Early childhood development assignment on the role on childhood play towards child development

Question

Task: how to assess the effects of childhood play towards child development using Early childhood development assignment research methods

Answer

Introduction
This Early childhood development assignmentinvestiogates the role of Early childhood play is regarded as a crucial component of a child's development. Socio dramatic play is seen as a natural and unplanned activity that occurs as part of early life and allows kids to learn and express themselves as they choose.

1. Research Design
1a)Research Question
Based on theEarly childhood development assignment case study scenario, the Research Question that Mala can use in her research study includes-
• What type of socio-dramatic play is being played by children of pre-school during their playtime?
• What types of values are displayed by children during their nursery play?

Early childhood development assignmentResearch Methodology
The Early childhood development assignmentresearch methodology that can be applied with respect to the identified research questions is a Non-experimental research method. Applying the Non-experimental research methodology, the naturalistic observation of the dramatic play themes of the children can be studied (Bengocheaet al., 2018). Here, in this methodology, the researcher will observe the behaviour of the children in the natural setting and will not interfere with the behaviour of the participant. The entire study will be conducted without interfering in the play activities of the children during their dramatic play. Similarly, the children will also not be aware of the condition that they are being recorded.

Non-experimental research method can be both Qualitative and Quantitative. Hence the approach that will be helping to study the research is the mixed methodology approach. Here both the qualitative and quantitative research methods will be used to obtain the outcome more accurately and gaining more insights about the study. Early childhood development assignmentresearch is increasingly employing mixed methods techniques as the benefits and drawbacks of using either qualitative or quantitative methods are recognised (Loizouet al., 2019).The most popular strategies for implementing action research are qualitative and mixed-methods approaches. In order to try to validate the exploratory findings, a quantitative questionnaire could be utilised after a qualitative technique to study a scenario or problem.

As Mala is aiming to research on the types of play being played by children during their playtime, the video record analysis of the play will help Mala in analysing the play time behaviour of the children with respect to other qualitative researches based on other studies of researchers. After that, the aim of the Early childhood development assignmentresearch question that is to identify the values displayed by children during their play can be noted down and tallied based on each play and the running records of each play (Curry & Arnaud, 2018). Thus the Mixed Methodology approach will suit best according to the research questions identified in the study.

1b)Early childhood development assignmentSampling Strategy
Based on the selected methodology, the Quantitative sampling strategy would be more appropriate for the case study. In quantitative sampling strategy the primary goal of the sampling includes a sample that represents a small collection of groups that would be most important for the study (Gill, 2020). It mainly includes probability sampling as a part of research design strategy. In this research, cluster sampling will be more useful so as to gain the research aims (Christie, 2021). Cluster sampling includes division of population into different clusters or groups. TheEarly childhood development assignment researchers select the most appropriate group or cluster for the study with the help of a random sampling. It entails using stratified random techniques or basic random methods to choose random samples sequentially from bigger to smaller units (Johnsonet al., 2019). Based on the research questions and the methodology chosen, children between the age group of three to five years will be considered as a part of the study. Also another sample of parent’s population will be considered which includes a combination of both European as well as Aboriginal heritage. These two sample criteria will help Mala to gain qualitative insights about the playtime behaviour of the children at home as well as in the pre-school setup that resembles to be a home (Goldstein & Lerner, 2018). Mala can gather data from the parents as well about their child’s behaviour during playtime. The sample including the children from age three to five years will help Mala to record their behaviour during the dramatic play scenes and also to note the values shown by them in a dramatic play.

1c) Involvement of children in the research
TheEarly childhood development assignment researcher will try to include the children sample group within the play set up, allowing them to response on the activities within the play through emotions while developing important social skills and to be more expressive in the situation of the play scenes. The research study aims in examining the impact of dramatic play on enhancing the development of emotions and social skills within the children at their early stage (Laiet al., 2018). Observations and interviews will also be conducted from the children age group sample to obtain information involving this study. Different types of innovative research methods will alsobe used with the known methods as well (Kalkuschet al., 2021). These types of innovative approaches are often included while involving children within the research studies. Innovative methods such as art based methods including an initiated play comprising of a pre-set up arrangements of a home comprising of kitchen, a dining area and a bedroom for a baby, will be used within the research. This will help the children to enact their roles as a way to explore their emotions and react to the surrounding situation in a way they want (Jaggyet al., 2020).

