Naturalistic Observation

Research Question

What are the differences between only children and the youngest child of a larger family (ie. Families with four or five children) and are the effects noticeable in adulthood? In most cases, only children and the youngest child are given more than a child in a different position in the Birth Order. The reasons behind the this are very different, the only child is given more because the parents do not have to spread their attention to other children, whereas the youngest receives everything because the parents are tired of fighting once they get to their fourth or fifth child. The other difference between the two group is the most fascinating to see the effects of in adulthood, freedom. Only children have very little freedom, their parents have no other children are able to focus on and often restrict the child’s daily activates. The youngest, on the other hand, has more freedom than they know what to do with. This causes a divide in these group otherwise similar childhood and therefore affects how they will act as adults.

Methodology

Observing several people from the same ethnicity, class background and age somewhere in their late twenties, one-half being only children and the other half the youngest of five children. Before the observation, I would have the subjects take a survey about their childhood, how they grew up, what they think about how they were raised, whether they enjoyed it or not. To gain background knowledge to better understand the subject’s personal experience. For the observation portion of the study, I believe that the observer should not know which of the subjects are which. This would be beneficial much like the double-blind procedure, the bias would not color their