Sociology Coursework

‘Do material factors affect attainment at GCSE?’

(Word count – 5,171)

Ashleigh King Candidate number -

Contents

Page 1 – RationalePage 2 – Contexts

Page 4 – MethodologyPage 7 - Findings

Page 15 – ConclusionPage 18 – Bibliography

Page 19 – Diary of coursework

Do material factors affect attainment at GCSE?

Rationale In my research I hope to gain an understanding of the importance of material factors in determining a student’s achievement at GCSE. The term material ‘deprivation’ explains the income inequalities that can occur and the material problems that are associated with it e.g. housing, environment, diet, and health.

I chose this title for my coursework as I am interested in investigating how something totally unrelated to the education system (such as material factors) can have such an impact on a student’s attainment at GCSE. Material deprivation is a relevant issue and something that affects a large number of students in the UK so therefore it is important to research it and examine their effects.

For this research I will look at a number of sociological perspectives on the education system, including Marxism and the Functionalist perspective. Each perspective views education as a system that determines an individual’s level of achievement. This view undermines any idea of innate natural ability. Part of my research will be to explore the relationship between nature and nurture. Material factors and deprivation are strongly linked to a person’s social class as working class students generally experience more deprivation than middle class students, with middle class students having the means and lifestyle to achieve more and gain higher qualifications. Throughout this research I will explore the view that the education system contributes to social class inequality with material factors being a major influence on attainment.

My context will be established from looking at current news items on the subject as well as the work of academic writers in this area. The research method I will use is quantitative; because I want to gain some understanding from the student’s perspective of the education system and the effect their social and financial background has on their achievement and attainment at school.

The main focus of my project will be to see how income and issues related to a family’s income, has an effect on a student’s GCSE results. This will help to give me an insight into the significance of material factors, and the benefits of having a higher income in relation to GCSE results.

Contexts

The 1988 Education Act and the introduction of marketisation to the principles of education brought in competition between schools through the information that was available for parents to look at before choosing a school for their child to study at. League tables show which schools are performing best, and which schools are struggling.

From studying a local school league table in Bournemouth, I have found that there are differences between the types of school with students that achieve better GCSE results than those schools achieving lower results. The top four schools (performing best results wise) were located in a wealthier region of the town; and were all selective schools. This contrasted to the lowest four schools in the table, which were located in less affluent areas of the town and which were also non selective. This league table shows that the location of a school may be the explanation for the results achieved, as higher income families are more likely to live in more wealthy areas, and therefore will be attracted to the better schools. From this I can apply the concept of social class. Social class is important in determining which school a child will attend, and what material factors they may have/lack affecting their educational attainment. By using this concept I can see that schools and school pupils are not all equal but give different opportunities and those and those stratified at the bottom of society tend to do less well than those at the top of society.

The government’s use of ‘Contextual Added Value’ scores used for measuring the comparable performance of schools recognises the effects of social class on attainment. The fact that independent schools are not compared in this way shows me that they aren’t affected by the burden of social class. From looking at the league table I can see that the students from comprehensive schools are less wealthy than the students from private schools who generally achieve higher results at GCSE. This shows that material factors do have an affect on a students attainment, and this combined with social class can stratify and form class divisions. The introduction of EMA payments was the government’s way of encouraging students from low-income families to continue into further education. Payments are given to student whose family earns less than £30,000 per year. Payments are weekly and dependant on the student’s attendance and effort. The introduction of this scheme suggests that material factors are recognised by government as a vital element in educational success - having a large impact on a person’s willingness to remain in education. EMA payments which are seen as an egalitarian tool, aimed to relieve pressure from deprived students and their families, allowing them to attain as much as other non-deprived students. EMA payments and other financial incentives show how the concept of meritocracy (the notion that success and failure in school is achieved on the basis of effort and merit– as highlighted in Haralambos and Holborn) in the functionalist sense isn’t valid because people enter education with different social backgrounds. Many children are from less affluent homes and don’t have the material advantages that the sociologist Douglas said had a big impact on attainment at school. The government is admitting this is a problem by offering EMA; they have to pay students to stay in school in order to achieve. Functionalists say that in the education system there is an ‘equal playing field’ and they effectively hijack the idea of

meritocracy, saying that schools operate on a meritocratic principle whereby status is achieved on the basis of merit or worth.

