According to Direnfeld, The sense of loss and upset sets in and for many is overwhelming.  Few are actually spared the process of mourning, even those who initiated the separation.  Some parents are actually surprised by the depth of sadness when this part of the separation takes hold.

As parents experience their first days and weeks without the children’s company, many are left wondering what to do with themselves.  They may be restless, agitated, have trouble sleeping or eating and may find themselves tearful with little or no provocation.  These experiences point to the emotional adjustment that parents make to the separation process.  Here is where some cry in their beer while others chat with friends or family and others seek the support of clergy or counselors.

To intensify matters, What may be necessary however, is not re-evaluating the whole parenting plan, but offering strategies to ease and facilitate the adjustment process.  There are several strategies available to parents and children to help out.

The first strategy is to allow time.  Even though living through upset, parents need to understand that an adjustment process is normal and that in many ways, only time can heal the upset.  Time is necessary for old habits to wane and new habits to develop.  As new habits develop parents and children grow accustomed to the change and the new living arrangements.

The second strategy is to acknowledge the struggle.  This validates it as normal. You don’t have to feel bad about feeling sad.  Parents can help their children acknowledge their upset by gently admitting their own.  It is fair to say to a child, “I know the change is upsetting, I feel it too”, then go on to add, “But we will both feel better in time.”  The key is for the parent to not burden their children with their own emotional issues, but more simply to use their experience to validate their children’s experience.

The third strategy is to talk to someone.  This may be a friend, family member, clergy or counselor.  The objective is not to change the circumstances, but to find a safe place to let out and share one’s pain.  For many people the mere process of acknowledging the upset, eases the burden.

The fourth strategy is to discuss the adjustment with the other parent and see if the parenting plan can be tinkered with, on a friendly basis and for a limited time. Sometimes, separation and new parenting plans can feel radical.  The time between parent-child contact, whether person to person or by phone or email can be too long.  Shortening the time between contacts can ease adjustment in the short term knowing that over time, time between contacts can be increased.  Other strategies in this vein include the odd visit between residential changes, mutual attendance at extra-curricular activities, more phone calls and even having recent photographs.

Adjusting to the immediate change of separation and time with the kids can be onerous.  If parents or children are finding the first days, weeks or even months particularly difficult, consider the above strategies before necessarily opening up a whole new custody/access dispute.  It just may be that with a little more time, mutual kindness and consideration, the adjustment will take care of itself.

According to

According to Stadelman, In this study, we examine whether parental separation, family conflict, and children's parental representations are predictors of individual changes in children's behavioral/emotional problems at kindergarten age and whether the adjustment of children who experienced parental separation differs according to the level of family conflict and to children's representations of caregivers.

For kindergarten children, the family is a highly salient context for understanding psychopathological development. A wealth of evidence from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies indicates that parental separation as an important life event is associated with an increased rate of behavioral/emotional problems in children (Amato, 2001; Kelly, 2000). The greatest effects of divorce on child adjustment relate to behavioral problems. Effects on emotional symptoms (depression/anxiety) are far more inconsistent (Amato & Keith, 1991; Hetherington & Stanley Hagan, 1999). Just as important as the evidence of mean differences is the marked individual variation in children's socioemotional development among those experiencing a parental separation. Some children are severely affected by separation, while others seem to be relatively unaffected. Moreover, the effects of separation are not necessarily adverse. Children who move from a conflictual, abusive, or negligent family situation to a more harmonious one may show diminished problems following separation (Amato, Loomis, & Booth, 1995). This sheds light on new directions in research which seek to identify mediating and moderating risk and protective factors in the association between separation and child outcome (Amato et al., 1995; Cummings & Davies, 2002). As a potential moderator, marital conflict receives much empirical attention, and research has indicated that it is marital conflict rather than the break-up of the family that is primarily responsible for many of the problems seen in children whose parents separate (Kelly, 2000). However, current research on marital conflict also proposes that the effects on children are a function of children's perceptions of conflict in relation to themselves and their families rather than simply reflecting the frequency or characteristics of conflict (Cummings & Davies, 2002; Fincham, 1998). Thus, to understand the effects of parental separation and of marital conflict on children, exploring psychological response processes underlying children's development and adjustment over time is of great importance. Here, children's representations of family relationships play an important role.

