TASK 1;

How has society changed over the last 100 years?

1 - New developments in technology have allowed for developments in the workplace. A few examples
of the way technology has furthered these developments; are inventions of things like the telephone
(1930s), the fax machine (1950s), personal computers (1980s), and the world wide web (1990s). These
inventions (including the email 1960s) have allowed people to work more at home instead of in offices.
While these inventions may have helped the working-from-home process, they weren't the only thing
that influenced this change (the covid 19 pandemic was probably the thing that most influenced this
change in recent days). The influence of machinery has helped to get people away from the most sort
after jobs from the 1940s eg. factory workers, farming, typists, phone operators, and agricultural jobs.
Instead, now people can choose to opt for more office jobs that require more advanced cognitive skills.

2 - In the UK women gained the right to vote in 1918 as long as they were over the age of 30. These
women had to meet specific criteria to even be considered to vote; this only included around 8 million of
the UK's female population (⅔). This law was primarily for women in the middle and upper more
privileged classes, so women under 30 and in the working and lower classes were not able to vote.
Protests continued up until 1928 when the representation of the people act was declared and women
were more freely allowed to vote if they were over the age of 21. This included the majority of the
women of colour and the less well-off women in the country finally being granted the right to have a say
in their future. It wasn't until 1966 that the required age to vote was lowered to 18 in England.

3 - gay marriage was legalised in the UK on March 13th 2014, this day marked an important day in
history for everyone in the lgbtqia+ community. The fact that this basic human right took so long to
exist in most countries baffles me. This law finally decreed that it was legal for anyone in the
community could marry whoever they pleased, mainly legalising same-sex marriages. While sadly the
community is still heavily discriminated against, this did mark a great day in the community’s past and
future. Over the past century, the community has progressed so heavily in both good and bad ways. The
great being that we as a community are more heavily accepted and supported
.
4 - Over the past century women have been fighting for their right to be paid equally compared to men.
The protests for equal pay in work first began during world war 1 when women began having to work
when the men were at war. 1918 was one of the first years where women began striking for equal pay.
Strikes and protests were carried on for many years; eventually, in 1970 the equal pay act was brought to
light. Even Though it is now practically a law for each gender to be paid equally for doing the same
jobs, sadly companies still have a way of acting around this by changing different genders' work titles so
that they can be continually paid less.

- The thing that has changed the most with these social issues are the laws put into place by our
government. There is a lot more than our government and the people in the UK can do to improve a
large amount of people's way of life.

Why has society changed?

- Developments in technology, the natural environment, growth in the population and social
conflict are the main reasons why our society has changed. I believe that the main reason why
society has changed is due to people being fed up with not having equal rights to white, cis,
straight men. Society has also allowed for a better schooling system in which each student gets
an extensive education. This could be described as cultural lag, which reflects the delay
between the initial social change and what results from this social change.

Why are societies different?

- One reason why societies are so different and unique is because of the different cultures and
religions displayed in the world. Another would be because of the different speeds at which
society can develop. This could be due to the years in which countries become independent, it
is expected that the lower-income developing countries have a very different society compared
to that of the UK or us. The reason why cultures can vary between societies is due to their
government, language, religion, tradition, history, race etc.

Conservative party
- It is one of the more domineering political parties in the UK. Their main principles include
the promotion of private property and enterprise, the maintenance of a strong military and the
preservation of traditional cultural values and institutions. They are economically liberal. They
advocate for low taxes, believing that it will ‘stimulate the economy.’ they are more in favour
of greater immigration controls than both Labour and the Liberal Democrats. In the 21st
century, the party had a significant change in their approach, deciding to adopt a more socially
liberal outlook. The best example of this is the equal marriage right for the LGBTQIA+
community. A lot of conservative party members are still very homophobic and transphobic.
The conservative party also have been stigmatised very negatively by some of the public due to
their almost extremist views.
Since 1945 conservative prime ministers have kept close ties to the American presidents due to
a special close relationship between the US and UK. In the more recent the conservative party
are the ones who brought up Brexit and continued it out.
Currently, there are two conservative contenders for the new prime minister of England who
are being decided on by the conservative party members, these people are Liz Truss and Rishi
Sunak. Just a few things each potential party leader is promising are; lower taxes for the
general public, reverse increase in national insurance, increase support to the military, and
getting rid of all EU laws of our statute books by the end of 2023 (Liz Truss); cut VAT on
energy bills and only provide support for the most vulnerable (Rishi Sunak).

