Exam 2: Using Research to Understand Children and Adolescents

Imagine that you are a teacher who has just learned about a new technique for teaching children better study habits, and you want to know how effective it is. Describe an action research study you might conduct in your classroom to address this question. As you write your response: a. Identify the type of research design you would use, and explain whether it would enable you to draw conclusions about a cause-effect relationship. b. List at least five different steps you should take in conducting the research.

Free

(Essay)

4.8/5

(42)

Question 1

Correct Answer:

Verified

The response should describe a study that might reasonably address the question. In addition, it should:
a. Reflect an experimental study, a quasi-experimental study, or a correlational study. A well-designed experimental study could reveal a cause-effect relationship, whereas other designs might suggest-but could not actually prove-that the new technique fosters better study habits.
b. List at least five of the following steps:
• Identify the area of focus
• Design an appropriate study
• Seek permission from students and their parents
• Inform a supervisor about the project, and seek his or her permission
• Identify a valid means of assessing students' study habits
• Deliver the new technique to some or all students
• Collect data about students' study habits
• Analyze the data
• Draw conclusions from the data
• Inform students and parents about the results
• Develop an action plan (i.e., decide whether to use the new technique and, if so, how)

Imagine that you want to find out which extracurricular activities in a community's after-school programs are of most interest to teenagers. Which data collection technique would be most useful for this purpose?

Free

(Multiple Choice)

4.9/5

(34)

Question 2

Correct Answer:

Verified

Which one of the following statements about developmental research is true?

Free

(Multiple Choice)

4.9/5

(33)

Question 3

Correct Answer:

Verified

Mr. Jones, a physical education teacher, notices that some of his students are better basketball players than others. He wonders if having a basketball net at home fosters the development of basketball skills. He gives his students a short survey that asks them if they have a basketball net at home. Sure enough, Mr. Jones finds that the better basketball players are more likely to have a net at home. He concludes that having a basketball net at home facilitates the development of basketball skills. Is his conclusion appropriate?

(Multiple Choice)

4.9/5

(33)

Question 4

Teachers and administrators at a particular school are concerned about a possible rise in bullying in recent months. Before deciding how to respond to the problem, they want to determine if, in fact, their perceptions are accurate. For example, they want to know how many students are considered to be bullies, how many students are victims of bullying, and how often students encounter bullying incidents at school. In three separate paragraphs, describe three different data collection techniques they might use to get the information they need.

(Essay)

4.8/5

(50)

Question 5

Dr. Lesgold finds that students in private schools perform better on achievement tests than do students in public schools. Which conclusion can Dr. Lesgold fairly draw?

(Multiple Choice)

4.7/5

(35)

Question 6

Teachers and others who work regularly with children and adolescents often need to gather information about the youngsters in their charge. Three of the following are recommendations for collecting and using information. Which one is not recommended?

(Multiple Choice)

4.8/5

(41)

Question 7

Three of the following are typical components of the scientific method in developmental research. Which one is not typical?

(Multiple Choice)

4.8/5

(31)

Question 8

In an attempt to find out why 10-year-old Rosemarie has trouble working independently, a teacher aide quietly observes her one day as she works by herself at a "science center" set up in the corner of the classroom. The aide keeps a detailed record of what Rosemarie says and does during the 15-minute period she is at the center. Which one of the following observation techniques is the aide using?

(Multiple Choice)

5.0/5

(36)

Question 9

When conducting research, it is imperative that all researchers-whether they be college professors, practitioners in the field, or graduate or undergraduate students-adhere to high ethical standards in their work. In three separate paragraphs, describe three different ethical standards that researchers should follow. Illustrate each one with a concrete example. Developmental Trends Table The table below describes information collected about the experiences of five youngsters. For each of these experiences, the table identifies factors that affect interpretations about the information, offers an implication for making accurate conclusions about the information, or both. Apply what you've learned about making accurate inferences about children and adolescents to fill in the empty cells in the table. Drawing Reasonable Conclusions About Children and Adolescents

(Essay)

4.8/5

(34)

Question 10

Which is not one of the general steps of the scientific method?

