Key term
WJEC A-Level Sociology 601-5237-0
Culture and the Social Construction of Culture
Topic overviewCulture as a way of lifeNorms, values and beliefsRoles, status and role conflictAspects of culture: dress, language, food and musicHeritage and cultural tradition in WalesHigh culture, popular culture and global cultureNature, nurture and the social construction of cultureCultural diversity and sub-cultures
Socialisation and Its Agencies
Topic overviewPrimary and secondary socialisationRole models, imitation and sanctionsFamilies and primary cultural transmissionPeer groups as an agency of socialisationEducation as an agency of socialisationReligion as an agency of socialisationThe media as an agency of socialisationWork, resocialisation and total institutionsFormal and informal social control
Socialisation and Identity
Topic overviewPersonal and social identityTheories of identity: structural, interactionist and postmodernGender socialisation and gender identityMasculinity, femininity and change in gender identitiesSocial class and identityClass change, mobility and the underclassEthnicity and identityNationality, national identity and BritishnessWelsh identity and the Welsh language
Families and HouseholdsAcquiring Culture
Topic overviewDefining families and householdsFamily forms and family diversity in England and WalesEthnic, cultural and religious diversity in family lifeMarriage, cohabitation and singlehoodDivorce and separationFertility, birth rates and family sizeLife expectancy, ageing and the beanpole familyThe domestic division of labourPower, decision-making and domestic violenceChildhood and parent–child relationshipsFunctionalist and New Right theories of the familyMarxist and feminist theories of the familyPostmodernism, the life course and personal life
Youth CulturesAcquiring Culture
Topic overviewYouth and the social construction of adolescenceThe media and the formation of youth cultureEconomic change, consumption and the youth marketGlobalisation and youth cultureSocial class and youth subculturesGender and youth cultureEthnicity and youth cultureNational identity, Welshness and youth cultureNeo-tribes and the changing nature of youth cultureYouth deviance, delinquency and crimeAnti-school subcultures and the labelling of youthFunctionalist and Marxist theories of youth cultureFeminist, interactionist and postmodernist theories of youth culture
Research Methods: Primary and Secondary
Topic overviewQuestionnairesStructured interviewsUnstructured and semi-structured interviewsFocus groupsParticipant observationNon-participant and structured observationThe social surveyEthnographic methodsLongitudinal studiesExisting sociological research as secondary dataOfficial statistics and Welsh Government dataPersonal and public documents
Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues
Topic overviewTarget populations, sampling frames and accessSimple random and systematic random samplingStratified random samplingQuota samplingSnowball and volunteer samplingPurposive and opportunity samplingInformed consent, deception and the right to withdrawAnonymity, confidentiality and privacySensitivity, vulnerability and protection from harmPractical constraints: operationalisation, time and cost
Key Concepts and Theories of Research
Topic overviewValidity in sociological researchReliability and replicationRepresentativeness and generalisabilityObjectivity, value freedom and biasEthics as a criterion for judging researchPositivism and the scientific study of societyInterpretivism and verstehenRealism and the critical realist approachChoosing an approach: theory and method in practice
EducationUnderstanding Society
Topic overviewThe role and function of education in societySocial class and differential attainmentGender and differential attainmentEthnicity and differential attainmentParticipation, choice and the marketisation of educationEducation policy in England and Wales since 1944Welsh-medium education and the Curriculum for WalesMaterial factors and educational attainmentCultural capital and cultural deprivationLabelling, streaming and pupil subculturesFunctionalist and New Right theories of educationMarxist theories of educationFeminist, interactionist and postmodernist theories of education
MediaUnderstanding Society
Topic overviewThe role and function of the media in contemporary societyModels of media effects: the hypodermic syringe and cultural effectsActive audiences: uses and gratifications and reception theoryMoral panics and folk devilsNew media, globalisation and the digital divideOwnership and control of the mediaMedia professionals, news values and agenda settingRepresentations of social class and ageRepresentations of genderRepresentations of ethnicity, nationality and disabilityMedia policy and regulation in Wales and EnglandPluralist and Marxist theories of the mediaFunctionalist, feminist and postmodernist theories of the media
