7.1 Introduction
One of the motivations underlying this study was to provide an i nformed descriptive base to assist policy formulation toward the provision of developmentally appropriate careers assistance in the country 's secondary schools. The application of a developmental-contextual framework for the empirical case study section of this thesis prompted the collection and analysis of data from a number of information sources ranging from school pol icy documentation and records to staff self-reports, student opinion and e xperience, and expressions of parental expectations. This chapter overviews the process for the present case study, with particular attention to the empirical implications of decisions at the various phases and the defining of associated parameters for the generalisabil ity of findings.
7.2 Research Design
Isaac and M ichael ( 1 990) defined the systematic application of social science research procedures within a given social unit interchangeably as 'case' and 'field' study research. A distinguishing feature is the absence of control over any aspect of the environment in which the individual is being observed. It is an approach well suited to research w ith exploratory and descriptive purposes (Babbie, 1 992), the elements of both of which are represented in this study.
Issac and M ichael ( 1 990) saw case and field study research as a particul arly useful approach to researching background information for planning later research with more of an explanatory purpose:
Because they [case and field studies] are i ntensive, they bring to light the i mportant variables, processes, and interactions that deserve more extensive atten tion . They pioneer new ground and often are the source of fruitful hypotheses for further study (p.48).
These strengths are especi ally compatible with the overall purpose of this thesis: to contribute towards an informed national policy for meeting the career
development needs of the New Zealand secondary school population. Of particular note is the reference to 'pioneering new ground' , which is related to adopting a developmental-contextualist frame of reference for this study. As advocated through much of the first half of this thesis, and as captured by the illustration in Figure 1 . 1 , career development occurs within a broad context and this context must be u nderstood and i ntegrated in policy intended for the direction of practice.
The intensive focus of case and field research designs coupled with the realism of bein g in the field has the reputation for achieving a high degree of internal validity in what is being observed, or, of being able to say 'what is reported in the school is actually a good representation of what is actually happening in the school ' . This very stre ngth, however, is also a limitation in the design. As Isaac and Michael ( 1 990) explai ned:
They [case and field studies] do not allow valid generalisations to the population from which their units came until the appropriate follow-up research is accomplished, focusing on specific hypotheses and using proper sampling methods (p.48).
In a discussion of this seemingly paradoxical situation m social science
research, Nachmias and Nachmias ( 1 98 1 ) pointed out that it is general ly accepted that the fulfilment of internal val idity is more crucial than the attainment of external validity. Nevertheless, the research design in this study no doubt limited the generalisability of findings in relation to the New Zealand secondary school population overall , and whilst this issue will be acknowledged again toward the end of this thesis, it is a matter the reader is advised to keep in mind during the ensuing chapters.
7.3 Participants 7. 3. 1 Schools
Two state secondary schools comprised the setting for the case study. They represented two of the three state schools located in a moderate-sized c ity in the lower North Island. The initial intention of the research was to i nclude the three schools as a c ase study of all state secondary schools in thi s geographical location. However, the year of the main data collection was to coincide with the trialing of a modular curriculum in the third school, and it was subsequently decided-by the principal to be
too demanding on staff and students alike to have an ongoing research proj ect i n the school at the same time.
The schools were chosen due to geographical convenience and included on the basis of willingness and capacity to fulfil the information requirements of the research. Travelli ng distance together with available time were important considerations. The information requirements of the research aims and questions woul d require an indefi nite number of visits to the schools as well as commitment from staff to assist in the simultaneous administration of questionnaires to the senior school in three separate 50 minute blocks during the school year. Although the precise details of the administration were to be negotiated with the schools concerned, this very commitment assumed considerable time and energy on behalf of the staff involved.
7.3.2 Staff
The nature and involvement of staff with the study varied according to the school and to the particular phase of the research process. One school had a separate Transition Education (TE) Department and the coordination of careers assistance was the responsibility of that department. Staff involvement at this school comprised those working directly with the Transition Education (TE) Department, with the Head of that Department (HOD) liaising with the school management, as necessary. In addition to the HOD of the TE department, the staff included a second TE staff member, a TE ancillary (administrative support) person , the school guidance counsellor, the careers adviser, the special needs teacher and the Maori liaison officer. All of these people were involved during the initial phases of the research which covered identifying the n ature, philosophy and location of careers services in the school (Aims 1 a, 1 b & 1 c), staff perceptions of their senior students' career development needs (Aim 2d), and of the school ' s careers service (Aim 3b) . The HOD of TE, second TE staff member, TE ancillary, and the school guidance counsell or were also i nvolved with the administration of questionnaires to the senior school.
Careers assistance in the second school was the administrative responsibility of the deputy principal and linked more directly with the school guidance network, i ncluding the school careers adviser, the two guidance counsellors, the six senior school deans (two representing e ach form level i n the senior school), and the two staff
responsible for the school transition education class. All of these people contributed to fulfi lling the information requirements of the first three aims of the research (specifi cally, Aims l a, l b, l e, 2d, and 3b). With the exception of the school guidance counsellors, they were also involved, alongside subject teachers, in the administration of questionnaires to senior school students.
