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1
Item B
In recent years the growth of globalisation has influenced many sections of
society, including education. The creation of international rankings has
meant that the Government is increasing looking to other countries to
examine what they are doing to raise achievement. This has led to a range of
changes to the British education system, from types of schools to forms of
teaching, learning and assessment. Furthermore, the globalisation of
education has led to increasing opportunities for schools and students to set
up and study overseas.
However, some sociologists have suggested that the impact of globalisation

on educational policy has been to benefit some social groups more than
others, and that globalisation has had a negative impact on the working-
class.
Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate the impact of
globalisation on educational policy in the UK (30)
Item B states that globalisation has impacted on many sections of society

including education. One impact of globalisation has been the influence of
global education on educational polices put forward by the UK Government.
The introduction of international rankings systems, such as the PISA rankings
have easily allowed countries to compare education with one another and
‘cherry-pick’ policies and strategies that can improve educational outcomes.
This could include the introduction of new schools, such as Free Schools and
Academies, or new forms of assessment, such as SATs. Additionally,
globalisation has provided opportunities for many providers to expand into
overseas markets, including multi-academy trusts and even universities.
One way in which globalisation has influenced educational policy in the UK is
through the creation of international rankings. Ranking systems, such as the
PISA tests, enable education systems to compare the performance of their
students in maths, English and science against students globally. This is like the
introduction of league tables in the UK. Governments can easily compare the
performance of their own students against those of other countries and this
enables them to quantitatively examine the impacts of teaching, learning and
assessment strategies as well as government educational policies. This enables
them to pick the strategies that they believe will have the biggest impact on
students in the UK and implement those strategies. An example of this is the
proposal by then Education Secretary Michael Gove to extend the school day to
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mirror the longer hours in east Asian countries like South Korea and Singapore
in order to improve student outcomes. However, many critics would suggest
that ‘cherry picking’ policies from a nation that is performing well has a limited
impact unless other social policies are implemented to compliment the
educational policy. For example, Scandinavian countries with more socially
democratic ideals tend to perform well but rely upon an expanded welfare
state and a more collectivist mentality than is present in the UK with neo-
liberal ideologies and policies that target individuals. This limits the impact of
globalisation in achieving positive outcomes.
A second influence of globalisation on educational policy in the UK is the
increase in the choice of different schools. Most notably, the concept of
academies comes from the US Charter School system, whilst Free Schools are
influenced by the Swedish Education System. Government educational policy is
influenced by the performance of other nations education systems and at the
time of selection, both options had evidence of improving outcomes and
student experience. Charter schools also fit in with the ideology of the Blair
and Brown government by allowing private investment into education. This was
expanded further under the Cameron and Clegg government of 2010-2015
with proposals under the subsequent Conservative government to academize
all secondary schools in the UK. This was heavily influenced by global economic
policy of neo-liberalism, reducing state spending and allowing market forces to
dictate the education market. However, while many applauded the
introduction of city centre academies as tackling social inequality in areas of
deprivation, the results of wide scale academisation have been less successful.
Recent investigations into the running of multi-trust academies have shown the
impacts of corruption, under-staffing and poor outcomes for students.
Furthermore, Free Schools have predominantly benefitted the middle-classes
in the UK as they have been set up by wealthy individuals and groups of
middle-class parents, demonstrating that the influence of globalisation is
primarily for those with more power and influence.
A further example of the influence of globalisation in educational policy has
been the expansion of privatisation in the education system. Neo-liberal
economic policy has become the dominant economic policy in the era of
globalisation, partly because of the role of the IMF and other International
Governmental Organisations. This has led to a rapid expansion of the
educational market to be a multi-billion-pound operation that provides large
profits for UK based educational institutions. The sale of naming rights by
British public schools to overseas outlets, the expansion of UK Universities to
having international campuses and the growth of multi-academy trusts
providing educational provision to the world’s lesser developed nations can be
seen to be an influence of globalisation on governmental policy. However,
critics of these polices would suggest that there is an ulterior motive for the
rapid expansion of UK educational institutions into the developing world.
Marxists would suggest that the spread of Western education with its ideals of
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meritocracy and capitalism is a form of cultural imperialism that facilitates the

spread of capitalist ideologies such as neo-liberalism and individualism. This
positively impacts on the employment prospects for students in the UK, who
gain skills that are needed in the developing world.
A further example of the influence of globalisation on educational policy has
been the impact on teaching learning and assessment. In recent years, the UK
Government has made proposals to change teaching learning and assessment
to mirror more successful approaches in global education. Examples of this
include changes to the National Curriculum so that it is more in line with the
core content that is offered in other nations that are performing well in PISA
rankings. Literacy and numeracy strategies that had students focusing a large
percentage of their time on maths and English in order to improve their
performance in comparison to other nations. Whilst teachers have also faced
comparisons on qualifications, with proposals for teachers to have higher entry
qualifications, longer periods of teacher training and being appointed as
‘master teachers’ in areas, all influenced by policies in other nations. However,
the application of these ideas are often theoretical rather than practical. The
growth of academies has meant as increase in the number of unqualified
teachers (particularly in shortage areas like Maths and STEM subjects) and a
decline in the number of teacher training places at universities, but an increase
in academy trusts training teachers and paying them an unqualified teachers
wage. Ideas from other nations in terms of teaching, learning and assessment
are often proposed, but fail to materialise due to a lack of funding or a clash of
ideologies.
A final influence of globalisation on educational policy has been the creation of
British Values and PREVENT. British Values is compulsory in all educational
establishments to promote ideas of tolerance, the rule of law and democracy.
PREVENT is a legal requirement for educational institutions to report what they
perceive to be the threat of child exploitation, grooming or radicalisation. Both
policies were introduced as a response to the increasing threat of terrorism
that occurred in the era of globalisation. The threat of terrorism is seen to be
motivated by anti-globalisation feelings and a desire to retain traditional ideals
of nations. Because of this backlash against globalisation, the Government
introduced these policies in education to act as a deterrent against
radicalisation and to reinforce the ideas of a global Britain, in a similar fashion
as promoting social solidarity. However, it can be argued that the impacts of
both British Values and PREVENT have been controversial, with some
universities challenging it on the grounds of academic freedom and others
refusing to police their students. Furthermore, it could be argued that it could
lead to stereotyping certain ethnic groups within the education system and
contribute to negative experiences, bullying and racism within schools.
The impact of globalisation on educational policy is clear. One of the features
of globalisation has been the rise of a global culture and in one sense the
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Government has a duty to promote these global values of freedom and

democracy. Furthermore, the process of globalisation means that many
traditional jobs that were once undertaken in the UK are now being carried out
overseas and so it is imperative that educational policy is geared towards
giving students the skills they need in order to compete for the changing job
market in the face of globalisation. For example, areas such as green energy,
technology and artificial intelligence. At present, this is a failing of educational
policy to address globalisation, due to shortages in these areas.
5
#40DayChallenge Day 34
Outline and explain 2 features of globalisation (10)

One feature of globalisation is the increased use of technology. Globalisation
has been accelerated by innovations in technology, particularly the growth of
the internet and social media. It is estimated that over half of the world’s
population has access to the internet and this enables them to access news,
information, skills and knowledge that previously had been difficult to access.
It also means that ideas and values from one culture in the world can be
spread to others quite easily and that these ideas can influence different
cultures. Other technological innovations, such as increase in air travel and
increased manufacturing in the developing world are seen as a feature of
globalisation. However, whilst these both have positive benefits on individuals,
such as employment opportunities and increased leisure, they can also be
argued to be increasing the risk of transgressive problems such as green crime.
Excessive air travel can lead to air pollution, as can overproduction in factories,
as well as causing other environmental impacts. It can be argued therefore
that the technological changes that have led to increased globalisation may be
both beneficial and harmful.
A second feature of globalisation has been increased international co-
operation. The process of globalisation can be argued to have occurred due to
the fall of the communism in the latest 1980s and early 1990s. This ushered in
an era of greater international co-operation as Supra-national Government
Agencies began to collaborate with one another to solve some of the most
pressing issues in society. This was enabled due to increasingly similar
ideologies on how the world should be organised and how key issues such as
trade, defence and environmental protections should be implemented. This
has led to a period of greater international peace between some of the worlds
largest nations and progress towards eliminating some of the most
transgressive social and political issues in society. For example, legislation on
greenhouse gases to tackle global warming and co-operation between military
forces in the war on terror. However, it could be argued that those that do not
share the ideologies of the West are seen as potential threats and this has led
to increased conflict between nations with conflicting ideologies. This leads to
increases insecurity and risk, as highlighted by Ulrich Beck.
7
Outline and explain 2 criticisms of Marxism to our understanding of society

(10)
One criticism of Marxist approaches to understanding society is economic

determinism. Economic determinism views economic factors as the sole cause
of changes in society. For example, Marxists view the purpose of education
being to reproduce inequality in society so that working-class students will be
able to be exploited by capitalism, however other approaches would suggest
that education helps to facilitate social mobility through teaching students the
specific skills and cultural capital they need to get ahead. Functionalists for
example argue that students are allocated to their future roles based upon the
ability they show in the education system and that education is meritocratic.
Furthermore, Marxist views of the family suggest that the main purpose of
family is to serve the needs of capitalism by instilling children with the
dominant ideology of the ruling class. This can be criticised both by
Functionalists, who would argue that the family performs more than merely
economic functions, and Feminists, who suggest the family primarily reinforces
patriarchal ideals, rather than serving economic interests.
A second criticism of Marxists for our understanding of society today is their
structural viewpoint being limited in examining the diversity of contemporary
society. Traditional Marxists suggest that society is divided into tow social
classes, the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie will always look to
exploit the Proletariat through employment, false consciousness and
alienation. However, this view fails to take into account changes to
contemporary society that have often rendered class positions as obsolete.
Some sociologists argue that the emergence of the middle class and the
decline of traditional working-class communities in the Western hemisphere
has led to a complex social order which is not as binary as traditional Marxists
would suggest. Furthermore, Post-modernists would argue that social
structures such as class are in decline as individuals shape their identity
through more than just their economic situation, but rather through media,
interactions with peers and education – limited the usefulness of Marxism in
contemporary society.
9
Item A
Recent changes to the provision of education have led to an increase in

investment of businesses in the education sector. Some sociologists have
argued that this has led to changes in the opportunities for students of
different social classes, whilst others suggest that this is a form of
reproducing inequality in wider society.
Other sociologists have suggested that the injection of capital provided by

businesses has led to an increase in educational standards and choice for
all students.
Using material from Item A, analyse two ways in which the privatisation of
education has impacted on the experience of students from different social
classes (10)
One way in which the privatisation of education has impacted on the

experience of students from different social classes has been through the
creation of the first wave of city centre academies. Initially a policy created by
the Labour government of Tony Blair, City Centre academies replaced run-
down schools in urban areas with new academies. Often several state
comprehensives with falling numbers and under-performance would be closed
with permission given to businesses (academy trusts) to invest in a new school
in that area. Academy Trusts provided an ‘injection of capital’ (Item A) to build
new state of the art facilities in urban areas and offered incentives for students
attending such as the use of i-pads and other educational technology. These
initial academies targeted students from low-income backgrounds and drew
funding directly from central government to pay for their tuition. This led to an
increase in standards in education in those areas (predominantly working-
class), increased opportunities and improved outcomes for students in the first
few years of operation. However, some critics would suggest that after several
years of capital investment, academies would change their strategy to
maximise profit, reducing the number of teachers and even hiring unqualified
teachers instead of experienced ones, which eventually led to a decline in
standards.
10
A second way in which the privatisation of education has impacted on the

experience of students from different social classes has been the coalition
government’s increase of different types of schools. Between 2010 and 2015
the coalition government both introduced Free Schools and increased the
range of academies. This ‘led to an increase…choice’ (Item A) of schools and
this primarily benefitted the middle classes. Many high performing
independent schools converted to academy status and attracted investment
from multi-academy trusts. This led to improvement of facilities, expansion of
teaching capacity and investment in educational technology. Multi-academy
trusts were drawn to investing in these schools as with high performing
students and a dominant position in the marketplace it gave them a chance to
expand provision and increase profits. Some schools attracted investment from
Universities and offered students incentive to continue their education
through guaranteeing places, providing more opportunities for the middle-
class children that attended. Similarly, Free Schools attracted middle class
parents who with funding from the government could set up their own
alternative provision, often influenced by global ideas in education. This gave
their students a diverse and tailored experience to education that working-
class children were excluded from. However, it can be argued that many multi-
academy trusts have put profit over progress and this has led to declining
standards in education for all students.
11
Outline and explain two reasons why sociologists might choose self-completion
questionnaires over interviewer present questionnaires (10)
One reason why sociologist might choose self-completion questionnaires over

interviewer present questionnaires is due to social sensitivity. One of the main
advantages of self-completion questionnaires is that respondents can
complete the questionnaire at their own leisure. This allows them to think
about their responses without being hurried as in an interviewer present
questionnaire. However, a further advantage is that they may be able to
answer potentially sensitive questions without fear of judgement, especially if
they are able to do this anonymously. Some topics, such as their economic
position, employment status, parental styles or attitudes to issues such as
immigration, gender equality and racism might elicit a different response from
respondents if there was an interviewer present. Using a self-completion
questionnaire therefore reduces the interviewer effect and allows for
respondents to give honest and truthful responses.
A second reason sociologist might choose self-completion questionnaires over
interviewer present questionnaires is due to costs. Self-completion
questionnaires are relatively cheap to administer as they can be sent out via
post, or emailed to participants. In contrast, interviewer present
questionnaires would require hiring additional staff in order to obtain a large
enough sample, training those staff and paying them for their time.
Furthermore it would take additional time and manpower to collate and
interpret the results. Self-completion questionnaires on the other hand, if
quantitative, could be collated by an independent source, such as Survey
Monkey. This would provide the researcher with cheap and reliable data.
However, a limitation of this would be if the researcher were to choose
qualitative questions, they would be quite time-consuming to collate and
analyse the responses.
12
Outline and explain two criticisms of Interactionist approaches to

understanding society (10)
One criticism of the Interactionist approach to understanding society is that as

