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Research methods, official stats - Coggle Diagram
Research methods
context of researching education
researching pupils
power and status
children may find it hard to state their attitudes in front of adults
formal interviews may reinforce the hierarchal structure
ability and understanding
the sociologist will have to take care in how they word their questions
young children may need more time than adults to understand questions
vulnerability and ethical issues
young people more vulnerable to physical and mental harm
difficult to gain informed consent
laws and guidelines
DBS
child protection laws eg Safeguarding vulnerable groups act 2006
researching teachers
power and status
nature of the classroom reinforces the my classroom idea
they may see researchers as tresspassers
impression management
Goffman
to put on an act
staffroom is a small space and a newcomer will seem suspicious
teachers will be aware of any critical comments they make about the school
headteachers may decide which teachers are involved and this will affect the representativeness
researching classrooms
highly controlled setting
classroom behavior that the researcher observes may not accurately reflect what those involved actually feel
gatekeepers
may limit access
peer groups
kids may feel pressure to conform
researching schools
schools' own data
great deal of secondary data available eg socio-economic reviews of school population, exam results
however they may want to conceal this data
the law
captive population of the school allows the researcher to know where everyone is but the school may limit their interreference to protect their kids and staff
gatekeepers
may refuse access to the school entirely
Harber found some reasons why
would be bad for classroom relationships
discipline would be adversely affected
dangerous for pupils to be commenting on teachers
school organisation
students may see researchers as part of the hierarchy
researching parents
parents can influence education by the way they raise their kids and their school involvement
access to parents
most parent-child interactions happen in the home which the researcher cant access
parents are located outside the school and are hard to reach
lists of contact details are existent but the school may be reluctant to provide them
types of research methods in detail
experiments
lab experiments
reliability
very reliable as original experiment instructions can be clearly followed
favoured by positivst sociologists
practical problems
lab experiments cannot study the past
can only use small samples so makes it hard to make big assumptions and reduces representativeness
ethical problems
lack of informed consent
deception
harm
hawthorne effect
lab is not a natural environment and so people may not exact natural
free will
we have consciousness so not everything is cause and effect
field experiments
takes place in a subjects' natural surroundings
comparative method
thought experiment
Durkheim study of suicide
hypothesis: low levels of integration of individuals into social groups causes high rates of suicide
advantages
avoids artificiality
can be used to study past events
no harm to subjects
method in context
can be used to study
teacher expectations
classroom interactions
labelling
pupils' self-conscious
SFP
EXAMPLE
Harvey and Slatin study on teacher expectations, Lab experiments
ethical problems
they didnt use real pupils so no child suffers
others have though eg Charkin et al
narrow focus
can be useful as it allows the researcher to isolate and examine this variable more thoroughly
practical problems
schools are large and many variables may affect teachers expectations not just one
artificiality
Harvey and Slatin used pictures of students and people will act differently than their appearance
field experiments and teacher expectations
Rosenthal and Jacobsen
aim was to give teachers set expectations and see if they happened
ethical problems
some may be held back in education because the teacher gave them less attention and support
teachers were unaware and could not consent otherwise the whole experiment would fail
reliability
relatively easy to repeat
validity
claimed teachers expectations were passed on through different classroom interactions but they had no data for this
broader focus
their study was longitudinal which allows them to find trends over time
Questionnaires
advantages
practical
quick and cheap
no need to recruit and train interviewers
date is easy to quanitify
reliability
reliable as the exact same questionnaire can be sent out
hypothesis testing
helpful at finding cause and effect relationships
good for detachment and objectivity
representative due to large scale
ethical issues
people are giving informed consent by filling them in and sending them back
diasadvantages
practical problems
data can be limited and superficial
low response rate
inflexible
questionnaires only show snapshots
lacks validity due to detachment - Cicourel
people may lie, forget or suffer right answerism
method in context
may use this method to study
subject and uni choise
bullying and the experience of school
achievement and school factors
