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Although most people would probably think you were nuts if you told them that you live your life according to research studies, it’s not that far off from what most of us actually do do. We are constantly bombarded with nuggets of information that tell us what’s good for us and what’s bad for us. It’s hard for us not to take to heart these simplified conclusions from actual scientific research. Some of the most publicized research occurs in the areas surrounding child rearing. Child Trends is a non-profit, non-partisan “research center that studies children at all stages of development.” They’re based in Washington, DC and they’re constantly focused on using science to improve the way children are raised. They’ve been around since 1979, so I wouldn’t be surprise if some of their research actually affected the way in which you were raised.

Keeping Up with Child Trends

Child Trends has a number of main research areas including Child Poverty, Child Welfare, Early Childhood Development/School Readiness, Education, Fatherhood & Parenting, Health, Indicators of Child Well-being, Marriage & Family, Teen Sex & Pregnancy, Youth Development, and Children of Immigrants. They pretty much cover everything having to do with children. All of this research is then synthesized into LINKS (Lifecourse Interventions to Nurture Kids Successfully), which is essentially a guide to what works in child rearing—I guess living your life according to the research isn’t all that crazy. If you want to be a part of developing this kind of research, then you should check out Jobs at Child Trends. Although they don’t have any explicitly entry level positions posted, there is a Research Scientist job for someone who has relevant graduate education. They accept applications in a variety of ways, so check out all of the details on their Jobs page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• ChildTrends.org
• Jobs at Child Trends
• About Child Trends
• Child Trends’ Staff
• Child Trends’ Research Areas

Do you live by the research?