1. Cynda Tate and Ella Wilkie
Honors World Literature
Ms. Lester
29 March 2012
Research Design Proposal Spring 2012
1) Research Paper Topic
When Ella and I first discovered that we would be doing a project about war, we both
were very interested in how the soldier’s family at home was affected. After we started to
research the topic, I shared with Ella that my great grandfather fought in World War II. We
concluded that it would be fascinating to look into the effects of deployed parents on military
children, especially since my grandmother was once in this situation.
2) What I Know about the Topic at This Point and Why We’re Interested in This Topic
In this stage of pre-search, we have discovered that some of the main studies of children
with deployed parents was in Desert Storm. These studies revealed interesting results which have
lead to the studies that are now occurring in present day. Researchers have proven through
various tests and examinations that having deployed parents causes many negative emotional and
psychological effects on children. Some of these negative effects have been categorized as
Military Family Syndrome, a term used to describe a set of traits presumably resulting from the
influence on children growing up within military families and communities. We have also
discovered that there are three main areas which potentially cause stress on children with
military parents. These areas include parental deployments, injuries and psychiatric illnesses of
parents, and death of service member parents. Children in these specific situations face certain

2. challenges that other children do not have to deal with, often times leading to stress and anxiety.
The topic of military children was appealing to Ella and I because being teenagers ourselves, we
could not begin to imagine what it would be like to live a life with one or both of our parents
being separated from us. We are anxious to continue to learn about the everyday challenges that
these children deal with both internally and externally.
3) What We Want To Learn
Ella and I are curious to how much children are negatively affected by having parent(s)
in war. Through our pre-search, we have discovered some specific areas that are impacted,
however, we want to find out if these unfavorable effects are lasting. If so, we would like to
discover how long they last in the children's’ lifetimes. We believe if it could be proven that
these consequences last through adulthood, the issue would bring much more attention. Another
area we would like to look more into is whether different age groups and genders are affected
more or less than others. There has been a lot of controversy in this area throughout our
presearch, so it is still very foggy. The last and most important category we hope to learn more
about is the comparison between children with deployed parents and those without. Researchers
have proven that there is a difference between the children’s mental and physical behavior as
well as in other aspects of the children’s lives, but we are curious to how drastic these
differences really are.
4) Our Initial List of Questions We Have About Our Topic
1) What are all the traits included in Military Family Syndrome and how severe is each one?
2) Are parental deployments, injuries and illnesses or military parents, and potential deaths the

3. only three areas that affect children, or are there more?
3) What are some of the everyday challenges that children with military parents face that other
children do not have to face?
4) How does the media affect military families?
5) What other programs, other than the U.S. Army Family Advocacy Program, are trying to help
the children’s situations?
6) What is another cause, other than being a single parent, that causes neglect in army families?
7) How are children expected to be raised properly when one or both parents are off at war?
8) If a parent returns home from war not functioning properly, how are children expected to go
on with their everyday lives?
9) How does it make children feel when their parent deploys when they are very young, so when
they return, they do not even remember who their own mother/ father is?
10) Does gender and age play a role in how much a child is affected by a parent being in war?
11) What happens to children who do not have a decent support system, such as grandparents or
friends, to take care of them while their parent(s) are gone.
5) Our Three Primary Research Questions
1) What aspects of having deployed parents have the most negative impact on military children?
2) How are children’s lives impacted by having deployed parents?
3) What are the areas in children’s lives that are most affected by having deployed parents
(school, mental, physical, behavioral) and why are these areas affected more than others?
6) Our Research Plan
As of right now, Academic Search Complete is very promising. Cynda and I both have

