1. Ways of Learning about Children and Parenting

2. Researchers record their observations in several ways: 1. Observation 2. Participatory Observation 3. Personal Interview 4. Phenomenology (Life Story) 5. Survey 6. Historical Research 7. Official Statistics 8. Review of Literature

3.  Observation checklists – used for observing a particular series of behaviours  Anecdotal reports – detailed written descriptions of everything the child says and does or tape recordings made by researcher describing what they have seen or heard  Videotapes – videotape children and analyze at a later date *Observers must be objective and record only what they see and hear.

4.  Researchers interact with the children and participate in their activities  Researcher may ask questions or request child to perform certain tasks (i.e. Counting, identifying colours)  Observations are recorded in checklists or written descriptions

5.  Child may be interviewed with parental permission  Specific questions are developed in advance  Interviewer writes down the answers word for word or makes a tape recording and then transcribes afterward

6.  The attentive examination of a particular life experience, to study the lived experiences of children and families (i.e. raising a child with a disability, experiencing a tragedy)  Tape-record and then transcribe conversations with the parents

7.  Generally used to get information or data from a large number of people  Survey questionnaires are a quick way to gather numbers, facts and opinions  Results displayed in chart or graph form for easy comparison *Not suitable for gathering information from children

8.  Used to learn about children in the past  Resources: ◦ Diaries ◦ Historical novels ◦ Family ◦ Religious institutions ◦ School records ◦ Old photographs, old letters ◦ Stories told by men/women who were children themselves many years ago

9.  Census data, school records, and other official records depict the size, composition, and demographics or distributions of human populations  Statistics Canada collects demographic data about population trends in Canada

10.  Articles in books, textbooks, magazine, electronic media, and print materials provide research studies and human interest material  Researcher reads the literature and either paraphrases the information (takes notes in his/her own words), or copies direct quotes word for word  Researcher must credit the original author  Style guide used most often in the social sciences is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Style Guide)