In their article, Corsaro & Rizzo discuss the findings of two surveys in one American and one Italian nursery school about the
conflict behavior of children.
After a short introduction and overview of recent research in the field, they present their
data, method and analysis. They provide many characteristic examples for
different types of interactions and explain their approach clearly. Although much information is provided about facts like the number of hours recorded, the exact age of the children and professions of the parents, they never give details about other
aspects crucial for a better understanding of the study, such as:
Research question
Modus operandi
Definition and characteristics of the four different types of
dispute Ethnic background of the children, location of American school
Cultural information, e.g. value of discussione in Italy
My suggestion for a more fruitful discussion of the data would be putting emphasis on one or more of the following aspects:
Comparing the American and Italian data
Conflict behavior of different age groups
Conflict behavior in the beginning vs. at the end of the year
Comparing conflict solution styles in different types of dispute
I see Corsaro & Rizzo’s article as a good presentation of their raw material but not as an analysis tapping the full potential of the undertaking.
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