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methods in context - education - Coggle Diagram
methods in context - education
research characteristics
pupils
Malcolm Hill (2005)
- suggested that there are
3 major differences
between studying adults and pupils
power and status
there is a power difference between the pupils and researchers - less likely to feel they can answer honestly and be open -
validity
challenges
especially true in schools due to their hierarchy
teachers may manipulate the sample to control the school image
formal research methods often reinforce power differences - researcher determines what is important by choosing the questions and how the answers should be forulated
ways to combat
group instead of formal 1-on-1 interviews
however
- no matter what happens some differences will remain
ability and understanding
understanding
more limited than that of adults so it can be difficult to gain
informed consent - ethical issue
may not be able to fully explain the nature of the research and questions to gain a proper understanding - dictates the formatting of questions
language
used in a different way to adults, so constructing of appropriately worded questions difficult
memory
is far less developed than adults, so detailed recall of events is not always possible
not a homogeneous group
have differences in age, gender, ethnicity, etc - need to be taken into account
can make it easier or harder to research a group is their characteristics match or challenge the characteristics of the pupils
pupils' vocabulary, power of self-expression, thinking skills and confidence are likely to be more limited - especially those of abstract ideas
vulnerability
pupils have lower power and ability than adults, so are more vulnerable to physical and psychological harm/manipulation
because of this, the sociologist needs to consider whether their participation is necessary and whether they stand to benefit from the participantion or it will cause harm.
consent
most guidelines specify the need for consent from parents, teachers, and pupils
can be difficult to explain fully to pupils
child protection issues
personal data should not be kept unless it is vital to the research - vulnerability of school-age children
form of the participants
need to consider what form the participation will take and if it will have negative effects - questioning for a long period of time can be inappropriate and tiring
gatekeepers
due to increased vulnerability there are more gatekeepers to school-aged pupils than most other social groups - in place as a form of protection but can be a barrier for researchers.
advantages
legally required to attend school to can be found easily
disadvantages
anti-school sub-cultures are harder to find - truancy
only in the same place during the school day and term time
ethical issues
organisations have developed special codes of practice for researching young people
E.g., Unicef, Barnardo's ad the National Children's Bureau
teachers
may not always been keen to engage and help - effect on career, time it takes (overworked as it is)
as professionals they are sympathetic to educational research
power and status
due to hierarchy, teachers often have a lot of power and status based on their age, experience and responsibilities - also have a legal responsibility of care to the children
nature of the classroom emphasises the power and status of the teacher - researcher may be seen as trespassers (may not open up to them) , not in full control of classroom (gatekeepers) os the teacher cannot fully express themselves
covert investigations
researchers need a 'cover' to gain access to the classroom (cover teacher, assistant) - often lower on hierarchy so the teacher may not treat them as their equal
may not open up and be honest to there will be hidden data that they cannot collect
impression management
term created by
Erving Goffman (1969)
- manipulating an impression that other people have of us
often used due to close scrutiny of their work
due to close scrutiny, teacher may be more willing to be observed by researchers
image of the school
teachers may not be honest as if they create a negative view of the school it can affect their career
gatekeepers may affect the sample to create a positive image of the school
Erving Goffman (1969)
investigation into impression management and the difference in behaviour between the front stage (classroom) and backstage (staffroom)
the front stage is often scrutinised as it is an impression on the students and not honest to their true views
because of this the backstage is more often used - small space so an outsider can standout and be treated with some suspicion
parents
parents can influence what goes on
how they bring up their children
involvement in schools - parent-teacher contacts, parent govenors, attendance at parent evenings, etc
marketisation and pantocracy have increased in recent years
difficulties studying parents
not a single homogeneous group - CAGE
affects how willing or able different groups of parents are when participating
can make the research unrepresentative
parental permission
required for many forms of pupils research
likelihood of giving this depends on their characteristics, the effect on the pupils and the sensitivity of subjects - more sensitive the less likely to consent
impression management
parents may try to present themselves positively by exaggerating involvement - result in invalid data
access
the key parent-child interactions take place at home - private and closed off setting so hard to observe
located outside school so not in the same place - harder to contact and research
contacting parents
schools have information on parents - email, phone number, etc - may not be able to release due to privacy