Labour party
- Labour is a major democratic socialist party in Britain. They have historical links with trade
unions to promote the creation of economic prosperity. they are an alliance of the social
democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The party sits on the centre left of the
political spectrum.
They have been a well-known socialist party since 1918, but in more recent years they are now
known to be a radical socialist party. They also ‘desired increased rights for workers’ and a
‘welfare state’, this included publicly funded healthcare. The trade union movement insists on
an organisation of working people campaigning for working conditions. In 1918 clause iv was
introduced as a sort of rule book for the party, setting out their aims and values. Democratic
socialism is having a socialist economy in which the means of production are socially and
collectively owned or controlled alongside a liberal democratic political system government.
Liberal democrats’ party
- The Liberal Democrats have an ideology that draws on both liberal and social democratic
traditions, so basically ‘you get the best of both worlds.’ The party is a primarily social liberal,
they support redistribution by they're sceptical of giving more power to the states, emphasising
the link to equality and liberty.
They exist to ‘build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the
fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved
by poverty, ignorance or conformity.’ The party wants a ‘better Britain’ and they wanted to
achieve this by getting a fair society.
This is how they would stand for equality between different social classes by fairly distributing
wealth, building more better quality homes and giving equal opportunity to everyone. They
also want high-quality health and social care, giving proper funding to the NHS, letting mental
and physical issues have an equal amount of importance and legalising the cannabis market.
Another thing they want is to give support to all levels of education from pre-school to
post-university, reducing the amount of testing too. As well as this they want a stronger
economy, investing in things like infrastructure, highly increasing the amount of research
spending, giving out hyperfast broadband and ‘strengthing employee participation. Further,
they are helping by taking action against climate change and pollution and trying to stop
Brexit.
The party try to balance out being both socially and economically liberal. They very much
believe in equal rights and equality, no matter your age, gender, ethnicity, or sexuality;
everyone should be equal. ‘Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights
of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed and equality before the law.’

What is different?
-The main differences between the 3 three parties are their ideals and how they go about
spreading them, these ideals have mostly been explained above but I will once again mention
some of their main ideas again. Labour believe that they should have a larger hand in people's
lives than the government but the conservatives believe that people's lives shouldn't be
interfered with and should not be controlled. The labour party are more in favour of helping the
working class population, the conservative party mainly want to help and preserve the upper
and middle class while the liberal democrats are there to help everyone. The Liberal Democrats
are surprisingly quite similar to both parties, taking on ideas from both. For example, they want
to decrease tuition fees (same as labour) and they take on similar ideas about our economy as
the conservatives.
TASK 2;
What is sociology video notes

Started by Auguste Comte in 1800s

- Systematic science to study society
Sociology
- Scientific study of society and human behaviour
- Broadest of social sciences (covers most ground)
- Looks for patterns
- Arose in industrial era when monarchs’ power fell and governments rose
- Understanding society at every level
Society
- Group of people who share a culture and territory
- Is everywhere, everything that has influenced you up until this point has been society]

The sociological perspective

1- Seeing the general in the particular
- Social behaviour in its wider context
- Not just interested in you but what your choice could represent about your society
- ‘Each individual forms part of the pattern and in looking at their individual choices a
sociologist can see elements of the whole pattern’ eg. stones fitting into a mosaic
2- Seeing the strange in the familiar
- Approach world as if seeing it for the first time
- Raise hand in class but not at the dinner table
- Common sense in society are the basics
- 1800s slavery, women not being able to vote and white men being the only ones who
could particpate in society were all common sense

