Research, Can I Complete a Research Project?

• What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?

Throughout this course I have learned exactly what it takes to design a research project. I have learned how to develop a research question and then turn it into a hypothesis.  This portion of the lesson was definitely not the easiest part of the design as one would assume.  One question will lead to another, which always requires further developing as you proceed through the project.  I learned about equity and validity in research and what I, as a researcher, can do to improve both in my research by planning for it throughout the process.  I also learned that it is important to consider the purpose of the research and who it benefits as well as the risk to and willingness of the participants prior to starting the project.  Another difficult area for me was deciding how I would choose the participants for the research.  I originally thought that this would be an easy task, but I was wrong again.  I found that there are factors that must be considered before deciding who you will choose, you must also decide how you will choose.  Research requires a lot of planning!

• In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

As we began this course I had never completed a true research project, therefore my impression of this task was fear because of the complicated nature of research.  As this course has proceeded I have found that I do have the ability to, at least, develop a research plan.  I believe that I may even be confident enough to say that I could carry out the research project.  I have also determined that as I previously thought, there is a lot of work to developing a research project.  What has changed is that I now understand that when the project is developed in steps it is not as overwhelming as I previously thought.

• What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

Planning, planning, planning is the key component to developing a research design.  Every step or component of the research design requires pre-planning to ensure that you as a researcher are producing valid data and that there is equity in the design.  Designing a research project in early childhood means that you have to decide on the purpose of the research, the participants, and constantly re-evaluate the goal of the research to ensure that the data and the participants are being treated fairly.  By this I mean, you as a researcher have to reflect on the purpose, the participants values and beliefs, and reflect on the data collection method to be sure that you as a researcher are allowing the research to be collected in a fair and unbiased manner.  As I have learned, when working with families and children it is most important to remember that their perspectives and behaviors can be altered by the presence of the researcher or the collection method.  Conducting research in the early childhood setting requires that you plan for your presence in the environment, that you develop a plan for selecting participants and that you develop a design that lessons the power or the relationship from the researcher to the participant.  

• What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?

I was challenged in the topic that I chose in the beginning of the project because I was unable to clearly state the objective in a way that was relevant to the professor.  In the end I decided to change the topic so that it would be less argumentative.  Once I developed another research topic the simulation went so much smoother.  I learned that in research you have to be very clear and sometimes it is best to present the topic with background information about you as a researcher so that your topic is not perceived in a negative light.  I also learned that there are topics that are less controversial than others, and for assignments like this one it is best to choose one of those.

• What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

I believe that this course has allowed me to understand that being an early childhood professional means more than knowing the methods and theories for working with young children.  To be a early childhood professional means that we have to not only develop ideals about working with children, but become researchers to discover what is behind our theories.  I do not feel that all early childhood professionals need to become researchers in the true sense, but it is important that we understand how to read research and how to determine the validity of the research we read.

International Child Care Research

As I began this assignment I found that the first two links were not valid.  I followed the earlychildhoodaustralia.gov link from the search bar that led me to mychild.gov.au website.  For this assignment, this is the website that I utilized.

http://www.mychild.gov.au/pages/home.aspx

What are some of the current international research topics?

Some of the international research topics that were present on this website were support for teenage parents with their child care costs, supporting healthy and resilient children through the AEDI and child care assistance campaign.  There was a link to Educational and research child care sites where I was able to view a list of sites that are currently completing research on curriculum studies, family studies, health and welfare.  There is also links to a Social Policy Research Center and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.

What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

The site seemed to have a lot of information, but to reach some of the links you would have to register with a fee.  Therefore I did not proceed on the page.  There was valuable information for the parents of Australia’s children on the site.  I found the Child Care Rebate to be of interest.  Parents can determine if they are eligible to receive a rebate on childcare by reviewing the information and guidelines provided.  I think that this is a wonderful ideal, and I would assume this is similar to the childcare service provided by the Department of Social Services in America.

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

There was a link on this site for Indigenous Education.  Intrigued by the name I followed the link.  This link provided a page that detailed the plan for inclusive services for the indigenous population of Australia.  They are also concerned with closing the gap in the educational experiences between indigenous children and non-indigenous.  I had not considered that in other nations they are also concerned with the gap in educational services.  It is interesting to learn about other education systems and the similarities that exist.