2-206 - Designing a Naturalistic Observational Study of Children and Families 40 Years Later

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Four decades ago, Urie Bronfenbrenner characterized developmental psychology as “the science of strange behavior of children in strange situations with strange adults for the briefest possible periods of time” (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, p. 513). That statement served as a call-to-arms to researchers, specifically that children’s development is best studied and understood within the naturally occurring contexts in which it occurs. This symposium presents three current studies that make use of naturalistic observation to address and answer important questions about child development in the context of family life. Although ecological validity is an often-acknowledged advantage of naturalistic research, it can be easy to miss the fundamental differences between investigations based on observations of spontaneous behavior in natural settings over extended periods and 10-minute observations in structured laboratory settings. Following Repetti et al. (2013), areas of forethought and planning that must be addressed before committing to a naturalistic observational study include decisions about design (the everyday contexts and situations to be observed, both when and where), data collection (the kinds of data to be collected and the best methods to collect them), data parsing (the reduction and organization of data streams), and data analysis (coding and statistical approaches). The three studies in this symposium illustrate how research questions shaped different decisions around each of these issues. This symposium is timely because the explosion of new technologies (e.g., “wearables”, “smart” phones, and possibilities for storing large streams of “big data”) make it easier than ever for researchers to respond to Bronfenbrenner’s call.

Sub Unit

• Methods, History, Theory

Chairs

• Douglas Teti, Pennsylvania State University

• Rena L. Repetti, University of California, Los Angeles

Individual Presentations

• Everyday Emotions: Families’ Verbal Expressions of Amusement, Compassion, Gratitude and Pride in Naturalistic Data - Presenting Author: Galen D. McNeil, University of California, Los Angeles; Non-Presenting Author: Rena L. Repetti, University of California, Los Angeles

• Parenting in Context: Associations between Maternal Caregiving at Bathtime and Infant Stress Reactivity and Recovery - Presenting Author: Lauren Philbrook, Colgate University; Non-Presenting Author: Amie Hane, Williams College

• Naturalistic Observation of Parents, Infants, and Young Children in Sleep Contexts - Presenting Author: Douglas Teti, Pennsylvania State University