parental attitudes to achievement
operationalising concepts
turning abstract ideas into a measureable form
can be difficult when handling kids who may not understand abstract ideas
sampling frames
sociologists may not have access to school's lists of pupils, teachers and parents etc
access and response rate
schools may be reluctant to distribute due to the disruption
however may be higher rates due to kids being confined and essentially forced
practical issues
Rutter- used questionnaires to collect data from 12 inner city schools in london
was able to correlate achievement and attendance etc with factors such as class size, number of staff etc
however the data gernerated was limited and superficial as it proved the hypothesis but did not explain why
children have shorter attention span than adults and so questions need to be brief
childrens life experience is narrower so they recal differently to adults
teachers may not want to cooperate as they are busy
anonymity and detachment
useful when handling discrete topics such as bullying
response rates may be higher due to anonymity which helps the representativeness
depends on if the pupils' identity will be safeguarded
interpretivist sociologists dislike due to the fact they think you need to gain a rapport with someone to gain the full truth
interviews
types of interviews
structured
practical issues
training is expensive
suitable for gathering straight forward data
easy to quantify
response rate
can be increased if the interviewer makes several call backs to pursue those who fail to respond initially
Young and Willmott
asked 987 and only 54 refused
reliability
very reliable as they can be standardised and controlled
validity
usually closed ended questions that restrict the interviewee to a strict set of answers
interviewees may misunderstand
people may lie or exaggerate
inflexibility
feminist criticisms
Graham
researcher is in control and the relationship mirrors women's subordination in wider society
survey methods treat women as isolated individuals
surveys impose categories onto women
unstructured
advantages
rapport and sensitivity
allows interviewer to understand greater depth of information
interviewee's view
allows the interviewee to decide what's important
checking understanding
allows interviewee to gain clarity on a question
follow up questions also help with clarity
flexibility
researcher can formulate new hypothesis along the way
exploring unfamiliar topics
unstructured interviews more useful in exploring unstructured interviews as they are more open ended
disadvantages
practical problems
can only use a small sample size to to it being a very time-consuming process which limits representativeness
will require interviewers with training which is more costly and time consuming
need someone with good interpersonal skills
small samples mean low representativeness
not reliable as they are not standardised
cannot quanitfy
interaction between interviewer and interviewee may distort truth and so it may not be valid
semi-structured
group interviews
the interview as a social interaction
ways the validity can be threatened
interviewer bias
the interviewer may ask leading questions in attempt to get a certain response
artificiality
both parties know it is an interview and so there is doubt around the absolute truth
status and power inequalities
it may impact the willingness of the interviewee to be honest and open
gender difference can also shape this as well as ethnic inequalities
cultural differences
there may be a dufferent meaning betwene cultures
there may be language barriers
social desirability effect
people may seek to win approval so answer in a w ay they feel the interviewer desires them to
ethical issues
interviewee may feel under some pressure to asnwer
interviewers should gain informed consent first
method in context
may be used to study
pupil's subcultures
pupil's experience of health and sex education
class, ethnicity and language
gender identity and the male gaze
class and parental choice in school
practical issues
young peoples linguistic skills may be less developed and so can perform elaborate answers
they may misunderstand the questions which undermines the data
children find it harder to get to the point
schools have informed channels of communication which means the content of the interview may spread around the school quickly which may tamper the results
can be very timely which schools do not like due to the disruptipn
parents may be too hard to access for long periods of time
ethically young students may feel unsettled by the strange situation
reliability and validity
structured interviews may not produce valid data as kids may not respond in the formal style they require
access and response rate
schools are hierarchical and as such many approvas may be needed to reach certain groups
need for parental permission may halt or limit the process entirely
schools may be reluctant to conduct interviews in lesson time due to the disruption
the interviewer as a teacher is disguise
the interviewee may seek to please the interviewer by lying or exaggerating
Bell