an approach to understanding society it fails to recognise the impact of social
institutions and the power relationships between individuals and these
institutions. Nominally a social action theory, Interactionism suggests that
individuals make sense of the world through their interactions with others.
This suggests that individuals are active in their processing of social
interactions and find meaning in each of these interactions that they
encounter. However, other sociologists, such as Marxists and Feminists would
suggest that many of the interactions we face daily are influenced by our
position in the class system or by our gender. For example, whilst labelling
theorists suggest that interactions with teachers lead students to develop self-
fulfilling prophecies of failure or success, Marxists would suggest that the
student-teacher interaction is actually controlled not by the individuals
involved, but by the social class hierarchy, whereby the teacher has power
over the student and if the student does not conform to the teacher’s will then
this will lead to negative sanctions. Similarly, Feminists would suggest that
women being paid less in employment is not down to the interactions between
an employee and her manager, but by a patriarchal system of control that
looks to keep women in subordinate positions. However, it can be argued that
structural views are often too deterministic for contemporary society.
A second criticism of Interactionist approaches in understanding society are
that they overstate the importance of interactions. For some Interactionists,
such as Colley, they suggest that people form a self-concept of themselves
through their interactions with others. This idea is what Cooley called ‘the
looking glass self’ – we understand ourselves to be funny because people laugh
with us. However, critics would suggest that individuals undertake hundreds of
interactions with others in a single day and that many of these interactions
barely register in the individual’s subconscious. Whilst it can be argued that
people react to interactions with others, it is only truly meaningful interactions
that register in our subconscious and have an impact. Relationships such as
those with family, friends and colleagues will have a greater impact on the
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individual and these interactions can be said to be influenced by their

respective social institutions (family, work etc.)
14
Outline and explain two reasons why values will influence a sociologist’s choice
of research method (10)
One way in which values will influence a sociologist’s choice of research

method is through their methodological preference. Whilst positivist
sociologists prefer objective and value free research methods, such as
structured interviews and official statistics, interpretivists prefer to use more
value-laden methods, such as unstructured interviews and participant
observations. Sociologists, such as Weber would suggest that despite choosing
methods that are more subjective, sociologists have a duty to remain objective
in the collection of data. They should also look to disclose their own theoretical
preferences ahead of research so that once they have interpreted the data
objectively it can be held up to the scrutiny of peer review to see if their
theoretical bias has been contained. However, it is unlikely that those
preferring an interpretivist methodology would be able to refrain from forming
subjective opinions on methods such as unstructured interviews and
participant observations as their goal in using these methods is to gain an
insight into the lives of those they are studying. Showing empathy is
paramount to understanding the views of those being researched, as both
Becker and Goffman suggest that interpretivists should take the side of the
‘under-dog’ and therefore, values will influence interpretivist methodology.
A second way in which values will influence a sociologist’s choice of research is
their own career trajectory. Sociology, like most social sciences, will have areas
of contemporary interest that funding bodies would like to investigate. These
may not match up with the interests of the researcher, however in order to
progress, particularly in the early years of their academic careers, researchers
may opt to research topics out of their field of interest. Whilst it can be argued
that this may make them more objective in their research, ultimately their
research is controlled by the values of the funding bodies and as such
researchers will be pressurised into using the methodology preferred by those
groups. For example, Governments tend to prefer objective and large-scale
quantitative data and whilst a researcher who prefers qualitative data may be
more neutral in this aspect, conducting the research will be subject to the
values of the government. According to Gouldner, this is inevitable whether
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the researcher chooses the methodology, or it is chosen for them by a funding

body.
16
Outline and explain two reasons why personal and historical documents are
better for studying society than official statistics (10)
One reason that personal and historical documents are better for studying
society than official statistics is the level of in-depth and valid insight into the
lives of individuals that they provide. Personal documents, such as diaries and
letters, would be preferred by Interpretivists, as they give the researcher the
chance to achieve ‘verstehen’ or insight into the lives of the individuals that
they are studying. Researchers will be able to analyse the meanings and
motivations of the subject and draw conclusions from their writing about how
social issues have impacted on them. An example would be Thomas and
Zanecki’s analysis of letter sent by Polish immigrants to the USA back home,
which would provide a valuable insight into their experience, rather than the
objective, yet detached immigration figures that were provided at the time.
Official statistics are limited in that they do not have high validity and merely
represent the scale of a social issue, rather than investigate the reasons why
issues have occurred.
A second reason why personal and historical documents may be better for
studying society is due to the nature of official statistics. Whilst positivists
would prefer the large scale and objective data official statistics provide,
Interpretivists would argue that the definitions of issues often lead statistics to
be little more than a social construction. An example of this is Durkheim’s
study of suicide which compared suicide statistics across nations and found
similarities in the data of catholic countries having lower suicide rates.
Interpretivists, such as Atkinson and Douglas criticised these finding and
suggested that it would be better to examine each case of suicide to ensure
that coroners were recording the verdicts correctly. Atkinson found through
examining historical documents that often the decision was made based upon
key facts, such as history of mental ill health or financial problems.
Interpretivists would argue that Durkheim’s methods lacked validity in finding
out motivations for suicide, or indeed the accurate recording of suicide and
that it would be preferable to use alternative methods, such as personal
documents and historical documents to understand whether or not the death
was a suicide or not.
17
Outline and explain two reasons why conflict theories are more suitable than
consensus theories for studying society today (10)
One reason why conflict theories are more suitable for studying society today
than consensus theories is due to the fragmented nature of society today.
Conflict theories, such as Marxism and Feminism both suggest that there are
differences between individuals based upon their social characteristics. For
Marxists, they suggest that the lower social classes are exploited by the elites
in society through employment and through having the dominant ideology or
hegemony, forced upon them through different social institutions. This is
evidenced in contemporary society through income inequality in the UK.
Recent research has suggested that 50% of the land in the UK is owned by just
1% of the population, whilst globally it is suggested by Oxfam that the world’s
wealthiest 1% control 50% of the planet’s resources. This level of inequality
creates problems that conflict theorist are best placed to examine, such as
exploitation, alienation and false consciousness. In contrast, consensus
theories focus on the functioning of social institutions to reinforce ideologies
such as meritocracy and social solidarity, rather than challenging or exploring
the inequality in society. This makes conflict theories more useful in studying
society today.
A second reason conflict theories are more suited to study of society today is
due the rapid social changes that have led to society becoming more
fragmented. Feminism, a conflict theory whose core concept is to challenge
the inequality in society caused by patriarchal oppression, has evolved over
time to become able to address the wide range of issues that face women.
Intersectional feminists suggest that women face a range of different
challenges based upon their social characteristics and that the duty of
feminism as a movement is to represent these groups. Women are exploited
not only by their gender, but also by their social class, their sexuality, ethnicity,
age and physical abilities. In contemporary society, this allows Feminism to
investigate issues such as domestic violence, female poverty, female genital
mutilation, sexual harassment and the gender socialisation of girls. In contrast,
consensus theories such as Functionalism, fail to recognise the dysfunction in
society as they have an overly positive view of a harmonious society.
19
Outline and explain two practical limitations of using official statistics in

sociological research (10)
One practical limitation of using official statistics in sociological research is the

way in which official statistics are collected. Statistics are often collected using
a variety of means, such as questionnaires, employer data, structured
interviews and reports from internal companies. This can be very time-
consuming to collate and means that often by the time statistics are compiled
they are already out of date. For example, the census collects data once every
ten years by asking households a series of questions in order to gain data on
the number of people living in a household, their religious background, marital
status, employment status and ages, amongst other information. The process
of collecting this information takes up to a year and the collation and
publishing of this data into the form that it can be presented as statistics takes
a further year at least. This means from the first responses to the publication
of the data, many social changes could have occurred which render the data
invalid. Whilst the validity of statistics is a theoretical issue, the time taken to
collate and convert the data into statistics that sociologists can use is a
practical factor as it is so time-consuming, particularly on a large scale.
A second practical limitation of using official statistics is access to official
statistics. Whilst most official statistics in the UK are provided by the Office for
National Statistics and available online, should a researcher be making global
comparisons between issues between countries this could be problematic.
There is no guarantee that statistics for employment in the developing world
will be available in the manner that they are available in the UK and
furthermore, there is no guarantee that they will have the same level of
reliability. For example, the birth rate in the UK is recorded relatively
accurately as it is a legal requirement for people to register the birth of a child,
but this is not the case elsewhere. Locating records of births may be
problematic in other areas of the world, e.g. Sudan, Yemen, Syria, where
records may have been displaced or destroyed due to conflict and therefore
they may be unable to create a comparison. Furthermore, other nations may
not record or publish statistics on certain topics, e.g. LGBT communities in
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Islamic countries. This would be a practical issue as it would require further

investigation and possibly expensive to conduct.
21
The Media
Outline and explain two ways that the new media has changed representations
of disability in the media (10)
One way in which the new media has changed representation of disability in
the media is through greater representations of the normal lives of disabled
people. Barnes suggested that traditional media often portrays an image of
pity when representing disability in the media or as needing charity. This is
certainly true of traditional media outlets such as terrestrial television, where
representations of disability were either absent or as a result of an able-bodied
character having suffered some form of tragedy. In recent years however, the
growth of social media has led to increased discussion and the reduction of
stigma around a range of disabilities. Social media has led to increased
campaigns around awareness of disabilities and demonstrated empowerment
of those with disability to lead ordinary lives. Campaigns around people
suffering from Downs Syndrome and modelling, the reduction of stigma about
stomas (colostomy bags) and women blogging about their ordinarily lives living
with breast cancer have all increased the positive representations of disability
in the media as a result of ordinary disabled people being able to create
content and tell their own stories.
A second way in which new media has changed representations of disability in
the media is through making more content available. Before the advent of
digital media, the limited number of channels meant that terrestrial channels
did little to cater for smaller audiences. Therefore, programmes were targeted
at the mainstream audience and representations of disability were often
stereotyped or not visible at all. Barnes suggests the representations of
disability centred around a range of characteristics, such as super human
disabilities and disable people as villains (e.g. James Bond villains such as
Blofeld and Scarramanga). With the arrival of digital networks and streaming
services, this has enabled programmes that target specific markets to be
shown and allows for more creativity in the representation of minority groups.
The popularity of programmes such as The Last Leg which began with a focus
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on the super-human aspect of disability (para-Olympians) but rapidly came to

normalise disability to the extent that it became mainstream television
programming that focused on a broader range of topics. This illustrates that
the increased quantity has led to a normalisation of disability in mainstream
media.
23
Global Development
Outline and explain two ways Transnational Corporations may benefit from
international aid (10)
One way in which Transnational Corporations (TNCs) may benefit from

international aid is through the process of structural adjustment policies
(SAPs). Multi-lateral aid is one form of aid that is administered from wealthy
nations to the developing world. Western nations often pay into a fund that is
administered by an international governmental organisation (IGO) such as the
World Bank or the IMF. These IGOs then award aid to countries that need
development, with the World Bank focusing on infrastructure projects and the
IMF giving short term loans to solve financial crises. In exchange for this aid,
IGOs enforce SAPs onto the developing nations which often limits the way they
can run their economy. As these IGOs operate on a neo-liberal ideology, this
typically means cutting public spending, opening markets to overseas
businesses and operating free trade policies, where nations do not charge
import or export tariffs. The ideology behind this is that with additional
investment from TNCs, the economic growth in the nation will provide
employment, increased taxation and allow the nation to grow financially. TNCs
profit from these policies as it open new markets to sell their goods as well as
giving them access to cheaper labour and production locations with lower
costs. However, some critics suggest that much of the profit gained from these
SAPs does not stay in the nation receiving aid, but rather is gathered by
wealthy Western TNCs.
A second way in which TNCs benefit from international aid is through tied aid.
Tied aid refers to the process whereby one nation offers aid to another but
stipulates that the aid received must be spent on goods in the donor country.
For example, in the 1980s, India received aid from the UK, but it was stipulated
that this aid must be spent on British helicopters. This helps TNCs as they are
awarded contracts to provide services to the developing world and therefore
boost their annual turnover. Further evidence of this can be provided by
examining the role of the World Bank in awarding infrastructure contracts to
24
Western firms. For example, following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, an

American company, Halliburton, chaired by the US Vice President Dick Cheney
was awarded $20 billion dollars of contracts to help redevelop the
infrastructure of Iraq. This shows the benefits to TNCs of nations receiving aid,
whilst highlighting that most aid does not benefit the recipients.
25
Outline and explain two reasons why women may be attracted to some
religious organisation.
10 mark
The first reason why women may be attracted to some religious organisation
such as New Age Movements is that this focus on qualities such as nature or
natural experiences, individual experience and self-worth, all are values that
appeal to women more than men. As women are often associated with the
expressive role (Parsons) of caring for children through the biological role
following childbirth, the focus for women is on feelings and well-being of
themselves and others, compared to the male instrumental breadwinner role
which is often given a higher status in society. Religious organisation such as
New Age movements often celebrate the natural and healing and focus on
individual spirituality this often give women a sense of self-worth. This makes
New Age Movements more attractive to women as cults of healing often give
women a higher status that what they would receive through the expressive
role alone. So instead of just ‘acting out’ the traditional expressive role which
women see as being ‘restrictive’ instead they focus on the importance of being
‘authentic’ within these roles. This could explain why the 80% of the
participants in the Holistic Mileu in Kendal were female. Furthermore, these
values often appeal more to some middle class women, whereas working class
women are attracted to ideas and values that give them a passive role rather
than being ‘authentic’ in their roles.
The second reason why women may be attracted to religious organisation such
as denominations, e.g. Neo-Pentecostalism is the values being promoted are
used by women to raise their position within the family/society. According to
Brusco, Pentecostalism in Colombia has grown rapidly in popularity since the
1970s with women despite it being a very patriarchal religion. Often men are
the head of the household, head of the church, and insists a traditional gender
division of labour. Despite this, Neo-Pentecostalism has become attractive to
women as well as promoting ascetic values (Like Calvinism) it also challenges
the machismo prevalent in Latin American men. This machismo attitude held
by men traditionally means they drink, gamble, smoke their wages rather than
Produced courtesy @kateFlat Youtube: The Teacher Sociology

26
spending on their family. The Pentecostal church and the pastors pressure the
men to change their ways, by not wasting their money on drinks and gambling
but spending on their family. This in turn will raise the family standard of living.
This becomes attractive to women as it improves their social position and
quality of life. Despite the traditional values promoted within Pentecostalism
church publications often encourage equal relationships within marriages
which further improve the social positions and the lives of women in Colombia.
Produced courtesy @kateFlat Youtube: The Teacher Sociology

