Compare and Contrast the Approach to Studying Children’s Friendships Taken in the Bigelow and La Gaipa (1975) Study with That Taken by William Corsaro

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Friendships among children have been studied by many psychologists and social scientists and two of the most well-known cases are the study by Bigelow and La Gaipa (1975) and another study by William Corsaro. Comparing and contrasting each study in depth by examining the methods used to conduct the research and also the exact details of what was being researched in each case allows for similarities and differences to be recognised. Both studies clearly set out to find more about how children view friendship, how this can vary between ages and ultimately define the meaning of friendship. William Corsaro (Corsaro 2006, as cited by Brownlow, 2012, p.250) believed in an ethnographic approach and used this to conduct his research. He took notes on the children he was studying in relation to how they would interact with others whilst they played and also recorded the interaction. Naturally this would raise ethical concerns as there is no explicit mention of parental consent to having the children recorded on tape. This question of ethics is one which needs to be addressed in all aspects of research and an example of this is discussed in an interview with Carly Butler (Interview with Carly Butler, Part 1: 2010) where she ensured that the permission of parents’ to record the children was obtained as an important part of the research. In a separate interview Corsaro stated that when engaging with children you should not be seen as a typical adult but instead you should “allow the children to draw you into their play” (Interview with William Corsaro, 2010). Through this way of conducting research an understanding of friendship between children can be more easy to see and it can be argued that it also gives and insight into how friendships can be developed and maintained. One example of such research is Corsaro’s study into a group of children, aged 3, playing in a box.
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