Methods in context Flashcards
Practical in education-
-Can they get into the school
-Confidential documents may restrict access to secondary data for researchers
-Questionnaires not good if the child has poor language. Young children unlikely to give valid, accurate information.
-Research may interrupt the work done by children
-Studying reserved groups or anti-authority may present problems. Hard of getting an accurate sample (Class, ethnicity, gender, age)
Ethical-
-Care for students avoiding harm make sure vulnerable students are protected from the harms of research.
-Maintain confidentiality in access to confidential records. DBS
-under 18s parental consent/ can young people understand enough to give consent
-Ensure their safety and wellbeing questions may be personal or intrusive.
-Teachers may be sacked for talking too honestly
-Parents may admit criminal offences for covering up truancy. Finding out about abusive teachers, parent neglect causes issues in confidentiality if reported
true data?
-Some method not creditable
-Younger people exaggerate like younger men macho tendencies (subscribe to subculture.)
-School image (markitisation attracts parents to keep number of students high.) lie or decide to maintain positive image
Hawthrone
-In schools there is a hierarchy in positions adults/ teachers and student
-Student may change there answer because of researcher true to impress adults who they respect
-Groupes behave differently when they know they are being watched.
Representation
-Can the method be generalized for the UK population
-Scale of student may not be representative
-Sample issues should be considered
Example of questionnaires used to study in education
Michael Ritter- used questionnaires to collect large amounts of data from 12 secondary schools in London with this he correlated achievement attendance and behaviour. With other variables like school and call size and staff number.
Example of interviews used to study in education
-Paul Willis (1977) He tried to see education from a child point of view.
-Supported Marxism and was interested in conflicts in education.
-studied WC boys in the Midland and found they were disruptive and had anti-school sub- culture.
-Conclude schools aren’t working well not teaching children socialisation very well.
-Used various methods to option validity (boys may have acted up to show off live up to stereotype.)
-WC boys chose to fail rather than the system failing them.
-benefitted capitalism due to lack of meritocracy
Example of secondary sources used to study in education
-Gillborn David studied the lives of students experiences in 2 English secondary schools that gave multicultural education high priority.
-Studied 11-16 year old to see the schools role in developing support and anti racial development.
-Used secondary data he had gathered from a previous resource where the obtained information from semi- structured interviews, observations, documents.
Example of laboratory experiments used to study in education
-Charkin et al 1975 conducted research with a sample 0f 48 university students who each taught a lesson to a 10 year old boy.
-1/3 were told the boy was highly motivated and intelligent.
-1/3 he was poorly motivated and have a poor IQ
-1/3 were given no information
-Charkin et al videos the lessons and found that those in the high expectancy group made more eye contact and used more encouraging language than the low expectancy group.
-supported labelling theory
Example of observations used to study in education
-Cecile Wright study in 4 city primary schools
-teachers seem commited to treat all student equally . still discrimination in the classroom
-observed teachers using simple langue to Asia students. Disapproved Asia girl when they wanted to have privacy to change. Stereotypical comments from teachers resulted in other students becoming hostile and isolating them. Teachers expected Aisa student to have academic success
-Expect black Caribbean students to be bad behaved didn’t consider they could be victims of racism. Observed a black student being told off for shouting out the right answer when white students weren’t.
-Teacher mispronacy names or words related to ethnic groups leading white student to laugh and embarrassing them
-concluded schools general appear committed to vales of equality and multiculticulturalism but not put into practice in the right way.
How
Intro for secondary sources
-Defonition- Secondary sources are data collected by someone else for their own purpose but is available for others to use e.g. official statistics.
-Quantitative and qualitative
-Pros- efficient way to gather information already been collected, cheap do not need to spend any money when trying to accumulate information. different types of secondary information, richest form of information available
Cons- The researcher has no control over how that data was produced, may not be looking at the same thing the sociologist want it for
How
Pros and cons official statistics secondary data
pros- Educational statistics allow sociologists to make comparisons between the achievements of different social groups over time e.g. exam statistics. Governments gather these statistics to monitor the effectiveness of educational policies.
cons- Governments collect statistics for their own policy purpose and so these may not be the same as those of sociologists needs. The state may not collect statistics on pupils’ social class which sociologists are interested in but instead on pupils entitled to free school meals.
HOW
Ethical issues pros and cons secondary data
Pros- Documents on education are easily accessible due to government policies emphasizing parental choice. Documents in the public domain so no permission needed.
Cons- Documents difficult to access educational documents are confidential (pupils disciplinary records) so sociologists may be unable to gain access to them. Ethical problems with personal documents
HOW
secondary data Theoretical issues
Pros- Documents can provide important insights into the meanings held by teachers and pupils and can therefore be high in validity however, all documents are open to different interpretations.
Some official statistics of education are highly representative. State schools must complete school census 3x a year. This collects information like students’ attendance, ethnicity, and gender- these statistics cover mostly pupils in the country making them highly representative. Positivists Favour official statistics they are reliable so can be used to test and retest hypothesis and discover cause and effect relationships.
