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Imagining a gendered future: combining qualitative and quantitative approaches to the analysis of children’s essays

Dr Jane ElliottCentre for Longitudinal Studies, March 2007

Project Funded by the Nuffield Foundation

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Aims of the presentation Present preliminary findings from a project to analyse a subset of essays

written by 1958 cohort members at age 11 in 1969 Focus on understanding gender using both qualitative and quantitative

approaches to research Think through how gender may be constructed differently when we use

qualitative and quantitative approaches Demonstrate the value of the British Birth Cohort Studies for both

qualitative and quantitative research Discuss methodological issues

Criticisms of quantitative research ‘Narrative’ features of cohort data Possibilities for combining qualitative and quantitative methods

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British Birth Cohort Studies

British Birth Cohort Studies

Existing UK/GB National Studies:

1946: MRC National Survey of Health & Development

1958: National Child Development Study

1970: 1970 British Birth Cohort Study

MCS: Millennium Cohort Study - the first national birth cohort study for 30 years (2000-1)

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1958 Birth Cohort Study Sample of over 17,000 infants born in March 1958 (perinatal mortality

study) Sample followed at ages 7, 11, 16, 23, 33, 42, 46 (prospective study) Multipurpose study: family life; education; employment; skills; housing;

health; finances; citizenship Focused bio-medical study at age 44 (MRC funded) Over 10,000 individuals are still participating Sample of children of the cohort members measured in 1991. Now funded by ESRC with data collected every four years

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NCDS 11-year old Essays At age 11, in 1969 NCDS Cohort members completed a short

questionnaire (at school) about leisure interests, preferred school subjects and expectations on leaving school

They were also asked to write an essay on the following topic: ‘Imagine you are now 25 years old. Write about the life

you are leading, your interests, your home life and your work at the age of 25. (You have 30 minutes to do this).’

13669 essays completed, mean length 204 words Copies of the original essays (in children’s handwriting) are

available on microfiche at CLS and are currently being digitised.

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Existing research on the essays

A small sample of 521 essays have been coded for word count Boys 180 words Girls 228 words

All essays have been coded for employment aspirations, over 90% give a classifiable occupation

No other systematic coding and analysis of the essays has been carried out to date

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Research project funded by the Nuffield foundation March 2006- February 2007 (Elliott and Morrow) Project is intended as a pilot study to explore the potential of the age 11 essays as

a research resource Aim to type up and code a sub-sample of 560 essays & conduct preliminary

descriptive analyses Sample stratified to reflect: gender; ability; social class; family structure Essays are being coded for themes such as:

family life; leisure; employment; housing expectations; contact with parents; pets; transport and travel; aspirations

Both qualitative and quantitative analysis are being carried out using NVIVO and SPSS to help organize, code, and analyze the data

Main research questions: how do gender and social class shape children’s aspirations?

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Combining quantitative and qualitative methods

Historical/cultural information provides a context for both qualitative and quantitative analyses

Analysis of quantitative data collected in 1969 provides a description of the context in which the essays were written

Large sample and quantitative variables allows for the creation of a stratified sample for in-depth/qualitative investigation

Qualitative – close reading of essays enables development of a coding frame that emerges from the text

Coding of essays using new coding frame produces a quantitative description of a sub-sample of the essays

Extracts from the essays accompanied by a quantitative summary of frequencies provides a more detailed description of the content and style of the essays

Quantitative variables van be used to identify a very specific sub-sample of essays for more in-depth qualitative analysis (and also provides the context for the essays analysed)

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Historical context: being eleven in 1969

Films and TV – cultural reference for children, discourses around gender and social class

Popular toys, games and activities Family life: living conditions, housing, role of

mother and father School life: type of school, class sizes, gender of

teacher & head teacher.

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Popular toys of the 1960s

The ‘Toy of the year’ Awards began in 1965 1965 James Bond Aston Martin Die cast Model

car 1966 Action Man 1967 Spirograph 1968 Sindy 1969 Hot Wheels Cars

1969 & 1970 Action man dolls

1969 & 1970 Sindy dolls

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Home experiences 46% of the eleven-year-olds were living in owner-occupied

accommodation while 42% were in council housing At age eleven, 44% of children had their own bedroom When the child was eleven, 19% of girls and 16% of boys shared a

bed with another member of the family When the child was eleven, 54% of mothers and 51% of fathers were

reported to take the child for walks, visits or outings ‘most weeks’ When the child was seven, 48.5% of mothers and 34.6% of fathers

were reported to read to the child every week When the child was aged sixteen, 58% were in families with only a

black and white TV, 41% were in families with a colour TV, 65% of families had a car and 16% of these had two cars.