ReligionUnderstanding Society
Topic overviewThe role and function of religion in contemporary societyReligion in Wales: chapel, nonconformity and the Welsh languageReligion as a conservative force and as a force for changePatterns of religious participation by social class and ageGender and religiosityEthnicity and religiosity in England and WalesChurches, denominations, sects and cultsNew religious movements and new age movementsFundamentalism and religion in a globalised worldSecularisation in England and WalesReligion and social policy in England and WalesFunctionalist, Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of religionWeberian, feminist and postmodernist theories of religion
Crime and DeviancePower and Control
Topic overviewDefining crime, deviance and social controlCrime and deviance as social constructsThe media, moral panics and the fear of crimeSocial class and crimeGender and feminist explanations of crimeEthnicity, policing and the criminal justice systemAge and crimePolice recorded crime and the dark figureVictim surveys and self-report studiesCrime, policing and social policy in WalesFunctionalist and subcultural theories of crimeMarxist and neo-Marxist theories of crimeInteractionism, labelling and postmodernist theories of crimeLeft realism, right realism and crime control policy
Health and DisabilityPower and Control
Topic overviewDefining health, illness and diseaseThe biomedical model and the social model of healthThe social construction of disabilityOfficial statistics and the measurement of healthSocial class and health inequalitiesGender and healthEthnicity and healthAge and healthArtefact, selection, cultural and material explanationsAccess to and provision of health care in England and WalesMedicalisation and the role of health professionalsHealth policy in England and WalesFunctionalist, Marxist and interactionist theories of healthFeminist and postmodernist views of health and disability
World SociologyPower and Control
Topic overviewDefining and measuring developmentGlobal inequalities in health and educationEmployment, poverty and the global division of labourPatterns of inequality in England and WalesPopulation, demographic change and developmentUrbanisation and marginalisationAid, debt and non-governmental organisationsGlobalisation and developmentTransnational corporations and world tradeModernisation theory and its criticsMarxist, dependency and world systems theoriesFeminist explanations of development
Applied Methods: Designing Sociological Research
Topic overviewChoosing a research topic and framing the aimHypotheses, operationalisation and indicatorsJustifying the chosen methodAnticipating problems with the chosen method and their impactSelecting and justifying a sampleAnticipating problems with the sample and their impactEthical issues in a research designPractical issues in a research designPresenting collected data
Social Inequality: Evidence and Patterns
Topic overviewMeasuring social class in BritainThe distribution of income and wealthWork and pay: occupational inequalityClass inequality: the evidenceGender inequality: the evidenceEthnic inequality: the evidenceAge inequality: the evidenceDisability and inequalityPower and political inequalityPoverty and social exclusionInequality in Wales: the evidence base
Theories and Explanations of Inequality and Stratification
Topic overviewSocial stratification: the core conceptsFunctionalist explanations of inequalityMarxist explanations of inequalityNeo-Marxist explanations of inequalityWeberian explanations of inequalityNeo-Weberian explanations of inequalityFeminist explanations of inequalityPostmodernist explanations of inequalityNew Right explanations of inequalityComparing and evaluating theories of stratification
Socialisation and Identity
- 9 subtopics
- 27 things to know
- AS Unit 1
What Socialisation and Identity covers
Socialisation and Identity is examined in Unit 1 Section A, Acquiring Culture — compulsory for every student. It covers personal and social identity, theories of identity: structural, interactionist and postmodern, gender socialisation and gender identity, masculinity, femininity and change in gender identities, social class and identity, class change, mobility and the underclass, ethnicity and identity, nationality, national identity and Britishness and Welsh identity and the Welsh language.