Social location
- Way of classifying yourself
- Race, class, gender, sexual orientation etc
- Influences life
- Limits what you can do and learn
- Contributes to marglisations
Marginalisation
- If a social group is marginalised then it occupies a position outside the centres of
power
- Racial, ethnic, sexual, religious minorities
- Clear view on how power operates
Power and inequality
- Many different types
- Social class, race, sexuality, accent etc

Socialisation
- The process by which adults and children learn from others
- The activity of mixing socially with others
- The process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society
- ‘A process through which individuals learn the norms and values of society, leading to social
cohesion and a functional society. First of all, people are socialised into their own family and
local community’s norms through primary socialisation and then learn universalistic values
through secondary socialisation.’

Primary socialisation
- This occurs early in a child's life and is primarily due to the influence of family and close
friends; through this children learn the basic societal norms and customs. This happens from
the moment a child is born until they are around 5 years of age, at this point, children begin to
learn their culture’s behaviours, language, values and cognitive skills from their immediate
family members.

Secondary socialisation
- This occurs when a child learns the values, beliefs and attitudes of their culture through those
outside of the family, such as through teachers, friends and the media. This allows children to
grow and learn in an environment very different from home, exposing them to many different
things that will allow for changes in their minds and personalities.

Norms
-These are the expectations that regulate human behaviours within a culture, group or society.
These behaviours are expected by people depending on the society you are a part of, these are
taught to you from a very young and if don't follow them you are often stigmatised.

Values
- These are things that people consider important to them, these principles help you decide
between what is right and wrong and depend on the individual. These are normally introduced
through the family rather than through the media and schooling. However numerous people do
end up changing this later in life when introduced to the bigger world.

Beliefs
- These are the ‘tenets or convictions’ that people hold to be true. These things that they hold to
be true are often shown to have no truth or proof of existing and are normally related to
religion or religious beliefs. They also heavily influence their values and morals.

Culture
- This can be identified by an individual's language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviours and
material objects that are passed through generations. There are two different sub-parts to the
main heading of culture material and nonmaterial. Material culture includes the physical traits
of a person; art, clothing, hairstyles, buildings, jewellery and more. The nonmaterial culture
references a person's way of thinking, much like the generalised meaning of culture.

Social class
- This refers to the divide in groups of people based on their power, economic wealth, social
wealth and cultural wealth. There are many different ways in which you can categorise
different groups of people but one of the most common nowadays are the categories of the
upper class, middle class, working class and lower class. This is normally based on the
economic income of a household.

Gender
- This includes the attitudes, behaviours, norms and roles that a society or culture heavily
associates with an individual's sex. Gender identity is normally heavily influenced by the
surroundings people grow in and how they are exposed to different areas in society. There are
many different gender identities in today's society, no longer fully limited by public opinions to
be just masculine and feminine. Society often invokes harmful stereotypes about the male and
female sex which are then carried through directly harming people's future.

Ethnicity
- This is a socially defined category for people who share a cultural background with things
such as language, location, nationality, history and religion. This is normally defined strictly by
culture and not race.
TASK 3;
Definitions for family terms

Monogamy
- This describes a family that consists of a two-person relationship (a husband and wife). Under
this type of family neither the husband nor wife is allowed to have any relations or other
spouses outside of this marriage. This is the most widespread form of marriage among different
cultures and societies.

Bigamy
- This describes someone who gets married to someone whilst they are still married to someone
else. These two spouses are not normally aware of each other's existence and generally live in
two separate households, this is also illegal to do in many countries and is punishable by
imprisonment. Some synonyms for this are polyamory and polyandry.

Polygamy
- This is the practice or custom of having more than a singular spouse at the same time. These
spouses are normally aware of each other's existence and only maintain one large household.
This practice is legal in some countries most commonly due to different individuals' religious
beliefs. There are different subcategories to polygamy, these being polygyny, polyandry and
group marriage. Polygyny is when a man is married to more than one wife simultaneously,
polyandry is when a woman is married to more than one husband simultaneously and group
marriage describes a family that includes multiple wives and husbands.

