Investigation of the Difference in Educational Achievement between Males and Females.

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Investigation of the Difference in Educational Achievement between Males and Females

Cranford Community College

Wai-Sing Ma

Contents

Hypotheses

Page 3

Introduction

Page 3

Research Methods

Page 4

Results

Page 5

Analysis

Page 13

Evaluation of research methods

Page 15

Conclusion

Page 16

Source index

Page 17

Educational Achievements

Hypotheses

For the past few years, females have achieved immensely higher grades than males. I believe the huge gaps between the results are due to:

  • Females mature quicker than boys do
  • Males lose concentration in the classroom, females also do, but to a     smaller extent
  • Females are more likely to seek help if in need
  • Males are more laid back and lazy
  • Males are more likely to disrupt classes and this affects achievement
  •  Males are usually disorganised and are unable to meet deadlines
  •  Girls contribute to the lesson more

I will carry out an investigation and attempt to show my hypotheses are factual.

Introduction

Over the last few years, girls have gained much higher grades than boys. There are countless possible reasons for this but it is extremely difficult to pinpoint exactly why this is so. Possible reasons are stated in my hypotheses and I will carry out an investigation and attempt to prove if these are myths or facts.

My hypotheses seem fair but are they factual? I will be investigating why females achieve such high grades and boys are struggling to match the females. My hypotheses are from sociologists who believe they know why there is such a big gap in grades between the two genders. I am carrying out this investigation because I believe many statements sociologists make are myths and I have a desire to prove this. I will be investigating in Cranford Community College as I attend this school and therefore I will have no difficulty entering and carrying out my investigation. Cranford Community College has different facilities for adult education, sports, and they also have the best ICT facilities in the borough. This school contains students of mixed races, genders, and religions. Around 1300 students attend this school and around 65 people teach here. It is a comprehensive school, which means that anyone is allowed to attend the school. The stead was in 1998 and the officers said that it serves the community well. I believe this school is a good school to carry out the observation because it contains a variety of race, gender and religions. This would give me better results then if I were to do in a single sex or single religion schools.

Research Methods

In order to complete this essay I will perform an overt observation in the school and I will use my finding as primary data. I will randomly choose a class and observe the actions and distinguish any difference of actions between boys and girls. This includes things such as “who shouts out more” or “who answers more questions.” The class I will observe is a year nine, information technology class. I believe this is an effective type of observation and my findings will be accurate. I believe this because I am able to observe the situation in the classroom where as if I do an interview, I am sure many people will not be honest. Also, interviews are extremely difficult to collect information from and enter into graphs. I realise people may act differently as I am there and they are aware I am observing them, so a covert observation would be more effective and the results will be more accurate but it will be difficult to carry out and I do not have very much time. However, I am confident my overt observation will supply me with accurate results. Other research methods are also possible. Other possible methods include:

  • Clustered
  • Stratified
  • Simple

These are all types of random sampling, which means I do not in any way choose who I observe. This can be good because everything is done at random but it can be very costly and time consuming.

There are also non-random sampling techniques. These include:

  • Snowball
  • Systematic

Non-random sampling is when only a certain group is chosen. For example, if I were to study the educational achievements of boys, I would gain results only from boys. This is non-random sampling because I am only using results from boys, so this is not random. This can be affective because the results can be very accurate but it is very easy to make a mistake. I will complete a random overt observation. The reason I chose to complete an overt observation is it is extremely easy and not a lot of time is required. As I have already stated, time was not on my side and I will be unable to complete more than one observation.

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For secondary data, I will use old newspaper articles, which contain information about GCSE results. I choose these because access is immensely easy and even though newspaper articles can be biased, I am confident the content of the article will be accurate, as they are well known newspapers such as The Mirror and the Times. I will also search the Internet for past GCSE and SAT’s results, as this will give me an immense amount of information about girls ‘and boys’ achievements in the schools across England.

Results

Secondary Results

1999-2000 GCSE Figures

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