can be overcome by allowing pupils to take questionnaires home to complete -not a reliable source to get to and gather back information
classrooms
closed setting with clear physical and social boundaries - highly controlled setting
teachers and schools control layout, setting, language, noise level, activities and time
this level of surveillance is not experienced elsewhere - pupils ideas and emotions may not be true (lack of control), and teachers are far more experienced in hiding their true feelings and motivations
gatekeepers
access is highly controlled so their act as a barrier
peer groups
pupils may be subject to peer pressure and conform to the rest pf the class (group setting) - affects the way they respond, validity, needs supervision to prevent this (not always to completely prevent)
schools
tens of thousands of schools and the different types makes it difficult for sociologists to be able to fully investigate more than a few schools - representation
can be over come by large scale data from survey or official statistics - can lose the detail insight of focusing on a single schools
large-scale data would be quick to identify target pop, sample frame, diversity,geography, etc
schools' own data
examples
Exam results; league tables; figures on truancy and subject choice; OFSTED reports; government inquires and school policy documents
personal documents - reports on individual students
due to marketisation and high levels of external security of the education system - lots of secondary data published publicly
often confidential - vulnerability of children
data may be falsified to create a better image
schools can make changes to the curriculum to improve their results and create a positive image - exam results
the law
'cative population - have to attend school
advantages
know ehere everyone is at all times
law requires schools to collect information about students - achievement, attendance, reports, etc
disadvantages
primary function is to educate pupils - research could be a barrier to this (access)
legal duty of care - restrict access to data to protect the pupils
gatekeepers
examples
Roland Meighan and Clive Harber (2007)
heads sometimes view research as negative - seen by their reactions to Meighan's proposed research about pupils view on teaching
dangerous to involve pupils in commenting on their teachers
discipline would be adversely affected
bad for classroom relationships
children are not competent to judge their teachers.
Beynon and Atkinson (1984)
noted that gatekeepers such as heads often steer researchers away from sensitive topics and situations - poor control over class - for a better image
have the ability to restrict access to the school for researchers - interfere with the work of the school or undermine teachers' authority
control and limit the access researchers have due to negative effects that they feel may occur as a direct result - some settings may be 'off limit' to a researcher
school organisation
due to the hierarchy of the school there are power differences, and if there is conflict between the teachers and pupils the researcher can be seen as
'the enemy'
many are single-sex schools
hard to research differences in gender and be representative
if the researcher is the opposite sex it can be hard to keep a low profile
large-scale, complex, highly organised social institutions
highly scheduled and managed due to the busy and complex nature of schools - affects how and when the stud can be carried out
due to the complexity of schools it can take months for researchers to work out where everything is and who does what
aim/hypothesis
hypothesis
- possible explanation that can be tested by collecting evidence to prove it true or false
advantage
gives direction
gives a focus to questions
positivists
seek to discover patterns of behaviour and see sociology as a science
seek to discover a cause-and-effect relationship
uses quantitative methods
aim
- it identifies what we intend to study and hope to achieve through the research
advantage
more open-ended
gather data on anything that appears interesting about a situation/subject
useful at the start when we have little knowledge
interpretivists
understand social actors' meanings and reject the view that sociology can model itself on the natural science
prefer a broader range as their are interested in understanding meanings and motives
find out what is important to the actor themselves instead of imposing the researcher's own possible explanations
operationalizing concepts
take something abstract and theoretical and convert it into something that can be measured and quantified so that it can not only be studied but also compared
advantages
allow abstract concepts to be measured
disadvantages
different sociologist can operationalise the same concept differently
positivists
concerned with operationalisation because of the importance they place on creating and testing hypotheses
intervpretivists
less emphasis on the operationalisation - more interested in the actors' own definitions and understandings of the abstract concept than imposing their own
pilot study
a trial run of the social survey used by the sociologist on a small scale - iron out any problems, refine and clarify questions
example
Young and Willmott (1962)
- carried out over 100 pilot interviews to help them design their study
may reveal the poor wording of questions and if any are harder to understand than they should be
experiments and observations
experiments
laboratory
general
takes place in a lab or controlled setting - more reliable
scientific experiments - measure IV against DV
commonly use an experimental group and a control group - control group gives a baseline measurement
artificial environment - control over variables so causality can be ensured
