OBSERVATION

Question 1

Dealmont: SO - Validity

Answer 1

• Interpretivists criticise SO of classroom interaction for lack of validity eg.
• D arg simply counting classroom behaviour + classifying it into a limited no of pre-defined categories ignores meanings pupils + teachers attach to it

Question 2

Lacey/Eggleston (1976): USO - Practical Issues (time-consuming)

Answer 2

• Schools r complex places - more time-consuming to observe than other settings eg. Lacey took 2 months to familiarise himself w the school,
• while Eggleston (1976) needed over 3 months j to set up his cover role for his observations

Question 3

Fuller: USO - Practical Issues (permission)

Answer 3

may be easier to gain permission to observe lessons than interview pupils + teachers eg. head of London school studied by Fuller decided it would be good for pupils to have a non-teaching adult around + permission from parents wasn’t required for her to observe normal school behaviour, whereas it would’ve been if she wanted to conduct interviews

Question 4

Wright (1992): USO - Practical Issues (personal characteristics)

Answer 4

• Personal characteristics eg. age, gender + ethnicity affect process of observation eg. at the time carried out her research, there were few Black teachers + found her African Caribbean ethnicity produced antagonistic reactions from some White teachers. Whereas, many black pupils held her in high esteem + asked her for support

Question 5

Hammersley: USO - Practical Issues (privacy)

Answer 5

• Schools r busy, public places - hard to find privacy to record observations eg.
• H found noting down staffroom convos he overheard had to be done covertly + hurriedly - make mistakes/ relied on his own interpretation of what was said.

Question 6

Delamont: USO - Ethical Issues

Answer 6

• points out every observer in a school sees + hears things that could get pupils into trouble; may involve the law eg. stealing - what to do w this guilty knowledge is an ethical issue as researcher is obliged to report wrongdoing yet doing so may breach trust pupils have w researcher + so will no longer confide in them or cooperate w their research
• also notes, given the harm that can be done to pupils, teachers + schools, additional care should be taken to protect their identity, esp an issue for a marketed ES where a good public image is imp to the success of a school

Question 7

Willis (1977): USO - Representativeness

Answer 7

• Scale of ES is vast + huge amount of educational activity occurs WHEREAS most observational studies focus on small no of pupils in j a single school
• eg. Willis (1977) studied group of only 12 boys
• Small scale is bc it takes time to become familiar w setting, gain trust of teachers + pupils + carry out the actual observations
• Low rep in observing school interactions due to limited scale of USO study combined w sheer size of the ES

Question 8

Hammersley: USO - Representativeness

Answer 8

• H considered the data he collected was open to sample bias bc he tended to associate largely w one group of teachers w whom he had more in common as many treated him w suspicion, making the sample less representative - researchers may only be familiar w certain groups - isn’t rep of whole sample + may be bias