Research that Benefits Children and Families - Uplifting Stories

          I have chosen to explore Option 2.  If I could choose any subject to research my topic of interest would be childhood diabetes.  The reason that I am choosing this topic is because my mother is a diabetic.  I am interested in finding out all that I can about diabetes because I have heard that diabetes can be genetic.    If it is genetic I would like to make certain that my brother who is seven years old is tested early on. 

            Since my research will not be restricted to certain rules and limitations I know that I will be able to come up with some great results.  My participants will be children who are from families that have diabetes.  This will assist me in figuring out whether diabetes is passed down from family members.  I will observe the diets of the participants and review medical records of family members of the participants.  This will give me some information on the risk that is involved in the children developing diabetes.  This study will be a long process because most diabetics’ are diagnosed because they have not eaten properly over a long period of time. 

            This research will make a positive contribution to the children and their families by determining whether diabetes is genetic or not.  If families know that diabetes is genetic they can then start to monitor what their children are eating and change their diets to assist them in a healthy way of eating.  This will be a positive outcome because we will all have healthier children because the awareness of childhood diabetes is now known.  Awareness is very important in childhood diabetes.  Research is very important and if it were not for research and researchers we would not know a lot the concepts, theories, and behaviors that are tied to Early Childhood Education.  As a researcher I will maintain professionalism and I will make certain that all of my participants are treated fairly.  I will not treat my participants as objects rather than subjects (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

Reference

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010).  Doing early childhood research

          International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.).  New York, NY:  McGraw-Hill.

My Personal Research Journey

My topic of interest is Cognitive Development.  I chose this topic because I have always been amazed with Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development.  I am fascinated with how children learn just as Piaget was years ago.  In the Effective Programs and Practices course we observed young children at various child care facilities throughout the course.  As I observed it became apparent to me that children were not less intelligent than adults, they just think differently than adults (Cherry, n.d.).  This was what Piaget’s thoughts were as well. 

            My personal experience with cognitive development came to true form as I observed the children in various preschools and child care facilities.  The knowledge that I gained from observing children learning proved that several of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are indeed exactly what he theorized.  For example the preoperational stage which involves pretend play showed in several instances during my observations.  But the children still struggled with logic.  

            I have gained several insights from the course chapters for Week 1 and Week 2 as well as the research charts.  The course book outlines how to select a topic for research and how to design the research.  The research chart assignments has allowed me to become familiar with how to identify the participants involved in the research as well as how to locate the results of the research .  Knowing how to choose a topic and how to design your research is very important. 

            I am willing to share all of my resources to assist you, my colleagues, in whatever way I can to make certain that your research efforts are successful.  I am asking for your thoughts and/or opinions on my topic.  Any input you have will be greatly appreciated.  I am eager to hear from you.   

Reference

Cherry, K. (n.d.).  Piaget’s stages of cognitive development: Background and key concepts of                   Piaget’s Theory.  Retrieved from http://www.about.compsychology.