non-natural environment - removes extraneous variables and reduces validity
can create demand characteristics, and the Hawthorne effect
ethical
- consent, deception, vulnerability
focus
- only look at one feature which means we get further detail, however other critical details can be missed
pratical issues
- participant expectations; can't study wider influences
examples
Bandura (1973)
tested children's reaction to a bobo doll after watching violent or passive behaviour towards the doll - adults hitting the doll with a hammer or ignoring it and playing with the other toys
the children copied what they saw in the short video
field
general
normally conducted in social situations - workplace, street corner, etc
more valid - natural setting
often don't know they are being observed -
ethical issue of consent, but no demand characteristics
high ecological validity - natural behaviour being measured
greater chance of extraneous variables
ethical
- deception (Rosenthal and Jacobson deceived students and teachers
reliability
- participant differences will have an effect
validity
- need to ensure that all potential influencing factors are considered
allows a broader focus
examples
Hofling (1966)
studied power and social control
had a 'fake doctor' ring 22 nurses telling them to give a dangerous dose of pain killers - was really harmless to avoid any harm or danger to patients
21 of the 22 did so
- claimed to show people will carry out orders from those with power and authority even if it means breaking the rules
Rosenthal and Jacobson 'Pygmalion in the classroom'
study used a real school situation and labelled some children as having done well in a (faked) intelligence test
year later real tests showed children labelled as 'spurters' did better than those labelled not
claimed to 'measure' how far teacher expectations influence achievement -
SFP
comparative method
example
Durkheim's study of suicide
observations
Non-participant
used when researchers want to reduce the impact of their presence on the target group
helps avoid the
Hawthorne effect
normally carried out without the knowledge of the target group
normally uses cameras/one-way mirrors
issue
the meanings that people attach to behaviour cannot be observed
often conducted in a
covert way
so informed consent can be hard to acquire
Overt
Example
Paul Willis 'Learning to Labour'
the 10 pupils were aware of Willis and his observations as well as their interviews
gatekeeping - took 6 months of discussions with the headmaster before he could gain entry to the pupils.
advantages
avoids the
eithical problem
of obtaining information by deception, and when studying deviant groups, the issues of being expected to join in their actvities (often causing a moral panic in covert)
disadvantages
a group may refuse the researcher
permission
to observe them, or may prevent them from seeing anything
trust and rapport are built,, but if the researcher suddenly walks away from the subjects to write about their findings the subjects can feel harm as they have confided in them.
where the researcher reveals his to her true identity and purpose to the group and ask their permission to observe
Covert
Example
Laud Hemphurey (1970) 'Tearoom Trade'
researched the
tearoom trade
and the stereotypes held by the public and law enforcement about it
participant observation and structured interviews
- was a "watchqueen" to observe and engage in the participants of the tearoom trade and interview a few that opened up to him (questioned about their lives and motives)
to avoid bias - secretly followed some of the other men (not the better education that voluntarily talked to him) and recorded the licence number of their cars to then interview them as a health-service interviewer a year later.
findings did not fit the stereotype -
54% were married with wives, exemplary citizens with exemplary marriages
,
38%
were neither bi or gay, only
14%
corresponded with the stereotype of homosexuality (members of the gay community and interested primarily in gay relationships)
Issues
privacy and consent - stalked some members of the observations, no informed consent, no right to withdraw
reliability - hard to replicate as this type of study would not be approved by another ethic board
lengthy time - factors can change over the year that the interviews and observations took place.
advantages
pratical
reduces the risk of altering people's behaviour, and sometimes is the only way of obtaining valid data
theoretical
no Hawthorne effect or like
disadvantages
pratical
requires the researcher to keep up an act
ethical
may have to participate in immoral or illegal activities as part of their 'cover' role
theoretical
relies on recall and memory due to not being able to openly take notes
Participant
Example
Gang leader for a day
the researcher actually joins the group or community they wish to study
they try and become accepted by the group to understand (Verstehen) interactions and relationships
gain an understanding from groups/communities world view
Issues
the researcher must be very careful about not letting their values change and influence the situation
Getting in, staying in and getting out
getting in
- gaining entry to some groups can be harder than others and is dependent on personal skills, having the right connections, etc.
need to take on an
observer's role
that does not disturb the groups normal patterns and should be a good vantage point (maintain validity)
staying in
- once accepted the researcher needs to maintain their cover ad keep their place in the group.
however, they need to prevent
'going native'
and find a balance between being detatched and objective as well as forming a connecting so as to fully understand the group.
