Post by Danielle on Oct 8, 2015 16:04:03 GMT
Dear Readers:
I was recently asked about a research study that has been making the news headlines this week. Perhaps you have read about it on news forums. I have seen it reported on two different popular internet sites with varying interpretations of both the study and its implications.
My main concern is what and how results of the study are presented. The two reports of the same study I read vary widely from each other and may, in fact, be more misleading than informative.
The study in question, published in The Journal of Marriage and Family, looked at the amount of time that parents – especially mothers – spend with their children and later outcomes. One article told parents that they could “stop feeling guilty” about not spending enough time with their kids. That wasn’t the point of the study.
The researchers studied a “nationally representative sample” of children between 3 and 11 and then again five years later when they were between 12 and 17. They evaluated “outcomes” of these children and ONE of the conclusions drawn was that the amount of time itself was not THE significant factor.
What that means is that it wasn’t statistically significant, BUT, they did distinguish between “engaged time, when parents and kids were interacting,” and “accessible time, when parents were simply present.” Further, there was evidence that mothers’ “distress” was “related to poor outcomes” “including behavioral and emotional problems” and “even lower math scores”.
So, what is the important take-away from this? Spending time with your children when you are not “engaged” or when you are overly “stressed or guilt-ridden” can impact your child in “negative ways”. That wasn’t the research question being asked in this study, though it was significant. That is the point of research, to prove or to disprove theories and questions, and to lead to further research.
This is not meant to give you something else to worry about, it is meant to inform, as is the point of research. The researchers would conclude from this study that time itself was not the most crucial variable. It shows that quality over quantity is important and is something I have spoken to previously.
While research results are important, the interpretation is more important. Some comments on this story in one publication called the study “misleading”. It is not the study that is misleading; it is how people choose to interpret it. My advice to you is not to accept a story on an internet site as completely factual as it has been interpreted by the writer. Read carefully and judge for yourself how accurate the information is.
I was recently asked about a research study that has been making the news headlines this week. Perhaps you have read about it on news forums. I have seen it reported on two different popular internet sites with varying interpretations of both the study and its implications.
My main concern is what and how results of the study are presented. The two reports of the same study I read vary widely from each other and may, in fact, be more misleading than informative.
The study in question, published in The Journal of Marriage and Family, looked at the amount of time that parents – especially mothers – spend with their children and later outcomes. One article told parents that they could “stop feeling guilty” about not spending enough time with their kids. That wasn’t the point of the study.
The researchers studied a “nationally representative sample” of children between 3 and 11 and then again five years later when they were between 12 and 17. They evaluated “outcomes” of these children and ONE of the conclusions drawn was that the amount of time itself was not THE significant factor.
What that means is that it wasn’t statistically significant, BUT, they did distinguish between “engaged time, when parents and kids were interacting,” and “accessible time, when parents were simply present.” Further, there was evidence that mothers’ “distress” was “related to poor outcomes” “including behavioral and emotional problems” and “even lower math scores”.
So, what is the important take-away from this? Spending time with your children when you are not “engaged” or when you are overly “stressed or guilt-ridden” can impact your child in “negative ways”. That wasn’t the research question being asked in this study, though it was significant. That is the point of research, to prove or to disprove theories and questions, and to lead to further research.
This is not meant to give you something else to worry about, it is meant to inform, as is the point of research. The researchers would conclude from this study that time itself was not the most crucial variable. It shows that quality over quantity is important and is something I have spoken to previously.
While research results are important, the interpretation is more important. Some comments on this story in one publication called the study “misleading”. It is not the study that is misleading; it is how people choose to interpret it. My advice to you is not to accept a story on an internet site as completely factual as it has been interpreted by the writer. Read carefully and judge for yourself how accurate the information is.