Li Et Al 2013

Question 1

Aims

Answer 1

Study low quality and high quality care in infant toddlers (up to 25 months) and pre school children (up to 54 months)

Question 2

Procedure

Answer 2

1364 families w new burns (North American)
Care quality assessed at 6,15, 24, 26 and 54 months using ORCE (Observational record of Caregiving Environment) each assesment 4 x 44 minute observations
Info from parents w observations, questionnaires, interviews
Score 3.0 using OCRE was cut off point between low & high quality day care
Bayley mental development index scores measured outcomes at 24 months
Woodcock Johnson memory for sentences measure STM in 54 mo children

Question 3

Results

Answer 3

Significant positive relationships between HQ day care during infancy and preschool ages and cognitive development
High quality pre school care was more important than in infancy but overall best to have both good

Question 4

Conclusions

Answer 4

High quality day care in infancy is important for memory development but HQ day care in pre school is more important for academic development

Question 5

Generalisability - strength

Answer 5

Used a large set of data
Used secondary data from NICHD study - over 1000 families
Makes it v good generalisable
Also evens out anomalies

Question 6

Generalisability- weakness

Answer 6

sample used from NICHD was mostly economically advantages White families
And the study is American
Cultural differences
Makes it less generalisable

Question 7

Weakness - narrow

Answer 7

It only accounted for one type of child care and only examined the quality of care on emotional support offered to children
Other variables may effect e.g. how many hours and how many days a week at nursery
Factors may have acted as confounding validity - lowering internal validity of the study

Question 8

Reliability - weakness

Answer 8

Measurement was only short term (54 months)
It might be more revealing to look at how sample did in school years for cognitive and social development - might find early differences disappeared later or early HQ care had lasting effect
Conclusions drawn are limited as they focus on short term consequences

Question 9

Reliability - weakness

Answer 9

Response rate at six month interview was 50% and was bias to economically advanced white females ( not general US population) - sample attrition

Question 10

Validity

Answer 10

Detailed measures and assessments provide rich information

Question 11

Application

Answer 11

Best way to invest in day care
Findings suggest both is important but later on day care is most important.
Provides empirically based advice for govt initiatives - where money is best spent

Question 12

Findings

Answer 12

Finding one
• They found that higher quality infant-toddler
care was associated with a higher quality
cognitive score at 24 months old (1).
Finding two
• The quality of infant toddler care had no
significant effect on memory or language at 54
months old (1)

Question 13

Reliability

Answer 13

They controlled the type of children used so that
development at birth did not affect the results
and become a confounding variable (1), because
they used families who had full term healthy
new-born children as their participants (1