DAVAO CENTRAL COLLEGE, INC.

Juan dela Cruz Street, Toril, Davao City

Landline No. (082) 291 1882
Accredited by ACSCU-ACI

TLE M14
CHILD AND ADOLESCENT
DEVELOPMENT

WEEK 3
LEARNING MODULE
TLE M14 | Page 1
 DAVAO CENTRAL COLLEGE, INC.
Juan dela Cruz Street, Toril, Davao City
Landline No. (082) 291 1882
Accredited by ACSCU-ACI

Week 3

Unit 1: Research in Child and Adolescent Development

Topic: Teachers as consumers/end Users of research, Teachers
as Researchers, The Scientific method, Research design, Data
gathering technique.

Learning Outcomes:
1.Explain the basic principle of research
2.Read researches on child and adolescent development
and make simple research abstracts out of researches read.

Concept Digest
Introduction
You may have a separate 3-unit course on research. This Module
is not intended to be a substitute for that three-unit course.
It is simply meant to supplement what you got or will still
get in the Research course. As you may have noticed, most if
not all of what is presented about the development of the
child and adolescent are products of research. It might
interest you to know how these concepts/ theories cited in
this course. Hopefully, you may be so inspired that you too,
too, would like to start conducting researches on your own or
join a group for research.
Teachers as Consumers/End Users of Research
Research gives teachers and also policy-makers important
knowledge to use in decision-making for the benefit of
learners and their families. Well-informed teachers are able
to use and integrate the most authoritative research
findings. Research enables teachers to come up with informed
decision on what to teach and how to teach. This involves
decisions related to educational policies, curriculum,
effective learning processes, and even those involving
research, too. It can help us, to be more knowledgeable about
how to fit our teaching development levels of our learners.

The Scientific Method

One important principle in research is adherence to the

scientific method, since research is a systematic and a
logical process. As such, researchers basically follow the
scientific method. Dewey gave us 5 steps of the scientific
development.
1. Identify and define the problem
2. Determine the hypothesis
3. Collect and analyze data
4. Formulate conclusions
5. Apply conclusions to the original hypothesis

2
 DAVAO CENTRAL COLLEGE, INC.
Juan dela Cruz Street, Toril, Davao City
Landline No. (082) 291 1882
Accredited by ACSCU-ACI

Simply explained, identifying problem is the first step. This

is followed by stating a tentative answer to the research
problem called the hypothesis. The hypothesis is also
referred to as an educated guess. If your research problem is
concerned with determining the cause of an effect or a
phenomenon you have to gather and analyze data derived from
an experiment. However, if your research problem is concerned
with describing data and characteristics about the subjects
or phenomenon you are studying, you do not need to perform an
experiment, this is descriptive research. After analyzing the
data, you formulate your conclusions.

Research design

Researches that are done with high level of quality and

integrity provide us with valuable information about child
and adolescent development. to be able to conduct quality
research, it is important that you know various research
designs and different data-gathering techniques used by
developmental researches. Some are given and describe below:
Research Design Description Strengths Weaknesses
Need to exercise
It provides
caution when
information
generalizing
about an
1. Case study from the
individuals’
information; the
fears, hopes,
subject of a
fantasies,
case study is
traumatic
unique, with a
experiences,
genetic make-up
upbringing,
An in-depth look and experience
family
at an individual no one else
relationships,
share; involves
health, and
judgements of
anything that
unknown
helps a
reliability in
psychologist
that usually no
understand that
check is made to
person’s
see if other
development.
psychologist
(Santrock 2002)
agrees with.
Not involve the
Useful because
manipulation of
the more
the factors, it
A research strongly two
is not a
2. Correlational design that events are
dependable way
study determines correlated, the
to isolate cause
associations. more we can
(Kantowitz, et
predict one from
al 2001 cited by
the other
Santrock 2002)
A research Experimental
design that research is
determines limited to what
The only true
cause- and – is observable,
reliable method
3. Experimental effect testable and
of establishing
relationships. manipulable.
cause and effect
The experimental Failure to
method involves achieve
manipulating one randomization

