critical review

Introduction

Present research seeks to provide critical review of Machin 's and McNally 's article Gender and Student Achievement in English School (Machin and McNally , 2005 . To realize this goal , attention should be drawn to their theoretical framework of research , research questions and approaches used , theoretical influences , informing the direction of the study , logical coherence of argumentation and its correlation with epistemological foundations , validity of research and its ethical adequateness etc . In sum , these major characteristics of research would allow us to define its contribution to this field of study

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. Research Questions , Aims and Epistemological Framework of the Study

Research questions and aims of the analyzed study focus on the reality of gender achievement gap in English schools between girls and boys Basic research aim , set by the authors was to find explanations to the mentioned achievement gap by means on analyzing various factors , which possibly could have affected it in historical perspective

The stated research aim served the framework for articulating main research priorities and questions of research . The first among them was tracing historical evolution of achievement gap in English schools to find out its deeper roots , genesis and current situation

The authors also sought to assess the relevance of various factors to the analyzed issue . The latter included the analysis of school 's structure impact on achievement gap , teaching practices , examination system , courses ' structure , assessment approaches etc (Machin and McNally , 357

Moreover , the authors paid specific attention to non-school factors influencing gender gap and specifically to...