An article by the BBC raised the issue of deprivation in 2002. The article recognised that material factors had an influence over the student’s achievement, and the way the school scored in league tables. This was highlighted in the case of Sinfin Primary School that had the lowest aggregate score for the year (score of 57). The head claimed it was as a result of the school ‘serving an area of municipal housing and children who were performing below average on arrival.’ Many of the students at the school suffered from material deprivation, with 50% receiving free school meals. This reflects the unemployment, low-income levels and high deprivation in the area and clearly shows what Douglas said, that deprivation had an effect on a student’s educational attainments and a schools success. Once again this reinforces the idea that material factors are vital in determining a student’s achievement at school. From looking at further league tables concerning primary schools, it is the primary schools located in wealthier areas that gain higher aggregate scores. The BBC discussed similar issues in another article.

The article stated that there was a need to ‘level the playing field’ to bring schools closer to finding a single indicator of school effectiveness. The combination of indicators often means that some factors are considered whereas others aren’t. For example, a student’s improvement whilst attending the school isn’t always accounted for or considered – which is why value added scores are important in giving an indication of school effectiveness. Functionalists would disagree with the ‘need to level the playing field’ because they believe that all students have an equal opportunity of achieving, and the ‘playing field’ is already level. The work of Douglas and other sociologists like him is ignored by people because of the power or ideology. Ideology attempts to explain and justify a particular view of some aspect of perceived reality and present it as the only legitimate understanding of that reality as an ideology, meritocracy takes the focus off the fact that many state schools may do well with their ‘value added schools’ but despite this, they never reach the attainment levels of independent schools, who consistently achieve higher than state schools. Meritocracy hides material deprivation and its influence on attainment by always looking at individual attainment of pupils as well as schools. CVA scores are seen as a way of looking at material deprivation but the media always just looks at the number of GCSEs a school gets and nothing else. Therefore many state schools do well.

An article from the Daily Mail in Feb 2005 highlighted this gap in attainment between Independent and State school students. The article focused on the achievement of students who had just sat their year six SAT’s examinations. According to statistics published by the Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools at the organisations annual conference in Torquay, private school pupils achieved better exam results than their state school counterparts this year. The results from over 275 prep schools showed that 97% of their pupils achieved the expected level in English, 20% more than in state schools. Similar figures were found for maths and science – in maths 58% of private school students scored level 5, compared with 31% in state schools. Even though these figures are from year 6 students, I can use the information to

predict that independent schools do achieve more highly than state schools at GCSE level as well. Marxists would say that this difference in achievement between private and state schools students is unfair, as it comes as a result of students having unequal opportunities. In the study, ‘The Home and The School’ by J.Douglas, it was argued that ‘an interlocking network of inequalities existed which operated against many working class students.’ Douglas noted a variety of combining factors that cause some students to be disadvantaged, for example, housing and environmental factors, chances of access to ‘good’ primary schools, and the teacher pupil relationships. Functionalists would disagree with the Marxist view, as they say that every student has an equal chance of achieving well at school. They recognise the notion of meritocracy and believe that student’s will only achieve according to the amount of work they put in. In terms of class achievement, functionalists hold the view that students from all classes have an equal chance of achieving high grades, but those who don’t work hard won’t achieve good grades, get good jobs etc. Functionalists see this as fair.

Methodology

To find out what impact material factors have on a student’s attainment, I need to carry out research. I have decided to conduct questionnaires to allow me to talk directly to the student’s who may or may not be affected by material deprivation. Due to the nature of my research, a closed questionnaire would be most appropriate as I do not need to talk to the participants in depth. Closed questionnaires will enable me to include specific questions and objectives and have a mental criterion of what I need to draw from the research.

Questionnaires will also enable me to gain verstehen of the lifestyles many students have, and the factors that can affect their schoolwork and education. According to Ackroyd and Hughes (Haralambos and Holborn) ‘Using as data what the respondent says about himself or herself potentially offers the social researcher access to vast storehouses of information.’ The importance of this approach is its small scale and allows the research to be conducted so the social ‘realities are wholes that cannot be understood in isolation form their contexts’ (Descombe, 1998). A closed questionnaire would be the best approach to take, as this would allow me to select appropriate questions, maintaining structure and purpose. Closed questions are suitable for my research as they produce quantitative data, which is easy to analyse.

