Deck 1: C: The Science of Child Development

Question 1

A researcher wants to examine the changes in the stability of friendship between first and third grade. Should the researcher use a cross-sectional or a longitudinal design? Give the advantages and disadvantages of each design.

Answer 1

A good answer will be similar to the following:
A longitudinal study would involve looking at children's friendships in Grade 1. Later, when the same children were in Grade 3, researchers could see how many friendships still existed. A cross-sectional study might involve asking a group of first-graders and a group of third-graders questions about the stability of their friendships. The main advantage of a cross-sectional research design is that it can be done in a relatively short period of time and at a much lower cost than a longitudinal study. The major disadvantage is that cohort effects may be present which make it difficult to draw conclusions about developmental change. The main advantage of longitudinal research designs is that actual stability and change can be studied. The major disadvantage of longitudinal studies is that they are expensive. Other disadvantages include the lack of sample constancy over the course of the study as participants drop out and the development of "test-wise" participants.

Question 2

Describe the problems of observer bias and observer influence. Using concepts from our textbook, discuss how these problems can be avoided.

Answer 2

A good answer will be similar to the following:
∙ Observer bias occurs when a researcher tends to notice things that are consistent with his/her theory and tends not to notice things that are inconsistent with his/her theory. This is a problem because the researcher is likely to find evidence for the theory, even when no evidence exists.
∙Observer bias can be avoided or at least diminished, by establishing firm behavioural definitions and observation guidelines prior to the observations.
∙ Observer influence occurs when a participant's behaviour is affected by their awareness of the fact that they are being observed. When children know they are being watched, they may act differently than when they are not aware that they are being watched.
∙Observer influence can be avoided by properly habituating participants before observing them.
∙ Habituation refers to the participant "getting used to" the presence of the researcher. If they are properly habituated, children will not even notice the presence of the researcher and will presumably behave in the same way that they would normally behave unobserved.

Question 3

Outline some ways that child-development researchers can contribute to sound family policy.

Answer 3

A good answer will include the following key points:
Child-development researchers can help build understanding of children. They can evaluate government policies and programs (macrosystem influences), ensuring that they are based on factual knowledge derived from child-development research. As well, by providing reliable methods to measure impact, child-development researchers can help judge how families and children are affected by policies.
Children cannot really represent their own interests in society and parents often lack the expertise and resources to do so. To fill the void, child-development experts may act as advocates, alerting policymakers to children's needs and arguing for family policy that addresses those needs.

Question 4

Describe the correlational and experimental research designs. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each design.

Question 5

Compare naturalistic observation to structured observation and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each approach.

Question 6

Describe longitudinal and cross-sectional research designs. What are strengths and weaknesses of each design?

Question 7

Describe the key guidelines of ethical research.

Question 8

A researcher is interested in studying cooperative and competitive behaviour in siblings. How might he/she use (1) systematic observations and (2) self-reports to measure sibling behaviour? Explain each type of measure, and give an example of how each could be used to measure cooperation and competition between siblings.

Question 9

A researcher wants to see if watching a violent movie leads to more aggressive behaviour in preschool children. How should the researcher proceed? Be sure to discuss sampling, assignment to conditions, and choice of independent and dependent variables.

Question 10

Using an example from everyday life, explain why a correlation between two variables does not prove a cause and effect relation between the variables.