The brain undergoes profound development across childhood and adolescence, including continuous changes in brain morphology, connectivity, and functioning that are, in part, dependent on one's experiences. These neurobiological changes are accompanied by significant changes in children's and adolescents' cognitive learning. By drawing from studies…

This study aims to investigate the descriptive characteristics, research topics and methodological procedures of master's theses and doctoral dissertations regarding early childhood education in Turkey. Within the scope of the current study, 931 Master's theses and 171 doctoral dissertations were analyzed according to university, institute,…

Lillard et al. (2013) have done a thorough review of published pretend play research from the past 50 plus years. However, they did not thoroughly address the reasons why this body of research has such flaws as well as the contradictory or minimal findings that call into question strongly held views and published assertions regarding the…

This study investigated whether children with disabilities are excluded from mainstream child development research. Fifteen per cent of 533 articles from "Child Development" and "Developmental Psychology" (1996-2010) were randomly selected. The exclusion rate was 89.9% when no mention of participants with disabilities was…

Purpose: Evidence-based practice (EBP) involves the incorporation of research evidence, clinical expertise, and client values in clinical decision making. One case in which these factors conflict is the use of nonspeech oral motor treatments (NSOMTs) for children with developmental speech sound disorders. Critical reviews of the research evidence…

Background/Context: Educators have written about and studied school climate for 100 years. School climate refers to the quality and character of school life. School climate is based on patterns of people's experiences of school life and reflects norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational…

Randomized social policy experiments (SPEs) are an important methodology for investigating topics in child development. This article provides a framework for understanding how evidence from SPEs can add to knowledge about child development. The use of SPEs for child development questions to date is summarized and lessons from the applied economics…

The importance and relevance of longitudinal research in learning disabilities is addressed, including its value in verification of appropriate hypotheses concerning particular developmental patterns and debunking of misconceptions. Examples from various longitudinal studies are given. (DB)

The best way to get started in conducting measurement research in creative drama is to understand creative drama as fully as possible in order to discover significant issues that need the kind of clarification that measurement research can provide. A few basic research questions that will help people focus on particular projects in creative drama…

In response to the poor conceptualizations and research methodologies of the small amount of research on human development in India, the faculty of the M.S. University of Baroda held a 15-day workshop for researchers--faculty members and doctoral candidates--in the area of child development. This document reports, in condensed form, discussion on…

Identifies interaction effects as the defining feature of resilience and resilience research. Maintains that interaction effects are responsible for the unique contributions of this field of study to the understanding of human development. Suggests that the methodological and statistical challenges posed by interaction effects do not, by…

Argues that dynamic systems theories may illuminate processes whereby public policy influences child development and highlight gaps in current relevant research. Discusses five principles of dynamic systems theories using examples from research addressing effects of current antipoverty and welfare policies on children. Concludes by suggesting…

The purposes of this paper are to examine more intensively than was attempted in the authors' first paper (not available through ERIC) a subset of the parent-child studies published in Child Development and Journal of Marriage and the Family for evidence of qualitative differences in the methodological approaches used in the two journals, and to…

The objective of this book is to examine the methods used in basic research on child development. Studies of replications and near-replications of commonly employed procedures of data collection and analysis are used. Evidence of consistency in research results is sought, thereby enabling the authors to assess the methodological adequacy of using…

An ecological perspective is used to evaluate the quality of mainstream child development research designs that include observational data collection procedures. A preliminary analysis of a case study is presented to illustrate the need for greater attention to ecological factors. (LZ)