Methods in context
,Education: the research
context
, Power & status:
• Children/young people have less power than adults, which means they may find it hard to express their views openly, especially if they oppose adults.
• We can see this in schools because they’re hierarchal institutions that give teachers more power and higher status than pupils.
• Teachers can use this to influence pupils chosen for research, such as making sure they portray the school in a good light.
• Formal methods like structured interviews and questionnaires reinforce power differences because the researcher decides what questions are asked and how
given, not the young person.
• Group interviews may be a good way to overcome the power/status difference between researchers and young participants, but it’s likely some differences wi
what method is used.
• Pupil’s attitudes towards the power/status differences they have with teachers can also affect how they relate to the researcher, such as refusing to participate
1) Researching pupils
the teacher.
Ability & understanding:
• Pupil’s vocab, self-expression, thinking skills and confidence can be more limited than adults, especially when expressing abstract ideas.
• This is a problem for researchers because abstract concepts are central to sociology. They will have to word question sin a way that young people can clearly und
• Limited pupil understanding also makes it difficult to get their informed consent, because the researcher might not be able to explain the research in a way for p
• Young people’s language may mean that they need more time to understand questions, and their less-developed memory can mean that they might not be able
material in detail when asked.
• However- pupil’s aren’t a homogenous group, and factors like age, class, gender and ethnicity all affect their ability/understanding differently and researcher ma
pupil’s gender/ethnicity.
Vulnerability & ethical issues:
• Informed consent is needed from the pupil as well as their parents and teachers, but this may be hard to explain to a child and they might not be mature enough
• Child-protection issues are important- for example personal data shouldn’t be kept unless it’s vital to the researcher, and the form the research takes should be
pupils aren’t under stress.
• Gatekeepers- young people are more vulnerable so there are parents, heads, teachers, governors will control access to pupils. The more gatekeepers. The harde
even start sustained research.
Laws & guidelines:
• The Safeguarding and Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 operate a vetting and barring scheme on adults working in schools, requiring them to have DBS checks.
• These checks can delay or prevent a researcher in starting their research.
• Due to safeguarding concerns, organisations such as UNICEF and National Children’s Bureau have made special codes of practice for researching young people.
• One advantage of researching pupils is sociologists know where to find them as children are legally required to be n school.
• However- this may not be the case if the target group are anti-school pupils, as they may truant regularly.
