may have affected the nature of the responses. A factor analytic study was carried
out using SPSS.
3. In the third phase the fieldwork continued in the form of four interviews with a
single group of eleven students in each of two schools. Questions were aimed at
clarifying provisional interpretations of data in the group interviews in the first
phase. In-depth individual interviews with five students, now in Year 11, from
each of the six schools, with the interviewees selected with a view to clarifying
responses to the first questionnaire. Students were selected whose answers
indicated either a strong agreement or strong disagreement with some of the key
statements in the phase two questionnaire.
4. The fourth and final phase of the project was a second questionnaire of 69 items
exploring views that had been expressed strongly in earlier phases and the extent
to which they were shared in the general school population. Responses were also
subjected to exploratory factor analysis.
Participants were selected for interview with a view to working with the broadest range
of students including academic students, sports-oriented students, vocational/practical
students, students from different ethnic groups, and students who have encountered
barriers or have struggled against varied disadvantages.
In phases two and four a factor analytic study was carried out using SPSS.
Sample
The opportunity arose to study the whole 14-16 population of the six schools in one
locality. The local population, and therefore the sample, was far from homogeneously
spread across the area. The electoral wards which define the locality were not typical
either of the country or of the city as a whole. This can be seen by inspecting census data
for the wards. However, the high level of social and economic deprivation and the small
number of young people proceeding to further or higher education provided a useful
balance for the higher achieving participants in the post-16 study and the less deprived
population of the primary-secondary transition study.
The socio-economic profile of The Hodge Hill Constituency is one of high levels of
social and economic deprivation. There is an uneven age distribution, with one of the four
electoral wards having a notably high proportion of under-16 year olds. The working age
population of the constituency is 8% lower than Birmingham as a whole, and 10% lower
than the national figure.
Population by Age (2001 Census)
|
Age |
Ward A |
Ward B |
Ward C |
Ward D |
B’ham |
|
Under 16 |
30.7% |
23.5% |
24.0% |
33.4% |
23.0% |
|
16-59 |
53.7% |
52.8% |
55.4% |
53.2% |
62.0% |
|
Over 60 |
15.6% |
23.7% |
20.6% |
13.3% |
14.5% |
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