Part 1: Reading Research

Part 1: Reading Research

Professionals in all disciplines keep their knowledge of the field current. There are various ways to accomplish this, such as attending conferences or networking with other professionals. However, the most efficient way to learn about new developments on an ongoing and relatively cost-effective basis is to read published research articles. Yet, this option is heavily underutilized by a great number of professionals in all fields. The common reason stated across disciplines is that for those who are not trained researchers, such publications are too difficult to read because of the complex language and the statistics involved.

While these assumptions are factually correct, they do not need to keep you from being comfortable and fluent reading research. The solution is to learn to identify and then focus on strategic pieces of information within each article. “A Practical Guide to Reading Research Articles

• Course Online Reading: Lepuschitz, J.K. (2011). A practical guide to reading research articles. Laureate Education Inc., Baltimore, MD.

” in the resources this week, is a tool to help you learn this process. This assignment provides you with an opportunity to use this reading as a tool to practice and hone your research reading skills. Step-by-step instructions will guide you through the reading process so that you learn to apply this tool in a systematic manner.

Follow the steps below to complete this portion of the application assignment:

Review the article “A Practical Guide to Reading Research Articles”

Keep the Appendix in the course text nearby and use it as a guide to terminology that might be new to you and that you may encounter when reading research articles

Chose one of the research articles listed below.

Click on the link below and follow the instructions.

“Analysis of a Research Article”

Submit your completed document

Research Articles

Note:Some research articles, especially those that report on studies using qualitative methods, are written in less formal styles and usually do not need special reading skills. The focus of this assignment is exclusively on learning to read studies that use quantitative methods and a formal style of describing the research process.

Article:Lisonbee, J. A., Mize, J., Payne, A. L., & Granger, D. A. (2008). Children’s cortisol and the quality of teacher–child relationships in child care. Child Development, 79(6), 1818–1832. Retrieved from the Walden Library using Academic Search Complete database. Elevated Cortisol levels can be a symptom of anxiety or other stress. The focus of this study was to find out what may influence a change in Cortisol levels in very young children.

Article:Over, H., & Carpenter, M. (2009). Eighteen-month-old infants show increased helping following priming with affiliation. Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell), 20(10), 1189–1193. Retrieved from the Walden Library using Academic Search Complete database. This study with 18-month-old infants explores circumstances under which their willingness to help another person changes.

Article:Sayfan, L., & Lagattuta, K. H. (2009). Scaring the monster away: What children know about managing fears of real and imaginary creatures. Child Development, 80(6), 1756–1774. Retrieved from the Walden Library using Academic Search Complete database. As the title promises, this is a study of what very young children know about how different people experience fear and what one can do to not be overwhelmed by fear.

Article:Strand, P. S., Cerna, S., & Downs, A. (2008). Shyness and emotion-processing skills in preschoolers: A 6-month longitudinal study. Infant & Child Development, 17(2), 109–120. Retrieved from the Walden Library using Academic Search Complete database. This is a rather complex study: it involves several data collection points over a period of time; it shows the application of more than one data collection instrument; and it involves results that are to some degree ambiguous. This is often the case when the topic of the research, as in this study, involves the investigation of aspects of socio-emotional factors related to children. The results of this study are surprising and of practical importance for anybody interested in fostering healthy socio-emotional development in young children.

Article:Slaughter, V., & Griffiths, M. (2007). Death understanding and fear of death in young children. Clinical Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 12(4), 525–535. Retrieved from the Walden Library using Sage Premier 2010 database. This study describes the degree to which children between 4 and 8 years understanding death, their fear of death, and in what specific ways these concepts and fears change over the course of development. The results of this study provide some guidance for ways to discuss death with young children.