The rise in research incorporating children directly has been influenced by evolving conceptions of childhood and children's rights. The idea of childhood has been altered by shifting conceptions of it, and kids are now seen as engaged citizens with varying degrees of social agency as well as right-bearers. This is distinct from conceptions of childhood that emphasize growth, in which kids are viewed as helpless beings that are susceptible to biological functions (Emen-Parlatan&Yaar, 2022). The variability of children within and between cultures has been highlighted in a significant way by sociological techniques. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which has increased awareness of children's rights, has led to the inclusion of children's participation in research procedures as well as their rights to provision and protection.Thus involving the children in theEarly childhood development assignment research is important.

2. Early childhood development assignmentResearch methods and ethics
2a) Data Collection Methods
The research methods and the data collection approach to be used helps in reaching the desired goal of the research with the right effect. The research technique to be used to collect data assists the researcher in preparing her research work. It also encourages the participants who are involved in the research study to contribute and to improve the overall achievement of the research study (Peterset al., 2021). In the given Early childhood development assignmentcase scenario, a primary quantitative data collection method is applicable, addressing its objectivity and real-time response accuracy as compared to lack of updates credibility of qualitative studies. Justification: The interpretivism approach is used to support the paper's central hypothesis, and this way of thinking will enable the researcher to look at both the children's participation in the drama plays and the values those youngsters demonstrated in the performance as a whole. The incident itself was the sole subject of this concept. In order to conduct the research, the research should select an appropriate research approach that will help in establishing a detailed relation between the research variables and the values. Among the different types ofEarly childhood development assignment research approaches such as, deductive, abductive and inductive approach, the most suitable research approach selected from the research is abductive research approach (Powellet al., 2018). Justification: Based on the research, the observer that is Mala is considered to be one of the better sources to assess the entire research while contributing to the overall progress of the research study. This will also allow her to assess the key risks arising from the behaviour of the children in the drama while analysing their pattern of behaviour with respect to the past theories while conducting the analysis of the research findings.

Determining the research design and its approach is as important as selecting the suitable data collection technique. There are three different types of Early childhood development assignmentresearch architecture that are available which includes-introductory research design, explanatory research design and exploratory research design. While collecting adequate data through suitable techniques, the investigator must clarify the different concerns related to the study (Alharahsheh& Pius, 2020).The different types of design approach can be further separated into succinct model and event model. For this research the researcher should use the succinct definition. While collecting adequate data the researcher can easily clarify the internal concerns within the research. Both the qualitative and quantitative metrics analysis will be conducted to maintain the greatest assets in the entire research process. For this particular research, the exploratory research design will be used as this will help in determining the best possible patterns towards the development of the study and to deliver the project result as per the requirements of the research questions.

After identifying the research design, the next important part is collecting the research data. There are generally two types of research data one is primary and the other is secondary data. Both the types of data will be used in order to conduct the study. The Early childhood development assignmentresearcher will conduct a naturalistic observation so as to find out the drama themes and to note down the values that the children acquire while taking part in the drama (Janiszewski& van Osselaer, 2022). In order to collect the data and to analyse them qualitatively, a video camera will be used to record their activities within the on-going drama while noting their reactions within the play scenes. The values shown by the children will also be noted down based on the running records of the play. The method of collecting data for the research will include observations of Mala using check lists which will be used as a primary data and then using that checklist while using it as an interview to get secondary data.

2b)Early childhood development assignmentEthical issue
Ethics consists of norms or certain code of conducts that distinguishes the research into the acceptable and unacceptable terms. Here the morals of the researchers while conducting the research comes into play. Under AIATSIS (2021) ethical research guidelines essential in “Australian Indigenous Studies” include 14 prime principles, among which, the case study approach and data collection methods suggested focus on Principle 2. The latter entails that indigenous individuals are rightful to self-determining their community representation to outsides as per their convenience. The research accounted for that and ensured that only those who voluntarily consented has their identifies referred to as indigenous.

