Bias

Bias

Jean Piaget is pretty much king of the child psychologist world, his cognitive development theory, which has informed much of my research project to date, is respected and informs curriculums and parenting methods still to this day. A lot of his research and observational study was carried out with his own three children, yet his theory and discoveries are still relevant, respected and accurate. Piaget believed samples were valid as long as the structures that were identified were present/common amongst all individuals. Essentially if the research of the 1% I have chosen can be proved to reflect the 99% not chosen, the research can be trusted and the assumptions drawn reasonable.

Sampling bias is a non-probability sampling technique, the subjects being chosen for their proximity and accessibility. It is often used due to its low cost, speed and ease and can lead to systematic bias, whereby the results of the non-random sample do not reflect that of the entire population neglected by the study. In order minimize bias within my results I plan to carry out continuous secondary research and reading, to constantly test the data I receive, and gain a better understanding of the credibility of my research. I will also be carrying out quick surveys and questionnaires to further support or disprove my results. So I should avoid freak anomalies due to my chosen sample, who ent’ freaks anyway. There you’re general mini family, data I get from them should be as good as anywhere else, as long as I conduct the thing right.

“ Science is about recognizing patterns”

That’s what Christopher Knight said, and I’m with him.

This being said, it is an undisputable fact that you can’t ever eliminate bias from a research study, it’s an inescapable element of research, and the human nature. In fact Droyspencer from Climategate said “Seeking to reduct bias through controlled experiments takes away the data from real-world complexity in which scientific results must be applied to solve problems” …So it could be said bias might sometimes not be an entirely negative thing. The only steps that can be taken are to identify, limit and minimize the impact of bias, which ‘m going to do through the following measures:

I’m gonna get someone else to carry out my artefact !

“And why beholdest though the mote that is in thy brothers eye but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye”

Matthew 7:3 (King James Verision)

Bible speak is an effort to type, but Identifying bias in others is easy peasy, but in yourself, not so much. We’re all pretty blind to our own susceptibility, tiny things like body language and facial expressions, uncontrollable intricacies could influence the decisions and approach of my younger brother, he could be egged on to do some more if he see’s me grinning at him, or want to leave it be if he see’s I look bored as a need to please, Bowlby taught me that shit. So I’m gonna get me pal to do it for me which should level out and rival the possible implications of measurement bias.

The guy I’m gonna get to do it will be prepared with the same sort of paperwork that I’m gonna give to my Mom, and instructions of what needs to be done in terms of physical actions…that’s pretty much all he get’s to know. You know me, not big for talking, so both the respondent, the other respondent and my interviewer have little to no information about the motivations behind my project, the sort of results I’d love to receive, or any other kinda of details that could influence their actions and natural responses. Essentially, I’m trying to carry out a Double Blind experiment, where neither party can give away or affect the results, they both only know moderated information, the bare minimum, so there should be little to no chance of them playing up to what they think I might want or not want, or acting to their understanding of the project; a control measure to the sampling choice. Nice and Fair.

A book I read called Growing Up With Technology by Plowman, Stephen and McPake, explains considerations when conducting research with children. They detail the importance of building a rapport and the trusted relationship between the respondent and interviewer, it is for this reason the guy who’s carrying out my artefact isn’t someone I found off the street, but someone who’s met both my Mom and younger brother Isaac a couple of times; Enough for them to be comfortable in each other’s company without me there, but not comfortable enough to be passing wind or talking aloud.

(Despite my slightly jokey style o writing, I am serious in my approach, I’m taking the whole thing really serious, cos it’s something I’m passionate about)

I’ve researched into the importance of the interview setting, and have decided due to the control measure of the external interviewer the best setting for Isaac and my Mom to be in, to ensure their comfortable and natural, is their home. I don’t want the results to be skewed by their unease or unnatural emotional response.

Conclusion

I’m gonna blog how my sample choice differs from the ideal sample, the attributes and qualities absent. I’m going to have a look at how the results I get correlate to existing research and theories through continued reading. I’m going to conduct anonymous surveys and questionnaires, essentially evaluating my data, getting as much information from as varied approaches as I can acquire. I’m gonna get someone else to conduct my interview for me, and I’ve already taken a look and figured out what my data will mean, how it can be measured and what I can do with it.

Artefact 2 - Sampling Bias

Respondents and controls

So, as I said during tutor I’m gonna carry out this activity with my Mother and Brother – this should conquer a lot of ethical quandaries, but does have the potential to skew my results and bias my research if not conducted properly.