Children's living conditions by social class (1969 aged 11)

43.9

8.1

28

4.4

39.5

62.5

21.8

66

9.9

35.4

64.9

26.0

74.8

21.2

49.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Sharing a room Sharing a bed Rented accommodation three or fewer rooms two or more moves

% o

f ch

ildre

n

Non-manual Manual No father fig

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School experiences (1969) The majority of children were in primary schools when

they wrote the essays Only 4% of children were at independent schools At age 11 the median class size was 36 pupils (mean

34.3), while at age 7 the median class size had been 37 with a mean of 35.25

82% of children were in a school with a male head-teacher

45% of children had a female class teacher

Aspitations expressed in essays at age 11

13.8

8.98.7 8.5

7.06.4

6.1 6.15.7 5.5

4.9

4.0

2.8 2.6 2.41.9 1.8

1.10.8 0.7

0.3

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

Occupational group

Pe

rce

nta

ge

of

ch

ild

ren

N=13,669

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Aspirations of boys and girls at age 11- top 10 occupations

25.2

12.1

2.5 2.8

8.5

12.2

1.0

6.3

0.0

1.71.9

5.6

15.014.3

5.4

0.4

11.4

5.8

11.6

9.4

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

Occupation

Per

cen

tag

e

Boys

Girls

Logistic regression models to predict aspirations to be a professional or teacher (age 11 essay)

  Boys Girls

  B SE B sig B SE B sig

Social class I 1.130 0.132 0.000 0.569 0.136 0.000

Social class II 0.896 0.096 0.000 0.533 0.087 0.000

SC III & IV non-manual 0.391 0.122 0.001 0.116 0.110 0.288

SC III manual ref cat ref cat ref cat ref cat ref cat ref cat

SC IV manual 0.088 0.126 0.484 -0.128 0.112 0.250

SC V manual -0.550 0.240 0.022 -0.316 0.191 0.098

Ability score age 11 0.029 0.003 0.000 0.043 0.003 0.000

Constant -3.399 0.136 0.000 -3.544 0.136 0.000

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Summary of influences on aspirations Boys and girls have rather different occupational

aspirations Ability, gender and social class are all associated with

occupational aspirations at age 11 There are significant interactions between gender and

ability and between gender and social class ability is more important for girls than boys in predicting

professional aspirations Social class is more important for boys than girls in

predicting professional aspirations

Qualitative results: themes in boys’ and girls’ essaysTable 2: Gender differences in themes and topics included in children’s essays

Boys (N=243) Girls (N=252)

Mother 19% 37%

Siblings 7% 20%

Friends 18% 29%

Domestic labour (Child care etc) 22% 55%

Cars 41% 18%

Money/earnings/savings etc 42% 25%

Occupational skills/nature of work 46% 32%

Working hours 27% 35%

Husband/Wife’s occupation 10% 23%

Football 39% 2%

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Social class differences: themes within the essays

Social class differences were much less marked than gender differences

Children with non-manual fathers were more likely to write about… their father (32% vs. 20%) a home in the country (18% vs. 9%) car ownership (36% vs. 23%)

Results: Marriage and family life in boys’ and girls’ essays

57.3% of girls wrote about being married 51.4% of boys wrote about being married 48.6% of girls wrote about having children 40% of boys wrote about having children Strong association between writing about children and

writing about marriage for boys and girls Gender differences are relatively minor here but this only

gives a very broad quantitative overview of the themes included in the essays and not how the children wrote about these topics

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Gender within quantitative and qualitative approaches to research

Gender (sex) within quantitative analysis is relatively unproblematic It is one of the easiest variables to code, use and understand There is an assumption that gender is constant over time (for individuals) Cross-cohort comparisons can be used to start exploring whether the meaning

of gender is changing within British society However it is only by adopting a qualitative approach that we can problematise

gender and explore the individual’s role in establishing their own gendered identity

Qualitative analysis needs to acknowledge that individuals can only act within the constraints of a gendered society and have access to specific resources with which to construct a gendered identity

Also need to be aware that social class and ethnicity are key components of identity and interact with gender

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The essay task: creating a narrative identity?

