Human Development Journals Analysis
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Human Development Journals Analysis
The paper analyses four peers reviewed journals, which relate to different stages of human development; childhood and late adulthood. The first journal is a systematic review of the impacts of physical activities on cognitive development and motor skills in early childhood. The reviewers used electronic databases that date from the year 2000 to July 2017 and screened 15 controlled trials journals that examined the efficacy of physical activities on cognitive development and motor skills in healthy children. The study participants are of age between 4 and 6 years with no chronic ailments. The results showed a relationship between physical activities and cognitive and motor skills development.
The second journal captures a focus group study on the viewpoints of Palestinian older adults, who are 60 to 81 with regard to ageing well. The researchers used group discussions as a qualitative research method. In total, there were seven focus groups comprising of 56 participants. The reviewers analyzed the data using Braun and Clarke’s qualitative data interpretive thematic strategy. Three main themes featured and they include good physical health, wellbeing, and good mental health
The third journal covers research on the effect of quality of life on the older adult’s lives from a multidimensional approach. The sample size of the research study is 500 research participants. The inclusion criteria are random; the participants are older people drawn from main daycare centres in Granada province in Spain. The data collection tool is CUBRECAVI questionnaire. The tool is a multidimensional scale for quality of life and health. Garcia and Katz’s questionnaires were also applied to measure the quality of life. The study participants were distributed into control and experimental groups. In conclusion, the study participants have a fairly good perception of their life quality and consider leisure, health, and environmental quality, level of satisfaction, functional capacity and social support as the causes of their wellbeing.
The fourth article is a research paper on the connection of childhood aspects with children’s wellbeing and behavioural and emotional difficulties at 11 years old. The article utilizes a longitudinal research method and a sample of more than 13,000 children living in the United Kingdom. To be specific, it examines the connection between socio-economic factors and family from 9 months of age to 11 years and children’s subjective wellbeing at the same age. The results of the analysis show that socio-economic factors in middle and early childhood and family only give an explanation to the small quantity of the variation in subjective wellbeing of children. A parallel analysis indicates the same factors are able to explain better of the variation in the behavioural and emotional difficulties of the children.
The study design in the first article was a Randomized Control Trial, while the research method was quantitative. Both the study design and the research method were both appropriate. Firstly, the former would get rid of biasness that could result in ultimate low-quality results (CDC, n.a). Secondly, the data collected by the method would be easy to analyze statistically (CDC, n.a). Finally, the participants could easily be identified (CDC, n.a). However, the sample would not represent the entire target populations, which are the children between 4 to 6 years due to its small size. Search strategies and information sources were effective and credible, respectively. Three different people extracted data by screening the titles, content of the abstract, and the bibliographies, thus reducing biasness. The measurement protocol the researchers used met the standards required. In essence, the study design was good, thus produced scientifically acceptable results. However, the sample size ought to have been bigger in order to attain more reliable and acceptable results.
Regarding the second article, the study design is equally good. The method of data collection was a focus group discussion, which would enable the study investigators to find in-depth information regarding the study topic. Further, the data collection method has high data validity (CDC, n.a). Nonetheless, the procedure of collecting data did not compromise the quality of data. The questions were also simple to comprehend, thus facilitated the attainment of quality data. The discussions were relatively short as they lasted for 90 to 120 minutes. Too long focus group discussions may lead to the fallout of some participants, while too short ones may lead to the gathering of scanty information regarding the topic of study (CDC, n.a). The researchers maintained data validity video-taping the responses. Finally, the data analysis methodology of Braun and Clarke, which the researchers adopted is very effective and would contribute to the high quality of the data (CDC, n.a).
In the third article, the researchers used reliable sources of data like the National Institute of Health. Further, the sampling method the investigators used is suitable for the type of research since everyone across the country can be chosen apart from those with disability or dementia, thus cannot take part in the survey. Nonetheless, the method they used is random sampling, which reduces biasness. Moreover, the time of data collection was adequate; thus, biasness due to human errors were limited. The study began from January to May of 2017. Also, the longitudinal panel research design the researchers incorporated is reliable. Further, the CUBRECAVI questionnaire the investigators used as a data collection tool is more valid and reliable for multidimensional measurement of quality of life and health (30). Finally, the pilot study done during the research would enable the data collectors to adapt the questions or items to the features of the target population.
The data used in the research in the fourth article was credible. The reason is that it is sourced from a longitudinal study dubbed the millennium cohort study that was done in the UK between 300 and 2001. The size of the sample was adequate, that is 13000 children. Further, the imputation method the researchers used would lead to loss of data (Young & Johnson, 2015). Also, the use of self-administered questionnaire would enhance data validly. Finally, multiple analyses of data using various statistical methods would generate more credible and quality data.
In summary, the first journal’s results showed physical activities are effective in enhancing cognitive development and motor skills of preschool children of 4 to 6 years old( Nan, Mohamed, Haichun, Xu., Ping,& Zan, 2017). In the second article, the outcome of the study showed factors like good mental and physical health, social engagement, and financial security. Further, it showed self-contentment, independent life, and the feel of joy influences living well (Halaweh, 2018). Further, the results of the third article indicate there is a significant and positive connection between variables discussed. In the last article, factors associated with the behavioural and emotional difficulties in children at 11 years are consistent with those of other studies—all the four articles research on issues that touch on the lifespan of humans. The theory of human development applicable in the first two peers reviewed work is Erickson’s theory. The perception of older adults to ageing well is depicted in the integrity vs Despair stage of Erickson’s theory (Iumen, 2020). Finally, in the articles reviewed, a life span perspective demonstrates that human development is a process of change. For example, behaviour patterns of people differ depending on the stages of human development from childhood to adulthood. Cognitive and emotional changes also occur at different stages of development. Also, cognitive-developmental changes in human beings are multidirectional and multidimensional.
References
CDC. (n.a). Focus group. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov on October 18, 2020
Foster & Walker. (, 2015). Active and successful ageing: A European policy perspective, Gerontologist, 55 (1), 83-90
Hadeel, H. (2018). Perspectives of older adults on ageing well: A focus group study. Journal of ageing research.
Iumen (2020).Theories of human development. Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/theories-of-human-development/ October 18, 2020
Nan Z., Mohamed, A., Haichun, S., Xu, W., Ping, X., & Zan, G. (2017). Effects of physical activity on motor skills and cognitive development in early childhood. A systematic review.
Health Science Library (n.a) Identifying reputable journals. Retrieved from https://guides.lib.uw.edu/hsl/reputable October 18, 2020
Young, R., & Johnson, D.R (2015). Handling missing values in longitudinal data with multiple imputations. Journal of marriage and family, 7(10, 277-294.doi:10.1111/jomf.12144.