4-May-14
Back Ground; 2
Lietarure Review; 3
Purpose of Study 6
Refined Research question; 6
Finalized data sources; 7
Refined Hypothesis & Variables 7
Operational Definition of Key Variable / Concept; 7
Hypothesis 1; 8
Hypothesis 2 8
Data Analysis Technoque; 8
Activity Chart; 8
References; 10
A study of the impact of parent's occupational engagement on child care and development
Back Ground;
The presented methodology aims to develop a research-based study on the impact of full time occupational engagements of parents outside the home on the characteristics of their children. An evaluation of the importance of childhood care cannot be underestimated because of its immense impact on the development an individual. Researchers consider it as the most important stage of life that is the primary factor for the development of optimistic attitude and constructive skills in an individual for entire life.
The brain of a young child is almost one quarter of the size of an adult; however, the development of brain is restricted to the function of stimulation, resulted from retrieved information and environmental factors. This conceives the development of senses that includes sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. Children or young individuals who are brought up in a positive and constructive environment can be potential responsible person with optimistic self-image, stimulated with the positive environmental factors (Bijou S. W., 1961.
Lietarure Review;
Early childhood is the quickest stage of childcare development in a human life. Childcare development is a lifelong process which is commenced from the early childhood and is similar for each individual. Childcare development is based on early learning (Law, 2002). The development of an individual child progresses in accordance with the specific capabilities of a particular child. The key to success in childcare is to be vigilant and learn about the child’s aptitude and priorities so that they can be nurtured in the most effectual way (Humphry R. a, 2006).
Different Psychologists and development researchers have proposed new theories and strategies to describe and explain the process and stages that children go through as they develop (Bijou S. , 1993).
Erik Erikson's theory focuses on the psychosocial stages of human entire lifespan development that is from birth to death(Pomerantz, 2007). However, the personality development of a young child is refined by early experience and family relationships(Bradley, 2002). At each stage, children face a developmental crisis that serves as a major turning point (Davis, 2002). At each stage, it focuses on tasks that must be accomplished to successfully navigate life's challenges. The stages involves in this theory are Trust vs. Mistrust (infant), Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (toddlerhood), Initiative vs. Guilt (preschooler), Industry vs. Inferiority (young adolescent), Identity vs. Confusion (adolescent), Intimacy vs. isolation (young adulthood), Generativity vs. stagnation (middle adulthood) and Ego integrity vs. despair (old age) (Coster, 1998).
Jean Piaget proposed a cognitive stages theory centered on the intellectual development of children. Concepts such as schemas, egocentrism, and assimilation are central to Piaget's theory. The stages involves in this theory are the Sensorimotor Stage (birth to age 2) where the child develops an understanding of the world with the support of sensory experiences such as reflections, instinction actions and symbolic thoughts etc (Davis, 2002). The Preoperational Stage (age 2 to 7) where young children begin analyze their surrounding environment and display feelings with the support of words and images and apply these symbols in their everyday lives (Humphry R. a , 2008). The Concrete Operational Stage (ages 7 to 12) where children begin developing cognitive operations and begin applying this new thinking to different events they may encounter(Grolnick, 1994). Children can now modify and reshuffle mental images and symbols to form a logical consideration. The Formal Operational Stage (ages 11 to 12, and thereafter) where a child now have the ability to think more rationally and systematically about abstract concepts and hypothetical events (Humphry R. , 2002).
Vygotsky socio-cultural cognitive theory has a focus on sociocultural cognitive behavior and information processing (Hill N. E., 2004). This theory emphasizes that children learn through hands-on experience through timely and sensitive intervention by adults when a child is on the edge of learning a new task(Hill N. E., 2003).
Developmental Milestones describe abilities that children typically achieve by a certain age. For example, walking is a milestone that many children reach sometime between the ages of 9 and 12 months (Network, 2003). The stages involves in this theory are Physical Milestones, Cognitive Milestones, Social and Emotional Milestones and Communication Milestones (Hill, 2004).