The 9 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Personal and social identityCollective identity, what Goffman meant by impression management and how the body has become part of identity.Open →
- Theories of identity: structural, interactionist and postmodernFunctionalist view of identity, marxist view of identity and what Marxists mean by false consciousness.Open →
- Gender socialisation and gender identityTransgender identity and radical feminist explanation of femininity.Open →
- Masculinity, femininity and change in gender identitiesCrisis of masculinity and new man.Open →
- Social class and identitySocial class and status symbols.Open →
- Class change, mobility and the underclassRecall questions on the affluent worker research, proletarianisation, the underclass debate, the precariat, long-range mobility, relative poverty, and how class shapes ambition.Open →
- Ethnicity and identityEthnic minority and hybridity in ethnic identity.Open →
- Nationality, national identity and BritishnessRecall questions on imagined communities, banal nationalism, sport and schooling as carriers of belonging, civic and ethnic nationalism, migration, and what the census shows in Wales.Open →
- Welsh identity and the Welsh languageY Fro Gymraeg, legal status of the Welsh language and hybrid Welsh identity.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
Explain what Goffman meant by impression management.
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Why is identity described as situational?
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How does labelling shape identity?
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Besides hegemonic masculinity, which forms of masculinity did Connell identify?
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What is meant by the new man?
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What is the precariat?
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Distinguish ethnicity from race.
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What is hybridity in ethnic identity?
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Give a Welsh example of a long-established minority ethnic community.
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How does education transmit national identity?
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Distinguish nationality from national identity.
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Distinguish civic from ethnic nationalism.
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On what elements is Welsh identity built?
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What did Balsom's Three-Wales Model claim?
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How has migration into Wales affected Welsh identity?
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Distinguish sex from gender.
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Define social class.
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Explain what Marxists mean by false consciousness.
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What evidence suggests gender is learned rather than biological?
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How did Marx define class?
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What is proletarianisation?
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What is the feminist view of identity?
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How do parents socialise children into gender?
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What did Mac an Ghaill find about masculinity in the school he studied?
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How does the school a person attended signal their class position?
Key term
Define social mobility.
Take Socialisation and Identity further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Personal identity vs Social identity
Personal identity: what distinguishes an individual from everyone else. Social identity: it comes from membership of a group and is shared with its other members.
Hegemonic masculinity vs Complicit masculinity
Hegemonic masculinity: the dominant, most valued form of masculinity in a society. Complicit masculinity: it benefits from the dominant form without fully living up to it.
Intragenerational mobility vs Intergenerational mobility
Intragenerational mobility: movement up or down the class structure within one person's lifetime. Intergenerational mobility: movement between a parent's class position and their child's.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Define identity.
Model answer
Identity is a person's sense of who they are, made up of the characteristics, group memberships and roles they treat as defining them and by which others recognise them.
- 2
Distinguish personal identity from social identity.
Model answer
Personal identity is what makes an individual unique, such as their name, biography and personality, while social identity comes from membership of groups such as a gender, class, ethnic group or nation.
- 3
Why do sociologists say identity is socially constructed?
Model answer
Identity is formed in interaction with others out of the categories a society makes available, so which identities exist and what they mean vary between societies and change over time.
- 4
What is a collective identity?
Model answer
A collective identity is a sense of belonging shared by members of a group who see themselves as alike and as different from those outside it.
- 5
What did Jenkins argue about how identity is formed?
Model answer
Jenkins argued that identity is always a two-way process of internal self-definition and external categorisation by others, so it is negotiated rather than simply chosen.
- 6
Explain what Goffman meant by impression management.
Model answer
Goffman argued that people work to control the impression others form of them, managing dress, speech and setting like actors before an audience, so identity is performed.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Socialisation and Identity revision questions
- What does Socialisation and Identity cover in WJEC A-Level Sociology?
- 9 subtopics: personal and social identity, theories of identity: structural, interactionist and postmodern, gender socialisation and gender identity, masculinity, femininity and change in gender identities, social class and identity, class change, mobility and the underclass, ethnicity and identity, nationality, national identity and britishness and welsh identity and the welsh language. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Socialisation and Identity organised?
- By the WJEC 601-5237-0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Socialisation and Identity, 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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