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Sociology: Methods in Context - Researching Pupils

This is a quiz based on Researching Pupils regarding the AQA A-Level Methods in Context topic in Sociology. Below are the words which need to be matched to their definitions: Power & Status Ability & Understanding Vulnerability & Ethical Issues Laws & Guidelines
Quiz by billyn
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Last updated: October 14, 2023
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First submittedOctober 14, 2023
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Power & Status
This factor has to do with children and young people having less of this than adults. This makes it more difficult for them to state their attitudes and views openly, especially if they challenge those of adults.

Particularly true of schools:
-They are hierarchical institutions - teachers may even be able to influence which pupils are selected for research.
-Formal research methods (structured interviews or questionnaires) tend to reinforce power differences - the researcher is the one who determines what questions are asked and how answers should be formulated.
-Pupils' attitudes to these differences between themselves and their teachers are likely to affect how they relate to the researcher. Pupils who resent the power of teachers over them may be less likely to cooperate with research. Nevertheless, such pupils may feel empowered by participating in the research and expressing their true feelings about school.

Potential solution:
Using group interviews rather than one-to-one interviews may overcome these differences between adult researchers and young participants. However, it is likely that whatever research methods are used, some scale of these differences between researchers and pupils will remain.
Ability & Understanding
Pupils' vocabulary, powers of self-expression, thinking skills and confidence are likely to be more limited than those of adults - particularly when trying to express abstract ideas.

Issues:
-Since abstract concepts are a central part of sociological investigation, this poses problems for researchers, as they will need to take particular care in how they word their questions to make sure they are understood clearly by their young respondents.
-It is also more difficult to gain pupils' informed consent, as the sociologist may not be able to explain the nature of the research in words that young pupils can clearly understand.
-Young people use language in different ways from adults, makes the construction of appropriately worded questions particularly demanding.
-Younger children are likely to require more time than adults to understand questions.
-A young person's memory is less developed than that of an adult - they may be unable to recall in detail relevant material when asked to do so by the researcher.

Important to remember:
-Pupils are not a homogenous group. Class, age, gender and ethnicity all create differences between pupils that a researcher will have to take into account. For instance, there are age, class and ethnic variations in the kinds of language that pupils use, like differences in speech codes.
-May be important to match the gender and ethnicity of the young person and the researcher.
Vulnerability & Ethical Issues
As a result of their more limited power and ability, young people are often more vulnerable to physical and psychological harm than adults. This raises special ethical issues for the researcher. The sociologist should therefore consider whether the participation of young people in the research is actually necessary and whether they stand to benefit from it:
-Not enough to obtain informed consent from parents and teachers.
-Most research guidelines emphasise that the young person should be aware of what the research entails.
-Might be difficult to explain this to a child, and they may not yet be mature enough to decide whether to participate.
-Child protection issues are very important, for example, personal data should not be kept unless it is vital to the research.
-The researcher should consider what form the participation will take and any stress that may result. For example, questioning young children for long periods of time would be considered inappropriate.
-Greater vulnerability of young people means that there are more 'gatekeepers' controlling access to pupils than there are for most other social groups. These include parents, heads, teachers, local authorities and schools' board of governors.
-Generally, the more gatekeepers who are involved, the more difficult it is likely to be to carry out sustained research.
Laws & Guidelines
Child protection laws such as the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, operate a vetting and barring scheme on adults working in schools, which requires researchers to have Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks - this may delay or prevent researchers from carrying out their research.

Due to ethical concerns, organisations like Unicef, Barnardo's and the National Children's Bureau have developed special codes of practice for researching young people. These take the British Sociological Association's ethical research guidelines even further in terms of protecting the rights of children involved in the research:
-Barnardo's: Emphasis on informed consent, resisting coercion or pressure on children, special care taken for vulnerable children, referring to relevant support services, providing debriefing, explaining the limits to confidentiality (such as with disclosing abuse).

One advantage of studying pupils is that they are legally required to attend school, so sociologists will know where to find their target research group - unlike some other social groups they might study.
One disadvantage is that this isn't necessarily the case if the target group is pupils with anti-school attitudes, many of whom may truant regularly from school. Also, pupils are normally in school only during the school day and in term time.
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