pupils are accustomed to adults knowing better so may defer to them in a n interview for instance they might change their answer when asked a second time because they see their answer as being wrong
w/c pupils may see the interviewer as having a higher status an may see the questions as patronising
group interviews with pupils
young people are often strongly influenced by peer pressure
free flowing nature of group interviews makes it impossible to standardise them
creates a safer enviroment for pupils who may feel intimidated by one on one
peer support reduces the power imbalance
group interviews can also reveal the interactions between pupils
participant observation
types
non-participant observation
participant observation
overt observation
covert observation
conducting a participant observation
getting in
making contact
this may depend on interpersonal skills or having the right connections
acceptance
the researcher will have to gain their trust
the obeserver role
they need to not disrupt anything but also get a good vantage point for observation
not always possible to do this as some roles may involve taking sides of conflict
staying in
going native
one risk is that the interviewer gets too involved in the group and becomes biased
alternatively the researcher may preserve their detachment to avoid bias but this may risk them not understanding whet they're observing
getting out
re entering ones world can be difficult
loyalty may prevent them from revealing what they saw
can be hard to leave a group they have become close to
overt observation
advantages
avoids ethical problems of obtaining info by deceit
allows the researcher to ask the kind of naive questions only an outsider could ask
observer can take notes openly
disadvantages
group may refuse to be observed
hawthorne effect
covert observation
practical issues
reduces the risk of altering people's behaviours
requires the interviewer to keep up the act
sociologist cant openly take notes and relies on memory
researcher cant ask naive questions that an insider should already know
reduces risk of hawthorne effect
ethical issues
immoral to deceive people
can be hard to leave the group due to connections made
may have to participate in immoral activities
as witnesses to immoral activities may have a moral obligation to report it
advantages
validity
rich qualitative data that provides accurate pciture
insight
allows the researcher to gain empathy through personal experiences
flexibility
they can formulate new hypothesis as new events incurr
practical advantages
enables sociologist to build rapport and gain trust
been proven useful in circumstances of studying delinquent gangs
disadvantages
practical disadvantages
very time consuming
can be personally stressful and demanding
researcher needs to be trained
personal characteristics such as gender or ethnicity may limit access
many groups ' wish to be studied this way
ethical problems
deceiving people in order to gain information is wrong
representativeness
this doesn't provide a sound base to make larger generalisations
groups studied tend to be very small
reliability
hard to replicate
qualitative date can be used to make comparisons though
bias and lack of objectivity
risk of becoming to involved or going native
loyalty to group may lead to concealing information
validity
positivists reject the claim of validity as they think these types of study are subjective
lack of a concept of structure
interactionists favur this method as they see society as based on small scale interactions
marxists and other structuralists says it only focuses on the micro level of society and doesnt tackle greater issues
method in context
issues you can study
gender and classroom behaviour
teacher expectations and labelling
speech codes in the classroom
pupil subcultures
teacher and pupil racism
the hidden curriculum
structured observation
practical issues
Flanders System of interaction analysis categories (FIAC) measure teacher pupil interactions quantitatively
means data can be easily concerted into quantitative data
quicker and cheaper to do than any less structured method
reliability
can be easily replicated due to FIAC system
validity
interpretivists argue that structured observation lacks validity
unstructured observtion
practical issues
more time consuming
can be easier to gain permission to observe lessons rather than interview
personal characteristics may impact observation
limited by the school timetable, holidays etc
observer may find it hard to find the privacy to document their findings
ethical issues
limited ability to give informed consent
covert method may be inappropriate due to children's greater vulnerability
validity
interpretivists find it very valid
power difference of older and younger people may make it hard to uncover true attitudes of the child
teachers may be quite skilled in disguising their behaviour when being observed
hawthorne effect
few covers the researcher can adopt and so it becomes hard to avoid
representativeness
limited scale of the observation in contrast to the scale of the education system makes it not very representative
reliability
tends to lack reliability =as data that is recorded is unsystematic and hard to replicate
secondary sources
official statistics
ways of collecting them
registration