Striking that children all took the task of writing an essay so seriously Children understood that they were part of a special longitudinal study

They had already taken part at age seven (medical, parental interview, reading and maths tests)

Only one or two children at each school would have been part of the study

Essays were written at school and children had already completed ability tests

Essay task demands a capacity and willingness to imagine the future future society individual future

Children are also being expected to imagine an adult identity but to maintain a continuous sense of their own selfhood (Ricoeur: Ipse and Idem)

The main resources that children use successfully to complete the task are the binary oppositions of adult/child and male/female

Selecting case studies for more detailed qualitative analysis

Of the 495 children whose essays have been transcribed 271 (55%) stated they will be married at 25 219 (44%) stated they would have children 192 (39%) wrote about content/skills of their occupation 60 essays included all three of these themes Focus additionally restricted to those in the middle 50% of the ability range

and those whose essays were 200-300 words long Sample of 16 essays

Eleven written by boys Five by girls

Case studies on 4 essays, boy with non-manual father, boy with manual father Girl with non-manual father Girl with manual father

Case study 1Sarah: Girl with non-manual father (spelling corrected)I have two children one 4 the other 6. I am working in a school as a teacher. My husband is an Estate Agent. In the evenings we have tea and each person tells the rest about any interesting events which has happened to them. Then we have a sit and talk about what we are going to buy or if we are going to buy a house or not. We then watch Calendar and the news. At half past seven the children will have a bath and be put to bed. Meanwhile my husband will be seeing that the car’s engine is all right so that we shall not be stranded any where if something goes wrong. After that I shall do the ironing or washing or any other jobs that want doing. At Eleven o’clock we shall go to bed and get up at seven o’clock. At eight o’clock I would take the children one to school with me the other to her grandma’s. My husband goes to work at nine o’clock. At school I [illegible] teach first English, Maths and Art. In the afternoon P.E., Projects and History.

On Sundays in the summer we will go to the sea for a day or go visiting. In winter I [illegible] stay at home and watch television or bake. Every Thursday we go to my mother’s or mother in law’s. At home I do all the housework at night after tea. When I am twenty nine I shall go to another school or stop being a teacher.

Case study 2Debbie : Girl with manual father (spelling corrected)My name is Debbie Jones I work at a shop in town. I am an hairdresser. I go to H**** road to my shop it is called Peggy Smith that is my friend’s name. I work with a girl call Jackie and a girl called Anne. We live near each other Jackie lives at 4 [road name A] and I live at 25 [road name A]. I am just a learner though, because I have just finished training and college. I cut people’s hair but I don't set them yet because I don't know how to yet but I work till 6 o’clock and start at 9 o’clock in the morning. I catch the 20 to nine bus from town and the 20 past eight to town But first I call for Jackie and Anne lives at 20 [road name B]. We have our holiday the last week in July and the first week in August. I got married when I was twenty one I have 2 boys and 2 girls. The boys’ names are Steven and Paul and the girls names are Marie and Julie. Steven is 3 and Paul is 3 Marie is 2 and Julie is one. My husband works at B**** He is 28 years of age. He goes out at half past six and comes in at six or eight. We live at 25 [road name A] my sister lives at 8 [road name C] H***. My interests are in sewing knitting and clubing in my spare time that is. But I don't get much spare time we are going to (small seaside resort) for our holidays. We are going in a caravan in a park at (small seaside resort) at the last week in July. I like making dresses for people and knitting for people that I know and who I work with.

Case study 3Andrew: Boy with non-manual father (spelling corrected)When I am 25 years old I want to be a footballer I am very cross when my team

loose Leicester. I will start to be 25 years old now. I am a footballer I am very popular. Some times I play inside left. I play for Leicester. Last season I scored 12 goals and the year before I scored 13 goals. At the beginning of the season I was injured. I had to have a cartridge operation. The season has ended. I have scored 29 goals I am married and I have a wife called Susan. She is just about to be having a baby. If he is a boy he is going to be called Peter if a girl Julie. I hope he is a boy so he can play football. I married 2 years a go. When I was 11 I said I would not marry. I help my wife now seeing she is going to have a baby I go to all the shops. In my car. One night on June the 7th Susan has to go and have a baby I ring for the ambulance. I hear siren outside. In the hospital she has Us baby a boy. When Susan comes home with Peter there is happiness. The season is comes round quickly. I have my first match on August the 16th We play Leeds at home [illegible fiche] 7-1 I score for Peter is made a mascot for Leicester I have a record season with 74 goal beating [illegible fiche] I get offers but I will want to play for Leicester team. People say I am a clot not going to teams like Everton and Manchester Utd

