Response to 10/29 promp

Researching the studies of developmental psycogists is one source for making parental choices but is not the easiest way because the studies are extremely hard to navigate to find specific inforpmstion and is jam packed with statistics that not everyone would undersand. Finding easier to read articles would be a better route to take as a parent. The researchers could get their results to the public easier by getting involved with such organizations and and possibly broadcasting information on the news or sending information to promanent doctors in their feild.

Blog prompt from 10/29

The process of searching for studies to support our stances was tedious and did not seem to be user friendly to the general population. If I were a parent seeking parental advice, I would most likely not search for individual studies for answers but the meta-analysis because they give a summary of multiple studies. However, the meta-analysis are harder to summarize and sort through the heaps of statistics in order to present.

Peer-Reviewed Lit

Years of biology research has acquainted me with peer-reviewed literature all too well. So for me, finding the information was not extremely difficult. Although sometimes it is easy to get bogged down with the complex statistics and in-depth analyses, I think reading scholarly information in invaluable. If I were a parent looking for this information, I wouldn't want articles that came from the first results page on Google. I would want something that utilized the scientific method in its study and whose methods and findings have been scrutinized by fellow researchers. To a point, there would be value in making these articles more available to the public. However, the way these articles are written is not friendly to the general populous - the majority of the individuals who need this knowledge anyway. What would be helpful is there was an abridged, summarized, or simplified version of the information included in information healthcare professionals already distribute to parents.

Prompt for week of 10/28-11/01/13

I did not find the type of research for our group debate to be easily assessable or understandable. The use of academic report proved to be more confusing than useful. The general public does not have access to academic reports for the information which makes this type of research inconvenient. I would do my research differently next time.

I think a presentation with clear and concise statistical information is easier for individuals to comprehend.  I also feel that it would be helpful to a parent when making the decision on sending their child to daycare or keeping them home.

The Carl Sagan of Psychology

As a parent, yes I find that a literature review of best practices for raising a child has been invaluable and I will continue to learn in order to help produce successful offspring.  Honestly, I cannot say that had I not taken this class as a parent, I would not have researched the information in the same manner.  Evaluating peer reviewed journals shows that there is not a consensus on best practices for raising children.

As I have learned throughout my six years of studying at Montana Tech, researchers will often struggle writing for the public and writing for further research grants.  What researchers need is a Neil Degrassi-Tyson or a Carl Sagan to help simplify psychology research to bring this complex information to the masses.  However with such a contentious amount of information out there, it will be difficult to develop consensus for best parenting practices.  

Though I'd Hope To Be More Holmes Than Clouseau.

If I were a parent searching for the scoop on the benefits/detriments of out of home daycare, I probably would have gone about the research differently. I would most likely focus less on empirical studies and more time investigating local daycare centers. It's hard to judge if daycare is good/bad based on studies alone, especially since most studies I found said daycare can either be beneficial or detrimental, depending on the quality of the daycare and how much time a child spends there each week. Thus, I'd check out local daycare centers to see the facilities (to see if they're clean or dirty), and talk to the staff to inquire about activities, general rules/outlook, qualifications of the staff, kid to staff ratio, etc. Then I would judge for myself whether or not the facility is one of quality, and worth sending my (imaginary) child to.

I'm not sure if there is a better way for researcher's to bring their findings to the public. I would suggest making them more "user-friendly," in someway though, as I felt my head swimming when trying to decipher some of the stats used in various articles I'd found. And certainly, their research would have to be more readily available, because not everybody has a handy-dandy student ID number to open the gates of the library's bountiful databases. Perhaps Oprah should get on the case?

In all seriousness, it would be useful if these articles would be more readily available to create greater awareness of the possible benefits/detriments of daycare. And it would be nice if daycare was more regulated in the U.S. so "quality" daycare could be seen as more of a standard and not something you might need detective gear to find.

week of Halloween post

I think without having access to b database like through Montana Tech it would be hard to find peer reviewed articles. If I were a parent researching this I probably would have just Google searched and used what I found even if not a peer reviewed study.

Childcare

 I really like the idea of having cameras in the rooms weather it be daycare or school. To be able to check in at any time, or review the actual events that have taken place seems like a good solution. I think this would positively serve as a reminder to ensure higher standards for the people who chose to work with children. We can not control all situations that may arise in every child's life, but we do have the opportunity to control what our children are subjected to while in public systems. We also have a right to know that our kids are being left with professionals, quality care givers, or positive influences, which is what really what we expect from the people we entrust our youth to.

