...limitations of unstructured interviews for the study of boys underachievement at school Unstructured interviews have advantages and disadvantages and as a qualitative method they are expressed through words and relay people’s thoughts, feelings and motivations. Unstructured interviews are interviews that don’t have certain questions meaning it’s more free and relaxed. They give us a deep understanding of the interviewee’s world because we can use the answers they give to shape our questions so that they are appropriate and relevant. However, using unstructured interviews can also cause problems, for example they take a long time to conduct. When looking at the advantages and disadvantages we need to look at how this effects what we are trying to research boys underachievement at school as this will affect whether the advantages and limitations are relevant to the study. A few advantages of using unstructured interviews when studying the underachievement of boys are that the informality of the interview allows the interviewer to gain the trust of the interviewee which is important in this example. Boys at school will not feel comfortable explaining their time at school and why they do/don’t enjoy school if the interviewer is very formal and makes them feel intimidated whereas by using an unstructured interview it allows the boys being interviewed and the interviewee feel more comfortable around each other meaning the boys will be more open and truthful allowing the researcher...
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...achievement. Statistics show that in Britain, young people of African-Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Somalian heritage are significantly underachieving in education. Children from Gypsy, Roma and traveller backgrounds are the lowest achieving of all. Processes inside school can be a key factor as to why there are ethnic differences in education achievement. The labelling theory says that teachers have different expectations of different ethnic minority groups. Gilbert (1990) found that teachers sometimes negatively label black students. Afro-Caribbean students were seen as a challenge to school authority and were therefore more likely to be excluded from school. Item A also reinforces this as it states that one possible reason for ethnic differences in educational achievement lies in the school system and that Black Caribbean boys are excluded more than any group. Gillborn calls this the ‘myth of the black challenge’. Teachers had high expectations of Asian students, which could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of success. In contrast, the negative labelling could result in a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. This can lead to ethnic differences in education achievement. Outside school factors can also provide sociological explanations for ethnic differences in educational achievement. Language difference can affect achievement as language was a barrier for kids from Asian and Afro-Caribbean immigrant families when they first arrived in the UK. Labelling theorists...
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...skin colour. Although many ethnic minority groups in the UK are non-white, this is not applicable to all groups. According to Crystal (03), well over 100 languages are in routine use in the UK. Today, children from minority backgrounds make about21% of the pupils in English schools. The level of achievement of different ethnic groups varies greatly in Great Britain. This may be due to factors such as home background, class, language and in-school factors. Recent studies highlight the effects of racism. It is believed that ethnicity influences such factors, leading to an impact upon their education. When ethnic minority students do underachieve in education this may be explained partly by social class disadvantages and partly by educational disadvantages related specifically to their ethnicity. Although members of ethnic minorities are found throughout the UK class structure, Afro-Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin students are especially likely to be found in the lower sections of the working class and to experience poverty. Social theorists working with a relative definition of poverty usually define poverty to exist where individuals are receiving an income below 60% of the median income in the UK as a whole and relative poverty in the UK can be shown to be widespread; approximately 20% of Whites, 25%...
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...individuals and groups. I intend to discuss their affects on results seen in education and the way in which these factors are interwoven with one another. I will highlight the importance of each of these factors in determining the achievement of individuals and groups in education and the reasons behind their importance. Over the last ten years, the gender gap between the achievement of males and females in education has been growing in developed countries. (Gibb, Fergusson and Horwood, 2008) On average, girls in England achieve better results in most subjects at all levels of education. The issue is not confined to the UK as the problem also presents itself in other countries. (Machin and McNally, 2005) Women in the USA have continued to be more educated than men since the mid 1970’s. (Charles and Luoh, 2003 in Machin and McNally, 2005) Females attain more school and post school qualifications than males and also attend university in higher numbers. (Alton-Lee and Pratt, 2001, in Gibb, Fergusson and Horwood, 2008) National statistics for 2004 reveal a 10 per cent difference in percentage points of males and females with five or more GCSE’s at grades A*-C. (Machin and McNally, 2005) In the past, males have always performed better on average, in maths and science. However, this advantage is disappearing. (Benbow and Stanley, 1980, in Gibb, Fergusson and Horwood, 2008) By 1998, girls were outperforming boys by one...
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...criminality have influence differential policing and discriminatory punishment in specific neighbourhoods. They argue that criminalisation goes hand in hand with marginalisation. That policing and the targeting of particular communities have marginalised black people. Legitimate Opportunity- American Dream+ Illigitimate Opportunity- Merton MacPherson Report (1999) Police institutionally racist Waddinton 2004 - published in the british journal of criminology argues that the police do stop s proportionately higher number of blacks compared to whites. However, he argues that there are more ethnic minority youths out at night in inner cities and that the policcce simply target those in high risk areas. If the areas is disproportionatly represented by young black males they are more likey to be stopped and searched- because of where they are rather than their ethnicity. How might the reasons below explain high criminality in Afro-Caribbeans? Reason- Lack of education success. Explanation- Frustration, achieving success through...
