FINAL POST!

All there is left to do now is sort out my presentation, and therefore I need not really update my blog any further as by the time I have done my presentation I will have handed in my Extended Project.

This therefore means that this is my FINAL extended project blog post (I will also shortly write my final timetable update too) after seven months worth of research, writing, evaluating, printing and stressing! It has certainly been a very eye opening experience in regards to what University pressures may be like and despite having my struggles I have certainly enjoyed the EP experience, especially the past week in which I have experienced the feeling that all my efforts have paid off and I am finally reaching a conclusion. My main hope is that my dedication to both Psychology and my independent life will be demonstrated through my motivation and especially the fact that I have managed to finish early!

THE END

EP Thoughts: 19/09/12

I just emailed my teacher regarding my previous issue and here is the outcome:

For this reason, I believe it is now time to finish my blog as I have said everything I need to do in order to finish, and all there is left to do now is put it together. I believe that finishing today or tomorrow is certainly an achievable goal!

EP Thoughts: 19/09/12

I have now printed roughly 75% of my final extended project including the dissertation itself after finishing all the required adjustments. All I really have left to do now are the CEC sheets and rounding off my blog and detailed timetable so I can print and include these too.
Of course I must also prepare my presentation but it is possible that this won't be done until after the project. I may email my teacher now to ask about this as I can't print off all of my documents until I have done my presentation.

EP Thoughts: 18/09/12

I have now applied all the edits to my dissertation so this is now fully completed and ready to print off! I also have a third dissertation to print which is the one that shows 'track changes', so my examiner can see exactly what was changed as some parts are unclear on my handwritten version.

I am now going to complete some CEC sheets and my evaluation.

EP Thoughts: 17/09/12

Over the course of the weekend I have printed out my dissertation and written and highlighted what I want to cut, add and change and I am now about to apply these changes to my dissertation on Word itself.

I have also started to print out and file certain documents which I know I have finished.

EP Lesson: 14/09/12

This lesson I visited the college's EP website and found the Connect-Extend-Challenge worksheet which I had not seen before. As the checklist shows that some of these need to be included, a next step will be to complete a few of these referencing some of my sources.

I am also currently in the process of evaluating my sources.

As I have not yet edited my dissertation, I plan to print this out and sort out what I am going to edit before making the changes on the computer.

EP Thoughts: 10/09/12

I spent a free this morning organising my dissertation. This involved adding footnotes and sorting out my bibliography so it is more readable and professional. I am now moving onto evaluating my sources.

EP Lesson: 07/09/12

In today's lesson we completed the reality checklist template which was a report regarding what we had completed over the summer in terms of our projects. After finishing this, I began to revise and update my detailed timetable.

EP Research: 06/09/12

I have stumbled upon this website http://printwhatyoulike.com which will enable me to print the pages of my blog to include in my final project. However, I am unsure if I need to include my blog or just the address of a link to it; I will ask my teacher tomorrow.

EP Thoughts: 06/09/12

I am now back to college and I have my first extended project lesson tomorrow. I am going to wait for this lesson to see what my teacher says about the next step, and show him what I have done before I continue with my EP as I have found that there isn't much more I can do right now.

EP Research: 31/08/12 (Research done 21/08/12-25/08/12)

I had a query which I solved by emailing my extended project teacher as follows;

EP Thoughts: 31/08/12

Despite not posting in this blog for a while, I have actually been getting on with my extended project and have now basically finished the 'first draft'. I am therefore onto the editing, cutting and refining (especially of the bibliography) stage to ensure that my dissertation reaches high standards in terms of presentation. I think the hardest part of this will be when I find I need to cut and paste pieces of text into different locations within the dissertation because it will involve re-ordering all of the bibliography numbering!

After I have done this all that really remains is sorting out the paperwork (such as the PPR, VTT and the timetable) and ordering this around the dissertation.

In order to help me sort refine my dissertation I will be using the help given here on the EP > Dissertation page on the Hills Road internal website.

EP Thoughts: 21/08/12

I visited the library again yesterday to take out some books and found that unbelievabley someone has taken out the Anne Coates book about bringing up an only child, which is on loan until the 8th September and by then I aim to have finished the majority of my dissertation. To make up for this, I looked in the index of every single book in the library about child development and only found three which have information about only children, however one has a fair few pages so hopefully this will make up for the loss of the Anne Coates book.

EP Thoughts: 19/08/12

I have written around 2000 words of my dissertation now and I am feeling a lot more confident about it.
I am slightly concerned however that I will not have enough to write about and so I am taking another trip to the library tomorrow to get some more inspiration, as sometimes the internet can be confusing and all over the place in terms of sources.