As a parent I have been through the childcare process, and it is hard to pinpoint all the things needed in order to keep our children safe. When I moved to Butte with my two children, we didn't know anyone at all. I went through two daycare centers the first week and ended up in a small family daycare. My children have attended this small daycare ever since. I never worry about the care they receive because I know they are safe and taken care of, but the first two places I used were the opposite. The first daycare had my son for six hours and never changed his diaper which resulted in a horrible rash. A young girl was working at the time, while the second place didn't feed my kids one snack in five and a half hours, nor did they give them a drink. Luckily my daughter was old enough to tell me what went on but that may not always be the case.

I think education and economic level may not always make a difference in every situation as much as the quality of the caregiver and the morals they teach. People show you what they want you to see but behind closed doors they may become someone completely different as the case has been recently with my sons teacher in our local public schools. My boy became physically sick before I realized the teacher was bullying him, using him as an example to belittle him and punishing the whole class in an attempt to punish him since he shut down and refused to do her work. Now after raising some hell, we have him in a better place and his work is great along with his attitude, and the physical symptoms are gone. I don't think that teacher has any idea what a negative effect she has had on my son, even after three meetings, but instead placed all blame on him. If a parent or teacher abuses a child, do you really think they would be honest and tell you? Most if not all abuse that takes place will be denied on multiple levels as well as adapted to, over looked, and rationalized by the abuser and even the victim. Mind control is a very powerful thing that does take place day to day and can overpower the strongest individual without being recognized  or acknowledged. I am not sure there is a testable way to produce perfect results but we have had our share of trial and error. As long as we learn from our mistakes then they were not in vain.

I think that if I were a parent my process for deciding if I were going to send my child to daycare or preschool would include some research. I would attempt to find out what aspects make for the best daycare and preschool expire nice for infants and toddlers. I would then visit the day care at different times of the day to make sure that the preschool or daycare was actually following through with these ideas. I think that there needs to be more regulations on day ares in the USA. Daycare providers here tend to be paid very poorly and have little to no required training with children beyond CPR and at time food handlers cards.

Response to prompt of Oct 29

I enjoyed the process of searching for papers that supported a particular topic.  However, if I wasn't a student that process would likely have been much more difficult.  Prior to attending college I had no idea of how to access peer reviewed literature and never would have considered that important.  I don't know how many prospective parents are searching JSTOR or google scholar for input on how to raise their child.  Most of them would likely turn to popular literature on the topic.  Parenting magazines or websites would be the most likely sources.  While I'd like to think that those sources have credible backing for the articles they publish that may not always be the case.  Not to mention that many of those sources have a particular belief and may not present both sides of the argument.  If researchers have a conduit, such as popular literature, to release their findings to the general public then I think that that is sufficient.  Hopefully parents are taking the time to read on both sides of the argument, as well as consulting as many experts as possible to gain as much information as possible.

If i were a parent.....

After doing some research on the topic I had I now understand to a even higher level that there is always two sides. To spank or not to spank? I think for any family or parent this will cross their mind and you must take into consideration, is this within my morals to actually spank my kid for bad behavior? Spanking isn't the only form of corporal punishment there could also be a slap across the head, violently grabbing your kid and leaving marks and scratches that cause injury. If I had a kid and were looking into both options I think I would of looked at more of the criteria. I would of looked even more in depth and put myself and my kid into the situation I was reading about. I found myself with this research project not even giving thought to my own background until after I presented. So just getting myself involved with the subject I found I became more interested.

To be clear my parents were very much against corporal punishment and especially spanking. As I brought up the question to my mom she gave me a very avid NO! I have never spanked you and never thought about it which opened my eyes even more. Before getting into the subject I already had a stance on the issue. I will never spank or corporally punish my kid I never gave a second thought to it as I noticed that I am following in my mothers footsteps. I am a great kid who has never gotten into (too) much trouble just your normal teenager and now college student with nothing on my record to hurt me. Proof can go either way but I believe being raised how you were helps to influence your decision. After the research I find myself still on the same idea; that I will not spank my kids for I have turned out well so lets keep it going into the next generation with my children. I think verbal communication makes more of a connection then a hit on the ass. 

Prompt for October 29

Now that your groups have had a taste of performing a literature review to support your topic, what did you think of the process? If you were a parent attempting to make a similar decision, would you have searched the same way? Evaluated what you found in a similar fashion? Do you think there is a better way for researchers to get their findings to the public? What would it be? What do you think?