Study #1 - Year 13 and Subject Choice

My Conducted Study Of The Chosen & Respect Of Subjects Offered At A-Level:

Hypothesis:

1. People will chose to study academic studies over non-academic studies.
2. Academic studies are the most respected studies
3. Lesser-academic studies are the least respected studies

Sample:

Opportunity sample – I ask the first people I saw in the common room and throughout my lessons, if I could conduct a study and have their input. I gathered data from year twelve students at Tupton Hall Sixth Form about their chosen subjects, what subjects they, personally, respected the most and disrespected. (Year 13)

Data Type:

I gathered quantitative data as it was most useful and easy to translate into comparative methods like correlation. I collected this data in the form of three tally charts. This allows anonymity of the participants as no personal data has been acquired nor is required to take part in this study.

Reliability:

The method I highly reliable as it was a standardised procedure that I repeated for every participant, it also was a tally chart and every participant was asked what subject they did, what they respected the least, what subjects they respected the most.

Generalisability:

I made sure to ask for the participation of people who study a wide array of subjects, both genders and different groups of people (stereotyping groups).  This was to avoid getting an atypical sample however is could be argued to be atypical in terms of age, geographical region and social class.

Research Method:

This was a survey/questionnaire where students were asked what subjects they did, which ones they respected the least and which they respected the most.

Experimental measures design:

N/A

Ethics:

Participants were briefed and filled out consent forms that gave them full details about the study. The participants names were not used and so they have confidentiality. I have also offered the participants a chance to withdraw from the study. Also participants were not deceived about the study.

Validity:

Participants may suffer from demand characteristics because they knew the intentions of the study, therefore they may have chanced their answer to suit the study and what they believe I, the researcher, would have wanted to hear.