"When I think of research..."

"Building Research Competencies" has been an interesting experience for me.  I've learned many new terms, and have a much better understanding of the challenges facing researchers of the social sciences.  Social science research can be tricky, easily refuted, and/or inadvertently taken for proof of causal relationships between variables rather than correlational.

Early childhood research is challenging, with many ethical and feasibility issues to take into account.  One of my biggest challenges in this course was narrowing my research topic into a single research question, that could support a hypothesis, and a manageable design.

I better understand how to read and evaluate early childhood research studies.  Some of my "Understanding Research Charts" ended up with 40-50 new terms on them.  I'm glad I listed and learned all of these terms, as they come up so frequently in reading research. Case in point:  A couple of years ago I read Dr. Angeline Lillard's book "Montessori:  The Science Behind the Genius" (Lillard, A., 2005).  I originally read the book from the perspective of a Montessori teacher, even though Lillard wrote the book as the educational psychologist that she is.  With this course behind me, I am now rereading the Lillard book, with a whole new level of understanding, and finding it even more fascinating than before.

Many thanks to all of my classmates, and Dr. Davis for the thoughtful discussions.  Dr. Davis, thank you also for all of your support (those detailed explanations to our many questions) as we constructed our understandings of the unique qualities early childhood research.

Resource:

Lillard, A. (2005). Montessori:  The Science Behind the Genius. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.