27
Item A
Some minority ethnic groups are over-represented in crime statistics
according to various sources. Some sociologists point to public perceptions
of certain minority ethnic groups such as African-Caribbean and Pakistani
males as one reason for this. Other sociologists suggest that these groups are
disproportionately focused on by the authorities.
However, other sociologists would suggest that these figures are correct and
that the reason these groups are over-represented is due to their economic
circumstances and the areas they live in.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways ethnic minority groups may
be over-represented in crime statistics (10)
One way in which ethnic minority groups may be over-represented in crime

statistics is due to institutional racism. Item A suggests that Pakistani and
African-Caribbean males are ‘disproportionately focused on by the authorities’
as the police often make judgements about the involvement of minority ethnic
groups in criminal activities due to ill-formed stereo-types based upon the
‘canteen culture’ of the police. Evidence for this was found by the McPherson
Inquiry following the death of Stephen Lawrence, a young black male who was
attacked by a gang of white youths. The inquiry found that the Metropolitan
Police operated by principles that were designed to put minority ethnic groups
at a disadvantage. Furthermore, the Black and Asian Officers Association of the
Metropolitan Police advised minority ethnic groups from joining the force as it
had a culture of institutional racism. This has led to accusation of racially
motivated ‘stop and search’ policies that disproportionately target minority
ethnic groups and becomes a form of selective law enforcement. This leads to
more arrests for minority ethnic groups as the police focus most of their
resources on areas inhabited by African, Caribbean and Pakistani groups, and
as a result causes them to be over-represented in crime statistics. However,
some sociologists such as right realists, would argue that the inadequate
socialisation of these groups leads to them being more likely to commit crime
and so the police focus on these areas in order to reduce criminal activity.
28
A second reason for the over-representation of minority ethnic crime is put

forward by left realists. They suggest that ethnic minority groups are more
likely to be disproportionately involved in criminal behaviour, but this is a
result of the way society treats them. Minority ethnic groups are most likely to
experience limited economic circumstances (Item A) which forces them to turn
to crime in order to make ends meet. Furthermore, ‘public perceptions’ (Item
A) lead to the marginalisation of these groups and particularly for young males
into subcultural groups whereby status is derived from criminal and deviant
behaviour. Furthermore, Lea and Young suggest that the structure of society
limits the opportunities for these groups to achieve financial success and
therefore they are often located in areas of relative deprivation where they are
more susceptible to becoming victims of crime. However, right realists would
suggest that minority ethnic offending is down to both cultural and
physiological differences between minority ethnic groups and the wider
population and that their lack of integration leads them to be excluded from
opportunities in society.
29
Item A
There are differing sociological views on the role of punishment in society.
Some sociologists see punishment as protecting the public and reinforcing
societies values, whilst others see the role of punishment as allowing
criminals to show remorse for their actions and change their ways.
However, the rate of reoffending for some groups indicates that punishment
is not always effective in achieving these goals.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two functions of criminal punishment

for society (10)
One function that criminal punishment fulfils for society is to reinforce the
norms and values of society, or what Durkheim called Boundary Maintenance.
Item A states that punishment ‘reinforc(es) society’s values’ and this is
achieved through the punishment of offenders for acts that are seen to deviant
against the norms and values of society. For Functionalists, it is important to
preserve the value consensus and collective conscience in society to stop
society from falling into a state of anomie. Punishing deviant behaviour acts as
a condemnation of these acts and reinforces the idea that society will not
tolerate this form of behaviour. An example of this is the harsh sentencing that
was handed out to people involved in the 2011 riots to act as an example to
others that this behaviour will not be tolerated by mainstream society. This
idea is supported by right realist theories such as zero tolerance, whereby
offenders are given harsh sentences for criminal behaviour in order to act as a
deterrent to others.
A second function that punishment provides for society is to act as a form of
rehabilitation for offenders. Item A states that punishment acts as a way for
‘criminal to show remorse for their actions and change their ways’. This can be
achieved through prison education programmes that would allow those that
have committed crimes to learn skills to enable them to gain employment
upon their release, based on an assumption that they may have turned to
crime due to status frustration or relative deprivation. Furthermore,
30
restorative justice programmes where inmates face their victims have been
used to try and rehabilitate offenders by showing them the consequences of
their actions. Both methods are designed to perform the function of
rehabilitating offenders so they may re-join society as fully functioning
members of society. However, many critics would suggest that rehabilitation
programmes only work if the social and economic conditions in society allow
for criminals to be reintegrated and point to the high rates of re-offending
(recidivism) as evidence of this.
31
Item A
Globalisation has led to massive social changes not only in the UK but in the
rest of the world as well. Increased travel, technological advances and
international co-operation have led many to believe that we are now living in
a global village.
However, one of the impacts of globalisation has meant a change in the
types of crime that society experiences. Many sociologists suggest that in the
21st century crime has become transgressive.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two reasons for a growth in new forms
and volumes of crime (10)
One reason for a growth in the volume of crime is the is the emergence of
cyber-crime. At stated in item A, ‘technological advances’ have led society to
become more interconnected and one of the most influential technological
advances of globalisation has been the creation on the internet. This has led to
new forms of crime being committed, such as cyber trespass or hacking, where
individuals will use the internet to gain access to files, information or resources
that are held on the computers of individuals, corporations and governments.
The most high profile of these events have been the leaking of national
security files by Wiki-leaks, which exposed top secret materials, state crimes
and financial information. Further cyber crimes such as trolling, cyber bullying,
phishing scams and voter interference, for examples the recent scandal about
Cambridge Analytica and the Mueller Report. However, some sociologists
would argue that obtaining information from individuals, companies and
governments for illicit purposes is not new, it is simply the medium by which it
is obtained that has changed, for example during the Cold War there were
numerous scandals (e.g. Profumo Affair) in which information was obtained
through covert means.
A second reason for the growth of new forms of crime is due to ‘increased
international travel’ (Item A). The process of globalisation has led to people
travelling to more exotic locations on holiday, more international business trips
and economic migration either from the developing world to the West or from
32
the West to emerging economies such as China and Middle East. As a

consequence, the volume of international traffic has made it easier to traffic
arms, drugs and people across borders. This is particularly the case with
migration from former Soviet countries to Western Europe and in the case of
drugs from Southern America and Afghanistan to Western Europe and the
USA. Furthermore, arms trafficking from former Soviet states to areas of
conflict, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo has increased with the
formation of Eastern European Mafias. Glenny highlights that these organised
crime syndicates utilise the growth of movement post globalisation as a cover
for moving money, arms, people, drugs and counterfeit goods in to Western
markets. However, it can be argued that illegal movement of humans, goods
and weapons is not a new phenomenon as evidenced by the slave trade in the
late eighteenth and nineteenth century.
33
Outline and explain two ways in which social policies have reinforced the
functions of the family (10)
One way in which social policies have reinforced the functions of the family is
through by giving preference to the neo-conventional and nuclear families
through a range of policies. Policies such as maternity leave, up to 9 months
paid leave and 12 months leave from employment in total have helped to
reinforce the instrumental and expressive roles. This is because it is assumed
that the mother will stay at home and look after the children whilst the male
goes out to work. This reinforces the instrumental and expressive roles as
suggested by Parsons, which also serves to socialise children into typical
gender roles as girls may see their mother staying home and looking after the
children whilst boys will see it as the role of the father to go out and work.
However, recent changes to shared parental leave have seen parents have the
option to share the 12 months leave, which whilst still reinforcing an
instrumental and expressive role, is more pragmatic as it allows these roles to
be shared between the two parents creating a greater economic flexibility.
A second way in which social policies have reinforced the functions of the
family is illustrated by the New Right/Neo-liberal perspective of individual
responsibility. This conforms to the economic support function of the family as
suggested by Murdock. Neo-liberal economic policy proposes lower taxation
and decreased social spending by the state to enable individuals to make
autonomous choices about how they spend their money. Examples of this
include indirect policies such as increasing the tax thresholds for individuals,
re-introduction of the married person’s tax allowance by the Conservative
government – an allowance that can be transferred from one partner to
another if the first does not earn enough to be taxed – and caps on the
number of children that parents can claim child benefit for (maximum of 2
from 2017). What these policies do is aim to give working families more money
to support their families, whilst simultaneously withdrawing dependency on
the state to provide for their children. This reinforces the economic function of
the family to provide for it’s members.
35
Outline and explain two reasons positivist methods are limited in investigating
contemporary society (10)
One reason that positivist methods are limited in investigating contemporary

society in that they approach society from a structural viewpoint. Positivists
suggest that society is influenced by structural forces and take a top-down
approach to studying society. Furthermore, positivists study society in order to
create cause and effect relationships between social institutions and
individuals in society. Their assumption is that individuals in society are passive
and that social forcers can manipulate the behaviour of individuals in
predictable ways. However, interpretivists would argue that in contemporary
society this is not the case. They would suggest that individuals are no longer
guided by morals passed down from institutions, but instead act upon their
own agency, which means that for positivists looking to establish cause and
effect relationships, this is incredibly difficult as individuals make their own
decisions, or display agency, based upon a multitude of factors, including their
past history, interactions with others and their understanding of the world.
This means that in contemporary society, with processes such as secularisation
and globalisation, the greater diversity in society means that adopting a
structural view of society and studying it scientifically is not desirable as people
are more unpredictable in contemporary society.
A second reason that positivist methods are limited in understanding
contemporary society is that they lack validity. Whilst many researchers and
particularly governments use positivist methodology in order to obtain
quantitative data on social trends, this evidence does little to explain how
social issues can be resolved as it lacks any deeper understanding of why the
problem occurs. An example of this is working class underachievement. Official
statistics will show that working class boys do worse than their middle-class
peers, but there is no suggestion in this data as to why this is the case.
Furthermore, statistics can be seen to be a social construction, as the receipt of
free school meals is often an indicator of social class, yet many students either
do not accept free school meals because of the stigma attached, or many
students not in receipt of free school meals feel the effects of material
deprivation. For interpretivists, not only do we need to understand why the
36
working-class underachieve, but also we need to broaden the definition of

working class in order to include people who do not fit into the narrow criteria
set out by governments, some of which may be politically motivated. As a
consequence, in contemporary society, positivist methods may be seen as too
inflexible and not measuring accurately what they are supposed to measure.
37
Outline and explain two ways in which the ageing population has impacted on
the structure of the family (10)
One way in which the ageing population has impacted on the structure of the
family is through the rise of beanpole families. Beanpole families are vertically
extended families with less children, for example a family has one child, that
child marries and has a child. The family tree comes to resemble a beanpole
rather than a pyramid, which was more typical of families in the past with
larger numbers of children who each had multiple children and so on. Because
the population is living longer due to increased healthcare, less risky work and
healthier lifestyles, there is an increased likelihood of elderly parents having to
be cared for by their children. This leads to an increase in the number of multi-
generational households and leads to closer relationships between children
and their grandparents with grandparents acting as carers when parents are at
work. It also has the potential to create an extra burden on the family if one of
the elderly parents is unwell and this could result in a triple shift for working
women, especially in families that subscribe to traditional gender roles. This
alters the structure of the family from being nuclear to being a vertically
extended one.
A second way in which the ageing population can impact on the structure of
the family is through divorce. As people are living longer, the potential for
leaving unhappy marriages increases. This can result in a range of different
family types. For example, single parent households might rise, as might lone
person households when a couple separate or divorce. Secondly, it may cause
more reconstituted families if one partner decides to remarry. Thirdly, it may
lead to more extended families, with children having more relatives,
particularly if both of their parents find new partners. This demonstrates that
the ageing population increases the expectations of marriage and as people
are unwilling to spend the remainder of their lives in unhappy relationships
and so what was once a nuclear family can become several different types of
family through the life-course.
39
Outline and explain two criticisms of using Feminist approaches to study

society (10)
One criticism of using Feminist approaches to study society is that Feminism

lack a coherent approach to studying society. An important concept in
understanding human behaviour is intersectionality, the process by which
individuals are treated based upon the range of social characteristics that they
possess. For example, a white middle-class woman may be judged very
differently to a black working-class woman and have very different concerns
when it comes to the social world around her. Whilst some Feminist groups,
such as Difference or Intersectional Feminists would argue that women should
be treated as individuals, others such as liberal feminists pursue an agenda of
social and economic equality for all women but fail to stipulate the different
characteristics within the groups they are fighting for. This has led some
commentators to argue that some feminists are fighting for equality in the
boardroom or the bedroom, whilst other women are fighting for their right to
live, choose when they reproduce, choose who they marry and have control
over their own bodies. As the range of problems that women face globally is so
diverse, some argue that the priorities of Western feminists are not aligned
with those of women in other parts of the world. Women suffering from FGM,
being sold into slavery, being forced into child labour, prostitution and
marriage are in more urgent need of assistance than gaining equal pay for
female actors or equal representation in the media.
A second criticism is that feminism can be seen as quite a divisive approach,
which several branches that disagree over the extent to which women are
exploited in society. Liberals tend to believe that there has been progress in
society and that women’s social, economic and political rights are gradually
progressing towards equality with males. However, other groups, such as
Radical Feminists fail to recognise some of the progress that has been made
buy the feminist movement and still point to the operation of patriarchal
structures in society as oppressing all women. They disagree that reforming
the existing system is possible and instead advocate revolution or separatism.
This means that Feminism lacks a unified approach to studying the issues of
women in the 21st Century.
40
Item A
The process of globalisation has led to many different changes to the
UK family. Migration, to and from the UK has impacted on the
structure of families and relationships between them.
Additionally, the impact of globalisation has altered the experience of
children due to increased technological advances.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which globalisation

has impacted on the family (10)
One way in which globalisation has impacted on the family is due to migration.
As Item A states, ‘migration…has impacted on the structure of families’ and
this can be evidenced through changes to the types of household in the UK
today. Migration has led to an increased in lone person and shared
households, this is in part due to economic migration into the UK for workers
from overseas in the early part of their careers. As they move to the UK, they
often find themselves living in temporary accommodation until their
employment is more secure and would be living in apartments or shared
accommodation with other professional workers. This is one way in which
migration has impacted on the structure of families and households, however
another way is emigration. Many young families in the UK have either moved
overseas for better career opportunities or have elderly relatives that have
retired overseas. Furthermore, there has been a growth of people working
overseas yet having relationships and families in the UK which has led to a
growth of living apart togethers. Migration, a key element of globalisation has
therefore impacted on family life in a range of different ways. However, some
sociologists point out that stricter immigration controls in a post-Brexit Britain
may cause this to change.
A second way globalisation has impacted on family life is through childhood
experiences. One feature of globalisation has been ‘increased technological
advances’ such as the development on the internet and other communications
technologies. Some sociologists suggest that this can have a negative impact
on family life as it could lead to forms of toxic childhood, with children in the
41
family being increasingly exposed to adult life at an early age, for example
through online gaming and social media sites. Palmer suggests that media
sources can distort children’s view of society, desensitising them to violence
and pressuring them to grow up before their time. This can be seen to have
negative impacts on family life. However, it can be argued that the growth of
communications technologies could also have positive effects, with increased
contact with relatives that live overseas allowing families to be connected
despite being miles apart.
42
Outline and explain two practical limitations of using self-completion

questionnaires in sociological research (10)
One practical limitation of using self-completion questionnaires in sociological

