Child Practical Flashcards
Aim
To examine the positive experiences of using day care for parents with children of nursery age (3 years old) and pre-school (5 years old) using structured interviews
Sample and sampling method
An opportunistic sampling method was used – parents were asked about the positive experiences of their child in nursery/day-care, who happened to be available at the time of the study. The sample consisted of 20 parents (5 sets of parents of 5 children in a nursery school and 5 sets of parents 5 children in a pre-school). The sample was equally split male = 10, female = 10, all Caucasian. All the parent’s children attended the same independent school in Bristol and were privately educated.
What was your hypothesis?
A two-tailed (non-directional) null hypothesis which stated: There will NOT be a significant difference between the degree to which parents self-report positive experiences for their children in nursery (0-3 years) compared to parents with children in pre-school (5-6 years). Any difference will be due to chance.
Identify the statistical test used in your study and justify why it is an appropriate test
A Mann-Whitney U-test was used as:
(i)we were testing for a difference in the degree of positive experiences reported by parents of children in nursery (0-3 years) as compared to that reported by parents of children in pre-school, (5-6 years) therefore
(ii) based on an independent groups design.
(i)Finally, the data was of ordinal level, as it was based on ranked scores BASED ON NUMBER OF positive experiences reported by parents of children in nursery as compared to that reported by parents of children in pre-school
As part of the course, you conducted an interview/questionnaire by which you gathered qualitative data.
Describes the steps you took in order to gather and analyse the data
An opportunistic sampling method was used – parents were asked about the positive experiences of their child in nursery (0-3 years) or day-care (5-6 years) , who happened to be available at the time of the study.
A structured interview was given to parents who were asked about the positive experiences of their child in nursery/day-care: these were closed questions to collect quantitative data. For example 1 = very negative experience 10 = very positive experience.
A Mann-Whitney U-test was used as:
(i)we were testing for a difference in the degree of positive experiences reported by parents of children in nursery (0-3 years) as compared to that reported by parents of children in pre-school, (5-6 years) therefore
(ii) based on an independent groups design.
(i)Finally, the data was of ordinal level, as it was based on ranked scores BASED ON NUMBER OF positive experiences reported by parents of children in nursery as compared to that reported by parents of children in pre-school
Strengths of your practical
A Strength is the reliability and replicability the structured interview as it used standardised scales of measurement to collect quantitative data about degree of positive experiences reported by parents of children in nursery (0-3 years) as compared to that reported by parents of children in pre-school, (5-6 years) . For example 1 = very negative experience 10 = very positive experience, therefore it is replicable.
The interview was read by a disinterested colleague to parents, in a monotone. Therefore this meant that they were not asked in a leading manner, which may have affected the parents’ natural response, which may have affected the validity of the answer.
The researcher left the room whilst the participant answered the questions, which were read in a monotone by a disinterested party. Therefore demand characteristics, whereby the parent may have answered the questions in a manner that did not reflect their true beliefs in order to present themselves in a socially desirable manner, or in the way they may have felt the researcher wished them to, was avoided, to maintain validity.
Ethics
The parents were informed of the true aim of the study (To examine the positive experiences of using day care for parents with children of nursery age (3 year olds) and pre-school (5 year olds) using structured interviews).
Parents were given the right to withdraw at any time, to maintain adherence to the appropriate ethical guidelines and avoid deception. The questionnaires remained anonymous as no names were recorded and a numerical label was used eg: participant 1
Ethical as precipitants were debriefed, told that NO significant difference between the degree to which parents self-report positive experiences for their children in nursery compared to parents with children in pre-school had been found and reminded of their right to withdraw.
Weakness of your practical
A Weakness was the Generalisability.
The sample was small – only 20 parents (5 sets of parents of 5 children in a nursery school and 5 sets of parents 5 children in a pre-school). The sample was equally split male = 10, female = 10, all Caucasian. Therefore, this cannot be generalised to non-Caucasian parents with children in non-private state schools.
Improvement of your practical
A way to improve the Generalisability to non-private education and other ethnicities would be to increase the sample size (eg: 99 parents). Also to ensure they have children from a range of state and private education. Also, to use a range of parents of different ethnicities (eg 33 Caucasian, 33 Black, 33 Asian)
