Introduction
According to Jokela (2010), the characteristics of the first child are critical because they help parents to predict their probably of getting another child. The purpose of this study is to summarize the development psychology article by provision of answers to the questions related to the entire content of the article (Jokela, 2010).
Discussion
What is the general topic that this paper is addressing? What is the purpose of the research described in this paper?
The Characteristics of the first child predict the parents’ probability of having another child is the topic that is addressed within the context of this study. It is quite difficulty for many people to believe in this the findings of this study although numerous studies have provided numerous evidences that the characteristics possessed by first born children contributes to the determination of the parents’ probability of having another children.
In conjunction to this argument, the purpose of the study topic is to create awareness to the people in the society that the characteristics of the first born child affects siblings birth in the family thus enabling the parents to predict their probability of giving birth to another child (Jokela, 2010).
Methods of data collection, participants, the intention of the research and the measures that were collected
According to the article, the researcher embarked on the use of survey as the only appropriate method through which enough and useful data could be collected for the study. The data was collected using a questionnaire whereby questions were administered to the target population.
The article described how the researcher collected data by door-to door home visits. According to Jokela (2010), the research targeted parents with first-born children aged 9 months, 3 years and five years. The major participants of the study came from the MCS, which is described as a national body of British prospective concerned with the study of infants that are born in Wales, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The MCS were aimed at investigating the impacts of the characteristics of first-born children on sibling birth (Jokela, 2010).
Results of the study
The study findings indicated that some of the characteristics of first born child such as high cognitive ability, behavioral characteristics, infant temperature and socio-emotional characteristics among others contribute greatly to parents’ probability of having second child.
It was evident that the probability increased during 2.5 years of growth of the child then began decreasing. Good general health, high education, low psychological stress and good financial status have been identified as some of factors increasing the childbirth probability in the family (Jokela, 2010).
Major conclusion of the study and its implications
The major conclusion of the study is that the results have suggested that the characteristics of first-born child affect the parents’ timing and the probability of getting a second child. High novelty adaptability, high cognitive ability and high socio-emotional and behavioral traits of the first-born child predicted parents’ likelihood of having another in the first five years.
The implication of the study is that apart from the characteristics of the firstborn child, the future psychological research will use factors such as good general health, high education, low psychological stress and good financial status to determine human behavior in general (Jokela, 2010).
What are the strengths of the study?
According to the article, the study is resourceful because it has used the survival analysis technique that offers readers with the opportunity to understand time dependent nature associated with child effects. The study also used validated instruments to assess the characteristics of the firstborn child. The other strength is that the study was based on MCS accompanied by prospective follow-up among others (Jokela, 2010).
What are the Limitations of the study?
According to the article, the study presents enormous limitations that include dependence on observational data as opposed to experimental data. Another limitation is that the study failed to address the parents’ effects on the firstborn child but it focused on the effects of characteristics of the firstborn child on sibling birth (Jokela, 2010).
What you think about the study?
The study is valuable in that it played a key role in highlighting the impacts of the characteristics of firstborn child on parents’ likelihood of having a second child. It also analyses others important factors that increases parents’ probability of having a second child in the family (Jokela, 2010).
Reference
Jokela, M. (2010). Characteristics of the first Child Predict the Parents probability of having Another Child. American Journal on developmental psychology, 46, 915-926.