Spss And Report

Course:  

This section sets out what the overall purpose of your research is.  It should state what it is that you are trying to achieve. This section should be a concise and clear statement that we would expect to be no more than a single sentence / short paragraph.

The aim of the study is to establish the sodium content in Chinese cuisine products and determine if they are in line with the FSA 2024 standards. The study will provide actual values of salt content and help in reviewing targets and informing consumer decisions.

1b) Research objectives: This section sets out clear objectives that will guide your research and set out distinct research goals that will allow you to achieve the aim stated above.

To systematically collect data on sodium levels on UK processed Chinese products.

To compare the sodium values against the UK FSA standard on salt content.

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Introduction

This section researches other scholars’ arguments, ideas and discussions regarding the topic. It would review both recent and past sources to explicitly find the above. Findings of this section would help to understand other scholars’ contributions and any existing gaps in the topic of study.

Review of Literature

He & MacGregor (2018) in a research on the relationship between high salt intake and cardiovascular diseases posit that a High level of sodium in the food is highly detrimental and takes a toll on the life of a person. They explain that high sodium in foods increases the risk of hypertension and which is dangerous especially for people with comorbidities. The above argument is further supported by Bandy et al (2021) in a research on U.K food safety and sodium levels who in a research conducted in U.K found that high sodium levels increased the risk of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, renal diseases and stroke by 55% in a sample population of 1045 on a study conducted between 2019 and 2021.

Elsewhere Rippin et al., (2019) in a research on effects of high sodium levels in energy foods in U.S by use of  urinary sodium surveys also found that the risk of hypertension and stroke was increased by 49% on a study of a sample size of 2200 drawn from various age groups. Additionally as per the writers, 76% of the sodium taken is drawn from foods taken especially the processed foods. The above therefore arouse the need to investigate sodium levels in foods if they are in line with the F.S.A 2024 standards.

Antúnez et al., (2019) in a research on the F.S.A guidelines and standards on foods’ sodium (salt) content and the anticipated impact explains various standards. Among the main findings is that there are various sub categories of targets to be met by food manufactures by 2024. For instance bacons is 1035 sodium (2.59g of salt) per 100 grams of bacon and 430mg sodium (1.08g salt) per 100 grams of sausages. Tan et al., (2019) on a research on the same, support the above findings by further giving more targets as set out by the F.S.A. the writer lists and explains the targets like meat pies with a target of 370 mg sodium (0.93 salt) per 100 gram of meat pie and standard of 320mg sodium (0.8g salt) for meat based pasties by 2024.

Menyanu, Russell & Charlton (2019) further in their discussion expound more on the above standards by discussing several such standards and their anticipated importance. Among the foods standards the writers discuss are the above and more such as pizza, soups, crisps and snacks and biscuits. Sampling the standards, the target for biscuits is 220 mg sodium (0.55g salt) and for children’s main meals is 685 mg sodium (1.71g salt) per 100 mg of their food. The writers further posit that the above targets are part of the campaign started in 2003 by the F.S.A to reduce salt intake to 6mg per day per person by 2024.

Zhang et al., (2020) in research on Chinese processed foods sodium and general safety levels, argues that Chinese processed foods are among the most popular cuisines in the U.K. additionally the writer argues that Chinese foods are four-fold saltier and higher in sodium that in the U.K. The writer argues that it explains why Chinese cuisines interest many stakeholders who seek to investigate their salt levels especially to see if they conform to the UK F.S.A 2024 standards. Tan et al., (2019) further agree with the above by discussing that Chinese foods have high salt levels with an average of 13 g per day. Additionally, he explains that Chinese products such as sauces account up to 6% of total salt levels. He et al., (2018) in their research reaffirm the above findings through research on Chinese salt and sodium levels a research conducted in 2018-2019. In the study findings, the Chinese foods had more salts than the U.K foods. Specifically, from the researcher’s’ findings on instant noodles, of 10 sampled, 4 had more salt levels as compared to 2 of the U.K noodles. Additionally, 8 out of 11 food groups in China had more salt and sodium content compared to same sampled in UK. On average the writer affirms that Chinese products mostly non-processed had 4.5 times more salt than those from U.K. The comparison was done largely on non-processed and large groups of processed foods with little focus on processed foods. As such the above findings contribute also to the choice of this paper’s topic.

1)      Who the sample will be

2)      Sampling techniques & recruitment methods

3)      What method you intend to use to carry out your research

4)      Research texts that support your work

5)      Data analysis

6)      Refer to ethical approval

The samples to be used would be Secondary data on the Chinese Cuisines to be used from Sainsbury and Tesco. It would be data on Cuisines such as Soy Sauce and Chow Mein. The data would be researched in an in-depth manner and rigorously analysed to obtain the most useful results.

