The English Examining Boards: Their route from independence to government outsourcing agencies

37

2 Constructing a methodology

The basic methodology is a qualitative one. In attempting to support the thesis that the
English examining boards are no longer independent agents within the English
qualifications system, I have investigated the following questions:

1 How did the examining boards evolve from their origins accrediting university
matriculation into independent providers of the unique national qualifications
system?

2 How did the successive changes to the examinations structure affect their role?

3 Is there evidence of a shift in control from the Boards to the State?

In using the adjective ‘independent’ to describe the examining boards, I should
explain that I have interpreted a variety of functions as indicators of independence.
The original function was a Board’s professional freedom to design syllabuses and the
examinations which assess them. However, I have also used the term in relation to
administrative independence as regards organisational structures and financial
independence regarding examination fees.

The above questions are answered through empirical data gathered from:

• A variety of written sources from academic articles and historical accounts to
policy papers and reports, with more use of the media than is customary;

• A series of interviews with “key actors, participants in the policy process'”
(Ball 1990: 2).

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