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Project Two Milestone
Shalonte Cross
Southern New Hampshire University
PSY 222: Research Methods in Psychology
Cara McKenzie
February 25, 2024
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Project Two Milestone
Research Study: Anti-Equality: Social Comparison in Young Children
1. Select a peer-reviewed journal article and describe its relevance to you personally or
professionally in about 50 to 75 words.
I chose to focus on the journal article Anti-Equality: Social Comparison in Young Children
because I believe that it provides valuable insight into the reasons behind some
children's’ actions in certain situations. Especially, when it comes to a child’s outlook on
fairness, and basic morals in general. As a prospective children’s counselor and mentor,
it is essential for me to be able to understand, be aware of, and relate to experiences
and feelings, from a child’s perspective.
2. Describe the purpose of the peer-reviewed journal article in about 25 to 50 words.
Anti-Equality: Social Comparison in Young Children is a peer-reviewed article that aims
to determine aversion, or a lack thereof, in young children, in regards to social
comparison. In this article, the researchers examine the preferences of children when it
comes to exempting fairness and equality in social situation.
3. Identify the major methodological design of the peer-reviewed journal article in about
25 to 50 words.
Im this journal article the researchers carried out in-person observation of the behavior
of children, that included the participation of sixty-nine children, ranging from ages five
to ten years of age. Each participant was trialed individually, for a total of ten trials. The
researchers measured the children's preference for equality or inequality by asking
them to choose between two resource distributions: one equal and one uneven.
4. Identify strengths and weaknesses of the specific measurement used to operationalize
one of the key variables in about 50 to 100 words.
There are numerous strengths in the measurement used to operationalize social
comparison in young children. It doesn't call for intricate calculations or analysis. The
assessment is based on in-person observations of kids' behavior, which can yield more
accurate and trustworthy information than oblique techniques like self-reporting. The
measurement yields data that can then be statistically examined and quantified. In
regards to weaknesses that are present in the measurement. the scope of the
measurement is limited to preferences for equality and inequality only, there is no
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context to the child’s decision making, and there is potential bias towards children with
different personality types.
5. Identify the key variables and how they were operationalized in the study (i.e., what
measures were used) in about 100 to 150 words.
Age of the child and distribution of resources are both independent variables in this
study. The child’s reaction to inequality is the dependent variable. By grouping the kids
into age-specific categories (such as 4-5 years, 6-7 years, etc.), the researchers were
able to operationalize this variable. This made it possible for them to contrast children's
responses at various developmental stages. By constructing scenarios with various
resource distributions, the researchers were able to operationalize this variable. For
instance, in certain situations, resources were split equally between the two
participants, while in other situations, one party was given more than the other. By
watching and documenting the children's actions and their reported preferences in
reaction to the scenarios, the researchers were able to operationalize this variable. This
includes the children's emotional and verbal responses, as well as whether they
intervened to address the inequality.
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References
Sheskin, M., Bloom, P., & Wynn, K. (2014). Anti-equality: Social comparison in young
children. Cognition, 130(2), 152–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2013.10.008
