Quali vs. Quanti
Van Rossem, R. & Vermande, M. M (2004). Classroom Roles and School Adjustment. Social Psychology Quarterly, 67(4):396-411.
Moje, E.B. (1996). "I Teach Students, Not Subjects": Teacher-Student Relationships as
Contexts for Secondary Literacy Reading Research Quarterly, 31(2):172-195.
Children require adequate support from their social network's within the classroom setting to improve their academic performance. Van Rossem, and Vermande, (2004) using a longitudinal design operationalize the child's integration into the classroom through an examination of the social roles the child utilizes. The researchers assess 1,241 first grade students from 71 classrooms. The analysis of the data demonstrated that classroom roles and sociometeric status were associated. When these variables were regressed against "school problems" classroom roles provided greater explanatory power than sociometeric status. The ethnographic work undertaken by Moje (1996) used social networks within the classroom to explore "how and why a high school content area teacher and her students engaged in literacy." The data were collected over a two-year period. The findings of the research demonstrated that the meanings attached by students to the classroom interaction created relationships, which placed the components of literacy in a specific contextual environment. This contextual knowledge is important to the improvement of student literacy.
The problem in Van Rossem, and Vermande, (2004) was clearly developed and the background provided allowed the reader to grasp the nature of the problem. The practical importance of the problem was apparent in that a solution would produce a reduction in the time taken for students to adjust to a classroom setting. The problem being studied by the researchers...
However, one apparent hypothesis was; there is a relationship between classroom roles and problems experienced by the student. The key variables were defined in both conceptual and operational ways. Additionally, the researchers defined the social network and produced an excellent theoretical framework for the study. There was some diffuseness in the definition of behaviors that should be classified as negative or positive.
In the Moje (1996) article the problem was possible expressed clearer than in the former article. Additionally, the practical import of the problem of literacy was immediately grasped by the reader. This may be because of the prevalence of the problem in the media so that the components are easily recognizable There was some confusion over the use of literacy activities and literacy practices. The purpose of the study was to understand what the meaning students attached to the classroom experience and to explore how that meaning created a context for the development of literacy. There were no hypotheses in this study. The author defined the key terms in particular literacy.
The literature cited in Van Rossem, and Vermande, (2004) were mainly pertinent to the study. The challenge however was that there should have been more sources addressing the issue of school adjustment. Many of the references however appear to be dated as some are from the 1970s and 1980s, more recent sources would be a positive addition to the work. There was no evidence of bias in the study. The qualitative work used the literature for providing a definition of literacy and supporting a theoretical perspective (Moje 1996). There was a clearly stated bias as the researcher…