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...Rastafari This page intentionally left blank Rastafari From Outcasts to Culture Bearers Ennis Barrington Edmonds 2003 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi São Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Copyright © 2003 by Ennis Barrington Edmonds The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Edmonds...
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...Characteristics: Since the 1950’s, urbanisation has started rapidly to increase in LEDC’s. the main two reasons for this are population growth and migration. Push factors ← Poor infrastructure ← Unemployment ← Poverty/Famine ← Natural Disasters ← Civil War ← Desertification Pull factors ← Better Jobs ← Better Education ← City life ‘Bright Life’ ← Better Social life ← Higher pay ← Financial Aid ← Better Healthcare - Urbanisation in the UK: Started with the Industrial Revolution in the 1800’s | |Economic |Social |- |- | |Push Factor |1. Unemployment from mechanisation |1. Poorer education |- |- | | |2. Little pay |2. Poorer social life | | | | | |3. Poorer healthcare | | | |Pull Factor |1. More and better quality jobs |1. Better education |- |- | | |2. Better pay |2. Better social life | | | | |...
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...study habits and their last year academic grades were used to assess academic performance. Statistical analysis revealed that although White British students had significantly better study habits than the Pakistani British but no significant difference was found in their academic performance. Country of origin and schools had significant interactive effect on study habits of students but did not have an interactive effect on academic performance of the students. The study has important implication for the educationists. Keywords: Pakistani British students, White British students, study habits, academic performance Great Britain is a multicultural nation and has one of the best educational systems in the world. Over the decades education had developed widely in UK, and is provided and available to every child very near to his doorstep (Walford, 1990). Even more importance is given to its educational system in the 21st century. Thus, in the last two decades there has been vast growth in the numbers of students, faculty members and educational facilities (Peters & Reed, 2001). Inequality of opportunity among economic classes and ethnic groups, a factor preventing social mobility, has been widely recognized as a national concern, and many steps have been taken towards its correction (Ball, 1993). Today,...
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...study habits and their last year academic grades were used to assess academic performance. Statistical analysis revealed that although White British students had significantly better study habits than the Pakistani British but no significant difference was found in their academic performance. Country of origin and schools had significant interactive effect on study habits of students but did not have an interactive effect on academic performance of the students. The study has important implication for the educationists. Keywords: Pakistani British students, White British students, study habits, academic performance Great Britain is a multicultural nation and has one of the best educational systems in the world. Over the decades education had developed widely in UK, and is provided and available to every child very near to his doorstep (Walford, 1990). Even more importance is given to its educational system in the 21st century. Thus, in the last two decades there has been vast growth in the numbers of students, faculty members and educational facilities (Peters & Reed, 2001). Inequality of opportunity among economic classes and ethnic groups, a factor preventing social mobility, has been widely recognized as a national concern, and many steps have...
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...WORKBOOK ANSWERS AQA AS Sociology Unit 1 Families and Households This Answers book provides some possible answers that might be given for the questions asked in the workbook. They are not exhaustive and other answers may well be acceptable, but they are intended as a guide to give teachers and students feedback. The responses for the longer essay-style questions are intended to give some idea about how the exam questions might be answered. Again, these are not the only ways to answer such questions but they can be treated as one way of approaching questions of these types. Topic 1 Functionalist and New Right views of the family How have functionalist and New Right thinkers explained family life and the relationship between families and social change? 1 The organic analogy refers to the extended comparison made by functionalists between the human or other living body and society, with the organs of the body equivalent to institutions and structures in society. 2 Primary socialisation refers to the first and most important stage of the socialisation process by which young children absorb the norms and values of their culture, mainly from their parents. Note: make sure your answer explains both ‘primary’ and ‘socialisation’. 3 One way in which the nuclear family is more suited than other types of family to modern industrial society is that it allows for geographical mobility; it is easier to move a nuclear family to a new area for, say, a...