Children's representations have been conceptualized in terms of working models in attachment theory, and schémas or scripts in social cognitive approaches (e.g., Bretherton, 1990; Lemerise & Arsenio, 2000). Common to these theoretical perspectives is the notion that children internalize important aspects of care-giving experiences, and that these mental structures influence children's emotional and behavioral responses to new social encounters. The evaluation of children's play narratives, elicited by story stems that reflect socioemotional dilemmas, has proved to be one way of gaining access to young children's thoughts and feelings about emotionally significant relationships (Bretherton & Oppenheim, 2003). Evidence has emerged to suggest that children's representations are affected by histories of exposure to marital conflict (Cummings & Davies, 2002; Grych & Fincham, 1990). Shamir, Du Rocher Schudlich, and Cummings (2001) found that negative marital conflict strategies were predictive of more

negative representations of family systems in 5-8-year-old children's story-stem narratives. Grych, Wachsmuth Schlaefer, and Klockow (2002) showed that children who experienced extensive domestic violence showed significantly more negative representations of self and mothers, within more incoherent stories, than children without such negative experiences. Research also documents an association between children's representations and their psychopathological development. Children who display a high level of negative representations and a low level of positive/coherent representations of caregivers in their play narratives after socioemotional dilemmas were found to show higher levels of behavioral/emotional problems and increased social impairment compared with other children (e.g., Oppenheim, Nir, Warren, & Emde, 1997b; Shields, Ryan, & Cicchetti, 2001). In a recent study on kindergarten children, Stadelmann, Perren, von WyI, and von Klitzing (2007) showed that negative parental representations were associated with the development of conduct problems, whereas positive parental representations were associated with the development of prosocial behavior. Grych, Fincham, Jouriles, and McDonald (2000) were able to show that children's evaluations of self-blame and threat mediated the association between interparental conflict and their own adjustment problems, specifically internalizing problems. Although studies have shown significant associations between family background, children's cognitive-emotional processes and adjustment, and support the notion that children's perceptions of the family background shape the impact of family events on aspects of self-functioning, much more research is needed on the interplay between these aspects if developmental pathways in children are to be better understood. Specifically, there is a need for studies to investigate young children's cognitive-emotional processes as mediators or moderators of the impact of parental separation on their adjustment.

In the present study,

According to,.Separated parents are encouraged to see a social worker or attend educational programs aimed at helping them understand issues related to settling such matters. Interestingly, some jurisdictions require parents involved in contested custody and access matters to attend such programs.  The objective in meeting with a social worker or attending a program is to minimize the risk of conflict by learning about of the consequences of various courses of action and by learning about the range of alternatives for restructure family life, children’s time between parents and processes for decision making. The goal is to resolve matters more amicably, thus alleviating stressors on the child to provide for better psychosocial outcomes.Consider the fact that early childhood educators and teachers don’t want children to fight their battles in the sandbox. They want them to learn to get along and play nicely. This is what children learn and what they expect to see in their parents. When parents do otherwise, their influence will outweigh the early childhood educators and teachers. Children will learn to battle and fight, particularly with loved ones and peers, as that will be their role model.Social problems require expertise with social solutions. Use your social worker or educational program to learn and develop a parenting plan that reduces risks while leaving relationships intact. Use your lawyer to write up the terms of your agreement if necessary or to understand rights and obligations. If matters continue to be contested, your lawyer can help you with the legal process.

CHAPTER THREE

 

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

 

 

 

 

RESEARCH DESIGN

 

 

            This study entitled "The Effects of Technology on Discipline in the Pre-school

Montessori Classroom" is a qualitative research that attempts to accumulate existing

information and data regarding the governing principles and systems of Montessori

education in the modern times. Trochim stated that "a key reason for doing qualitative

research is to investigate and become more experienced with a particular phenomenon

of the researcher's interest in order to deliver a detailed description." This study wishes

to depict the current state of discipline and creativity – two fundamental elements of the

Montessori education system – in the onset and spread of modern technology like

television, video games, the Internet and music. The researcher decided to use the

qualitative approach in order to verify her observations on her own Montessori pre-

school classroom regarding the negative effects of technology on children's behavior.

