Researching pupils

• Different types of pupils

  • Social class
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
• Practical issues

  • Access to the pupil
  • Students perception on the researcher
  • Time taken to complete research
  • Sample size
• Ethical issues

  • Social sensitivity, distressing topics
  • Protection from harm = may place students in psychological/physical harm
  • Deception may create false relationships between pupils
  • Confidentiality, ensuring pupils' details are safe
• Theoretical issues

  • Valid reactions from students
  • Reliability, if actions are likely to be repeated
  • Values of sociologist influencing interactions with pupils
  • Representativeness = likely to gain a representative sample?
• Methods to use with students

  • Unstructured interviews = establishing rapport and probing
  • Covert observation seeing first hand reactions
  • Questionnaires = gaining a large sample of student opinions
  • Official stats = analysing trends in achievement