getting out
- easier than
getting in
but there are issues with possible harm that can occur to the participants especially in covert observations if the researcher suddenly cuts off contact with no reason.
overt v. covert
ethical issues to do with deception and consent
reliability
when a researcher 'goes native' they build relationships and trust with the subjects but the data they collect will depend on their personality (what is shown to them and what is deemed important to them)
General
designed to create a greater understanding of human behaviour by gainaing
Verstehen
favoured by
Interpretivists
as it uses qualitative data
main use in the study of education is to investigate classroom interactions and the behaviour, attitudes ad values of both teachers ad pupils
if the observation is occurring in school both the school, parents and pupils consent may be needed as children don't always fully understand what the are consenting to (understanding (age); language barriers)
practical issues - education
schools are complex places
- access can be difficult (gatekeepers, backstage v. frontstage, etc)
need to 'set up cover; which could take a long time
personal characteristics
of the observer can also affect observation studies
schools are busy places
- researcher may find it difficult to find the privacy to record observations
interactions may be spontaneous
- recorded after the interaction are based on memory and recall so mistakes and subjective interpretations can be made
reliability
data recording is unsystematic and hard to replicate - unpredictable and spontaneous behaviour, etc
qualitative data is harder to replicate and compare, as data will be very different
validity
interpretivists
would argue that participants observations yield the
most valid results
they are able to immerse themselves with the subjects and gain
verstehen
complete acceptance is needed to gain the most valid results, especially from the anti-school subcultures - impression management from the school and sample, changes in behaviour due to their presence, demand characteristics.
Hawthorne Effect
most observations are overt because they cannot find a 'cover role' but this can create a Hawthorne Effect which will affect the validity of the results
King (1984)
- attempted to 'blend into the background' in an infant school by hiding in the Wendy house, however it is unlikely that their behaviour will remain 'normal'
representativeness
often carried out on a small number of subjects, due to it being so time consuming and education being so vast
difficult to generalise to other educational settings
secondary research and longitudinal studies
secondary sources
documents
(any written text, personal diaries, government reports, newspapers, letters, paintings, sounds and images from film)
personal
- letters, diaries, photo albums and autobiographies
historical
- personal or public documents created in the past
public
- government, schools, charities
pratical
pros
useful if info neede - but can be deceased or unable to interview
cheap and easily available
cons
access not always possible
often created for own purpose - may not answer the sociologist's question
theoretical issues
interpretivists
prefer them because they have high validity (personal feelings and meanings - especially personal)
written at the time, therefore a valid record - not written with an audiance in mind (personal)
positivists
claim that they lack validity
is it authentic
is it credible
unreliable as people can interpret it differently - what it meant to the writer or intended audiance
not representative - some groups may not keep diaries; not all documents survive
some are available as public document
pros
can save time
gives genuine insight to behaviour and emotion - validity
diaries - reliable alternatives to interview asking about the past (feelings and behaviour)
can cover geographical issues
qualitative or quantitative data
cons
may not be representative or generalisable
operationalise concepts differently
no way to check accuracy of historical documents
difficult to interpret documents especially if the author is unavailable (dead, cant interview)
difficult to access from family members
may need to translate
examples
Douglas - Social Meanings of Suicide
- personal
Thomas and Znaniecki - letters sent home by Polish migrants in the USA
- personal
Peter Laslett - nuclear family existed long before industrialisation and was more common than other sociologist had suggested
- historical
Philippe Aries - used portraits to establish the changing nature of childhood from middle ages to 1960s
- historical
Gewirtz (1995) - used school brochures and prospectuses to study how school marketed themselves
- public
context analysis
research method that produces
primary quantitative data from the study of qualitative secondary sources
one of the main methods used to research the
mass media
- also used to examine personal and historical documents
systematic means of classifying and describing the content of the press, and TV
categorises information
- go through books, magazines, etc, to see the number of times information appears which can fit into the categories
pros
quick and cheap
large amounts of data
allows comparisons over time any changes overtime can be measured
unobtrusive
can spot patterns or trends because categories are
standardised
can make comparison across social groups -
CAGE, etc
can be
reproduced and checked/verified
can be used to promote change
E.g., Campaign against racism in media (CARM)
Women's campaigns have used content analysis of the media - led to certain adverts being withdrawn
cons
subjective
- especially qualitative
assumes rather than proves, that the media affects the audiance
biased interpretation possible
only gives a "Snapshot in time" - to be reliable, large scale, long-term research is needed
example
McRobbie (1994)
- comparison of girls' magazines in the 1970s and the 1990s
statistics