 

            The research would utilize both descriptive and exploratory research methods in

the conduct of the study. Descriptive research is a method used to obtain information

relating to the current status of an issue or phenomenon to describe "what exists" within

the variables or conditions of the situation. The two most common types of descriptive

research tools are surveys and                observation (Key).  The researcher would

make use of her observations from her experience of teaching in a Montessori pre-

school in order to come up with a personal description of the answer to the research

problem. Exploratory research, on the other hand, is often utilized in order to yield

information to explain problems which are not yet clearly defined or the real scope is still

unclear. It allows the researcher to familiarize himself/herself with the concepts of the

problem under study to facilitate development of insights and hypotheses (Exploratory

Research). The present study is an exploratory attempt since it would try to gather

information regarding the effects of technology on the behavior of Montessori pre-school

children. The researcher makes use of existing literature in order to verify her

observations and come up with preliminary ideas regarding the research problem.

 

DATA-GATHERING INSTRUMENTS

           

            The researcher has observed that her present Montessori pre-school already

lacks discipline and creativity mainly caused by children's exposure to negative and

violent content.  A survey questionnaire would also be formulated and distributed to

students

Chapter 4: Methodology

Overview

            This research was conducted in order to determine whether personality

questionnaire play a significant role in the recruitment and appraisal of the employees.

The advantages and disadvantages as well as the reliability of this instrument were also

part of the objectives. In order to answer these research goals, the researcher opted to

obtain the view of human resource employees in line with this topic. Specifically, a total

of 60 respondents from 10 companies within London were randomly selected to make

up the sample. Selected participants answered a survey questionnaire structure in

Likert format. Data gathered from this research instrument were then computed for

interpretation. Along with primary data, the researcher also made use of secondary

resources in the form of published articles and literatures to support the survey results.

Research Design

The descriptive method of research was used for this study. To define the

descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) stated that the descriptive method of

research is to gather information about the present existing condition. The emphasis is

on describing rather than on judging or interpreting. The aim of descriptive research is

to verify formulated hypotheses that refer to the present situation in order to elucidate it.

The descriptive approach is quick and practical in terms of the financial aspect. 

Moreover, this method allows a flexible approach, thus, when important new issues and

questions arise during the duration of the study, further investigation may be

conducted.   

Descriptive research on the other hand is a type of research that is mainly

concerned with describing the nature or condition and the degree in detail of the present

situation.  This method is used to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the

time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular a phenomenon.  The aim of

descriptive research is to obtain an accurate profile of the people, events or situations.

With this research type, it is essential that the researcher already has a clear view or

picture of the phenomena being investigated before the data collection procedure is

carried out. The researcher used this kind of research to obtain first hand data from the

respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations

for the study. The descriptive approach is quick and practical in terms of the financial

aspect.   

In this study, the descriptive research method was employed so as to identify the

role and significance of using personality questionnaire in recruiting and selecting

employees during the time of research. The researcher opted to use this research

method considering the objective to obtain first hand data from the respondents. The

descriptive method is advantageous for the researcher due to its flexibility; this method

can use either qualitative or quantitative data or both, giving the researcher greater

options in selecting the instrument for data-gathering. The aim of the research is to

determine the role of personality questionnaire in human resource processes as well as

the advantages and disadvantages of using psychometric testing in the recruitment and

appraisal of employees; the descriptive method is then appropriate for this research

since this method is used for gathering prevailing conditions.  

The research is using human resource management employees as respondents

from ten companies in London in order to gather relevant data; the descriptive method

is then appropriate as this can allow the identification of the similarities and differences

of the respondents’ answers. For this research, two types of data were gathered. These

included the primary and secondary data types. The primary data were derived form the

answers the participants gave during the survey process. The secondary data on the

other hand, were obtained from published documents and literatures that were relevant

to personality questionnaire. With the use of the survey questionnaire and published

literatures, this study took on the combined quantitative and qualitative approach of

research. By means of employing this combined approach, the researcher was able to

obtain the advantages of both quantitative and qualitative approaches and overcome

their limitations.  

