Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Option 2:
Imagine that you possess the means and the knowledge to conduct research studies about any topic in the early childhood field. Imagine further that you are not restricted by the reality of the present. Imagine that your study will make a major positive contribution to the well-being of children and/or their families. What topic would you choose? What can you imagine the positive contribution(s) would be?

If I could conduct research on any topic in the early childhood field  I want to look how a child's ability to interact socially plays on their future job. The study will show parents the importance of disciplining their children and teaching them respect for others. I think this study will make people want to raise more socially conscious children. The reason this is so interesting to me is because I recently found out that a janitor at our school was one of those children who disrespected teachers and would not follow directions in school. I wonder if it was because of her behavior as a child.

Research Journey

As part of my Building  Research Competencies class we were asked to come up with a a possible research simulation that I could do. The research simulation question I came up with was to determine how parents choose the type of childcare they put their children in. I choose to break it down further by looking at if state funded child care assistance was not available would so many children be in childcare centers. I know that child care assistance is a vital component when parents are thinking about child care. Sorry to say that many families probably wouldn't be able to afford to send their children to daycare.

I have learned after starting this research process that research does take a long time. You are not just looking at what you know or think but what information is out there. You have to be able to support your findings with other people's work. I found that you have to take your time and look around. Making sure a source is credible can take up some of your time. You don't want to quote people who are not creditable because then it makes your work look bad.