Maternal
- This relates to the normal characteristics of a mother. This is most commonly recognised in
the female sex when having or being around children. This often includes physical actions
made toward children by a motherly figure that show them to care for the child.

Nuclear family
- This describes two generations of family living together in a singular household. Typically
this involves two parents and their children, in the past, it was more normalised for the
household to consist of male and female married parents but in today's more modern society
it's quite common for the parents to not fit into these gender or marriage roles anymore. These
kinds of families are also often smaller and the children are more reserved with their parents
due to their work lives.

Empty nest
- This represents parents that remain living in the family home after their children have left and
moved away. When this occurs the parent's roles in life will change drastically as their daily
routines will have changed. Not only this but they might also go into intense feelings of
loneliness due to the drastic change in human interaction.

Empty shell marriage

- This is when the married couple lives together but there is no longer any love or affection
between them at this point the couple would most commonly still be living with their children.
The couple would be very distant and most likely live separate lives but would stay together
for an external reason, like their children.

Extended family
- The classic meaning of this is when three or more generations of the same family live
together in one household. There are other ways that this category could fall, these are between
aunts, uncles or cousins who are in the same generation as the parents, it's also common for
these family members to stay in regular contact.

Kinship
- This refers to how individuals in a family are related to one another, this can either be by
blood, marriage or adoption. This helps to establish relationships between people inside and
outside of their family, some people also consider social acquaintances as part of kinship.
Depending on which level of kinship you have, your relationships will be closer.

Cohabitation
- This describes when a couple (not depending on either person's sex or gender) lives together
in one household but is not legally married. This is incredibly normalised in today's society as
it is becoming less common for people in romantic relationships to get married. This is also
more inclusive as people in queer relationships in many countries can still not legally get
married.

Beanpole family
- This is a multi-generational family that runs more lengthways than width, meaning that there
are very few aunts, uncles and grandparents. This happens when fewer children are born into
each family (to each parent) and it's common for grandparents to die at a younger age.

Cereal packet family

- This is a functionalist concept that believes that the ideal family is made of a mother and
father (both married) and two children. This is often known as the ‘American dream’ or sadly
the norm. This standard version of families is quite homophobic as it doesn't include any
family with same-sex parents as they don't fit the stereotype of the 1950s households. This
ignores the fact that the families have changed in structure and diversity.
TASK 4;
How does the news help us to understand education and families?

Meritocracy
- this is a social system in which people get status or rewards for their achievements rather then
due to their already existing wealth and social status. This is attained through education and
peoples ability to work hard: rewards should go to the best performers. This also attones to the
idea that no matter the circumstances (opportunities, power, wealth, status) people should all be
able to achieve the same things and have the same chances. Individuals in this system feel
valued, recognised and appreciated and often want to continuously improve themselves for
greater rewards.

Does this article suggest we live in a meritocracy?

- This article does not suggest that we live in a meritocracy. The reason behind my opinion is
because of the fact that the wealthier areas get better access and opportunity to universities and
further education, if this were a meritocratic society then no matter the wealth, social status or
area they live in they would have equal opportunity to achieve the same things. The statistics
that the article gives us only further the statement of inequality between the poorer and richer
areas. A prime example of this is only 5% ‘of the country's poorest postcodes progress to
higher education’ compared to buckinghamshire which has more than 80% of their population
moving to higher education. The constant comparison through this article only helps to further
solidify my point.

Why is it important that ‘poor’ students go to university?

- the reason that it is so important for the less advantaged students to go to university is
because everyone deserves an equal opportunity to succeed. It shouldnt matter about a persons
background, income, age or gender if they can complete the tests, and achieve the grades theres
no reason that they shouldnt be able to go. The main issue with going to university is the
obscene cost to attend most of them. This is the main thing that unallows ‘poor’ students to
attend universities.