This paper provides a critical appraisal of approaches to reflexivity in sociology. It uses data from social network research to argue that Archer's approach to reflexivity provides a valuable lens with which to understand how people navigate their education and career pathways. The paper is also critical of Archer's methodology and typology of…

Social network analysis can enrich school-based research on children's peer relationships. Unfortunately, accurate network analysis requires near-complete data on all students and is underutilized in school-based research because of low rates of parental consent. This article advocates Krackhardt's cognitive social structures (CSS) as a solution…

In this paper Gewirtz and Cribb offer a response to Hammersley and Abraham's criticisms of their arguments about the place of values in social research published in this issue of BJSE. In doing so, they make clear that most of the positions that Hammersley and Abraham attribute to them are ones that they do not identify with and that, like…

The present article examines the relationship between political values and social research, with particular reference to the case for ethical reflexivity in sociology of education put forward by Gewirtz and Cribb. It is argued that their case for such reflexivity is flawed by conceptual imprecision and over-determination of the links between value…

This article is a reply to Gewirtz and Cribb's argument for ethical reflexivity, presented in a previous issue of this journal. These authors compared their views with mine, suggesting a way in which the differences between our positions could be overcome. I argue that, while there is certainly substantial agreement, there are also some…

Most previous research on parental involvement in children's homework has focused on the pedagogical advantages or disadvantages of school assignments while neglecting the practice in its social context, family life. By studying parent-child homework negotiations in Swedish families, this paper examines how family members position themselves and…

This paper is intended as a contribution to the longstanding debate about the best way of handling value judgements in social research. In it we make a case for more "ethical reflexivity" in the sociology of education and argue that a systematic attention to value questions should be viewed as a taken-for-granted component of methodological…

Changes in participation and achievement patterns mark a turning point for girls in schooling and place female empowerment squarely in the public domain. Using data from a longitudinal study of girls, this paper looks at female empowerment by exploring the relationship between the production of female subjectivity and the processes operating in…

Much recent sociological work on education makes reference to gender, sexual, ethnic, local and political "project" identities, yet there remains a need to bring the nation, and the state, back in; to also question the way in which "national" identities are constructed in a context of globalisation and localisation. Through an analysis of Irish…

Judith Butler's philosophical writings on identity have provided inspiring, if occasionally "troubling", ways of rethinking gender. A key contribution has been the challenge to conventional social constructionist ideas and thinking on subjectivity. In developing a paradigm of performativity, Butler's work takes us beyond the territory of identity…

The latent power of social work's position at the centre of welfare services and as a coordinator and definer of social realities can be argued to have led social work to become "the assessment profession". Building upon a critique of the key distinction between "description and prescription", we argue that the conceptualization of assessment…

Examines American and Italian children's early literacy awareness and activities in preschools. Reveals that children take literacy activities and knowledge from formal lessons and then use, refine, and extend these activites with peers. Considers implications of these findings for theoretical work on children's peer cultures and development of…

Examines a case study of a high-track English class to show how teachers use multiple claims to legitimacy and ambiguous standards to negotiate classroom authority. Finds relationships between teachers and students involve both conflict and collusion. Claims that a teacher's professional authority can be undermined by reliance on bureaucratic…

Assesses why educational attainment is associated with many diverse social outcomes. Uses multivariate models to measure schooling, socioeconomic status, and cognitive ability. Explains outcome variables include attitudes toward civil liberties and gender equality, social and cultural capital, and civic knowledge. Indicates only modest evidence of…

Investigates how school and community contexts relate to associations among high school students' extracurricular participation, academic achievement, and educational ambition using the Alfred P. Sloan Study of Youth and Social Development 1992. Finds that social contexts differentially influence developmental outcomes associated with…