Sigmund Freud proposed a controversial psychosexual stages theory of development which suggests that the energy of the libido was focused on specific erogenous zones at specific stages (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2005). Failure to progress through a stage can result in a fixation at that point in development, which Freud believed could have an influence on adult behavior (v, 2003). The stages involves in this theory are The Oral Stage, The Anal Stage, The Phallic Stage, The Latent Stage and The Genital Stage (Loeb S. e., 2004).
Lawrence Kohlberg proposed a moral stage theory focused specifically on the moral development of children (Melhuish, 2009). The theory describes three overall levels of moral development that can then be broken down further into six stages (Primeau, 2000). The stages involves in this theory are Preconventional Morality, Conventional Morality and Postconventional Morality (Spitzer, 2003).
Thus it can be concluded that each single theory cannot possibly address all the characteristics and related questions of personality development of the child. However, research have established the finding that the personality development of children is prominently inflicted with parent's involvement(Marsiglio, 1991). Hence, parental engagement with children can be referred as the primary element for sustainable growth and development. The direct interation of parent with children grants optimal social and behavioural development of children
The parents quality time spending can be analysed with the family activities of direct contact encompassing the daily routine attributing the child learning and eduction development. This include monitorning of out of school activities, social ettiqu and self discipline management (Loeb S. e., 2007).
The occupational engagement of parent to serve financial needs of the family for better health, academic enrollement and financial well being as adult. The percentage of occupational engagement have sharply boosted in previous decade (Love, 2003). Unfortunately, the racing cost of living have compromised the quality time spending of parent with children due to long hours of employement and associated obligations such as long commutes and tele communication. Particularly the full time employment of mothers ( 35 hours or above for 52 weeks) have been observed in association with child behavioural issues leading to negative outcomes. The presented study aims to generate a fair observation, keeping the referred aspects in consideration to suggest optimal measures for the management ofparantal occupational engagement to comprehend with healthy child care and development activities (Law, 2002).
Purpose of Study
Precisely, it can be concluded that the childcare and development is the most important element considering the childcare and development. However, the parenting styles are greatly inflicted with situational and environmental impact of the surroundings. These considerations influence parental management with subsequent impact on childcare and development.The purpose of the investigation is to measure the impact of parent's occupational engagement on child care and development activities for a fair analysis of the contributing factors.
Refined Research question;
- How does a single parent has full-time employment outside the home, affect the characters of their children?
Finalized data sources;
The data collected from first hand survey in the shape of structured, semi-structured and unstructured questions. Likewise, the observation of attitude and body language of the respondent will also be a major part of the study to provide a fair idea of the response over the topic by the respondent.
The Random Sampling method is opted for the sampling frame. It is the most appropriate a method in view of the nature of research. The residential block ** of ** will be targeted for execution of survey. 30 families are aimed to be investigated in lieu of research.
Refined Hypothesis & Variables
H1 - Occupational engagement of both parents impacts home childcare
H-2 - Single parents need additional support for child care and development
Operational Definition of Key Variable / Concept;
The presented detail aims to elaborate the operational definition of dependent and independent variables of the hypothesis.
Hypothesis 1;
IV- Occupation Engagement; The employment status options an individual possesses to earn money. The presented study uses the number of hours as a gauge of the level of occupational engagement. (Loeb, 2007)
DV- Child Care Quality; The care and upbringing of an individual / set of individuals in a family under the age of puberty or the legal age of adulthood. (Loeb, 2004)
Hypothesis 2
IV- Support for Child Care; It refers to added support from government in the context of child maintenance and retaining satisfactory living style.
DV- Marital Status; It refers to the marital status that grants a share of the responsibility of child up bringing on parents. Single parent means a person is in a solo position of looking after the children.
Data Analysis Technoque;
The nominal values are tested using a Chi-square test and the ordinal variables are tested using a Kruskal Wallis Test. A Chi-square test is used to measure the relationship between various categorical variables. It is defined as the goodness of fit, between a group of observed variables and the variables that are expected theoretically. A Kruskal Wallis test is a one-way variance analysis, used to determine whether the samples observed originate from the same distribution.
Activity Chart;
References;
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v2003 "The significance of being occupied: The social construction of childhood occupations. " The American journal of occupational therapy 57.4 424-434.
