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Researching Education Methods in context- Applying sociological methods to the issue of education • Legal issues: – – – Child protection issues are important. For example, personal data should not be kept unless it is vital to research Teachers have legal responsibilities and a duty of care to the young people they teach which may mean researcher’s access is limited The law requires schools to collect information on pupil’s attendance, achievement and so on and this may be useful to sociologists • Ethics: – – – Young people are more vulnerable to physical and psychological harm than adults. If the young person is made aware of what the research entails are they mature enough to make the moral choice to participate? Will participation put any stress on the pupil, e.g. questioning young children for long periods of time would be considered inappropriate Given children’s greater vulnerability, it is important to establish rapport and gain trust • Problems of access: – – – – – – – Teachers are often overworked and may be less than fully cooperative, even when they want to be helpful. This may mean that interviews and questionnaires need to be kept short The classroom is less open than most settings such as leisure centres or shops. The teacher and school control time, behaviour, noise, dress, e.t.c. young people rarely experience this level of control in other areas of their lives Some situations and school settings may be ‘off limits’ to a researcher- for example, head teachers interviews with parents Schools operate to a daily and yearly timetable. This may affect when and how research can be carried out Heads and governors may refuse permission if they believe that the research will interfere with the work of the school Parents are for the most part physically outside of the school which may make them more difficult to contact and research. For example, while classroom interactions between teachers and pupils can often be observed easily, there are few opportunities to observe whether parents help children with their homework Class and ethnic differences between sociologists and some parents may be a barrier to research. E.g. M/C parents who are more pro-school may be more likely than W/C parents to return questionnaires and this will make findings unrepresentative • • • • • • • Power relationships Young people have less power and status then adults. This make it more difficult for them to state their views openly, especially if these challenge adult opinions Pupils vocab, thinking skills and confidence are likely to be more limited than those of adults The nature of the classroom reinforces the power of the teacher. Teachers often see it as ‘my classroom’, in which the researcher may be viewed as a trespasser. Teachers are used to being inspected and scrutinised. They are experienced enough to be able to ‘put on a show’ for the researcher so as to create the best impossible impression In classroom interactions, teachers and pupils are very experienced at disguising their real thoughts and feelings from each other; they may conceal these from the researcher too. Researchers may come to be seen as part of the hierarchy. E.g. students may see them as teachers, while teachers may see them as inspectors. • • • Availability of secondary data Sociologists may be able to make use of secondary data such as exam results, league tables, and figures on truancy, subject choices, Ofsted reports, government inquiries and school policy documents. Schools also produce large quantities of more personal documents such as students reports However, school records are confidential and researchers may not be able to gain access to them