research is the low response rate. Self-completion questionnaires can be made
up of open. Closed or a mixture of both types of questions and are usually
distributed to respondents for them to complete in their own time. They can
be administered by hand, through the post or via email and can be sent out to
large numbers of people for relatively little cost. However, as they are sent out
to potential respondents rather than being completed in the presences of a
researcher, many people do not choose to complete these questionnaires, and
this can have an impact on the overall conclusions of the research being
conducted. Hite found in her research that after sending out over 100,000
questionnaires, only 4.5% were returned completed. This can have further
impacts on the research as several rounds of questionnaires may have to be
distributed in order to obtain a sample size large enough to be analysed or
generalised to the population being studied.
A second practical limitation of using self-completion questionnaires in the
access to potential respondents and the storing of their data. Recent changes
to data protection legislation have meant that previously accessible ways of
gaining information on potential respondents have been limited severely by
the introduction of GDPR. This legislation not only limits the access to lists of
potential participants, such as parents at a school or people who subscribe to a
media service, but it also has implications for how the data collected by a
researcher will be stored and used. GDPR states that people participating in
the survey have legal rights to have their data protected and data erased or
amended if they so wish. This could have severe cost implication for
researchers if they are found to breach these regulations. Whilst this is also an
issue for other research methods, the scale of self-completion questionnaires
means that access, storage and maintenance of data would be a considerable
practical limitation to using self-completion questionnaires.
43
Outline and explain two ways in which changes in legislation have led to
changes in gender roles in the family (10)
One way in which changes in legislation have led to changes in gender roles in
the family is through changes to equality legislation in employment. The
introduction of policies such as the Equal Pay Act and the Sexual Discrimination
Act in the 1970s have proved to be motivators for women in employment.
These pieces of legislation ensured that women could not be treated unfairly in
the workplace and led to many women choosing to have a career as there was
more motivation to do so as unfair practices such as blocking them from
promotion because of their gender had been removed. Alongside the rise of
the feminist movement, this legislation also had an indirect effect of
encouraging girls to stay on in education and go to university and pursue
careers. Consequently, women’s aspirations changed and as Sue Sharpe found
in Just Like a Girl it meant that careers took precedence over marriage and
children. This led to changes in gender roles, as with more educated women
and more women working, males had to adapt and help out more with
childcare and housework as the gender roles in the family became more
symmetrical and the relationship between males and females, particularly
educated ones, became a partnership of equals.
A second change in legislation that has impacted on gender roles in the family
is the introduction of shared parental leave. Prior to 2015, women were
entitled to take up to 12 months of maternity leave (9 months of which was
paid) whilst males could only take a maximum of 2 weeks paternity leave.
Feminists argued that this led to the reinforcement of traditional gender roles,
such as the instrumental and expressive role, as it was assumed that the
mother would be the primary caregiver. However, changes to the law in 2015
meant that parental leave could be shared between parents, which allowed
parents to split the 12 months of entitlement between them. This has led to an
increase in stay at home fathers, particularly in families where the female was
the primary breadwinner. In countries such as Sweden, this policy has been in
force for many years and has led to a generation of males, referred to as ‘latte
papas’ who take six months off to bond with their children, a clear deviation
from traditional gender roles.
44
Outline and explain two theoretical advantages of using interpretivist methods

in sociological research (10)
One theoretical advantage of using Interpretivist methods in sociological

research is that the data collected by these methods is qualitative.
Interpretivists use methods such as unstructured interviews and participant
observations which allow them to get close to the people they are researching
and collect large amounts of data on the issue they are studying. For example,
Paul Willis’ research into anti-school subcultures used a range of interpretivist
methods including observation and group interviews with a group of lads in
Learning to Labour. As a result, Willis was able to get a real insight into the
experiences of the lads and find out what meanings they gave to the social
processes they experienced in schools and what motivated them to act the
way they did. This qualitative information was able to be used to disprove
ideas that students were passive in their exploitation, and it challenge the
existing knowledge base of studies in education, particularly from a Marxist
view point.
A second theoretical advantage that the use of Interpretivist methods has is
the high level of validity that the research has because of the methods used.
Methods such as unstructured interviews allow the research subject being
interviewed the opportunity to expand on their answers and allows the
research to guide the conversation based upon responses. In comparison to
more rigid research methods that have higher reliability, like questionnaires
and structured interviews, a skilled interviewer can probe the research subject
and draw put responses which reveal that person’s true feelings on a subject.
Positivist methods on the other hand, may suffer from an imposition problem,
which is where responses are fixed so they may be quantified. The use of
interpretivist methods does not have this as it allows for full exposure and
achieves verstehen, or insight into the person’s feelings, meanings and
motivations, which heightens the validity of what the method is trying to
measure.
45
Outline and explain two ways in which social policies have impacted on the
birth rate in the UK (10)
One way in which social polices have impacted on the birth rate in the UK is
through the introduction of employment legislation that tackled gender
inequalities in society. The rise of second wave feminism in the 1960s led to
the introduction of two policies that tackled workplace discrimination of
women. The Equal Pay Act and the Sexual Discrimination Act, both made
employment and having a career a more attractive proposition for females.
This increased the aspirations of girls in education and led to an increase in
girl’s achievement. This resulted in more girls going on to university and
delaying marriage and having children until after they had established
themselves in a career. As a result, the fertility rate for females dropped as the
age at which women had their first child rose. Furthermore, women had less
children as many returned to work after having children rather than being stay
at home mothers. This ultimately had an impact on the birth rate throughout
the 1980s and 90s and the early part of the 21st century.
A second way in which social policies have impacted on the birth rate in the UK
is through laws on migration. The birth rate in the UK began to rise again in the
early part of the twenty first century after the mass migration into the UK of
Eastern European economic migrants to the UK following the expansion of the
European Union. The migrants that came to the UK looking for better
employment and education, were typically in their early twenties and had a
higher fertility rate than UK nationals. This was a consequence of having more
traditional family roles of breadwinner and homemaker and consequently
increased the birth rate as they settled in the UK and raised families. This
brought many structural problems, including insufficient places in schools in
certain areas of the country, as previous governments had closed schools
down due to the falling numbers of births.
46
Outline and explain TWO ethical limitations of using covert observations in

sociological research (10)
One ethical limitation of using covert observations in sociological research is

deception. The purpose of covert observations, whether participant or non-
participant, is for the researchers motives to be unknown and in some
instances the fact that research is being conducted also being hidden from
those being researched. This breaches one of the ethical guidelines that
researchers should not deceive their participants, and in doing so the
researcher faces breaching the trust of those being researched and the
information they may provide to them in confidence. An example of this comes
from Laud Humphries research Tearoom Trade where Humphries pretended to
be a ‘watch queen’ for males frequenting public toilets to have sex with other
men. In deceiving his participants by not informing them of his role as a
researcher, Humphries violated their trust and confidence. Furthermore,
Humphries approached the males later in their homes, pretending to be a
health advisor and asked the men questions about their personal lives.
However, it can be argued that the deception was necessary in order to
achieve his findings, as at that time, many men would be unlikely to come
forward and discuss their experiences of tearooms.
A second ethical limitation of covert observations is protection from harm.
Covert observations are often conducted on social issues that involve criminal
behaviour as other methods, such as interviews, would be unlikely to discover
the depth of information that an observation and seeing things first hand
would. However, establishing and maintaining cover with participants engaging
in illegal activity places the researcher in harm. An example of this was James
Patrick’s Glasgow Gang Observed, where Patrick had to establish and maintain
cover with the gang. If he was found out, the consequences for himself would
be dangerous. This research also highlighted another form of protection and
that was for others involved in the research. Patrick observed many fights and
was approached himself to attack a member of a rival gang with an axe. The
physical harm to the other person and the psychological harm to Patrick would
have been seen to breach ethical guidelines and the law. Therefore, covert
observations, due to the nature of the topics being investigated can often lead
to placing the researcher and those being studied in harm.
47
One way in the education system prepares students for their future is through
role allocation. This is based upon the idea of meritocracy, or as stated in the
item ‘students are rewarded based upon their ability’. If students show an
aptitude for a certain subject or a certain set of skills, then this is nurtured by
the education system and students are trained by experts in that field to go on
and achieve to a higher level in that subject area. This is essential to the
‘harmonious running of society’ (Item A) as it means that those who show the
greatest skill or ability in an area are most likely to make it to the top of their
chosen profession. This benefits society as it means that it functions correctly,
with those most capable in medicine being doctors, whilst those who show an
aptitude for the law being in the legal professions. However, Marxists would
suggest that ‘meritocracy is a myth’ and that many working-class students are
denied the opportunities to show what they are capable of because of
unconscious prejudices in the education system. They suggest there is a
reproduction of inequality which leaves working-class students in working-class
professions. Both the Functionalist view of role allocation and the Marxist view
both suggest that education prepares students for their future, however they
do not agree on whether this is carried out in an objective manner that allows
students to achieve their potential.
48
A second way in which education prepares students for their future is through
the teaching of specialist skills. Item A states, ‘students learn…a range of skills
that they will be able to use in employment.’ This refers to Durkheim’s idea of
education creating a diverse and specialised workforce for the complex division
of labour in modern society. This can be evidenced in schools both explicitly
through the formal curriculum which focuses on students learning the
knowledge and skills to go onto employment of further study (for example to
study medicine at university it is necessary for students to have a good
understanding of the sciences, particularly biology). It can also be achieved
through more subtle means, such as the informal or hidden curriculum. This is
where students are taught values of working in teams, meeting deadlines,
punctuality and the process of rewards and sanctions. However, Marxists
Bowles and Gintis would suggest that the hidden curriculum passes on the
norms and values of capitalist labour, what they referred to as the
correspondence principle. This prepares students for a future of subservience,
obedience and passive acceptance of hierarchies and alienation from their
peers. Both of these approaches agree that the purpose is to prepare students
for their future, albeit they disagree on whether that is one of oppression or of
possibility.
49
Outline and explain two reasons why governments might not use sociological
research in their policy making (10)
One reason that sociological research might not be used by governments in

their policy-making is due to a clash of ideologies. Research that comes from a
social democratic perspective, for example, research into poverty or the
impacts of austerity, is unlikely to inform the decision making of right wing or
neo-liberal governments, whose prime objective is to reduce social spending,
increase personal responsibility and reduce taxation. The reason for this is that
social democratic research will inevitably find that there is a need for
investment in social spending, whether that be on improving social housing,
improving wages or on additional educational spending in order to solve the
problem. An example of this would be the current debate around knife crime.
Left wing thinkers suggest that the problem is due to a lack of opportunities,
racism in wider society and the marginalisation of groups. Adopting a left
realist approach to solving these issues would involve investment in training
and employment, promoting inclusion in wider society and the use of
community policing and youth workers to intervene at an early level to prevent
knife crime. This would be costly and is not considered due to the policy of
austerity and reductions to public services. Instead, right realist policies such as
‘stop and search’ are being proposed as the right realist ideology is more
aligned with the ideology of the Conservative Party.
A second reason for governments failing to implement policy based upon

sociological research is the influence of think tanks and lobbyists. Whilst most
sociological research would examine social factors behind social issues, think
tanks, particularly those to the right of the political spectrum, often rely upon
neo-liberal economic thinking to provide solutions to problems, viewing the
economic performance of the UK as more important than social factors such as
poverty, homelessness, healthcare and education. Furthermore, links between
governments and think tanks are often reciprocal. For example, Iain Duncan
Smith aided the set -up of the Centre for Social Justice, a think tank which
suggested the implementation of Universal Credit. This was put into place by
the then Minister for Work and pensions, Iain Duncan Smith. Think Tanks can
also assume the role of lobbyists. Companies will provide donations to political
50
parties in order to protect their interests. Once a political party is in power,

lobbyists, representing certain key industries (arms, tobacco, alcohol,
pharmaceuticals) will pressurise governments into passing laws that benefit
their interests. Consequently, sociological research which contradicts these
ideas is rejected in favour of the ideas of think tanks. An example of this could
be the denial of climate change by American President Donald Trump in order
to pass legislation that benefits global oil and fossil fuel companies.
51
One way in which home backgrounds influence the educational achievement

of different social classes is through the different levels of ‘parental support’
(Item A) offered to different social classes. Middle class parents are perceived
to have a more authoritarian parenting style which encourages their children
to work harder in education and achieve at a higher level. This is amplified by
middle class parents having higher expectations of their children as they are
aware of the importance of education haivng achieved to a high level
themselves. In contrast, some sociologists argue that working-class parenting
styles are more lax on discipline and have lower expectations of their children.
Working-class parents are less likely to be involved in their child’s education,
often as a result of their own bad expeirences in education. However, some
sociologists would suggest that working-class parents do understand the
importance of education and push their children to achieve, but lack the
educational capital to support their children in achieving their full potential.
A second way in which home backgrounds can influence the educational
achievement of different social classes is through the ‘economic capital’ that
their families possess. Middle class parents are more likely to be able to afford
additional support for their children, such as private tuition, text books and
online access. In contrast, working-class students often suffer from amterial
deprivation, which not only effects their ability to acquire these additional
resources but can have other cumulative impacts. Poor housing with problems
such as damp can lead to illness and absence from schoool, hampering
progress. Insecure housing could mean students move from school to school
and fall behind. A lack of private space to complete work and responsibilities
52
for looking after younger siblings due to parental shift work can also have
negative impacts on their children’s ability to achieve their full potential in
education. However, some sociologists would argue that the government have
provided schools with Pupil Premiums for students from disadvanataged areas
and some colleges provided bursaries to tackle material deprivation. These
measures however are deemed to be ineffective by many in tackling the gap in
educational achievement between working and middle class students.
53
Outline and explain TWO reasons that social action theories are useful for
explaining contemporary social issues (10)
One reason for social action theories being useful for explaining contemporary
social issues is the methodology used by social action researchers. Social action
researchers use interpretivist methodologies in order to investigates social
issues. The advantage that this gives them is that it enables them to gain a
greater insight into the meanings and motivations people attach to their own
actions and the actions of others. The use of methods such as participant
observations and unstructured interviews allows the researcher to gain an
insight, or verstehen, into the lives of those they are researching and allow
them to draw conclusions based upon highly valid data. This is especially useful
in contemporary society as some sociologists would suggest that we have
moved from an era of modernity to an era of either late or post modernity.
Both eras are typified by increased individualisation, more choice and less
social control from institutions such as the family, religion and education.
Consequently, using interpretivist methodology allows social action theorists
to be more adaptable in researching contemporary social issues than structural
theorists.
A second reason for the usefulness of social action theories in explaining
contemporary social issues is the understanding of the self and interactions
with others. In today’s media saturated society people’s sense of self is often
shaped by how they measure themselves against others in the media or their
friends on social media. The image that a person portray on social media is an
increasingly important part of their self-concept, as research has shown that
approval on social media can impact on self-esteem. Social Action theorists are
best placed to understand and explain these phenomena given their focus on
the individual, rather than society, as a starting point and their focus on the
impact of interactions on the behaviour of individuals. Social Action theorists
are also best suited to understanding individual behaviours as they look to
uncover the meanings people see in these interactions, and in an increasingly
individualised and diverse world, are better positioned to understand why and
how these interactions influence people’s behaviours than more structural
54
theorists who look to adopt a one size fits all approach that does not take into
account individual differences.
55
Item A
In recent years, educational policy has helped to create an educational