unofficial
collected by organisations other than from government agencies and departments - charities, pressure groups, interest groups and even corporate firms
official
collected by NGOs and government departments (census, stats about births, marriages, deaths, etc)
offer data on a wide range of social issues
collected in a quantified form
positivists
favour these as they are quantifiable/measurable and useful for correlations
they are, objective, factual and measurable
they are large-scale - representative and generalisable
interpretivists
statistics are not ;facts' - they are not objective as they are the 'product' of negotiation and the opinions and judgements of social actors
all statistics reflect are the prejudices of the collectors - record of their actions
pros
accurate and reflect social facts
accessable and cheap
linked to government policy which can support research
updated regularly
large samples
can inspire future research
useful background material from which to form a hypothesis
usually coded and pre-analysed
clear and easy to read
cons
questionable accuracy on some stats
open to interpretation
lack of control over how the data was collected
underestimates real problems
political bias - presentation, definitions employed, deciding on the areas to investigate, recording of data
operationalisation of concepts - not the same for all sociologists
pratical
not always available in the desired form
example - little to no statistical data is available about pupils in private, free-paying schools or about the career trajectory of ex-pupils of schools and colleges
Ethical
some head teachers may deliberate manipulate or distort some statistics to either secure funding or for marketing purposes
theoretical
one dimensional - describe rather than explain
subject choice - stats on gendered subject choices give us little into the reasons for those choices
high reliability but low validity
comes in hard or soft statistics
example
Durkheim's study of suicide
- stats on suicide and capitalism in different countries
longitudinal studies
takes place from a large group of participants over the long-term
returns to collect data from participants over regular intervals - compares each set of data
participant observation
tends to be longitudinal - can also use other methods such as questionnaires, interviews and documents
why is it done?
helps to study change over time
can look for cause of changes
examples
Parker 1998
- asked the same 1125 young people to answer a confidential questionnaire on drugs.
started at age 14 in school and ended when they reached age 18
cannabis was the first drug to be experimented with,
W/C kids were more likely to experiment at an earlier age, but by 18yrs there is little class difference in use
20-25% were regular drug users
costs £3800,000
National Child Development Study
tried to follow the lives of children born between, 3rd-9th March 1998
interested in health, education, class family life
started with 17,400 participants however by 1999 only had 11,400 remained
pros
high in validity
ability to examine people over a long period of time
can produce quantitative and qualitative data
produces objective results
using same sample con ensure that any changes in attitude are not simply to do with changes in the makeup of the sample
cons
lacks reliability
time consuming
expensive -
Parker 1998
few research companies can afford to carry out longitudinal studies so they could want a specific result for the study
hard to attract people - large commitment needed
hard to maintain sample - people die or move out of area
is it right to observe people for a number of years?
could being watched for a long period of time lead to negative after effects?
interviews and questionnaires
interviews
structured
pre-coded questions and follows and interview schedule
little room for follow-up questions
closed questions asked in a standardised way
advantages
high response rate
interviewerreads and writes
easy to quantify
useful for factual data
high in reliability
lessens interviewer bias - will still be there though
quick
obejctive and less intrusive
disadvantages
restrictive - cannot exmplain further/ less detail
imposition problem -
the subject must choose the answer that fits the best but may not be a true fit? - NEED TO CHECK
interview bias still remains
lacks validity - people can give socially desirable answers not the honest ones
examples
on the high street - market research surveys
telephone - opinion polls
Bernstein (1973)
- asked 5 year olds to describe what was happening in a series of pictures
claimed to identify social class due to the different language that was used to describe the different pictures
critiqued by
Labov (1973)
as their research showed that the language differences were only a result of the presence of an interviewer with a different CAGE, which was defined as hostile by the children
positivist prefered
quantitative data
value-free (objective)
semi-structured
each interview consists of the same questions (often in the same order - some interview schedule) but uses a mix of closed/pre-coded questions (structured) and open-ended/follow-up questions (unstrcutured)
advantages
high response rate
interviewer reads and writes
increases both relibaility and validity
keeps focus while gathering lots of detail
balance between objectivity and subjectivity
can build a rapport with the respondent
disadvantages
difficult to compare and quanitift the two types of data
still restricts responses
time onsuming
never fully valid or reliable
still a chance of interviewer bias
gives both qualitative and quantitative data
unstructured
questions are based around a genera l research aim/question but does not follow an interview schedule
open ended questions
flexible to allow the subject to lead the conversation - what is important to them, reduce interview bias on what is important and explore any ideas they do not know or have little knowledge of.
