Numbers
Eduqas A-Level Sociology A200QS
Culture and the Social Construction of Culture
Topic overviewCulture as a way of lifeNorms, values and beliefsRoles, status and role conflictDress, appearance and cultural identityLanguage and cultural transmissionFood, diet and cultural rulesMusic, the arts and high and popular cultureThe social construction of cultureFeral children and extreme isolationThe nature and nurture debateCulture and social changeCultural diversity, multiculturalism and hybriditySubcultures and countercultures
Socialisation and Its Agencies
Topic overviewPrimary socialisationSecondary socialisationRole models and imitationSanctions and the enforcement of normsThe family and cultural transmissionPeer groups and peer socialisationEducation as an agency of socialisationReligion as an agency of socialisationThe media as an agency of socialisationWork and occupational socialisationInformal social controlFormal social controlCultural reproduction and the limits of socialisation
Socialisation and Identity
Topic overviewPersonal identity and the selfSocial identity and collective belongingSociological theories of identityConsumption, globalisation and identityGender socialisation and gender identityChanging femininitiesChanging masculinitiesClass identity and the working classMiddle-class, upper-class and underclass identitiesThe decline of class identityEthnicity and ethnic identityHybrid identities and cultural changeNational identity and Britishness
Option: Families and HouseholdsFamilies
Topic overviewDefining families and householdsFamily forms and family diversityEthnic, religious and cultural diversity in family lifeMarriage, cohabitation and singlehoodDivorce and separationFertility, life expectancy and the ageing populationConjugal roles and the domestic division of labourPower, decision-making and domestic violenceChildhood and relationships between the generationsFunctionalist perspectives on the familyThe New Right and social policy on the familyMarxist and feminist perspectives on the familyPostmodernist perspectives, the life course and personal life
Option: Youth CulturesYouth cultures
Topic overviewYouth and the social construction of adolescenceThe media and the formation of youth cultureEconomic change, affluence and the youth marketGlobalisation and youth cultureSocial class and youth subculturesGender and youth cultureEthnicity and youth cultureNeo-tribes and the changing nature of youth cultureDelinquency, crime and youth offendingAnti-school subcultures and youth in educationMoral panics and media representations of youthFunctionalist and Marxist perspectives on youth cultureFeminist, interactionist and postmodernist perspectives on youth culture
Option: EducationEducation
Topic overviewThe role and function of education in societyFunctionalist perspectives on educationMarxist perspectives on educationInteractionist perspectives and labelling in educationFeminist perspectives on educationThe New Right and educationPostmodernist perspectives on educationPatterns and trends in attainment and participationMaterial factors and educational achievementCultural factors: deprivation, language and cultural capitalExplaining the gender and ethnicity gapsStreaming, setting and pupil subculturesEducation policy and marketisation
Option: MediaMedia
Topic overviewThe role and function of the media in societyOwnership and control of the mediaMarxist and neo-Marxist perspectives on the mediaPluralist perspectives on the mediaFeminist perspectives on the mediaPostmodernist perspectives on the mediaNews values, newsworthiness and agenda settingModels of media effects and the active audienceMoral panics and folk devilsNew media, globalisation and the digital divideRepresentations of social class and age in the mediaRepresentations of gender, ethnicity and disability in the mediaMedia regulation and social policy
Option: ReligionReligion
Topic overviewDefining religion and its role in societyFunctionalist perspectives on religionMarxist and neo-Marxist perspectives on religionFeminist perspectives on religionWeberian perspectives on religionPostmodernist perspectives on religionSecularisation: the evidence for declineSecularisation: the case againstChurches, denominations, sects and cultsNew religious movements and the new ageFundamentalism and religion in a globalising worldReligiosity by class, gender, ethnicity and ageReligion and social policy in contemporary society
Research Methods: Primary and Secondary
Topic overviewQuestionnaires: writing them and delivering themStructured interviewsUnstructured and semi-structured interviewsFocus groups and group interviewsParticipant observation, overt and covertNon-participant and structured observationSocial surveysEthnographic methodsLongitudinal studiesMethodological pluralism and triangulationExisting sociological research as secondary dataOfficial statisticsPersonal documents, public documents and newspaper reports
Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues
Topic overviewTarget populations and sampling framesSimple random and systematic random samplingStratified random and quota samplingSnowball and volunteer samplingPurposive and opportunity samplesGatekeepers and gaining accessInformed consent and vulnerabilityDeception and covert researchConfidentiality, anonymity and privacyThe right to withdraw and protection from harmSensitivity and researching difficult subjectsOperationalisation and the choice of research topicTime, cost and the practical limits on research
Key Concepts and Theories of Research
Topic overviewValidity and what threatens itReliability, standardisation and replicationRepresentativeness and the sampleGeneralisabilityObjectivity, value freedom and biasEthics as a criterion for judging researchPositivism and the scientific study of societyInterpretivism and verstehenInteractionism, phenomenology and interpretivist research in practiceRealism and the search for underlying causesThe suicide debate as a test of the three positionsChoosing a method: theory, practicality and ethics
Social Inequality: Evidence and Patterns