After reading the ethical toolkit and checklist, which mentions the need for a CRB check when working with a vulnerable group, such as children, I was unsure how I was going to proceed with my project and testing with the demographic for my project within the time constraints until I spoke to you and Jools about the possibility of exploring ideas with the help of my younger brother.

There’s already a bombproof relationship of full trust in place, however, I don’t plan on carrying out any activities or research without parental attendance and full consent for each individual activity. I will prepare and supply paperwork including a questions answered hand sheet, introduction to the activity sheet, a release form for all images and consent form. I’m going to be attaining consent from my younger brother, who although is only 4 years old, does have a brain of his own. Growing Up With technology, a book I read, also values this, stating the two types of consent they sought : verbal and behavioral. Isaac will be in the know – he’ll be told to have a crack at the jigsaw, and then asked if he’d be up for me filming it, more of an agreement, if he goes on to do it, consent will be assumed, and the behavioral aspect will come from his willingness to participate. If he doesn’t want to, he sure as hell doesn’t have to. My Mother will be present throughout any interaction related to my project to supervise any ongoings and will be able to withdraw from the study at any point, so although technically classed as a vulnerable group, I am hoping the above precautions and chosen sample will enable me to gain approval from you, in writing, so I may include it in my sketchbook and sign the statement of ethical research for this artefact.

Never that simple thought is it. Ghard.

I’ve researched fully the implications and influences that a study conducted with my family could have on my results and data collected. So although I’ll hopefully be okay to work with them ethically, there’s a plethora of control measures that need to be implemented and factors that need to be acknowledged before I’d be able to begin conducting the activity and attain credible data. I’m gonna explain how what I’ve looked at and how I plan to go forward so you can see I’ve not chosen the easy way out so much as the most efficient option given the time constraints of the project. Gathering data that is not biased is something I’m taking very seriously. And so begins my argument and justification of proposed practice to level the playing field.

Artefact 2 - ze Jigsaw

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Overview of Artefact

The idea is to test the idea of parent and child co-operative play as way of engaging children with activities, which will hopefully lead on me to be exploring how it can be applied through an interactive format.

Jigsaws for children aged 3- 5 are recommended to have between 25 and 65 pieces, however, due to the nature of the project and the time constraints I’ve not really been able to build and carve a wooden jigsaw that slots together. In compromise I’ve created 12 bits of card that align without slotting together, with a potential of them going one of 4 ways, corner pieces have been identifiably marked. (12 pieces x 4 potential positions = 48 answers ... slightly logical thinking behind the number 12)

The idea is the child will have a go at putting together the first jigsaw alone, then after a timed break, have a go at putting together the second jigsaw with their parent. The expectation is that playing collaboratively with their parent, the child will be more engaged with the activity.

I’m gonna time the kid both times to give me solid hard data at how long they stick it and want to do it, and be recording the activity visually and with audio to capture their emotional response and the intricacies and narrative to the parent child relationship, which should inform later artefacts.

Jiggersaw one and the making below.

jigsaw two

naffink but innards

Wireframes

Been wireframing till my eyes were scarred, started off drawing up strict structure layouts that prioritised the display and layout of information, moved on to have a crack at more interesting ways of laying stuff out.

I think due to the work switch push out this sites gotta do its talking through subtleties in design, i think the message they wanna project needs to do its talking through a coherent and info graphic like  layout, that's not hard to get t grips with. I think any domination by my ideas or wants for the studio would be inappropriate, despite how bad I wanna go weird and create something thatd be fun for me, since they literally dont mind,  it would be abit of a shitty move. The message they want to portray needs a decent and considered layout thats gonna work with the capabilities and logic of wordpress, not against by wacky content or a load of drawings from me.
I'm still stuck on electricity, that's happening and their into it, but im gonna hint at that (weird contrast between subtly and electricity, but im going with it) through weird gifs of static and flickering rollovers. small but effective coding tricks to add to the experience but not dominate, stuff liek the 'top of page' button and lightboxes I'm gonna customize to make the theme come to life.


This being said, I'm gonna stop procrastinating about designing 4000 wireframes and stick to a logical one. this sites gonna come alive through colour and experience. And in hpes of avoiding last terms shambles. Im getting started by the end of the week.


Started designing logical structured wireframes, had a think about ways to implement my theme, parallax's and whatnot, went abit weird, tried to mess stuff around with the way it was set out, realized it was unnecessary and detracted from the point, went back to make an interesting iteration of my original layouts.

wireframes in me sketchbook. Ill upload the final ones of each page before the end of the week

its not enough to have a concept, its about the detail