This essay is a continuation of a previous assignment that discussed how attitudes toward studying children have changed. In this child participation, children's voice and consent have been identified as three key principles that researchers should aspire to when studying children. This essay therefore aims to extend these principles by identifying a research approach and tool that will effectively integrate all the principles into a research study. The context of the research study is an adult male and a male child sitting in front of a plasticine potter's wheel. The purpose of the study is to observe and evaluate the child's level of cognitive development during a period of interaction with an adult using the "scaffolding" technique (Wood, Bruner, Ross , 1976). This objective was chosen because scaffolding involves both adult interaction and child participation; a key principle identified. It would therefore be very interesting to examine whether the child's voice is encouraged, listened to and taken into account. The use of scaffolding also helps identify the gap between the child's current cognitive abilities and the level he or she can reach when supported by a more knowledgeable being (Vygotsky, 1978). This is called the zone of proximal development and, once identified, future activities can be tailored to the child's needs to support their development. As the research method is observational, a video camera was selected as an appropriate research tool because it will provide a visual representation of a written narrative (Sharman, Cross, and Vennis, 2007). This method can be justified as language is a vital aspect of scaffolding and the use of a video camera will accurately record both the language used (Hobart and Fr...... middle of paper ...... itative methods. In Christensen, P. and James, A. (eds.) Research with Children's Perspectives and Practice 2nd ed.: Falmer Press, pp.87-108. Cross, W. and Vennis, D. (2007) Observing Children and Young People. London: Continuum, L. (2009) Ethics in Child Research: The Children's Agency's “Ethical Radar”. and researchers: An online journal for childhood studies [online]. 3(1) pp.1-22 [Accessed December 5, 2011]. (1999) Nursery nursing: Heinemann.Wood, D., Bruner, J. and Ross . (1976) The role of tutoring in problem solving. ), pp.89-100 [Accessed December 5, 2011]. (1978) The Mind in Society London: Harvard University Press...