Abstract

The persistence of class inequality over the generations is commonly explained in sociology of education by the reproduction thesis, which concludes, often on the basis of quantitative material, that there is a direct causality of the labour position and the degree of education of the parents. Our own qualitative/biographical research into the school careers of children from working class and deprived families, however, indicates that these factors have a less unambiguous effect than is generally accepted. Indeed, they can be reflexively changed by the parents into motivating arguments to stimulating positively the education of their children, Quantitative studies, however, remain blind to such significant reversals, just as they have difficulty with the contextual and process-like character of these school careers. Here, qualitative research is able to make a difference. How the quantitative and the qualitative approaches can supplement each other in the clarification of the problem of unequal opportunity in education therefore constitutes the methodological conclusion of this article.

How to Cite:

Verhoeven, J. & Kochuyt, T., (1997) “Over de blinde vlekken van de reproductiethese in de onderwijssociologie: een kijk vanuit kwalitatief onderzoek”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 18(1-2), 209–231. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86416