When I think of Research...

When I think of research I think of how exhausted I was these past eight weeks. I think of the frustration I felt and the intensity of the level of concentration it took to get me through many of the chapters in the textbook. I remember reading entire paragraphs and then going, "huh????" and then rereading the paragraph and going, "huh????" and rereading the entire paragraph again and thinking, "Okay, I still didn't get any of that, but maybe tomorrow."

I remember when I first started this course and how unsure and uncomfortable I felt. Of all the subjects I did not want to tackle, this was the one I least wanted to tackle. I discovered I was familiar with far more terms than I initially thought. I also found myself drawn to the results of research papers, wanting to discover the statistics and numbers. It was a different approach for me.

There was so much to learn about research from this one course. It was insightful to learn the standards of ethics required in Indigenous research. I have often found research to be quite bias and stereotypical, so I was quite surprised to learn that research should be equitable and fair and there were certain adherences that must be followed when researching indigenous people. I was surprised to learn that researchers should gain the consent of participants in their home language and respect their familial traditions and customs. I honestly don't believe this happens every time. There seems to be so much research out there that lumps groups together. When I read the reports, I often ask myself who did they interview? How did they deduce that "black" people or "hispanic" people are less inclined to do that than white people? Which black or hispanic people did they interview? Where do they go to get their information? I never trust the statistics when it comes to race or socioeconomic status. However, in reading our textbook and other course readings, I found it insightful to learn that there are requirements to guide investigators to avoid biases and produce equitable, fair, and just results.

My ideas about the nature of doing research have not changed. I think it is hard work, which requires a lot of planning and design and experience.

It was helpful for me to learn so much about the various design methods and how to plan which method would be most appropriate for your study. Obviously, I am not experienced enough to truly know how to plan for a study, but I feel I have a better understanding of what to do. In thinking about the nature of a study, it is very involved and detailed: what do I hope to find out?; who do I need to participate in my study?; the setting of my study; whether it would be a quasi-experimental design or true experimental designs; quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods approach; and so much more.

Learning about ethics considerations and the challenges was really helpful for me. Empowering children and respecting their rights is crucial in involving children in research. Prior to this course, I thought only parents would have been consulted. It was good to learn that children are supposed to be respected and protected in research.

It was challenging for me to digest some of the chapters in the text. I would have to read and reread some of the sentences to make sense of it all. Often, it felt like it was too much coming at me at once, but after I would take my time and read over something it became easier to comprehend. It was also challenging to come up with my own reflective question on one of the charts. At 2 o'clock in the morning I really just wanted to answer questions,move on, and go to bed, not try to come up with a question. I had no idea what to reflect on for that particular topic and was surprised at myself when I came up with one. I do know that research is not for me. I still find it to be too time consuming and complex. Perhaps working on a research project with others and while I was not holding down two jobs and tending to a family, would make it seem a little less challenging.

My perceptions of an early childhood professional have not changed as a result of this course. I think ECE professionals are among the hardest working, most intelligent, highly-skilled professionals working today.

I would like to thank all of my colleagues for their insightful questions and comments on the discussion boards and the information they provided through their blogs. I think this group was the smallest I have been in so far, but the information was just as enriching.

Dr. Shephard provided some very useful articles (I am on my third very large binder and this is only my 4th class) to use as resources and some very insightful questions on our assignments. I appreciate the support she gave us during the discussions.