advantages
high reponse rate
interviewer reads and writes
follow up questions possible - more detail and useful in finding meanings and motivations
free-flowwing and more relaxed - rapport and trust/higher honesty, can build empathy which is important for socially sensitive topics
high in validity
disadvantages
no structure - can go off topic
interviewer bias - not standardised
unrepresentative
dificult to quanitfy data and compare - reliability
highly subjective
time consuming
could get too personal - objectivity and detatchment
interpretivist prefered
qualitative
data which is more detailed
examples
Oakley 'The Conventaional Family'
Carlen 'Women, Poverty and Crime'
often used un group settings in education, e.g., Willis 'Learning to Labour, Archer
Young and Willmott (1962)
- research into extended family in east London with 933 participants.
standarides closed questions with the answer being circled to a corresponding respondent or writing short answers
Dobash and Dobash (1980)
- conducted unstructured interviews with victims of domestic violence. the long term contact they kept with the refuges led to trust and rapport being built and this increased validity
group
inerviews where a dozen or so respondent are interviewed toegther -
'Focus Group'
they can be structured or unstructured but are often semi-structured
advantages
group dynamic can help people relax - focus isn singularly on them, pless pressure
can observe group interactions - power dynamics, friend groups, confidence, etc
lots of information quickly
more natural behaviour than in a private interview -
validity
respondents can help each other develop their answers and introduce each other to new ideas and views
disadvantages
difficult to build individdual rapport
invalidity - many may conform to the group (peer pressure, especially in schools)
group drynamic leading to oscial desirability -
validity
some respondent may 'bland into the background'
difficult to control in some settings - anti-school subcultures (less respect for the interviewer)
could cause conflict between the respondents - off topic?
often harder to discuss socially sensitive topics
examples
often used in education with pupils, parents and teachers
Atcher
Willis 'Learning to Labour' (1977)
- more valid as their activities oftne took place in a group context and was more natural.
they were also more at ease talking to their peers rather than an older middle class interviewer
(personal characteristics)
general
often 1-on-1
all involve direct verbal questioning of the participant by the researcher,
problems encountered when carry out
demand characteristics
cues which exist in the study which enable the participants to guess the purpose of the study
participants may alter their behavuiour to look more favourable
can originate from the presentation of the researcher, the subject of the research, etc
subject
socially sensitive topics can be answered differently due to embarrassment or to create their image in a positive light
presentation
the tone of their voice or looks of approval or disapproval can unconsciously lead on the respondent to answer in a specific way
response bias
E.g. agreeing/diagreeing all the time
can be based on prejudice due to the researcher's personal characteristics and interview setting
problems in designing questions
using technical language - pupils of a younger age may not be developed or mature enough to understand oit and answer honestly/propoerly
leading questions - forces the respondent to answer in a specific way which is often biased towards benefiting the interviewer
producing 'meaningful categories'
long questions - boredom / lack of focus (validity)
understanding - cannot be quaranteed al the time
honesty - some may blatently lie, others may answer with what they desire to do not what they actually do
interviewer bias
when the interviewer influences the responses given by the interviewee in some way
often unavoidable and undermines the validity of the data
contemporary example
some respondent may react
negatively
in an interview because of the
social characteristics
of the interviewer and consequently it may be
impossible for the interviewer to build up a relationship of trust and rapport with the interviewee
therefore important for people to be interviewed by sociologist of
similar social characteristics
advantages
large amounts of detailed, qualitative/language based data, especially about internal mental states/beliefs
disadvantages
often rely on self-report - unreliable
affected by social desirability
cause and effect cannot be inferred
Examples
Ruth Lupton (2004)
conducted in-depth interviews with head teachers and teachers in 4 schools that served economically deprived neighbourhoods
aimed to test the hypothesis that schools with lots of children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds inevitably became 'failing' schools
ger data clearly showed that teachers and schools work hard to help their student overcome barriers to achievement that originate from living in poverty
Howard Becker (1970)
used a style of 'aggressive' interviewing when he interviewed teachers - challenged any statement that they made about pupils in order to understand why they had made that judgement.
