Researching Home Factors

What is included in home factors?

• Material deprivation

• Cultural attitudes

• Early socialisation

• Family structures

• Parenting styles

• Role models

Practical issues:

• Access- How are researchers going to gain access to people’s homes?

• Time- Length of time to distribute, complete and analyse data

• Sample size- How will you obtain a generalised sample?

• Variables- How can you operationalise concepts such as socialisation or parenting styles?

Ethical issues:

• Social sensitivity- Home factors will include sensitive issues such as poverty, interactions with children, potential neglect

• Protection from harm- What would happen if research witnessed illegal or neglectful behaviours?

• Consent- How might parents react to a researcher being undercover? Why might they not consent?

Theoretical issues:

• Home factors may be judged in a subjective manner

• Validity of responses- Good insights into people’s lives, but will the researcher see the true picture?

• Reliability- Will home factors be likely to be repeated?

• Theoretical position- Which theorists might be more interested in home factors? What type of methods are they more likely to use?

Appropriated methods:

• Official statistics- Household income, family structure, social background

• Unstructured interviews- Meanings behind actions, such as why parents/pupils feel the way they do about education

• Questionnaires- Measuring time spent with children, levels of educational, social and cultural capital