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
Socialisation and Its Agencies
- 13 subtopics
- 39 things to know
- Component 1 Section A
What Socialisation and Its Agencies covers
Socialisation and Its Agencies is examined in Component 1 Section A, Socialisation, Identity and Culture — compulsory. It covers primary socialisation, secondary socialisation, role models and imitation, sanctions and the enforcement of norms, the family and cultural transmission, peer groups and peer socialisation, education as an agency of socialisation, religion as an agency of socialisation, the media as an agency of socialisation, work and occupational socialisation, informal social control, formal social control and cultural reproduction and the limits of socialisation.
Where it is assessed
Component 1 Section A
Socialisation, Identity and Culture.
Check the Eduqas specification ↗The 13 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Primary socialisationThe first and deepest stage, and why functionalists treat it as decisive: Parsons on personalities fitted to a society, Cooley on primary groups, and what internalisation actually involves.Open →
- Secondary socialisationSecondary socialisation, anticipatory socialisation and agency of socialisation.Open →
- Role models and imitationRole model and social learning theory.Open →
- Sanctions and the enforcement of normsTerm sanction, positive sanction and negative sanction.Open →
- The family and cultural transmissionHow language, religion, class expectations and gender roles pass from one generation to the next, and the competing readings of it from functionalists, Marxists and feminists.Open →
- Peer groups and peer socialisationPeer group and peer pressure.Open →
- Education as an agency of socialisationMeritocracy in education and hidden curriculum.Open →
- Religion as an agency of socialisationWhat religion teaches beyond belief — Weber on Calvinist discipline, language and festivals as community markers, heritage-language classes in mosques and temples, and Bruce on what falling attendance breaks.Open →
- The media as an agency of socialisationHypodermic syringe model, two-step flow model and uses and gratifications model.Open →
- Work and occupational socialisationOccupational socialisation, canteen culture in policing and restrictive practice on the shop floor.Open →
- Informal social controlApproval, gossip, ridicule and reputation, the sanctions no institution administers, and why sociologists treat them as more constant than the formal kind.Open →
- Formal social controlFormal social control, role of the police in social control and legitimacy of formal control.Open →
- Cultural reproduction and the limits of socialisationWhy socialisation is never total: Wrong's oversocialised conception, resistance and counter-cultures, and the interactionist case that people negotiate roles rather than absorb them.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
How do formal agencies of social control work, and how does Althusser's account differ?
Key term
What is secondary socialisation?
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What is a role model?
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Define the term sanction.
Key term
What is cultural transmission?
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What is a peer group?
Numbers
What did Durkheim argue education does for society?
Key term
How does religion socialise its members?
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Why is the media described as an increasingly powerful agency?
Key term
What is occupational socialisation?
Key term
What is social control?
Key term
What is cultural reproduction?
Key term
What is socialisation?
Process
How does secondary socialisation differ from the primary stage?
Key term
Why is imitation important in learning a culture?
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What is a positive sanction?
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Why do functionalists see the family as the key agency of transmission?
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What is peer pressure?
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What did Durkheim mean by education teaching specialist skills?
Numbers
What did Durkheim argue about religion and solidarity?
Key term
What is the hypodermic syringe model?
Process
How does a workplace teach its informal rules?
Key term
What is informal social control?
Key term
What is formal social control?
Numbers
How did Bourdieu explain cultural reproduction?
Key term
What is primary socialisation?
Numbers
What did Parsons mean by particularistic and universalistic standards?
Evaluation
Give one criticism of the Bobo doll study.
Key term
What is a negative sanction?
Numbers
What four functions did George Murdock give the family?
Key term
Why do friendship groups matter more in adolescence?
Numbers
What is meant by meritocracy in education?
Key term
What did Durkheim mean by the sacred and the profane?
Evaluation
Give one criticism of the hypodermic syringe model.
Numbers
What is meant by canteen culture in policing?
Key term
Name three agents of informal social control.
Key term
Name four agencies of formal social control.
Key term
What did Bourdieu mean by symbolic violence?
Take Socialisation and Its Agencies further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Anticipatory socialisation vs Resocialisation
Anticipatory socialisation: rehearsing a position before entering it. Resocialisation: replacing expectations already held with different ones.
Imitation vs Internalisation
Imitation: copying behaviour that has been observed. Internalisation: accepting a rule so fully that it feels like your own.
Cultural transmission vs Cultural reproduction
Cultural transmission: the passing of a way of life to the next generation. Cultural reproduction: stressing that privilege and disadvantage travel with it.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is socialisation?
Model answer
Socialisation is the lifelong process through which people learn the culture of their society. Norms, values, language and roles are absorbed through it.
- 2
What is primary socialisation?
Model answer
Primary socialisation is the earliest learning of culture, normally inside the family. Language, basic rules and emotional attachments are formed at this stage.
- 3
Why did Talcott Parsons describe the family as a factory producing personalities?
Model answer
Parsons argued in 1955 that families turn out personalities fitted to their society. Children internalise shared values at home before meeting wider institutions.
- 4
What two irreducible functions did Parsons give the family?
Model answer
Parsons identified the primary socialisation of children and the stabilisation of adult personalities. Both remain with the family in industrial society.
- 5
What did Charles Cooley mean by a primary group?
Model answer
Cooley argued in 1909 that primary groups are small and intimate, built on face-to-face contact. The family and close friends are primary groups.
- 6
What is internalisation?
Model answer
Internalisation is accepting a rule so completely that following it feels natural. An internalised rule is obeyed without any outside pressure.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Socialisation and Its Agencies revision questions
- What does Socialisation and Its Agencies cover in Eduqas A-Level Sociology?
- 13 subtopics: primary socialisation, secondary socialisation, role models and imitation, sanctions and the enforcement of norms, the family and cultural transmission, peer groups and peer socialisation, education as an agency of socialisation, religion as an agency of socialisation, the media as an agency of socialisation, work and occupational socialisation, informal social control, formal social control and cultural reproduction and the limits of socialisation. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Socialisation and Its Agencies organised?
- By the Eduqas A200QS specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Socialisation and Its Agencies, 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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