Quantitative data collection methods are centred on the quantification of

relationships between variables. Quantitative data-gathering instruments establish

relationship between measured variables. When these methods are used, the

researcher is usually detached from the study and the final output is context free.

Measurement, numerical data and statistics are the main substance of quantitative

instruments. With these instruments, an explicit description of data collection and

analysis of procedures are necessary. An approach that is primarily deductive

reasoning, it prefers the least complicated explanation and gives a statement of

statistical probability. The quantitative approach is more on the detailed description of a

phenomenon. It basically gives a generalization of the gathered data with tentative

synthesized interpretations.

Quantitative approach is useful as it helps the researcher to prevent bias in

gathering and presenting research data. Quantitative data collection procedures create

epistemological postulations that reality is objective and unitary, which can only be

realized by means of transcending individual perspective. This phenomenon in turn

should be discussed or explained by means of data analysis gathered through objective

forms of measurement. The quantitative data gathering methods are useful especially

when a study needs to measure the cause and effect relationships evident between pre-

selected and discrete variables. The purpose of the quantitative approach is to avoid

subjectivity by means of collecting and exploring information which describes the

experience being studied.  

Quantitative methods establish very specific research problem and terms. The

controlled observations, mass surveys, laboratory experiments and other means of

research manipulation in qualitative method makes gathered data more reliable. In other

words, subjectivity of judgment, which is not needed in a thesis discussion, can be

avoided through quantitative methods. Thus, conclusions, discussion and

experimentation involved in the process are more objective. Variables, both dependent

and independent, that are needed in the study are clearly and precisely specified in a

quantitative study. In addition, quantitative method enables longitudinal measures of

subsequent performance of the respondents. Fryer (1991) noted that qualitative

researchers aim to decode, describe, analyze and interpret accurately the meaning of a

certain phenomena happening in their customary social contexts. The focus of the

researchers utilizing the framework of the interpretative paradigm is on the investigation

of authenticity, complexity, contextualization, mutual subjectivity of the researcher and

the respondent as well as the reduction of illusion.  

Contrary to the quantitative method, qualitative approach generates verbal

information rather than numerical values (Polgar & Thomas, 1995). Instead of using

statistical analysis, the qualitative approach utilizes content or holistic analysis; to

explain and comprehend the research findings, inductive and not deductive reasoning is

used. The main point of the quantitative research method is that measurement is valid,

reliable and can be generalized with its clear anticipation of cause and effect (Cassell &

Symon, 1994). Being particularistic and deductive in nature, quantitative method is

dependent on the formulation of a research hypothesis and confirming them empirically

using a specific data set (Frankfort-Nachmias & Nachmias, 1992). The scientific

hypothesis of a quantitative method holds no value. This means that the researcher’s

personal thoughts, subjective preferences and biases are not applicable to this type of

research method. 

The researcher opted to integrate the qualitative approach in this study due to its

significant advantages. The use of qualitative data gathering method is advantageous

as they are more open to changes and refinement of research ideas as the study

progresses; this implies that qualitative data gathering tools are highly flexible.

Moreover, no manipulation of the research setting is necessary with this method; rather

than employ various research controls such as in experimental approaches, the

qualitative data gathering methods are only centered on understanding the occurring

phenomena in their naturally occurring states. Aside from these advantages,

researchers use qualitative data-gathering tools as some previous researchers believe

that qualitative data are particularly attractive as they provide rich and well-grounded

descriptions and explanations as well as unforeseen findings for new theory

construction. One of the notable strengths of the qualitative instruments is that they

evoke a more realistic feeling of the research setting which cannot be obtained from

statistical analysis and numerical data utilized through quantitative means. These data

collection methods allow flexibility in conducting data gathering, research analysis and

interpretation of gathered information. In addition, qualitative method allows the

presentation of the phenomenon being investigated in a more holistic view. 

Participants

            In order to determine whether personality questionnaire does play an important

role in conducting human resource processes, a total of 40 respondents were asked to

participate. To achieve pertinent information, certain inclusion criteria were imposed.

