Citation

Brown WH, Odom SL, Holcombe A. Early Child Res. Q. 1996; 11(1): 19-40.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0885-2006(96)90027-7

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Understanding the social goals of young children during interaction with peers and the behavioral strategies they select to achieve those goals has both theoretical and practical implications. A convergence across theoretical and conceptual frameworks supports the development of a new generation of observational methodology designed to assess social goals and behavioral strategies of young children. The purposes of this article are to describe the role of observational research in the assessment of children's peer-related social competence; examine the conceptual frameworks that serve as a foundation for observational assessment of young children's social goals and behavioral strategies; describe the technological advances that allow more descriptive, precise, and complex behavioral codes for observational assessment and data analysis; provide an example of an observational system that assesses children's social goals and behavioral strategies; and identify the practical implications of studying young children's social goals and behavioral strategies.