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Chapter Two Methods
The sample
The first step in recruiting participants for the case study project was to establish the work status of pupils. We approached one school that had participated in the main survey to request access. Once this was agreed we carried out a small survey involving S4, S5 and S6 pupils. The aim of the survey was to establish the current work status of the pupils, to explain the research and invite them to provide contact details to allow us to discuss the study with them. A total of 222 returned completed survey forms and 97 indicated they were currently working.
Based on the survey information pupils were approached and invited to participate in the case study. There were a number of specific criteria that participants had to meet. In addition to consenting to participate in case study pupils had to be presently employed and working in specific sectors.
The sectors that the study focused on were the dominant employment sectors which emerged from the main survey, namely, delivery, retail, catering (including waiting) and miscellaneous. In all studies of pupil employment small numbers of pupils are found working in jobs that few other pupils do. These workers were grouped under the miscellaneous heading.
The recruitment phase had a dynamic element to it in that some pupils who agreed to participate subsequently left their jobs while others changed their mind and decided not to participate. Other potential participants were dropped from the study because their employers refused consent for the observation element to be carried out or were unwilling to be interviewed.
In total 12 pupils, five males and seven females completed all of the elements in the case study research. Table 1 provides a summary of the case study participants and the sectors they worked in.
Table 1: Case study participants
Job Type | Case Number* | Gender | Year group |
|---|
Delivery | 12 | F | S4 |
|---|
Retail | 4 | M | S4 |
|---|
9 | F | S5 |
5 | F | S4 |
6 | M | S6 |
Catering | 8 | M | S5 |
|---|
3 | M | S6 |
11 | F | S5 |
2 | F | S5 |
Miscellaneous | 1 | M | S5 |
|---|
10 | F | S5 |
13 | F | S6 |
*Case 7 dropped out of the research towards the latter stages and is not included in this report.
The procedure
Each case study consists of a number of discreet stages. Once the pupil and the employer had given their consent, a standard sequence of events took place. The sequence was as follows:
Interview 1: This involved a semi-structured interview with a number of themes explored. After confirmation of work status, pupils were asked to provide information about the tasks they did at work, their views about the job and their workplace contacts and relationships.
Event Recording: Pupils were supplied with a mobile phone with the alarm function programmed to ring five times within a one hour period. At each of these time periods they completed a short form indicating what they were doing, who they were with and to indicate their level of satisfaction on a scale ranging from 1 (extremely unsatisfied) through to 10 (extremely satisfied).
Interview 2: This semi-structured interview was carried out to clarify the content of the event recording stage and to ask participants to indicate whether it had been a typical or atypical day at work. During this interview pupils were also asked about the skills they thought they may have gained from their work.
Observation: In this stage of the study an observer accompanied the pupil to their workplace. This had been pre-arranged with the pupil and the employer. The observation lasted one hour. During this time the observer, using a digital recorder, described in detail the tasks that the pupil employee carried out. The observer contextualised the activities by recording the extent to which other people were working with the individual and the type of interactions involved eg serving a customer. The observer's narrative was then transcribed.
Employer interview: A structured employer's interview was carried out. This followed the template that had been used in the Employer's Survey regarding part-time employment. Topics covered included the size of the business, number of school aged employees, key tasks they carried out, views on part-time employment, training and the issue of recognising school pupils' part-time employment. The aim was to interview employers in person, however, in some circumstances the interview was carried out on the phone.
While this sequence of events was standardised the timeframe for carrying out each step had to be flexible. This was due to the practicalities inherent in organising such a complex sequence with a number of participants. Some delays were the result of the pupil's holidays and other unforeseen problems.
In recognition of the time that pupils committed to this study each participant was sent a £20 voucher for use in a store of their choice.
Coding
The initial focus is on the information that this approach provides regarding the activities that the school pupils carried out in their work. This information is drawn from three sources: Interview 1, Event Recording and the Observation. Two independent raters considered the three sources for each of the case studies. Their initial instruction was to list the activities that had been identified within each of these sources. The second task was to consider the extent to which tasks and activities identified in Interview 1 were present in the Event Recording and Observation stage.
The raters then met to compare the lists of identified tasks and activities. A high degree of consistency was found across all 12 cases. Where inconsistencies emerged it tended to be around the terminology, or specific word, that raters used to categorise an activity. Clarification of these inconsistencies resulted in the production of an agreed set of activities for each of the twelve case studies.
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