AP Research Interview Study Guide: Sources 1–18

Source 1 — Howard (2010), Stepping Outside Class

METHOD

Qualitative study: interviewed and observed 2 affluent students.

LIMITATION

Only 2 students, so their experiences cannot represent all wealthy students.

ONE FINDING

Students can recognize their privilege but still benefit from it.

Source 2 — Howard (2010), Elite Visions

METHOD

Ethnographic study examining 2 wealthy students at an elite private high school.

LIMITATION

Very small sample from one private school.

ONE FINDING

Wealthy students may believe their success comes from hard work rather than their financial advantages.

Source 3 — Thornton (2023)  Lucky me: Acknowledging class privilege on an elite college campus

METHOD

Conducted 42 interviews with upper-middle-class college students at one private university.

LIMITATION

Students came from only one university.

ONE FINDING

Students sometimes viewed wealthier students negatively, but those views could change when wealthy students acknowledged their privilege.

Source 6 — Lynch & O’Riordan (1998) Inequality in higher education

METHOD

Interviews with people from different educational and social backgrounds in Ireland.

LIMITATION

Focused on Ireland, so findings may not apply everywhere.

ONE FINDING

Working-class students face economic, social, cultural, and educational barriers to college.

Source 4 — Wheeler-Bell (2017)

METHOD

Conceptual article using existing research and theories about privilege and social justice.

LIMITATION

No original participants or data to test the argument directly.

ONE FINDING

Schools should teach privileged students to understand inequality and their responsibility to challenge it.

Source 5 — Crozier (2015)

METHOD

Sociological discussion reviewing existing research on middle-class privilege and education.

LIMITATION

No original sample, survey, or experiment.

ONE FINDING

Middle-class families often have more knowledge and resources to help their children succeed in school.

Source 7 — Buckner & Abdelaziz (2023

METHOD

Analyzed education data from 117 countries.

LIMITATION

data comes from different countries and different years so the comparisons might not capture every difference between educational systems.

ONE FINDING

studnets from higher income familes are more likely to graduate from secondary school.

Source 8 — Parekh, Killoran & Crawford (2011)

METHOD

Analyzed school demographic and program data from 85 Toronto high schools using statistics and maps.

LIMITATION

Used school-level data from Toronto, not individual students across different places.

ONE FINDING

students from poorer families are least likely to participate in university bound programming

Source 9 — Meier, Hartmann & Larson (2018)

METHOD

Analyzed 27 years of surveys from 593,979 high school seniors.

LIMITATION

Students self-reported their activities, so responses might not be fully accurate.

ONE FINDING

students that participate in activities tend to have better outcomes and lower substance use

Source 10 — Kevelson et al. (2023)

METHOD

Analyzed existing national, longitudinal student data using statistical models.

LIMITATION

Existing data may leave out important factors, and relationships do not prove causation.

ONE FINDING

Students from higher-income families were more likely to take college-level courses.

Source 11 — Tompsett & Knoester (2023)

METHOD

Analyzed an existing education dataset covering 752 high schools, linking student, parent, and school information.

LIMITATION

Observational data cannot prove that extracurricular activities directly cause college success.

ONE FINDING

Higher-SES students had advantages through activities, academic achievement, and school environments that were associated with greater college attendance.

Source 17 — Stearns & Glennie (2010)

METHOD

Analyzed high school yearbooks and school data from North Carolina using statistics.

LIMITATION

Focused only on North Carolina high schools.

ONE FINDING

Larger and wealthier schools tended to offer more extracurricular activities.

Source 18 — Conger, Long & Iatarola (2009)

METHOD

Used Florida high school student data and statistical models to compare advanced-course enrollment.

LIMITATION

Could not account for every factor, such as whether students felt they belonged in advanced classes.

ONE FINDING

Accounting for students' earlier academic characteristics greatly reduced poverty-related differences in advanced-course enrollment.