After completing a
bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a double minor in Sociology and Childhood
Studies this May, I will be attending graduate school for a Masters in Clinical
Social Work. As a result of studying such disciplines, I feel a strong
motivation to explore the relationship between children's environments and
their developmental outcomes. Consequently, I decided to undertake an
independent childhood research study before graduating. In embarking on this
project, I felt that I could best combine the principles supported by each of
the aforementioned fields of knowledge that I am passionate about.
My future career goals
involve working with at-risk children, as well as children who are within the
juvenile justice system. Hence, the topic of the research that I am currently studying
reflects an aspect of children’s lives that has lasting implications. By
exploring the ways in which parents, early childhood educators, and early
childhood preservice teachers perceive and handle bullying, I seek to examine
the role of importance that adults play in shaping the phenomenon of peer victimization
and the implications of how their responses may directly or indirectly affect
children’s lives in the future. By working closely with a mentor who has a
doctorate in Educational Psychology and Human Development as well as
postdoctoral training in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, I am provided
with the best possible guidance for a project of this nature.
In
the first few weeks of the Spring semester, I spent time distributing
questionnaires to individuals who fit within the criteria of my studied sample.
Now, I spend roughly 5 hours of each week at my mentor’s office, entering that
collected data into SPSS statistical software. As time has gone on, I have
begun to have discussions with my mentor about what sorts of analyses would be
appropriate for this study. One particular thing I learned this week is how to
generate syntax for a dataset within SPSS.
