用职业之间的关系。此外，该研究将提供对吸烟者定义依赖性，耐受性和复发的方式的理解。定性调查还将提供对吸烟者在考虑戒烟时所采用的认知过程的理解。还将从吸烟者本身的角度对吸烟者进行分类。最后，研究结果将为未来的预防和干预工作提供形成性和解释性数据，并为决策者提供基线信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of the proposed investigation is to gain an insider's understanding of current cigarette smokers. The focus will be on the meaning of smoking to those who smoke, the context in which smoking occurs, the pathways that lead to smoking and smoking escalation, and the ways in which changes in societal norms and values impact the social role of being a smoker. The specific aims are: (1) to examine the emic meaning of cigarette smoking among current smokers and the extent to which this meaning varies by social context; (2) to investigate the impact of changing societal views on cigarette smoking on current smokers, including the meaning they attach to their smoking and their social role as smoker; (3) to study cigarette use careers among current smokers, including pathways into initiation, continued use, and cessation efforts. The guiding theoretical perspectives for this qualitative inquiry are phenomenology and symbolic interaction. Open-ended, in-depth life history interviews will be conducted with 300 current smokers, all of whom will be 18 years or older and fit the criteria for current smoking (having smoked at least 100 cigarettes ever and currently smoking every day or some days). Passive and active recruitment will be employed as well as targeted and theoretical sampling. The significance of the proposed study partly lies in its qualitative nature as much of our knowledge on smoking is derived from quantitative studies. In addition to investigating the meaning of smoking to smokers, we will focus on issues such as the extent to which societal norms and values impact smokers, including their social role, and the relationship between the meaning of smoking and use careers. In addition, the study will provide an understanding of ways in which cigarette smokers define dependence, tolerance, and relapse. The qualitative inquiry also will provide an understanding of the cognitive processes that smokers employ when contemplating quitting. A typology of smokers derived from the perspective of smokers themselves will also be developed. Finally, the findings will provide formative and interpretive data for future prevention and intervention efforts and baseline information for policy makers.