Investigation methodology
The data
that I chose to collect is based on child language acquisition. Before
collecting my data there were many factors that I had to consider, including:
·
Reliability
·
Confidentiality
·
Ethicality
·
Comparability
Reliability
was a main factor that I thoroughly considered.
I had to collect enough data so that any unrepresentative aspects do not
seem significant. To do so I:
·
Recorded
for the same amount of time (ten minutes)
·
Recorded
on the same day, every week for six weeks
·
Recorded
at the same time (tea time)
As
I was recording the child’s natural speech I had to consider ‘the observer’s
paradox’. This states that people change their speech and behaviour as soon as
they know they are being watched/recorded. To ensure that I collected fair
speech, I have only transcribed between four and eight minutes, leaving me with
four minutes of speech. However, the child was not completely aware that I was
recording him due to permission being granted from his parent as he is aged
under sixteen.
This
then leads me onto the factor of ethicality. I had to gain informed consent
from the parent of the child, as well as the others that were included in the
recordings through interacting with the child. Informed consent allowed the
parent of the child and the others involved understand why I was taking these
recordings, who will be accessing it and how I will protect their
confidentiality.
Confidentiality
was important to me as I wanted to ensure that everybody knew they could have
an open, random conversation that will be kept anonymous. To do this, I have
changed all names when transcribing the speech, and any personal details have
been changed such as birthdays, addresses etc.
I
am also looking into comparability between the recordings because who the child
is talking to varies between each one. I am going to look at how the child
responds and communicates with the different members of the conversation and
also determine if it’s due to the language and techniques used by the adults.
This is things such as questions and child directed speech.