marketplace, whereby students and their parents are given more choice
over the type of education that they would prefer. Furthermore, the
government has provided a range of information to enable families to be
able to select the type of school that best suits their own educational
needs.
However, some sociologists would suggest that it is middle class families

that benefit most from these changes and that working-class children are
often left to attend school that do not adequately provide for their
complex needs.
Applying material from Item A, analyse TWO ways in which marketisation

policies have created greater inequalities between social classes (10)
One way in which marketisation policies have created greater inequalities

between the social classes is through the process of selecting schools. Item A
states that the ‘government has provided a range of information’, such as
Ofsted reports and league tables which allow parents to make choices about
their child’s education. Whilst these sources are freely available on the
internet, middle class parents are more likely to have the educational capital to
be able to understand these documents and the cultural capital to be able to
apply to the schools that perform the best. Gerwitz et al suggested that middle
class parents tend to be skilled choosers of their children’s education, whilst
the working class are either semi-skilled choosers, who have the educational
capital to understand the report, but lack the cultural capital for their children
to be selected, or local-disconnected choosers, who due to a lack of economic
capital may be reliant upon school in their local area to provide an education
for their children. This creates greater inequalities as the top performing
schools tend to be oversubscribed and are more likely to select middle class
students to attend. These students earn more cultural and educational capital
than their peers in lower performing schools and ultimately end up in higher
paid professions, creating inequality. However, some sociologists would point
to social mobility schemes in place at prestigious universities that look to
tackle these issues for the most talented students.
56
A second way in which marketisation polices might create further inequality

between the social classes is through funding. Item A states that working-class
children are left to attend schools that do not attend to their ‘complex needs’.
As working-class students lack the cultural capital to get into high performing
schools, they are often reliant upon their local schools for their education. If
these are poor performing, they will have limited funds for additional
resources for students or additional support for students with special
educational needs. Consequently, students will struggle to catch up with their
more affluent peers and be caught in a cycle of deprivation. However, recent
attempts by the Coalition Government to address this issue have led to the
introduction of the Pupil Premium, additional funding for schools if they have
students from areas of economic deprivation. It can be argued however, that
often these resources are not allocated to additional resources, but often
make up budget shortfalls from cuts to educational funding made by the
government.
57
#40DayChallenge – Day 6
Outline and explain TWO reasons why sociology should not be seen as a
science (10)
One reason that sociology should not be seen as a science is put forward by
interpretivists. They would argue that human beings cannot be measured in a
scientific way as everyone’s understanding of society is unique to them and
made up of the interactions that they have with others. In comparison to the
natural sciences, where elements with similar properties will react in a
predictable manner, human beings will not. If a piece of iron is heated,
regardless of the size or the colour or the density, the same reactions will
occur, whereas humans from the same social class, ethnic group, gender or
age, will react differently based upon their understanding of events and
therefore it is impossible to study humans objectively or by using scientific
methods. Instead, interpretivists propose that a greater insight, or verstehen,
needs to be obtained in order to order to understand the meanings and
motivations that individuals attach to certain actions. Interpretivists would
further argue that there is no predictable formulaic cause and effect to human
behaviour, but that sociologists should look retrospectively at behaviours and
try and understand why individuals act in the way that they do. Therefore,
sociology cannot be a science, as these conclusions will often be highly
subjective and open to interpretation.
A second reason that sociology should not be a science is the nature of science
itself. Thomas Kuhn suggested that science is based upon paradigms, or
collections of knowledge about certain phenomena. Kuhn suggests that in the
natural sciences, knowledge evolves through a set of paradigm shifts, for
example it was once proposed that the Earth was flat, where we now
understand it to be spherical. Before the paradigm shifts, much knowledge
that opposes the dominant paradigm is rejected because it opposes the
existing body of knowledge. Consequently, this may limit our understanding of
human behaviour by discarding any new knowledge that contradicts firmly
established behaviours. Therefore, adopting a scientific approach would be
undesirable for sociologists such as post-modernists and interpretivists who all
suggest that individuals do not act according to laws but rather based upon
their interpretation of a situation.
58
As stated in Item A, one reason for the improvement of girls over the last 35
years has been changes to the ways that ‘students are taught and assessed.’ In
the late 1980’s, assessment criteria were changed for secondary students and
GCSEs and coursework were introduced in place of CSEs and O Level
examinations which were exam only qualifications. This improved girl’s
achievement as it was thought that due to their better literacy skills and more
conscientious approach to education, girls better organisational and
presentation skills meant that they would score higher on the coursework
element of their GCSEs than if sitting a high-stakes examination on its own.
Boys tend to perform better in high-stakes exams than continuous assessment
such as coursework and so girl’s achievement increased. However, critics of
this approach would suggest that in many cases, coursework amounted for less
than half of the marks towards a student’s final grade, and in some instances
as low at 20%. Therefore, it can be argued that there are other factors
determining the improvement of girls in education.
A second reason for the improvement of girls over the last 35 years is the way
in which ‘students are taught’ (Item A). Sociologists, such as Tony Sewell, have
suggested that more recently the education system has adopted more
feminine approaches to teaching, learning and assessment and that there has
been a ‘feminisation of education’. The use of more collaborative teaching and
learning methods, rather than competitive ones, has suited girls’ education
better than boys and this has allowed them to be more engaged, motivated
59
and ultimate achieve higher. It can be argued that the changes in teaching
methodologies could also be due to the increase in female teachers within the
education system. These female teachers may be more effective in delivering
collaborative methods, and therefore in doing so act as a symbol of the
education system and how it rewards feminine traits, such as co-operation,
collaboration and compassion. However, some sociologists would argue that
not all education has become feminised, particularly sciences and maths which
remain part of the male gender domain but have seen improvements in female
performance in those areas. Furthermore, global comparisons between
teaching methods suggest traditional teaching methods, such as those in
China, Singapore and Hong Kong, achieve far higher results for girls than the
UK system, so perhaps the reasons for girl’s achievement are the changes in
wider society, such as the rise of feminism.
60
Outline and explain TWO ways in which society can be seen to have moved
into a post-modern age (10)
One way in which society can be seen to have moved into a post-modern age is
through the process of globalisation. Globalisation is the greater inter-
connection of nations into a global village. This process has been helped by
technological innovations, such as easier travel and the development of
telecommunications networks. Globalisation is a key feature of the post-
modern age as it promotes massive cultural changes in society and influences
the identity of individuals who draw ideas from other cultures and develop
hybrid identities. An example of this could be British Asian music or fusion
cuisine. Furthermore, the process of globalisation allows for more movement
of people on a global scale and the transmission of ideas, norms and values
from one part of the world to another. Post-modernists would argue, however
that the process of globalisation can lead to the displacement of traditional
national identities and that this is turn can lead to global conflicts, an example
of this being the war on terror.
A further way in which society can be seen to have moved into a post-modern
age is through the increase in diversity. Post-modernists would suggest that
the grad-narratives of structural theories such as Marxism and Functionalism
are no longer relevant as individuals have more choice and free will over their
lives than in the modern era. Evidence of this can be found in the greater
diversity of family life, with gender roles and sexuality particularly being more
flexible than in the past, leading families away from the traditional view of a
nuclear family that was typical of the modern era. The range of family types in
the post-modern era is broad and diverse, with the recognition of same sex
marriage, less stigma on divorce and cohabitation and the option for people to
construct their own familial units from friends, colleagues and pets. This
greater diversity would act as a sign that society has moved into a post-modern
age
61
Item A
State education was created in the late nineteenth century in order to
equip the next generation with the skills it needed for the complex division
of labour in modern society. Since then, governments have introduced new
initiatives to ensure that schools and colleges provide students with the
skills they need in order to progress in the modern workplace. These have
included the introduction of specialist courses, schools and colleges as well
as ensuring that all students achieve a certain standard of education,
particularly in English and Maths.
However, some sociologists would suggest that government initiatives

have had limited success in achieving these objectives.
Applying material from Item A, analyse TWO ways that educational policies
have ensured that students have the skills to compete in the job market. (10)
As stated in Item A, one way in which educational policies have ensured that
students have the skills to compete in the job market is through achieving a
‘certain standard of education, particularly in Maths and English’. Students
who do not achieve passing grades in English and Maths are expected to resit
these courses until they do achieve a passing grade. This was set out in the
Wolff Report into employability skills in the UK in 2010 and suggested that the
education system had failed to adequately equip students with the numeracy
and literacy skills required to hold down permanent employment. As a result of
these findings, the government made studying English and Maths a condition
of funding for courses for 16-18-year olds who had carried onto Further
Education. This can be seen to be one way in which educational policies ensure
that students have the basic skills to compete against others in the job market.
However, pass rates on English and Maths resits remain low and many
students still leave the education system ill-equipped for the demands of the
job market despite achieving these grades, as evidenced by the large number
of 18-24-year olds who are unemployed or underemployed in the UK today.
A second way mentioned in the item is the provision of ‘specialist courses,
schools and colleges.’ The Conservative government from 1979 to 1997 set out
to reform vocational education and introduced several schemes to help
students gain the skills that they would require in the job market. The creation
of the Youth Training Scheme (YTS) allowed 16-year olds to learn employment
62
skills through work with additional training provided by Further education

colleges. Additionally, the creation of NVQs and GNVQs allowed students to
receive a ‘certain standard’ of vocational training that was nationally
recognised and could be used to prove their skills to future employers. Both
qualifications were delivered in partnership with employers and colleges and
this led to an upskilling of the workforce throughout the early part of the
twenty first century. However, some have criticised the usefulness of these
qualifications as they lacked the same prestige as A levels and GCSEs, whilst
the YTS scheme was open to abuse by employers as a form of cheap labour
with no guarantee of employment at the end of a work placement. Whilst
students may have been given skills, structural issues such as large-scale
employment and shifting job markets have meant that many young people did
not possess the skills to fill shortages in the job market, such as nursing and
scientific disciplines.
63
Outline and explain TWO reasons why sociologists might not be value free in
their research (10)
One way that sociologists may not be value free in their research is due to their
theoretical perspective. Whilst structural theories such as Functionalism and
traditional Marxism look to remain objective and value free in their research,
other sociologists such as neo-Marxists and Interactionists prefer to examine
the lives of individuals through a more subjective lens and therefore their
research is criticised as being value-laden. Whereas Functionalists may adopt a
more positivist approach to research, opting for a scientific, cause and effect
view of a social issue, neo-Marxists and Interactionists would suggest that in
order to study human behaviour, an interpretivist methodology is more
desirable, as it provides the researcher with more insight into the experiences
of those being studied and provides more validity than positivist methods such
as official statistics and closed questionnaires. Interpretivist methods, such as
unstructured interviews and participant observations rely more heavily upon
the interpretation of the researcher, and therefore it is inevitable that the
values of the researcher and indeed the participant will interfere with the
findings made as human experiences are difficult to quantify or measure
scientifically.
A second reason that sociologists might not be value free in their research is
due to their career aspirations or need to attract funding. All research is guided
by funding bodies, such as the government, universities and charities and
therefore there are hidden agendas behind why the research is being
conducted. For example, governments are unlikely to commission research
that may be critical of their own policies and as such if a researcher is to secure
funding, they may have to abandon their own personal values in exchange for
their career progression or funding. Whilst some may argue that this may
make them value-free, undertaking research that looks to support the
principles of the funding body, then this makes the research value-laden.
Funding bodies often target specific causes and issues, for example the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation looks at the impact of poverty in the UK, and therefore
researchers wanting to secure funding from the foundation would be looking
specifically at poverty and its negative impacts on society and as such would be
value-laden.
64
Item A
The process of globalisation has led to many improvements in the

education system over the past 20 years. The impact of migration and a
greater awareness of overseas cultures and ideas on education have led to
increased choice in schools and educational provision. Furthermore, the
introduction of international rankings for schools has led to changes in the
structure of the education system.
Applying material from Item A, analyse TWO ways in which the process of
globalisation has led to an increase in educational achievement.
One way in which the process of globalisation has led to an increase in

educational achievement is through the creation of greater competition
between schools. Item A states that there has been a ‘increased choice in
schools’ and this can be seen in the introduction of academies, that were
based upon the US model of charter schools and Free Schools based upon
Scandinavian models of education. As a consequence of these types of school
being introduced, parents have more options from which to send their children
to, which means that state providers have to improve their own standards in
order to compete with these schools that are generally better funded due to
the external investment that is made in them by academy trusts, businesses
and wealthy parents. However, it can be argued that academies have not
always performed well and be a symptom of the negative aspects of neo-
liberalism, with reduced costs, larger class sizes and less specialist teachers as
academy trusts look to make a profit. Free schools could also be argued to be
few and far between and offer either alternative provision for pupils excluded
from mainstream school or are based upon middle class values which exclude
many working-class children.
A second way in which globalisation has led to increased achievement is
through ‘international rankings’ of schools creating a more competitive global
marketplace. Rankings, such as the PISA ranking, compare students from
around the world based upon skills such as Maths, English and Science and
rank their performance internationally. Poor performance from UK schools
puts pressure on the government to investigate teaching and learning cultures
65
in other parts of the world. For example, in the UK research into the success of
the Hong Kong and Singapore education system has led to proposals to extend
the school day and shorten holidays in education. However, it can be argued
that these cultures and British culture differ greatly and what works for one
culture may not work for another. Another example is South Korea, which has
a high PISA ranking, but also has one of the highest teenage suicide rates in the
world as the intense pressure to achieve has a negative impact on children’s
health and wellbeing.
66
#2022Sociologychallenge Day 18 Families and Households
Outline and explain two ways increased life expectancy has impacted on changes to the
family structure. [10]
One way increased life expectancy has impacted on changes to the family structure has
been through increased family diversity. As individuals are living longer, due to advances
in medicine, better lifestyles and less dangerous jobs, individuals’ attitudes to relationships
have changed. Whilst in modern society, people married for romantic love, according to
Giddens, in late modern society, with increased life expectancy, people are more likely to
follow a pattern of serial monogamy, that is a series of relationships with one person at a
time, before ending a relationship and moving onto a new one. This has resulted in an
increase in marital breakdowns, leading to greater diversity as partners go their separate
ways, being unwilling to remain in an unhappy relationship as they have more time ahead
of them to find a new relationship. This results in the formation of lone parent families,
lone person households and potentially, remarriage and reconstituted families. As a result,
the conventional nuclear family in no longer perceived to be the norm, as people will
change their relationships over the life course.
A second way in which increased life expectancy has impacted on changes to the family
structure is through the rise in beanpole families. Beanpole, of vertically extended families,
are multi-generational families that maintain close ties with one another, sometimes under
the same roof. In practice, this means that a parent may moving in with their grown
children and their grandchildren. One reason for this may be due to people living longer
but having more years of poor health ahead of them. Illnesses such as dementia may
require elderly members of the family to be cared for by their children, particularly given
the costs of social care for the elderly. As a result of the average life expectancy
increasing, illness such as dementia and some forms of cancer are on the increase, and
this would necessitate a change to the family structure in order to provide emotional and
physical support to elderly loved ones.
.
67
Item A
Over the last 50 years the experience of children in society has changed. Whilst some
children benefit from changes that place children at the centre of society, others are
often isolated of have adult burdens placed upon their young shoulders.
2. Applying material from item A, analyse two ways childhood can be argued to be a
social construction. [10]
One way childhood could be argued to be a social construction is through different

