Cultural-historical research methodology for studying of child’s development

Abstract

This paper summarises a series of studies on the cultural-historical research methodology for studying child development, which was created by the author in developing Vygotsky’s experimental-genetic method. This article presents the main traits of Vygotsky’s experimental-genetic method and main principles of cultural-historical genetic research methodology. The article provides with several examples of experimental studies of the process of child development in contemporary research which show the cultural-historical research methodology in action. The article argues that this methodology is a genetic as it is focused on the process of development, it is a research methodology as it allows to formulate new types of research questions and finally, this is a cultural-historical methodology as it includes the system of concepts (theoretical analytical tools) and principles of research method (experimental method) which create a coherent unity.