I have gained insights on how to design a
research. I have learned that research
takes time. It has to be prepared and
cannot be thrown together. The whole
research process takes a considerate amount of time and patience. When I first began this class, my concept of
this class was that we would be doing a research paper. I had the wrong conception of this class. I have gained insight on qualitative and
quantitative research design. I gained insights on mixed methods designs, direct
observation, equity, which has power doing the research, making sure ethics are
in the early childhood research process. I also gained insights on case study,
interviews, and anecdotal record as I implement research in this field. I also
gained insights on consent in the research process in regards to young
children. From this, I gained a better concept of research and I feel that this
class was a starting point for me as I pursue my educational and professional goals.
My nature of research has changed, because now I am
more prepared to plan, design, and conduct research. I understand now that it is a process that
involves professionalism and respect. I understand
that there are four major paradigms which include positivism, interpretivism,
structuralism, and poststructuralism. I
believe that I can better relate to interpretivism.
It is important to understand that research is a
tool and, as with all tools, it is simply a matter of learning how to use it
(Naughton, Rolfe, & Blatchford- Siraj, 2010) .
I learned that you have to plan a
research before you can just do research on a topic. I learned that you have to
be knowledgeable about an issue before you can begin planning. The design of the research should be ‘what’
and ‘how ‘of research, deciding whether the research will be experimental or
non-experimental, the time, place, and persons of the research, the sampling
process, and choosing methods of data collection and analysis. In conducting research you have to be ethical
and be prepared for the challenges that you may face. You must also make sure
that the data collected is honest a will be beneficial to the early childhood
field.
A challenge for me was the understanding of
independent and dependent variables, as well as many of the terms that were
outlined in the text. I met those
challenges by looking deeper in the text, by breaking the definitions down to
basics. I also encounter challenges with
my research question. I met this
challenge by reading the text and gaining a better understanding of formulating
a research question and revised my research question. I also met challenges with the support and
guidance of Dr. Davis through his evaluations and comments and by listening to
the comments and suggestion of my colleagues.
My perceptions of an early childhood professional
has modified because when I began this class I was not unaware of the planning,
designing, and conducting research. Now,
I have a better understanding of research which has increased my knowledge in
this field of study. The fore, through
this class and understanding of research I have enhance my professional growth
over the past weeks.
Thank you all for your support and encouragement in
this class. I wish you all success as you continue to climb the ladder toward
your educational goals.
Reference
Naughton, G. M., Rolfe, S. A., & Blatchford- Siraj, I. (2010). Doing
Early Childhood
Research: International Perspectives on Theory and Practice
2nd Edition. New York:
The McGraw Hill.
