Het Talentenproject, een case-study van de beperkte waardevrijheid van sociaal onderzoek

Samenvatting

This case study aims at illustrating the problematics of the soc responsibility of the res'er & the pol'al consequences of his res. The Talent Project, an extended soc survey, did offer some important insights: (1) In passing from primary to secondary Sch, the loss of pupils is not great (from the Wc). (2) Regional diff's in participation in secondary educ are caused by various soc environments. (3) The financial situation of the fam does not have much influence on the passing from primary to secondary Sch. (4) The advice of the teacher has high predictive value. (5) Changes on the procedure of selection (ie, the 11-plus test) do not show real improvement in the participation in secondary educ of the lower soc strata. From these insights some important consequences for the admin (the bridging of classes, the middle Sch, the information to parents) can be derived. Besides some critical remarks regarding the formation of hyp's & concepts, 3 more fundamental remarks can be made: (a) the concept of "fitness for educ" is used as if the soc environment had little to do with those individuals who attain educ'al recognition, (b) the existing content & structure of secondary educ includes some propositions that can be better satisfied by some soc environments & not others, & (c) the Talent Project focuses on the adaptation to an environment that is considered as given without discussing the structures, the content, & the functionality of the educ'al system. This reveals ideological limitation, which would be without objection if it would be extensively explicated & if biased & dangerous policies based on the res were not the result. H. Van de Belt.