How to organise Primary School Research

Note: this will be a lot of work. Your organisational and communication skills will
need to be at their best.

Firstly, prepare a rough schedule of events, and an outline proposal/ action plan. One
meeting with your sample per week for 3 weeks would be ideal.

Ring the school, briefly explain your plan and ask if you could come in to see them to
discuss your proposal. Take your paperwork with you and give them a copy. Make sure
they understand your time limitations. Ask for an answer asap.

Be very precise and to the point and try to have covered all issues/ problems ahead of
the meeting. For example you could do a list of potential issues/ problems and how you
plan to deal with them. It is essential to be pro-active here – it is not their job to
problem solve but yours. If you come across as someone who is organised and thinking
ahead, they are more likely to allow you to do the research.

You will need to outline the class/ year group you are interested in and how many
children you want involved in the study

You will need to explain the point of your research – you need to be very clear about
this.

You will need to explain what methods you will be using, and whether you will be showing
any TV clips etc.

You will need to make sure they can provide the technology you will need to do this. Also
a room and some time with the children that fits with your research timetable.

After parental permission has been granted you will probably need to meet with the
children at least 3 times. This could be the same time each week or different. For
example: 1 meeting for kids to fill in a questionnaire with you present. 2nd meeting – a
focus group discussion/ screening. 3rd session a couple of 1 to 1 interviews. It may be
possible to arrange these with the parents outside school hours – for example at the
child’s house.

Make sure you have identified all the potential times you would be able to attend the
school over the next 3 weeks. Find out their timetable for the rest of term/ what time
they start and finish each day/ when they break up and whether there are any better
days/ times for you to be there.

Your sample:

You will need to identify the type of child you want in your study and how many.
Between 5 and 10 would be ideal for a focus group with maybe 2 or 3 1 to 1 interviews
from there. You will need to identify a bigger group than this, and use a letter home to
ascertain if the parent’s are happy for their child to be involved. At this stage a brief
questionnaire would be a good idea for the child to fill in to identify if the child is
suitable for the study – age/gender/access to TV/do they watch it/ how often/ are they
available at the following times/ do they want to be involved etc.

Use the letter reply and questionnaire to help you narrow down your sample to a
manageable size.
What do you want from the school:

A teacher who will pass on messages to the children and help co-ordinate the study.
S/he will need to send letter home, and collect replies. These could be kept at the
school office for you to collect on a specific day.
A room or quiet space (and possibly a TV/ video) for you to conduct your research.

An agreed meeting time with the children on 3 occasions. Lunchtimes may be

appropriate. Session 1 and 3 could be fairly short – maybe half an hour. A focus group
will take a lot longer.

What will they want from you?

Efficient, confident approach to your study

100% reliability
Calm, disciplined approach to the children

They may want an incentive – what are they going to get out of this?

Firstly – media literacy/ awareness in children is considered to be important these days

Secondly – talking to an adult from outside the school/ listening to others/ being
involved in discussion of their media tastes and interests is an activity that children can
gain a great deal from, and should be considered to be a valuable opportunity

Thirdly, understanding children’s media consumption should be something any school

should be interested in so a copy of your research paper should be offered for their
staffroom.

Finally – if this is not enough, an offer of some voluntary work with the children next
term after the exams may seal it.

Potential problems

Suspicious parents – a good letter will solve this. Make sure it outlines what your
expectations will be of the children. Make sure they know something about you. Get
email addresses/ phone numbers so you can communicate direct.

Convincing the head teacher that it isn’t too much work for the class teacher – your
manner and level of efficiency from the start will be crucial here.

Time in the school day to do this –for you and the children. Look at assembly slots/
literacy time (this is a literacy activity), lunch breaks, after school,

Matching up your free slots with theirs – try to make sure you have looked at all
possibilities and are as flexible as possible

Narrowing down the sample – lots of kids may want to be involved. Make sure you have
your criteria clear in your mind

Managing the children – you will need to think about discipline and general childcare. Ask
for advice from the class teacher. You will need to consider the environment/ the
seating arrangements/ your use of language etc. Incentives should be kept for the end
of the study – chocolate for eg.