Cons- Interpretivists question the validity of educational statistics argue they are socially constructed. schools can manipulate data (attendance figures redefining poor attenders as being on study leave or additional work experience as they want to keep a positive image to maintain their funding and support.) Not all information will be documented to keep a positive image this makes it less representative. Can be erros but secondary sources are generally very reliable due to government imposes standard. but government may change these standards which makes it difficult for sociologists to make comparisons over time.
Intro for Observation
-Covert- research is carried out under cover
-Overt- researcher makes there ideality and porpoise known
-structured- researcher does not take part records predefined occurrences
-unstructured- researcher records all relevant behaviour without the use of a strict system.
-quantitive and qualitative
HOW
observation practical issus
pros- Flanders system Of interactions analyses categories (FIAC), can be used to measure interactions between teachers and pupils quantitively. Observer has chart records interventions at three seconds picks behaviour from categories. The FIAC Method means there quicker cheaper and require less training them typical structured methods. Easier to get permission to observe lessons then to interview people in teachers.
cons- Schools are complex places more time-consuming to observe. Research obstructed by school timetables, holidays, rules of access due to health and safety legislations. Schools are busy public places observers find it difficult to find privacy to record observations.
Observations ethical
Pros- Provide rich, in-depth qualitative data, allowing researchers to capture real-life interactions and behaviors in their natural settings. This method enhances validity and offers insights that structured surveys might miss. Ethical Considerations trust between researchers and participants, encouraging honest participation.
Cons- Limited ability to give informed consent of peoples means that observations normally must be known. Observations can lead to things being seen or heard that can get people in trouble the research would be obliged to report wrongdoing. Breaks trust the people had in the researcher and will no longer want to cooperate with their research. School work hard to protect its people identity portrays positive image as the education system is marketise it’s important to have a good image for success for school.
Observations Theoretical issues
pons- Validity Interpreting main strength of observation. Gives us understanding of the world wide of social factors. Hawthorn effect can be overcome as a researcher has opportunity to gain acceptance by people with.
cons- Hawthorn effect presence of the researcher may influence the behaviours of those being observed. Power difference between young people and adults might mean they give a false image when being observed by an adult researcher which undermines the validity of the research. Teachers may disguise their feelings and alter behaviours when being observed.
Intro for Experiments
-Lab experiments carried out in controlled lab conditions.
Pros- Highly reliable other researchers can easily replicate it positive this favourite because it uses scientific method.
Cons- Artificial environment that lacks ecological validit. Potential ethical issues Hawthorn effect
-Field experiments Carried out in the subject natural setting. -quantitative data
Pros- favoured by interpretivist high ecological validity. Demand characteristics are less likely.
Cons- Less control over extraneous variables low reliability ethical issues
HOW
Experiments practical
pros- Improved Data Reliability – Structured access and scheduled experiments reduce errors caused by overcrowding, rushed procedures, or lack of oversight. Gatekeeping ensures that only qualified individuals handle sensitive equipment, leading to more reliable and reproducible results.
Cons- Practical problems school are large and complex institutions many variables that may affect teachers education; class size, streaming, type of school it’s impossible to control and identify all the variables.
Ethical problems- Experiments that use real people raise ethical concerns. Due to Younger peoples vulnerabilities, limited ability to understand what is happening means higher chance of deception lack of informed consent
HOW
Experiment ethical
Pros- Secondary sources experiems often come from organizations that have already secured sensitive data. This reduces the risk of breaching confidentiality while allowing researchers to analyze valuable information without handling personally identifiable data directly.
Cons- Ethical problems- Children today have more rights than in the 1960s and the legal duty of care that school has today means such experiments are unlikely to be carried out. Field experiments work best when those who are involved do know this requires deception. Deception, lack of informed consent, and potential psychological harm can be problematic.
HOW
Experiments Theoretical issues
Pros- Experiments in sociology involve controlled studies where researchers manipulate variables to observe their effects on human behavior. These can be laboratory experiments (highly controlled) or field experiments (real-world settings).
Cons- Artificially of lab experiments my only tell us a little about real world education.
Focus on short-term behaviors, making it difficult to study long-term social processes.
Intro for questionares
-A research method used to collect data in the form of a list of questions
-Close ended strengths easy to quantify easy to compare quick to complete. Weaknesses restricted response in position problems (Risk that the researcher may impose their views) Qualitative
-Open-ended – strength in Depth information answers are not restricted. Weaknesses long drawn out answer is difficult to quantify difficult to make comparison lacks reliability. quantitive 
HOW
questionares practical
Pros- Time Efficiency – Compared to interviews, questionnaires save time for both researchers and respondents. They can be completed at the participant’s convenience and do not require scheduling individual meetings, making them ideal for studies with tight deadlines
cons- Inflexibility- questionnaires cannot be changed once they have been finalised so they can’t decide to explore new areas they come across during research. Data tends to be limited and superficial they need to be daily brief since most respondents are unlikely to complete or return questionnaireswith long answers. May have to offer incentives to increase response rate (coast). They don’t know who filled out the questionnaire with online ones. my not take serously, completely truthful. Lie, forget, not know
