Linking male underachievement with stereotypical laddish behaviour

Linking male underachievement with stereotypical laddish behaviour Much of the current research on underachieving boys in education is focused on suggesting solutions in terms of teaching methods. It is possible to criticise this approach as one can argue that in order to effectively formulate strategies aimed at helping boys who underachieve, you need to actually understand why they are underachieving. Some research suggests that the phenomenon of new laddism is just the old fashioned problem of boys behaving badly (Chaudhary, 1998). The solutions therefore do not actually focus on the cause of bad behaviour just focus on dealing with the behaviour itself. Media representations of underachieving boys are also problematic. They all too often ignore important questions and issues, such as which boys are underachieving? Delemont (1999) points out the problems with the crude portrayals that suggest boys underachievement and laddishness are synonymous; they are not. Not all laddish boys are underachievers and not all underachievers are laddish. Objective 3 of this research was addressed in detail in the previous section the literature review. Objective 1 and 2 of this research will be implemented through the collection and analysis of empirical data. This study is interested in an in-depth analysis of the year 10 and 11 boys at the researchers school, and specifically the reasons why they adopt laddish attitudes. Objective 1 will be focused on through analysis of the school staff as well, in particular looking at the process that causes certain types of behaviour to be labelled as laddish. Cohen and Manions (1996) description of a case study the researcher observing the characteristics of an individual unit sums up this piece of research neatly. Howard Becker (1970) describes one aim of case studies as the attempt to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the group under study. This researcher be attempting to gain a comprehensive understanding of boys who underachieve at Tewkesbury School. Case studies can also be used to produce typologies, or a set of categories defining types of a social phenomenon. Douglas (1967) suggested that case studies could be used to discover the different types of suicide by uncovering the different social meanings of suicide. There is a possibility that this research can produce some typologies about the different types of behaviour that causes male underachievement. The potential issue with this research strategy is that it is not possible to generalise on the basis of my findings. It is impossible to determine how far the findings of this research can be applied to underachieving boys in other schools. As Bryman (1988) suggests, one way around this would be to repeat the research in other schools looking at the same phenomenon. The issue though with attempting to repeat the research is that it is difficult to make direct comparisons of the results of studies carried out either by different people, or by the same people at different times. Historical research as a strategy is not appropriate to this topic as it is generally associated with the study of non-contemporary phenomena this research is clearly not interested in anything non-contemporary. Experimental research is also not appropriate to this topic as its very nature is at odds with what this research is attempting to do experimental research will try to objective by taking phenomena out of its natural context, this research needs to understand what is happening in a school environment. Action research was considered due to the in-depth nature of the analysis it engages in but this research is not focused on one specific problem that can be tackled this way, the researcher is interested in exploring a range of issues linked to laddish behaviour and underachievement. This research will produce qualitative data in the main. Denzin and Lincoln (1994) describe qualitative research as studying things in their natural settings, and attempting to make sense of phenomena in terms of the meanings people give to them. Some quantitative data will also be produced as well, which Myers (1997) states is often produced through survey techniques within a social setting and as such works well when used alongside qualitative methods. Orlikowski et al. (1991) say that there are three categories into which qualitative research strategies fall into, depending upon the researchers view of the world; critical, positivist and interpretivist. Whilst this researcher does believe that in terms of a critical perspective of the world, people are influenced by social and cultural circumstances, he does not believe that the main of his research should be to free people from the restraining forces that impact upon their lives. His role is simply to understand better the key aspects of laddish behaviour and underachievement. This research will also not be adopting a positivist methodology, as the researcher does not believe that human beings can be studied in the same way that the natural sciences use to study particles, gases and rocks. The French writer Auguste Compte was the first person to use the phrase positivist philosophy (Compte, 1986). He believed that scientific knowledge about society could be accumulated and used t o improve human existence so that society could be run rationally without religion or superstition getting in the way of progress. Compte believed that the scientific study of society should be confined to collecting information about phenomena that can be objectively observed and classified. He argued that researchers should not be concerned with the internal meanings, motives, feelings and emotions of individuals these states only exist in the persons consciousness so cannot be observed, and cannot be measured in any objective way. The fundamental part of positivism is its use of statistical data. Positivists believed that it was possible to classify the social world in an objective way. Using these classifications it was then possible to count sets of observable social facts and then produce statistics. You can then look for correlations between different social facts. If there is a correlation between two or more types of social phenomena, then a positivist might suspect that one of these phenomena is causing the other to take place. This can be criticised though, for example if you look working class boys underachieving in school, the correlation between those two factors is not necessarily causal. It may simply be an indirect correlation. Positivism is based upon an understanding of science that sees science as using a mainly inductive methodology. This begins by collecting the data. The data is then analysed and out of this analysis theories are developed. Once the theory has been developed it can then be tested against other sets of data to see if it is confirmed or not. If it is repeatedly confirmed then positivists like Compte assume they have discovered a law of human behaviour. Other researchers though have not accepted the inductive method. Indeed, many use an alternative, a deductive approach. This alternative methodology is supported by Karl Popper in his book The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1959). The deductive approach reverses the process of induction. It starts with a theory and tests it against the evidence, rather than developing a theory as a result of examining the data. Popper argues that scientists should start with a hypothesis; a statement that is to be tested. This statement should be very precise and should state exactly what will happen in particular circumstances. On the basis of this hypothesis it should be possible to deduce predictions about the future. Popper differs from positivists in that he denies it is ever possible to produce laws that will necessarily be found to be true for all time. He argues that however many times a theory is apparently proved correct, there is always the possibility that at some future date the theory w ill be proved wrong, or falsified. He suggests that scientists have a duty to be objective, and to test their theories as rigorously as possible. Therefore, once they have formulated hypotheses, and made predictions, it is necessary to try constantly to find evidence that disproves or falsifies their theories. Some though argue that in practice scientists operate in very different ways from those advocated by Popper or positivists. Thomas Kuhn (1962) has developed an analysis of science which sees it as being far from the objective pursuit of knowledge. He argues that science is characterised by a commitment to a scientific paradigm. A paradigm consists of a set of beliefs shared by a group of scientists about what the natural world is composed of, what counts as true and valid knowledge, and what sort of questions should be asked and what sort of procedures should be followed to answer those questions. Kuhn does not believe that the same methods and procedures are found throughout scientific history; rather, they are specific to particular sciences at particular times. Scientists may ignore evidence that does not fit their paradigm. To Kuhn, a scientific subject is one in which there is an agreed paradigm. There is no guarantee that this accepted paradigm is correct: it may well be replaced by a new paradigm in the future. If Kuhns view of science is accepted, then it is doubtful social research can be considered as scientific. There is no one accepted paradigm in social research the different perspectives all see the social world in different ways: they ask different questions and get different answers. Kuhns work has been criticised though as you can argue that it has little relevance to social science and based upon inadequate evidence. Anderson, Hughes and Sharrock (1986) believe that he has underestimated the degree to which there is conflict and disagreement in natural science. Most of the time alternative paradigms are debated. A careful examination of the history of science shows that the periods of revolution grow in size while those of settled normality contract. The approach that this researcher will be adopting as identified by Orlikowski et al. (1991) is interpretivism. This most closely matches this researchers approach to research, and as a teacher of sociology it has been refined over the past ten years of either studying or teaching the subject. The interpretivist approach suggests that qualititative data collection techniques should be used. Social action can only be understood by interpreting the meanings and motives on which it is based. Many interpretivists argue that there is little chance of discovering these meanings and motives from quantitative data. Only from qualitative data with its greater richness and depth can the sociologist hope to interpret the meanings that lie behind social action. Interpretivists reject the use of natural science methodology for the study of social action. The natural sciences deal with matter. Since matter has no consciousness, its behaviour can be explained simply as a reaction to external stimuli. People though, have consciousness they see, interpret and experience the world around them in terms of meanings. Max Weber talks about how understanding the motives behind peoples behaviour could be achieved through verstehen imagining yourself to be in the position of the person whose behaviour you were seeking to explain. Phenomenology represents the most radical departure from positivism. Phenomenologists go even further than interpretivists in that they reject the possibility of producing causal explanations of human behaviour. They do not believe that it is possible objectively to measure and classify the world. To phenomenologists, human