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: World Sociology
- 13 subtopics
- 39 things to know
- Component 3 Section B
- World Sociology, one of four Component 3 Section B options
What Option: World Sociology covers
Option: World Sociology is examined in Component 3 Section B, on the theme of power — one option of four. It covers defining and measuring development, global inequality in health, global inequality in education, employment and the global division of labour, global poverty, marginalisation and exclusion, population, urbanisation and demographic change, aid and its critics, debt, structural adjustment and development policy, globalisation, transnational corporations and world trade, non-governmental organisations and international institutions, modernisation theory, Marxist, dependency and world systems theories and feminist and people-centred accounts of development.
Where it is assessed
Component 3 Section B
Social Differentiation, Power and Stratification, one option of four.
Check the Eduqas specification ↗The 13 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Defining and measuring developmentGross domestic product, human Development Index and capabilities approach.Open →
- Global inequality in healthMain patterns of global inequality in health, epidemiological transition and maternal mortality.Open →
- Global inequality in educationMain patterns of global inequality in education, difference between enrolment and completion and learning crisis.Open →
- Employment and the global division of labourInternational division of labour, informal economy and consequences of employment being largely informal.Open →
- Global poverty, marginalisation and exclusionPurchasing power parity, multidimensional poverty and poverty trap.Open →
- Population, urbanisation and demographic changeDemographic transition model, demographic dividend and case that urbanisation contributes to development.Open →
- Aid and its criticsOfficial development assistance, difference between bilateral and multilateral aid and tied aid.Open →
- Debt, structural adjustment and development policyDebt servicing, odious debt and structural adjustment programmes.Open →
- Globalisation, transnational corporations and world tradeMain dimensions of globalisation, transnational corporation and transfer pricing.Open →
- Non-governmental organisations and international institutionsNon-governmental organisation, sustainability in a development project and participatory development.Open →
- Modernisation theoryModernisation theory and rostow's five stages of economic growth.Open →
- Marxist, dependency and world systems theoriesDependency theory, development of underdevelopment and metropolis-satellite relationship.Open →
- Feminist and people-centred accounts of developmentWomen in development approach, gender and development approach and triple role of women in developing countries.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
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Evaluation
What are the limitations of gross domestic product per head as a measure of development?
Numbers
What is the Human Development Index?
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What are the main patterns of global inequality in health?
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What is maternal mortality, and why is it treated as a sensitive indicator of development?
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What is meant by the double burden of disease?
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What are the main patterns of global inequality in education?
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What is the difference between enrolment and completion, and why does it matter?
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Why is female education treated as central to development?
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What is the informal economy?
Process
What is meant by an export processing zone?
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What is a global commodity chain?
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How is extreme poverty measured internationally?
Numbers
What has happened to extreme poverty globally since 1990?
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Why is the fall in global poverty contested?
Evaluation
Why has the Malthusian argument been criticised?
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What is the demographic transition model?
Process
Why does population grow rapidly in the middle stage of the transition?
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What is tied aid?
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What is the difference between emergency relief and development aid?
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What is the case in favour of aid?
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What is debt servicing, and why is it a burden?
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What is odious debt?
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What are structural adjustment programmes?
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What are the main dimensions of globalisation?
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What distinguishes hyperglobalist, sceptical and transformationalist positions?
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What is the case that transnational corporations hinder development?
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What is the difference between a northern and a southern non-governmental organisation?
Numbers
What are the main international institutions in development?
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How are the international financial institutions governed, and why is that contested?
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What is modernisation theory?
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What did Rostow mean by take-off?
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How does modernisation theory explain the persistence of poverty?
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What did Andre Gunder Frank argue?
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What policies follow from dependency theory?
Numbers
What is world systems theory?
Evaluation
What criticisms are made of the women in development approach?
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What is meant by the triple role of women in developing countries?
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How does land ownership affect women in developing countries?
Take Option: World Sociology further
The same content, four other ways.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is meant by development?
Model answer
Development is the process by which a society's living standards, capabilities and opportunities improve. Sociologists disagree over whether it should be defined by economic growth, by human wellbeing, or by a country's capacity to choose its own path.
- 2
What is gross domestic product, and why is it used as a measure of development?
Model answer
Gross domestic product is the total value of goods and services produced in a country in a year. Divided by population, it gives income per head. Gross domestic product is used as a measure of development because it is calculated consistently and is available for almost every country.
- 3
What are the limitations of gross domestic product per head as a measure of development?
Model answer
Gross domestic product per head says nothing about how the wealth is distributed. The measure omits unpaid and subsistence work. Activity that harms wellbeing, such as pollution clean-up, is counted as a gain. Improvement in health, education or freedom registers not at all.
- 4
What is the Human Development Index?
Model answer
The Human Development Index combines life expectancy, education and income per head into a single figure between zero and one. The United Nations Development Programme has published it since 1990. The index measures development by human outcomes rather than by output alone.
- 5
Why was the Human Development Index created?
Model answer
The Human Development Index was created to shift attention from economic growth to what growth is for. Its designers argued that income per head could not capture wellbeing. Two countries with the same income may differ greatly in how long and how well their people live.
- 6
What criticisms are made of the Human Development Index?
Model answer
The Human Development Index still averages across a population, so it hides inequality within a country. The weighting of its three components rests on a choice that is not obvious. Political freedom, security and environmental quality are all omitted.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Option: World Sociology revision questions
- What does Option: World Sociology cover in Eduqas A-Level Sociology?
- 13 subtopics: defining and measuring development, global inequality in health, global inequality in education, employment and the global division of labour, global poverty, marginalisation and exclusion, population, urbanisation and demographic change, aid and its critics, debt, structural adjustment and development policy, globalisation, transnational corporations and world trade, non-governmental organisations and international institutions, modernisation theory, marxist, dependency and world systems theories and feminist and people-centred accounts of development. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Option: World Sociology organised?
- By the Eduqas A200QS specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Option: World Sociology, 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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