During the first 5 years of a child’s life, there is almost unimaginable physical, social, cognitive and

emotional change and growth which takes place. Growth and development obviously continue during
the child’s early life until maturity at adulthood, however that growth is not as rapid as we see in the
early years. In these early years, children work out their place in the world. They are part of a family, a
community, a social system. They are also an individual being and their foundations of personality are
well and truly formed. Children go through different stages of development. Some child development
experts have called the various stages of development different names over decades of research.

Studying child and adolescent allows us to appreciate the development and growth of the children
either in physical, cognitive, educational growth, social and spiritual.

Types of Researches

1. Case Study – it is an in-depth look at an individual. It compiles a detailed portrait of a single

individual's development.

2. Naturalistic Observation Method – it allows us to study behavior as it actually occurs in a natural

environment, making no effort to manipulate the environment or to alter behavior.

2. Clinical Method – Treat the subjects as unique individuals through giving freedom to search
answers to questions asked ensuring that the participants understands the questions asked.

4. Correlational Method – Shows the direction and magnitude of a relationship between variables, that
is, they can tell whether two variables are related positively or negatively and to what degree.

5. Longitudinal Method – Observes the same individuals at different points in time, like the children of
migrant workers whose development will be studied at yearly intervals.

DISADVANTAGES OF LONGITUDINAL METHOD

a. Practice Effect – when children are given the same test many times, they may become ‘test wise”.

Improvement over time that is attributed to development may actually stem from practice with a
particular test.

b. Selective Attrition – another problem is the constancy of the sample over the course of research.
Some children may drop out because they move away. Others may simply lose interest and choose not
to continue.
c. Cohort Effect – when children in a longitudinal study are observed over a period of several years, the

developmental change may be specific to that particular generation.

d. This method is expensive and time consuming.

6. Cross-sectional method – individuals of different ages are compared or tested at the same time.

7. Experimental method – The only true and reliable method of determining cause and effect
relationships.

8. Action research – a reflective process of progressive problem-solving led by individuals working with
others in in terms or as part of a 'community of practice' to improve the way they address issues and
solve problems.

Preparation: Answer True or False on the following statements:

1. Research is only for those who plant to take master’s degree or doctorate degrees.

2. Research is easy to do.

3. Research is all about giving questionnaires and tallying the responses.

4. Research with one or two respondents is not a valid research.

5. Teachers, because they are busy in their classrooms, are expected to use existing researches rather
than conduct their own research in the classroom.

ED 111 | The Child and Adolescent Learner and Learning Principles

[This course pack is for instruction purposes only and is not for sale. Credits to owners of

photos, tables, illustrations, and figures. No copyright infringement intended. Sitoy (2022).

18
Data Gathering Techniques

1. Interview and Questionnaire Method – allows the investigator to gather quick information and to
make direct comparison between data provided by different participants.

2. Life-History Records – consists of records of information about a lifetime chronology of events and
activities.

(chronological-starting from the earliest and following the order in which events occurred)

3. Observation – can be made in either laboratory or materialistic settings.

4. Standardized tests – these are prepared tests that assess individuals' performance in different
domains.

5. Self-Reports – a special case of using tasks to measure children's behavior.

6. Physiological measures – certain indicators of children's development such as heart rate, bone
growth, hormonal levels, body weight and brain activity.

Ethics in Lifespan Research

1. Protection from harm. The rights of the participants to be protected.

2. Informed consent. The right to have explained to them all aspects of the research that may affect
their willingness to participate.

3. Privacy. The right to concealment of the participants identity on all information collected in the course
of research.

4. Knowledge of results. The rights of the participants of the research to be informed of the results of
the research.

5. Beneficial treatments. If experimental treatments believed to be beneficial are under investigation,

participants in control groups have the right to alternative beneficial treatments that are available.

The Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173)

This law was passed in the Philippines in 2012 “to protect the fundamental human right of privacy of
communication while ensuring free flow of information to promote innovation and growth.”

The law states that the collection of personal data “must be a declared, specified, and legitimate
purpose and that consent is required prior to the collection of all personal data.”
For more details, read RA 10173.

Activity

Identify the research method used in the study.

__________________1. An anthropologist wanted to find out the culture and the day-to- day life of the
tribal people.

He lived in the place for more than a year to experience their way of life.

__________________2. Teacher A wanted to find out which method in teaching science is most
effective. She selected

50 students as her subjects and grouped them into two making sure that the two groups are of the same
composition

such as gender and intellectual levels. The first group was introduced with cooperative learning while in
the second

group, lecture method was used.

__________________3. The researcher conducted an investigation to find out the behavior of children
whose fathers

are working abroad. The children’s behaviors were observed every year from one year ol15 years old.

__________________4. A researcher wanted to find out whether preschoolers are capable of

comprehending simple

situations. Sample respondents from nursery school, K1 and K2 were used to represent population of
preschoolers.

__________________5. Teacher B made a study on the relationship between the screening result of
incoming first

year students and their academic performance in the first year of being university student.

__________________6. A math teacher conducted a study to evaluate the mathematical skills of 7-year
old children and 10-year old children at the time of the study. She then assesses the same children every
6 months for the next 5years.

Identify the data gathering techniques used in the following situations:

____________________1. Teacher C wanted to find out how K1 children actually behave while the class
is in progress.

She entered the classroom pretending to be looking for something while the teacher is presenting the
lesson so that

the children will not become conscious that they are being observed.