Culture
What is meant by the term feral children?
'Wild' children who have not been socialised
What is meant by the term comprehensive school?
Non-selective secondary schools accepting all the children of that age in an area
What is meant by the term "secondary data"?
Data that was collected by someone other than the researcher for a purpose other than this study.
What is meant by the term "boomerang family" ?
A family in which adult children live with parents after having lived independently for some time.
What is meant by the term "ethnicity"?
Ethnicity refers to a type of social identity based on cultural background, shared lifestyles and shared experiences.
Describe two ways children are socialized into gender roles
1) manipulation: parents encourage and praise some activities and discourage others
2) parents channel their children towards activities they consider appropriate
Describe two arguments against private schools
1 - most parents cannot afford these schools
2 - they play a huge role in ensuring that higher classes can pass on their advantages to their children
a) Open Questions
b) Closed / Pre-Coded Questions
c) Likert Scales
Describe two functions of family according to Functionalists
1) They promote stability in terms of taxation and administration.
2) They regulate sexual morality and provide an institution for the socialization of children.
3) They serve as the main unit of consumption.
Describe two types of subcultures other than youth subcultures
1) religious
2) ethnic minority
3) class subcultures
4) based on interest
Explain how age plays an important role in shaping people's social identity.
1) Different ages carry different responsibilities
2) Different ages hold different norms and expectations
3) Birth cohorts share common experiences growing up, creating mutual understanding between peers
Explain how gender may affect a person's experience at school / educational achievement
1) girls may experience positive discrimination
2) boys are more likely to join anti-learning / anti-school subcultures
3) boys' bad behaviour may be tolerated, but girls' bad behaviour is more likely to be sanctioned.
Explain why some sociologists may not use questionnaires.
1) low response rate - many people do not respond or throw them away
2) lower in validity - people may misunderstand questions or lie
3) the researcher doesn't know who answered the questions
4) participants often leave questions unanswered
Explain how ethnicity can affect family life
1) Asian families tend to have extended families and strong family ties.
2) Asian families tend to have larger families
3) Afro-Caribbean families tend to be matrifocal
Explain why some argue that globalization may lead to a one-world culture.
1) Appearance: fashion becoming more uniform (jeans, tshirt, etc) through MNCs worldwide
2) world tourism changing local cultures
3) Similar types of food (fast food)
4) the global nature of sports
Explain how ethnicity can affect a pupil's experience at school / educational achievement.
1) they may be children of working-class immigrants who value work over education
2) there may be a cultural clash of values and norms at school vs. at home, leading to conflict
3) there may be prejudice and discrimination in school, not just society (labelling, ethnocentrism, etc)
Describe two limitations to using non-official statistics in sociological research.
a) non-official statistics may be biased to reflect the interests of the company /organisations that gather them – they may thus lack validity
b) they are quantitative data and interpretivists argue that they cannot answer the ‘why’ of social behaviour;
c) non-official statistics may not be done on a large scale due to cost and hence they may lack representativeness
Explain why birth rates and fertility rates fall after industrialization.
1) children are seen as an economic cost rather than a benefit
2) contraception is widely available
3) opportunities for women are limited if they have "too many" children
4) Fewer children die. People no longer need to have many children to ensure that their children will survive.
Explain how gender inequality occurs in the workplace.
a) there is evidence of continuing vertical segregation – men are still more likely to hold dominant positions in organisations and businesses
b) there is evidence of continuing horizontal segregation – there are clear divisions in work sectors for men and women e.g. construction/caring and these are linked to inequalities in income and status
c) evidence of the glass ceiling in the workplace – women still face barriers to promotion due to gender stereotypes and prejudices centred around women’s reproductive capacity;
Explain how some societies moved towards assimilation rather than multiculturalism. (what measures have they taken?)
1) Citizenship tests (language + government knowledge)
2) Community cohesion (assimilating immigrants + minorities into the community via activities)
3) Increasing nationalism
4) Acting against minority cultures (banning niqab / hijab, for example)
Explain why working-class students may underachieve in school
1) teachers may label them
2) they experience material deprivation
3) they may lack cultural capital
4) there may be linguistic differences
Explain why feminists believe that society is based on conflict
a) feminists argue that we live in a patriarchal society which is dominated by males e.g. males hold most of the important posts in society and make the key decisions and this is unfair
b) in the family males dominate women and children e.g. through the reality or threat of domestic violence and so conflict can be physical as well as emotional
c) in the workplace women face a glass ceiling created and maintained by men so women cannot access the top jobs and this creates conflict;
Explain how social class influences family life
1) working class families more often utilize joint conjugal roles, as workers may not be fulfilled at work and want to contribute at home
2) working class families tend to have larger families due to more traditional family wants and values
3) middle class and upper class families will be more able to hire outside help to take care of domestic labor
4) middle and upper class families will be better able to afford resources for children such for as education