Social Behavior Due to Age and Gender

Social Behavior Due to Age and Gender

Grace Ko

IB Psychology HL Y1

28/9/2009

1112 words

Abstract

The aim was to find out if there is a relationship between the age of the child and the group/person they choose to sit with gender-wise, during lunch time.

(Shanghai American School ; grades 1-4)

The hypothesis was older the child gets, the higher the tendency for him/her to choose to sit with children/child of the same gender.

To conduct this experiment we went to the cafeteria of the elementary school when it was their lunch time. We observed each table and jotted down the how many girl(s) and boy(s) were sitting there. We also recorded down which grade level they were in since each table housed a certain grade level.

We found out that as the child got older, he/she was most likely to sit with their own gender during lunch.

By looking at the results obtained, we can conclude that our hypothesis was correct. The older the child is, he/she has a higher tendency to choose to sit with children/ child of the same gender.

Introduction

The study was conducted to find out if there is a relationship between the age of the child and the group/person they choose to sit with gender-wise, during lunch time.

A psychological study by Leaper and Campbell was done titled Influence and Involvement in Children's Discourse: Age, Gender, and Partner Effects. They took 138 children with the median ages of five and seven years as their target population. The group with the median age of five was the early childhood group. The group with the median age of seven was the middle childhood group. They were paired up with another child of either the same or different gender to play with puppets. The experimenters recorded each pair’s communication levels. The results of this experiment showed that communication was found more between same gender pairs at middle childhood and more between different gender pairs at early childhood. It is possible to analyze from this study that our hypothesis is correct.

The type of observational study that was conducted was naturalistic.

Method

Design – Our design was crafted for a naturalistic observational study. Our behavior focus was operationalized as shown in our coding system. We observed half a table at a time. The categories were integrated gender, all boys table, all girls table, sitting alone, females in small number and males in small numbers. There were not much ethical considerations since it was an observational experiment. However, to be as professional as we could, we made sure we weren’t hurting the children in any way physically or mentally by our actions. That leads to how we minimized the intrusive nature of our observation. We made sure we weren’t making any big or frightening gestures. We didn’t talk to the children or make any contact with them. Our official permit to observe the children is shown in the appendices (ii). We used the event sampling because we observed the children during their lunch time.

Participants – Our target population was children from grades one to four in Shanghai American School, Pudong campus.

Materials – We used a pen/pencil to write down the information we observed in the coding system we used. The coding system can be seen in the appendices (i).

Procedure –

Note = While conducting this observational study, be reminded that this is only solely an observation. Make sure physical/verbal contact is not present.

1) Go to the elementary cafeteria (Shanghai American School, Pudong campus*) with all your materials, ready to observe.

2) You will be observing from 11:35 am – 12:10 pm. (35 minutes)

3) Go around each table and record how many girl(s) and/or boy(s) are sitting in each table, following the coding system.

4) Make sure you pay attention to what grade level that table holds.

5) As an addition, you can take general notes of behavior and interaction of the children. This was done as another session prior to the real session for us to brainstorm our aim and hypothesis. (Example – confident/shy, outgoing, frequently/infrequently/never talking to peers.) Raw additional notes are available in the appendices (iii).

*We went to observe the children in the elementary cafeteria on the16th (our brainstorming session) and 18th of September 2009.

Results

Coding System

Seating Patterns / Grade 1 / Grade 2 / Grade 3 / Grade 4
Integrated Gender / tttt / tt / t / t
All Boys Table / tt / tt / tt / tttt
All Girls Table / 0 / t / tt / tt
Sitting Alone / 0 / 0 / 0 / ttt
Very small (F) / 0 / 0 / tt / ttt
Very small (M) / 0 / t / 0 / tt

Notes:
t = half-length of table,
very small groups = 3 or less children,
regular groups = 4 to 14 children

F = Female

M = Male

Discussion

From the bar graph, it is possible to interpret that the pattern is the greater the grade level the child is in, the more likely the child sits with his/her own gender during lunch time. This agrees well with the study Influence and Involvement in Children's Discourse: Age, Gender, and Partner Effects done by Leaper and Campbell. Leaper and Campbell’s study was just done with a different procedure and scenario than ours. They used the means of having two kids from different or same genders pair up and play with puppets and observed the communication levels between the two kids. We, on the other hand, observed seating behavior of these kids and wrote down their gender/age. Although we had different scenarios, we focused on the same things – gender and age of a child and how that affects the interactions and communication between their peers. Their experiment was also more specific than ours. They observed the communication levels between two specific children. On the contrary, we didn’t have to go into such detail. We just recorded the grade level of the table and the gender of each child. Even though we took notes of behavior we noticed, it wasn’t necessary for us to use those notes in coming up with a conclusion or to explain our hypothesis. Only the information obtained by our coding system had direct relevancy to our hypothesis. The notes were just to help us brainstorm our aim and hypothesis. Despite the different ways of experimentation, our study and Leaper and Campbell’s study produced the similar results that can lead to the same conclusion. There are a few limitations/weaknesses to our research. First of all, our information is not representative enough of the whole population of children of those ages. Therefore, that results in population bias. The information obtained might only be true for that certain group we tested on in Shanghai American School, Pudong campus. Another limitation/weakness in our research is the fact that our data only consists of observation of one session (35 minutes). This can be inaccurate because the children might change whom they sit with depending on their mood on that certain day. In order to obtain more accurate and less biased results and to conduct a stronger experiment, we can conduct more observations by having a session every week day for more than one week. That would make the research more accurate in the perspective of not having a longer prolonged period of time. As for the population weakness, we can conduct the same observation for different schools so it is a bit more representative than just obtaining data from one school. For further research, we can conduct the same observation for Shanghai American School - Puxi campus, Dulwich, British International Shanghai School and other international schools around Shanghai. Even though this further research is conducted, the results won’t reflect the absolute most accurate data. In order to do that, you would have to conduct the observation for every school in the world. However, the further research idea can improve the accuracy of that perspective in the research. Therefore, it can be concluded that in the terms of Shanghai American School – Pudong campus, the older the child is (in the grades one to our), the higher the tendency it is for him/her to sit with the same gender during lunch time. It can be because as the child gets older, he/she wants to socialize with their own gender more, or because as a child gets older, he/she is more aware of peer pressure, reputation and embarrassment.

References

Leaper, C. (1991, August). Influence and Involvement in Children's

Discourse: Age, Gender, and Partner Effects. Child Development, 62(4), 797. Retrieved September 27, 2009, doi:10.1111/1467-8624.ep9109162254

Appendices

(i) We used a table as our coding system for recording data/observation.

Notes:
t = half-length of table,
very small groups = 3 or less children,
regular groups = 4 to 14 children

(ii) This is a letter from the principal of the elementary school permitting our observational study in the elementary.

September 15, 2009

Dear Fay,

We are only too pleased to work in collaboration with you and to support the learning of your students. The administration confirms approval of your project. Please have your students request permission directly from classroom teachers for classroom and student observations.

Thank you,

Sacha McVean

Shanghai American School

Elementary Principal

Pudong Campus

Since our observational study didn’t require us to go to a particular classroom, we didn’t need a specific proposal for the classroom teacher. This permit allowed us to go to the elementary cafeteria.

(iii) Additional Raw Observational Notes from Brainstorming Session

As older the children are they are more likely to be:

- less scared to approach peers.

- thoughts are more put together.

- know what they want to ask

- better question formulation

- more quiet and reserved

- more self-conscious