🧠🔍M1 Review: The Study of Child Development and Research Methods

cohort

a group of people who are born at roughly the same period in a particular society

Cohorts share histories and contexts for living

continuous development

the idea that development is a progressive and cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills

culture

blueprint or guideline shared by a group of people that specifies how to live; passed down from generation to generation; learned from parents and others

discontinuous development

idea that development takes place in unique stages and occurs at specific times or ages

lifespan perspective

an approach to studying development which emphasizes that development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, contextual, and multidisciplinary

nature

the influences of biology and genetics on behavior

nonnormative influences

unpredictable influences not tied to a certain developmental time, personally or historical period

normative age-graded influences

biological and environmental factors that have a strong correlation with chronological age

normative history-graded influences

influences associated with a specific time period that define the broader bio-cultural context in which an individual develops

nurture

environmental, social, and cultural influences of behavior

attrition

reduction in the number of research participants as some drop out over time

case study

exploring a single case or situation in great detail. Information may be gathered with the use of observation, interviews, testing, or other methods to uncover as much as possible about a person or situation

content analysis

involves looking at media such as old texts, pictures, commercials, lyrics or other materials to explore patterns or themes in culture

control group

a comparison group that is equivalent to the experimental group, but is not given the independent variable

correlation

the relationship between two or more variables; when two variables are correlated, one variable changes as the other does

correlational research

research design with the goal of identifying patterns of relationships, but not cause and effect

correlation coefficient

number from -1 to +1, indicating the strength and direction of the relationship between variables, and usually represented by r

cross-sectional research

used to examine behavior in participants of different ages who are tested at the same point in time; may confound age and cohort differences

dependent variable

the outcome or variable that is supposedly affected by the independent variable

descriptive studies

research focused on describing an occurrence

double-blind

a research design in which neither the participants nor the researchers know whether an individual is assigned to the experimental group or the control group

evaluation research

research designed to assess the effectiveness of policies or programs

experimental group

the group of participants in an experiment who receive the independent variable

experiments

designed to test hypotheses in a controlled setting in efforts to explain how certain factors or events produce outcomes; the only research method that measures cause and effect relationships between variables

experimental research

research that involves randomly assigning people to different conditions and using hypothesis testing to make inferences about how these conditions affect behavior; the only method that measures cause and effect between variables

explanatory studies

research that tries to answer the question "why"

Hawthorne effect

individuals tend to change their behavior when they know they are being watched

hypotheses

specific statements or predictions about the relationship between variables

independent variable

something that is manipulated or introduced by the researcher to the experimental group; treatment or intervention

informed consent

a process of informing a research participant what to expect during a study, any risks involved, and the implications of the research, and then obtaining the person's agreement to participate

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

a panel of experts who review research proposals for any research to be conducted in association with the institution (EX: a university)

longitudinal research

studying a group of people who may be of the same age and background (cohort), and measuring them repeatedly over a long period of time; may confound age and time of measurement effects

negative correlation

two variables change in different directions, with one becoming larger as the other becomes smaller; a negative correlation is not the same thing as no correlation

observational studies

also called naturalistic observation, involves watching and recording the actions of participants

operationalized

concepts transformed into variables that can be measured in research

positive correlation

two variables change in the same direction, both becoming either larger or smaller

qualitative research

theoretical ideas are "grounded" in the experiences of the participants, who answer open-ended questions

quantitative research

involves numerical data that are quantified using statistics to understand and report what has been studied

reliability

when something yields consistent results

research design

the strategy or blueprint for deciding how to collect and analyze information; dictates which methods are used and how

scatterplot

a plot or mathematical diagram consisting of data points that represent two variables

Secondary/Content Analysis

archival research, involves analyzing information that has already been collected or examining documents or media to uncover attitudes, practices or preferences

selective attrition

certain groups of individuals may tend to drop out more frequently resulting in the remaining participants longer being representative of the whole population

sequential research design

combines aspects of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, but also adding new cohorts at different times of measurement; allows for analyses to consider effects of age, cohort, time of measurement, and socio-historical change

survey

asking a standard set of questions to a group of subjects

Validity

when something yields accurate results

Variables

factors that change in value