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...Crime and Deviance Revision SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Sociology Department Greenhead College SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Remember: You have to revise everything, because you have no choice on the exam paper. The specification 1 Different theories of crime, deviance, social order and social control * Different definitions of crime, deviance, social order and social control * The distinction between sociological theories of crime and other theories (eg biological, psychological); crime and deviance as socially constructed * Functionalist theories of crime: Durkheim, anomie, collective conscience; Merton’s strain theory; manifest and latent functions; functionalist subcultural theories * Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of crime: classical Marxism, laws reflecting class interests; Neo-Marxism, hegemony, the CCCS studies, critical and new criminology * Interactionist theories of crime: labelling theory, the self-fulfilling prophecy * Feminist theories of crime: patriarchy, male control of women’s lives * Control theory and other contemporary approaches to crime: social bonds, communitarianism, situational prevention; postmodern theories; Foucault on individualisation and surveillance * Realist theories: New Left Realism and Right Realism * The relevance of the various theories to understanding different types of crime, and their implications for social policy. 2 The social distribution...
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...Crime and Deviance Revision SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Sociology Department Greenhead College SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Remember: You have to revise everything, because you have no choice on the exam paper. The specification 1 Different theories of crime, deviance, social order and social control * Different definitions of crime, deviance, social order and social control * The distinction between sociological theories of crime and other theories (eg biological, psychological); crime and deviance as socially constructed * Functionalist theories of crime: Durkheim, anomie, collective conscience; Merton’s strain theory; manifest and latent functions; functionalist subcultural theories * Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of crime: classical Marxism, laws reflecting class interests; Neo-Marxism, hegemony, the CCCS studies, critical and new criminology * Interactionist theories of crime: labelling theory, the self-fulfilling prophecy * Feminist theories of crime: patriarchy, male control of women’s lives * Control theory and other contemporary approaches to crime: social bonds, communitarianism, situational prevention; postmodern theories; Foucault on individualisation and surveillance * Realist theories: New Left Realism and Right Realism * The relevance of the various theories to understanding different types of crime, and their implications for social policy. 2 The social distribution...
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...BULLYING BOYS: AN EXAMINATION OF HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY IN THE PLAYGROUND Dr L Trickett1 ABSTRACT Violence between young men, particularly resulting from the emergence of a so called ‘gun and knife culture’, is currently subject to extensive media coverage in UK2. Alongside this there has been increased anxiety about both the scale and impact of bullying in schools (Cawson et al, 2002; Tyler, 2002). These issues form part of a more generalised concern about men and boys in Britain often referred to as a ‘crisis of masculinity’ (see Clare, 2000). This article examines findings from research with male respondents about their relationship with hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 1987, 1989, 1995, 2005) and bullying whilst at school and makes suggestions as to what can be done to tackle abusive behaviour amongst boys and young men. 1 Dr Loretta Tricket is a Senior Lecturer and researcher with the Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University, UK. 2 See Lockhart, G; McClory, J and Qvortrup, M. (2007) Gun and Knife Crime in Great Britain, Policy Exchange, Research Note. Knife crime is a fact of life for teenagers (Bryony Gardon, telegraph.co.uk, 31 May 2008). 2 Introduction This article is in five parts. Part One outlines the theoretical background to the research. Part Two describes the methodology and the participants. Part Three discusses different types of bullying and the factors that were associated with them. Part Four discusses resistance...
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...Beliefs in society: • Different theories of ideology, science and religion, including both Christian and non-Christian religious traditions. • The relationship between religious beliefs and social change and stability. • Religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements, and their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and practice. • The relationship between different social groups and religious/spiritual organisations and movements, beliefs and practices. • The significance of religion and religiosity in the contemporary world, including the nature and extent of secularisation in a global context. 1. Religion serves to restore faith and the set basic guidelines for living that people should adhere to; an example of this is the Ten Commandments. 2. It can help to restore faith and a sense of individuality. 3. Maintains a sense of unity and creates hope with the promise of heaven. Explaining belief systems: Belief systems: are broadly defined as the framework of ideas through which an individual makes sense of the world. Ideology: originally a Marxist idea meaning a set of beliefs that serve the interests of a dominant group by justifying their privileged positions. The term usually implies that the beliefs are false or only partially true. Theories of ideology Ideology can be defined in a variety of ways - As a set of political beliefs - As the ideas and beliefs of a particular...
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...distress then becomes the proof of inferiority. It proves that you need "protection". It becomes part of the power way of thinking, embedded in the culture, that the unemotional life style is evidence of superiority. The "Stiff upper lip" is the way you hold your face so as not to smile, snarl or cry. It is colonialism in facial expression when times, occaisionally, don't go so well. In contrast the emotional excitability of "the natives" proves their inferiority, it proves they have to be 'civilised'. The civilisers, convinced of their superiority (which is really their arrogance and the way they have been emotionally amputated from any empathic response to common suffering) then see themselves in the role of benefactors, their supposedly higher civilisation is a gift to 'the natives'. The effect of this is to put a pervasive burden onto supposedly subordinate cultures and social...
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