7.3. 3 Students
An overall picture of the students with regard to factors such as gender, age, form level, ethnic affiliation and socioeconomic background was obtained from respon ses to the first questionnaire administered to students. Table 7 . 1 sets out the sample figures relating to the respective form levels of participati ng students, as this is a feature that will frequently be al luded to in assessing differences amongst responses to various issues in the study.
The survey of students' career development needs, copmg strategies and perceptions of the school ' s career service comprised responses from an overall total of 73 1 senior students , ranging in age from 1 4.0 years to 1 8 .4 years. This figure represented 90.6 per cent of all senior students (806 students) on the official rol l in the participating schools at the time of the survey. Of the 73 1 students, 654 sets of data were used in statistical analyses, representing 89.4 per cent of the accessible student pool. Attrition of students was mainly due to absence from school during completion of at least one phase of data col lection. A small number (27 students) failed to register any form of identification on completed questionnaires.
Students in Form 5 and Form 6 comprised the bulk of the resulting sample (representing 39.9% and 42.2%, respectively) . The sample is characterised by a higher number (n=363) of males, representing 55.5 percent of the sample. This feature is not entirely unexpected as the year of the data collection coincided with the first year that one of the participating schools operated as coeducational , having previously been a single-sex boys' school.
Table 7.1
Form level and sex of participating students
Form level Male Female Total
Form S 1 22 (46.7%) 1 39 (53.2%) 26 1 (39.9%)
Form 6 1 75 (63 .4%) 1 0 1 (36.6%) 276 (42.2%) Form 7 66 (56 .4%) 5 1 (43 .6) 1 1 7 ( 1 7.9%)
Total 363 (55 .5%) 29 1 (44.5%) 654 ( 1 00.0%)
Students came from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Parental occupations were distributed through four categories comprising professional/administrative, white collar, blue coll ar, and recipients of State Income Support including unemployed, inval id, sickness, and domestic purposes beneficiaries. Whilst the modal category for parental occupation was white collar (3 1 .4% ), a similar number of students (29.6% of the sample) came from homes within one of the blue collar trade areas. Slightly less than one quarter of the sample (22.3 %) indicated they reside d in homes that were financial ly dependent on State Income Support.
Over half (59.4%) of the sample identified themselves as New Zealand Caucasion. A further 27.2 percent comprised students who identified as New Zealand Maori . Slightly less than ten percent (9 . 1 %) reported they were of Pacific Island affiliation, the majority (52 students, or 86.6% of this group) of whom specified they were New Zealand born Pacific Islanders. Students of Asian descent comprised 3 . 2 percent of the sample, whilst the remaining number (6 students) indicated l inks with Austral ia, South Africa, Central Europe or North America.
7. 3.4 Parents
Further to the staff and students in participating schools, 2 1 parents of Form 6 students at one school accepted a written invitation to be involved in focus group discussions relating to the career development needs of their child and accompanying bel ie fs about the role of the school in assisting this development. The perceptions of a representative sample of parents was outside the scope of the study and beyond the resources available to the research . It was decided that the inclusion of focu s group
discussions with volunteers from the parents of the sixth form student pool at one school was manageable and would be sufficient to meet the information requirements of the s econd (2c) and third (3b) aims of the research. Thus the contribution of parents i n the focus group is not representative of the views of participating students' parents generally. Nevertheless, it was hoped that the perceptions and opinions expressed woul d shed some light on the position of this very important influence in the career development of young New Zealanders.
7.4 Data Collection Techniques
7.4. 1 School Administrative Records and Documentation
The information necessary to fulfil the aims set down for the case study required a variety of techniques. Written information concerning each school ' s careers service was given willingly by those involved in providing careers assistance, with the promise that the researcher would check with the schools regarding references to any documentation considered likely to be confidential at the time of the study. Generally, this information comprised relevant policy statements contained in the school charters, curricul um statements together with allied programme plans, and applicable sections of recent ERO reviews in the schools. These sources were most valuable in meeting the information requirements of the first aim of this research; specifical ly, as a stated record of school philosophy and as a record of the actual objectives of each school ' s careers service, and generally, as a point of reference i n the design of those sections in the thi rd questionnaire administered to students, which related directly to the career services provided.
7.4.2 Privileged Observation or Observer-as-Participant
A second strategy included the 'observer-as-participant' approach, a popular technique in field research (cf., Babbie, 1 992) where the researcher is not a 'natural ' member of the soci al environment under investigation. As Crow! ( 1 993) pointed out in his discussion of research in educational settings, i n this position the researcher takes on the role of 'privileged observer' . The visibility of the researcher is thought to encourage informed participation, which may be considered of ethical as well as scientific benefit. Certainly, in the case study reported here, the researcher' s
identification with research about careers assistance seemed to encourage a continual and somewhat unanticipated number of staff and students to approach her throughout her time in the schools to volunteer their thoughts and opinions on the topic. It w as a most helpful approach during the i nitial stages of this research, which required becoming familiar with the philosophy and place of careers assistance in the participating schools. As Babbie ( 1 992) observed, "field research is a matter of going where the action is and simply watching and listening", adding, "you can learn a lot merely by being attentive to what ' s going on" (p. 293).
