ABSTRACT

Most discussion of choice within research is concerned with sampling. But at all stages - from first thoughts to final conclusion - choices are continuous. In fieldwork in natural settings the unexpected is always around the comer. But even in apparently straightforward social sur­ veys Murphy’s Law holds. Some snags are anticipated through careful pilot study, through training, through supervision. Others are manager­ ial. Ambitions have to be tailored to costs. Other problems arise as the work progresses, with emergencies, especially illness, and when time and resources run out. To illustrate this, here is an account of a largescale follow-up study of reading standards organized within the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) in the 1960s and 1970s. This was used as the basis of further studies of influences on attainment and formed the basis for much of the early work on school effectiveness in England.