Research in Child Development Dr. Amanda Hilsmier

What is research? How do you define research in education and/or child development? Is it important? Why/Why not?

Research in Child Development Involves the scientific process Useful for developing empirically-validated methods detailing the growth and development of children, as well as, the best practices in education for children at differing levels What does empirically-validated methods mean?

What Is the Scientific Method? Step 1: Forming a Research Question Step 2: Developing a Hypothesis Step 3: Testing the Hypothesis Step 4: Drawing Conclusions Step 5: Publishing Findings

Data SourceStrengthsLimitations SurveysQuick and easy to develop and score Categories might not be “exact” or may have different meanings for students. Interviews Can read body language and signs of confusion, can revise questions Children may be concerned with how peers perceive them if interviewed in groups. Report card, attendance, other data Easy to collect There are many reasons why attendance is good or poor.

Systematic Observation (Berk, 2012) Naturalistic Observation – In the “field” or natural environment where behavior happens Structured Observations – Laboratory situation set up to evoke behavior of interest – All participants have equal chance to display behavior

Interviews (Berk, 2012) Clinical Interview – Flexible, conversational style – Probes for participant’s point of view Structured Interview – Each participant is asked the same questions in the same way – May use questionnaires, get answers from groups

Psychophysiological Methods (Berk, 2012) Measures of autonomic nervous system activity – Heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, pupils, stress hormones Measures of brain function – EEG – Functional brain imaging (MRI)

Correlation Coefficients (Berk, 2012) Magnitude – Size of the number between 0 and 1. – Closer to one (positive or negative) is a stronger relationship Direction – Indicated by a + or – sign. – Positive (+) means, as one variable increases, so does the other – Negative (-) means, as one variable increases, the other decreases

Independent and Dependent Variables (Berk, 2012) Independent – Experimenter changes or manipulates – Expected to cause changes in another variable Dependent – Experimenter measures, but does not manipulate – Expected to be influenced by the independent variable

Quantitative Research vs. Qualitative Research What is quantitative research? What is qualitative research?

Quantitative Research As defined by Gall, Gall, & Borg (2005): “Inquiry that is grounded in the assumption that features of the social environment constitute an objective reality that is relatively constant across time and settings. The dominant methodology is to describe and explain features of this reality by collecting numerical data on observable behaviors of samples and by subjecting these data to statistical analysis.”

Types of Quantitative Research Gall, Gall, & Borg (2005) Identifies causal relationships – Experimental: involves treatment group and a control group; random assignment; examines group differences – Quasi-experimental: same as above without random assighment Identifies associations – Correlational: look for natural occurring associations among existing characteristics, behaviors, or other variables – Causal-comparative: examines how 2 or more groups who are already different differ on other characteristics or behaviors Show developmental stability and change – Cross-sectional: examines individuals at 2 or more age levels at same point in time and assesses the same characteristic or behavior for each age group – Longitudinal study: examines one group of children as they grow and develop over a lengthy period of time-used to predict if factors in early life affects later performance

Qualitative Research As defined by Gall, Gall, & Borg (2005): “Inquiry that is grounded in the assumption that individuals construct social reality in the form of meanings and interpretations, and that these constructions tend to be transitory and situational. The dominant methodology is to discover these meanings and interpretations by studying cases intensively in natural settings and by subjecting the resulting data to analytic induction.”

Types of Qualitative Research Naturalistic Observation: describes children’s experiences in natural contexts Primarily uses case study research to discuss and analyze individuals and their environments Case study research- investigates certain occurrences of phenomenon in the natural setting and uses the perspective of the participants involved (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2005)

Beliefs Challenged by Research (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2012) Wounds of childhood scar people for life. The best way to help children is to mimic their home environment. If mismatched, the children will suffer. The best environment for young children is an academically rigorous one. Children & adolescents who fail to make eye contact with adults are devious & disrespectful.

Beliefs Challenged by Research (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2012) Adolescence is a time of storm & stress that must be endured by adults. Schools teach to the left brain too much. Therefore, they’re asking students to use only half their brain power. Adults are smarter than adolescents, adolescents are smarter than elementary school children, and elementary school children are smarter than preschoolers.

Children’s Research Rights** (Berk, 2012) Protection from harm Informed consent Privacy Knowledge of results Beneficial treatments **ALL OF THIS IS ENSURED THROUGH THE INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD