ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1 we introduced our work as reflexive in character, as being concerned with making a methodological assessment of research on educational inequality. And, in that chapter, we used a social constructionist perspective as a way of gaining sufficient distance to obtain a reflexive stance. However, we came to the conclusion that, while social constructionism can be a valuable analytic device, and while it provides some insights into this body of research, it does not constitute a sound approach. Applied consistently, it undermines the very possibility of sociological knowledge; and, ultimately, it destroys itself as well. We shall not, therefore, be adopting a constructionist perspective in the remainder of this study.
