MASARYK UNIVERZITY BRNO Faculty of Education Department of Psychology Title of your paper Developmental psychology (SZ6603, SZ6628) Spring 2021 Author: Contents 1 Introduction....................................................................................... .......................................... 1 2 Theoretical background......................................................................................... ..................... 1 3 Research........................................................................................... ........................................... 1 3.1 Research aim................................................................................................ .......................... 1 3.2 Description of the method............................................................................................. ......... 1 3.3 Participant(s) and data collection......................................................................................... .. 2 3.4 Data analysis........................................................................................... ............................... 3 4 Discussion and conclusion......................................................................................... ................. 3 Resources.......................................................................................... ................................................... 3 Supplement......................................................................................... .................................................. 3 1 Introduction A paragraph: What the paper deals with, how is the TOPIC relevant to developmental psychology, why did you choose it? 2 Theoretical background Theory about developmental stage and researched phenomena from reliable resources. Use correct citations in APA format. https://alliant.libguides.com/c.php?g=692717&p=4908018 Study the theory prior to formulating your interview questions or creating categories for the observation. 3 Research 3.1 Research aim Mention briefly what is it you want to find out, you can formulate it as a research question as well. Achievement of research aim provides answer to the research question. A few examples: The aim of my research is to find out what is the stage of the moral development in my respondent. The aim of my research is to evaluate aspects of school readiness in my respondent. I am about to explore a cognitive development of a ten-year-old schoolchild. I want to explore my respondent´s upbringing and his/hers ideas about parenthood. How does my respondent deal with Ericson´s developmental conflict in adolescence? What are the most developmentally formative relational experiences for my respondent throughout his/hers life? How does my respondent experience aging? Are his/hers strategies of coping with aging adaptive? How do preschool children differ in their short-term memory capacity? 3.2 Description of the method In a paragraph briefly describe what type of observation/interview you have selected and why. What are the pros and cons of a selected method? McLeod, S. A. (2014, Febuary 05). The interview research method. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/interviews.html McLeod, S. A. (2015, June 06). Observation methods. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/observation.html Are you combining the methods? For example, when doing a product analysis (drawing – Draw a person, Draw an enchanted family) it is vital to observe the creative process and interview the child afterwards as well. Or you can observe somebody playing (free play in children, games in older children and adolescents…or adults) and document the process. For example, you can observe an adolescent creating something in a game (Minecraft) and you let him/her to comment on it as they make it. Then you will ask further questions – e.g. importance of a free time activities, what emotions the activity creates/regulates, what skills are being used/cultivated, how is the person´s gaming situated within the family system, how does the gaming function in his/hers peer group relationships (solitary or shared activity)…etc. If you are interested in an experimental design and you have access to more participants, you can ask questions like this: How do preschool children differ in their short-term memory capacity? And then introduce an activity to children in which you will measure and compare their abilities (in a fun way). 3.3 Participant(s) and data collection Depending on topic of research and the informed consent of the respondent or the informed consent g iven by his/hers legal representatives, introduce your respondent in an anonymous way – false name, real age. Describe the circumstances in which the data collection took place, because it can influence what k ind of data you obtain) – participant´s mood and energy levels, motivation, daytime/nightime, chara cteristics of the environment (calm/noisy, privacy? - uninterrupted time and space available to bot h…). 3.4 Data analysis By observation and interview you are obtaining data of a qualitative nature and thus a qualitative analysis should take place. The most suitable way for you is to look at the data and interpret them through the lens of developmental theory (you have prepared in your Theoretical background) and th e context of participant´s life. In data analysis it is not acceptable only to transcribe the interview and paste it. It is up to yo u to make the sense of the data, to select the most important things, comment on meaning of events for the participant and its relevance to his/hers development. Short illustratory quotes from the i nterview can be presented. The data from observation have a character of detailed description of what was happening and why (i nterpretation). In the experimental design you can present graphs or charts (memory performance on the task, attent ion span etc.) and interpret them. 4 Discussion and conclusion Did you get what you aimed for? Do you have the answer to your research question? – if not, what we nt wrong? (limits of the research, connection between you and participant, child´s fatigue). How co uld be your research improved if you were to do it again? Discussion is the most important part of the whole paper, as it shows how you can think about the p rocess of research, factors influencing it and the results obtained. Here you can try to formulate your own theory. Common difficulties in this section: inappropriately chosen theory. In the discussion, it is possib le to both critically evaluate the limits of the methods used and to indicate the possibilities of further exploration. A concluding remark: how was it for you to do this research? Resources APA style Supplement this includes e.g. drawing, transcription of the entire interview, sheet for systematic observation