Data Collection for the Motivation

¶ … data collection for the motivation to three preschool criteria, which includes rewards, and no rewards motivation. The chapter also discusses the research design, and research procedures, sources of data, collection strategy and process analysis. The paper states the premises of the research methodology to gain greater understanding on the method of data collection.

Research Premises and Process

The research uses experimental method to test the influence of motivation among the preschool children aged four years old. In the research method, there are experimental group and the control group. The research employs motivation on the experimental group to determine their behaviour and performances and however, the control group are not provided the rewards to influence their performances. The major objective for using the control group is to determine the impact of motivation on the preschool age. The paper analyzes the data to enhance the reliability and validity of the data collected. The research attempts to communicate the findings to the appropriate school authorities to enhance their greater understanding on the effectiveness of motivation on the preschool age of four-year-old and to improve on the preschool curricula. The overall research process is as follows:

Formulation of research problem

Hypothesis development

Research design

Sampling strategy

Data collection

Data analysis

Hypothesis testing

Interpretation and generalization

Report preparation

Pass the findings to the appropriate authorities to enhance the innovation of curricula of preschool children.

Research Design and Procedures

The research employs the experimental method, and the data are collected from the sample of 20 pre-school age children who form the experimental group. The control group also consists of another set of 20 pre-school children. Both groups are subjected to the same experiment, and the researcher motivates the experimental group by giving them rewards that include praise and toys. The control group are given no rewards. The data collection is through qualitative observation and research site is at a childcare centre. The research design attempts to address the research questions and understand the effects of motivation on the pre-school children of four-year-old. What is the best motivation method to be employed for the experiment? When is the appropriate time to conduct the experiment on the pre-school children, and where is the appropriate place to conduct the experiment and under what condition? The research also identifies why the motivation is the best strategy for the experiment and how could research improves on the methodology used for data collection?

Sample Population

The sample population consists of male and female preschool children aged four years. The researcher samples the participants from different ethnic groups and different socio-economic status. The school psychologist tests all the participants before being allowed to participate. Any participant suspected to being mentally retarded, not physical fit, or of ill health is not allowed to participate. The researcher employs stratified random sampling to select the sample population. The stratified random sampling allows the entire ethical and socio-economic group to be represented. (Trochim & Donnelly 2007).

Data Collection

All data used for the research consists of primary and secondary data. Direct observation method is used to collect primary data. Direct observation is used to collect data because "interviews and questionnaires are not suitable for use with young children whose oral and written language skills are not well developed." (McKechnie, 2000 P. 61). The direct observation involves recording the action performed by the children and the observation takes place at the community setting of the participants. Direct observation is a qualitative method of data collection, which assists researcher to learn the study population at a close range, and during the observatory period, the research makes objective notes on the performances of the participants.

One of the advantages of observation as a method of data collection is the accuracy of the data collected. Taylor-Powell & Steele (1996) argue that direct observation is a valuable method of collecting data. Direct observation provides the opportunity to document behaviour, activities, and physical aspects of the participants. The researcher employs covert observation method where the children do not know that they are being observed. Despite the benefits derived from using direct observation for data collection, making accurate data from direct observation on preschool children is time-consuming. The researcher needs to exercise lot of patients to collect accurate data.

The participants consist of 20 preschool children aged 4 years old as experimental group. The control group also consist of 20 participants. The data are collected at research location. The researcher use rating scale and checklists to record the performances of the participants.

Moreover, the researcher also collects secondary data to supplement primary data. The source of secondary data is from the academic library, and academic electronic database such as Science Direct, Wiley database, Emerald database, ProQuest, and Social Science Research Network (SSRN) database. The advantage derived from using secondary data for research is that it saves time, and the data are collected at relatively low costs. The disadvantages of secondary data are that it may not be very appropriate to answer research questions and address research problem.

There are research instruments the researcher use for the observation. The next section discusses research instruments used for the research.

Research Instruments

There are three set of instruments that the study employs to test the impact of motivation on the preschool age. The research instrument used for the experimental group is Self-concept and Motivation Inventory (SCAMIN). The SCAMIN is an eye-catching instrument that could be used for achievement, and self-concept of preschool age. In addition, the researcher uses the Preschool Learning Behavioral Scale (PLBS), Preschool, and Kindergarten Behavioral Scales (PKBS) for the control group. The combination of the Learning Behavioral Scale (PLBS) and PKBS and rewards are used for the experimental group.

The research instrument Preschool Learning Behavioral Scale (PLBS) consists of a paper-and-pencil measure and observational behavioral items intended to be used for the preschool children between the age of 3 and 5 years. (Lutz, Fantuzzo, & McDermott 2002). The paper pencil contains related 28 related learning observable behavioral item and positive (5 items) as well as negative (20 items) behaviors are incorporated and the rate of each items is 3-point scale that include "most often applies," "sometimes apply," "does not apply." The scale completion should take approximately 10 minutes. In combination with PLBS, the research instruments also contain Preschool and Kindergarten Behavioral Scales (PKBS). The instrument is designed for the preschool age between 3 and 6 years. The PLBS is designed to assess problem behavior and social competence of the preschool children.

The research instruments for the control group are combination of PLBS, and PKBS. To reward the children, the researcher uses combination of praise and extrinsic motivation. The extrinsic motivation is tangible rewards given to the participants. The research uses tangible rewards, which include imaginative play. The children are motivated by giving series of interesting play such as dinosaur toys decorated with different colors. In addition, the toys such as airplanes, doctors, boats and soldiers are given to the children to motivate them during learning period. A teacher is asked to play with the children with toys to make the children enjoy the play as well as guiding the children during the play.

Human Subject Consideration

To enhance ethical consideration, the research seeks for the permission of the parents before using their children for the experiment. The research distributes information paper of the experiment to the parents, and the contents of the paper enhance greater understanding of the parents on the objective of the experiment and the importance of the experiment on children. The researcher also promises to make the findings of the research available to the parents. To enhance ethical consideration of the research, the researcher promises to enhance confidentiality of the participants by assuring the parents that no personal information of the participants will be distributed to the third parties, and all information collected are for the experimental purpose only. To enhance the confidentiality of the participants, names and other personal information of the participants are coded and eliminated upon the conclusion of research. The signatures of the parents reveal their acceptance to use their children for the experiment.

The researcher also seeks for the permission of the day-care owners before using the children for the experiment. The researcher provides the full information of the research to the daycares owners, and promise to protect the personal information of the children and their parents.

To enhance research reliability and validity, the paper provides the method of analysis.

Method of Analysis

Analysis of observation data is very important to enhance data reliability and validity. Since researcher is taking notes on the performances of the participants and use rates to record performances of each preschool child, the researcher checks all data for accuracy. The researcher checks all data for the spelling mistakes, and all the errors are corrected to enhance data validity. The researcher also summarizes the whole data in a manageable form, and the summary is in the format such as name, sex, age, ethnicity and rating. The researcher also assigns numerical values to the rating of preschool children. By assigning the numerical value to all data, researcher is able to present data in tables, graph and chart to assist the presentation of the research findings. In addition, the data presented are used to compare the performances of the experimental group and control group. The graph, chart, and table are also used to make comparison of the two groups.