beings make sense of the world by imposing meanings and classifications upon it. These meanings and classifications make up social reality. They believe that researchers should limit themselves to understanding the meanings and classifications which people use to give order to and make sense of the world. Studies which utilise this method concentrate almost entirely on the subjective aspects of social life which are internal to the individuals consciousness. DATA COLLECTION Convenience sampling was used to select the participants in the research project. It was convenient because the researcher works at the school involved in the study. There is nothing random about the students and staff who have been chosen and the researcher is making no claim of representativeness and generalisability to anywhere other than his school. That is not the focus of the research instead it is focused on simply gaining an in-depth understanding of the key issues involved in laddish behaviour and underachievement. This method of sampling was also used due to the fact that it is by far the easiest way to access participants. This research will use two main methods of collecting data: interviews and secondary data analysis. The main data collection technique will be semi-structured interviews. Interviews are as Yin (2003) states, able to provide insights into complex situations. And as Goldthorpe et.al (1968) found, interviewees could be prompted if they cannot decide how to answer a question. The interviews will be semi-structured because this will allow the students and staff to express their views, explain their individual circumstances and expand on any answers. The researcher though will be able to guide them towards the specific area of interest because there will always be some pre-planned questions. The key is, as Marshall and Rossman (1989) put it the participants view on the phenomena of interest should unfold as they truly view it, not as the researcher views it. The use of more than one method allows the researcher to engage in methodological pluralism. This is the idea that we should tolerate of a variety of methods in sociological research, because methods should be seen as part of the research process as a whole. (Bryman, 1998). The key advantage to the researcher is that it allows him to combine both positivist and interpretivist research methods, which allows him to benefit from triangulation, which is where the strengths of one method balance out against the weaknesses of another, and allow me to cross-examine the results. Methodological pluralism has become more and more popular in recent years amongst sociologists, although the idea itself has not escaped criticism: However, consensus over methodological pluralism is incomplete, and does not even mean that subscribing sociologists have actively sought to promote pluralism. As Bell, observed: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ individual sociologists no matter how tolerant, catholic and eclectic are v ery unlikely actually to be methodological pluralists à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ . It is the structure of sociology that became pluralist not sociologists themselves. (Bell and Roberts, 1984). Indeed, Payne et al (2004) conducted research aimed itself at measuring the extent to which methodological pluralism is used in sociological research. They concluded: Only about one in 20 of published papers in the mainstream journals uses quantitative analysis, ranging from simple cross-tabulations to multivariate techniques. This is not grounds for an argument that there should be less qualitative research, but rather that there should be more quantitative research. The site for the research will be Tewkesbury School. The research project is not intended to be an exhaustive study of laddish behaviour and underachieving boys in the local area it is specific to the researchers school and the needs and priorities of that school moving forward. The research will be focused on male students in year 10 and year 11. They have been selected for two main reasons those are the two year groups for which we have the most accurate data on who is underachieving, and improving the performance of these boys is the main priority for the school moving forward. The data on underachievement is generated by subject teachers who are judging the progress of students against their FFT (D) (Fisher Family Trust) targets. These type D targets are based upon the progress made by schools in the top 25% percentile of value-added schools nationally. Also, as Epstein et al (1998) points out it is at this age group that laddish behaviour begins to impact most heavily on educ ational performance. The staff that will be interviewed will be from a range of subject areas including English, Maths and Science. The research will analyse the different levels of underachievement and seek to identify reasons why these boys may be underachieving more in certain subject areas. Interviewing different staff allows for cross-comparisons of responses which will allow key themes to emerge. Indeed, as Holstein et al (1995) suggest, the interviewing process itself often creates new knowledge rather than just revealing data that was previously present in the interviewees heads. The following staff will be interviewed: 1 Head of Maths Faculty. 2 Head of Science Faculty. 3 Head of English Faculty. 4 Head of Humanities Faculty. 5 Head of Arts Faculty. 