(Multiple Choice)

4.8/5

(37)

Question 11

Developmental Concepts in Early Childhood: An observer wonders whether Seth knows how to read. She realizes that the boy might know how to read, but it is also possible that this book is a favorite of the boy's and one that he has memorized after listening to it repeatedly. Without additional information, the validity of her inference about Seth's reading is questionable.

(Short Answer)

4.8/5

(36)

Question 12

A researcher wants to know if young infants notice any differences between classical music and jazz music. Which data collection technique would be most useful for this purpose?

(Multiple Choice)

4.9/5

(42)

Question 13

To find out how children's drawing skills improve with age, a researcher asks 50 four-year-olds to "Draw the best picture of a person that you can." In each of the next six years (until the children are ten years old), the researcher asks them once again to draw a picture of a person. The researcher then compares quality and detail of the pictures drawn at various ages. Which one of the following research designs does this study best reflect?

(Multiple Choice)

4.8/5

(33)

Question 14

A psychologist conducts a research study and finds that abused children have more difficulty in school than nonabused children. a. Is this an experimental, correlational, cross-sectional, or longitudinal study? Justify your choice. b. Based on the study, the psychologist draws the conclusion that an abusive home life leads to poorer school performance in school. Is this conclusion justified? Why or why not?

(Essay)

4.8/5

(44)

Question 15

One very effective way of gathering information about children and adolescents is simply to talk to them. Three of the following should increase the quantity and quality of information you get when you talk with young people. Which one is not likely to be helpful?

(Multiple Choice)

4.8/5

(34)

Question 16

Researchers often gain useful information from observation of children and adolescents. Three of the following suggestions are likely to improve the quality of observational data. Which one is unlikely to do so?

(Multiple Choice)

4.8/5

(38)

Question 17

When conducting interviews with children, which practice is not recommended?

(Multiple Choice)

4.8/5

(30)

Question 18

A team of researchers wants to know whether a new crime prevention program is really effective in reducing crime in young adolescents. The researchers find two middle schools, Adams Middle School and Monroe Middle School, which serve similar kinds of students and report similar rates of theft, physical assault, and vandalism. The researchers implement the program at Adams and use Monroe as a control group. Afterwards, they discover that crime has decreased at Adams but not at Monroe. This study is a good example of a(n) _______ design.

(Multiple Choice)

4.9/5

(38)

Question 19

In which one of the following situations does a researcher definitely have a problem with the reliability of a data collection technique?

(Multiple Choice)

5.0/5

(39)

Question 20

Showing 1 - 20 of 57

Imagine that you want to find out which extracurricular activities in a community's after-school programs are of most interest to teenagers. Which data collection technique would be most useful for this purpose?

Which one of the following statements about developmental research is true?

Dr. Lesgold finds that students in private schools perform better on achievement tests than do students in public schools. Which conclusion can Dr. Lesgold fairly draw?

Teachers and others who work regularly with children and adolescents often need to gather information about the youngsters in their charge. Three of the following are recommendations for collecting and using information. Which one is not recommended?

Three of the following are typical components of the scientific method in developmental research. Which one is not typical?

Which is not one of the general steps of the scientific method?

A researcher wants to know if young infants notice any differences between classical music and jazz music. Which data collection technique would be most useful for this purpose?

One very effective way of gathering information about children and adolescents is simply to talk to them. Three of the following should increase the quantity and quality of information you get when you talk with young people. Which one is not likely to be helpful?

Researchers often gain useful information from observation of children and adolescents. Three of the following suggestions are likely to improve the quality of observational data. Which one is unlikely to do so?

When conducting interviews with children, which practice is not recommended?

In which one of the following situations does a researcher definitely have a problem with the reliability of a data collection technique?

Making a Difference in the Lives of Children and Adolescents

Family, Culture, and Community

Biological Beginnings

Physical Development

Cognitive Development: Piaget and Vygotsky

Cognitive Development: Cognitive Processes

Intelligence

Language Development

Development in the Academic Domains

Emotional Development

Development of Self and Social Understandings

Development of Motivation and Self-Regulation

Moral Development

Peers, Schools, and Society

Filters