Locating where the action is: quantitative and qualitative lenses on families, schooling and structures of social inequality

There has been a proliferation of interest in cultural processes amongst those seeking to explain the role of family life in the reproduction of class-related educational inequalities. Analysts of macro level quantitative and micro level qualitative evidence share an interest in internal family dynamics and resources, yet they generate very different pictures of family level processes, and their articulation with broader structures of social inequality. This article critically explores insights and gaps afforded by the differing perspectives. Since qualitative research is well placed to access salient cultural processes in action and interaction, some proposals are made about enhancing such a programme of research, locating the specificity of evidence, confronting class diversity, and better grounding claims about the nature of social reproduction.