Research Assignment

Research Draft Assignment 2

Micheaux Hollingsworth

Liberty University

SETM 415

Dr. Clark Zealand

November 15, 2021

Research Draft 2 Assignment

1. Research Topic: (Based on feedback you've received, restate your revised topic and/or title here.)

The primary intention of this paper is to explore the aspects of the whole child development by incorporating sports and recreational activities as tools for cognitive, physical, and social, and emotional development. The topic explored in this research paper is the whole child development through sports and recreation. This proposal topic is inspired by a self-related experience, personally having grown through the sports throughout my school life. The aspect of whole child development relates to the coordination of physical, emotional, social, and cognitive components at the school level, explored based on observation, experiences, and opinions. Furthermore, from my personal experiences, sports have had salient advantages in my development, considering the opportunities for socialization. Therefore, I enhanced the previously identified topic to the following topic: The role of sports for the whole child development in school.

2. Unit of Analysis: (Based on your topic and using information from presentations and readings, identify the unit of analysis. Keep in mind the connection should be clear in either your topic, research question and/or hypothesis.)

The unit of analysis for this research that I will explore in relation to the topic and the research question is the whole child development, which includes the social-emotional, physical, cognitive, and creative aspects of development. As the unit of analysis, the element of whole child development incorporates the components of the child's whole self, observing the development of children from the all-inclusive approach. This unit of analysis is explored from the broader approach for every component identified above. Notably, the first component for this unit of analysis is the social-emotional development related to the child's discipline, the quality of the relationships, social skills such as gratitude, kindness, care, self-awareness, mindfulness, etc. Further, the physical aspect is the second targeted component for this study comprises fitness, flexibility, improved motor skills, etc. The third component of the identified unit of analysis (the whole child development) includes the level of reasoning, memory, language, etc. Under the creativity component of the unit analysis, expertise, motivation, and creative-thinking are primarily considered part of the entity analyzed in this research.

3. Variables: (For the topic you have selected, tell me how your variable (s) could be measured. What is the dependent variable? If applicable, what is (are) the independent variable (s)? Do you have any intervening variables? If so, what are they?)

Due to the qualitative nature of this research, there is no measurable dependent, independent or intervening variables examined. Instead, the qualitative variables such as the features of whole child development such as physical fitness, social-emotional factors, creativity, and cognitive development will be adopted to explore the impacts of involvement in sports. Furthermore, another qualitative variable targeted in this research is the participation in sports, exploring the children's activeness in exercise and co-curricular activities related to sports. As a result, assessment of these variables does not result in measureable or quantifiable research components.

4. Research Question: (Using the information from presentations and readings, place your research question here. If you have more than one, include them here as well.)

The following research questions will be adopted for this research paper:

a) What are the impacts of sports on child development?

b) How can sports be used as a tool for whole child development in school?

5. General Research Design: (In this section, tell me whether you are thinking about using a qualitative or quantitative approach and why. A mixed-methods is not recommended due to limited time in this course; however, if you are sure a mixed-methods approach is appropriate, tell me why. Then choose either a., b., or c. below to complete.)

This research will adopt a qualitative approach to explore the presented what and how questions in 4 above. Furthermore, a qualitative approach provides detailed or in-depth information about an explored phenomenon by accounting for the experiences, perceptions, and various people's opinions related to the aspect explored. Therefore, as this study explores experiences, individuals' opinions, and observational aspects to address the role of sports in development, a qualitative approach would suit to obtain in-depth details on the studied components.

a. Theories FOR QUALITATIVE DESIGNS: (If you are planning to use a qualitative approach, identify and briefly summarize the theoretical or conceptual framework you could use to guide your study.)

Phenomenology is the theory for qualitative designs adopted to examine experiences with sports and their influence on children's development. Therefore, for the guidance of this study, a conceptual framework is constructed to demonstrate the factors involved in sports influencing the concepts of the whole child development.

b. Theories FOR QUANTITATIVE DESIGNS: (If you are going to use a quantitative approach, identify and briefly summarize the theory that you could test in your study.)

c. Theories FOR MIXED-METHODs DESIGNS: (If you are planning to use a mixed-methods approach, briefly summarize the theoretical or conceptual framework you could use and why this approach is appropriate for your study. Will you give the quantitative or qualitative paradigm priority? Why?)

6. Hypothesis: (If you are taking a quantitative approach, state your hypothesis as either H0, H, or H1.)

7. Statement of Purpose: (Using information from presentations and readings, write your statement of purpose here.)

Numerous studies explore the role of curricular operations in educational, health, and behavioral development, but limited studies examine the extra-curricular activities in child development. As a result, it is crucial to investigate the role of sports on the child's health, behavior, education, and social aspects. Furthermore, this paper will explore the ultimate outcomes of sports on whole child development, represented by improved physical, cognitive, creativity, and social-emotional skills. Besides, this research will examine novel factors such as discipline, healthiness, tolerance, activeness, etc., as the outcomes of sports essential in development.

8. References: (For each of the domains below, list at least one scientific research study (not previously used) that informs the same domain of your research proposal. All sources must be peer-reviewed and references in APA format.)

a. Scientific study about your topic content (or closely related):