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Answer
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Hint
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Context
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There are 10,000s of schools of many different kinds in the UK: -If the sociologist uses observational methods, they are unlikely to have the time to investigate more than a very few and their research risks being unrepresentative. -Using large-scale surveys or official statistics instead may overcome this problem - though here they may lose the insight that can be gained from the detailed observation of a single school. -The researcher studying schools would need only a few minutes to identify their research population - for example, all the schools in a particular area. This is because the state publishes lists of schools, where they are located and what type of school they are. |
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Gatekeepers
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Headteachers and governors are these, who have the power to refuse the researcher access to the school. They may do so if they believe that the research will interfere with the work of the school or undermine teachers' authority: -Meighan & Harber (2007): heads sometimes view research negatively. For example, heads' reactions to a research project that Meighan wanted to carry out on consulting pupils about teaching included the following views: It is dangerous to involve pupils in commenting on their teachers, discipline would be adversely affected, it would be bad for classroom relationships, children are not competent to judge teachers. -Some situations and school settings may be 'off limits' to a researcher - for example, head teachers' interviews with parents. Beynon & Atkinson (1984) note that gatekeepers such as heads often steer the researcher away from sensitive situations, such as classes where the teacher has poor classroom control. |
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School Organisation
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Schools are formal organisations with rules and hierarchies. Researchers may come to be seen as part of the hierarchy. For example, students may see them as teachers, while teachers may see them as inspectors. In schools where there is conflict, for example between students and teachers, researchers may even be seen as 'the enemy'. Unlike most other organisations in today's society, many schools are single-sex. This may pose problems where the researcher is of a different gender from that of the pupils. For example, the sociologist may become the focus of attention when they might prefer to keep a low profile, for example when conducting participant observation. Schools are relatively large-scale, complex, highly organised social institutions. They have daily and yearly timetables, management structures, meeting schedules and so on, and these may all affect when and how a study can be carried out. For example, school holidays and exam periods may severely limit the sociologist's research activities. The size and complexity of schools can cause difficulties for researchers, who often comment that it takes them months to work out where everything is and who does what in a particular school. |
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Schools' Own Data
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What goes on in education is closely scrutinised by the media, parents and politicians. The education system is also highly marketised, with parental choice and competition between schools at its heart: -Partly as a result, there is a great deal of secondary data publicly available about schools, often produced by the schools themselves. This includes exam results and league tables; figures on truancy and subject choices; Ofsted reports; government inquiries and school policy documents. Schools also produce personal documents, such as reports on individual students. -Schools are 'data-rich' places and sociologists may be able to make use of some of these secondary sources in their research. However, school records are confidential and so researchers may not be able to gain access to them. -Other school data may pose particular difficulties - for example, schools with a truancy problem may falsify their attendance figures in order to present a good image and not deter applications. -Similarly, although schools have a legal duty to record all racist incidents, there may be a tendency to downplay such incidents so as to maintain a positive public image. -Official statistics on examination performance should be treated with care - schools may make changes in the curriculum in order to improve their results (like by entering pupils for easier qualifications) and create the image that the school is improving when in reality there may have been little or no change. |
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The Law
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This in effect requires young people to attend school in order to be educated. The only other major institution whose inmates are legally compelled to be there is the prison system: -Having such a 'captive population' to study has both advantages and disadvantages. For example, the researcher will know where everyone is - or at least, where they should be - at any given moment. -On the other hand, since the school's primary role is to educate pupils, heads and teachers may see involvement in research as interfering with the school's most important function. -Schools operate within a particular legal framework - for example, the law requires them to collect information on pupils' attendance, achievement and so on, and this may be useful to sociologists. -On the other hand, the legal duty of care that schools have towards their pupils may mean that researchers' access is restricted. |
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