The idea for my coursework is the potential changing aspirations of teenage girls in modern 21st century Britain

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Chapter one: Introduction

The idea for my coursework is the potential changing aspirations of teenage girls in modern 21st century Britain. An aspiration is a goal, which one hopes to achieve and in the case of my coursework, this is referring to careers, marriage and a family. I will aim to find out what teenage girls tend to prioritise.

I have chosen this topic, as I myself am a teenager and have my own views, wanting to pursue my education over having a family and children. I would like to compare my thoughts to girls of my own age so as to decide if this is a broad opinion. Previous research carried out by Sue Lees and Sue Sharpe has influenced my decision to compare results with those of my own.

This topic fits into the education, family and gender socialisation areas of the sociology syllabus.

Chapter two: research methods

Sociologists use a range of research methods. These include:

* Postal questionnaires- a list of pre-set questions posted to the respondent who completes and send back to the researcher.

* Questionnaire- a list of pre-set questions which are handed to the respondent to complete and then collected later.

* Formal structured interview- a list of pre-set questions that are read to the respondent who ticks off the answers. It is a formal question and answer session.

* Informal unstructured interview- the researcher has an idea of issues and topics to cover and the respondent is encouraged to answer at length.

* Participant observation- the researcher joins in the group and observes the groups' behaviour. Observation can be covert (covered and unknown to group) or overt (open and aware to the group).

For my primary research I could use a selection of methods to find out about the aspirations of teenage girls. The first is a questionnaire. A questionnaire is a list of pre-set questions handed to the respondent who completes and later hands back to the researcher. This would have many advantages, these being:

* Respondents can answer in their own time and so will not feel pressurised or rushed.

* Respondents will not feel put off by my appearance and so are more likely to answer personal questions.

From using a questionnaire I will be able to compare answers and collect statistical data. However, using a questionnaire does have its disadvantages, including:

* I will not be able to go into depth, likewise the respondent will not be able to answer in depth. I will therefore not obtain detailed results.

* Some questions may be misunderstood, as I am not present to cover queries. To overcome this I must make sure all my questions are clearly formatted and structured.

* People may lie which would mean I would be collecting inaccurate data, there is not a way to defeat this problem.

The second method is a formal structured interview. Again, this is a list of pre-set questions but is read to the respondent and answers ticked off in specified boxes, it is based in a formal environment. The advantages to this method are as follows:

* I can use a large sample with results that can be compared and turned into statistical data.

* Unlike a questionnaire, I will be able to explain unclear questions to the respondent.

However, disadvantages may occur in the fact that:

* It is easy to influence the answers of the respondent by my presence as they may not feel inclined to tell the truth or may feel embarrassed or ashamed with their answer and so give a false one.

* By a formal interview, questions have to be stuck to and getting in depth is difficult, as these questions tend to be closed questions.

* It is very time consuming, as individual interviews need to be carried out. I think this could be quite time wasting, as it is very much like a questionnaire and wouldn't provide different results.

Another form of an interview is an informal unstructured interview. The researcher has an idea of issues and topics to cover and the respondent is encouraged to answer at length. Advantages to this are:

* I can rephrase questions and ask for extra information, assisting me in obtaining an in depth account about girls aspirations.

* The respondents will have the opportunity to use their own words and give an in depth account. They would hopefully be more open an honest as it is in an informal environment.

Despite this, many disadvantages occur when using this method, these being:

* It is time consuming.

* Only a small amount of interviews can occur because they tend to last a long time, meaning I would get a lot of information but not a lot to compare it to because each interview is unique.

* The size of the sample is too small so the results are unlikely to represent the population being studied.

* I am not a skilled interviewer so it may be difficult to make people feel comfortable and record results appropriately.

I have decided that the methods I will finally use will be:

* A questionnaire

* informal unstructured interview.

My reasons for choosing these methods are as follows:

From handing out questionnaires I can use a variety of questions, covering topics such as marriage, careers and family. I can use a selection of open and closed questions. I doubt there would be a problem with respondents feeling uneasy about because my questionnaires will be confidential, as knowing their name is not necessary to my research and this would hopefully ensure that they answer truthfully. I will be able to gather my results and convert them into statistical data, which will hopefully gain a broad opinion as I hope for. I will have to ensure that the questions I use are clear and structured properly so as not to confuse the respondent. I could perhaps format the questions into sections on the family, marriage and career so as to provide a clear representation.

I will carry out an initial pilot study. In doing so I will interview two or three teenage girls in an unstructured format. This will be useful as I will be able to format relevant questions that will ensure I get results that link directly to my aim and are of more relevance to girls aspirations. However this may not be effective because during a pilot study I could gain a lot of information that may be hard to narrow down into one formal structured interview. I will use the results from this to create my questionnaire and a structured informal interview, using the same questions but allowing the interviewee to elaborate just like in the pilot study but with a more firm set of questions.

Sociologists use a variety of methods for sampling; these are either forms of random sampling or non-random sampling. Random sampling gives everyone in the population, an equal chance of being selected, these include:

* Simple random sampling- drawing names from a hat or computer at random.

* Stratified random sampling- where the sample reflects the different groups within the population for example class and ethnicity.

* Cluster sampling- where a cluster of- for example areas in England- are selected randomly and then a select sample from each of the areas.

Non- random sampling doesn't give everyone in the population a chance of being picked. There are three forms of this, these being:

* Systematic sampling- taking say, every 10th from the sampling list to get the desired sample size for research.

* Snowball sampling- where there is no sampling frame and so the researcher starts by making contacts with a member of the population, gains their trust and are introduced to another person and gradually builds up contacts with others.

* Quota sampling- the researcher is told to interview an exact number of people from certain categories.

It will be very expensive and time consuming to hand out questionnaires to every teenage girl in the school so I will have to take a sample of the population I am studying- this being teenage girls aged 13 to 16 in years 9, 10 and 11- to represent everyone. It is important for my sample to be representative so that I can come up with statements and conclusions that apply to the whole population as well as the small group that is sampled. If the sample is not representative to the research it will be invalid.

The way in which I will obtain my sample is by one form of non- random sampling and one form of random sampling. I will use quota sampling sampling, where I will hand out questionnaires to 2 students from each of the above year groups. This will be less hassle as it is easy to depict what years girls are in and I will be able to confirm this by asking them.

For my initial pilot study I will use a simple random sample, whereby I will pick one person at random from each year group, every member of the population will have an equal chance of being picked. From the results of these 3 people I will construct a structured informal interview and conduct this with a further 2 people each year group. I will therefore gain results from the same amount of people in each year group deriving from a variety of ages.
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As a researcher I am expected to abide by a set of key principals that are put into practice during research investigations for it to be ethical and follow practical standards of behaviour and procedures. These include:

* Keeping the respondents rights protected

* Respondents/participants have a right to privacy

* No harm should be done to others as a result of the research

* Researchers should be honest, truthful and open in their methods and behaviour.

For my research I will do the following things to keep my practice ethical:

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