Journal article critique Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Journal critique - Article Example This is a challenge since there is limited amount of data in prior researches that tackled the said age range. For that matter, the results were related to behavioral analysis of the effects of disciplinary practices on children belonging to higher age group e.g. 3 to 6 years old. Through the use of the reports of the parents on the frequency of spanking, the specific disciplinary practice noted, the evaluation of the significance of prediction of spanking attitudes can be achieved (Vittrup, Holden and Buck 2056). A longitudinal study of one hundred thirty-two mothers had been the main basis of the research conducted. The said mothers are chosen on the basis of having children that belongs to the 12 months to 4 years age group. The sample size can be considered as sufficient specifically for the targeted behavioral results. It is important to consider though that sample size needs to be the right amount to properly support the assumption that the number of population used in the study constitutes a significant portion of the population. This is specifically important in the statistical analysis of the results (p. 2057). In the type of research method applied there are different biases that can be observed. These can either be inevitable or necessary to be able to set the constraints of the research and focus on specific results to be achieved. In terms of the population size, the number of participants in the study had been dependent on the number of people that can comply on the needs of the research process, such as the cooperation for the 3.5 years of research. In addition, the focus on mothers exclusively threatens the statistical validity due to the need for randomness in choosing samples but this is needed to achieve uniformity in data since there is significantly low number of fathers in the original population invited to take part in the research (p. 2057). The data was gathered through the use of a questionnaire of the