Topic overviewSocial inequality and stratificationMeasuring social class in the contemporary UKClass inequality in income and wealthClass inequality in health and life expectancyClass inequality in education and employmentGender inequality in work and payGender inequality beyond the workplaceEthnic inequality in employment and incomeEthnic inequality in health, education and criminal justiceAge and inequalityThe changing distribution of income and wealthSocial mobility in the contemporary UK
Theories and Explanations of Inequality and Stratification
Topic overviewFunctionalist theories of stratificationCriticisms of functionalist stratification theoryThe New RightMarxist theories of classNeo-Marxist theoriesWeberian theories of stratificationNeo-Weberian theoriesFeminist explanations of inequalityExplaining gender inequality beyond feminismTheories of racism and ethnic inequalityExplaining age inequalityPostmodernist accounts of inequalityComparing and evaluating the theories
Option: Crime and DevianceCrime
Topic overviewDefining crime and deviance as social constructsThe media, moral panics and the social construction of crimeMeasuring crime: official government statisticsVictim studies and self-report studiesThe social distribution of crime by class and ageThe social distribution of crime by genderThe social distribution of crime by ethnicityFunctionalist explanations of crime and devianceSub-cultural explanations of crime and devianceMarxist and neo-Marxist explanations of crimeInteractionist explanations and labelling theoryRight realism, left realism and crime control policyFeminist and postmodernist explanations of crime
Option: Health and DisabilityHealth
Topic overviewDefining health and illness as social constructsThe medical and social models of disabilityOfficial statistics, patterns and trends in healthHealth and social classHealth and genderHealth and ethnicityHealth and ageArtefact and self-selection explanationsCultural and material explanationsAccess to and provision of health care in the UKThe biomedical model, medicalisation and health professionalsFunctionalist and Marxist approaches to healthInteractionist, feminist and postmodernist approaches to health
Option: PoliticsPolitics
Topic overviewPower, authority and legitimacyPluralist theories of powerElite theories of powerMarxist and neo-Marxist theories of powerFunctionalist, Weberian and postmodernist theories of powerPatterns and trends in political participationPolitical participation and social classVoting behaviour and partisan de-alignmentPolitical participation and genderPolitical participation, ethnicity and agePolitical parties and the democratic processPressure groups and policy makingNew social movements and anti-capitalist movements
Option: World SociologyWorld sociology
Topic overviewDefining and measuring developmentGlobal inequality in healthGlobal inequality in educationEmployment and the global division of labourGlobal poverty, marginalisation and exclusionPopulation, urbanisation and demographic changeAid and its criticsDebt, structural adjustment and development policyGlobalisation, transnational corporations and world tradeNon-governmental organisations and international institutionsModernisation theoryMarxist, dependency and world systems theoriesFeminist and people-centred accounts of development
Option: Education
- 13 subtopics
- 39 things to know
- Component 1 Section C
- Education, one of three Component 1 Section C options
What Option: Education covers
Option: Education is examined in Component 1 Section C — one option of three, with media and religion. It covers the role and function of education in society, functionalist perspectives on education, Marxist perspectives on education, interactionist perspectives and labelling in education, feminist perspectives on education, the New Right and education, postmodernist perspectives on education, patterns and trends in attainment and participation, material factors and educational achievement, cultural factors: deprivation, language and cultural capital, explaining the gender and ethnicity gaps, streaming, setting and pupil subcultures and education policy and marketisation.
Where it is assessed
Component 1 Section C
Socialisation, Identity and Culture, one option of three.
Check the Eduqas specification ↗The 13 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The role and function of education in societyFormal curriculum of a school, hidden curriculum and vocationalism in education.Open →
- Functionalist perspectives on educationSecond function Durkheim assigned to education, tumin's criticism of Davis and Moore and one strength of the functionalist approach to education.Open →
- Marxist perspectives on educationBowles and Gintis and counter-school culture Willis identified.Open →
- Interactionist perspectives and labelling in educationLabelling in the context of schooling, self-fulfilling prophecy and design of Rosenthal and Jacobson's Pygmalion study.Open →
- Feminist perspectives on educationGeneral feminist claim about the education system, two policy initiatives liberal feminists point to as successes and strongest criticism of feminist accounts of education today.Open →
- The New Right and educationCentral New Right claim about state provision of education and cream-skimming and silt-shifting.Open →
- Postmodernist perspectives on educationPersonalised learning and one strength of the postmodernist reading of education.Open →
- Patterns and trends in attainment and participationPattern of gender attainment at GCSE in England, pattern of gendered subject choice at A level and pattern for Black Caribbean pupils in English schools.Open →
- Material factors and educational achievementMaterial deprivation and geography of educational disadvantage.Open →
- Cultural factors: deprivation, language and cultural capitalCultural deprivation as used in the sociology of education, elaborated code and features Sugarman identified in working-class subculture.Open →
- Explaining the gender and ethnicity gapsCrisis of masculinity argument, feminisation of schooling argument and four responses Sewell identified among black boys.Open →
- Streaming, setting and pupil subculturesStreaming in a school, pro-school subculture and anti-school subculture.Open →
- Education policy and marketisationFree school and pupil premium.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
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What did Strand find when he analysed the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England?
