Abstract
The chapter takes a closer look at the methodology of the study. At the beginning the authors introduce the design of the research plan - its goals, the project roadmap, and the methodology used for the processing of the data that was acquired.
The research was designed as a cross-sectional study that allowed us to describe the evolution and development of handwriting within a single school year. The data we gathered was examined from the point of view of handwriting skills and their development.
Diagnostic tests were orchestrated at the beginning and at the end of the school year (the first phase was conducted during October 2016 and the second during May 2017). The research sample consisted of 624 pupils of elementary schools from around the Czech Republic.
The data was processed afterwards using a quantitative and qualitative methodology, so that in the end we created the most comprehensive scheme of the state of handwriting in the Czech Republic to date. The statistical analysis qualified the data using three main dimensions: gender, year of studies, and the type of script used.
The gender dimension showed us that girls score better in the area of handwriting skills and their development. The visual quality of the writing itself was also influenced by the year of study.
The higher the school grade, the more handwriting skills were detected. The last, but not the least, variable to be examined was the style of the penmanship used by the pupils.
Statistically confirmative differences were only noted during the first round of data acquisition and better scores were achieved by pupils using Comenia Script. No distinctive differences were spotted during the second wave of data harvesting.