As well as this benefit, there are many other advantages of questionnaires as a form of research. One advantage is that many people can be tested quickly – allowing large amounts of data to be produced in a short amount of time. By carrying out a pilot study, my questionnaire can be tested – to ensure that the correct questions are being asked, the questionnaire is effective, and it is easy to understand. Another advantage is that the responses from questionnaires are gathered in a standardised way, so questionnaires are therefore more objective than interviews. A disadvantage of questionnaires is that respondents may answer superficially especially if the questionnaire takes a long time to complete. This can be avoided by limiting the number of questions asked.

I have chosen to collect quantitative data; this is because as a researcher I am interested in a student’s family income, and their GCSE grades as opposed to their feelings, and how they feel this has affected them as an individual. Nevertheless, I will want to develop my research by finding out what the most influential factors to a student’s education are.

When choosing participants, I will take a sample of students who have recently sat their GCSE exams. Fifty students will be selected to take part in the questionnaires. I will use an opportunity sampling method to select participants, which means I will choose participants who are available at the time and have recently taken GCSE exams. Fifty participants will be selected from a private school and fifty from a comprehensive school. I have chosen this sample size for a number of reasons, at the private school there are only 50 people in the sixth form so the sample will be fully representative. Similarly, at the comprehensive school there are only 150 students, so 50 students is still a large sample.

To begin my research, I needed to decide on how the research would be conducted, and where it would take place. It is important for the student’s to answer the questionnaire in a safe, familiar environment, so hiring an empty classroom at the student’s school may be the best way of achieving this. I have decided to be present as the investigator, to ensure that the participant is able to answer all the questions – and explain to them anything they may not understand; therefore the questionnaires will be handed out to the students in the hired room, shortly before they fill them in.

There are a number of issues to consider when carrying out an investigation, these include ethical issues. Before I could start the investigation I would need to write to the school - as permission would have to be granted, consent would also have to be received from the participants and their parents, and a brief explanation of the purpose of the questionnaire will need to be provided so they are aware of what will happen. This explanation shouldn’t be too developed, as the purpose of the investigation shouldn’t be fully exposed as this could lead to demand characteristics, whereby student’s answer in a way they feel will please the investigator and give them the results they are looking for. Timing is also important, as it has been proved that at the end of the day students are less responsive and wearier. To overcome this, the questionnaires should take place in the morning as this may be more beneficial to the research. By doing the questionnaires at lunchtime or morning break, the students would be able to take part without missing lessons, however, the student’s may rush the questionnaire so that it is over sooner. Questions need to be non obtrusive, and easy for the participant to answer. A pilot study would be helpful in identifying good and bad questions. Issues of anonymity need to be considered, as student’s responses and details should be treated with confidence.

There are a few key problems that may affect my research. Like with any research method, questionnaires have disadvantages. Social desirability is one of these. This happens when participants answer in a particular way, so as to put themselves in a better light – rather than answering truthfully. Sensitive issues may also be avoided by participants, and answers may not always be honest if they feel embarrassed e.g. family income. Another problem is that it can sometimes be difficult to phrase the questions correctly, and different people have different interpretations. This is why it is helpful for me as the researcher to be present, so that difficult questions can be

explained. It can occasionally be problematic to have the researcher present when participants are answering questions, as they may feel they should answer questions in a particular way in order to benefit the research. These demand characteristics occur when the participant feels they understand the purpose of the investigation. To overcome this problem, the hypothesis of the investigation shouldn’t be given to participants.

