Thank you for helping me

Before I start my blog post I want to thank everyone in this class for my journey. I was really nervous in the beginning that I wasn't going to be able to pull through but with your help I am almost at the end. This is one of the most insightful classes I have taken so far at Walden. I've learned how to put together a research study while keeping an ethical perspective. I have a better understanding of quantitative and qualitative although I do struggle with the both a little. “One of the first tasks of the child development researcher is to decide on a basic method by which to collect information. Scientific inquiries generally fall into two broad categories: those conducted using qualitative methods and those conducted using quantitative methods. As the word "qualitative" implies, qualitative methods employ nonnumeric designs and attempt to study phenomena inductively, as a process, and in the place in which the phenomena occur. Conversely, the quantitative approach attempts to measure phenomena numerically and make conclusions deductively and with respect to outcomes or products. Both approaches are well represented in the study of children.” (n.d) Methods of Studying Children - Qualitative Methods Of Child Study, Quantitative Methods of Child Study retrieved from http://social.jrank.org/pages/413/Methods-Studying-Children.html

My ideas have changed about research because now I see it more as a process. I didn't realize that if you become emotionally \involved with the participants, this might affect your study. One of my favorites topics this semester is children and power relations. In the past when research was conducted it was done so unethically without the consent of parents. This is no longer the case. When we are conducting a research study the safety of the children must come first, we must also decide on what method we will use to study the children. Some of the challenges that I have encountered was learning the terminology and before those helpful hints on how to read a research study, I also struggled with that.