6 Head of Technology Faculty. All these staff have an in-depth knowledge of performance in their faculties, and have specific experience of the underachievement by students. The interviews will be recorded, where possible, for two reasons to ensure that the analysis of data is based upon an accurate record, and to allow the interviewer to concentrate on the actual interview. Secondary data in the form of school exam performance and monitoring reports will also be collected to form part of the analysis. This will allow the research to understand the scope of current performance levels. To help focus the interviews in terms of reflecting the main objectives of this research they will be structured in according to key themes, for example patterns of behaviour that are labelled as laddish, understanding of current underperformance issues, awareness of the issues involved in boys choosing to behave in a laddish manner. In terms of analysing the interviews, as Bogdan and Biklen (1982) put it; the researcher should aim to work with the data, analyse and break it down into manageable units, search for patterns and decide what is important. This summarises neatly the modern interpretive approach to qualitative data analysis and the approach that this researcher will use. LIMITATIONS AND POTENTIAL PROBLEMS There are many potential problems in any research problem, and especially when researching a topic like this project is aiming to. The key one is generalisability this research cannot be generalised to any other educational setting, as it is purely relevant to the setting that the researcher is currently employed in. This does raise a question mark over the validity of the findings, but as most interpretivists argue, including Ackroyd and Hughes (1981), the researcher is not limited to what he or she can immediately perceive or experience, but is able to cover as many dimensions and as many people as resources permit. The depth of data gathered by this research should enable the researcher to find the truth, or at least the best representation of it available, hence ensuring a good degree of validity. The reliability of unstructured interviews can also be questioned as they are artificial situations, as Bryman (1988) notes, do they really capture the daily life, conditions, opinions, values, attitudes, and knowledge base of those we study as expressed in their natural habitat? Perhaps even more problematic is the issue of the researcher maintaining objectivity when interviewing colleagues in an environment in which he works. Labovs (1973) work also points out the way that school children can respond differently when interviewed in different contexts. They often respond in a certain way when interviewed in a formal setting that is very different from how they respond in an informal setting. Any research project which has interviews as the main source of data is hampered by interviewees who exhibit bias or poor memory recall, (Winlow 2001). This researcher has attempted to deal with this by gathering data from a range of sources, i.e. the various heads of faculty, and a range of students. This allows the researcher not to be dependent on one or two respondents for key data. But one must approach this research with the knowledge that people are not robots, especially school students, and that errors are bound to creep in, in terms of bias and honest mistakes of recollection. The issue of ecological validity pointed out by Hammersley and Gomm (2004) which is that interviews are unnatural social situations and the context affects the behaviour of interviewees so much that the resulting data cannot be seen as valid, does need to be allowed for, but overall it is expected that any bias or misinformation will be minimised. The researcher himself needs to alter his mindset slightly when conducting the interviews he has to view them not as colleagues but as research subjects, and this role change needs to be communicated to staff. Linked with this role change is the need for the researcher to gain the trust of his colleagues, as they may well be nervous about expressing their views openly, and so to encourage open and honest discussion, anonymity for academic staff will be guaranteed where required. (Biggam 2008). The use of quantitative statistics to measure and understand the extent of underachievement also has its issues. Atkinson (1978) believes that they are simply the product of the meanings and taken-for-granted assumptions of those who construct them. This is particularly the case when analysing teachers perceptions of who is underachieving, so the researcher must be wary of this. As Byrne (2006) states, they are useful to most social scientists they are made out of something, not nothing, and that provided we pay careful attention to the ways in which they are made, and in particular the processes of operationalisation they can be of very considerable value to us. Finally, in terms of ethics there are a range of potential issues to take into account. The researcher will be abiding by the code of ethics as set out by the British Sociological Association and the BERA. Participants will all give voluntary informed consent, which involves the need for them to substantially understand what the research involves. This ensures that no deception of any participants is involved. This does of raise the methodological issue of ecological validity, but it is not possible for the research to remove this issue. All participants have the right of withdrawal at any point, and this right is explained to each participant at the outset of any research. This research does involved the participation of children, so appropriate consent has been gained first from the school headteacher, as gatekeeper, from the parents/guardians of any children involved, and of course from the children themselves. Brookman (1999) talks about the issue of confidentiality and its impac t upon the research, but as discussed earlier, all participants were offered full anonymity as a condition of their participation. Essentially, as Israel and Hay (2006) point out, the ultimate purpose of having research ethics is to avoid harm and do good. They comment that contemporary researchers are normally expected to minimise risks of harm or discomfort to participants. This research will strive to ensure that this is the case.

Obama Victory Speech 2008

In Obama’s speech, he uses many inclusive pronouns such as ‘we’ and ‘our’. This shows that they are all the same; by doing this it creates a sense of unity among the audience. This is effective because it gets the audience on his side; if he used exclusive pronouns such as ‘you’, it would make the audience feel less united. He also says ‘America can change’, by doing this he personifies and metonymies ‘America’. This is effective as it makes the people think about what he means by ‘America’ in that context, he could have easily said the ‘people of America’ but that would be very dull.We also see here again that he uses ‘America’ in a united sense. This all links in with the semantic field of the speech, of ‘the American Dream’, which is all based on peace and unity among the people of America. Another technique Obama uses are exophoric references and anecdotes, such as â€Å"She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voices heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon cooper is 106 years old. †This is effective in the speech as help explain the point Obama makes to the audience. It is also something the audience can relate to .He also waits until right at the end to say â€Å"Ann Nixon cooper is 106 years old,† this turns a sentence about someone ordinary into someone extraordinary. Apart from the general references he makes, there are also very famous ones, such as ‘A man touched down on the moon’ and ‘a preacher told a people ‘We shall overcome. ’† He uses these exophoric references effectively, to remind the audience about the situations they have overcome, which inspires them. Also, when he makes these references, he doesn’t clearly state the event but vaguely describes it.He does this to make the audience think about what h e is saying, but at the same time not to undermine them by being too clear. In the reference ‘A man touched down on the moon’, he uses the word ‘man’ which is much more inclusive than a person’s name, and it makes the audience feel united in that event and as if they were a part of it. Furthermore, when he gives the quotation of ‘we shall overcome’, everyone immediately recognises that famous quote, and relates to MLK. Obama also picks this quote out in particular, as it is about overcoming which is the main topic of his speech and in the way it is said, it sounds like a statement.This is effective as it reinforces and adds credibility to what he says, which means the audience are more likely to accept it. During the speech, Obama’s tone and body language varies. For example, when he is giving an anecdote, he talks in a calm manner with long sentences, few pauses and no hand gestures, ‘At a time when women’s voices we re silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up†¦ ’ Then when he starts to make a point his tempo rises and he uses sentences with many pauses with also strong hand gestures, ‘That while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt†¦ This is effective as it shows emphasis on the points that are very important and makes them easier to remember; also it shows a contrast between the main points of the speech and the anecdotes. In the Obama’s speech he uses few religious references, such as ‘Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America. ’ He says this because he himself is religious, but also America is a strongly Christian country and he targets those in audience who are religious. This effective as it gives impression that God is on their side and motivates people.Also the way Obama says that at the end of the speech is similar to how a priest would end his speech in a Ch urch, which again gives it a very holy and religious feeling. During the speech Obama shows advances in many things, such as technology. He shows this by saying â€Å"no cars on the road or planes in the sky† and â€Å"she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote,† by saying this he contrasts the past with the present, and it makes the audience think how far they have came, in terms of technology in a short space of time.Another advance he shows us is in equality, by saying â€Å"when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin,† he reminds the audience of the time when it use to happen. This effective because it shows change, by contrasting the past with present, and he shows this change to show the American people that if they did it then why can’t they do it again, which motivates them. Also when he says â€Å"couldn’t vote for two reasons – †¦ there is