official surveys
practical issues
advantages
free source of huge amounts of data
stats allow comparisons between groups
show trends and patterns over time
disadvantages
gov collects stats for its own purpose and ot the benefit of socioogists
definitions the state used in collecting data may not align with that of the sociologist
definitions may change over time which may make it difficult for comparisons over time
representativeness
provide a more representative sample than other methods
some stats are less representative
reliability
compiled in a standardised way and so very reliable
validity
hard stats
eg births, deaths etc
very accurate picture
soft stats
police stats etc
not a clear picture due to the fact not all crime is recorded similar to how educational stats don't include all racist incidents
positivist
Durkheim
valuable resource as they are social facts
interpretivist
Atkinson
they are social constructs and do not represent real things
marxism
Irvine
stats serve the interest of capitalism
police stats can systematically underestimate the number of people in anti-government demonstrations which shows the public there is less interest in overthrowing capitalism
documents
types
public
published by organisations such as schools, welfare agencies etc
historical
personal
photo albums, autobiographies
assessing documents
Scott
authenticity
credibility
representativeness
meaning
advanatages
personal docs allow the researcher to get closer to the social actors' reality
sometimes documents are the only source of data eg historical data
offer an extra check on primary research
cheap source of data
content analysis
a method of systematically dealing with documents which helps organise them in a quantitative method
Gill
-decide on the catagroies
-study the source
-count the numbers in each categories ad compare
advantages
cheap
usually easy to find sources of material in the form of newspaper, tv broadcast etc
positivists see it as a useful source of objective data
method in context
may be used to study
ethnicity, class and gender in educational achievement
school attendance, truancy and inclusion
league tables, marketisation and school performance
gender and subject choice
education, work and training
practical issues
much of this data is already published which saves the researcher time and money
educational stats allows the researcher to make comparisons between different social groups based on ethnicity, social class and gender
sociologists are able to make comparisons over time government
stats are collected for their own purpose which may not fit the sociologists
definitions of key concepts may change over time making comparisons hard
representativeness
some official stats are very representative such as attendance etc which is enforced by a census
reliability
positivists favour official stats because they can test hypotheses find cause and effect relationships
although it is possible for errors to creep in
validity
interpretivists question the validity of educational stats are they think that they are socially constructed
schools may manipulate their attendance figures by re-defining poor attendance as being on study leave or work experience in order to be valued higher in the education market
documents
topics to study
the curriculum
gender stereotping in school books
racist incidents in school
special educational needs
ethnicity, class and gender differences in education
practical issues
public docs easy to access
personal docs can be harder to acces
some educational docs are confidential
ethical issues
informed consent may not be granted
representativeness
some official docs are legally required by schools such as records of racist incidents which means we should be able to get a good idea of racism in school
personal docs often less representative as the unsystematic way to obtain them makes it less representative
reliability
many official docs are produce in a standard format which makes it easy to make direct comparisons
however there can be deliberate falsifications or accidental mistakes when filling in documents that makes it unreliable
validity
documents give good insights into meanings behind teachers or pupils therefore they can be highly valid
however all documents are open to interpretation
factors influencing choice of topic
sociologist's perspective
society's values
practical factors
funding bodies
factors influencing choice of method
practical issues
time and money
requirements of funding bodies
personal skills and characteristics
subject matter
research opportunity
ethical issues
informed consent
confidentiality and privacy
harm to research participants
vulnerable groups eg children
covert research
theoretical issues
validity
reliability
representativeness
methodological perspective eg positivism or interpretivism
choosing a method
type
primary data
information collected by the sociologists themselves
social surveys
participant observation
experiments
secondary data
information collected by someone else for their own purpose
official stats
documents
quantative data
information in numerical form
qualitative data
something that gives a feel for what something is like
official stats