Article: Arnold, E.H. & O'Leary, S.G. (1995). The effect of child negative affect on maternal discipline behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23(5), 585-594.
Introduction and Review of Related Literature
This study of the effects of exposure to misbehavior in children on mothers' disciplinary reactions to their own children began with a fairly extensive review of the pertinent research. This review was used to justify the study as being derived from the existing knowledge base as well as to support the claim that the study would contribute to furthering the scientific understanding of parenting and discipline.
However, while this section of the article defined the constructs and factors of major research interest in conceptual terms, absolutely no attempt was made to widdle down these constructs, and variables to concrete, operational terms. Moreover, there was no clear statement of the research problem, hypotheses, or research questions given.
Data collection methods, for the most part, were reported in sufficient detail to allow replication. Reliability and validity of all test instruments was addressed briefly with appropriate citations. For measures involving observer ratings, the reader was told that observers were trained; however, the nature of the training was not stated.
Possible methodological problems included: (1) restriction of the sample to mothers who perceived their children as "hard-to-manage" which could seriously limit the generalizability of findings; and (2) having mothers not only complete a questionnaire about their emotional state but also provide continuous ratings of their ongoing affect which might have sensitized them to the nature of the study thereby acting as a demand cue. (Mothers had only been told that they were going to be given help for unruly children).
Selection of statistical methods were justified. Further, the
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