AQA A-Level Sociology: Methods in Context

Read Item A below and then answer the question that follows.

Item A — written for this exercise

A sociologist wanted to investigate pupil subcultures in a large secondary school, in particular how anti-school and pro-school groups form among Year 10 boys and how each group reacts to teachers and to one another. She believed that the meanings these pupils attached to their friendships and to lessons could only be understood by watching them in their everyday setting, so she decided to use participant observation. After several months of negotiation, the head teacher agreed to let her spend two terms in the school, sitting in lessons, helping in the library and watching the playground at break. She found that the anti-school group behaved very differently when teachers were nearby than when they thought no adult was listening, and that pupils gradually came to treat her as a familiar part of the background.

Critics pointed out that the pupils always knew she was an adult connected to the school, that two terms in a single school could not be repeated by another researcher, and that what she saw in one school's playground might say nothing about pupil subcultures elsewhere. Some also questioned whether it was right to observe fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds so closely.

Question: Applying material from Item A and your knowledge of research methods, evaluate the strengths and limitations of using participant observation to investigate pupil subcultures. [20 marks]

Read Item B below and then answer the question that follows.

Item B — written for this exercise

A researcher wanted to find out about pupils' attitudes to school: whether they enjoyed lessons, how they felt about their teachers and how hard they thought they worked. Because she wanted to reach a large number of pupils quickly, she designed a written questionnaire with mostly closed questions and arranged for it to be handed out in form time across several year groups, including Year 7. The teachers stayed in the room while pupils filled it in and then collected the completed sheets. When she analysed the replies, she was surprised that almost every pupil said they tried their hardest and respected their teachers, and that many of the youngest pupils had left questions blank or ticked answers that seemed to contradict each other.

Question: Applying material from Item B, analyse two problems of using questionnaires to investigate pupils' attitudes to school. [10 marks]

Outline and explain two reasons why sociologists may find it difficult to research pupils in schools. [10 marks]

Outline three practical problems of conducting sociological research in schools. [6 marks]

Outline two ethical issues involved in conducting research on children in schools. [4 marks]

Outline two characteristics of pupils or schools that may affect the research process. [4 marks]