Respond to a colleague’s post by explaining an insight you gained from this week’s Resources that addresses a topic in your colleague’s post. Please use the resources to support your post

Colleague: Jacqueline

Classify Research Design

Kohl et al (2011) conducted a quasi-experimental study where parenting practices and maternal depression is examined over a 36 month time period to determine their association. The same sample of 1536 mother-child pairs were used during the entire study (Kohl el al, 2011, p.215). The study is considered quasi-experimental because it uses the same group of mother-child pairs at different times.

Limitations of the Study

One of the limitations of the Kohl et al (2011) study is that the sample used only mother-child pairs where the child stayed in the home with the mother following the investigation of maltreatment (p.221). This limits the experiences gathered and analyzed to these specific circumstances. Whereas, children removed from their home were not analyzed, and their experiences were most likely not the same as those who remained in the home following maltreatment. Also, the entire study relies on the mothers self reporting which leaves room for dishonesty or reluctance to share information.

Concerns Regarding Internal Validity and Causality

The concerns I have surrounding the internal validity and the ability of the study to draw conclusions about causality is that the study is completely dependent on the word of its participants which can never be proven true beyond the shadow of a doubt. It is possible for a mother to be reluctant to share the truth of her experience which jeopardizes the validity and ability to draw conclusions about causality.

Concerns about Generalizability of the Study and What may Limit it

In the Kohl et al (2011) study the concerns I have for generalizibility is that the results can only be considered to be true for those who fit within the parameters of the sample used (p.216). Therefore, the research design is limited to mother-child pairs where the child is between the ages of three to 10, and who remained in the home for at least a 36 month span after maltreatment being investigated.

Kohl, P. L., Kagotho, J. N., & Dixon, D. (2011). Parenting Practices among Depression in Mothers in the Child Welfare System. Social Work Research, 35(4), 215–225. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1093/swr…