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Seminar in Development and Socialization:

Methods of Developmental Research

EDPSY 582A, Winter, 1999

Wed. 2:00-4:20 pm, Miller 316

Instructor: Dr. Theresa Thorkildsen
Office: Miller 322N, Hours: Before class and by appointment
Phone: 206.543.1846, E-mail: thork@u.washington.edu

Web: http://www.uic.edu/~thork/fair

Purpose: Many researchers have been preoccupied with choosing sides in what is becoming know and the Quantitative-Qualitative Debate (QQD). In doing so, it is possible to miss the fact that those who study human development rely on methods that offer a helpful synthesis among common psychometric and ethnographic forms of inquiry. Because experts in human development are interested in measuring and theorizing about change, neither qualitative nor quantitative approaches to research can offer the range of findings that are needed to understand processes of development.

This course will start with the questions:

Assignments: The course will be organized like a seminar. As a student, you should complete assigned readings before coming to class and be prepared to discuss the material in them. Class time will be spent discussing the application of the readings to your respective fields of interest and generating new questions. Although I do not take attendance, grades do tend to correlate highly with attendance and class participation. It is also your responsibility to keep the class informed about potential absences and to obtain information you might miss (either due to exhaustion during a given class or a missed class).

        You will be asked to design your own evaluation plan for the semester. At the very minimum, everyone will be required to design and complete an independent project and present their findings to the class. As part of that project, you will be required to find at least 4 articles from different developmental journals and to incorporate a critique of those articles into your work. The project itself should involve measuring change of one form or another and evaluating the quality of the data you collect. Throughout the course you will be asked to talk about what you are doing, the progress you are making, etc. Finally, toward the end of the semester you will have about 20 minutes in which to present your findings and discuss possible new directions for your own work with the class.

        If you wish to work towards an ‘A’ in the course, you should also integrate the concepts from this course into your overall program of study and show me how you managed to do so. (There will be no exams.) In the past, students have written several short thought papers in which they talk about their informal reactions to the readings. [E.g., a critique of what you have read, application of research to your area of work, or an integration of the readings with things you already have thought about (and perhaps read about).]

       Your areas of interest should be clear to all the members of our scholarly community. In the past, students have communicated these interests in several ways. For example, we will establish an e-mail network to which you will be encouraged to participate. Class contributions allow us to discern your interests. And, other less public forms of communication have been used successfully. Many students and faculty have learned over the years that, when everyone participates, we can all learn, have fun, and avoid unnecessary resentments. People who do not join in are typically ignored rather than punished.

Readings: The course will be divided into three major sections and readings have been selected to provide an overview of each. Some weeks, everyone will be asked to read the same material. Other weeks, each person will read different material on a related topic.

        I have ordered two books for the course. The first is a general textbook that can help those who are familiar with basic research design issues explore how developmental psychologists differ from other researchers. The second book is more specialized and highlights ways in which researchers can obtain high quality observational data. Other books that might be useful for your projects will be introduced, but need not be purchased by everyone.

Miller, S. A. (1998). Developmental research methods. 2nd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bakeman, R., & Gottman, J. M. (1997). Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis. 2nd Ed. New York: Cambridge University Press.
 
 
Tentative Schedule

Week 1: The Qualitative-Quantitative Debate

        Burman, E. (1997). Minding the gap: Positivism, psychology, and the politics of qualitative methods. Journal of Social Issues, 53, 785-801.

        Eisner, E. W. (1997). The promise and perils of alternative forms of data representation. Educational Researcher, 26, 4-10.

        Eisner E.W. (1992). Are all causal claims positivistic? A reply to Francis Schrag. Educational Researcher, 21, 8-9.
        Erickson, F. (1992). Why the clinical trial doesn’t work as a metaphor for educational research: A response to Schrag. Educational Researcher, 21, 9-11.
        Miller, S. A. (1998). General principles. In S. A. Miller, Developmental research methods (2nd ed., pp. 10-25). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

        Miller, S. A. (1998). Design. In S. A. Miller, Developmental research methods (2nd ed., pp. 26-49). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

        Popkewitz, T.S. (1992). Cartesian anxiety, linguistic communism, and reading texts. Educational Researcher, 21, 11-15.
        Rabinowitz, V. C., & Weseen, S. (1997). Elu(ci)d(at)ing epistemological impasses: Re-viewing the qualitative/quantitative debates in psychology. Journal of Social Issues, 53, 605-630.

        Schrag, F. (1992). In defense of positivist research paradigms. Educational Researcher, 21, 5-8.
        Schrag, F. (1992). Is there light at the end of this tunnel? Educational Researcher, 21, 16-17.
 

Week 2: Thinking as Argument

        Cherryholmes, C. H. (1988). Construct validity and the discourses of research. American Journal of Education, 96, 421-457.

        Kuhn, D. (1992). Thinking as argument. Harvard Educational Review, 62, 155-178.
        Kuhn, T. S. (1968). A function for thought experiments. Ontario Journal of Educational Research, 10, 211-231.

