What is ideology in sociological terms?

A set of ideas and beliefs that serve the interests of a particular social group, often presented as common sense or natural truths while obscuring power relations.

What four characteristics define science as a belief system?

Empiricism, objectivity, falsifiability, and paradigm-based knowledge accumulation.

What is falsificationism according to Karl Popper?

The principle that scientific theories must be testable and capable of being proven wrong, which distinguishes science as an open belief system.

Why did Popper consider science an open belief system?

Because scientific knowledge claims can be tested against evidence and rejected if falsified, unlike closed systems that protect their claims from disproof.

What is a paradigm in Thomas Kuhn's theory of science?

A shared framework of assumptions, methods, and standards that defines normal science and guides research within a scientific community.

What happens during 'normal science' according to Kuhn?

Scientists work within the accepted paradigm, solving puzzles and conducting research guided by its assumptions without questioning its fundamental principles.

AQA A-Level Sociology 7192

Education

Topic overview The role and functions of education Class differences in educational achievement Labelling, subcultures and processes within schools Gender and educational achievement Ethnicity and educational achievement Selection and marketisation Privatisation and vocational education Educational policy, equality and globalisation

Methods in Context

Topic overview Access, gatekeepers and research ethics in schools Choosing methods for research in schools Data, theory and validity in educational research

Theory and Methods

Topic overview Research design and choosing a method Sources of data and types of data Positivism, interpretivism and research ethics Consensus, conflict, structural and social action theories Modernity and post-modernity Is sociology a science?Objectivity, value freedom and social policy

Culture and IdentityOptional topic

Topic overview Conceptions of culture Socialisation and the agencies of socialisation The self, identity and difference Identity, age, disability, ethnicity, gender and class Identity, production, consumption and globalisation

Families and HouseholdsOptional topic

Topic overview Functionalist views of the family Marxist and feminist views of the family The New Right, postmodernism and family policy Marriage, cohabitation and divorce Family diversity and the personal life perspective Conjugal roles and domestic labour Power relationships and domestic violence The social construction of childhood Birth rates and death rates Family size and the ageing population Migration and globalisation

HealthOptional topic

Topic overview The social construction of health and models of illness Class and gender inequalities in health Ethnic and regional inequality, and access to health care Mental illness and the power of the medical profession The sick role and the globalised health industry

Work, Poverty and WelfareOptional topic

Topic overview Poverty: definitions, explanations and distribution The welfare state and welfare provision The division of labour and the control of work Work, worklessness and life chances Globalisation and the global division of labour

Beliefs in SocietyOptional topic

Topic overview Ideology and science as belief systems Functionalist views of religion Marxist and feminist views of religion Religion as a force for social change Churches, sects, denominations and cults New religious movements and New Age movements Religion, gender, ethnicity, age and social class Secularisation Believing without belonging and postmodern religion Globalisation, fundamentalism and religion worldwide

Global DevelopmentOptional topic

Topic overview Theories of development and underdevelopment Globalisation, transnational corporations and aid agencies Aid, trade, industrialisation and urbanisation Environment, conflict and human development Population, gender and postcolonial critiques

The MediaOptional topic

Topic overview The new media and its significance Ownership, control and media globalisation The selection and presentation of the news Media representations of social groups Media effects and models of the audience Reception analysis and selective filtering

Stratification and DifferentiationOptional topic

Topic overview Theories of stratification Life chances and dimensions of inequality Defining and measuring social class Changing structures of inequality and globalisation Social mobility

Crime and Deviance

Beliefs in Society

Ideology and science as belief systems

2 things to know
Paper 2

Overview

Ideology, Popper's falsificationism, Kuhn's paradigms, and why religion is described as a closed belief system.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Who and when

What is falsificationism, and what characterises science as a belief system?

Process

How do religion's knowledge claims differ from science's?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is ideology in sociological terms?
Model answer
A set of ideas and beliefs that serve the interests of a particular social group, often presented as common sense or natural truths while obscuring power relations.
2
What four characteristics define science as a belief system?
Model answer
Empiricism, objectivity, falsifiability, and paradigm-based knowledge accumulation.
3
What is falsificationism according to Karl Popper?
Model answer
The principle that scientific theories must be testable and capable of being proven wrong, which distinguishes science as an open belief system.
4
Why did Popper consider science an open belief system?
Model answer
Because scientific knowledge claims can be tested against evidence and rejected if falsified, unlike closed systems that protect their claims from disproof.
5
What is a paradigm in Thomas Kuhn's theory of science?
Model answer
A shared framework of assumptions, methods, and standards that defines normal science and guides research within a scientific community.
6
What happens during 'normal science' according to Kuhn?
Model answer
Scientists work within the accepted paradigm, solving puzzles and conducting research guided by its assumptions without questioning its fundamental principles.

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Education

Methods in Context

Theory and Methods

Culture and Identity

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AAll change begins with an act of deviance.

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