Critically analysis o the Quantitative Study “The Effect of an Education Program for Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Jordan” .
Advanced level research is prominent across the world that throws light on the different strategies that can give a positive direction to the social and psychological issues of disability services and inclusive educations. The research aims to collaboratively promote innovative methods by which such services can be successful. Critically analysing the suitability and reliability of this pool of research is desirable to understand the areas of further improvement. Evaluating the credibility of such research articles contribute towards future research that is better in all respects (Goodley, 2016). The present paper is a critical analysis of the quantitative study “The Effect of an Education Program for Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Jordan” by Al-Khalaf et al., (2013). To critique research in inclusive, special education or disability service settings is the aim of the paper. The purpose is to demonstrate the ability to identify and analyse the elementary features of scientifically defendable research in relation to special education.
Against the backdrop that there are limited education programs prevalent in Jordan that aims to educate and support parents of preschool age child suffering from ASD, the present research had the aim of exploring whether increased provision for such education programs for mothers would be beneficial. The primary research question was whether educational programs for mothers of children with ASD would significantly bring improvements in their coping skills, bring a reduction in their stress and promote the enhancement of their understanding of the behaviour demonstrated by the children. The secondary research question was whether there are any discreet differences between coping skills and stress levels between fathers and mothers of children with ASD in Jordan. The research questions have been appropriate for exploration since there is a lack of knowledge on the topic of the value of educational programs for parents of children with ASD and the research would bridge this gap. According to Fischbach et al., (2016) there is a scarcity of studies showing the influence of training program on parental attitudes towards the children. Frantzen et al., (2016) highlight that if the applicability of parent training and education programs are known, concerned authorities can consider increasing resource allocation for services that provide these parents with support and information so that they develop specialist knowledge. Skills and coping ability of parents can be enhanced through this approach. The research questions are causal with respect to the research topic. According to Flick (2015), causal research questions aims to explain the cause and effect relationship between the different variables. The purpose of constructing such questions is to determine the nature of the relationship between the variables and understand which variable is successful in establishing the effect and to what extent. In the present case, the study aims to establish the causal relationship between education program and stress and coping level of mothers.
The present study was an exploratory study that investigated whether the scope of an education program for mothers of children with ASD in Jordan contributed to better outcomes for parents in relation to caring for their children. Interviews were undertaken with the participants as data collection was done with two measurement scales Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI) and Parent Stress Index (PSI) at three phases. According to Flick (2015), exploratory studies are known to improve knowledge on a certain topic. This methodology helps in determining how and why things happen. Exploratory researches are highly advantageous in directing subsequent research approaches. The relationship between the research questions and the research design was therefore justified as such an approach would be beneficial in explaining why and how educational programs would be highly accepted by parents of ASD children. The type of research design is not mentioned for the primary research question, and for the secondary research question, there is no separate research design.
After searching existing literature on the concerned research topic, we find that a number of research studies have considered exploratory study design for addressing their research questions. Nolcheva and Trajkovski (2015) undertook an exploratory study for highlighting coping, stress and support among parents of children with ASD. Mann (2013) explored the experiences of mothers of autistic children with an exploratory research design. Coogle and Hanline (2014) undertook an exploratory study of family-centred help-giving practices in early intervention phases for families of autistic children. Chien and Lee (2013) carried out an exploratory study to assess couple’s educational needs for parenting an autistic child. All these studies have contributed significantly to the research topic.
The study considered a small group of participants, only ten couples. The study took place at two centres where children with disabilities are taken care of. Random selection for sample population was considered. The collection of data took place in three phases; before the education program, during the education program and after the education program. The data collection focused on extracting optimal data on the coping skills and stress levels of the mothers of autistic children. Instruments were used in the Arabic language to prevent any occurrence of language difficulties. The accuracy of translation was checked at multiple levels. Quantitative data analysis was done to compare the coping and stress levels for mothers before and afterwards of the education program. A robust quantitative analysis also compared between the coping and stress levels of fathers and mothers. Statistical data analysis was done with the help of nonparametric tests of group differences. Mann– Whitney U test and Wilcoxon test were considered for this purpose.
Rigor in quantitative studies refers to the extent to which the research methodology is concise and objective. It assesses how brilliantly the appropriate rules for carrying out a research have been adhered to (Panneerselvam, 2014). As pointed out by Flick (2015) there are certain disadvantages of a small sample size in research. A small sample size affects the study’ reliability since it leads to un-coverage bias. A larger standard deviation leads to less accurate results, and small sample size increases the chances of moving away from the larger population. Random sampling was, however, a proper approach due to its multiple advantages. In such form of sampling, each member of the larger population has equal chances of getting selected as a study population. Such sampling is free for prejudice and bias. One of the important advantages is that there needs to be minimum knowledge about the study population beforehand. It was a good step to utilize non-parametric statistical test. According to Yegidis et al., (2017) there are no alternatives to using such tests if the sample size is small, in the present case.
