The object of this study is to carry out a small scale investigation, based on the Hess et al (1980) study which was development expectations of children on of mothers in different countries. Factors that I shall be taking into consideration whilst carrying out the interviews include the participants’ race, cultural background and their socio-economic status. I will also address the significance of aspects such as child having siblings, being raised by a single parent or a first time parent(s).
All the areas covered in this study may to some extent affect how a child is raised and also lend some explanation to the different views the parent has acquired about the relationship with their child A child may often learn from others around them, by copying or engaging themselves in similar behavioural patterns. Parents often tend to set boundaries of what is acceptable to them. Some of their views may be typical to others; others may be formed by a certain cultural demand.
A child may discover the ability to carry out certain tasks at a particular age yet the parent may feel that their child should be doing that task before or after a certain age; indeed these aspects of parenting can cause great anxieties. Taking a look back at Hess et al’s study it can be seen by the statement cards that many parents often have different opinions or expectations on when their child should be able to do something, possibly in comparison to the behaviour of other parents with their children, or how they themselves have been raised.
Parental influence on children is very important in the early stages of child development and as the children grow they will start to deal with things in their own way, compiling what they have been taught by parents with their own experiences and understanding of their background and social environment.
In addition children’s own observations from their environment as well as their engagement with older and closer age children can often contribute to their learning from others for example in feeding and dressing themselves and other such activities, in doing so they are getting to grasps with different emotions and ultimately the art of human interaction. Children have the ability to resolve issues by learning to balance initiative against the demand of others. Development involves change and this goes for any of the stages in child development, but more crucial are the issues that affect the rate of a child’s development.
Hess et al study was carried out on both American and Japanese mothers who each had a five year old child with half being male and the other half being female. The study which I shall conduct will vary from that carried out by Hess et al but in essence will deal with the same concept of child development. Method The investigation will include interviewing two participants following the Hess et al procedure, then noting down their results and writing up brief notes on the theories or beliefs that the participant have raised or may relate to.
There may also be some statement cards that the participant(s) were unclear on or which they wanted to discuss further. This will be done later on in the interview. Participants should both have children five years or under and their circumstances should be noted and considered before starting the interview. The aim of the study was to find out what the parent’s expectations and beliefs are in relation to their child’s development and to compare the results received from both participants to see if any trends or patterns emerge.
Prior to the selection of the participants I will use in the study, I decided on choosing a parent with a child younger than the age of four and a parent of a child aged between four and five. Both my participants were from an ethnic background with children who have been born and brought up in the UK. This will give me a more focused set of results, looking at two different age ranges but from a similar cultural background. The first stage was to make contact with participant 1, to explain the nature of the research and my aims of the study.
Also to briefly mention the timescale involved and aspects of confidentiality. Arrangements were made to conduct the interview within the coming weeks. After doing some research and background reading I got in touch with participant 1 and arranged to meet with them on 13th February 2005 at a pre- arranged location and time. I briefly explained the procedure to the participant making sure they were clear what it involved and understood what was required of them.
Participant 1 was a professional educated female working in the teaching field and has just one child of 14 months who was born in the UK. Participant 1 herself is born outside of the UK and is of South Asian origin with her religious background being Hinduism. She resides with her partner in the West Midlands where the main language spoken in her home is English. The materials I used were all provided by the Open University; these included 29 statement cards, a sorting sheet and a summary data sheet to fill out the results.
The sorting sheet and statement cards were to be used in stage one of the investigations whilst the summary data sheet was to be used to collect the data before analysing it. Before I began I explained to the participant that I had carried out a pilot interview on myself and showed them the example statement card so they were familiar with what they had to do. I also explained that if they were unclear about any aspects of the method or statement cards, they should note any queries down and we would discuss this is stage two.