Research Methods

This chapter details the approach taken to carry out my research. It details the specific questions being researched and the use of a Foucauldian approach that underpins my methods. Contemporary scholars who have suggested refinements of Foucault’s ideas are employed. The chapter then explains the multiple case study approach where I look in detail at the circumstances surrounding academisation in three schools. I describe the particular activities carried out in each case study. In this chapter I also give a brief overview of both Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), explaining how both are used to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the data generated in the case studies. Using these approaches allowed me to analyse the large amount of text produced by the minutes and the transcribed interviews.