Self-fulfilling prophecy
when a pupil comes to live up to the label given him/her.
Three functions that education may perform
-teaching specialist skills
• creating social solidarity
• teaching shared values
• a bridge between family and wider society
• role allocation
• creating obedient workers
• justifying inequality.
working-class under-achievement in education is the result of home circumstances and family background.
parental interest/education,
early socialisation,
family structure and roles,
speech codes, linguistic,
cultural and material deprivation, cultural capital,
class subcultures, deferred gratification, compensatory education etc
Analysis and evaluation may be developed, for instance, by
contrasting material and cultural explanations, or considering the relationship between
factors within and outside school.
theorists: Blackstone and Mortimore, Douglas, Bernstein, Bereiter and Engelmann, Halsey et al, Ball et al, Boudon, Bourdieu, Hyman, Sugarman, Keddie, Smith and Noble, Howard et al.
‘sampling frame’.
a list of the research population.
2 social factors that could be used in the creation of a stratified sample,
ethnicity
• marital status
• housing tenure
• age
gender
2reasons why sociologists might use structured interviews
-easier comparison of data
• less time-consuming
• lower cost
• filters out irrelevant material
• less intrusive.
p.obv issues
validity, reliability, comparison and representativeness; issues of authenticity/verification;
availability; accessibility; Hawthorne Effect; cost; time; researcher training; ethical
issues such as confidentiality and informed consent; utility in relation to different
research contexts and issues.