Research Problem
Despite much research on the impact of family size and setting on child learning, there is no sufficient clarity on the relationships between these variables. Research shows that the family environment influences children’s opportunities in their academic performance (Anderson, 2017; Jia et al., 2022). The student-centered pedagogical approaches necessitate identifying individual factors, including family environment when educating children and adjusting their learning process (Garcia & Skrita, 2019). Anderson (2017) states that family size “affects not only the environment in which children grow up but also the architecture of their brains” (para. 6). On the other hand, IQ level is claimed to be higher in students from families with only one child (Anderson, 2017). The current research is ambiguous in terms of clearly identifying a positive relationship between sibling availability and child academic performance, which justifies this study.
Research Question and Hypothesis
Preliminary literature review findings imply that overall outcomes in specific academic achievements, such as mathematics, are higher in students who do not have siblings (Jia et al., 2022). As demonstrated in the graph, children with the status of an only child have higher scores in mathematics achievements than children with the status of a non-only child (Jia et al., 2022). Based on these implications and the particularities of the research problem, the research question for the proposed study is as follows: Is the academic performance of a child with siblings different from the academic performance of a child without siblings?
Moreover, the hypothesis for the study is also informed by the general findings of the literature review and might be formulated as follows: Children with no siblings will demonstrate better academic performance levels than children with one or more siblings.
Research Design and Sampling Method
The research design of the proposed study is a quantitative comparative inquiry with a focus on Palmetto Elementary School’s students’ academic achievements measured using average grades. Two groups of students will be recruited for the study, namely, children with siblings and children without siblings. The participants will be sampled using a non-random purposive sampling method. The two groups of participants will be equal; the requirement will include attendance at school for at least one year. The size of the sample will be 100 students, which is justified by Lakens’ (2022) statement that “choosing a sample size based on resource constraints” (p. 1).
Instrumentation
The data will be collected using a survey conducted with students and document analysis via interaction with the school administration. The independent variables of having siblings and having no siblings, as well as the dependent variable of academic performance measures via average grades, will be used (Garcia & Skrita, 2019). The validity and reliability of the study findings will be achieved based on methodology adequacy and accuracy of analysis.
Data Analysis Plan
The statistical analysis method will be used when analyzing the data collected via survey and document analysis. Given the quantitative inquiry of the proposed study, such a method of data analysis will be relevant for answering the research question. To test the hypothesis, the variables of the two compared groups will be tested using an independent t-test. This approach to data analysis will allow for detecting statistically significant differences in academic outcomes between the group of children with siblings and children without siblings.
References
Anderson, J. (2017). Neuroscience shows that our gut instincts about only children are right. Quartz. Web.
Garcia, J. D., & Skrita, A. (2019). Predicting academic performance based on students’ family environment: Evidence for Colombia using classification trees. Psychology, Society & Education, 11(3), 299-311.
Jia, C., Yang, Z., Xin, T., Li, Y., Wang, Y., & Yang, T. (2022). Differences in school performance between only children and non-only children: Evidence from China. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1-14. Web.
Lakens, D. (2022). Sample size justification. Collabra: Psychology, 8(1), 1-32.