Pilot study
Designing a database is a serious matter and needs a careful plan. Therefore, from August, 2011 to July, 2014, a three-year pilot study was conducted before the launch of the formal study. Four specific goals were achieved during that period:
- 1. The theoretical framework, research issues, and significance of the formal study were confirmed.
- 2. An instrument was created to examine children aged 0-5 years from various aspects, such as language, cognition, social-emotional development, physical/motor development, quality of family/child care environments, and experiences in family/child care.
- 3. The pilot study was done in New Taipei City.
- 4. The research questions were preliminarily answered by the results of the pilot study.
The data collection instrument is self-developed by the research team. In Taiwan, the existing instruments are actually very limited in number for researchers to explore questions about children’s language, cognition, social-emotional development, physical/motor development, quality of family/child care environments, and experiences in family/child care. Also, the existing instruments neither completely fit in the research framework of the KIT project nor are fully capable of answering the research questions.
Preceding the launch of the nationwide face-to-face survey, a pilot study in New Taipei City was conducted from October, 2013 to March, 2014. Subjects in seven different age groups participated in the study, including infants/children who were 6 months of age, 12 months of age, 15 months of age, 18 months of age, 24 months of age, 36 months of age, and 54 months of age. With assistance from the Center for Survey Research, Academia Sinica, the sample was selected from the database held by the Department of Household Registration, Ministry of the Interior, after official permission was granted. The pilot study consisted of face-to-face questionnaires for the study child's parents and caregivers, individual test for children, and observation of family and child care environments. Data collected by the pilot study had been analyzed, and the results were presented at the Conference on the Pilot Study of the Child Development Database on December 20th, 2014.