Research Method Report Analysis

Hypothesis – Asian pupils are more likely to place a higher value on education and have a more positive attitude towards education than black African and white pupils.

We chose to study students of different ethnicities – Black African, White, and South Asian. Specifically, we wanted to find out how different ethnic groups value education and their attitudes towards education. The reason why we chose this particular hypothesis was because we wanted to approach the stereotype of South Asians valuing education more than other ethnic groups. Also, we wanted to investigate how attitudes changed over years, as pupils did not have positive attitudes towards education and did not value it as much as they do nowadays.

As our research method, we chose to use semi-structured interviews. These are interviews that consist of the same set of questions, but the researcher can probe the interviewee for more information. Usually, researchers use open-ended questions so that they can gain deeper insights. A pilot study was conducted before beginning the real interviews because we wanted to see who would fit what role and whether we were interviewing correctly. One reason as to why we chose this research method is that it allows you to gain deep insights because the researcher is able to probe for more information. Also, we are able to correct the students when confusion occurs. Another reason is that we can establish rapports with the interviewees, allowing them to feel more comfortable during the interview, which may encourage them to open up to the researcher. The final reason is because valid data is produced, as we are gaining true and accurate insights on what their feelings are like.

One ethical and practical strength of semi-structured interviews is that they are suitable for gathering simple, straightforward information, such as