Chapter 2: Research in Child Development

1. Chapter 2: Research in Child Development • 2.1 Doing Child-Development Research • 2.2 Child-Development Research and Family Policy

2. 2.1 Doing Child Development Research • Measurement in Child-Development Research • General Designs for Research • Designs for Studying Development

3. Measurement in Child-Development Research • Systematic Observation: naturalistic observation and structured observation • Sampling behavior with tasks • Self reports include questionnaires and interviews 2.1 Doing Child-Development Research

4. Measurement in Child-Development Research • Measures should be both valid and reliable • Samples of children who participate in research should be representative of the population of interest 2.1 Doing Child-Development Research

5. General Designs for Research • Correlational studies look at relations as they exist in the real world • These real-world relations are expressed as a correlation coefficient, r, that ranges from -1 to 1 2.1 Doing Developmental Research

6. Three Interpretations of a Correlation Coefficient

7. General Designs for Research • Experiments involve manipulating key factors that an investigator thinks are important • The manipulated factor is the independent variable; the behavior measured is the dependent variable • In field experiments, the researcher manipulates independent variables in a natural setting 2.1 Doing Developmental Research

8. Example of an Experiment

9. Designs for Studying Development • Longitudinal study: the same individuals are tested repeatedly • Microgenetic study: children are tested repeatedly over a span of days or weeks • Cross-sectional study: children of different ages are tested 2.1 Doing Developmental Research

10. Comparison of Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Studies Longitudinal Design Cross-Sectional Design

11. Ethical Responsibilities • Minimize risks to research participants • Describe the research to potential participants • Avoid deceiving the participants • Keep results anonymous or confidential 2.1 Doing Child-Development Research

12. Communicating Research Results • Research results are reported in scientific journals • Results of individual studies will be reported in the Focus on Research features • Converging evidence from many studies is necessary 2.1 Doing Child-Development Research

13. 2.2 Child Development Research and Family Policy • Background • Ways to Influence Social Policy • An Emphasis on Policy Implications Improves Research

14. Background • Results of child-development research can improve children’s lives • Research can help changing families decide what is best for their children • Research can help children who face hurdles to healthy development 2.2 Child-Development Research and Family Policy

15. Ways to Influence Social Policy • Build understanding of children’s development • Be advocates for children • Evaluate policies and programs • Develop a model program 2.2 Child-Development Research and Family Policy

16. An Emphasis on Policy Implications Improves Research • Focusing on policy implications leads to improved theory and research • Concern with family policy has improved research methods 2.2 Child-Development Research and Family Policy