Observation in Education Flashcards
Research Methods- Lesson 13
What are some classroom interaction issues that sociologists study?
-Gender and classroom behaviour
-Teacher expectations and labelling
-Speech codes in classrooms
-Pupil subcultures
-Teacher and pupil racism
-The hidden curriculum
What is an example of the structured observational scheduals favoured by positivists? And what was found from it?
Flanders system of interaction analysis catagories (FIAC), used to measure pupil-pupil and pupil-teacher interactions quantitatively.
By using this, Flanders found that in an American classroom 68% of time is taken up by teacher talk, 20% by pupil talk and 12% lost in silence or confusion.
Why is FIAC seen as reliable?
Techniques likes FIAC are easily replicated and FIAC only uses 10 catagories of classroom interaction, making it relatively easy for researchers to apply in a standardised way. Plus the data is quantitative and so findings can be compared with other studies.
Why do interpretivists criticise Structured Observation in classrooms?
Because it lacks validity.
Delamount- counting classroom behaviour and placing them into catagories ignores the meanings that teachers and pupils attach to their behaviour.
Why are schools complex settings to observe?
They are more time-consuming to observe and it takes time for interviewers to get use to their settings.
Which characteristics would affect the process of observation? And give an example of a sociologist who experienced this impact.
-Age, gender, ethnicity (CAGE)
-Wright, in a school, her African Carribean ethnicity produced antagonistc reactions from white teachers, but, black students held her in a higher esteem.
Why are observations of interactions in schools limited?
Because of restrictions due to different timetables, holidays, control over access, health and safety legislation.
Plus, schools are busy places so researchers may find it difficult to find the privacy to record observations, and and researchers may have a different interpretation of a conversation in a staff room for example.
What are some ethical issues around Unstructured Observation?
-a covert approach with children is inappropriate, as they have a greater vunerability and a limited ability to give consent
-Delamont = an observer could see things that could get a pupil into trouble
-‘guilty knowledge’, if the researcher were to report the knowledge of wrongdoings they would lose the trust of the pupils (P-), but, they may feel ethically obliged to report it
What is a positive of Structured Observation?
-high in reliability, can be repeated, is standardised, produces quantitative data, comparable
What is a negative of Standardised Observation?
-lower in validity, it ignores meanings
What is a practical advantage of Unstructured Observation?
-more access, easier than interviews
What are some practical disadvantages of Unstructured Observation?
-time-consuming
-researchers personal characteristics (CAGE) may limit access
-privacy to take notes (especially covert) (schools are busy, public places)
What is a theoretical advantage of unstructured observation?
-less validity - authentic understanding
What are some theoretical disadvantages of unstructured observation?
-power differences may create a false image
-teachers - impression management
-Hawthorne Effect (but covert observation is not ethical when observing students) (will again impact validity)
-representativeness (small scale study + sample bias)
-reliability (can’t be repeated)
What is a longitudinal study?
Where the researcher follows the same sample or group over an extended period of time.