Systematic sampling technique would be used in this project. According to Marvasti (2018), systematic sampling refers to a sampling technique whereby samples from a larger population are collected following a random starting point. Lanham-New et al., (2019), support the above explanation by further noting that the technique involves beginning with fixed and periodic intervals which the writer terms as sampling intervals as evidenced also by D’Orazio (2003) who explains that the sampling intervals help to improve the randomness and accuracy of the research. The technique would be purely random considering that the periodic intervals would be identified beforehand and by the fact that the starting point would be random as further asserted by (Elsayir, 2014).

The research would be done using the mixed method of surveys, experiments and secondary data analysis. The above would ensure that the correct and accurate findings are arrived at regarding the topic of study and the study objectives.

Several research texts would be thoroughly used in the study. Both primary and secondary texts would be utilized maximally in the study.  Approved and peer reviewed Sources such as journals, articles, books and even lecture notes would be used alongside the surveys and experiments to ensure a resounding success of the research.

Data would be analysed by comparison of computed mean values to the F.S.A standards. The mean values would be calculated by use of excel which would be the main tool. According to Connor et al., (2020) the excel as a tool provides a benefit of enabling organization of large volumes of data in an orderly manner. Van Spall et al., (2007) further approve of the excel tool because it enables a logical organization of data from the large spreadsheets and charts. It is the reason why Cruz‐Orive (1989) explains and recommends the use of the tool because in addition to the above, when using excel it is easier to analyse and understand data because of the visual appeal of the data presented in excel as further evidenced by (Sayed & Ibrahim, 2018).

The title, research objectives and research methodology would be submitted to the university ethical committee for approvals to be granted before the research can formally start. Thereafter There would be strict conformity to the requirement of the approvals and permissions granted for the research by the relevant authorities of this research project or research.

Antúnez, L., Giménez, A., Alcaire, F., Vidal, L., & Ares, G. (2019). Consumers’ heterogeneity towards salt reduction: Insights from a case study with white rice. Food Research International, 121, 48-56.

Bandy, L. K., Hollowell, S., Harrington, R., Scarborough, P., Jebb, S., & Rayner, M. (2021). Assessing the healthiness of UK food companies’ product portfolios using food sales and nutrient composition data. PloS one, 16(8), e0254833.

Connor, M. J., Miah, S., Jayadevan, R., Khoo, C. C., Eldred-Evans, D., Shah, T., … & Marks, L. (2020). Value of systematic sampling in an mp-MRI targeted prostate biopsy strategy. Translational Andrology and Urology, 9(3), 1501.

Cruz‐Orive, L. M. (1989). On the precision of systematic sampling: a review of Matheron’s transitive methods. Journal of Microscopy, 153(3), 315-333.

D’Orazio, M. (2003). Estimating the variance of the sample mean in two-dimensional systematic sampling. Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics, 8(3), 280-295.

Elsayir, H. A. (2014). Comparison of precision of systematic sampling with some other probability samplings. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 3(4), 111-116.

He, F. J., & MacGregor, G. A. (2018). Role of salt intake in prevention of cardiovascular disease: controversies and challenges. Nature Reviews Cardiology, 15(6), 371-377.

Lanham-New, S. A., Hill, T. R., Gallagher, A. M., & Vorster, H. H. (Eds.). (2019). Introduction to human nutrition. John Wiley & Sons.

Marvasti, A. (2018). Research methods. The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems, 1(3), 23-37.

Menyanu, E., Russell, J., & Charlton, K. (2019). Dietary sources of salt in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic literature review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(12), 2082.

Rippin, H. L., Hutchinson, J., Jewell, J., Breda, J. J., & Cade, J. E. (2019). Comparison of consumed portion sizes and on-pack serving sizes of UK energy dense foods. Appetite, 134, 193-203.

Sayed, A., & Ibrahim, A. (2018). Recent developments in systematic sampling: a review. Journal of Statistical Theory and Practice, 12(2), 290-310.

Tan, M., He, F. J., Ding, J., Li, Y., Zhang, P., & MacGregor, G. A. (2019). Salt content of sauces in the UK and China: cross-sectional surveys. BMJ open, 9(9), e025623.

Van Spall, H. G., Toren, A., Kiss, A., & Fowler, R. A. (2007). Eligibility criteria of randomized controlled trials published in high-impact general medical journals: a systematic sampling review. Jama, 297(11), 1233-1240.

Zhang, P., He, F. J., Li, Y., Li, C., Wu, J., Ma, J., … & Li, X. (2020). Reducing salt intake in China with “Action on Salt China”(ASC): protocol for campaigns and randomized controlled trials. JMIR research protocols, 9(4), e15933.