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The Age Of Subjects In The Research Ranges From 3 To 5 Years; In Great ...

The age of subjects in the research ranges from 3 to 5 years; in Great Britain this age refers to the Foundation stage. The interviews consist of four questions:
1) What are your favourite activities within the setting?
2) How do adults help you at school?
3) In which area of the setting do you like playing?
4) Who do you like being with at school?
In the prior studies the interviews were mainly taken from parents and caregivers, thus, reducing the validity of the received findings. In the present investigation preschool children express their thoughts in regard to the adult interaction and the outdoor environment. Although such an approach is somewhat new, it is considered to be more accurate than interviews with adults, as the information received from intermediaries is less reliable than the information received from first-hand participants (Dunlop, 1998). In the process of research four personal observations of the child-adult interaction are also made and further recorded.

In this respect, the observations provide some back-up for the content of the interview (Denscombe, 1998 p.133). The observations concentrate on small groups of preschool children who initiate various activities in the indoor and outdoor environments. Therefore, drawing a parallel between the indoor and outdoor plays, the analysis makes an attempt to uncover benefits of the adult-child interaction in the outdoor environment.
3.4. Hypotheses
Applying to the triangulation methodology, the analysis refers to the following hypotheses:
The null hypothesis
The impact of the adult interaction on children's learning in the outdoor environment is overestimated by researchers and policy-makers.
The alternative hypothesis
The adult interaction has a great influence on children's learning in the outdoor environment.
3.5. Ethical issues
As the present research is considerably based on the qualitative data (the interviews and the observations), it is crucial to address ethical issues. According to Holbrook (1997), the qualitative method is absorbed in a messy, chaotic reality of on-the-spot personal interaction sensitivity and experience (p.49). Hence, mutual understanding between investigators and participants should be initiated, or otherwise, the findings may be invalid. Moreover, due to the fact that the investigation involves preschool children, some ethical inconsistencies may occur. As Taylor and Bogdan (1998) acknowledge, the researcher who wishes to study children particularly during the early years, is faced with a wealth of potential, as well as a few methodological ‘headaches' (p.265). The fact is that until policy-makers and scholars agree in opinion as to children's status and rights the public will continue to claim that use of children in the research is not ethical.

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