The Role of Theory in Questionnaire Design An Example Using Bourdieu Dr. Alice Sullivan, Director British Cohort Study 1970, Centre for Longitudinal Studies, IOE, University of London
Feb 23, 2016
The Role of Theory inQuestionnaire DesignAn Example Using Bourdieu
Dr. Alice Sullivan, Director British Cohort Study 1970, Centre for Longitudinal Studies, IOE, University of London
Outline
• Uses of theory in research• Bourdieu’s theory of cultural reproduction• Developing a questionnaire to measure
cultural capital
Carrying out original survey workPros and Cons
• Hard work and smaller sample size• Allows conceptual work, developing measures
rather than using proxies
What is theory?
Picture Map
What is theory?
Post-hoc story telling Theory as embellishment
Assessing theory
• Clarity: is it comprehensible?• Substance/Testability: does it have any
implications?• Insight: does it help to explain interesting
phenomena?• Usefulness: does it help to generate and guide
research?
Clarity
“I think that…what Spitzer says about Proust’s style is something I could say about my own writing. He says, firstly, that what is complex can only be said in a complex way; secondly, that reality is not only complex, but also structured…if you want to hold the world in all its complexity and at the same time order and articulate it…you have to use heavily articulated sentences that can be practically reconstructed like Latin sentences…”(Bourdieu 1990 ‘In Other Words’ p.51-52).
Research Question
• How to explain social class differentials in education attainment?
Theory
“By doing away with giving explicitly to everyone what it implicitly demands of everyone, the educational system demands of everyone alike that they have what it does not give. This consists mainly of linguistic and cultural competence and that relationship of familiarity with culture which can only be produced by family upbringing when it transmits the dominant culture.”(Bourdieu 1977 ‘Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction’: 494)
Cultural reproduction in a nutshell
Parents’ Social Class
Parents’ Cultural Capital
Child’s Cultural Capital
Child’s Educational Attainment
Occupational Outcome
Hypotheses and mechanisms
H1. Cultural capital should (fully) mediate the effect of social class on educational attainment
– But what forms of culture constitute capital?– And what are the mechanisms?
Operationalising ‘cultural capital’• “…linguistic and cultural competence, and that relationship of
familiarity with culture which can only be produced by family upbringing when it transmits the dominant culture”(Bourdieu 1977)
• Bourdieu uses parental education as a proxy• Some authors use high culture participation – e.g. attendance
at galleries, museums, etc.• Appropriate operationalisation depends on research
questions and context.• To determine which elements of culture constitute capital
requires empirical investigation.
Breaking down the concept
1. Activitiesi. Reading: type and amountii. Television: type of programmesiii. Music: listening and playingiv. Art galleries, theatre, concert attendance
2. Cultural knowledge: test score3. Language: test scores
Parents’ cultural capital• Books in the home• Broadsheet newspaper• Type of music listened to• Radio stations listened to• Activities:
– Going to art galleries or museums– Reading novels– Reading non-fiction– Going to see plays– Going to concerts– Playing a musical instrument– Evening or daytime classes
Parents’ cultural capital …
Which of the following have you heard your parents discuss? (Often, sometimes, never)1. Art2. Politics3. Books4. Science5. Current Affairs
Cultural knowledge test format
Famous people
Each of the following names is a person you may have heard of. For each person listed, which do you associate him or her with most out of the following categories: politics, music, novels, art or science? If you do not know, do not guess, just tick “don’t know”.
Politics
Music
Novels
Art
Science Don’t know
Example:
Tony Blair
(a) Albert Einstein
331
1 2 3 4 5 6
Figure 1: Cultural Knowledge Frequencies
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Alb
ert E
inst
ein
Gal
ileo
Mar
ie C
urie
Loui
s P
aste
ur
Ste
phen
Haw
king
Cha
rles
Dic
kens
Jane
Aus
ten
Virg
inia
Woo
lf
Gra
ham
Gre
ene
Mar
tin A
mis
Bill
Clin
ton
John
F. K
enne
dy
Mah
atm
a G
andh
i
Gor
don
Bro
wn
Kar
l Mar
x
Wol
fgan
g M
ozar
t
Rac
hman
inov
Joha
nnes
Bra
hms
Mile
s D
avis
Geo
rge
Ger
shw
in
Vin
cent
van
Gog
h
Pab
lo P
icas
so
Cla
ude
Mon
et
Rem
bran
dt
And
y W
arho
l
Science Novels Politics Music Art
Cor
rect
Res
pons
e
TotalNon-graduate parentsGraduate parents
Comprehension Test
Underline the word that correctly completes the sentence. If you do not know which word is correct, just move on to the next question. Example:
You (fill, milk, boil, match, paint) water to make tea.
Piloted active vocabulary tests
1. Open-ended sentence completion test.
Question: The admiral went……….(add ten words)
Answer: The admiral went to China six times when he was in the navy.
Taken from Lawton (1968) Social Class, Language and Education.
Piloted active vocabulary test 2
Write a short essay on one of the following topics:
• Home• School• My life in 10 years time
Final active vocabulary testSynonyms are words that mean the same or approximately the same as each other. For example: happy and cheerful are synonyms.For each of the following questions think of as many synonyms as you can for each word (stop at five for each word). Here are two examples:Disgusting repellent Big: enormous nasty gigantic vile huge unpleasant massive obscene obese
Question 1: Small Question 4: SadQuestion 2: Stupid Question 5: OddQuestion 3: Angry
Findings
• Cultural knowledge and language mediated the effect of cultural participation
• Social class still powerful, even after controlling for all these variables.
References• Sullivan, A. 2002. ‘Bourdieu and Education: How Useful is
Bourdieu’s Theory for Researchers?’ Netherlands Journal of Social Sciences. 38(2) 144-166.
• Sullivan, A. 2001. ‘Cultural Capital and Educational Attainment’ Sociology. 35(4) 893-912.