The present research paper does not mention the level of confidence in the results emerging from the study. Instead, it applies the method of hypothesis testing using P-values. As opined by Montgomery (2017) the confidence interval in statistical analysis is the representation of how often the actual proportion of the population would confer to the results. It is expressed as a percentage value. For example, a 95% confidence level implies that the researchers can be 95% sure that the results hold true. As argued by the authors, using confidence levels instead of P-value method is desirable due to a number of advantages. Firstly, researchers can assess the significance of the study form the level of confidence. Secondly, additional information can be obtained with the help of level of confidence. The limits of the interval provide information on how small or big the actual impact might be. P-values are less informative, and no information can be found on clinical importance.There was no participation bias in the study as random selection of 10 couples was done out of the 12 couples who showed interest to take part in the study. The results of the study were reliable as no signs of manipulation are mentioned.
The validity of a research denotes whether it has been successful in measuring what is was supposed to, and indicates how sound the research has been. The research paper in question has certain limitations to it. Firstly, the sample size was small, preventing the application of wider statistical analysis method. A representative sample might have been excluded by the applied sampling method. As a result, the generalization of the study would, therefore, be made only to those parents whose children are taken care of at special education centres. A study is said to be more valid if the research results are generalized to the broader population. This implies that the inferences of the study can be acknowledged by similar populations at dissimilar settings (Flick, 2015). The study is, therefore, less valid. Further, there was no control group considered while carrying out the study. Therefore, causality could not be identified in the research (Panneerselvam, 2014). Lastly, short duration of the education program and inadequate long-term follow up were other limitations. The research design has matched the research question as the experiences and feelings of the participants have been ideally captured through the exploratory research method. The section of the participants has been justified as, for permitting comparisons across mothers and fathers, only intact mother-father dyads were considered to be included in the study. There was no conclusion made about score gains in the study that did not have a control group. There was no bias in assigning participants. There were no reports of loss of participants from the sample. There were no influences from an event that occurred between a pretest and posttest. Lastly, there were no effects from participant practice on the measuring instrument.
Conclusion
In spite of the varied limitations of the study, it provides important insights into the valuable experiences and perceptions of parents of children with ASD in Jordan. This research is a milestone in the field of special education and disability services. It promises to help in the expansion of effective parent training programs in Jordan as well as other countries.
References
Al-Khalaf, A., Dempsey, I., & Dally, K. (2014). The effect of an education program for mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder in Jordan. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 36(2), 175-187.
Chien, W. T., & Lee, I. Y. (2013). An exploratory study of parents’ perceived educational needs for parenting a child with learning disabilities. Asian Nursing Research, 7(1), 16-25.
Coogle, C. G., &Hanline, M. F. (2016). An exploratory study of family?centred help?giving practices in early intervention: families of young children with autism spectrum disorder. Child & Family Social Work, 21(2), 249-260.
Fischbach, R. L., Harris, M. J., Ballan, M. S., Fischbach, G. D., & Link, B. G. (2016). Is there concordance in attitudes and beliefs between parents and scientists about autism spectrum disorder?. Autism, 20(3), 353-363.
Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner’s guide to doing a research project.Sage.
Frantzen, K. K., Lauritsen, M. B., Jørgensen, M., Tanggaard, L., Fetters, M. D., Aikens, J. E., &Bjerrum, M. (2016). Parental self-perception in the autism spectrum disorder literature: a systematic mixed studies review. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 3(1), 18-36.
Goodley, D. (2016). Disability studies: An interdisciplinary introduction. Sage.
Mann, A. (2013). The experiences of mothers of children with autism in Jamaica: an exploratory study of their journey. University of South Florida.
Montgomery, D. C. (2017). Design and analysis of experiments. John Wiley & S
Nolcheva, M., &Trajkovski, V. (2015). Exploratory study: stress, coping and support among parents of children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Special Education and Rehabilitation, 16(3-4), 84-100.
Panneerselvam, R. (2014). Research methodology. PHI Learning Pvt.Ltd..
Yegidis, B. L., Weinbach, R. W., & Myers, L. L. (2017). Research methods for social workers. Pearson.
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