The participants qualified for sample selection must be staff or employees of their

respective companies’ human resource department. This qualification ensured that the

participants understand the nature of personality questionnaire and its use for

employment, making the survey items easy for them to accomplish. The respondents

were selected from eight companies in London, thus, a total of five employees were

selected for every company; as the study also aimed to determine whether personality

questionnaire play an important role in conducting recruitment and appraisal

procedures, the researcher did not consider choosing companies that are actually

applying this mode of employee selection or evaluation.  

Simple random sampling was done for the sample selection. This sampling

method is conducted where each member of a population has an equal opportunity to

become part of the sample. As all members of the population have an equal chance of

becoming a research participant, this is said to be the most efficient sampling

procedure. In order to conduct this sampling strategy, the researcher defined the

population first, listed down all the members of the population and then selected

members to make the sample. For this procedure, the lottery sampling or the fish bowl

technique was employed. This method involves the selection of the sample at random

from the sampling frame through the use of random number tables (Saunders, Lewis &

Thornhill, 2003). Numbers were assigned for each employee in the master list. These

numbers were written on pieces of paper and drawn from a box; the process was

repeated until the sample size was reached. 

Instruments

The survey questionnaire was used as the main data-gathering instrument for

this study (See Appendix A). The questionnaire was divided into two main sections: a

profile and the survey proper. The profile contains socio-demographic characteristics of

the respondents such as age, gender, civil status, the number of years they had served

the company as well as their assigned job position. The survey proper explored the

perceptions of employees on personality questionnaire, particularly on its usability and

reliability as an employment selection and appraisal tool. The questionnaire proper

section also contains questions that identify the advantages and disadvantages of using

personality questionnaires in the department. The questions were structure using the

Likert format. In this survey type, four choices are provided for every question or

statement. The choices represent the degree of agreement each respondent has on the

given question. The scale below was used to interpret the total responses of all the

respondents for every survey question by computing the weighted mean:

Range                                                                                               Interpretation

3.01 – 4.00                                        Strongly Agree

2.01 – 3.00                                        Agree

1.01 – 2.00                                        Disagree       

0.00 – 1.00                                        Strongly Disagree

     

The Likert survey was the selected questionnaire type as this enabled the

respondents to answer the survey easily. In addition, this research instrument allowed the

research to carry out the quantitative approach effectively with the use of statistics for

data interpretation. In order to test the validity of the questionnaire used for the study,

the researcher tested the questionnaire to five respondents. These respondents as well

as their answers were not part of the actual study process and were only used for

testing purposes. After the questions have been answered, the researcher asked the

respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further

improvement and validity of the instrument. The researcher revised the survey

questionnaire based on the suggestion of the respondents. The researcher then

excluded irrelevant questions and changed vague or difficult terminologies into simpler

ones in order to ensure comprehension. 

Data Processing and Analysis

After gathering all the completed questionnaires from the respondents, total

responses for each item were obtained and tabulated. In order to use the Likert-scale

for interpretation, weighted mean to represent each question was computed. Weighted

mean is the average wherein every quantity to be averages has a corresponding

weight. These weights represent the significance of each quantity to the average. To

compute for the weighted mean, each value must be multiplied by its weight. Products

should then be added to obtain the total value. The total weight should also be

computed by adding all the weights. The total value is then divided by the total weight.

Statistically, the weighted mean is calculated using the following formula:

 

       or  

Ethical Considerations

As this study required the participation of human respondents, specifically human

resource professionals, certain ethical issues were addressed. The consideration of

these ethical issues was necessary for the purpose of ensuring the privacy as well as

the safety of the participants. Among the significant ethical issues that were considered

in the research process include consent and confidentiality. In order to secure the

consent of the selected participants, the researcher relayed all important details of the

study, including its aim and purpose. By explaining these important details, the

respondents were able to understand the importance of their role in the completion of

the research. The respondents were also advised that they could withdraw from the

study even during the process. With this, the participants were not forced to participate

in the research. The confidentiality of the participants was also ensured by not

disclosing their names or personal information in the research. Only relevant details that

helped in answering the research questions were included.