Study Design and Method
The construct of character is a complex one, about which there is little consensus. The
notions of character held by young people as they grow up are even more difficult to
define. Furthermore during mid-adolescence young people undergo complicated
development which exacerbates this.
The study is a multi-site case study which uses mixed methods to explore the ways in
which these young people understand the concept of what it is to be a good person. This
approach emphasises the importance of gathering data based on the perspectives and
experiences of participants - school students aged between 14 and 16 and a sub-group of
teachers. Investigation was carried out into how, in a local educational setting,
individuals make sense of that setting, and a shared social reality (Gall, Gall and Borg,
2007). The principal field researcher was embedded in the research sites. Informal
observations have clearly influenced the interpretation of data but are not themselves
taken as evidence in this report. Rather than the project team’s assumptions of the nature
of what constitute values or good character, the research elicited participants’ meanings
and the social construction of values and good character in and out of school.
The main research concerns are:
1) What do these young people understand and say about character and values?
2) To what extent is it true that the local environment and the particular school
context influence character development?
3) Is there a relationship between socio-economic status and positive character
development?
The study sought to explore the qualities of character and values espoused by
participating students, and to explore the ways in which they see these values as shaped,
cultivated or even negated by their teachers, mentors, parents, peers and by prevalent
societal factors. For many students these will be the values with which they leave school.
The study also sought to find out the type of person that these young people aspire to
become.
In outline the study was undertaken in four sequential phases:
1. The first phase involved three interviews with nine groups of six Year 10 students,
two groups in each of three schools and one in each of the others. The interview
questions were designed to collect data relevant to all the research questions. In
the event, this phase was supplemented by an interview with eleven students in
each of two schools, aimed at validating the initial findings.
2. The second phase involved the design and construction of a 62-item questionnaire
chiefly aimed at a statistical exploration of the issues covered in the group
interviews, with a few additional items exploring citizenship, religious influences
and community involvement. Responses were subjected to exploratory factor
analysis. In preparation for phase four, responses were not anonymous and this
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