PS220 Unit 3 Developmental Research Methods Paper Example

Following Children for Decades: A PS220 Unit 3 Developmental Research Methods Paper

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Purdue University Global

PS220: Child and Adolescent Psychology

Unit 3 Developmental Research Methods Paper

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[Date]

The proposed study about Maya's community is hypothetical; the published studies described are real.

The Question

Suppose a researcher wanted to know whether growing up bilingual, as Maya is, affects children's ability to control their attention as they grow. That question is about change, and answering it requires a design that can detect change. Developmental psychology has three main options (Berk, 2013).

Cross-Sectional Designs

A cross-sectional study compares children of different ages at one time: for example, testing bilingual and monolingual three-, six- and nine-year-olds this spring. It is quick and inexpensive. Its weakness is that it compares different children, so differences between age groups may reflect cohort effects, experiences specific to when each group was born, rather than development. Nine-year-olds today may have had different preschool programs than three-year-olds today.

Longitudinal Designs

A longitudinal study follows the same children over time, testing them at three, six and nine. It shows how individuals change and whether early characteristics predict later ones. The cost is time, money and attrition: families move, and those who stay may differ from those who leave. Repeated testing can also teach children the tasks.

The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study shows the power of the design. Its team has tracked roughly a thousand people born in Dunedin, New Zealand, over 1972 and 1973, testing them again and again for decades. Moffitt et al. (2011) reported that self-control measured in childhood forecast adult health, money troubles and convictions, a link that held once IQ and social class were taken into account, and that children whose self-control improved also did better. No cross-sectional study could have shown that link across three decades. In the United States, a federally funded study followed more than 1,300 children from birth to examine how child care related to later development (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2005), another example of questions only long follow-up can answer.

Only by following the same children could researchers see childhood self-control reach into adult life.

Sequential Designs

Sequential designs combine the two by following several age groups over a shorter period, for example starting with three-, six- and nine-year-olds and testing each for three years. They reveal both age differences and individual change, and comparing groups who reach the same age in different years separates development from cohort effects.

Correlation and Cause

Even a strong longitudinal design usually shows association, not cause. If bilingual children showed better attention control, the explanation might be bilingualism itself or something that comes with it, such as family education or extended family living at home. Researchers address this with statistical controls and, where ethical, experiments; children cannot be randomly assigned to languages.

Choosing a Design for the Albuquerque Question

For the bilingual question, a sequential design would be the best fit. Following three age groups for three years would show whether any bilingual advantage grows, holds or fades, while keeping the study short enough to limit attrition. Measuring family background would help rule out explanations other than language.

References

Berk, L. E. (2013). Child development (9th ed.). Pearson.

Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D., Dickson, N., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H., Houts, R., Poulton, R., Roberts, B. W., Ross, S., Sears, M. R., Thomson, W. M., & Caspi, A. (2011). A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 2693-2698. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1010076108

NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2005). Child care and child development: Results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Guilford Press.