sociology methods in context

What are the five areas of context in education?

1. teachers

2. Pupils

3. parents

4. classrooms

5. schools

strengths of studying pupils.

practical: required to be in school, high amount of secondary data

ethical: gatekeepers means informed consent, understand issues in school and solve them.

theoretical: strong primary data, students may be more honest to an outside person as there are no reppurcutions

issues with studying pupils.

Practical: Gaining access, gatekeepers, lower reading comprehension, different speech codes to researchers (Bernstein) , Timetables limit when research can be done

ethical: Lower reading comprehension informed consent cannot be gained, unequal power dynamic, Certain topics upset pupils, Researcher's status may make children lie to please adults out of fear.

theoretical: invalid answers and invalid data, Gatekeepers give access to only certain, hawkthorne effect, MC white students are closer to the ideal pupil (Becker) so are more likely to engage than WC and MEG, Unlikely to gain access to all pupils in one school or pupils from more than one school

strengths of studying teachers.

Practical: less logistical challenges, more willing to engage with research due to academic background.

Ethical: easier informed consent, understanding of research purpose.

Theoretical: provide rich insights based on experience.

issues of studying teachers.

practical: Higher authority teachers act as gatekeepers, legal duty to children, overworked so may be reluctant to engage, Researchers stand out as new so may struggle to gain an accurate picture of teachers.

ethical: pressured to participate, under pressure to research and give a certain picture of the schools, power dynamics, criticised by certain kinds of questions, Results may get them in trouble

theoretical: socially desirable effect, hawkthorne effect, access to certain teachers, threatened by presence of research

strengths of studying parents.

practical: outsider's perspective on schools, don't have to go through the security checks

ethical: informed consent, anonymised.

theoretical: give a valid insight from an outside perspective, contacted through questionnaires and surveys which positivists would like.

issues of studying parents.

practical: hard to access through schools and students, speech codes, wc parents aren't as available

ethical: Different educational levels, may be sensitive topics, parents feel ashamed, pressured by school to participate, imbalance of power,

theoretical: social desirability factor

strengths of studying schools.

practical: Law requires pupils are in school for a lot of the year

ethical: wont lack informed consent, anonymised.

theoretical: Interpertivists may like the highly valid, High availability of secondary data is liked by positivists who will like the quantitative data.

issues of studying schools.

practial: Access will be hard to gain, Not always open all year round, confidentiality, Head teachers act as gatekeepers

ethical: vulnerable group, witness discrimination, consent is required by a lot of people, imbalanced power dynamic, hard to anonymise

theoretical: access may only be given to certain areas in the school, Hawthorne effect, speech codes