Another problem is that it may be difficult to gain permission from the schools to carry out research. I could possibly overcome this by clearly stating the purpose of my investigation in a letter to the school and requesting a room to carry out the questionnaires in. At a private school it may be easier to find space to do the research, but there may still be the problem of background distractions such as noise- that may affect the participant’s ability to answer the questions. When the questionnaires have been completed, I will ask the participants to hand them in, to enable me to collect and analyse the data. This is likely to be a problem at the state school, as there may be a lack of space and more distractions due to the higher number of students. To overcome these problems, I would have to book rooms in advance, and possibly arrange to meet private school students that I know outside of the school environment, as this may be an easier way of organising it - instead of directly through the school. Something else that needs to be considered is operationalising concepts. Therefore when constructing the questionnaires, I need to be aware of the language I use, and avoid confusing sociological terms which may intimidate or confuse the participant. I will need to word the questions in a way that is easy to understand and answer. As briefly mentioned previously, a pilot study would be a useful tool, and something that should be done, before carrying out my research - as it allows me to test the questions on a sample group and find out if the instructions and questions are suitable and easy to understand. A pilot study would also help me identify any extraneous variables that may affect the validity of the research. Reliability is an important issue to consider when undertaking research. Qualitative data is often criticised for being unreliable, as the procedure used for collecting this data is un-standardised and difficult to replicate exactly. Quantitative data provides greater reliability as data is usually produced in a statistical form, and can be replicated allowing comparisons to be made. Hopefully through using quantitative data, reliability will be increased. Validity is also an important factor to consider as supporters of qualitative methods argue that quantitative methods lack validity. It is thought by many that ‘although statistical research methods may be easy to replicate, they may not provide a true picture of social reality.’ In order to ensure that my study can be considered as being ethical I will have to abide by BSA guidelines. As a researcher, I will need to look out for the welfare of the participants, and ensure that informed consent has been provided. I will also need to consider what information they may disclose to me and how I would deal with any sensitive issues that may be raised. Confidentiality is important, and I will need to ensure the participants are happy for me to use the data they give me in my research. If they are unhappy with me using the data this will lead to problems with my investigation. I will need to ensure their confidentiality is protected, and that they know they have a right to withdraw from the investigation at any time. The gender of

Up to £15,000£16-20,000£21-30,000£31-£40,000£41-£50,000£51-60,000£60,000+

the participants is also something that needs considering, as I may be put in a vulnerable position being alone with members of the opposite sex. To overcome this I could just choose students of the same sex, but this may be reflected negatively in my research as males and female answer the questions differently.

Findings

1) What is your parent’s annual income?

Comprehensive school students

Up to 15,000

16-20,000

21-30,000

31-40,000

41-50,000

51-60,000

60,000+

Private School students

2) What are your parent’s occupations?

Comprehensive school students

Manual worker

Semi-skilled

Skilled

Office Clerk

Management

Professional

Company director

Unemployed

Other

Private School Students

manual

Semi-skilled

Skilled

Office Clerk

management

Professional

Co director

Unemployed

Other The league tables I looked at earlier in my research project, support the idea of social class, and the belief that student’s from comprehensive schools are less wealthy that students from private schools. This research supports the results I have found for questions one and two. My results show that private school student’s are wealthier than comprehensive school students. The results from both questions support Marxists such as Bowles and Gintis’s argument that there is no real equality of opportunity in education, with some student’s having more of a head start than others. These results enable me to establish an understanding of the wealth of students from private schools. Low incomes and unemployment may mean that educational books and software cannot be provided for the student – as well as leading to other factors, that together affect the child’s educational progress.Taking these results into consideration, and by analysing the other results, I will be able to explore in depth, the other material influences affecting attainment at GCSE.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Yes No

YesNo

3) Do you have a part time job?

Comprehensive schools

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

yes no

yes

no

(Percentage of comprehensive students with a part time job)

Private School

(Percentage of private school students with a part time job)

Research has shown that young people, from poor families are more likely to have part time jobs. After the age of 16 this becomes much more common – with many students’ combining part or full time jobs with schoolwork. This leaves the student with the challenge of balancing the two commitments, and allocating enough time to study.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1-3 hours 4-7 hours 8 hours +

4) How many hours do you dedicate to studying out of school time per week?

