Three in one. How to combine theories from different traditions in one study.

Abstract

Three in one. How to combine theories from different traditions in one study. To be positioned in the cross-section between natural science, education and sociology traditions, what does it mean? What does it imply to have a critical perspective on science education?

It is a well known fact that many students fail in the school science subjects (OECD, 2007; Skolverket, 2005). Studies show that students form disadvantaged home and/or foreign backgrounds are failing to a greater extent and there is a considerable risk that they are excluded from school science. Instead of equipping students to take responsible and thoughtful decisions that build a democratic society, school science might contribute to reproduce an unequal society (Banks, 2008; Linder, Östman, & Wickman, 2007). The aim of my thesis is to contribute to the understanding why so many students from home with low socioeconomic standard and/or with foreign background fails in physics, chemistry and biology and what consequences this might have.

The study has progressed towards a critical perspective dealing with questions such as: What is a failure? Who and what determines what constitutes a failure? Who decides what kind of knowledge to be included in the scientific knowledge? The overall aim is to study how relations of power and structures are reproduced in school and particular in school science (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Broady & Börjesson, 2008).

Spring 2010 data will be gathered by using methods from the fields of ethnographic studies. The data will be analysed from a sociological perspective by applying notions from Pierre Bourdieu(Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Broady, 1985).

At the NFPF/NERA conference I would like to discuss following questions: What kind of problems and concerns do I have to deal with in the cross-section between natural science, education and sociology? How to run methods inspired by ethnography in a critical perspective? What is my unit of analysis in this point of intersection? How do I combine theories from different traditions in one study?