Topic 2 - Education: the research context Flashcards
1
Q
What does Hill say about pupils?
A
- 3 major differences between studying adults and young people:
…power and status
…ability and understanding
…vulnerability - These differences can create PET issues that need to be taken into account.
2
Q
Power and status for pupils
A
- Less power and status than adults
- More difficult to state views openly
- Schools = hierarchal institutions - teachers may have power to influence which pupils are used for research
- Formal research methods tend to reinforce power difficulties: reseracher determins what questions are asked and how answers are formulated.
- Overcome through group interviews
- Pupils attitude towards power may also affect relationship with researcher
3
Q
Ability and understanding of pupils
A
- Pupils vocab, powers of self expression, thinking skills and confidence likely to be more limited than adults
- Abstract ideas = central part of sociological research
- Questions need to be worded clearly
- Younger children may need more time to understand the question
- Young peoples memories are less developed so may be unable to recall in detail
- Class, age and gender impact aswell. Could be important to match gender and ethnicity of the young person and the researcher
4
Q
Vulnerability and ethical issues in terms of pupils
A
- Young people more often vulnerable to physical and psychological harm than adults
- Sociologists need to consider whether participation is actually necessary
- Young person should be aware of what the research entails
- Child protection issues
- More ‘gate keepers’
5
Q
Laws and guidelines
A
- Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006): operate a vetting and barring scheme on adutls working in schools which requires reserachers to be DBS checked - may delay/prevent researchers from carrying out their research.
- Unicef, Bernardo’s and Nation Childrens Bureau have developed special codes of practice for researching young people.
6
Q
Teachers
A
- Often feel overworked: sometimes they’re less cooperative
- Interviews/questionnaires need to be kept short: restricts amount of data
- More likely to be sympathetic to educational research
7
Q
Power and status for teachers
A
- Power relationships in school are not equal
- Teachers have loywal responsibilities and a duty of care towards the pupils
- Nature of classroom reinforces power of teachers
- Researchers may be seen as trespassers
- Covert investigations mean researcher would have t develop a ‘cover’ - lower status role and so may not be treated as equals by the teacher
8
Q
Impression management for teachers
A
- More willing to be observed - used to it
- Erving Goffmann - teachers are often highly skilled at impression management: they put on an act, manipulating the impression other people have
- Researcher may have to find a way to get behind the public face they put on
- As social actors we behave differently when ‘front stage’ as opposed to ‘back stage’
- Newcomer to staffroom is treated with suspicion
- Any critical comment a teacher makes could affect their career - could be overcome through observation
- Headteachers may influence whihc staff are used for research: unrepresentative
9
Q
Classrooms
A
- Closed social setting with clear physical and social boundaries
- Highly controlled setting
- Young people rarely experience this level of surveillance and control
- Classroom behaviour may not accurately reflect the thoughts and feelings of those studied
10
Q
Gatekeepers in classrooms
A
- Access to classrooms is controlled by a wide range of gatekeepers
- The more gatekeeprs there are, the more difficult it is for researchers to obtain and maintain access
11
Q
Peer groups
A
- Youg people may be insecure about their identity and status - may be more sensitive to peer pressure and need to conform in a group setting
- In group interviews, attitudes of pupils may be hidden behind dominant attitudes of their peers
- May be necessary to supervise pupils when silling in a questionnaire in order to prevent influence of peers
12
Q
Schools
A
- Different types of schools in the UK - may be unrepresentative if observational methods are used
- Large scale surveys or official stats could overcome this - lose insight detailed observations might give
- Identifying research population is easier
13
Q
Schools’ own data
A
- Large availability
- Data rich environment
- Records are confidential so may be able to gain access to these
- School may falsify their own data
- Examination data - not necessarily a true reflection
14
Q
The Law
A
- All students expected to be in school creates a ‘captive population’
- Schoos opperate within a legal framework - must collect data on attendance, achievement and FSM - usefeul to sociologists
- May struggle with other types of info due to the duty of care that schools have towards pupils = restricted access
15
Q
Gatekeepers in school
A
- Can be refused access by gatekeepers: headteachers, governers
- Meighan and Harber: headteachers can view research negatively. In Meighans study the headteachers said it’s dangerous to involve pupils in commenting on their teachers, discipline would be adversly affected, would be bad for classroom relationships, children aren’t competent to judge teachers
- Some situations and settings may be off limits: gatekeeprs choose to steer researchers away from certain situations
