The Research Journey of a Lifetime

Option #2 - Alleviating Bullying

My research choice comes from a news report that touched my heart.  A 13 year old child took his life after being bullied for being gay.  There have recently been a number of suicides due to bullying so this is the premise of my research topic.


This would be a longitudinal research project.  The project  would be a collaboration with behavioral researchers in the United States.  The subjects of the study would be every child born in 2012 and their parents.  The length of the project would be until the children reached 18 years of age.    The parents would be asked for their permission, as found in OHRP regulation 45 CFR 46.402(c) and given free parenting classes, which would provide the tools to use in promoting acceptance.  When the children reach 3.8 years of age, they will be asked to assent to the study, unless determined by the IRB (Institutional Review Board), using one of the circumstances in regulation 45 CFR 46.408(a) .  At this time Parents would have the opportunity to remove themselves from the study or to continue on.

The study would also include any pre-school staff and the school system in which the children are enrolled.  Researchers would look at policies and procedures in those institutions regarding bullying.

The children would have opportunities to meet a diverse group of people, along with their parents and will be subjected to questions regarding their feelings about those diverse people.  They would listen to statements made about the various groups and decide whether the statements were true or false and if the statement was "mean".  Mean, being hurtful and/or damaging to the "feelings" of the person(s) the statement was aimed at.

The statements would target the following, but would not be limited to:

• Handicapped/Disabled
• Mentally challenged
• Poor people
• Homelessness
• Elderly
• Obese
• Races (African American, Hispanic, Caucasian, Asian, etc.)
• Homosexual
• Single parents
• Drug users
• Incarcerated
• Religions
• Atheism

The researchers would meet with their designated groups bi-annually to inquire whether they, the parents and/or their children, had been subjected to bullying or bullied someone since their last meeting.  The teachers would also be questioned on what they were seeing.

I know there are many variables to this research project that haven't been addressed but the ultimate goal, for the "greater good" would be to develop children who are sensitive,caring and strong enough not to bully or allow others to be bullied.



References

Special Protections for Children as Research Subject retrieved from http://www.gov/ohrp/policy/populations/children.html

My Research Journey

My simulation topic is, What is the relationship between homelessness and vocabulary children have as they begin child care?
I chose this topic because I noticed when children entered care and the teachers asked them questions about items in the classroom they either knew what the teacher was talking about, had some idea or didn't have a clue.  The children were in homeless families and I wondered if being homeless and transient, the educational level of their parents and the time in care made a difference in the aquisition and retention of the vocabulary words they learned.





 One of my insights is a topic may seem simple when first formed but as you delve deeper, the topic becomes more complex resulting in more questions and more contemplation.  Another insight is the questions we ask may have been asked differently which means we may be "re-inventing the wheel".  Being able to use search engines helps in finding out if the reseach has been exhaustive or whether more research is needed on a topic.


I would appreciate any help you may have on my topic.  I would like to ask those of you who work directly with children in a classroom setting what vocabulary words you thought children would know when they entered your program, but didn't.  I would like to use them in my research.