Year 13 revamp

• What are the five main groups in education that may be studied?

  Teachers, pupils, parents, classrooms, schools
• What are the three major differences between studying young people and adults?

  • Power and status
  • Ability and understanding
  • Vulnerability
• Why do young people generally have less power and status than adults?

  They may fear challenging adult views
• How can teachers influence which pupils are selected for research?

  By promoting a favorable image of themselves
• How do formal research methods reinforce power differences?

  The researcher controls the questions asked
• What alternative method can sociologists use to overcome power differences in research?

  Group interviews instead of formal ones
• How do pupils' attitudes towards teachers affect research cooperation?

  Pupils may resist if they resent teachers' power
• What limitations do pupils face compared to adults in expressing ideas?

  Limited vocabulary and self-expression skills
• Why is it challenging to gain informed consent from pupils?

  Pupils may not fully understand the research
• How does the CAGE framework affect research on pupils?

  It creates differences in speech codes
• Why are young people considered more vulnerable in research?

  They can suffer physical and psychological harm
• What should researchers consider regarding child protection issues?

  Whether participation is necessary and beneficial
• Who are the gatekeepers that control access to pupils?

  Parents, heads, teachers, local authorities
• Why might teachers be less cooperative in research?

  They often feel over-worked and busy
• How does the power dynamic in classrooms affect research?

  Teachers have more power due to experience
• What is 'impression management' in the context of teachers?


  Manipulating how others perceive them
• Why might teachers be reluctant to answer questions honestly?

  Critical comments could affect their career
• What challenges do researchers face in observing teachers in staffrooms?

  Staffrooms are small and familiar settings
• How does the closed nature of classrooms affect research observations?

  Behavior may not reflect true thoughts and feelings
• What are gatekeepers in the context of classroom research?

  Individuals controlling access to classrooms
• What is a potential issue with observational methods in schools?

  Research may be unrepresentative due to time limits
• What type of data is often available from schools?

  Secondary data like exam results and reports
• Why might access to school records be difficult?

  School records are confidential and protected
• What issue may arise with schools that have truancy problems?

  They may falsify attendance figures
• Why should examination performance data be treated with care?

  Schools may change curricula to improve results
• Who are the gatekeepers in school research?

  Heads and governors controlling access
• What can parents influence in education?

  How they raise their children and school choice
• What factors may affect parents' willingness to participate in research?

  Class, gender, and ethnicity
• How might parents engage in impression management during research?

  By exaggerating their involvement in education
• What challenges do researchers face in accessing parents?

  Most interactions occur in private settings
• Why might schools not release parents' contact information?

  To protect privacy and confidentiality
• How can researchers' personal experiences affect their research?

  They may overlook differences in educational settings
• What issues can arise from using experiments in educational research?

  They may not capture large-scale social factors
• What did Harvey and Slatin (1976) study?

  Teachers' preconceived ideas about social classes
• How did Harvey and Slatin control variables in their study?

  By equally dividing photos by gender and ethnicity
• What did Harvey and Slatin find about lower-class children?

  They were rated less favorably by teachers
• What ethical problems arise in research involving young people?

  Deception and lack of informed consent issues
• What practical problems do sociologists face in schools?

  Many variables affect teacher expectations
• What did Rosenthal and Jacobson's experiment involve?

  Teachers were misled about pupil potential
• What were the results of Rosenthal and Jacobson's study?

  Pupils labeled as 'spurters' gained more IQ points