In the past we have always had a large number of students who want to do Independent Study with children. We have prepared the following information in an attempt to help these students find topics and subjects but also to recognize the problems of this kind of research.

I. Sources for subjects

A. Normal children ages 3-5 years

1. The College Nursery SchoolÑlocated in the basement of Westminster Church House. There are four classes, a younger group, 3-4 year olds, which meets on Tuesday and Thursday, 9-11 a.m. or 1-3 p.m., and an older group 4-5 year olds, which meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9-11 a.m. or 1-3 p.m.

2. Head Start has a program in Wooster. There are about 20-40 children involved. The classes are in Wayne Center for the Arts, 237 South Walnut Street, Wooster.

3. Wee Care Nursery is a day care center at 424 East Bowman and has somewhere between 20-30 children between the ages of 2-5. We have used these children.

4. Perky's World of Children at 647 East Bowman has been very helpful with I.S. projects.

B. Normal children kindergarten through sixth grade

1. Wooster City School System. We have used children from all of the public schools in Wooster. Lincoln Way Elementary has mostly lower socio-economic class children. Layton, Parkview, and Kean have more upper middle class children. Wayne, Beall and Grant have a mixture. There are some exceptions to the above statement. We have always made arrangements to use the children through the superintendent's office. In the past we have only been allowed to use the children for one session and no longer than 10-15 minutes.

2. Triway School System. We have used children from Wooster Township School located on State Route 250 about two miles south of Wooster. We have made arrangements directly with the principal. There has been no time limit on these children and on occasion we have used them for more than one session.

3. St. Mary's Parochial School. The principal and teachers of St. Mary's have been very willing to have I. S. students use their students as subjects. The school is located on Beall Avenue, across from Drug Mart. Contact the principal for further information.

C. Abnormal Children

1. Apple Creek State Hospital, located seven miles south-east of Wooster, has retarded children and adultsÑall ages and levels. There is a very small number of children diagnosed as autistic.

2. Ida Sue School, two miles north of the College, is a community day school and sheltered workshop for the retarded. We have used these children by making arrangements directly through the principal.

D. Other Sources

In the past, well-organized and highly motivated students have collected data in their home towns during Christmas break or semester break. However, this takes extra planning and organization on the part of the student. It is not recommended for all students.

II. Problems to consider when selecting a child development research project for Independent Study.

A. It takes big blocks of time to collect data from subjects located off- campus. You will need to have entire afternoons or mornings free some days and you must work within the schedules of the institutions where you use children.

B. The student must contact the resource person and make arrangements for subjects. This should be done only after the advisor knows the project is fully approved.

C. You will have to manage your own transportation to and from the institution.

D. Frequently, you will have to work in crowded conditions and constantly changing ones. This makes control of variables difficult, but you have to adjust to the space the institution makes available to you.

E. You must keep your apparatus simple and small so you can move it to the children. You are responsible for moving it around and, frequently, you need to collect data from more than one school. Your space at the school or institution will be small.

F. In order to work with children as subjects, you should know something about children, how to interact with them. Children are very special subjects to deal with, especially if you choose a study with young ones. If you have dealt with children in camps, baby-sitting, have younger siblings, etc., you will have no problem. However, if you have not interacted with children, you will probably not be a very successful researcher with them. Psychology 110 includes a practicum in the College of Wooster Nursery School. It is recommended.

G. Wooster Public School has had a time limit on using subjects. You have to keep this in mind in planning a project.

H. The retarded children are frequently on medication. This is a variable over which you have no control.

I. The institution which allows you to use children usually requests a copy of your independent study paper. This is the responsibility of the student and is reproduced at the student's expense.

PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING CHILDREN FROM THE COLLEGE NURSERY SCHOOL

Carefully planned research projects which provide interesting and meaningful experiences for the children result in fruitful experimental sessions. If you plan to use children and wish to obtain subjects from the College Nursery School:

1. Present a written statement of your research plan to Carol Stewart, director of the Nursery School. Include the number of children needed, the time involved, the task, the procedure, and your proposed timetable.

2. These proposals will be considered by a committee of nursery school teachers and the psychology department staff.

It should be recognized that the number of I. S. projects dealing with Nursery School children must be limited.

OUTLINE OF PROCEDURES FOR DOING RESEARCH IN THE WOOSTER SCHOOL SYSTEM

1. Submit a brief, written proposal to the school psychologist for the Wooster School System. The procedure should include (a) the purpose of the study and (b) a copy of the instrument(s) or test(s) that you will use.

2. The psychologist will schedule a personal conference with you. During this conference, you should be prepared to discuss with the school psychologist the following points:

a) the mutual benefit of the study, for the school system and yourself (or the College).

b) the time required to collect your data.

c) The number and "type" of subjects you require (sex, age level, socioeconomic status, etc.).

d) the confidentiality of the study, and for what purposes the data will be used.

e) the letter of permission you will use in order to obtain consent from the parents in your study. Letters of permission are required for all subjects under 18 years of age. It's a good idea to have a draft of the letter prepared before your conference.

3. The psychologist will confer with other school officials and then approve or disapprove your study. If approved, he will also select the school and classroom where the study will be conducted and will consult with you further.

4. One copy of your final report/thesis should be submitted to the school.

Other comments:

5. Allow at least three weeks to obtain approval of your study. Be prepared to make a number of follow-up calls to the psychologist's office to keep the procedure moving along.

6. An alternate procedure is to obtain students from St. Mary's School (Wooster) or from public schools in the outlying areas (e.g., Smithville). These alternate arrangements are strongly recommended because of problems students have had obtaining subjects in the Wooster City School System.

APPLE CREEK STATE INSTITUTE

Guidelines and information for individuals applying for permission to use residents of Apple Creek State Institute as research subjects:

1. All researchers must work closely with a member of the Institute's professional staff, who must approve all procedures which will be used and who will notify all areas involved before the research is begun.

2. The researcher must adjust his or her time schedule so as to cause as little interference with the residents' ward routine or activity schedule as possible. Educable residents are often most readily available in the late afternoon or early evening or on weekends. Studies which do not require the participation of any resident on more than one occasion, and for a relatively brief period of time, are easiest to arrange.

3. Any case history information provided to the researcher must be held in the strictest confidence and the residents' last names are not to be used in the written report of the research. No photographs may be taken without special permission. No files may leave the premises.

4. Candy or other rewards may not be given to residents except by special permission, but are not usually necessary to insure adequate attention and motivation.

5. The researcher should identify himself or herself to the person in charge of any area or ward before approaching any resident and must notify the person in charge when any resident is to leave that area with the researcher and again when the resident is returned.

6. The use of subjects over 18 years of age whenever possible is encouraged, because the younger educable residents have full activity schedules which are difficult to interrupt.

7. The use of subjects below 50 IQ is also encouraged; there is an urgent need for more research at this level and residents in this category are more numerous and more readily available.

8. There are very few residents above 75 IQ and very few educable children below the age of twelve.

9. Few residents can read or write well enough to participate in research requiring any extensive application of these skills.

10. The Institute's staff asks that the researcher provide the Institute with one copy of the completed study for their library.

11. The Institute's Psychology Department has a complete set of Mental Retardation Abstracts which may be used on the premisses by arrangement with the Chief Psychologist. The Institute's library also includes issues of a number of professional journals, which may also be used in accordance with the same guidelines as for the Abstracts.