Determination of the quality of the research can only happen when the final analysis and results are obtained but the issues concerning to the quality of the research needs to be considered as a part of the research design approach. Two major Early childhood development assignmentethical issues that Mala needs to consider while conducting the research are the ethics of authenticity and the transparency of the information collected from the indigenous community.

While in many children researches, the voice and the concerns of the children are not apparently accessible, hence few researchers tend to represent their voices so as to gain the purpose of the research. In these cases, the researches tend to be less authentic. In this case one of the ethical challenges that researcher often faces while undertaking the responsibility to represent the participant’s voice is to provide respect to their views and actions as presented. In order to accurately capture the authenticity of young participants' statements when doing drama-based research, data must be handled carefully and respectfully. As per the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research few criteria involving Autonomy, information, consent and confidentiality needs to be maintained while conducting any research(Nhmrc.gov.au, 2018). In this research as the participants are mainly under the age group of 18, hence their consent form needs to be accepted and signed by their parents about their child’s participation in the research (Bennettet al., 2021). It is important to respect the children’s autonomy to participate in the research process.

Giving individuals the space they need to make their own decisions is a necessary component of respect for human beings. This is usually referred to as "the necessity for permission" in the context of research and calls for involvement to be the consequence of a participant's decision. The following requirements must be met for these criteria to be met: permission must be given voluntarily, be based on sufficient knowledge of the planned study and its ramifications, and be adequately informed (Reid, 2022).It is necessary to have a thorough awareness of the research's objectives, methods, requirements, dangers, and potential rewards in order to participate voluntarily and on the basis of acceptable information. Participants should be informed of the procedure and asked for their agreement, but this should not only be a formal necessity. The Early childhood development assignmentgoal is for participants and researchers to understand one another. This goal necessitates giving participants the chance to ask questions and, if they so choose, to share the knowledge and their decision with others.
Maintaining ethical standards while working with people related to indigenous communities is another important part of the research. Since the community where the research would be conducted consists of European as well as aboriginal community hence the researcher may come across ethical scenarios of following a set of ethical protocols for the communities. Indigenous people somehow lack skills to provide to their children and hence the childhood classrooms should focus on mitigating these deficits. The Early childhood development assignmentresearcher should not overlook the capacity of the aboriginal communities and should explain the ethics covered within the research to them clearly. In this case, face to face communication with the indigenous community and regular feedback mechanism from them should be initiated within the research process.

2c)Methods to share research findings
After completing the stages of data analysis, next come the findings of the research. The findings of a research can be shared by the researcher with the interested audiences depending on the information that the researcher wants to share with them.50 indigenous children within the age-group of 5 from Maya’s preschool (where she works as a diploma-qualifies educator) formed the participants. An academic researcher would want to share the thematic findings of their researches via various publications or online journals whereas a teacher who is acting as a researcher would like to share the outcomes of the researches with their service community as well as within journal publications (Belotto, 2018). In this respect, copyright issues of their work may arise which needs to be taken care of. One of the way by which the researcher of this study can share her research findings with the audiences is by presenting the outcomes as info graphics. It is important for aEarly childhood development assignment researcher to share their findings while clearly pointing out the participants involved and numerically representing the data based on the research findings. Sharing the findings of the research will help in improving the aspects of education in early childhood while influencing other educators working in that field to enhance their professional skills. In some cases, sharing the research findings can also help in generating further research questions based on the area while eliminating the research gaps of a study.

While conducting the research, various sides of the themes based on the results of the drama play response will get reflected through the children such as taking care of the family members, preparing dishes for their parents and many more cognitive and affective process associated with the play setup. This type of play in a naturalistic setting will provide the children with opportunity to take different roles which are familiar to their daily life and acquiring values and skills through the process. Enacting various roles with respect to different scenarios will thus help the children to learn Early childhood development assignmentsocial and decision making skills.

References
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