Sage Publications Exploring Developmental Psychology: Understanding Theory and Methods

`This is a beautifully written account of the most important ways in which developmental psychologists go about their business, illustrated with carefully chosen articles which are carefully described in order to make the designs, methodologies, analysis and interpretation of the results readily accessible to a non-expert readership. This will become the preferred textbook for those who want an up-to-date, interesting and accessible introduction to developmental psychology research′ - Alan Slater, University of Exeter A wide range of techniques is used to investigate children′s development. This book, which is aimed at advanced undergraduates and postgraduate students in psychology and related areas, provides a guide to key theories and methods used by researchers. Carefully chosen articles are accompanied by a commentary from the author that, among other things, helps students to understand the rationale for a study, the choice of design and assessment measures, use of statistics and the interpretation of results. A wide range of recent research papers is included to cover observational and experimental methods from infancy to adolescence. The research papers are introduced by two chapters that consider the relationship between theory and methods, explaining how models of development differ from one another and how they can be tested through experimental studies. Review ′This book is a fantastic guide to the study of developmental psychology and... it successfully achieves its goals of providing an accurate and through understanding of theories, methods and the research context... this book is excellent in aiding the reader to understand how to interpret complex journal articles. It provides the reader with confidence in their own ability to browse, interpret and draw their own conclusions from developmental psychology journals. It is highly recommended for undergraduate or postgraduate students within the field of developmental psychology′ Gemma ReynoldsPsychology: Learning & Teaching About the Author Margaret Harris is Academic Adviser to the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) and Visiting Professor at Birkbeck College, University of London. She was formerly Professor of Voluntary Sector Organisation at Aston Business School, Birmingham, UK and Assistant Director of the Centre for Voluntary Organisation at the London School of Economics.