The past 8 weeks I have learned a great deal about research from the basic principles to the in-depth aspects of designing a research project. There is a great deal involved in research design. The last time i had really done any valid research was prolly in one of my years during my B.S program, which was several years ago. It was good to relearn the basics of research like hypothesis, variables and the different types of research. I did not recall learning about qualitative and quantitative research designs before this class. The many dynamics of research are intricate and precise. I was not aware there were so many ethics for children when participating in research and the details of what they are and account for. I'm glad they are in practice though. My view points on how research is implemented has changed in that I am now aware that there are several different ways to gather data and that depending on what the topic is and the participants determines the means that will be used to record the findings. Such as observations, interviews, statistics, experiments and case studies. The whole research process is generally a drawn out practice. One has to determine the topic they want to study, who will they study, how, when, for how long, how will they determine who they will study, etc. Whats the best type of research to use: qualitative, quantitative, case study or mixed methods. Will there be any repercussions for the children? How will they be overcome? The list goes on and on... I had no idea of all the details...
Some challenges I encounter were understanding the information we learned in this class. i discussed the readings and terminology with my sister who just graduated with a psychology major and utilized the feedback Prof Davis gave me. It was a little difficult decided what I was going to 'research' and implementing all the parts of the process. As we went through the class and learned more in-depth about the different aspects of research I was able to narrow down my topic and design my study. I feel that an early childhood professional that has had limited amount of exposure, lessons, experience and interactions in the research process will not have a deep understanding of the design and implementation. Even if one has a deep understanding of early childhood and development, etc actually correlating it and utilizing it in the research process is difficult.
Thank you everyone for your hard work, insights, opinions and experiences. I enjoyed learning and working with all of you!! I look forward to working with you in the future classes!! It was a pleasure.
Thank you everyone for your hard work, insights, opinions and experiences. I enjoyed learning and working with all of you!! I look forward to working with you in the future classes!! It was a pleasure.
