methods in context

NPO practical

strength- no personal skills needed due to no interaction

weakness- access to school and gatekeepers

stakeholder- headteacher of a public school→ wouldn’t want to be exposed for anything

NPO ethical

strength- no deception as it’s overt

weakness- lack of informed consent as participants not aware of purpose of study

NPO theoretical

strength- high in validity, objective and qualitative → interpretivists like

weakness- hawthorne effect

field experiments practical

strength- no funding required

weakness- gatekeepers may prevent access due to their duty of care

field experiments ethical

strength- no physical danger as opposed to lab

weakness- students are a vulnerable group → struggle to obtain informed consent

field experiments theoretical

strength- qualitative data which interpretivists like

weakness- hawthorne effect

structured interview practical

strength- standardised questions reduces bias

weakness- time consuming

structured interviews ethical

strength- informed consent

weakness- lack of rapport may make participants uncomfortable

structured interviews theoretical

strength- reliable

weakness- quantitative data = lack of validity for interpretivists

lab experiments practical

strength- control over the variables

weakness- not suitable for studying the ‘open system’ of society

lab experiments ethical

strength- informed consent as participants know they’re taking part

weakness- deception

lab experiments theoretical

strength- reliability due to controlled conditions

weakness- lack validity → interpretivists see it as the wrong method to study human being

questionnaires practical

strength- no training required

weakness- low response rate → may need incentives which require funding

questionnaires ethical

strength- informed consent and anonymity

weakness- emotional harm depending on question

questionnaires theoretical

strength- representative due to large scale

weakness- lacks validity as participants may lie or feel pressure to give different answers

closed- lack validity as can’t expand

open- qualitative data hard to analyse → positivists don’t like

official stats practical

strength- saves time and money

weakness- gov. makes these for their own interest and may make problems appear smaller than they are

official stats ethical

strength- research causes no emotional harm and consent got needed

weakness- may have been a bias in data collection

official stats theoretical

strength- reliable and objective → positivists like

weakness- marxists argue they serve the interests of capitalism in distorting reality

unstructured interviews practical

strength- interviewer can probe and build rapport

weakness- need training for good interpersonal skills

unstructured interviews ethical

strength- informed consent

weakness- interviewer bias may affect answers as there’s more interaction

unstructured interviews theoretical

strength- qualitative data high in validity → interpretivists like

weakness- lack of reliability and can’t be replicated

participant observation practical

strength- ability to build rapport

weakness- time consuming as have to build trust

participant observation ethical

strength- gain verstehen → personal understanding of situation

weakness- deception → likely of vulnerable group

participant observation theoretical

strength- high in validity and qualitative data → according to interpretivists

weakness- lack of reliability as data depends on skills of interviewer

documents practical

strength- free and cheap

weakness- may struggle to find the exact data they need

documents ethical

strength-

weakness- personal documents like diaries being used without permission

documents theoretical

strength- high in validity as they provide insight

weakness- may not be able to prove credibility and authenticity

stakeholder parents

m/c parents who are engaged with children’s education and have cultural capital → support research as it could help their children succeed

w/c parents who don’t understand the education system or feel excluded from it → might avoid research out of embarrassment

ethnic minorities may struggle with a language barrier and not engage in research

stakeholder headteachers

likely be worried about school’s reputation → have to manage its appearance and would be worried about complaints from teachers or parents about being observed or poor practises being exposed

stakeholder teachers

first time teachers may struggle to control the classroom and lack of experience may mean bad practises → may oppose research out of anxiety

HOY already balancing managing a year group, pressure from higher faculty, pastoral issues → may oppose research as it’s extra stress and don’t want issues revealed to faculty

HOF have the pressure of running a department → may oppose research as don’t want complaints or stress from the members of their department or issues revealed

stakeholder students

part of a subculture → don’t engage with researcher as they view them as ‘teacher in disguise’

working class, ethnic minority, gender → could support research if they feel they’re being negatively labelled

ethnic minorities may struggle with research due to language barrier

m/c students may encourage research as they have cultural capital to navigate it and believe it would benefit their education

students with issues at home eg. young carer → may not have time or worry about saying wrong thing