Percentage
100
50
5%
Strongly in favour
6% 1%
Moderately in favour
8%
50%
0
30%
1
2
Questions
3
Neither in favour nor
opposed
Moderately opposed
Strongly opposed
Don’t know
This is the second question in
Section B
of Study Theme 1:
Comparative Politics and
Research Methods.
It will be numbered ‘6’.
No particular question is
likely to come up.
You will be given a
piece of prose or data in
the form
of a diagram or table.
You must critically
evaluate the
research chosen
You must decide why
that particular form
of research was
chosen:
why that particular form
of research was chosen
whether or not the
research could be criticised
as flawed
how it could be
improved upon.
how valid or
appropriate it is
This information is taken from an election leaflet issued by the
Labour Party for the Westminster Parliamentary Election
Critically appraise the information given.
Look for examples of exaggeration, bias, inaccuracies, selective
reporting.
For what purpose
might Labour
use this information?
• Support manifesto commitment to increase staffing levels
in schools.
• Increase public confidence in their policy on education.
• Attract media and electorate attention to ‘success’ of
policies.
• Propaganda ‘snapshot’ – vote catching.
• Counter allegations from opposition parties that they are
failing to reach targets.
2. The local MP has put this
information into his election leaflet.
This implies 100 more teachers in
his constituency. Why might this
be viewed as misleading?
• No indication of the size of his/her constituency. Therefore
the impact of the increase in the number of teachers is
difficult to evaluate.
• Densely populated urban constituencies have far more
schools than rural constituencies.
2. The local MP has put this
information into his election leaflet.
This implies 100 more teachers in his
constituency. Why might this be
viewed as misleading?
• 100 more teachers in a small, rural constituency would
have more impact on improving the quality of the learning
experience in schools than in a large, urban constituency.
• Have to consider the relative proportion of local authority
schools and private ones in the area.
• Counter argument– represents a 10% increase; could be
substantial.
3. Education is a power devolved
to the Scottish Parliament. What
are the arguments for and against
a Westminster Scottish MP using
this information in his election
literature?
• For: Evidence of ‘success’ of his/her party’s policies on education and
so a valid/powerful way of promoting New Labour as an effective
government.
• Against: May be invalid in the Scottish context. Staffing levels in
Scottish schools may not have increased at all or by that amount. This
may not reflect a failure to deliver New Labour’s manifesto promise
but may be expedient in terms of falling rolls in some Scottish schools.
3. Education is a power devolved to
the Scottish Parliament.
What are the arguments for and
against a Westminster Scottish MP using
this information in his election literature?
• Against: Issued by Westminster and so will be perceived
as applying more to England and Wales. Education is a
devolved power to the Scottish Parliament so is largely
irrelevant.
4. Note that the article does not say
100 extra teachers over and above
the existing number. What reasons
could there be for the increase in
teacher numbers?
• A high level of retirements amongst teachers.
• Redevelopment of inner city area/new housing
development would result in an increase in school rolls
which would necessitate employing more teachers.
4. Note that the article does not
say 100 extra teachers over
and above the existing
number. What reasons could
there be for the increase in
teacher numbers?
• Data does not specify whether teachers are full time or
part time and into which areas of education they have
been put, for example, a special needs school has a lower
pupil-teacher ratio.
• May be specialist teachers – they tend to be peripatetic.
5. Why does the leaflet show
a value of ‘none’
for 1997 for classroom assistants?
1997 – year New Labour came to power and replaced long standing
Conservative Government.
Possibly to suggest that Conservative Party were not prepared to
fund this extra support for teachers; that Conservative Government
not committed to improving education in schools.
Reinforce fact that New Labour has met a manifesto commitment to
relieve pressure on teachers by employing classroom assistants.
Vote catching technique – ‘spin doctoring’.
6. What other information would
be necessary to evaluate the
success of this local authority
with the number of classroom assistant
it employs?
• How its performance compares with other constituencies
especially those run by Conservative or Liberal Democrat
councils who control local authority spending on
education.
• How many schools have classroom assistants; how many
are full time/part time; what their duties are; ratio of
classroom assistants to departments/classes; size of
classes; school rolls etc.
6. What other information
would be necessary to
evaluate the success of this
local authority with the number
of classroom assistant
it employs?
Retention rate - how many of the classroom assistants
recruited actually stay in employment – level of turnover. This
will depend on their pay and conditions.
Experience and competence of classroom assistants – how
effective they are in reducing teacher workload?