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A Content Analysis of ‘O’ and ‘A’ Papers on Modem British and European History Set by Two GCE Examination Boards
Author(s) -
Inglis W.F.J.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1080/0141192800060105
Subject(s) - politics , subject (documents) , political history , set (abstract data type) , content (measure theory) , history , social science , sociology , political science , law , library science , computer science , mathematical analysis , mathematics , programming language
Summary The content of ‘O’ and ‘A’ level papers on modern British and European History set by two GCE Examination Boards was analysed to find out what particular aspects of the past were emphasised and thus to throw light on the experience of history as a subject which was gained by the candidates. These papers, which are taken by the great majority of the candidates, were found to be dominated by political history, up to 77% of the questions being devoted to the affairs of governments and political leaders. Foreign politics was especially important in papers on European history reaching as high as 44% of the questions set and domestic politics was central to papers on British history attaining means in different groups of papers between 40 and 50%. At the end of the article the wisdom of the approach to school history evident in these papers is questioned.