Mother Goose and Chi Square

There was a little girl

Who had a little curl

Right in the middle of her forehead.

And when she was good

she was very, very good.

But when she was bad,

she was horrid.

This is what flashed through my mind this morning as I was fighting my hair into submission in front of the mirror. One recalcitrant lock hung straight down in the middle of my forehead and I said this poem to myself as I slung around brush and hairspray.

And in an instant, I was thrilled with a creative flash that brought me an idea for my research class that was about to start in an hour. Since the students were just learning how to create research questions (things that a person can investigate about a topic), why not see how many research questions we could generate about this little ditty?

So when I got to class I wrote it up on the board, sat down and said our opening prayer. Then I announced that this was our first topic for the day. How much research could we think of that could come from this. They were speechless and for a moment I couldn't tell if they were lost, disgusted, or deep in thought. Finally one of the older male students started.

"Well, I'd wonder what events or family qualities predicts whether this little girl behaves badly or not."

From there it really took off. Here are the research ideas we came up with and that thrilled my little teacher's heart. See what you think:

1. Ask a panel of 12 parenting experts to define "bad" behavior in small children. From there, do a survey of parents to find out what they do when their children are "bad."

2. Is there a correlation between bad hair and bad behavior? (the women agreed unanimously that there is!)

3. What are the steps in behavior of someone moving from "very, very good" to "horrid"?

4. Interview children who are "horrid" to understand what they experience when they are behaving horridly.

5. Give a group of parents vignettes of bad behavior in children and examine whether the standards for "good" and "bad" vary across genders.

6. Discover what the precedents or associations to "horrid" behavior might be for peoples whose hair does not curl and whose cultures vary.

7. What parenting practices are used to manage "horrid" behaviors?

8. Are there other features that predict behavior of children?

9. Using a family systems perspective, what is the family impact of one child who is "horrid"?

10. Is there a correlation between marital satisfaction and having a child that acts out?

11. Over the lifespan, what are various "very, very good" and "horrid" behaviors?

12. Are there correlations between adult sexual functioning and "very, very good" childhood behaviors?

And it went on for 40 minutes. By the end of the class there was no more foot dragging and digging in of heels in resistance. Students were buzzing about research ideas and what they might actually do, where to publish it, and how to go about gathering data. I was beyond thrilled. Four hours later when we wrapped up this weekly marathon class, students roiled out into the breezeway outside the building, excitedly talking about what they planned to do for this class. I was ready to drop. But I'm still grinning.