Module 4

RESEARCH IN CHILD AND

ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
Reporters:

Michelle Joy M. Vicente

Efren O. Demoral
Learning Outcomes:
 Able to learn the basic principles of research.

 Secure knowledge about ethical standards in conducting research.

 Familiarize different research designs and data-gathering techniques.

 To become more reflective in teaching profession.

Teachers as Consumers/End Users of Research
 Research gives teachers important knowledge to use in decision making
for the benefit of learners and their families.

 Research enables teachers to produce informed decisions of what to

teach and how to teach.

 Research help us, teachers to be more knowledgeable about how to fit or

teaching with the developmental levels of our learners.
 The Scientific Method

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

Types of Research Design
1. Case Study – a detailed study of a specific subject, such as
person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon.
2. Correlational Study – investigates relationships between two variables
or more without the researcher controlling or manipulating any of them.

3. Experimental – determines cause-and-effect relationships. It

involves manipulation of variables.

4. Naturalistic Observation – focuses on children experiences in natural settings,

and it does not involve any intervention or manipulation on the part of the
researcher.
Types of Research Design
5. Longitudinal – subjects are followed over time with continuous
monitoring of risk factors or health outcomes, or both.
6. Cross-sectional – a type of research design in which you collect data
from many different individuals at a single point of time.

7. Sequential – it’s a combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal

approaches to learn about life-span development.

8. Action Research – it’s a reflective process of progressive

problem solving.
 Data-Gathering Techniques

Observation – can be made in either laboratories or materialistic settings.

Physiological – certain indicators of children’s development such as, among others, heart rate,
hormonal levels, bone growth, body weight, and brain activity are measured.

Standardized Tests – prepared test that assess individuals’ performance

inn different domains. This tests are administered in a consistent manner.

Interviews and Questionnaires – tests involve asking the participants to

provide information based on the questionnaire given by the researcher.
Life-History Records – records of information about a lifetime
chronology of events and activities.
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Ethical Principles
– are part of a normative theory that justifies or defends
moral rules and/or moral judgments.

Code of Ethics – governs the behavior of a teacher

Ethical Standards – serves as a guide in conducting a research.

Ethical Principles are found in the following documents:

1. Ethical Standards of the American Educational Research Association

2. Ethical Standards for Research with Children- Society for Research in Child Development

3. Standards of the American Psychological Association Concerning Research

Some key points in conducting a research enumerated by the
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC);

Research procedure must

never harm children,
physically or
psychologically
Children and families has the
right to full information about Children’s questions about the
the research in which they research should be answered
may participate including in a truthful manner
possible risk and benefits.

There should be respect for

privacy
Impact of Teachers’ Research
Involvement on Teachers
 teachers may become more reflective, more critical and analytical
in their teaching
 teachers may become more deliberate in their decision-making
and actions in the classroom
 develops the professional dispositions of lifelong learning,
reflective and mindful teaching, and self transformation
 engaging in teacher research may lead to rethinking and
reconstructing what it means to be a teacher

 teachers research has the potential to demonstrate to teachers and

prospective teachers.
“Teacher involvement in the conduct of teacher
research shows a shift from thinking about
teacher research as something done to teachers to
something done by teachers.”

-Zeichner and Lampert

Example of Research
Abstract:

Title: Child and Adolescent Development

Researchers: Rosalyn H. Shute, John D. Hogan

Date of Research: January 2017

Introduction:
Children and adolescents are not short adults - they are qualitatively different. They have physical, psychological and
social needs that must be met to enable healthy growth and development. The extent to which parents, the family, the
community and the society are able to meet these developmental needs (or not) has long-term consequences for the kinds
of adults they will become. Armed conflict, displacement, disruption of normal life, and separation from family and/or
community can have powerful, long-lasting effects that need to be compensated for in protection and assistance
interventions. The fact that almost half of the people of concern to UNHCR are children and adolescents, gives
quantitative significance to these operational issues.
Children and adolescents are not a homogenous group. While they share basic universal needs, the expression of
those needs depends on a wide range of personal, social and cultural factors. The protection and assistance interventions
of UNHCR and its partners are less likely to achieve their intended impact if a population of concern is treated as an
undifferentiated group. To be effective, an understand is necessary, in a given situation, of what differences among gender,
age, maturity, social class or caste, cultural or religious background have operational implications. Taking these factors
into account is basic to good programming.
Children need the care, protection and guidance which is normally provided by parents or other care-givers,
especially during the early years when they are most dependent. While their emerging abilities and capacities change the
nature of this vulnerability from infancy through adolescence, their need for attention and guidance at each stage remains.
Parents and communities have the primary responsibility for protecting and caring for their children, and initiating them
into culturally relevant skills, attitudes and ways of thinking. Interventions by outsiders are significant largely to the
extent that they strengthen (or inadvertently undermine) family and community capacities to provide this care and
protection. There are some circumstances where the urgent needs of children or adolescents must be met directly, but
maintaining a long-term view is essential to finding ways to enable families and communities to care for and protect their
children on an ongoing basis.
Methods, Findings/Results of the Study,
Conclusions and Recommendations

For school psychologists, understanding how children and adolescents develop and
learn forms a backdrop to their everyday work, but the many new ‘facts’ shown by
empirical studies can be difficult to absorb; nor do they make sense unless brought
together within theoretical frameworks that help to guide practice. In this chapter, we
explore the idea that child and adolescent development is a moveable feast, across both
time and place. This is aimed at providing a helpful perspective for considering the
many texts and papers that do focus on ‘facts’. We outline how our understanding of
children’s development has evolved as various schools of thought have emerged. While
many of the traditional theories continue to provide useful educational, remedial and
therapeutic frameworks, there is also a need to take a more critical approach that
supports multiple interpretations of human activity and development. With this in mind,
we re-visit the idea of norms and milestones, consider the importance of context,
reflect on some implications of psychology’s current biological zeitgeist and no te a
growing movement promoting the idea that we should be listening more
seriously to children’s own voices.
References:

Shute, Rosalyn & Hogan, John. (2017). Child and

Adolescent Development.
10.1007/978-3-319-45166-4_4.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
313023688_Child_and_Adolescent_Development