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I was tasked with conducting an observational study on a child and comparing their development to the current literature and presenting this is an academic poster.
I decided to conduct this observation on an eighteen month old child. I conducted three ten minutes time samples and one Event sample looking for the action of mouthing.
In order to present this project I used affinity photo to create a unique a d stroking poster inspired by children's stacking blocks with each block representing a different domain of development.
One of the mains tasks in the project was to compare the observational study with the current literature of childhood development. This involved using the IADT library to sech for many books and research paper about 18 months old development. Throughout this research I came across many classic developmental psychologists such as John Bowlby and Jean Piaget.
When starting this project I became aware how important ethics would be. As the observation was dealing with a child this meant even stricter ethics. I had to create and ethics from for the parents of child to sign as well as have close constant conversations with my supervisor. When conducting the observation I had to ensure the child was comfortable and giving constant assent to my observation, I also had to have the parent in the room .
Secondly when writing up the poster I had to ensure the child was anonymous and that all the data stored on child was secure and only accessible to me and my supervisor.
In order to plan for this project I had to do lot of planning , first I gaining a full understanding of how to conduct a task and event observation. I conducted a pilot study using online videos to ensure that I was fully proficient when conducting the real study. I also had organise a suitable time and place for the parents and child to attend so I could conduct the observation.
I was tasked with conducting two separate observations.
Time sample is an observation in which you observe the child over a set amount of time and record all actions and interactions. I completed ten minute observations three times.
Event sample is an observation in which you are looking for certain action you observes the child and record what happens before and after the the target action. I looked for three examples of mouthing in my child.
In order to present this study I had to Create an academic poster. As a person who loves graphic design I decided I would create this using affinity photo. Similarly I wanted to create a striking design as such I modelled my design on a child's bricks staking game with each brick representing another stage of development.
Following the observation I then had to compare the observation to the the literature. In this project this meant looking at different aspects I saw in my observation such as language and social behaviour. This involved making inferences and mapping certain actions to developmental research.
This project was not as difficult as I had originally anticipated. The observational study went quite well due to my practice by using online tools. The main area I had difficulties was in the research of the literature, I found it quite hard to find literature specifically focused on eighteen months old children, though I did manage to find research it was harder than I anticipated .
Thought this project I learned a lot of different skills.
Overall this project was a unique and gave me lost of experience in conducting observational study and ethical concerns .
Overall this project went quite well, I leaned lots about how to conduct observational studies. I also learned lots about developmental psychology and became more familiar with the classical developmental studies.