Key term
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: Religion
- 13 subtopics
- 39 things to know
- Component 1 Section C
- Religion, one of three Component 1 Section C options
What Option: Religion covers
Option: Religion is examined in Component 1 Section C — one option of three, with education and media. It covers defining religion and its role in society, functionalist perspectives on religion, Marxist and neo-Marxist perspectives on religion, feminist perspectives on religion, Weberian perspectives on religion, postmodernist perspectives on religion, secularisation: the evidence for decline, secularisation: the case against, churches, denominations, sects and cults, new religious movements and the new age, fundamentalism and religion in a globalising world, religiosity by class, gender, ethnicity and age and religion and social policy in contemporary society.
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.
- Defining religion and its role in societySubstantive definition of religion, functional definition of religion and social constructionist approach to defining religion.Open →
- Functionalist perspectives on religionDurkheim on the sacred, the profane and the Arunta, Malinowski on anxiety, Parsons on meaning and Bellah on civil religion — and Worsley's objection.Open →
- Marxist and neo-Marxist perspectives on religionLiberation theology and one strength of the Marxist approach to religion.Open →
- Feminist perspectives on religionDe Beauvoir, Daly, El Saadawi and Armstrong on religion as patriarchal, against Woodhead, Holm and Watson on the ways women use religious practice for their own purposes.Open →
- Weberian perspectives on religionDoctrine of predestination, calling in Calvinist teaching and this-worldly asceticism.Open →
- Postmodernist perspectives on religionReligious consumerism, spiritual shopping and disembedded religion.Open →
- Secularisation: the evidence for declineDisengagement in secularisation theory, structural differentiation and internal secularisation.Open →
- Secularisation: the case againstVicarious religion, religious market theory and strongest reply to Davie's believing without belonging.Open →
- Churches, denominations, sects and cultsThree characteristics of a church, three characteristics of a sect and audience cult.Open →
- New religious movements and the new ageMarginality as an explanation for joining a sect, relative deprivation and deprivation did Glock and Stark identify.Open →
- Fundamentalism and religion in a globalising worldReligious fundamentalism, three characteristics of fundamentalist movements and huntington's clash of civilizations thesis.Open →
- Religiosity by class, gender, ethnicity and ageOverall pattern of religiosity by gender and overall pattern of religiosity by age in Britain.Open →
- Religion and social policy in contemporary societyEstablished church and prevent duty.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
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What does the law require of collective worship in English schools?
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What is the Prevent duty?
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What is a substantive definition of religion?
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Which society did Durkheim study to develop his theory of religion?
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What did Marx mean by calling religion the opium of the people?
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What is the central feminist claim about religion?
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What do postmodernists argue has happened to religion?
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How did Wilson define secularisation?
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What is vicarious religion?
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What distinction did Troeltsch draw between a church and a sect?
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When did new religious movements grow most rapidly in the West?
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Define religious fundamentalism.
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How does social class relate to the type of religious organisation joined?
Evaluation
Give one weakness of substantive definitions of religion.
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What did Durkheim conclude about the totem?
Who and when
How does religion legitimate inequality, according to Marxists?
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What did de Beauvoir argue about religion and women?
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What is the central argument of Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism?
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What did Lyon argue in Jesus in Disneyland?
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How has the proportion reporting no religion changed?
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What evidence supports the idea of vicarious religion?
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List three characteristics of a church.
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What is marginality as an explanation for joining a sect?
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What did Giddens argue about fundamentalism?
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Which social groups are most involved in new age spirituality?
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What is a functional definition of religion?
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What did Durkheim mean by the collective conscience?
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What did Lenin add to the Marxist account of religion?
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What did Armstrong argue about the history of religion?
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What is the doctrine of predestination?
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What is meant by religious consumerism?
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What has happened to religious rites of passage in Britain?
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What is religious market theory?
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List three characteristics of a sect.
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What is relative deprivation?
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What does Giddens contrast with fundamentalism?
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How is class related to churchgoing in Britain?
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What is meant by an established church?
Take Option: Religion further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
An ageing effect vs A generational effect
An ageing effect: individuals change as they grow old. A generational effect: it means each cohort differs from the last and stays that way.
Cultural defence vs Cultural transition
Cultural defence: religion protecting an identity under threat at home. Cultural transition: it means religion supporting a community through relocation.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is a substantive definition of religion?
Model answer
A substantive definition identifies religion by what it contains, usually a belief in a supernatural or divine power. Weber's definition of religion as belief in a superior power beyond nature is the classic example.
- 2
Give one weakness of substantive definitions of religion.
Model answer
Substantive definitions exclude belief systems with no god, such as Theravada Buddhism. Critics argue that they take Western monotheism as the standard for everything else.
- 3
What is a functional definition of religion?
Model answer
A functional definition identifies religion by what it does for individuals or for society. Durkheim's account of religion as the source of collective solidarity is the leading example.
- 4
Give one weakness of functional definitions of religion.
Model answer
Functional definitions are so wide that nationalism, communism and support for a football club can qualify. Critics argue that a definition covering everything explains nothing.
- 5
What is a social constructionist approach to defining religion?
Model answer
Social constructionists argue that no single definition is possible because religion means different things to different people. Aldridge argues that what counts as a religion is itself contested and often decided by courts and states.
- 6
What did Durkheim mean by the sacred and the profane?
Model answer
Durkheim argued in 1912 that every religion divides the world into the sacred and the profane. Sacred things inspire awe and are set apart, while profane things are ordinary and everyday.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Option: Religion revision questions
- What does Option: Religion cover in Eduqas A-Level Sociology?
- 13 subtopics: defining religion and its role in society, functionalist perspectives on religion, marxist and neo-marxist perspectives on religion, feminist perspectives on religion, weberian perspectives on religion, postmodernist perspectives on religion, secularisation: the evidence for decline, secularisation: the case against, churches, denominations, sects and cults, new religious movements and the new age, fundamentalism and religion in a globalising world, religiosity by class, gender, ethnicity and age and religion and social policy in contemporary society. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Option: Religion organised?
- By the Eduqas A200QS specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Option: Religion, 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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