a slight pause, he does this as the audience know what’s coming next which makes them think. Throughout the speech, Obama’s main buzz phrase has been â€Å"Yes We can. † This phrase is good as it is only three letters long and is repeated through the speech several times, making it easy to remember. He uses these when making a point, such as â€Å"America can change. Yes we can† and â€Å"nation conquers fear itself with a New deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can,† this motivates the people and gets them on his side.Also Obama uses this phrases right at the end of point or paragraph, so the audience know its coming and after it’s said they can repeated the phrase, this is why he leaves a short pause after each point for the audience to react . This is effective as it makes the audience think and concentrate on the speech. The word â€Å"yes† in the phrase as adverb shows the agreement between him and the people. The word â€Å"we† as a first person plural pronoun denotes as collective force or unity and the word â€Å"can† as a modal auxiliary verb suggests the ability or possibility of someone doing something.

Swot Analysis Of Acd J Co - 1446 Words

V. BUSINESS STRATEGIES Mission ACDJ Co. provides quality products with desirable features to any consumer at mid-level cost. We are consistently focused on research and development in order to be able to offer the best overall product in the industry. SWOT Analysis The following diagram summarizes how our SWOT analysis defines the Key Success Factors of the market and Distinctive Competencies of the Company. Strengths Weaknesses Distinctive Competencies Skills in marketing, communications Local presence in major market focus Entrepreneurial relationships Few people initially limit serviceable market Large company skills Small biz experience Good relationships Using technology to reduce client costs Opportunities Threats Key Success Factors Large # of businesses starting in United States South America. Business growth Focus on profit Small budgets Low barriers to entry Well funded competitors Need for local presence Core strengths in marketing/strategy Local presence Small Business focus Venture Capital relationships Introduction of New Services: New team members will bring new skills and potentially allow us to offer new services to our small business clients. One possible example is helping small businesses expand their operations overseas. The functional strategies that were used to meet the firm’s objectives were as follows: Price: The given start price at $10.00 was raised each quarter gradually by about $0.15 to $0.25. In this category, the firm

The Ethics Of Sports Apparel - 1798 Words

Founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a former University of Maryland football player, Under Armour is an innovative company in the sports apparel industry. Under Armour’s founder Kevin Plank came up with a ground-breaking idea that changed the way that sports apparel is looked at today. Plank wanted to originate an apparel that would help athletes like him keep cool and dry when they engaged in vigorous activities during high temperature condition, so he created sports apparel using synthetic materials as an alternative to natural fibers such as cotton. Being a former athlete allowed Plank to understand the discomfort of wearing a sweat cotton fiber shirt during sport practice, or work-out, and he worked relentlessly to develop a shirt that†¦show more content†¦Provide a five-forces analysis to support your answer. I believe that bargaining power of customers and threat of new entrants are the three main key forces that have the potential to impact negatively Under Armour’s growth stability. Under Armour relies mainly on Dick’s Sporting Goods and The Sports Authority for more than 20% of its revenues and problems at these retailers could affect its growth pace. While Under Armour faces rigid competition from Adidas and Nike, they could also see the competition go up from other companies as it does not hold process or fabric patents. Furthermore, Under Armour’s hard core competitors, Nike and Adidas Group, are continuously coming up with new ideas in order to fight for that number one spot and to earn the customers’ loyalty to their brand. Five Porter Analysis Competitive Rivalry within the Industry- Nike and Adidas pose threat and Under Armour does not hold patents. Bargaining power of suppliers- Diverse supplier base limits their bargaining power. 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