EP Research: 17/08/12

I have began to get into the swing of writing my EP now. I have also found a variety of new sources which will be highly beneficial.
'Time' magazine had an issue which focussed on only children, and so I am trying to get hold of this or read the main article online: http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20100719,00.html
I have also found various videos, including this one on youtube and some others, many on the abc news website.

EP Thoughts: 13/08/12

Evidently, I have been finding it very difficult to keep on top of my EP this summer, especially as I have been on holiday quite a lot. However today I have managed to create my survey and start getting responses which is definitely something.
Here is the link to my survey;

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LM9P72J

EP Thoughts: 19/07/12

As it is now the summer holidays I will have far more time to focus on my project and so far have done so. I have drafted once again the focus for each paragraph of the dissertation, and this is probably quite close to the actual format I will adopt:

Intro

Content- What is an only child, why do parents have an only child, what myths surround only children- introduce ‘only child syndrome’

Personal- why have I chosen this, what will I gain from it, how will it extend me

Paragraph one

How does being an only child really affect the child?

i)                    Personality traits

ii)                  OWN RESEARCH – questionnaires/surveys

iii)                Social behaviour/skills

iv)                Are only children more likely to have behavioural problems in the future?

Paragraph two

How common is it/do people perceive it to be?

i)                    Data tables from UK

ii)                  Cultural differences

iii)                Famous only children – has this affected their success/what they are successful for?

Paragraph three

Factors that may affect how only children behave

i)                    Family set-up

ii)                  Gender

EP Research: 19/07/12

I spent the morning in Cambridge Central Library yesterday, and managed to find the book by Anne Coates that I had discovered using their online search tool;

Anne Coates, 1996. Your Only Child, Bloomsbury

As my library card has not arrived yet, I simply took a few notes and references from this book whilst I was there, including some data from a couple of tables which I have just converted myself in an excel document;

Social trends 23, 1993 edition 'Percentages of families with one child in Great Britain'

EP Research: 17/07/12

Extract from David R. Shaffer, 1995. Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence. 4th Edition. Brooks/Cole Pub Co relative to my project (this book is reference only and this is the last day of the college term so I have to get this information now!):

"Are "only" children who grow up without siblings the spoiled, selfish, overindulged brats that people often presume them to be? Hardly! Two major reviews of hundreds of pertinent studies found that only children are (1) relatively high, on average, in self-esteem and achievement motivation, (2) more obedient and slightly more intellectually competent than children with siblings, and (3) likely to establish good relations with peers (Falbo, 1992; Falbo & Polit, 1986). Since only children enjoy an exclusive relationship with their parents, they may receive more quality time from parents and more direct achievement training than children with siblings do, perhaps explaining their tendency to be relatively friendly, well-behaved, and instrumentally competent (Baskett, 1985). Moreover, these singletons have no younger sibs that they can bully, and, like later0bnorns, they may soon learn that they must negotiate and be accommodating if they hope to play successfully with peer playmates, most of whom are probably at least as powerful as they are."

"In 1979, the People's Republic of China implemented a one-child family policy in an attempt to control its burgeoning population... there is no evidence that China's one-child policy has produced..."little emperors". Only children in China closely resemble only children in Western countries (Falbo & Posten, 1993)"

EP Research: 16/07/12

I have just had a good search in the Hills Road library and come across two books- one of which I can take home- which will be of use to me. These are;

David R. Shaffer, 1995. Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence. 4th Edition. Brooks/Cole Pub Co.

Peter K. Smith, 2011. Understanding Children's Development. 5 Edition. Wiley-Blackwell.

EP Thoughts: 16/07/12

Another possible topic to cover would be celebrities/famous people who are only children, and if there is any difference in success rate or their personalities. This would also help me because I don't know any other only children myself. Because of this, it's going to be impossible to study only children alone, as there are simply not enough of us! I will have to compare only children to those with siblings in order to gain my information.

EP Lesson: 13/07/12

I have just signed up for a library card online so I will not have to do this over the weekend, it should be posted to me within a week!

EP Thoughts: 13/07/12

I have recently been unable to write posts in my blog as I have have been doing various University preparation before the summer, so I have longer in the summer to focus on my extended project as I believe this would be the prime time for its completion.
In order to gather my resources, I am aiming to get a library card within the next week; preferably the coming weekend. I can then start taking out relevant books which I have found on the Cambridge library online database.
Any books I am unable to locate in the library I plan to purchase on Amazon, as they will be the lowest cost here.

EP Lesson: 29/06/12

"Being an only child is a disease in itself "

G. Stanley Hall

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/g_stanley_hall.html

EP Thoughts: 26/06/12

This morning I have very briefly looked over some of the psychological research on Psycnet and decided on a few provisional subject titles/headings/aspects etc...

• What is it to be an only child? Why do some families decide to only have one child?

