Applied Research Detailed Plan

Here is an excerpt from my sociology text book, Sociology: A down to earth approach page 73, that I thought was a good explanation for the purpose of my research...

 Socialization into Gender: Learning the Gender Map:

"For a child, society is unexplored territory. A major signpost on society's map is gender, the attitudes and behaviors that are expected of us because we are a male or female. In learning the gender map (called gender socialization), we are nudged into different lanes in life- into contrasting attitudes and behaviors. We take direction so well that as adults, most of us act, think and even feel according to this gender map, our culture's guidelines to what is appropriate for our sex."...

So basically, society teaches us what is considered feminine and masculine and children who have had the least life experience still seem to conform to these norms... how does this affect their growth? To define how much children I plan on asking them and their parents a series of questions, without predisposing them to the true purpose of my research...

• Who?
• Participants?
• Children
• I predict participants will be between the ages of 3 and 11 
• Male and Female
• A CCD class I teach, the childcare center I work at, and my nieces friends 
• Adults 
• I predict the participants to range from ages 25-45
• I know there is a big gap between these ages but I am probably going to ask the parents of the children I interview and I assume they will range somewhere between these ages 
• What? 
• Materials 
• Survey Question Examples for kids 
• What is your favorite color?
• What toys do you play with/ games?
• Who are your friends? 
• I expect their answers to fulfill their gender roles
• Survey Question Examples for parents
• What do you and your kid do together? 
• Do you pick out your child's clothes/toys?
• I expect the parents to have answers that show the influence they have had on their children abiding to gender roles 

• When? 
• Where? 
• Location- most likely... Church, Gym, and my house
• Why? 
• To evaluate how gender roles influence children
• How?
• I am going to survey male and female children as well as male and female adults to compare the outcomes of their responses and evaluate the part that gender roles play in an average lifestyle