Research Question: Do young children behave better depending on whether they are at a daycare facility or at home? Hypothesis: The majority of the children will behave better at home. Research method: Observation Process: 1)Prepare a list of behaviors to observe. 2)Observe daycare children and children in their own home and record findings. Add any new information while observing. 3)Compare data from each situation. Materials: Pencil, checklist of good and bad behaviors.
Checklist Good Behavior: Listening to caregiver/parent Respectful and Sharing (to caregiver/parent, toys, friends/siblings) Participation in activities Using manners Good language (both body and verbal) Good Attitude Bad Behavior: Not listening to teacher Disrespectful and Mean (to caregiver/parent, toys, friends/siblings) Non-participation in activities Bad language (both body and verbal) Bad attitude Disruptive
Good Behavior Bad Behavior Good Behavior Bad Behavior
Good Behavior Bad Behavior
42%58% Good Behavior Bad Behavior Good Behavior Bad Behavior Boys Girls
Good Behavior Bad Behavior
Reliability My research was based on only one hour of observation at home, and at the Daycare. If I observed the same cases multiple times the data would be more accurate. If I observed other Daycare facilities or other home situations within or out of Tisdale the data could have been different than at my home or at the Tisdale Tiny Tornadoes Daycare. Validity My method of observation measured 4 boys and 4 girls between the ages of 2 and 7 during the hour. It was accurate because I directly observed them for about 60 or more minutes and this is one of the only ways we could collect data for this type of research. If I had used a video camera, or other recording device my research could have been more accurate, however, could have also altered the results with the children knowing a camera was recording them.
The game chosen (Cars, Kick Ball, Simon Says, What time is it Mr. Wolf, Hockey, Barbies etc.) for the children played a large role in whether some of the children participated or not. I found that if the activity played was a more boyish game like hockey or soccer than more girls were less likely to participate because this activity appealed more to the boys in both cases. The same goes if the game was Barbies, or Dress up games, it appealed more to the girls in both situations. The mom being able to punish more severely than a caregiver may have influenced some of the children’s behavior because they may feel more intimidated by their moms than teachers at the daycare. In one of the situations the mom was able to use physical threats (spanking) where as daycare staff we are not legally allowed to do that which may have caused the kids to behave a lot better. The physical state the teacher was in could have influenced how the students acted. For example the mom in the situation was sick which could have changed her attitude and tolerance levels towards the kids making them behave better, where as one of the Daycare teachers was pregnant which the children may have taken advantage of her more easily with her lack of a lot of movement. I also found that the majority of girls were very laid back and not wild like the boys tended to be, if the research was changed to just one gender the results may have been different also. One of the biggest factors that could have affected the data was that I was sitting in plain sight observing the situations. During the observations I was directly watching them so the children may have had a higher chance of acting differently because they knew they were being observed.
Comparison and Findings For both cases I found that the girls were more relaxed and less likely to act out and mostly showed a good attitude. The boys on the other hand, were more wild and likely to misbehave, act out aggressively, and interrupt. As you can see at home children were more well-behaved than Daycare children. Twenty percent of at home children had good behavior compared to Daycare children. At Home At Daycare Good Behavior Bad Behavior Good Behavior Bad Behavior
Conclusion My hypothesis was correct that the majority of children will behave better at home. The children were more likely to play with a good behavior at home with their own mother opposed to the children that had a Daycare teacher.