children have less power than adults and this makes it hard for them to state their opinions openly- especially if they challenge those of adults

in schools there is a hierarchy which means teachers have a higher status than pupils

Formal methods such as structured interviews and questionnaires enforce these differences because the researcher determines the questions

pupils attitudes towards power and status between them and their teacher influence how they answer - if they resent the power of teachers over them, they are more unlikely to cooperate

pupils vocab, powers for self-expression and confidence are likely to be more limited than those of adults

the sociologist will have to take care in how they word their questions so that they are understood by young respondents

limitations in pupils understanding makes it hard to gain informed consent

a young persons memory is less developed - they may be unable to recall detail when asked

ethnicity, gender, age and class may affect language and speech codes - it may be important to match the child and researcher on these characteristics

the sociologist should consider whether participation from young people is necessary and they if they will benefit from it

Most research requires that the child is aware of what the research entails , not just their parents, however it may be difficult to explain to a child and they might not be mature enough to decide whether to participate

Child protection - personal data should not be kept unless it is vital for the research

They would consider if stress would be caused- e.g. questioning a child for long periods of time would be deemed as inappropriate

the vulnerability of children means there are more 'gatekeepers' than towards any other group - this may make access hard to gain

Safeguarding Vulnerable groups act 2006- people working in schools must have DBS check and this may delay or prevent research

The British Sociological Associations ethical research guidelines - outline child protection and rights in research

They are professionals that are likely to be sympathetic to educational research

the teacher may see it as 'my classroom' and therefore the researcher is a trespasser

Even in their own classrooms they may be constrained by heads, governors and parents

Researchers may need to develop a cover and this would likely be as a supply teacher or TA but they have a lower status in the school and teachers may not treat them as equal

teachers are highly skilled at Goffmans, impression management as they have to 'put on an act' for students so are accustomed to it

A head teacher may select staff that will give a favorable image of the school- this may not be fully representative

However, a newcomer may be treated with suspicion

They are aware that their comments could affect the school and their career so they may be reluctant ton answer questions - to get around this, use observations.

Young peoples lives are rarely this controlled in other areas of their lives- therefore this may cause differing behavior from what is normal for the child.

There are only two social roles- teacher and student- and this makes it more straight forward to observe

Many gatekeepers such as : teachers, head teachers and child protection laws - makes it harder to obtain access

young people may be more sensitive to peer pressure and feel the need to conform and this may affect the way they act when being researched

May be necessary to observe questionnaires being filled out to prevent peer influence

In group interviews the true feelings of an individual may be hidden by the dominant group opinion

using larger scale surveys can overcome this - however insight may be lost without detailed observation

There is a great deal of information available about school including exam results and ofsted reports

Schools are data rich places and sociologists could use this secondary dat - however some records are confidential so not able to be accessed

However school data may have been falsified or the school will make changes that can be seen as improvement when actually no improvement has been made

Children are required to attend school - this helps the researcher know where everyone is - or is meant to be

The schools primary role is to educate, headteachers and teachers may see research as interfering with this

Headteachers and governors are gatekeepers who have the power to refuse access and they may do this if they think it will interfere with the school or undermine it

Beynon and Atkinson note that gatekeepers often steer the researcher away from sensitive situations such as a teacher with poor control of the class

Some schools are single sex- this may be a problem if the researcher is of the opposite sex and trying to keep a low profile as they are likely to stand out

Schools are large and complex- many researchers report that it takes months to work out where everything is and who does what in a school.

Parental permission is often required for research and how likely they are to give it depends on the research issue

For example, pro-school, middle-class parents are more likely to return questionnaires about their children's education and this will make the research findings unrepresentative

they may engage in impression management in order to come across in a positive light - this will result in invalid data

parent-child interactions happen most in the home and this private setting is very often closed to researchers

They are located physically outside of the school making them hard to contact and research

However schools may help researchers by sending home questionnaires or letters but it is not always guaranteed to have reached them or that the child will bring the results back to school with them.

They can draw on their experience to help them formulate a hypotheses or interpret data

They need to be aware of their 'taken for granted assumptions' as they are so used to classrooms and the environment

If the researcher has been successful in education they may find it hard to empathise with the students that are under achieveing and have the anti-school subculture

Education is also a prominent political issue - the researcher should be aware that their research can become part of a wider political debate.