claimed that this
interpretivist style
of interviewing produced more valid data than less flexible style interviews - real feelings and opinions
using this style Becker discovered that teachers in Chicago often
racially stereotyped pupils
- claimed that it would remain hidden if not for the
confrontational style interviews
improve validity of interviews
Kinsey (1953)
- interviews on sexual behaviour by asking questions rapidly, to give them little time to think and checked answers by using later questions and follow-up interviews later to again check validity of answers
Becker (1971)
- played dumb, acted in disbelief and showed aggression as ways of extracting info that the participants may not have revealed
Nazroo (1997)
- carried out research using the same ethnicity of interviewer and interviewee, whilst ensuring language compatibility also
questionnaires
open ended
allows participants to respond in any way they choose.
provides primary qualitative data, and are frequently used in exploatory research
closed ended
require participants to choose form a limited number of responses predetermined by the researcher
different types
multiple-choice
- use when you want your respondents to choose the best possible answer among all options presented (e.g. marital status)
categorical
- use when the possible answers are categorical, and the respondent must belong to one catergory (e.g. gender)
likert-scale
- use when tyring to determine respondents' attitudes or feelings about something (rate on a scale of 1-10)
provide primarly quantitative data and are frequently used in confirmatory research
formulating questions
use natural and familiar language
use language that is understandable to the type of respondent that are targeted
consider age, education level, relevant cultural characteristics of respondents
use simple words
respondents may have a variety of backgrounds so use simple language
relax grammar
if the question sounds too formal, relax the grammatical standard - easier to understand and builds more rapport
start with interesting questions
questions that are likely to sound interesting, are easy and attract the respondents' attention - save more difficult or threatening questions for later once the respondent is more comfortable and open
postal questionnaires may not be completed if the first question is too difficult
dont write leading questions
can demand a specific response - interviewer bias
balance rating scales
used for the
likert-scale
questions - leave room for both extremes
dont make the list of choices too long
it can be long and unfamiliar so difficult for respondent to evaluate them all and choose the best answer
avoid difficult recall questions
unreliable and inaccurate - reliability and validity
sampling
pros
opportunity samples are possible - classes/departements
school lists are accurate and can be used to be representative- sampling frame
cons
school lists may not reflect researcher's interests - may not have a list based on ethnicity
problem of confidentiality and gaining access to info
operationalising concepts
hard to find right language for schoolchildren - age
students may misunderstand meanings
questions may be over simplified - lose sociological value
pratical
large quantities of data
Rutter
- 12 London schools and correlated attendance, behaviour, class size, etc
costs less to do and less time consuming -
Rutter
cons
data can be limited - can correlate but not always explain (cause and effect relationship)
literacy problems in understanding (different language, age, culture characteristics)
poor attention span of pupils - bored (less validity), low completion rate
access and response rate
always low
access
rate - schools may be reluctant to allow (gatekeeping)
schools may object to topic or disruption to lesson
with schools consent - high
response
rate
teachers/students, etc are used to filling in questionnaires
however
, some teachers may be stressed or not have the time
ethical
topics/issues
sensitivity of topic - consent and validity (honesty)
access - image of the school
informed concent
children - understanding
parents - sensitivity of topic, benefit to them
schools - image of school and topic (vulnerable people Act)
teachers - impact on career
theoretical
open-ended
higher in validity
lower in reliablity
qualitative
close-ended
higher in relibability
lower in validity
quantitative
anonymity and detachment
useful for looking at sensitive issues - reduces impact of fear and embarrrassment
higher response rate and more valid than
interviews
Student anonymity guaranteed - vulnerable people act (2006), schools are more likely to give consent, no personal contact
interpretivists
- more rapport as people are more likely to be honest and not feel pressured to answer in a socially pleasing way - more honest and can explore meanings
Formal style - authority figure which rebellious students will distrust and rebel against
Methodological pluralism and triangulation
positivists and interpretivism
methods are often used in tandem, to help researchers collect a broad range of different types of data
methodological pluralism
helps us understand social life by using a variety of research methods
also used to check obtained data results -
triangualtion