Key term
What is meant by the formal curriculum of a school?
Key term
What is the second function Durkheim assigned to education?
Key term
How do Marxists locate education within Marx's model of society?
Key term
What do interactionists study in education that structural theories do not?
Key term
What is the general feminist claim about the education system?
Key term
What is the central New Right claim about state provision of education?
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Why is eligibility for free school meals used as a measure of social class in education statistics?
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How does poor housing affect a child's schooling?
Key term
Define cultural deprivation as used in the sociology of education.
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What did Lacey mean by differentiation?
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What system did the 1944 Education Act create?
Key term
Define the hidden curriculum.
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What did Parsons argue in 1961 about the school class?
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What distinction did Althusser draw in 1971 between kinds of state apparatus?
Key term
Define labelling in the context of schooling.
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How do liberal feminists explain gender inequality in education?
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What did Chubb and Moe conclude from their comparison of American schools?
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What did Lyotard argue about knowledge that postmodernists apply to education?
Key term
What has happened to the class gap in attainment over the last fifty years?
Key term
How does diet and health link to attainment?
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Describe the study Douglas published in 1964.
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What change did Sharpe find when she repeated her study of girls' priorities?
Key term
What did Lacey mean by polarisation?
Evaluation
Give two criticisms of the tripartite system.
Key term
Why is education described as an agency of secondary socialisation?
Key term
Explain the difference between particularistic and universalistic standards in Parsons' account.
Who and when
According to Althusser, what two things does education reproduce?
Key term
Explain the self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Name two policy initiatives liberal feminists point to as successes.
Key term
What reform did Chubb and Moe propose?
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What do Usher and Edwards argue education must become?
Key term
How does social class relate to entry to higher education in Britain?
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What did Smith and Noble identify as the hidden costs of free schooling?
Key term
What is the elaborated code, and why does it matter at school?
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Give two equal-opportunity measures credited with improving girls' attainment.
Key term
Describe a pro-school subculture.
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What did Circular 10/65 ask local authorities to do?
Take Option: Education further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Cream-skimming vs Silt-shifting
Cream-skimming: a school recruiting the pupils cheapest to teach. Silt-shifting: it means offloading the most expensive ones elsewhere.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is meant by the formal curriculum of a school?
Model answer
The formal curriculum is the timetabled subject content a school is required to teach. Qualifications and examinations are built directly on it.
- 2
Define the hidden curriculum.
Model answer
The hidden curriculum is the set of values, attitudes and habits pupils absorb at school without being formally taught them. Punctuality, obedience, competition and respect for hierarchy are the usual examples.
- 3
Why is education described as an agency of secondary socialisation?
Model answer
Secondary socialisation is the learning of norms and values outside the family. Schools carry it out from the age of four or five and teach the impersonal rules of wider society.
- 4
Explain what sociologists mean by the selection or allocation function of education.
Model answer
Selection means education sorts pupils by measured achievement and steers them towards different kinds of work. Qualifications act as the sorting device.
- 5
What is credentialism?
Model answer
Credentialism is the growing use of qualifications to control entry to jobs. Employers screen applicants by certificate rather than by demonstrated skill.
- 6
Give two ways in which schools contribute to social control.
Model answer
Schools enforce rules, uniform and timetables that train pupils in obedience. Schools also reward conformity through praise, prizes and references.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Option: Education revision questions
- What does Option: Education cover in Eduqas A-Level Sociology?
- 13 subtopics: the role and function of education in society, functionalist perspectives on education, marxist perspectives on education, interactionist perspectives and labelling in education, feminist perspectives on education, the new right and education, postmodernist perspectives on education, patterns and trends in attainment and participation, material factors and educational achievement, cultural factors: deprivation, language and cultural capital, explaining the gender and ethnicity gaps, streaming, setting and pupil subcultures and education policy and marketisation. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Option: Education organised?
- By the Eduqas A200QS specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Option: Education, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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