Module 1: Research Methods Flashcards
Empiricism
Belief that in order to be deemed true and reliable, knowledge must come from systematic observations that are documented or recorded as data
The Scientific Method
Empirical approach to testing beliefs that involves choosing a question, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and drawing a conclusion
Theory
overarching system of interrelated ideas used to explain and unify a wide set of observations, and to guide future research
Research Question
Question you are trying to address in your study
Can be more conceptual, doesn’t need to mention specific measures
More specific than theory, emerges from a theory
Hypothesis
Statement specifying a relationship between two or more measurable variables that can be proved or disproved within the bounds of your study
Finding either supports or fails to support hypothesis
Fails to support: might create new theory or update theory
Some studies pit two theories against each other (so findings either support one or the other theory)
Operational Definition
Exactly what is meant by each variable in the context of a study
How you turn abstract ideas or concepts into something concrete and measurable
E.g. shyness = score on shyness questionnaire
Experiment
situation in which the investigator holds all things constant except for one aspect which strategically varies across conditions
Independent Variable
thing you change/manipulate across conditions
Dependent Variable
thing you measure as your outcome
Random Assignment
Participants are randomly placed into conditions
All traits should be distributed equally across conditions
Correlational Studies
Examine how variables are related to or associated with one another
Useful with variables that cannot be manipulated (age, gender, personality traits, socioeconomic status)
Can’t infer causation
Direction of causation problem
Third variable problem
Direction of Causation Problem
correlation does not indicate which variable is the cause and which is the effect
Third Variable Problem
correlation between two variables may be result of some third variable
Experimental Studies
Can infer causation
Everything is kept constant except for the variable(s) of interest
Independent variable(s) are manipulated
Impact on dependent variable(s) is measured
Participants randomly assigned into conditions
Experimental control
Experimental group & control group
Experimental Control
Ability of the researcher to determine the specific experiences that children in each group encounter
Experimental Group
Presented the experience of interest
Control Group
Treated identically as experimental group but not presented experience of interest
Reliability
The consistency of a measure
Does our measure produce similar results when we expect it should
Test-Retest Reliability
Completing a measure multiple times to ensure consistent results
If a trait being measured is supposed to be relatively stable across time, our measurements of that trait should be relatively stable across time too
Interrater Reliability
If two different experimenters score a measure, do they get the same results
Validity
The accuracy of a measure
Are we actually measuring what we meant to measure
Internal Validity
Are we sure the effects in our study are caused by the manipulations we made, or could other factors be influencing the outcome
External Validity
Are we sure the findings from our study will generalize to other groups or to real world situations outside the lab
Structured Interview
Asking participants series of predetermined questions and recording responses
Responses recorded then analyzed and coded
Answers interpreted and categorized by a trained coder
Converted to a scale using predetermined coding criteria
Questionnaires
If participants can read
Fast and efficient alternative
E.g. administering measure to a whole school
Clinical Interview
Questions can branch off from the preplanned questions to follow up on the answers the interview provides
Helpful for clinicians obtaining in-depth info about a particular child
E.g. diagnosing disorder or learning disability
Less common in large scale psychological studies
All participants need to be presented with the same questions/prompts to ensure high internal validity
Naturalistic Observations
Examining children in their usual environments (e.g. home, school, playground)
Researcher is not in control of what the child does, coding naturally elicited behaviours
E.g. time spent with certain activities, how often they engage with peers, smiles/laughs, etc.
Structured Observation
Each child placed in the exact same controlled situation while their behaviour is recorded
Same environment, instructions, interactions
By tightly controlling environmental factors, researchers can identify what specific factors are influencing children’s behaviour
Task characteristics (different roles in a game)
Environmental factors (number of children in room)
Individual differences (child’s/peer’s shyness)
Cross Sectional Designs
Different children of different ages and compare performance
Each participant usually only tested once
Highlight developmental trends
Maps out changes across broad developmental time
Drawback: no insight into stability or patterns of change within individual children
Longitudinal Designs
Looks at changes within the same children over significant periods of development (months/years/decades)
What individual factors impact the results for each participant
Rare type of study
Drawbacks: costs a lot of time and money, many participants drop out
Microgenetic Designs
Track small-scale developments in children’s cognitive/behavioural processes
Several observations of the same child over a short period of time (hours, days, few weeks)
How cognition or behaviour is changing with prolonged experience in a certain context
Offers more detailed look at how specific processes develop than other designs
Niche, not common
Plato
Self control and discipline as most important in education
Children have innate knowledge (e.g. know what an animal is from birth)
Careful upbringing important otherwise basic nature would lead to children becoming unruly (particularly boys)
Aristotle
Discipline and fitting child rearing to needs of the child
All knowledge comes from experience
Mind of infant is like blackboard with nothing written on it
John Locke
Children as blank slate, written on by nurturing of caregivers/society
Most important goal of child rearing is growth of character
Parents must set good examples and avoid indulging children
Authority can be relaxed as children age (good behaviour)
Jean-Jaques Rousseau
Parents and society should give children maximum freedom from the beginning
Children learn from spontaneous interactions (not through instruction)
No formal education until the age of reason (12)
Themes of Development
Nature & Nurture
The active child
Continuity/discontinuity
Mechanisms of change
Sociocultural context
Individual differences
Research & children’s welfare
Nature
Biological endowment, the genes we receive from parents
Genetic inheritance influences our makeup
Nurture
Wide range of environments, both physical and social, that influence our development
Genome
Each person’s complete set of hereditary information
Genome influences behaviours and experiences, and is also influenced by behaviours and experiences
Some proteins regulate gene expression and can turn gene activity on or off
Epigenetics
study of stable changes in gene expression mediated by the environment
Methylation
Biochemical process that reduces expression of a variety of genes, involved in regulating reactions to stress
Stress of mothers during child’s infancy related to amount of methylation in children’s genomes years later
The Active Child
Infants shape their development through selective attention
E.g. pay more attention to things that move or make noise
Preference helps them learn about important aspects of the world (e.g. faces, moving objects)
Crib-speech when children are alone and learning to talk helps them practice language
Children learn through play with others and alone
Continuity/Discontinuity
Continuity:
Development as continuous process of small changes (like a tree growing)
Children behave in accord with one stage on one task but with a different stage on other tasks
Discontinuity:
Development as series of occasional, sudden, discontinuous changes (caterpillar to butterfly)
Children of different ages qualitatively different
Stage theories: development occurs in progression of distinct age related stages
Cognitive development: development of thinking and reasoning (Jean Piaget)
Mechanisms of Change
Developmental mechanisms can be behavioural, neural, or genetic
Effortful attention is mechanism of developmental change and involves role of brain activity, genes, and learning experiences
E.g. sleep mechanism for improving memory in young children/infants
Sociocultural Context
Physical, social, cultural, economic, and historical circumstances a child grows up in
Cross cultural comparisons reveal practices that are rare/nonexistant in one culture are common in others
E.g. in North America children move into another room to sleep in crib alone by 6m
In Italy, Japan, South Korea, etc young children sleep in same bed as mother for first few years, often remain in same room later
Individual Differences
Four factors lead children to turn out different from others in family
-Genetic differences
-Differences in treatment by parents and others (E.g. give more sensitive care to easygoing children)
-Differences in reactions to similar experiences (E.g. siblings react differently to family events)
-Different choices of environments
Research & Children’s Welfare
Research benefits children of the future
Research spurs educational innovations