Comprehensive School

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

1-3 hours 4-7 hours 8+ hours

1-3 hours

4-7 hours8+ hours

Private school

I asked this in an attempt to find out whether the idea of meritocracy is valid, and whether the amount of work a student does has an effect on how highly they achieve. Davis and Moore suggest that there is ‘an equality of educational opportunity,’ and everyone who puts in the required amount of effort has an equal chance of success. Those who don’t succeed only have themselves to blame. It can be seen from the graph that comprehensive school students generally do less home study, but this could be for a variety of other reasons, which are explored in this section – for example, a lack of space. Nevertheless this still provides me with another indication of why comprehensive and private school student’s levels of attainment may differ. Private school students may be encouraged to work harder by parents, as well as benefiting from the facilities and quality teaching they receive from school. Although meritocracy may exist – these results do suggest that private school student’s have a significant head start in their education. A halo effect may occur – students at private school may be expected to achieve more highly than their comprehensive equivalents, and due to a self fulfilling prophecy the students may feel more able to achieve, simply as a result of the expectations people have of them.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

yes no

yesno

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Yes No

YesNo

5) Do you share a bedroom?

Comprehensive school

Private school

Douglas (1964) found in his research, that poor housing conditions such as overcrowding and a lack of space could have a detrimental effect on a student’s attainment. This is a material factor that I wanted to explore, which is why I chose to ask the question – do you share a bedroom? This graph shows that more private school students have their own personal space in relation to the number of comprehensive school students. These results relate back to the first question asked, and supports the results that were found ‘What is your parent’s annual income?’ Income and space are both material factors, and the results from both questions have shown that private school student’s suffer less from material deprivation. These results help to support the idea that material explanations have a major impact in explaining low attainment levels for many students from poor backgrounds. Research by Gibson and Asthana (1999) confirmed this. They found that the more

0 2 4 6 8

1 to 5

6 to 10

11 to 15

16+

16+

11 to 15

6 to 101 to 5

disadvantaged a family is in terms of lack of employment, poor housing conditions, low income etc, the smaller the percentage of students gaining five or more A*-C grades. By studying the student’s GCSE results later in the section, we will be able to find out whether the findings in my investigation are similar to those found by Gibson and Asthana.

6) What is your average class size?

Comprehensive School

Private School

0 5 10 15 20 25

1 to 5

6 to 10

11 to 15

16+

There are many benefits of private education – including the small class sizes and better facilities than those found at comprehensive schools. These factors give students better opportunities and an increased chance of getting into university. Small class sizes allow students to receive more individual attention – benefiting the student hugely academically.

Comprehensive schools are often found in more deprived areas than private schools. Such schools found in poor areas can suffer from a number of social problems such as unemployment, crime and drug abuse. These schools are more likely to have problems with discipline and badly behaved students. These problems have an effect on the student’s that go to such schools – as learning is more difficult, and behaviour

Yes

No

is likely to be worse than that found in schools from more affluent areas. Schools from deprived areas are more likely to struggle with raising money for school equipment, as financial help is often required from parents. Middle class parents living in wealthier areas have the means to provide this form of support, therefore helping the school to develop and offer the student’s good quality education and resources.

7) Have your parents always shown an interest in your schoolwork and academic success, offering you support/help?

Private school

Yes

No

Comprehensive school

An important factor, which can influence a student’s motivation and enthusiasm for education – is their parent’s level of education and attitude towards schooling. Douglas found that middle class parents, compared to working class parents, took more interest in their children’s progress at school – visiting the school more frequently than working class parents. He also found that middle class parents became more interested and encouraging as the student faced important decisions such as exam options, subject choices and career possibilities. Middle class parents were also

more likely to want their children to stay at school post 16. In support of this, in 1998, the percentage of working class student’s going to university fell to 21.3%, with the number of Middle class student’s going to university, rising to 55.8%.

8) What GCSE grades did you achieve?

A* - 7 pointsA - 6 pointsB - 5 pointsC - 4 PointsD - 3 pointsE - 2 pointsF -1 point U -0 points

To find a way of comparing the results from each type of school – students have used the following rating to work out how many points they received based on their GCSE results. An average score (mean) for each School has been calculated.

Private school – 63 Comprehensive school – 54

48

50

52

54

56

58

60

62

64

Private Comprehensive

The results I have gained from asking the above questions, have led me to the understanding that the factors explored above (income, jobs, housing conditions etc) all have an impact on student’s attainment at GCSE. Browne’s argument that ability is relative to social class supports the findings for this question. In each question, Comprehensive students have shown to be more deprived than private school students and as a result of this – private school students have gained better GCSE results. Something that is important to recognise is that the effects of material factors are cumulative – it isn’t a case of one material factor affecting a student’s attainment – instead one factor can lead to other factors, causing the problems and deprivation to increase and continue. Another argument that my finding support is Cohen’s which states that ‘wealth confines working class children to the worse school,’ this is evident in my results as the students achieving the lower grades, seem to be those that suffer more from material deprivation.