Case study 4John: Boy with manual father (spelling corrected)

My work is football. I am getting on quite well as a footballer. I have quite a bit of money in the bank. I have two children and a wife. We are all very happy in my house. My oldest child is 8 years of age. He wants to be a footballer just like myself. My youngest child is 2 years old. She wants to play Tennis when she is older. We mostly watch Tennis games and football games when I am not at work. I usually get up very early for training. I sometimes take my son with me I think he has a good time.

When I come home from work I mostly take my wife out to the Cinema. I hardly ever stay at home. When I do I mostly have a rest. At all other times I’m mostly giving my son some football practice and my daughter some tennis practice. My wife works in a Restaurant and she cooks delicious meals for me and my family We are a pretty wealthy family. I earn about 60 pound a week but I only have 20 pounds to spend etc. My wife earns about 50 pounds and she has 30 pounds left to spend. So we altogether have 50 pounds to spend. I think that is quite a lot of money. I have a Zephra 7 to ride around in. We have only one car but we could easily buy another one.

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Features within the essays Children have been very skillful in demonstrating their competencies in

the context of the essay writing task Although girls are slightly more likely to write about husbands and

children both boys and girls frequently write about an imagined future family life

Although there are some examples of companionship the main emphasis is on men and women having different roles within the family

Children also demonstrate their understanding of the gendered adult world with reference to working hours, pay, responsibility for household tasks, gendered friendships

The binary divide between men and women and between adults and children is much more in evidence than social class distinctions

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Further analysis of writing about husbands and wives- using NVIVO to analyse text

Among the boys’ essays, 87 used the word ‘wife’ and in total the word wife is used 141 times across all the boys essays (1.6 times within each essay)

Among the girls’ essays, 94 used the word ‘husband’ and in total the word is used 205 times (2.2 times within each essay)

Girls tended to provide more details about their husbands than the boys did about their wives, but important not to overplay the gender differences here

Both boys and girls use wives/husbands to emphasize different roles and arguably to cement their own gender identity

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Further analysis using NVIVO – the possession of a husband or wife

Research by Swain on children in the last year of primary school suggests that there is an important discourse around having a girlfriend or boyfriend that does not necessarily translate into an actual friendship or relationship

In particular for boys the possession of a girlfriend is a means for asserting masculinity

NVIVO can be used to identify the occurrence of phrases such as ‘I have a husband’ or ‘I have a wife’ as distinct from ‘I am married’ or ‘I live with my husband’…

Among the 252 girls essays there were just five examples of the phrase ‘I have a husband’, compared with twenty two examples among the boys’ essays.

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Examples of having a husband or wife ‘I will have a husband who is a manager of somewhere.’ ‘I then have to make a dinner for them all, and I usually have

a hungry husband on my hands after him being at his job all day ‘

‘… I have a wife and 2 children’ ‘I have got a wife named Dorothy’ ‘I am 25 years old I own a shop it is running well I have a

beautiful wife and 3 children they are call Peter Michael Paul’

… I have a wife and 2 children

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Conclusions: children doing gender Different approaches to analysis of the essays provides a rather

different understanding of gender Gender as a fixed attribute Gender as constructed and performed within a specific social context

Important not to overplay the differences between the content of the boys’ essays and the girls’ essays Both boys and girls write about an imagined future in which they will be

part of a nuclear family Both boys and girls place themselves at the centre of the narrative

about their future family life Both boys and girls use gender to structure their vision of the future

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Conclusions: the essays as a resource

The essays provide a very rich resource for researchers interested in children’s perspectives on adult life

The essays must be understood in their historical context and it would be very interesting to be able to compare them with essays written today

There is some tension between using qualitative material to create a quantitative indicator and performing a more wholehearted qualitative analysis of the essays

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Original sample of boys (N=6210)

Family type/soc class Non-manual Manual No Father

Ability

Low (25%) 272 1185 103

Medium (50%) 1024 1950 143

High (25%) 786 702 45

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Stratified sample of boys (N=280)

Family type/soc class

Non-manual Manual No Father

Ability

Low (25%) 30 30 10

Medium (50%) 60 60 20

High (25%) 30 30 10