Process
AQA A-Level Sociology 7192
Education
Topic overviewThe role and functions of educationClass differences in educational achievementLabelling, subcultures and processes within schoolsGender and educational achievementEthnicity and educational achievementSelection and marketisationPrivatisation and vocational educationEducational policy, equality and globalisation
Methods in Context
Theory and Methods
Culture and IdentityOptional topic
Families and HouseholdsOptional topic
Topic overviewFunctionalist views of the familyMarxist and feminist views of the familyThe New Right, postmodernism and family policyMarriage, cohabitation and divorceFamily diversity and the personal life perspectiveConjugal roles and domestic labourPower relationships and domestic violenceThe social construction of childhoodBirth rates and death ratesFamily size and the ageing populationMigration and globalisation
HealthOptional topic
Work, Poverty and WelfareOptional topic
Beliefs in SocietyOptional topic
Topic overviewIdeology and science as belief systemsFunctionalist views of religionMarxist and feminist views of religionReligion as a force for social changeChurches, sects, denominations and cultsNew religious movements and New Age movementsReligion, gender, ethnicity, age and social classSecularisationBelieving without belonging and postmodern religionGlobalisation, fundamentalism and religion worldwide
Global DevelopmentOptional topic
The MediaOptional topic
Stratification and DifferentiationOptional topic
Crime and Deviance
Topic overviewFunctionalist, strain and control theories of crimeSubcultural theories of crimeInteractionism and labelling theoryMarxist and critical theories of crimeLeft and right realismGender and crimeSocial class, white-collar and corporate crimeEthnicity, policing and the criminal justice systemGlobalisation and crimeThe media, crime and fear of crimeMoral panics and the deviancy amplification spiralGreen crimeState crime and human rightsDenial, neutralisation and prosecuting state crimeSituational and environmental crime preventionRealist crime control, surveillance and the panopticonPunishment, sentencing and the criminal justice systemVictims and victimologyCrime prevention strategies and their limits
Theory and Methods
Positivism, interpretivism and research ethics
- 3 things to know
- Papers 1 and 3
Overview
Social facts and meanings, the methods each position favours, and the ethical principles governing research.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Evaluation
How did Douglas (1967) criticise Durkheim's use of suicide statistics?
Process
How did Atkinson (1978) study suicide?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is the positivist view of how sociology should be conducted?
Model answer
Positivism holds that sociology should adopt the methods of natural sciences, seeking to discover objective social facts and causal laws through systematic observation and measurement.
- 2
Why do interpretivists argue that human behaviour requires different methods from natural phenomena?
Model answer
Interpretivism argues that human behaviour differs from natural phenomena because it is meaningful, requiring methods that access subjective meanings and verstehen rather than external measurement.
- 3
What types of methods do positivists and interpretivists each favour, and why?
Model answer
Positivists favour quantitative methods that produce reliable, generalisable data, while interpretivists favour qualitative methods that produce valid, in-depth understanding of meanings.
- 4
How did Durkheim conceptualise social facts?
Model answer
Social facts are external, constraining forces that exist independently of individuals and can be studied objectively as things.
- 5
What does informed consent require in sociological research?
Model answer
Informed consent requires that participants are given full information about the research and voluntarily agree to take part.
- 6
What does confidentiality mean as an ethical principle in research?
Model answer
Confidentiality means that information provided by participants is kept private and not disclosed to others without permission.
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