        Maxwell, J.A. (1992). Understanding and validity in qualitative research. Harvard Educational Review, 62, 279-300.
        Maxwell, W. (1965). The kingdom where straightforward, logical thinking was admired over every other kind. In W. Maxwell’s, All the days and nights (pp. 397-403). New York: Vintage International.
        Miller, S. A. (1998). Ethics. In S. A. Miller, Developmental research methods (2nd ed., pp. 127-141). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Week 3: Developmental Theory and Measurement

        Damon, W. (1977). Studying social development in young children: A search for methodology. In W. Damon, The social world of the child (pp. 24-70). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

        Dixon, J. A. (1998). Developmental ordering, scale types, and strong inference. Developmental Psychology, 34, 131-145.

        Hartman, D.P. (1992). Design, measurement, and analysis: Technical issues in developmental research. In M.H. Bornstein & M.E. Lamb (Eds.), Developmental psychology: An advanced textbook (3rd ed., pp. 59-151). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
        Lerner, R. M. (1996). Relative plasticity, integration, temporality, and diversity in human development: A developmental contextual perspective about theory, process, and method. Developmental Psychology, 32, 781-786.

        Miller, S. A. (1998). Measurement. In S. A. Miller, Developmental research methods (2nd ed., pp. 50-70). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

        Miller, S. A. (1998). Procedure. In S. A. Miller, Developmental research methods (2nd ed., pp. 71-86). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

        Miller, S. A. (1998). Setting and goals. In S. A. Miller, Developmental research methods (2nd ed., pp. 87-105). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Week 4: Introduction to Piagetian Research Methods

        Flavell, J.H. (1963). The developmental psychology of Jean Piaget. Princeton, NJ: D. VanNostrand Company, Inc.
        Larsen, G.Y. (1977). Methodology in developmental psychology: An examination of research on Piagetian theory. Child Development, 48, 1160-1166.
        Lowman, R.L. (1985). What is clinical method? In D.N. Berg & K.K. Smith (Eds.), Exploring clinical methods of social research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
        Mertens, D. M. (1998). Causal comparative and correlational research. In D. M. Mertens, Research methods in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative and qualitative approaches (pp. 85-102). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
        Miller, S. A. (1998). Cognitive development. In S. A. Miller, Developmental research methods (2nd ed., pp. 186-218). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

        Miller, S. A. (1998). Social Development. In S. A. Miller, Developmental research methods (2nd ed., pp. 219-262). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

        Piaget, J. (1951). The child’s conception of the world. Savage, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Week 5: Interview Techniques

        Cohen, L. & Manion, L. (1989). The interview. In L. Cohen & L. Manion, Research methods in education (pp. 307-333). New York Routledge.
See also:
        Merton, R.K., Fiske, M., & Kendall, P.L. (1990). The focused interview: A manual of problems and procedures (2nd ed.). New York: The Free Press.
        Mishler, E.G. (1986). Research interviewing: Context and narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Week 6: Coding and Reporting Interview Data

        Brown, L. M., Tappan, M. B., Gilligan, C., Miller, B. A., & Argyris, D. E. (1989). Reading for self and moral voice: A method for interpreting narratives of real-life moral conflict and choice. Entering the circle: Hermeneutic investigation in psychology (pp. 141-164). New York: State University of New York Press.

        Ericsson, K. A., & Simon, H. A. (1996). Protocol analysis: Verbal report as data. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

        Suchman, L. & Jordan, B. (1992). Validity and the collaborative construction of meaning in face to face surveys. In J.M. Tanur (Ed.), Questions about questions: Inquiries into the cognitive bases of surveys. New York: Russell Sage. Foundation.
        Turiel, E. (1983). Structure and development. In E. Turiel, The development of social knowledge: Morality and convention (pp. 8-32). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Week 7: Introduction to Nonverbal Research Methods

        Bateman, R. & Gottman, J. M. (1997). Introduction. In R. Bateman, & J. M. Gottman, Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis (2nd ed., pp. 1-14). New York: Cambridge University Press.

        Bateman, R. & Gottman, J. M. (1997). Issues in sequential analysis. In R. Bateman, & J. M. Gottman, Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis (2nd ed., pp. 136-149). New York: Cambridge University Press.

        Miller, S. A. (1998). Infancy. In S. A. Miller, Developmental research methods (2nd ed., pp. 154-185). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
 
 

Week 8: Observing Interactions

        Bateman, R. & Gottman, J. M. (1997). Recording behavioral sequences. In R. Bateman, & J. M. Gottman, Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis (2nd ed., pp. 38-55). New York: Cambridge University Press.

        Cohen, L., & Manion, L. (1989). Triangulation. In L. Cohen, & L. Manion, Research methods in education (pp. 269-286). New York: Routledge.

Week 9: Coding and Reporting Observational Data

        Bateman, R. & Gottman, J. M. (1997). Developing a coding scheme. In R. Bateman, & J. M. Gottman, Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis (2nd ed., pp. 15-37). New York: Cambridge University Press.

        Bateman, R. & Gottman, J. M. (1997). Assessing observer agreement. In R. Bateman, & J. M. Gottman, Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis (2nd ed., pp. 56-80). New York: Cambridge University Press.

        Bateman, R. & Gottman, J. M. (1997). Representing observational data. In R. Bateman, & J. M. Gottman, Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis (2nd ed., pp. 81-90). New York: Cambridge University Press.

        Hollenbeck, A. R. (1978). Problems of reliability in observational research. In G. P. Sackett (Ed.), Observing behavior, Vol. 2: Data collection and analysis methods (pp. 79-98). Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.
 

Week 10: Student Presentations

Finals Week: Student Presentations