Further to the casual volunteering of information from staff and students, other forms of approach in the schools ranged from informal 'mingling' with staff members in the school staff room, and chatting with senior students in selected classes, to 'shadow ing' those staff with a responsibility for careers work in the schools, and the more formal setting up of interviews w ith school management and guidance teams.
With the exception of scheduled interviews, much of the researcher's observations and understandings from this 'participation' in the school was written in a field journal. This technique was advocated by Babbie ( 1 992) who suggested "the greatest advantage of the field research method is the presence of an observing, thinking researcher on the scene of the action" (p. 297). An attempt was made to record only those experiences considered directly relevant to careers assistance in the school and related references, for instance, to students' career development and awareness. In most cases it was considered inappropriate to record at the time of contact (for example, during conversation with staff in the school staff room) , and effort w as made to write down observations as soon as possible afterward. There were exchanges with several staff when it was thought to be of particular value to record verbatim a certain statement or message, and in this case permission was sought to do so at the time. In all instances staff very willingly gave permission to do this, with information recorded anonymously where this was requested.
7.4. 3 Semi-Structured Interviews
Scheduled i nterviews with members of the school management and guidance team were an i ntegral part of the i nitial phase of the research, and i ntended as the principle means of i dentifying the nature, philosophy, location and needs of each
school ' s c areer service, and the basis for assessing their impressions of senior students' career development needs. The process of carrying out an i nterview has a favourable reputation for establishing rapport with research participants (Rosenthal & Rosnow, 1 99 1 ). This was an important consideration in the design of this case study, which required the trust and cooperation of school staff to approach senior students. It also ensured sufficient access in the school settings to meet the information requirements of the research aims and questions. The semi-structured approach, which has as one of its special strengths flexibility (Babbie, 1 992), was considered an appropriate technique for an area of considerable divergence, as is the case with careers assistance in New Zealand secondary schools (see the Report of the Career Information and Guidance Review Panel, 1 995) whilst at the same time enabling consistency across schools.
Open-ended questions were used initially to identify a staff member' s perception of their role i n relation t o the school general ly, and t o the provision of careers services in the school in particular. Examples included the following:
"What are you responsible for at [the school ] ?"
"How would you define your role in relation to [the school ' s] career service to senior students?"
Further questions targeted a staff member' s interpretation of the school ' s general philosophy and links t o their perception of the philosophy surrounding the provision of careers assistance in the senior school. For i nstance:
"What do you think [the school] believes in relation to its role in educatin g students?"
"How does the careers service programme provided at [the school ] fit with this philosophy?"
S taff members with involvement in the school 's career service were asked additional questions regarding the nature and place of careers assistance in the school, the c areer development needs of seni or students, and areas of strength and need for i mprovement i n existing provisions. S uch questions i ncluded:
"What do you thin k are the career development needs of the semor students?"
"What careers assistance is provided to students in the senior school?"
"What do you think are the strengths of the school ' s careers service for the seniors?"
"Can you suggest any areas for improvement of [the school ' s] careers service at the senior level?"
As i s usual with an open-ended approach (cf., Rosenthal & Rosnow, 1 99 1 ), the questions were intended as a stimulus to guide the discussion in the direction of the research aims and questions, and were followed by impromptu probes to elicit depth and scope of responses, as necessary .
All i nterviews were audio-taped, with the prior permission of the participating staff member, along with written assurance of the confidentiality and anonymity of their responses. To ensure this confidentiality, the researcher u ndertook to transcribe all tapes, and this also had the unanticipated benefit of detailed reflection on and increased familiarity with the data. A copy of the transcript was sent to each interviewee together with the original c assette tape of the recorded i nterview and a 'Thank You' letter which also asked respondents to indicate any modifications to their
transcript. Of the thirteen staff members involved in scheduled interviews, four returned the transcripts with requests for changes.
Interviews with school management and guidance staff were complemented at times with memoranda, a technique in research most commonly associated w ith Grounded Theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1 990). A memorandum in research is an informal hand-written note, sometimes taken at the time of the i nterview, or, when this does not seem appropriate, as soon as possible afterward. The purpose of this is to capture thoughts and ideas that emerged from the i nterview process, and in the case study reported here was considered a valuable technique in guiding the discussion in the direction of the research aims. At the same time memoranda served to identify emergent themes linking to the theoretical context of the research and to signal further investigative possibilities. Thus, this techn ique not only provided a poin t o f reference for the conceptual analysis of participant responses i n the interview but,
also, provided direction for the subsequent development of survey questionnaires i ntended to c apture the experiences and needs of the senior students.
7.4.4 Focus Group Interviews