Question 1

SOURCE TEXT:
Item C
Becky Francis studied the ways in which gender affects students learning in school. Her research involved three different London secondary schools. The schools were all mixed-sex, with a large majority of working-class pupils. Francis used observation to record classroom interaction and student behaviour during GCSE lessons. She also carried out individual interviews.
Francis observed two top set lessons and two lower set lessons in both English and Maths in each school. She was unable to accurately record all the interaction because of the sheer noise levels in some of the classes. This limited the classroom observation.
In the majority of the lessons observed, boys dominated the classroom interaction. They were louder, and more disruptive than the girls and took up more of the teachers' attention.
Source: Francis, B, The Impact of Gender Constructions on Pupils' Learning and Educational Choices, 2005.

QUESTION:
From Item C, examine one weakness of the research.

Accepted Answer

Read Item C carefully and look for any limitations or problems mentioned in the text or implied by the research design. The item explicitly mentions one problem ('unable to accurately record all the interaction'). It also gives clues about other potential weaknesses (e.g., small scale, specific location). Identify one of these and explain why it is a weakness.

Question 2

What mistakes do candidates make on this AQA GCSE question?

Accepted Answer

A common mistake is to identify a weakness of observation in general, without linking it to the specific information given in Item C. You must use the source material in your answer.

How to approach this question

Full Answer

Common mistakes

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