3
 DAVAO CENTRAL COLLEGE, INC.
Juan dela Cruz Street, Toril, Davao City
Landline No. (082) 291 1882
Accredited by ACSCU-ACI

variable to may limit the

determine if extent to which
changes in one the study sample
variable cause is
changes in representative
another of the parent
variable. This population and,
method relies on with it,
controlled generalizability
methods, random of the findings
assignment and of the study.
the manipulation
of variables to
test a
hypothesis.
A research
design that
focusses on
children’s
experiences in
natural
settings.
This not involve
any intervention The
or manipulation disadvantages of
on the part of naturalistic
One of the
the researcher. observation
advantages of
This technique include the fact
this type
involves that it can be
research is that
4. Naturalistic observing difficult to
it allows the
observation subjects in determine the
researcher to
their natural exact cause of a
directly observe
environment. behavior and the
the subject in a
This type of experimenter
natural setting.
research is cannot control
often utilized outside
in situations variables.
where conducting
lab research is
unrealistic,
cost prohibitive
or would unduly
affect the
subject’s
behavior.
This research
design studies
They are
and follows
expensive and
through a single
Allows them to time consuming.
group over a
record and The longer study
period of time.
5. Longitudinal monitor lasts, the more
The same
developmental subjects drop
individuals ae
trends out, they move,
studied over a
get sick, lose
period of time.
interest, etc.
Usually several
years or more
A research
Allows them to It gives no
strategy in
record and information
which
6. Cross monitor about how
individuals of
sectional developmental individuals
different ages
trends. The change about the
are compared at
researcher does stability of
one time.

4
 DAVAO CENTRAL COLLEGE, INC.
Juan dela Cruz Street, Toril, Davao City
Landline No. (082) 291 1882
Accredited by ACSCU-ACI

not have to their

wait. characteristic.
This is the
combined cross-
sectional and
longitudinal
approaches to
learn about
life-span
development Allows them to
(Schie,1993 record and
cited by monitor
Santrock 2002). developmental
This starts with trends. It
cross sectional provides It is complex
7. Sequential study that information that expensive, and
includes is impossible to time consuming
individuals of obtain from
different ages. cross-sectional
A number of or longitudinal
years after the approaches
initial alone.
assessment, the
same individuals
are tested-this
is the
longitudinal
aspect of the
design.
Action research
is a reflective
process of
progressive
problem-solving
led by
individuals
Typically takes
working with
place in one
others in teams
Appropriate in a organization
or as part of a
particular only at a
community of
setting when the particular time
practice to
purpose of study and could not be
improve the way
is “to create interpreted
8. Action they address
changes and gain within different
research issues and solve
information on organizations in
and solve
processes and the same way,
problems. In the
outcome of the therefore
context of
strategies used” research
teaching, action
(Hunt 1987) findings are
researches of
hard (impossible
teachers stem
to generalize).
from their own
questions about
and reflections
on their
everyday
classroom
practice.

5
 DAVAO CENTRAL COLLEGE, INC.
Juan dela Cruz Street, Toril, Davao City
Landline No. (082) 291 1882
Accredited by ACSCU-ACI

Data-gathering techniques
1. Observation. Observations can be made in either
laboratories or natural settings. In naturalistic
observation, behavior observe in the real world like
classrooms, home, neighborhood.
2. Physiological measures. Certain indicators of children’s
development such as, among others, heart rate, hormonal
levels, bone growth, body weight, and brain activity are
measured.
3. Standardized. These are prepared tests that assess
individual’s performance in different domains. Theses test
are administered in a consistent manner.
4. Interviews and Questionnaires. Involve asking the
participants to provide information about themselves based on
the interview questionnaire given by the researcher.
Gathering of data may be conducted through a printed
questionnaire, over the telephone, by mail, in person, or
online. Information is obtained by utilizing standardized
procedures so that every participant is asked the same
questions in the same manner. It entails asking participants
for information in some structure format.
5. Life-History Records. These are records of information
about a lifetime chronology of event and activities. They
often involve combination of data records on education, work,
family, and residence. These include public records or
historical documents or interviews with respondent.

Ethical Principles
To serve the genuine purposes of research, teacher
researchers are subject to ethical principles. Just as we
have the code of ethics that governs the behavior of teachers,
there also exist ethical standards that guide the conduct of
research. These ethical standards serve as reminders that as
researchers, we should strive to protect the subjects of our
study and to maintain the integrity of our research.

Reference:
American Psychological Association Concerning Research.