Sociology · Oct / Nov 2019 · Paper 12 · Question 1

Source A In the study ‘Learning to Labour’ Paul Willis conducted a longitudinal study of twelve male working-class students to gain in-depth data. He wanted to find out why working-class students usually work in manual or low-skilled jobs when they leave school. The study used triangulation as several methods were used including both participant and non-participant observations. It was important that Willis gained the trust of the male students, so they were more likely to show natural behaviour and give detailed answers. Willis studied the students over a period of time as they moved from school into work. At the end of his research Willis compared the results from each method to produce his final conclusions. He found that due to factors such as the males creating anti-school sub-cultures they failed to gain many academic qualifications. He concluded that the students’ social class position never changed as the only jobs they could get were low-skilled. Adapted from Paul Willis Learning to Labour, (1977).

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