experiences of childhood. At Item A states, some children ‘have adult burdens placed
upon their young shoulder’ from an early age. This can refer to cases of child carers, who
due to financial constraints and emotional connections, provide care for a sick parent. The
experiences those children will have will differ greatly from the experiences of other
children, as they may experience disrupted sleep patterns, stress and anxiety over the
health of those they care for, and responsibilities such as making sure others in the house
are fed and looked after, particularly younger siblings. This experience would be in stark
contrast to the Westernised notion of childhood as being a time of innocence and that
children should be protected from the worries of the adult world.
A second way in which childhood could be seen as a social construction is through

children being ‘isolated’ in society (Item A). In contemporary society, many children are
excessively controlled due to fears that they may become a target for unwanted attention.
As a result, parents will limit children’s independence by controlling the spaces that they
inhabit. Gittens argues that this form of age patriarchy can lead to children lacking the
social skills necessary to function in society. Furthermore, Palmer argues that there is a
form of ‘toxic’ childhood whereby children are pacified by technology, which has become
more relevant following periods of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in
contrast to the ideal of child-centred society that is put forward by other sociologists,
whereby children’s need are central to the experience of growing up in the 21st century.
Hence, it can be argued that the isolation of children, either from their peers or from
social spaces deviates from the norms constructed of a childhood as a time of exploration
and social development.
68
Outline and explain two ways changes in gender roles have impacted on the functions of
the family. [10]
One way that changes in gender roles have impacted on the functions of the family is
through women’s involvement in paid work. As society has progressed towards greater
gender equality in the workplace through policies such as the Equal Pay Act and the
Equality Act, more women have taken on paid employment. This provides them with
financial independence from their husbands and also provides their family with greater
economic security, at least in theory. The economic function was highlighted by Murdock
as being one of the four functions of the family that provided benefits for both the
members of the family and for wider society. However, Murdock (and subsequently
Parsons) saw this as being achieved by the male in the family and so the change to
having a dual income family changes the burden of the economic function from being on
a male breadwinner to both partners. However, feminists would argue that women are
still expected to take on the majority of the unpaid labour in the home as well, so there is
little change in that regard.
A second way in which changing gender roles have impacted on the functions of the
family is through gender socialisation. Whilst the traditional nuclear family was based
upon children being socialised into their gender roles by their same sex parent, these
roles were based upon a biological division of labour, with males taking on the
instrumental role or being the breadwinner, and females the expressive role, of caring for
and nurturing the family. As women have become more involved in paid labour, this has
changed the way in which young girls are socialised. In contemporary society, girls are
socialised into having career ambitions of their own, through observation of their mothers
being in paid labour. This alters the functions of the family, as it no longer reproduces an
instrumental and expressive role, but rather combined conjugal roles that are undertaken
by both males and females, which impacts on the expectations of their children to take on
both roles in the future.
.
69
Item A
Some sociologists have argued that gender roles within the family are becoming more
equal in society. With more flexible working, changing perceptions of masculinity and
women’s changing priorities, both male and female responsibilities in the home have
changed over the past 50 years.
2. Applying material from item A, analyse two reasons for changes to gender roles within
relationships. [10]
One reason for changes in gender roles within relationships is ‘women’s changing
priorities’ (Item A). Over the past 50 years, the rise of feminism in society has provided
women with greater opportunities in education and employment and this has led to
women having higher aspirations than in previous generations. Sharpe outlined this
change when examining the attitudes of schoolgirls to their future in the 1970s and the
early 1990s. In the 1970s, girls prioritised love, marriage and children, but when a similar
cohort of student were asked almost 20 years later, their priorities had changed to
education and careers. This has impacted on gender roles as women are less likely to
choose to marry earlier in life and as a consequence are usually more financially
independent and have different attitudes to relationships than previously, preferring a
partnership of equals and having higher expectations of their partners contributing
towards domestic labour and childcare.
A second reason for the changes in gender roles within relationships has been the
‘changing perceptions of masculinity’ (Item A). In contemporary society, males are more
likely to define themselves by their role as a father than by their occupation. Beck argues
that this is a result of the greater insecurity in late modern society around employment,
whereas fatherhood is a lifelong commitment. As a result, males invest more time in their
children and play a more active role in child-rearing than in previous generations. This,
combined with higher expectations of men to contribute to domestic labour have created
more equality between males and females in their relationships. However, feminists would
argue that males are less likely to deal with the emotional burdens of children and women
are still most likely to be seen as the primary caregiver in relationships, despite increased
male involvement.
70
Outline and explain two ways demographic changes in society have changed family
structures [10]
One way in which demographic changes have changed family structures is through the
ageing population in the UK. With increased life expectancy over the past century in the
UK and a falling birth rate, the average age of the UK population has increased, so that
the average age of British citizens is in their mid-40s. This has changes on the structure of
family life in the UK, as with more elderly people and less children being born there has
been a growth of vertically extended or beanpole families. These multi-generational
families have closer links between generations, with grandparents often providing care for
their grandchildren whilst their parents are in work. Alternatively, adults are providing care
for elderly parents, who despite living longer, may be subject to ill-health associated with
old age, such as dementia or mobility issues. This may necessitate elderly parents moving
in with their grown children and their grandchildren, creating a beanpole family under the
same roof.
A second way in which demographic changes in society have changed family structures is
through migration. With increased migration both into and out of the UK, many extended
families are separated by international boundaries. This can occur in several ways, with
immigrants to the UK being separated from extended families in their homeland or
through emigration, either for work or retirement creating a greater distance between
families. Furthermore, migration into the UK from EU nations was based around young
professionals coming to the UK for education or employment which generated an
increase in lone person households or communal households, where people shared
properties with others in a similar position to them. This migration of students and young
professionals changes the structure of families and households from being based upon
couples to a more diverse structure, with almost a third of households in the UK being
lone person households in 2018.
.
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Item A
In recent years, the number of children born in the UK has fallen. Sociologists suggest
that this is due to changes in social attitudes and the costs incurred in raising children.
2. Applying material from item A, analyse two reasons for changes in birth rates. [10]
One reason for changes in birth rates is due to ‘changes in social attitudes’ (Item A).
Sociologists argue that as we move into a late modern era, there has been an increase in
individualism. Giddens argues that people have become more reflexive in their attitudes,
looking at themselves and reflecting upon their actions, striving for self-improvement. As
a result, people have moved from having life-long relationships based upon romantic
love, to a series of monogamous relationships based upon confluent love. Giddens argue
that people no longer look to partners as a means of completing them but look for
people that fulfil an individual’s needs at a moment in time and move from one
relationship to another when those needs change. As a result, people are less likely to
make long-term commitments, such as getting married or having children with a partner
until they are certain that the relationship will last a significant amount of time. As a result,
people delay having children until later in life when they are more stable and settled. This
reduces the fertility window for having children for many women, with the average age of
first child being in the late twenties for women in contemporary society, compared to
early twenties 50 years ago. As a result, they have less children, as can be evidenced by
the fertility rate falling to 1.7 children per woman from over 2.4 in previous generations.
A second reason for changes in birth rates has been the ‘costs incurred in raising children’
(Item A). Over time, children have moved from being an economic asset to an economic
burden. In pre-industrial and early industrial society, children helped to provide the family
with income from either employment or through helping with farming. With the
introduction of compulsory education, which has been extended through to the age of 18,
children are no longer units of production, but units of consumption. As society has
moved to being more child-centred, this level of consumption has increased, and children
are now seen as an economic burden. Estimates have placed the cost of raising a child
from £140,000 - £200,000 to the age of 18, and with the abolition of student grants and
the introduction of tuition fees and student loans, many sociologists argue that children
are often dependent upon financial support from their parents into their mid-twenties and
in some cases beyond. As a result, people may choose to have less children than in the
past or may even choose not to have children at all.
72
Outline and explain two ways that globalisation has led to changes in gender roles and
relationships [10]
One way in which globalisation has led to changes in gender roles and relationships is
through employment. Over the past 40 years, globalisation has resulted in the decline of
traditional manufacturing industries in the UK, with many of these jobs being moved to
lower wage economies in other parts of the world as global barriers to trade were
removed. As a result, there has been a seismic shift in the employment market in the UK,
with some sociologists suggesting that there has been a ‘feminisation of employment’ as
the UK moves to a service sector economy. This has impacted on gender roles and
relationships as it has created more opportunities for women in employment. This has led
to more dual earner families, and in some families, women are the main wage earner.
Consequently, women have more financial independence and relationships are now seen
to be more a ‘partnership of equals’ between males and females, in contrast to traditional
ideas of instrumental and expressive roles for men and women, respectively.
A second way in which globalisation has led to changes in gender roles and relationships
has been the transmission of norms and values. As one feature of globalisation has been
the greater interconnectedness of individuals on a global scale, this has allowed the easier
transmission of norms and values through technological advancements, such as the
internet. This has raised awareness of the inequality between males and females in gender
roles and relationships and provided many women with higher aspirations than being just
a housewife and mother. As a result, women are able to challenge patriarchal ideas about
relationships and the domestic division of labour and this has altered the balance of these
relationships. Furthermore, ideas about what constitutes masculinity have also been
transmitted, with many males now seeing their role in the family as being as, if not more
important than their employment, in part due to the increased insecurity in society. Beck
argues that many males define themselves by their roles as fathers, rather than their
employment as a result of this insecurity – created by the process of globalisation and the
spread of capitalism.
.
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Item A
There have been many changes to the organisation and structure of family life over the
past 50 years. Increased globalisation, technological innovation and changes to
employment patterns have all impacted on family life.
2. Applying material from item A, analyse two reasons for changes in the structure and
organisation of family life. [10]
One reason for changes in the structure and organisation of family life has been ‘changes
to employment patterns’ (Item A). In recent years, employment patterns in the UK have
seen a shift from heavy manufacturing and traditional male industries, such as coal mining
and steel work, to a service sector economy based around customer service, retail and
banking. The impact of this has been to increase the prominence of women in
employment, with personal interactions being seen as part of the feminine domain. As a
result, this has altered the structure of traditional families from being a single breadwinner
(usually male) in the instrumental role and an expressive role (usually taken on by females)
which looks after the caring and nurturing elements of family life. The impact of these
changes is two-fold. With more women being in employment and having careers, and
with males having to address a ‘crisis of masculinity’. As a result, women delay marriage
and childbearing as they seek out careers, whilst males re-evaluate their position as
breadwinners and seek out the security of fatherhood as a form of identity. This impact on
the structure and organisation of the family by creating different forms of family, such as
lone person households, reconstituted families and lone-parent families as women are
more financial independent and have higher expectations of men in relationships.
A second reason for changes in the structure and organisation of family life can be seen
through ‘technological innovation’ (Item A). Examining the family in the 1970s, Wilmott
and Young argued that families had become more symmetrical in nature. One of the
reasons for this was that home had become more welcoming through advancements in
technology. This led to shared leisure time between adults, as well as shared, but
separate, conjugal roles between males and females, which was in contrast to the
segregated conjugal roles on the early-industrial family. With the development of further
home entertainment technologies, as well as technology that aids domestic labour (Silver
and Schoor) this alters the organisation of family life from being based upon segregated
roles to more joint, if separate, conjugal roles within the family.
74
Outline and explain two ways changes to household structures may impact on childhood
experience. [10]
One way changes to household structures may impact on childhood experiences is

through the growth of reconstituted families. The Office for National Statistics suggest
that 4 out of every 10 marriages in the UK are remarriages and that this has increased the
likelihood of children growing up in a home with a non-biological parent. This has the
potential to alter childhood experiences in a number of ways. On a positive note, it
enables children from lone parent families to experience having two adults looking after
them, and potentially increasing family income and standards of living. On the other
hand, this may also bring conflict between both the child and their parent’s new partner,
or the partners own children. Furthermore, there may be conflict between the child’s non-
resident biological parent and their resident parent’s new partner. There also may be a
change in the organisation of the family, with the involvement of a new adult in the family,
which may lead the child to experience insecurity, low self-esteem or even trauma,
particularly if they have strong attachments to their non-resident parent.
A second way in which changes to household structure may impact on childhood

