Undergrad Dissertation in Psychology

dambarude

Hi everyone - I'd like to tap your collective knowledge if you don't mind!

In the next academic year I'll be undertaking my Final Year Project/Dissertation in Psychology. In ways I'm looking forward to it (it'll be nice to do some reasonably proper research), but for other obvious reasons I'm not.

I'm thinking of possibly doing it with children, which are automatically deemed as vulnerable participants when it comes to ethics clearance. The experiment wouldn't be in any way invasive, it'd be based on the use of educational software. If anyone has experience/advice on working with children for psychology experiments I'd appreciate it.

Any other general words of wisdom would be nice too!

Thank you!

Focalbhach

Do you know who your supervisor would be yet, or is that something you find out in the new term? i.e., is your idea fairly up in the air at the moment, or have you discussed the practicalities with someone?

If you are going to be working with children/adolescents you should try to get your ethics form in fairly sharpish - it could take several weeks to do the rounds, and if they ask you to make any changes that could take another few weeks. As an undergrad project, I'm assuming that (a) it won't be anything massively controversial ethics-wise and (b) they won't hold you up too much unnecessarily, but it's as well to start early and try to foresee potential problems beforehand to cover your bases. There'll be a standard ethics form to fill out, so just answer the questions asked even if you don't think they're especially relevant (e.g., "No, I do not anticipate any emotional distress to participants as a result of using this education software"). Leaving gaps in the form is what will hold the process up. If the technique you're planning to use has been used in previous research, it's no harm to be able to point that out with a reference.

I hope some/any of that is helpful!

dambarude

Thanks for that Focalbhach.

I don't know my supervisor yet, I will at the start of September.

The experiment would most likely involve using the software and then performing a short assessment on its content to see if it was well delivered (and well learned). Could that deemed stressful for young children?

Focalbhach

Need more information

- When you say 'young children', how young are we talking?
- Will you be interviewing them to get their assessment of the software, or is it a written exercise (or both)?
- Is it an individual or group experience?
- Will their teacher, or classmates, be present at the time?
- Do the tests have any consequences for pupils? Follow-up: whether yay or nay, how will they be made aware of this?

To be honest, I'd say the answer to your question will probably be "no" - or at least, "unlikely" - on the grounds that your supervisor will probably steer you away from anything likely to cause problems. Your proposed design might be fine as is, or s/he may suggest amendments to cut out potential issues.

It sounds like an interesting piece of research.

dambarude

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it.

Focalbhach wrote: »

- When you say 'young children', how young are we talking?
.

That would be decided with the supervisor, but most likely in the 8-12 age group.

Focalbhach wrote: »

- Will you be interviewing them to get their assessment of the software, or is it a written exercise (or both)?

Most likely written.

Focalbhach wrote: »

- Is it an individual or group experience?

Group.

Focalbhach wrote: »

- Will their teacher, or classmates, be present at the time?

Teacher and classmates will be present.

Focalbhach wrote: »

- Do the tests have any consequences for pupils? Follow-up: whether yay or nay, how will they be made aware of this?

I'm not quite sure what you mean by consequences, but no. All the test would assess is their grasp of the content they just viewed.

Focalbhach wrote: »

It sounds like an interesting piece of research.

Thanks - one hopes, but I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. Though you may say that going anywhere near doing it with children makes it complicated!

Focalbhach

dambarude wrote: »

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it.

You're welcome.

dambarude wrote: »

That would be decided with the supervisor, but most likely in the 8-12 age group.

Most likely written.

Group.

Teacher and classmates will be present.

It doesn't sound like anything too outrageous. One question I could see being raised, particularly because the children are so young, is the issue of informed consent. You might want to think about preparing a letter for parents (e.g., explaining your research and their children's role in it, with a permission slip to be returned) and asking the teacher to give it to the children ahead of time to bring home. The children should still be given the choice of opting in or out in their own right, of course.

Out of curiosity, are you thinking of using Likert-type items (with response options to be ticked), or asking the children to write open-ended answers for their assessment of the software?

dambarude wrote: »

I'm not quite sure what you mean by consequences, but no. All the test would assess is their grasp of the content they just viewed.

For example, a consequence to the pupil of taking a test could be that their performance gets ranked relative to classmates, so there's the potential for social embarrassment. Or the teacher informs their parents if they do badly, etc. It doesn't apply so much in this case if the focus is more on the children's opinion on the software - but something to be aware of, and perhaps something to communicate if teachers/parents/pupils/ethics committees are worried about distress.

dambarude wrote: »

Thanks - one hopes, but I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. Though you may say that going anywhere near doing it with children makes it complicated!

It does, to a certain extent, but it's certainly not an insurmountable hurdle!

dambarude

Focalbhach wrote: »

You're welcome.

It doesn't sound like anything too outrageous. One question I could see being raised, particularly because the children are so young, is the issue of informed consent. You might want to think about preparing a letter for parents (e.g., explaining your research and their children's role in it, with a permission slip to be returned) and asking the teacher to give it to the children ahead of time to bring home. The children should still be given the choice of opting in or out in their own right, of course.

The parents' consent is a given, that will definitely be required for ethics clearance.

Focalbhach wrote: »

For example, a consequence to the pupil of taking a test could be that their performance gets ranked relative to classmates, so there's the potential for social embarrassment. Or the teacher informs their parents if they do badly, etc. It doesn't apply so much in this case if the focus is more on the children's opinion on the software - but something to be aware of, and perhaps something to communicate if teachers/parents/pupils/ethics committees are worried about distress.

Nobody will know the results except me, and my supervisor, and of course anybody who makes a request to see theirs. IT's unlikely any one score will be linked to a particular child.

Thanks again.

The Black Oil

Have a look around in your department. They'll likely have last year's (and older) projects on file. This might give you some idea as to what to expect re working with children or some of the possible hurdles you might run into. Some staff are also likely to work with children regularly, so they may be able to provide some advice on the ethics side if not much else. No harm to put together a proposal/research plan, even just as an exercise for yourself at this point. Good luck.