research in child and adolescent development
TRANSCRIPT
Research in Child and Adolescent Development
Edgar P. MalanoProf. Ed.
Mabini CollegesDaet, Camarines Norte - Philippines
ActivityRead each statement below. Do you agree/disagree with each statement? Put a check mark ( ) to indicate your answer.✔
STATEMENT YES NO
1. Research is only for those who plan to take master’s degree or doctorate degrees.2. Research is easy to do.
3. Research is all about giving questionnaires and tallying the responses.
4. Research with one or two respondents is not a valid research.
5. Teacher, because they are busy in their classrooms, are expected to use existing research rather the conduct their own research in the classroom.6. There is no need to go into research because a lot of researches have already been conducted.7. Students are mere users of knowledge arrived at by research. It is not their task to conduct research.8. Students do not possess the qualifications to conduct research.
9. It is not worth conducting research considering the time and money it requires.
Teachers as Consumers/End Users of Research
Research enables teachers to come up with informed decision on what to teach and how to teach. This involves decisions related to educational policies, curriculum, effective teaching-learning process, and even those involving research, too.
Teachers as Researchers
The conduct of research does not only belong to thesis and dissertation writers. It is for students and teachers, too.
The Scientific MethodOne important principle of research is adherence to the scientific method, since research is a systematic and logical process.
5 steps of the Scientific Method. (John Dewey)1. Identify and define the problem
2. Determine the hypothesis
3. Collect and analyze data
4. Formulate conclusions
5. Apply conclusions to the original hypothesis
Research Design:
1. Case StudyDescription: An in-depth look at an individualStrengths: It provides information about an individual’s
fears, hopes, fantasies, traumatic experiences, upbringing, family relationship, health, and anything that helps a psychologist understand that person’s development.
Weaknesses: Need to exercise caution when generalizing from the information; the subject of a case study is unique, with a genetic make-up and experiences no one else shares; involves judgments of unknown reliability, in that usually no check is made to see if other psychologists agree with other observations.
2. Correlational Study
Description: A research design that determines association.
Strengths: Useful because the more strongly two events are correlated, the more we can predict one from the other.
Weaknesses: Because correlational research does not involve the manipulation of factors, it is not a dependable way to isolate cause.
3. Experimental
Description: A research design that determines cause-and-effect relationships.
Strengths: The only true reliable method of establishing cause and effect.
Weaknesses: Experimental research is limited to what is observable, testable, and manipulable.
4. Naturalistic Observation
Description: A research design that focuses on children’s experiences in natural settings.
Strengths: One of the advantages of this type of research is that it allows the researcher to directly observe the subject in a natural setting.
Weaknesses: The disadvantages of naturalistic observation include the fact that it can be difficult to determine the exact cause of behavior and the experimenter cannot control outside variables.
5. Longitudinal
Description: This research design studies and follows through a single group over a period of time.
Strengths: Allows them to record and monitor development trends.
Weaknesses: they are expensive and time-consuming.
6. Cross-sectional
Description: A research strategy in which individuals of different ages are compare at one time.
Strengths: Allows them to record and monitor developmental trends.
Weaknesses: It gives no information about how individuals change or about the stability of their characteristics.
7. Sequential
Description: This is the combined cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches to learn about lifespan development.
Strengths: It provides information to obtain from cross-sectional or longitudinal approaches.
Weaknesses: it is complex, expensive, and time consuming.
8. Action Research
Description: Action research is a reflective process of progressive problem-solving led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a “ community of practice” to improve the way they address issues and solve problems.
Strengths: Appropriate in a particular setting when the purpose of study is to “to create changes and gain information on processes and outcome of the strategies used”.
Weaknesses: typically take place in one organisation only at a particular time and could not be interpreted within different organisations in the same way. Therefore, research findings are hard to generalize.
Data-Gathering Techniques
1. ObservationObservations can be made in either laboratory or materialistic settings. In naturalistic observation, behavior is observed in the real world like classroom, home in neighborhood.
2. Psychological MeasuresCertain indicators of children’s development such as, among others, heart rate, hormonal levels, bone growth, body weight, and brain activity are measured.
3. Standardized TestsThese are prepared tests that assess individuals’ performance in different domains. These tests are administered in a consistent manner.
4. Interviews and QuestionnairesInvolves asking the participants to provide information about themselves based on the interview or questionnaire given by the researchers.
Gathering of data may be conducted through a printed questionnaire, over the telephone, by mail, in person, or on-line.
Information is obtained by utilizing standardized procedures so that every participant is asked the same questions in the same manner. It entails asking participants for information in some structured format.
5. Life-History RecordsThese are records of information about a lifetime chronology of events and activities. They often involve a combination of data records on education, work, family, and residence. These include public records or historical documents or interviews with respondent.
Ethical PrinciplesEthical principles provide a generalized framework within which particular ethical dilemmas may be analyzed.
Details of these ethical principles are found in documents:1. Ethical standards of the American Educational
Research Association2. Ethical Standards for Research with Children – Society
for Research in Child Development3. Standards of the American Psychological Association
Concerning Research
The following consideration for researches conducted with young children and other vulnerable population - National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Some key points are:1. Research procedures must never harm children,
physically or psychologically.
2. Children and their families have the right to full information about the research in which they may participate, including possible risks and benefits. Their decision to participate must be based on what is called “informed consent”.
3. Children’s questions about the research should be answered in a truthful manner and in ways that children can understand.
4. There should be respect for privacy. Information obtained through research with children should remain confidential.
Impact of Teachers’ Research Involvement on Teachers1. Teachers who have been involved in research may
become more reflective, more critical and analytical in their teaching, and more open and committed to professional development (Oja & Pine 1989; Herson 1996; Keyes 2000; Rust 2007).
2. Participating in teacher research also helps teachers become more deliberate in their decision-making and actions in the classroom.
3. Teacher research develops the professional dispositions of lifelong learning, reflective and mindful teaching, and self-transformation (Mills 2000; Stringer 2007).
4. Engaging in teaching research at any level may lead to rethinking and reconstructing what it means to be a teacher or teacher educator and, consequently, the way teachers relate to children and students.
5. Teacher research has the potential to demonstrate to teachers and prospective teachers that learning to teach is inherently connected to learning to inquire (Borko et al. 2007)
End