• What are the proposed personality differences? – academia, locus of control, social responsibility

• Are only children more selfish?

• Are only children more likely to have social problems later in life?

• Are there gender differences amongst only child differences?

• Psychological research – other external factors that may have altered results

• Personal research and conclusions- surveys and in depth interviews with close friends

Of course these are not the decided titles, I just thought it would be a good idea to start thinking about these now so I can get writing as soon as possible!

EP Thoughts: 13/06/12

I have been thinking about my topic for EP, and have decided that my dissertation will be far more informative and detailed if I reduce my topic focus to just "Only Child syndrome", rather than tackling both this and sibling rivalry. I also think there are far more resources available for me to access regarding the only child syndrome alone.

Concerning this change, I think I will now have to update various paperwork including my VTT and PPR.

EP Update: 12/06/12

I have just amended my EP timetable to suit the later deadline. I have also completed my
project review, which assesses the work I have carried out regarding my dissertation so far.

(Click on the links above to view these documents)

EP Research: 11/06/12

I have been using the Cambridgeshire County Council's online library catalogue (https://ibistro.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/uhtbin/webcat) and found a book available for rental which will be of good use to me.

SEARCH ENGINE/LOCATION OF BOOK:

I have been making use of Google Scholar and have come across another potential book of interest Only Child Experience and Adulthood by Dr Bernice Sorensen.

*   *   *   *   *

I have also registered to PsycNET website; an online collaboration of Psychological and Sociological research findings. This will be highly useful in helping me to support my own statements with research but also including comparative studies which may potentially go against my own opinions.

However, a limitation I would suggest of this website is that it is founded by the APA (American Psychological Association) and so findings may not be applicable world wide. This issue can be further discussed in my dissertation!

PyscNET search engine: http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.defaultSearchForm

"Only Child" PsycNET search outcomes: http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.searchResults&id=DFE2DCD1-C7CA-B4BC-77DD-EA4B3BD550E6&page=1&dbTab=pa

EP Thoughts: 11/06/12

After a very long break due to exams and other pressures, I have come to the conclusion that it would be best to change my extended project deadline to October. This will give me more time to plan and gain resources for my dissertation, hopefully improving the overall outcome.

EP Thoughts: 16/03/12

I have also found out that there are also some famous Psychologists who have done research into the case of the Only Child (e.g. G. Stanley Hall) and I think that for this reason a University in Cambridge may have some books related to my topic. I work at a college in Cambridge so I could perhaps gain permission to look in their library.

EP Research: 16/03/12

I have found some potential books online which I could take out from the library by Susan Newman. These are: The Case for the Only Child: Your Guide and Parenting an Only Child.

EP Research: 24/02/12

Article discussing the basics of only child syndrome from 27/06/11: http://www.onlychild.org.uk/2011/06/27/only-child-syndrome/

EP Thoughts: 24/02/12

I have now decided on my dissertation subject, and this will be the two theories of 'Only child syndrome' and sibling rivalry. The dissertation will mainly be about outlining the two theories and discussing whether they are really valid as theories or not.
I have mainly chosen this because I have a keen interest in Psychology and I am also interested in Sociology. I have also chosen this because Psychology is a potential University/career choice for the future and this dissertation will greatly help me.
I am really looking forward to researching for my dissertation as the subject is something I am very interested in myself and I have not had the oppotunity to write or research into something like this before! View rationale for further reasoning as to why I chose to do this.
My next step is to being research online to brief myself on exactly what I should be looking out for in books and on TV etc. I also plan to visit the library very soon as I know the resources will be reliable.

EP Lesson: 24/02/12

In today's EP lesson, I completed a VTT, PPR, rationale and timeline for my new project - a Psychology dissertation. I have now uploaded these to my folder on sharepoint.

(Click on the links above to view these documents)

EP thoughts: 10/02/12

I have not yet posted about a definite EP idea and this is because I was still uncertain up until now. I was keen to write and illlustrate a children's storybook, however I realise now that my main interests lie within Psychology and I would really like to extend my knowledge beyond what I have been taught as part of my AS.
I would therefore like to write a dissertation about a topic of interest. My main thoughts for the title/subject of the dissertation are:

• Body image and eating disorders
• Only child syndrome and sibling rivalry
• How family upbringing has an impact on our personality
• Dreams

I am planning on now carrying out some background research and reading so I am able to assess what subject I will find the most interesting. I have composed an email to my EP teacher after having requested the change. If this is approved I will need to update my paperwork (e.g. VTT, PPR).

EP lesson: 10/02/12

In today's EP lesson we were taught how to take notes effectively and quickly. We were then introduced to the searching of library books online, and how to reference these in our own project bibliography. No matter what I end up doing for my project, I believe these skills will be extremely useful. It will also be good to put these note-taking skills into practice in preparation for University.