PSYCHOLOGY SET UP A STUDY - Essay Example

Topic: Psychology set up a study Hypothesis to test: a) There is a high (p>.05) statistical correlation between the itative’ parental style and well-adjusted children as measured by test/assessments. b) There is high (p>.05) correlation between the ‘uninvolved’ parental style and less well-adjusted children as measured by identical test/assessments.Four distinct types of parenting as 1) Indulgent, 2) Uninvolved, 3) Authoritarian, and 4) Authoritative, are identified in the literature (see References) and it further ‘discusses the consequences of the different styles for children’.

For our purposes, in this study we shall select two contrasting styles, the Authoritative and the Uninvolved for investigation. The paper cited above in summarising research on the topic claims that ‘Children and adolescents whose parents are authoritative rate themselves and are rated by objective measures as more socially and instrumentally competent … ’and those whose parents are ‘uninvolved perform poorly in all domains.’ The description of ‘authoritative’ parental style borders on the ideal.

These parents do not demand unquestioning obedience. They set standards for children’s conduct by negotiation and reference to shared and valued goals. They are assertive but do not punish breaches of discipline in an arbitrary manner by restrictions or by intruding on the child. They require and receive cooperation from their children. The ‘uninvolved’ parents may be labelled ‘laissez-faire’, almost to the point of being neglectful of their children. They are neither responsive to the children’s demands nor do they demand or expect standards of behaviour and conduct from their children.

Although it is clear from the above discussion that we could easily identify two groups for this study, we are required to delve a little further into the theory underlying the differences in the two parental styles. One basis of criticisms for isolating parental styles is the ‘nature – nurture’ controversy. Are we right to ignore ‘nature’ or heritability (genes) when we use parental style as a variable? We are concentrating on ‘nurture’ exclusively in this study. Caveats must be spelt out in the Discussion section.

Children may undergo quantitative as well as qualitative changes in their personality and competences as they mature. By selecting children of exactly the same age group for our study, we can reasonably hope to eliminate problems that could arise from the ‘continuity-discontinuity’ compounding variable. The independent variable in our study is the parenting style and the dependent variable is the personality of the child (or adolescent). How do we measure either of these variables? It is possible to trawl the literature and find questionnaires that measure and distinguish between 1) the authoritative, and the 2) uninvolved parental styles.

The dependent variable is the personality of the child. Here, we could resort to a questionnaire designed to elicit teachers’ assessments of their charges, or use a formal instrument such as one of the ‘Big Five’ personality tests (e.g. NEO PI –R). If the two sets of parents and their offspring of the same age group are identified, there is no reason for this to be a longitudinal study involving delay over a period of time. It could be contemporaneous and cross-sectional. However, it is necessary to determine whether the sample is representative of a Gaussian population and use appropriate statistical measures.

It would be advisable to use nonparametric measures such as the Mann-Whitney U test or the Chi-Square without assuming a normal distribution. Ethical considerations are met by informed consent and debriefing after the intervention. References:< http://www.athealth.com/Practitioner/ceduc/parentingstyles.html > Note: I have not cited individual studies using the ‘parenting style’ dimension as they are all accessible via the above website. Also, to meet requirement of limit to 2 pages.