Key term
WJEC AS-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
Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues
- 10 subtopics
- 30 things to know
- AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 4
What Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues covers
Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues is examined in Unit 2 Section A, Methods of Sociological Enquiry, and drawn on again in Unit 4. It covers target populations, sampling frames and access, simple random and systematic random sampling, stratified random sampling, quota sampling, snowball and volunteer sampling, purposive and opportunity sampling, informed consent, deception and the right to withdraw, anonymity, confidentiality and privacy, sensitivity, vulnerability and protection from harm and practical constraints: operationalisation, time and cost.
Where it is assessed
AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 4
Methods of Sociological Enquiry, and again in the applied methods question.
Check the WJEC specification ↗The 10 subtopics
Each one has its own page. WJEC AS Sociology students sit this topic in the first year.
- Target populations, sampling frames and accessTarget population of a study, sampling frame and gatekeeper in the context of gaining access.Open →
- Simple random and systematic random samplingSimple random sample, systematic random sampling and risk of periodicity in systematic sampling.Open →
- Stratified random samplingStratified random sample, stratum in sampling and why stratification is impossible without population data.Open →
- Quota samplingRecall questions on how quotas are filled, why no sampling frame is needed, who gets missed on the street, the bias interviewers introduce, and when the results still hold up.Open →
- Snowball and volunteer samplingSnowball sampling, volunteer sample and why volunteers are unlikely to represent the population.Open →
- Purposive and opportunity samplingPurposive sampling, opportunity sample and two advantages of opportunity sampling.Open →
- Informed consent, deception and the right to withdrawInformed consent, three things a participant must be told before consenting and deception in research.Open →
- Anonymity, confidentiality and privacyWhat is meant by deductive disclosure, right to privacy in research and one legal obligation on a researcher handling personal data.Open →
- Sensitivity, vulnerability and protection from harmSensitive research topics, principle of protection from harm and how anticipating harm changes a research design.Open →
- Practical constraints: operationalisation, time and costResearch proposal and why practical constraints can compromise representativeness.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
Explain opportunity sampling, and how it differs from choosing people for a stated reason.
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What is a simple random sample?
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What is a stratum in sampling?
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What is quota sampling?
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What is snowball sampling?
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What is informed consent?
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Distinguish anonymity from confidentiality.
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Give two examples of sensitive research topics.
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What is operationalisation?
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Define the target population of a study.
Evaluation
Give one advantage of simple random sampling.
Numbers
If 20% of a school's pupils receive free school meals, how many of a stratified sample of 200 pupils should come from that group?
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Give one reason quota sampling does not require a sampling frame.
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Give an example of a group for which snowball sampling would be appropriate.
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What is purposive sampling?
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Name three things a participant must be told before consenting.
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Why can a pseudonym fail to protect a participant in a small community?
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Explain why a sensitive topic increases the risk of harm to participants.
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Suggest one way the concept of poverty could be operationalised.
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What is a sampling frame?
Evaluation
Give one disadvantage of simple random sampling.
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What information must the researcher have before stratifying a sample?
Evaluation
Explain the main weakness of quota sampling.
Key term
Explain how trust is transferred in snowball sampling.
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Give an example of purposive sampling in an educational study.
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Why must consent be freely given?
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Explain what is meant by deductive disclosure.
Process
What steps should a researcher take when a participant becomes distressed?
Key term
Why is the choice of research topic itself a practical matter as well as a theoretical one?
Take Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Anonymity vs Confidentiality
Anonymity: the researcher cannot identify the participant. Confidentiality: the researcher can identify them but will not disclose it.
Deception vs Covert research
Deception: actively misleading participants. Covert research: concealing from a group that it is being studied at all.
Sampling frame vs Target population
Sampling frame: the list from which cases are drawn. Target population: the whole group the findings are meant to apply to.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Define the target population of a study.
Model answer
The whole group about which the researcher wants to draw conclusions.
- 2
What is a sampling frame?
Model answer
A list of all the members of the target population from which a sample is drawn.
- 3
Give two examples of lists that can serve as a sampling frame.
Model answer
The electoral register and a school's roll of pupils.
- 4
Why must a sampling frame be complete for a random sample to be representative?
Model answer
Anyone missing from the list has no chance of selection, so groups omitted from it cannot appear in the sample.
- 5
Give one reason a sampling frame may be out of date.
Model answer
People move, die or change status between the list being compiled and the sample being drawn.
- 6
Explain why some target populations have no usable sampling frame.
Model answer
Groups defined by hidden or illegal activity, such as drug users, are not recorded on any list, so there is nothing to sample from.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues revision questions
- Is Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues examined at AS in WJEC Sociology?
- Yes. It sits in AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 4, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.
- What does Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues cover in WJEC AS-Level Sociology?
- 10 subtopics: target populations, sampling frames and access, simple random and systematic random sampling, stratified random sampling, quota sampling, snowball and volunteer sampling, purposive and opportunity sampling, informed consent, deception and the right to withdraw, anonymity, confidentiality and privacy, sensitivity, vulnerability and protection from harm and practical constraints: operationalisation, time and cost. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues organised?
- By the WJEC 601-5237-0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Sampling, Ethics and Practical Issues, 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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