1. Item b – investigating gender and subject choice
Sociologists have been interested in finding out how far there is a link
between gender and subject choice. For example, Stables and Wikely
(1996) investigated patterns of subject choice by looking at which
subjects were more likely to be chosen by boys and girls.
Researchers have wanted to find out the reasons behind these
patterns of choice and to what extent teacher expectations
influenced them. Others have investigated the reasons why dome
subjects are perceived masculine or feminine.
Assignment 10 – Research Methods – In Context (1) Interviews
Using material from item b and elsewhere, assess the strengths and
limitations of one of the following methods for the study of gender and
subject choice.
(i) unstructured interviews
or
(ii) official statistics
If you conducted unstructured interviews they would tend to be a quite time
consuming and expensive way of finding out about gender and subject choice.
Another weakness is it can be hard to gain access to interview participants as they
are hierarchical institutions the permission of the head, the local authority and
parents may have to be gained. However, in a school if the head gives permission
for you to do your study on gender and subject choice he may be able to make sure
that staff and students are able to give up their time to be able to talk to you. This is
particularly important when using unstructured interviews as individuals in school are
very time pressured and so might not be able to give up the time to discuss the issue
of gender and subject choice with you. The problem with this is that you could end
up with an unrepresentative sample as if the head is worried that you might reveal
some kind of gender bias he may only allow you to interview staff and students that
show his school in the best possible light.
One problem with doing research on young people is that they may be reluctant to fill
in a questionnaire seriously and with younger children they may find it hard to
express their opinions about gender bias and subject choice in a written way. One
strength of using unstructured interviews is young people tend to express themselves
verbally better than they do when writing so interviews will produce more valid data
compared to questionnaires and also can be used with very young children who
cannot read yet. This would tend to make your data more valid. What it also means
is that you will able to find out about the reasons why boys and girls chose different
subjects in a more in-depth way and reveal an insider’s perspective. However, In
contrast to this another problem is children find it hard to stay to the point which will
mean unstructured interviews may be time consuming and produce a lot of irrelevant
data. They might not stay focused on gender and subject choice but chose to
discuss other areas instead. This makes the study more costly.

2. Another problem with using interviews is the interviewer has to be highly trained to
get responses from children this could make the study cost more. This is linked to
the fact problem is young interviewees may be inarticulate, not understand long
questions, and have a short attention span or reluctant to talk. However, using
when using an unstructured interview, this means they can be informal young
people are more likely to respond and be more open in a relaxed form, increasing
rapport and the validity of the data. This is particularly the case as they might be
embarrassed about saying that the wanted to do non-traditional subjects and were
put off studying them, or even they might fear the they could get into trouble if
they suggested that certain teachers discriminated against them when choosing
subjects.
Another strength is of using unstructured interviews to study gender and subject
choice is that it allows the possibility of using group interviews. This may well
produce valid data as they reproduce conditions students are used to when in school
and in groups students may be more responsive in numbers compared to in a one to
one interview. However, the problem of this is say when you are discussing gender
and subject choice students may be embarrassed to say they wanted to study non
traditional gender subjects in front of the group, This could lead to social desirability
bias and students not being totally honest about what the feel on gender and
subjects choice. Using unstructured interviews also means you have the potential to
reveal something new about gender and subject choice as there is no set questions
so it could generate new insight into the topic. However, positivist sociologist would
suggest unstructured interviews are unscientific, are subjective and impossible to
compare. This might make it very difficult to make comparison between girls and
boys experiences of gender and subject choice which is something that a sociologist
may be interested in as there is no set questions in the interview.
One final problem with interviews is interviewer bias. This is where the
characteristics of the interviewer influence the answers of the respondents. This is
particularly a problem when conducting interviews is school as students will always
view adults as being associated with authority or as teachers. This could affect the
validity of the research some students may give socially desirable answers, and
suggest that there was no discrimination in the school in relation to gender and
subject choice. While other students may demonstrate the screw you effect and be
openly hostile to the researcher and their aims and try and make out discrimination in
relation to gender and subject choice is worse than it actually is. Another problem
affecting the validity of the research is that as schools are very small, it may mean
the contents of initial interviews influence subsequent ones as word get around
reducing validity.
In conclusion, integrationist sociologists would suggest that unstructured interviews
provide a really good way of finding out in-depth, rich and valid insight into the
reasons why boys and girls may chose different subjects and the process that lead to
these choices. However, they are unscientific and difficult to analyse and compare
which is perhaps one of the central things a sociologist might be interested in doing
when looking at gender and subject choice.