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Appendix B - Doing comparative research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

Fiona Devine
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
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Summary

This appendix is a descriptive account of how I did the research that underpins this book. It focuses on the processes of doing the research by simply discussing the various stages of the project in Britain and America. I have tried to be frank and honest about my experiences in the writing of this narrative rather than offer a sanitised discussion of the methods I employed. Inevitably, however, reflecting back on how I did the research forced me to order my thoughts, think about how I would write up this discussion and so on. I had to find ways of summarising a piece of research that was conducted over quite a lengthy period of time across two countries. This meant that I had to make decisions about topics that I thought interesting and worthy of discussion and issues that I considered less critical and have omitted from this account. It is impossible, in other words, not to ‘clean up’ narratives of research to some degree and it would be disingenuous to suggest otherwise. Be that as it may, I hope the discussion of my experiences in doing this project will be interesting and beneficial to the readers of this book and researchers on other projects. In the following pages, I describe how I contacted doctors and teachers in Britain and America. Then I go on to consider the experience of doing the interviews – especially the extent to which my aide memoire worked – in both countries.

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Chapter
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Class Practices
How Parents Help Their Children Get Good Jobs
, pp. 194 - 213
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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