Conclusion Through carrying out this investigation, I have gained an insight into the various factors that can and do have a major impact on a student’s attainment at GCSE. At the beginning of my research my initial aim was to discover what influences exist – and how the GCSE grades of Private and Comprehensive school students vary. By comparing the two types of students I found that the students from comprehensive schools experienced more material deprivation than those from private schools – I expected this to be the case, as shown in my context section. The league tables I looked at showed me that the highest performing schools were private. In relation to the aim of my coursework (to find out whether material factors have an effect on attainment at GCSE) – the quantitative data I got from the questions supported the aim and expectations I had of the investigation. I predicted that material factors would be influential, as this statement has face validity. From my findings, I’ve identified a correlation between material factors and attainment, discovering this has allowed me to make generalisations that material factor can have an effect on many students.

As with any research investigation, there were a number of problems/disadvantages that may have had an effect on the validity of my research. Although there are many advantages of carrying out questionnaires for research, there are also a number of disadvantages. Statistical research methods may be easy to replicate but qualitative data can give a truer picture of society, as the participant’s feelings and experiences can be taken into account. With questionnaires there is the potential problem of lying. In my investigation, participants could have felt pressured to answer in a particular way – in an attempt to please the investigator (demand characteristics) or because they are embarrassed to answer truthfully. To overcome this I tried to ask questions that would be easy to answer and understand, but there is still the chance that some questions may have been seen as too personal e.g. family income. Despite my efforts to limit any negative effects of these problems, they have had an effect on the validity of my study – as I cannot be completely certain that participants have been entirely truthful, and unaffected by demand characteristics or other problems I have identified above. When beginning my investigation I chose participants by opportunity sampling. By adopting this method, participants who wanted to take part would be able to – rather than choosing participants that may not. The problem with this method is that it may have been the more able, enthusiastic students who chose to take part in the investigation – as they have more of an interest in extra curricula activities. If this is the case then this doesn’t give a fair representation of students from each school, and it would be more difficult to make accurate generalisations. As well as these problems, there were a number of benefits of using questionnaires as a research method – I was able to collect data quickly and effectively, and the data was easy to understand and analyse. Another benefit of my study in general, was that I was able to use students from private and comprehensive schools – this allowed me

to compare results and get an accurate picture of the variety of backgrounds the students come from, and how these background and material factors have an effect on their school work and achievement.

In evaluation of my research method I have addressed a number of challenges I faced, and come up with ways my research could have been improved. By carrying out questionnaires, I was able to effectively address my research aim, and create questions that would provide me with answers that would benefit my study and give me an understanding of the impact material factors have on student’s attainment. I wasn’t too concerned with the student’s emotions and thoughts about their chances of achieving at school – which is why I chose to gather quantitative data. This method enabled me to look at the data statistically and analyse it according to my research aim.

If I was to undertake further research in the area, there are a number of things I would do to improve my investigation. Firstly, increasing the sample size would be an easy way of increasing the validity of my study as there is a fairer representation of students. To cope with demand characteristics and investigator effects, the amount of time the participant spent with the investigator could have been limited, so that the participant didn’t feel they needed to please them, or answer in a particular way to benefit the research. Demand characteristic could be avoided in further research by focusing on the types of questions that are asked, and avoiding asking questions that could give away the aim of the research.

Bibliography

(Haralambos, 2002, p741),

Haralambos, 2002, p733

“Sociology in focus”

“Introducing Sociology”, by Ken Browne

Websiteswww.s-cool.co.uk www.wikipedia.com

Diary of coursework

June 26th – Chose coursework question

June 29th – Created hypothesis and began rationale

July 12th – Completed Context section

Sept 2nd – Completed methodology

Sept 14th – Began creating and carrying out interviews

Sept 23rd – Gathered and began analysis of information from questionnaires.

Sept 30th – Began ‘findings’ section.

Oct 16th – Began evaluation and conclusion.

Nov 3rd – Completed coursework