4. collected several articles from this database and are very sure that they will assist us in producing
a successful final product. Sweet Search is also a very helpful tool that has presented us with
various articles. We like Sweet Search due to the fact that it is more like a search engine, similar
to Google. Therefore, when searching, we are provided with an abundance of passages directly
related to our topic.
After much discussion, Cynda and I have come to the conclusion that we will use Google
Documents to display the articles we have collected before we enter them into our citation
management tool, EasyBib. Through sharing a Google Doc, we will be able to discuss with each
other which articles we plan on using. Netvibes was a new tool that peaked both of our interests,
therefore it seems like a promising candidate for organizing and managing our information.
Cynda and I both also plan on working diligently with each other during class, as well as
meeting outside of school, to ensure our project is completed successfully. We are planning on
researching and writing our project together so that we both are given the same responsibilities
and tasks.
At first, Cynda and I imagined that working together might have its difficulties, being
that we will have to divide and conquer throughout research and writing. However, although we
have only begun the pre-search period, we both agree that this is turning out to be much more
simple and therefore much more enjoyable.
7) Content Creation Tools
To create our final product, Cynda and I have come to the decision that we want to use
Glogster as our main creation tool. Through Glogster, we will expand into Prezi, Voicethread,
Word, etc. We plan on creating a powerful, yet interesting product that will inform the public of

5. the hardships children suffer from having a deployed parent or parents.
8) Final Learning Product
Cynda and I have thought long and hard about how we plan on creating our final product.
What we have come up with is similar to that of a Digital Text. We plan on creating a Glogster
with several different digital elements compiled onto the page. Prezi and Voicethread may very
well be incorporated into our Glogster. We feel that through using this form of Multigenre Text,
there will be more interest in our topic. Human beings tend to enjoy various elements that please
the eye. Cynda and I want to include several different interactive elements so that our audience is
not easily distracted or bored throughout their exploration of the effects war has on children with
deployed parents.
We both agree on the decision to use a mindmap to organize our research topics and
subtopics. Both of us have found the mindmaps very enjoyable, due to the fact that they allow us
to express our individual creativity.
9) Preliminary Bibliography
Aranda, Mary Catherine, Laura S. Middleton, Eric Flake, and Beth Ellen
Davis. "Psychosocial Screening in Children With Wartime-Deployed Parents." Military
Medicine 176.4 (2011): 402-07. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http:/
/proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=60075884&site=ehost-live>.
Barker, Lisa Hains, and Kathy D. Berry. "Developmental Issues Impacting Military
Families With Young Children During Single and Multiple Deployments." Military
Medicine 174.10 (2009): 1033-040. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.
<http://proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=45085712&site=ehost-live>.
"Children of Deployed Parents Show Increased Worries, After Parent Returns."
ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 08 Apr. 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100408161011.htm>.
Cozza, Stephen J., Ryo S. Chun, and James A. Polo. "Military Families and
Children During Operation Iraqi Freedom." Psychiatric Quarterly 76.4 (2005):

6. 371-78. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://proxygsu-
sche.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=18517040&site=ehost-live>.
Fullerton, Carol S., James E. Mccarroll, Margaret Feerick, Jodi Mckibben, Stephen
Cozza, and Robert J. Ursano. "Child Neglect in Army Families: A Public Health
Perspective." Military Medicine 176.12 (2011): 1432-439. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http:/
/search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=69632303&site=ehost-
live>.
Keyes, Allison. "Children Of Military Families Feel The Strain." NPR. 31 May
2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?
storyId=127217846>.
Millegan, Jeffrey, and Jeffrey Borenstein. "MedicineNet.com." MedicineNet. HealthDay
News, 19 May 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/
art.asp?articlekey=144664>.
Roberts, Ron, Majda Bećirević, and Tracy Baker. "Children's Understanding of the
War in Iraq: Views from Britain and Bosnia." International Journal of Children's
Spirituality 14.1 (2009): 17-30. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http:/
/proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=36281539&site=ehost-live>.
Rutledge, Raquel. "Stress of War Plagues Children of Deployed Parents." Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI). Aug. 9 2007: N.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 27
Mar 2012.
Staff, FindingDulcinea. "Iraqi Children Suffer From PTSD." FindingDulcinea. 26 Aug.
2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/international/Aug-08/
Iraqi-Children-Suffer-From-PTSD.html>.
Staff, The CNN Wire. "Kids with Deployed Parent More Likely to Seek Mental,
Behavioral Help." CNN. Cable News Network, 08 Nov. 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/military.children/index.html>.
Suburban News. "Children of Military Families Eligible for Free Membership
and Mentoring." Everything New Jersey. 13 Mar. 2012. Web. 28 Mar. 2012.
<http://blog.nj.com/suburbannews_impact/print.html?entry=/2012/03/
children_of_military_families.html>.