experiences is through the increase in beanpole or multi-generational families. Multi-
generational families are on the increase according to the Office for National Statistics.
Financial reasons, such as families being unable to afford housing or health reasons, such
as an elderly relative moving in with a family are often cited for the rise in beanpole
families. This impacts on children’s experiences in a number of ways. Firstly, it may mean
that they develop closer relationships with their grandparents, particularly if grandparents
are involved in the day-to-day care of the child while parents are working. Furthermore, it
could improve standards of living if, for example a lone parent has moved in with their
family for financial support. Alternatively, it may place a burden upon the child if there is
an expectation for them to provide support for an elderly relative that is in poor health.
75
Item A
In recent years there has been a decline in the number of marriages. Sociologists have
argued that these changes are the result of people’s greater individualism and their lack
of belief in social institutions.
2. Applying material from item A, analyse two reasons for the decline in marriage in
contemporary society. [10]
One reason for the decline in marriage in contemporary society is ‘people’s greater
individualism’ (Item A). AS society moves into a late modern era, sociologists such as
Giddens argues that there is greater individualism in society and that this impacts on
people’s decisions about their relationships. Giddens argues that in late modern society,
individuals have become more reflexive and continually look to improve themselves. As a
result, in relationships, they have moved from romantic love, whereby they would look to
find a partner that ‘completes them’ to confluent love, whereby partners fulfil certain
needs that the individual has at that period of time. When these needs are not fulfilled or
individuals’ needs alter, then individuals will look for another relationship – what Giddens
referred to as serial monogamy. As a result, individuals are less likely to make a life-long
commitment if they are unsure that their partner is the right person for them in the long-
term, resulting in a decline in marriage, but an increase in other forms of relationships
such as cohabitation or living-apart-together relationships.
A second reason for the decline in marriage in contemporary society is due to the ‘lack of
belief in social institutions’ (Item A). As society has evolved from a religious to a secular
society, the importance of social institutions such as religion has declined – leading to
secularisation. As a result, people look to determine their own moral values rather than
have them decided by religious institutions that have traditional values. The greater
acceptance in society of people living together before marriage and sexual relationships
before marriage can be reflected in the percent of children born to unmarried parents
(51% in 2019). Further evidence for the secularisation of relationships can be seen by the
decline of church weddings to less than 30% of all marriages, as people opt for
alternatives to religious ceremonies. However, this does indicate that people still have a
desire to get married, albeit not in a religious ceremony.
76
#2022Sociologychallenge Day 15 Culture and Identity
1. Outline and explain two ways socialisation has impacted on the formation of ethnic
identities. [10]
One way in which socialisation has impacted on the formations of ethnic identities is
through primary socialisation. Ethnic subcultures are more likely to be socialised into the
norms and values of their ethnic culture at home, through the food they eat, language
they speak and the way they are expected to dress. Hides researched various ethnic
groups in the UK and found that at home there were many artefacts that acted as cues to
the individual’s ethnic identity, such as ornaments, pictures, idols and icons. As the role of
socialisation often falls to the mother in families, Hides also found that conformity to the
norms and values of ethnic cultures was primarily the mother’s role in the family, and that
food and dress were vitally important in establishing a sense of ethnic heritage. This was
particularly the case in Hides’ research in South Asian families, but similar findings have
been reported in Caribbean, African and Eastern European households.
A second way in which socialisation has formed ethnic identities is through agencies of
secondary socialisation. Whilst these agencies often promote the values of the UK onto a
wide range of ethnic groups, they help to develop hybrid identities. Gilroy examined
black-Caribbean cultures and found that elements of white culture had merged with more
traditional black-Caribbean cultures to develop new forms of identity. Similarly, Basit
found that amongst South Asian school girls, education had led to them adopting hybrid
identities. These identities retained many of the core values from the student’s ethnic
backgrounds, such as language, religion and dress, but also adopted western values of
ambition and gender equality. Furthermore, Modood et al found that younger
generations of Asians had drifted away from some traditions of the ethnic culture, but
were politically and socially aware of the importance of identifying with their ethnic
backgrounds, forming a British Asian hybrid identity.
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Item A
Disability has a powerful impact on an individual’s concept of identity. Both visible and
hidden disabilities are often presented negatively, with a focus on the limitations that
people with disabilities may encounter in their lives.
2. Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which disability is presented as
a stigmatised identity. [10]
One way in which disability is seen as a stigmatised identity is how individuals are
‘presented negatively’ (Item A). This is most likely to be seen in media portrayals of
individuals with disabilities, whose disability is often seen as being central to their
character in fictional works or used as a personal story in factual representations.
Cumberbatch et al found that there was little representation of disability in mainstream
media, and where there was the individual’s disability formed a central part of their
storyline, such as how they overcame adversity or detailing the struggles that they faced.
Furthermore, Barnes found that in media sources, disable people were often represented
as being dependent upon others, or embittered by their disability and cast as villainous.
However, in contemporary media sources, this is changing, with the normalisation of
conditions, rather than the labelling of characters as disabled.
A second way in which disability is presented as a stigmatised identity is through

discussion of the ‘limitations’ (Item A) people with impairments face. It is argued that
individuals with visible impairments are often labelled as disabled and this becomes a
master status for that person that overrides all other characteristics that the person
possesses. Shakespeare found that many people with impairments were viewed through
this negative label, and that their impairment was less of a burden to them than the label
of being seen as disabled. Furthermore, Scott argues that this form of labelling of people
as being disabled leads to a sense of ‘learned helplessness’ whereby the pity they receive
from others is internalised and become a self-fulfilling prophecy, one which ultimate leads
to the individual becoming dependent upon others for assistance. This results in disability
been stigmatised as being dependent upon others, rather than an impairment that
individuals can, and often do, overcome.
78
1. Outline and explain two ways that age is stigmatised in mass culture [10]
One way in which age is stigmatised in mass culture is through representations of ageing.
In contemporary society, old age is often presented as a stigmatised identity due to
stereotypical portrayals of elderly people either being seen as fragile and not contributing
to society, or as grumpy and conservative in their views. Phillipson argues that the elderly
are often negatively portrayed due to capitalism. As they are no longer perceived to be
economically contributing to society, they become stigmatised as an economic burden on
either their families or on the welfare system. Evidence of having conservative views can
be found through media portrayals of the elderly as being intolerant to social changes
and fixated on the past. Recent portrayals of the elderly as being responsible for political
decisions such as Brexit, places the elderly in a stigmatised position of being seen as
uncaring about the ideas and attitudes of younger generations. However, with the UK
population ageing, representations of old age have changed, particularly with legislation
against age discrimination.
A second way in which age is stigmatised in mass culture is representations of youth

cultures. Young people, particularly in their teenage years and early twenties are often
stigmatised as they are portrayed as being prone to deviant behaviours, such as
criminality, drug-taking and excessive alcohol use. Furthermore, attitudes towards youth
subcultures often portray young people as ‘folk devils’, according to Cohen and
responsible for the decline in moral standards in society. These moral panics often arise
due to youth subcultures having different norms and values than mainstream society and
moral entrepreneurs often perceived this to be a sign of moral decline in society. Young
people are often stigmatised by mass media for these behaviours, and this can lead to
blocked opportunities for young people to express themselves freely and without
comment, generating frustration at their position in society and potentially resulting in
further deviance.
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Item A
Sociologists have suggested that there have been changes in the way in which people’s
sexuality is represented in society over the last 50 years. While society has become
more open about sexuality, there has been an increase in the sexualisation of
individuals’ physical appearances.
1. Applying material from item A, analyse two ways in which sexual identity is formed
in contemporary society. [10]
One way in which sexual identity is formed in contemporary society is through ‘greater
representation of sexuality’ (Item A) in contemporary society. In recent years, there has
been greater representation of individuals who identity as LGBTQ in wider society and
more positive role models for this community. However, this has not always been the
case, with society largely being based upon a heteronormative approach to relationships
in the media, through religious beliefs and in education. However, changes such as the
repeal of Section 28 which banned the discussion of homosexuality in schools, the
Equality Act of 2010 and the Same Sex Marriage amendment in 2013 demonstrated
changing attitudes towards sexuality in the UK. Whilst this demonstrates progress towards
equality in society on grounds of sexual orientation, and provides equality under law,
some people are still subjected to verbal and physical abuse for their sexual preferences,
with Stonewall and the Millennium Cohort Study both finding higher levels of bullying and
mental health issues in young people in the LGBTQ community.
A second way in which sexual identity is formed in contemporary society is through the
‘sexualisation of individual’s physical appearances’ (Item A). Whilst this has long been an
issue discussed by feminists, recent changes in the way in which both males and females
are presented have caused sociologists to question the impacts of sexualisation of
people’s bodies on society. Mulvey argued that there exists a ‘male gaze’ in society,
whereby males sexualise women’s bodies and this shapes their sexual identity.
Furthermore, the recent focus on men’s bodies and how males should look, has led
McRobbie to discuss how there is an increased focus on individual beauty in society and
that males are no longer exempt from this. The impacts of sexualisation for both males
and females on their sexual identity can potentially be damaging, resulting in low self-
esteem, eating disorders and mental health issues. However, there are increasing
movements towards greater body confidence for individuals, despite the ongoing impacts
of sexualisation.
80
1. Outline and explain two ways subcultures are shaped by an individual’s social class
[10]
One way in which an individual’s social class may shape subcultural formations is through
socialisation. The process of primary socialisation shapes individuals through the family
and this leads to children adopting the norms and values of their family’s social class. This
is often reinforced through secondary socialisation, such as education, where an
individual’s tastes and attitudes are either approved of by the education system or
rejected. Archer argued that the rejection of the working-class habitus, particularly with
respect to the way they were dressed in schools, leads to a form of symbolic violence
against young working-class pupils. This reinforces ideas that education does not accept
them, and this leads to the formation of working-class subcultures, where status is
awarded to individuals on the basis of conforming to the cultural tastes of the group. For
example, wearing branded sportswear or developing a hyper-heterosexual identity. This
leads to the reproduction of working-class subcultures from one generation to the next.
A second way the subcultures are shaped by an individual’s social class is through
resocialisation. This is the process of learning alternative norms and values to those
already learnt. Whilst the family provides primary socialisation – usually into the norms
and values of their social class, those who gain social mobility through education and gain
higher status employment undergo the process of resocialisation. For example, working-
class students who have achieved in education, may go on to study at university and
qualify to work in one of the established professions, such as law or medicine. As the
norms and values of these professions are different to those of the working-class (and
mainstream society) they will adopt new norms and values to fit into their new role in
society. For professional classes, this may be through the language they use in the
workplace, the events they attend or the cultural knowledge they acquire through
association with others within the professional subculture. The process of social mobility is
reliant upon resocialisation from one social class habitus to another in order for the
individual to succeed.
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Item A
Different sociological perspectives argue over how identity is formed. Whilst some
suggest that structural factors shape our identity, others argue that identity is socially
constructed based upon our understanding of society.
2. Applying material from item A, analyse two explanations for the formation of
identity [10]
One explanation of identity formation is based upon how individuals are influenced by
‘structural factors’ (Item A). Structural factors, such as social class or gender can influence
an individual’s identity formation according to conflict theorists, such as Marxists and
feminists. For example, Charlesworth argue that social class influences an individual’s
identity formation as the working-class see themselves involved in a struggle between
themselves and those with more financial capital and access to power. This develops into
an ‘us and them’ mentality which becomes part of an individual’s identity. Furthermore,
Lawler argues the middle-class identity is formed through claiming a sense of superiority
over working-class cultures, seeing it as derivative and distancing themselves from the
activities of the working-class. As a result, they develop an identity that is more in line with
the upper classes to ensure that they do not find themselves labelled as lower-class by
others in the middle-classes.
A second explanation for the formation of identity is that identity is ‘socially constructed’.
Interactionists argue that people make sense of their own self and define their own
identity through the social interactions that they have with others. One of the earliest
sociologists to suggest this was Cooley, who argued that individuals gain a sense of their
identity through their perceptions of how others see them. As a result, their identity is
formed through the actions and reactions people around them display when the person
behaves in a particular manner. Furthermore, Goffman argued that people construct their
identities based upon social contexts, taking on different roles in different social situations.
For example, individuals may play one role at home, such as a father or a partner,
whereas in the workplace they may take on a different role such as a manager or an
employee. This demonstrate how social contexts help form individual’s identities.
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1. Outline and explain two ways globalisation has shaped the formation of social
class identities [10]
One way globalisation has shaped the formation of social class identities is through
changes to the way in which people are employed. One of the impacts of globalisation
has been the relocation of working-class jobs in manufacturing to other areas of the
world that have lower labour costs. As many working-class communities in the UK were
based around heavy manufacturing such as coal mining and steelwork, this has had a
negative impact on their identity. Charlesworth found that closure of industry in South
Yorkshire had led to the development of working-class cultures that were centred around
drinking and impersonal relationships and that their identity was based upon the
economic limitations that they faced as a result of the deprivation in the area.
Furthermore, sociologists such as Mac an Ghail, have argued that this deindustrialisation
has led to a ‘crisis of masculinity’ which is a result of globalisation and rapid changes to
employment opportunities for working-class males.
A second way in which globalisation has shaped the formation of social-class identities is
through consumption. This is particularly the case with middle-class and upper-working
class workers who have higher levels of individualism that the traditional working class.
The process of globalisation has opened up new experiences to these social classes, and
they see discovering new experiences as part of their identity. Urry argued that this has
produced the tourist gaze, as individuals look to more exotic places to discover and utilise
their economic capital to purchase tailor-made experiences that provide them with
unique experiences and provide them with status amongst their peers. This can be
supported by Lawler, who argued that the middle class look to develop their tastes for
higher culture, and they achieve this through venturing to exotic locations and obtaining
cultural knowledge from those countries, widening their cultural capital in the process.
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Item A
Sociologists argue that we live in a consumer society and that our patterns of
consumption reveal a lot about who we are. Additionally, some argue that individuals
gain status from the goods they consume.
2. Applying material from item A, analyse two ways in which consumption shapes
individual’s identities [10]
One way in which consumption shapes individuals’ identities is through ‘gaining status’
(Item A). Postmodernists argue that we live in a media-saturated society and that this
allows individuals to form their own identity from the images and messages that they are
bombarded with. Strinati argues that this media-saturation has led to the development of
a celebrity culture, through which people look to imitate those with high status. This is
achieved through consumption, often of goods advertised by celebrities or influencers,
with the illusion that purchasing the good will allow the individual to change their identity
to one similar to the celebrity selling the goods. However, Bauman argues that this is
merely an illusion, and that identity is not changed through consumption as many are
unable to afford the goods.
A second way in which consumption can shape individuals’ identities is through living in a
consumer society (Item A). Clarke and Critcher argue that individuals identities are often
formed through leisure, but that this is controlled by capitalism. They argue that in order
to maximise profits, capitalist limit leisure choices available to individuals to those that are
the most profitable for businesses. As a result, individuals are not able to freely choose
their leisure activities and this limits the formation of their identity. Furthermore, they
argue that leisure activities are often a smokescreen, presenting an ideology that benefits
capitalism more than individuals. Leisure, particularly sporting participation, provide
positive benefits for capitalism, as workers feel less frustrated after leisure activities, whilst
engaging in health and fitness, produces more effective and efficient workers. For
example, workplaces offering wellness services such as yoga classes to reduce stress,
rather than deal with structural inequalities created by capitalism. However, critics would
argue that this also provides benefits for the individual.
84
1. Outline and explain two ways individuals are socialised into gender identities [10]
One way individuals are socialised into their gender roles is through primary socialisation.
Traditionally, males and females where socialised into gender roles through their same sex
parent into the instrumental role (for males) and the expressive role (for females). Oakley
suggests that the family reinforces these roles through a range of different methods.
Firstly, manipulation whereby parent encourage gender-appropriate behaviour form their
children. Second, through canalization, providing toys and games that are gender-based,
such as boys having cars and construction kits, while girls have dolls. This is then
reinforced through verbal appellations, such as ‘good girl’ and ‘brave boy’ which reinforce
expectations of boys’ and girls’ behaviour. Finally, parents differentiate the activities they
do with their children based upon their gender – for example, boys will help their father
with DIY and maintenance tasks, while girls help with baking. However, critics would
suggest that perhaps these ideas are outdated, and that gender socialisation in the home
is more gender neutral in the 21st century.
A second way in which individuals are socialised into their gender identities is through
secondary socialisation, in particular education. In schools, girls are expected to be passive
and obedient and often find themselves subject to negative attention from teachers when
they deviate from this expected behaviour. Alternatively, boys have lower expectations
and so teachers are less likely to intervene when boys display low level disruptions. Within
education, peers also perform the role of secondary socialisation, with boys being
ridiculed for showing interest in education as it is seen as part of the feminine domain,
whilst girls are subject to being called masculine if they engage in sports – something in
the masculine domain. Skelton argued that education creates and maintains these
stereotypes and that they form part of the individuals gender identity as pupils go
through the process of secondary socialisation.
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Item A
Sociologists have argued that individuals often define themselves through their role in
the process of production. Their ability to afford consumer goods as well as what they
contribute to society, form part of their identity.
2. Applying material from item A, analyse two ways in which employment forms part
of an individual’s identity. [10]
One way in which employment forms part of an individual’s identity is through what they
‘contribute to society’ (Item A). Individuals’ self-esteem is part of their identity, and this is
often empowered by their role in the workforce. Many individuals define themselves by
their job title and evidence for this impact of this can be seen through the lack of
employment. Riach and Loretto argue that individuals who are unemployed suffer from a
loss of self-esteem, which they termed a ‘crisis of personal confidence’ due to their
inability to contribute effectively towards society. Furthermore, they argue that older
workers are often unwilling to take a step down due to the importance they place upon
the status of their employment. Both of these concepts can help to explain the
importance of employment in an individual’s identity formation.
A second way in which employment forms part of an individual’s identity is through their
‘ability to afford consumer goods’ (Item A). Employment generates income and this
enables individuals to purchase the goods and services which form part of their identity,
not only as a consumer but as somebody who has a particular status within society. Gini
argues that employment shapes identity, not only through the interactions with those in
the workforce, but also through the individuals’ ability to consume goods. Gini also argues
that this impacts on other aspects of identity, such as lifestyle and leisure pursuits. This is
supports by Parker’s research into the connections between occupations and leisure time,
suggesting that employment is a prime motivator in providing individuals with the means
through which other aspects of their identity are formed.
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#2022Sociologychallenge Day 9 Theory and Methods
1. Outline and explain two ethical limitations of using experiments in sociological

