Compare and contrast the approach to studying childrens friendships taken in the Bigelow and La Gaipa (1974) study with that taken by William Corsaro

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Sarah Jayne Makinson
DSE141 TMA 02

Compare and contrast the approach to studying children’s friendships taken in the Bigelow and La Gaipa (1974) study with that taken by William Corsaro


Children’s friendships have been studied by a number of researchers and psychologists. The two studies that will be looked at will be those conducted by Bigelow and La Gaipa (1974) and by William Corsaro. Each study will be looked at in depth; this will include what was researched and also the methods that were used during the study. With this information, similarities and differences will naturally arise and give grounds for comparing and contrasting the two.

When looking at the content of both studies there is a clear similarity and this is that they both had interest in the research of children’s friendships.  Although this similarity is present, the two studies developed on very different areas. The first study that will be introduced is that of Bigelow and La Gaipa (1974). The point of interest for this study was children’s understanding of friendship and how this understanding could change throughout the stages of development (Brownlow, 2010 p. 242). This differs and contrasts the research interest of William Corsaro. Corsaro was interested in developing knowledge in how children communicate with one another and the thoughts of individual children as to the meaning of ‘friendship’ (Brownlow, 2010 p. 250). He stated that he wanted to, “try to gain insight in that way for what it is like to be a child from a child’s perspective” (Interview with William Corsaro (2010). Although the subject of each study is the same the research and investigations involved in each are very different as different areas and ideas of children’s friendships were to be approached. It seems that Corsaro’s study is more individually based than Bigelow and La Gaipa (1974) required there’s to be.

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As mentioned previously the two studies took very different approaches. This is also true when in correlation with the research methods that were used. Bigelow and La Gaipa’s approach was to ask children to think about a best friend of the same sex and with this the children were then asked to produce an essay consisting of what they sought after and expected from a best friend. They were also asked to include within the essay, how they might differ their expectations of less closer friends (Brownlow, 2010 p. 242). This approach could produce more varied answers and results from ...

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