Give two examples of official statistics on education that are readily available to researchers.

Exam results and exclusion rates.

Why might official statistics on education such as exam results not provide objective measures of pupil ability?

They may reflect labelling processes and institutional practices rather than objective measures of ability.

What is a key advantage of longitudinal studies in educational research?

They can track the same cohort through schooling over time.

What problem do longitudinal studies in education face regarding their sample?

Sample attrition as pupils move schools or drop out.

Why are experiments difficult to conduct in educational settings?

Randomly assigning pupils to different teaching methods raises ethical concerns about disadvantaging some children.

What type of methods do interpretivist researchers favour in educational research and why?

Qualitative methods, to understand the meanings pupils attach to schooling.

AQA A-Level Sociology 7192

Education

Topic overview The role and functions of education Class differences in educational achievement Labelling, subcultures and processes within schools Gender and educational achievement Ethnicity and educational achievement Selection and marketisation Privatisation and vocational education Educational policy, equality and globalisation

Methods in Context

Topic overview Access, gatekeepers and research ethics in schools Choosing methods for research in schools Data, theory and validity in educational research

Theory and Methods

Topic overview Research design and choosing a method Sources of data and types of data Positivism, interpretivism and research ethics Consensus, conflict, structural and social action theories Modernity and post-modernity Is sociology a science?Objectivity, value freedom and social policy

Culture and IdentityOptional topic

Topic overview Conceptions of culture Socialisation and the agencies of socialisation The self, identity and difference Identity, age, disability, ethnicity, gender and class Identity, production, consumption and globalisation

Families and HouseholdsOptional topic

Topic overview Functionalist views of the family Marxist and feminist views of the family The New Right, postmodernism and family policy Marriage, cohabitation and divorce Family diversity and the personal life perspective Conjugal roles and domestic labour Power relationships and domestic violence The social construction of childhood Birth rates and death rates Family size and the ageing population Migration and globalisation

HealthOptional topic

Topic overview The social construction of health and models of illness Class and gender inequalities in health Ethnic and regional inequality, and access to health care Mental illness and the power of the medical profession The sick role and the globalised health industry

Work, Poverty and WelfareOptional topic

Topic overview Poverty: definitions, explanations and distribution The welfare state and welfare provision The division of labour and the control of work Work, worklessness and life chances Globalisation and the global division of labour

Beliefs in SocietyOptional topic

Topic overview Ideology and science as belief systems Functionalist views of religion Marxist and feminist views of religion Religion as a force for social change Churches, sects, denominations and cults New religious movements and New Age movements Religion, gender, ethnicity, age and social class Secularisation Believing without belonging and postmodern religion Globalisation, fundamentalism and religion worldwide

Global DevelopmentOptional topic

Topic overview Theories of development and underdevelopment Globalisation, transnational corporations and aid agencies Aid, trade, industrialisation and urbanisation Environment, conflict and human development Population, gender and postcolonial critiques

The MediaOptional topic

Topic overview The new media and its significance Ownership, control and media globalisation The selection and presentation of the news Media representations of social groups Media effects and models of the audience Reception analysis and selective filtering

Stratification and DifferentiationOptional topic

Topic overview Theories of stratification Life chances and dimensions of inequality Defining and measuring social class Changing structures of inequality and globalisation Social mobility

Crime and Deviance

Methods in Context

Data, theory and validity in educational research

3 things to know
Paper 1

Overview

Official statistics, documents, longitudinal studies, and how positivists and interpretivists approach schools differently.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Study

What do positivist approaches to educational research aim to identify through quantitative methods?

Process

What are the limits of official statistics and longitudinal studies in educational research?

Process

Why can a school-based sample be biased, and why may teachers give guarded accounts?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
Give two examples of official statistics on education that are readily available to researchers.
Model answer
Exam results and exclusion rates.
2
Why might official statistics on education such as exam results not provide objective measures of pupil ability?
Model answer
They may reflect labelling processes and institutional practices rather than objective measures of ability.
3
What is a key advantage of longitudinal studies in educational research?
Model answer
They can track the same cohort through schooling over time.
4
What problem do longitudinal studies in education face regarding their sample?
Model answer
Sample attrition as pupils move schools or drop out.
5
Why are experiments difficult to conduct in educational settings?
Model answer
Randomly assigning pupils to different teaching methods raises ethical concerns about disadvantaging some children.
6
What type of methods do interpretivist researchers favour in educational research and why?
Model answer
Qualitative methods, to understand the meanings pupils attach to schooling.

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Education

Methods in Context

Theory and Methods

Culture and Identity

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