Researching Parents

Different types of parents:

• Social Class:

  • Working Class

  • Middle Class

• Gender:

  • Male

  • Female

• Ethnic Group

  • Chinese

  • Indian

  • Pakistani

  • Black-Caribean

  • Black-African

  • White

Practical Issues:

• Access- How are you going to get access to parents?

• Relationships- How might parents perceive the researcher?

• Time- How long will it take to complete the research?

• Sample size- Which parents are more likely to respond?

Ethical Issues:

• Social sensitivity- Are parents going to want to talk about issues such as parenting styles or income?

• Protection from harm- How might parents feel about their input into children’s lives?

• Deception- What methods might create false relationships between parents and researchers?

• Anonymity/confidentiality- How are you going to ensure parents’ details remain safe?

Theoretical Issues:

• Validity- How do you know parents’ reactions are accurate?

• Reliability- Are parents’ actions likely to be repeated by others?

• Values- How might the sociologist’s values influence their interactions with parents?

• Representativeness- With a diverse range of parents are you likely to gain a representative sample?

Topic areas involving parents:

• Home background- Cultural and material factors

• Choices in education

• Exclusions and discipline

• Cultural capital

Methods to use with parents:

• Unstructured interviews- Establishing a rapport and probing deeper

• Secondary sources- Informing parents’ decisions about schools

• Questionnaires- Gaining a large sample of parent opinions

• Statistics- Useful for analysis of parental backgrounds