About the project
The main purpose of the study was to investigate how 16–17-year-old students enrolled in the compulsory subject of social studies perceived and related to the concepts of “democracy” and “politics”. In addition, the study aimed to investigate students’ perspectives on the school subject of social studies and the factors that were related to students’ perceptions of citizenship preparation in the subject.
Democratic and political theory, as well as literature on citizenship education, framed the study.
Background
The study was based on a multiple-methods, multiphase research design (Creswell, 2002). It utilised group interviews, individual interviews and a quantitative survey.
Financing
The project was a four-year doctoral research project conducted from 2014 to 2019. It was financed by the Department of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo.