The Role of Theory inQuestionnaire DesignAn Example Using Bourdieu

Dr. Alice Sullivan, Director British Cohort Study 1970, Centre for Longitudinal Studies, IOE, University of London

Outline

• Uses of theory in research• Bourdieu’s theory of cultural reproduction• Developing a questionnaire to measure

cultural capital

Carrying out original survey workPros and Cons

• Hard work and smaller sample size• Allows conceptual work, developing measures

rather than using proxies

What is theory?

Picture Map

What is theory?

Post-hoc story telling Theory as embellishment

Assessing theory

• Clarity: is it comprehensible?• Substance/Testability: does it have any

implications?• Insight: does it help to explain interesting

phenomena?• Usefulness: does it help to generate and guide

research?

Clarity

“I think that…what Spitzer says about Proust’s style is something I could say about my own writing. He says, firstly, that what is complex can only be said in a complex way; secondly, that reality is not only complex, but also structured…if you want to hold the world in all its complexity and at the same time order and articulate it…you have to use heavily articulated sentences that can be practically reconstructed like Latin sentences…”(Bourdieu 1990 ‘In Other Words’ p.51-52).

Research Question

• How to explain social class differentials in education attainment?

Theory

“By doing away with giving explicitly to everyone what it implicitly demands of everyone, the educational system demands of everyone alike that they have what it does not give. This consists mainly of linguistic and cultural competence and that relationship of familiarity with culture which can only be produced by family upbringing when it transmits the dominant culture.”(Bourdieu 1977 ‘Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction’: 494)

Cultural reproduction in a nutshell

Parents’ Social Class

Parents’ Cultural Capital

Child’s Cultural Capital

Child’s Educational Attainment

Occupational Outcome

Hypotheses and mechanisms

H1. Cultural capital should (fully) mediate the effect of social class on educational attainment

– But what forms of culture constitute capital?– And what are the mechanisms?

Operationalising ‘cultural capital’

• “…linguistic and cultural competence, and that relationship of familiarity with culture which can only be produced by family upbringing when it transmits the dominant culture”(Bourdieu 1977)

• Bourdieu uses parental education as a proxy• Some authors use high culture participation – e.g. attendance

at galleries, museums, etc.• Appropriate operationalisation depends on research

questions and context.• To determine which elements of culture constitute capital

requires empirical investigation.

Breaking down the concept

1. Activitiesi. Reading: type and amountii. Television: type of programmesiii. Music: listening and playingiv. Art galleries, theatre, concert attendance

2. Cultural knowledge: test score3. Language: test scores

Parents’ cultural capital

• Books in the home• Broadsheet newspaper• Type of music listened to• Radio stations listened to• Activities:

– Going to art galleries or museums– Reading novels– Reading non-fiction– Going to see plays– Going to concerts– Playing a musical instrument– Evening or daytime classes

Parents’ cultural capital …

Which of the following have you heard your parents discuss? (Often, sometimes, never)1. Art2. Politics3. Books4. Science5. Current Affairs

Cultural knowledge test format

Famous people

Each of the following names is a person you may have heard of. For each person listed, which do you associate him or her with most out of the following categories: politics, music, novels, art or science? If you do not know, do not guess, just tick “don’t know”.

Politics

Music

Novels

Art

Science Don’t know

Example:

Tony Blair

(a) Albert Einstein

331

1 2 3 4 5 6

Figure 1: Cultural Knowledge Frequencies

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

Alb

ert

Ein

stein

Galil

eo

Marie

Curie

Louis

Past

eur

Ste

phe

n H

aw

king

Charles

Dic

kens

Jane

Aust

en

Virgin

ia W

oolf

Gra

ham

Gre

ene

Mart

in A

mis

Bill

Clin

ton

John

F. K

enn

edy

Mahat

ma G

andh

i

Gord

on B

row

n

Karl M

arx

Wolfg

ang M

oza

rt

Rach

manin

ov

Joha

nnes

Bra

hms

Mile

s D

avi

s

Georg

e G

ers

hw

in

Vin

cent va

n G

ogh

Pablo

Pic

asso

Cla

ude

Monet

Rem

bra

ndt

Andy

Warh

ol

Science Novels Politics Music Art

Co

rrect

Resp

on

se

Total

Non-graduate parents

Graduate parents

Comprehension Test

Underline the word that correctly completes the sentence. If you do not know which word is correct, just move on to the next question. Example: 

You (fill, milk, boil, match, paint) water to make tea.

Piloted active vocabulary tests

1. Open-ended sentence completion test.

Question: The admiral went……….(add ten words)

Answer: The admiral went to China six times when he was in the navy.

Taken from Lawton (1968) Social Class, Language and Education.

Piloted active vocabulary test 2

Write a short essay on one of the following topics:

• Home• School• My life in 10 years time

Final active vocabulary testSynonyms are words that mean the same or approximately the same as each other. For example: happy and cheerful are synonyms.For each of the following questions think of as many synonyms as you can for each word (stop at five for each word). Here are two examples:Disgusting repellent Big: enormous nasty gigantic vile huge unpleasant massive obscene obese

Question 1: Small Question 4: SadQuestion 2: Stupid Question 5: OddQuestion 3: Angry

Findings

• Cultural knowledge and language mediated the effect of cultural participation

• Social class still powerful, even after controlling for all these variables.

References• Sullivan, A. 2002. ‘Bourdieu and Education: How Useful is

Bourdieu’s Theory for Researchers?’ Netherlands Journal of Social Sciences. 38(2) 144-166.

• Sullivan, A. 2001. ‘Cultural Capital and Educational Attainment’ Sociology. 35(4) 893-912.