Interpreting qualitative data

An essential companion for students across the social and health sciences, this text provides a wide-ranging coverage of qualitative methods complemented by extended illustration from the array of academic disciplines in which qualitative research is found and employed.


Written in a lively and reader-friendly style, the guide covers a comprehensive range of topics, including:


- a concise definition of the method

- a description of distinctive features

- examples to convey the flavour of a technique or principle

- a critical and reflective evaluation of the method or approach under consideration

- cross references to associated concepts within the dictionary

- a list of key readings

Keywords in Qualitative Methods

Recommendations for the aggressive recruitment of minority teachers are based on hypothesized role-model effects for minority stu- dents as well as evidence of racial biases among nonminority teachers. However, prior empirical studies have found little or no association between exposure to an own-race teacher and student achievement. This paper presents new evidence on this question by examining the test score data from Tennessee's Project STAR class-size experiment, which ran- domly matched students and teachers within participating schools. Spec- ification checks confirm that the racial pairings of students and teachers in this experiment were unrelated to other student traits. Models of student achievement indicate that assignment to an own-race teacher significantly increased the math and reading achievement of both black and white students. HE economic literature on the policy determinants of student achievement has focused largely on the possible benefits of new educational resources that reduce class size and improve teacher salaries and training. However, the literature from other social sciences provides provocative evidence that several other contextual factors might also substantively influence the relationships between teachers, students, and student achievement. In particular, the con- ventional wisdom among educators is that minority students are more likely to excel educationally when matched with teachers who share their race or ethnicity. The frequent calls for aggressive recruitment of underrepresented minority

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Teachers, Race and Student Achievement in a Randomized Experiment

The Nature of Prejudice

Why aren't there more women in science? Female college students are currently 37 percent less likely than males to obtain a bachelor's degree in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and comprise only 25 percent of the STEM workforce This paper begins to shed light on this issue by exploiting a unique dataset of college students who have been randomly assigned to professors over a wide variety of mandatory standardized courses We focus on the role of professor gender Our results suggest that while professor gender has little impact on male students, it has a powerful effect on female students' performance in math and science classes, their likelihood of taking future math and science courses, and their likelihood of graduating with a STEM degree The estimates are largest for female students with very strong math skills, who are arguably the students who are most suited to careers in science Indeed, the gender gap in course grades and STEM majors is eradicated when high performing female students' introductory math and science classes are taught by female professors In contrast, the gender of humanities professors has only minimal impact on student outcomes We believe that these results are indicative of important environmental influences at work

Sex and Science: How Professor Gender Perpetuates the Gender Gap

A number of countries are running role model recruitment drives under the assumption that like is good for like: ethnic minority teachers should teach ethnic minority children, women should teach girls, and so on. The empirical basis for this would appear to be case study and personal reflection. This article will examine quantitative data to test the hypothesis that male teachers produce more positive attitudes amongst boys and female teachers amongst girls. Using data from the Performance Indicators in Primary Schools (PIPS) Project, information from 413 separate classes for 11 year-olds (in England) was examined. One hundred and thirteen were taught by males and 300 by females. All the pupils completed questionnaires that were designed to measure attitude to school, reading, mathematics and science. In addition, background data on those pupils were collected, including cognitive measures, attainment scores, ability measures and home background measures. The data were examined to look at attitudes using multilevel models controlling for background factors. The analysis concentrated on interaction effects between the gender of the teacher and the gender of the pupil and the results gave little support for those who advocate recruitment drives with role models in mind.

Role models, school improvement and the ‘gender gap’—do men bring out the best in boys and women the best in girls?1

Since 1997, the Blair administration has taken various steps to make school teaching a more inclusive occupation. For example, in England and Wales it has introduced measures to increase levels of male recruitment to primary teaching and attract more ethnic minority entrants to the profession. This paper shows how these policies have been legitimated by an appeal to commonsense notions about the salience of ‘role models’ in socialization. Underlying official discourse in this sphere is the assumption that the ‘targeted recruitment’ of male or ethnic minority teachers will provide much-needed ‘role models’ in schools for those groups most likely to experience educational failure and disaffection. Thus, matching teachers and children by gender or ethnicity is seen as a panacea for male or Black ‘underachievement’. This paper begins by weighing the strengths and weaknesses of current policies on gender, ethnicity, and teaching. Having subjected the ‘role model’ argument to critical scrutiny, it moves on to d...

Re-thinking 'role models': Equal opportunities in teacher recruitment in England and Wales

Background to the recent debate internal actors - the liberal democratic party internal actors - the bureaucracy external actors - incorporated interests external actors - opposition groups

Education, racism, and reform

In recent years, policy‐makers in England, Australia and other countries have called for measures to increase male recruitment to the teaching profession, particularly to the primary sector. This policy of targeted recruitment is predicated upon a number of unexamined assumptions about the benefits of matching teachers and pupils by gender. For example, it is held that the dearth of male ‘role models’ in schools continues to have an adverse effect on boys’ academic motivation and engagement. Utilizing data from interviews with more than 300 7‐ to 8‐year‐olds attending primary schools in the north‐east and south‐east of England, the paper sets out to scrutinize these claims. The findings revealed that the gender of teachers had little apparent effect on the academic motivation and engagement of either boys or girls. For the majority of the children, the gender of the teacher was largely immaterial. They valued teachers, whether men or women, who were consistent and even‐handed and supportive of them as lea...

Does the gender of the teacher really matter? Seven‐ to eight‐year‐olds’ accounts of their interactions with their teachers

In England, Scotland and other countries, policy‐makers often depict the targeted recruitment of men to the teaching profession as a panacea for male underachievement and disaffection from school. It is commonly assumed that the gender gap in achievement stems from the dearth of male role models in teaching, especially at primary level. Giving particular attention to recent literature on the influence of teacher gender on classroom interaction and educational outcomes, the paper begins by scrutinizing the policy's evidence‐base. We move on to examine the findings of a qualitative study conducted in English primary schools. Drawing upon data from semi‐structured interviews with teachers of 7‐ to 8‐year‐olds (25 men, 26 women), an attempt is made to assess their responses to the policy of targeted male recruitment and perceptions of the benefits of same‐gender matching. The paper (an earlier version of which paper was presented at the European Educational Research Association's Annual Conference at the Univ...

Bruce Carrington

Papers

Role models, school improvement and the ‘gender gap’—do men bring out the best in boys and women the best in girls?1

Re-thinking 'role models': Equal opportunities in teacher recruitment in England and Wales

Education, racism, and reform

Does the gender of the teacher really matter? Seven‐ to eight‐year‐olds’ accounts of their interactions with their teachers

Boys' ‘underachievement’ and the feminization of teaching