AS Sociology Lesson 3 – Key study

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to … 1.List and define the key terminology in the Arnett (1996) study, 2.Identify the key component of the Arnett study, 3.Assess the methodology used in the Arnett study.

Matching Task

Arnett (1996)  Key focus – youth subcultures in this instance “metal heads”

Read and write task  Using the study you have been given and your hand out complete the true or false section of your hand out.

Methods  Interviews,  Questionnaires,  Content analysis

Participants  Interviews (Qualitative data)  108 metal heads  70 boys (Atlanta and Georgia)  38 girls (Atlanta and Massachusetts)  Questionnaire (Quantitative)  118 boys from local high schools and colleges who preferred other kinds of music,  199 girls who were not heavy metal fans  Content analysis  115 heavy metal songs from albums released between 1988 and 1992  3 mainstream bands and 3 speed/trash metal bands  Content analysis excluded hard rock

What do you think ?  What are the key advantages/disadvantages with the methods used by Arnett ?

Key findings  Key behavioural differences identified between metal heads and other young people, 1.Metal heads tend to engage in more reckless behaviour, 2.Metal heads music has a soothing impact on their behaviour, 3.Metal heads tend to have more cooperative relationships with their parents, 4.Metal heads aspirations tends to be geared towards music (playing, writing, etc),

Evaluation  Participants in Arnett study were from one city only thus making his sample unrepresentative,  Boys tend to dominate subcultures so there is a lack of knowledge and understanding with regards to why females are attracted to the metal head subculture.

Battenburg Task  Complete the Battenburg Diagram on page 16 of your handbook.