research [10]
One ethical limitation of using experiments in sociological research is deception. Both field
experiments and lab experiments rely upon researchers manipulating the independents
variable and measuring the dependent variable in order to see if there is a relationship
between the two. In some experiments, this may mean the participants are not informed
of which variable is being altered or not informed of the true purpose of the research. An
example of this is in Rosenthal and Jacobsen’s research into the halo effect, where they
informed teachers that some pupils had been assessed as having the potential to bloom
academically. This was not accurate, but rather a manipulation of the truth and teachers
were unaware of this; Rosenthal and Jacobsen had deliberately deceived them. However,
as this was necessary for the purposes of the experiment, it was allowed. Had Rosenthal
and Jacobsen revealed the true aims, to see if teachers having high expectations
improved performance, teachers may have altered their behaviour to either prove or
disprove the relationship, and so deception was deemed to be appropriate in this case.
A second ethical limitation of using experiments in sociological research is protection from

harm. One of the ethical guidelines for experiments in the social sciences is to protect
participants from psychological or physical harm. Some experiments, particularly lab
experiments may cause distress to participants as they attempt to alter an individual’s
behaviour through manipulating variables in their environment. Whilst this is usually
consensual, it can cause harm. For example, Milgram’s infamous experiment into
obedience caused participants stress and psychological trauma, as they were manipulated
into delivering what they thought was a fatal shock to another participant. Whilst
counselling and reassurance was given after the experiment that the participants had not
caused harm to the other participant (a confederate of Milgram’s), participants were
concerned that they could have caused harm based upon the orders of others.
Furthermore, participants in the experiment showed physical signs of distress and yet
were asked to continue.
2. Outline and explain two ways values can influence a researcher’s choice of topic
[10]
One way values can influence a researcher’s choice of topic is through their
methodological preference. Sociologists have different views of the role of sociology, and
this is reflected in their choice of methods. Some view sociology as a science and look to
adopt quantitative methods of research, seeing social behaviour as predictable. Others
argue that sociology has a role to play in raising awareness of issues that others cannot,
and as such prefer to examine smaller sections of society using qualitative methods. The
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choice of methods can influence the topic choice as topics that require more detail, such
as domestic violence, experiences of education and identity formation would require
more in-depth approaches to understand the range of issues involved. Furthermore,
other topics, such as inequality in the workplace between males and females, may be best
analysed using quantitative methods such as statistics to enable researchers to collect
enough data for the findings to be reliable and push for social policies to address those
issues.
A second way in which values can influences a researcher’s choice of topic is through their
theoretical perspective. For example, Marxists and feminists will look to address issues of
class and gender respectively. Whilst this can be done on a macro scale or a micro scale,
the theoretical position of the researcher will look to address the issues from a critical
viewpoint, examining the disadvantages faced by those from a lower social class, or
differences between experiences of males and females. For example, Marxists looking to
examine the life chances of individuals, will make comparisons between the life chances of
those in different social classes as their theoretical perspective is focused on class conflict.
Additionally, feminist will select topic areas that are of concern to females or where
females are facing disadvantaged positions, such as employment or domestic labour. This
can also be said of interactionists, who look to study individuals and their concerns,
leading to research of smaller groups and sociological rather than social issues – e.g.,
interactions within schools, how the working-class negotiate the criminal justice system.
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1. Outline and explain two theoretical advantages of using self-completion

questionnaires [10]
One theoretical advantage of using self-competition questionnaires is they have greater

reliability. Self-competition questionnaires are often presented in a standardised format
with a range of closed questions that can be easily completed without the presence of a
researcher. As the same list of questions is given to each respondent, the findings of the
research can be tested for reliability by issuing the same questionnaire to a different
sample of participants, and if similar findings are reported, this improves the reliability of
the questionnaire. For example, the Census is a self-completion questionnaire and every
10 years is distributed across the country, with similar questions to the census 10 years
earlier. Result are collated and the changes from one census to the next are recorded.
This demonstrates the reliability of the census as a measurement tool.
A second theoretical advantage of using self-competition questionnaires is that they

produce quantitative data. Self-completion questionnaires often use closed questions,
they are able to be pre-coded and the responses given can be converted into
quantitative data with relative ease. This is beneficial as it allows researchers to be more
objective in the judgements they make when they are drawing conclusions from their
findings. Again, the Census is a good example of this. As it collates data from every
household in the UK, the use of quantitative data is beneficial as it allows for a more
objective analysis of household details, such as income, number of residents and even
religious affiliation. This can then be represented in graphical forms such as charts, graphs
and tables, which allows them to be used to uncover trends and patterns in society.
2. Outline and explain two ways society can be said to have entered a post-modern
age [10]
One way society can be seen to have entered a post-modern age is through increased
diversity in society. Postmodernists argue that increased diversity and choice are
symptoms of postmodern society and in contemporary society there is increased diversity.
This can be evidenced through examining the growth of different forms of family over the
past decade. The dominant form of family in the modern age was the nuclear family, with
opposite sex parents and their children, yet in contemporary society this has declined. The
growth of lone person households, cohabitation and same sex relationships illustrates the
decline of marriage as an institution and furthermore, the growth of families of choice –
whereby people social construct their family and kinship network, illustrates the greater
choice in society. In contemporary society, less than 25% of households are nuclear
families, demonstrating the diversity of personal lives in the early part of this century.
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A second way society can be seen to have entered a postmodern age is through greater
insecurity. Beck argues that a symptom of late and postmodernity is the increased risk in
society, through employment, relationships and from man-made disasters. This can be
seen in contemporary society by examining changes in employment with many people
moving from permanent positions to more precarious employment, such as zero-hours
or fixed term contrasts. Furthermore, the outsourcing of traditional manufacturing as a
result of globalisation can be seen as a further threat, generating a crisis of masculinity as
traditional male jobs move overseas, generating further insecurity. Additionally,
relationships have become less secure, with Giddens arguing that in late modern society
we have moved from romantic love to serial monogamy, seeing relationships as being
worthy whilst they fulfil individuals’ needs. This generates greater insecurity, a feature of
postmodern society.
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1. Outline and explain two reasons interpretivist methods are better suited to
studying society today [10]
One reason interpretivist methods are better suited to studying society today is due to the
increased diversity of contemporary society. Whilst positivists methods were adequate for
studying society that is impacted by structural forces such as class, gender and ethnicity,
contemporary society is less rigid in its definitions of these forces and therefore individuals
will have many differing experiences, regardless of their class, gender and ethnicity. The
micro nature of interpretivists research is better suited to investigating the multitude of
individual narratives in contemporary society as they can use in-depth methods such as
unstructured interviews to develop a rapport with individuals and get to understand the
meanings and motivations behind their actions. This is more important in contemporary
society, as structural forces intersect and provide a range of different experiences for
individuals that cannot be explained through examining quantitative data.
A second reason interpretivist methods are better suited to studying society today is due
to the inequality in society. High levels of poverty, particularly among lower social classes
and marginalised groups are often misunderstood when examined through the use of
positivist methodology. Interpretivists aim to give a voice to these marginalised groups –
as Becker argued that sociology should be on the side of the underdog. Interpretivist
methods allow researchers to develop a rapport with their subjects and develop verstehen
or insight into their position and this can be used to highlight issues that are not
uncovered with the use of large-scale positivist methods such as questionnaires.
Interpretivist will more qualitative data, with higher validity, such as diaries and video logs
and be able to use these to raise awareness of the issues faced by those who are
disadvantaged in society.
2. Outline and explain two ways sociology can be seen to be scientific [10]
One way in which sociology can be seen as a science is put forward by positivists. They
argue that sociology can be scientific as it is based upon direct observation of what
Durkheim called ‘social facts’ or how social factors can shape individuals’ behaviours.
Durkheim argued that the impact of these social facts in measurable using quantitative
data and studied suicide statistics across Europe in his research to determine how social
factors such as the level of integration and regulation impacted on individuals’ decision-
making. Positivists further argue that human behaviour is like the behaviour of the natural
sciences. Whilst we cannot see internal processes, we can observe patterns of behaviour
and use these to formulate theories about how people will act in a given situation.
However, critics suggest that human behaviour is less predictable than the natural
sciences and should be viewed on the basis of an individual’s motivations.
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A second way in which sociology can be seen as a science is put forward by realists.
Whilst they accept that it is difficult to observe internal processes that motivate individuals,
it is possible to analyse patterns of behaviour and attribute a cause to that behaviour
through scientific analysis. Realists argue that science, like sociology, is an open system of
belief and that patterns of behaviour, whilst not predictable, can be understood once the
have occurred. The argue that sciences such as meteorology and seismology do not look
to predict what is going to happen, but rather they analyse what has happened and
explain why it occurred through examining evidence, much in the same way a sociologist
may conduct research by collecting evidence of what has occurred in an individual’s life,
the circumstance surrounding that act and drawing conclusions based upon the available
data.
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1. Outline and explain two practical limitations of using observations in sociological

research [10]
One practical limitation of using observations in sociological research is gaining access to

a sample. As observations are an intrusive method of research, requiring the researchers
to observe participants over long periods of time, participants may be reluctant to
volunteer to be observed. Furthermore, if the researcher chooses to use covert participant
observations, they will need to gain access through developing a cover, which can be
time-consuming and difficult to achieve and may require modifications to the researchers
appearance, attitude and personality. For example, when researching Chelsea football
hooligans, McIntrye had to get tattooed to demonstrate his commitment to the firm.
Furthermore, Griffin used sun lamps and took tanning pills in order to modify his
appearance when conducting observations in the impacts of racism. However, one way to
overcome this is through using a snowball sample, gaining access to one individual who
could introduce the researcher to others.
A second practical limitation of using observations in sociological research is maintaining

a cover. This is the case when using covert observations. As those being researched are
unaware that they are being observed, the researcher must maintain their cover at all
times. This means they are unable to overtly record conversations or take notes and
means they must rely upon their memory when documenting their observation.
Furthermore, if the researcher were to be discovered, it could negatively impact on their
research, and in some instances cause them harm. For example, Patrick, when researching
gangs in Glasgow, was almost uncovered when he tried to pay for a suit with cash, rather
than through credit. This could have exposed him as being more affluent than those he
was observing and had potential to end his research.
2. Outline and explain two reasons why sociological research cannot be value-free.
[10]
One reason why sociological research cannot be value free is due to researcher’s
theoretical perspectives. Sociologists will be influenced by their view of society, for
example Marxists will focus on class inequalities, feminists will focus on gender inequalities.
This has the potential to impose the researcher’s values onto any interpretation of data
and means that the research could be value laden. This is particularly the case when
considering the researcher’s view of the responsibility of sociology as a force for changing
society, rather than as empirical study. For example, Becker argued that the purpose of
sociology was to be on the side of the underdog in society and represent the views of
those less likely to be heard. As a result, his values could interfere with the conduct of his
research, displaying empathy for his research subjects and looking for external reasons for
behaviours that were observed, rather than looking at ‘social facts’.
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A second explanation for why sociology cannot be value-free is down to the demands of
funding bodies. Sociologist fund their research based upon applications to funding
bodies, such as charities, trusts, universities and the government. As a result, funding
bodies have a large say in both the choice of topic the researcher investigates and the
methods they use in order to conduct that research. For example, charities such as the
Joseph Rowntree Foundation examined the impacts of poverty in the UK and so these
values will be present in research that is conducted on their behalf. Furthermore, funding
from governments tends to be based upon the use of large-scale quantitative data, in
part due to the need for policies that result from the research to appeal to large sections
of the electorate. As a result, conclusions may be drawn by researchers that support the
creation of policies that would be ideologically favourable to the government. Gouldner
argues that funding bodies are one of the largest influences in the conduct of sociological
research and as such their values would be represented in all stages of the conduct of
research.
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1. Outline and explain two reasons sociologists may prefer to use primary research
methods when investigating sociological issues. [10]
One reason why sociologists may prefer to use primary research methods when
investigating sociological issues is their methodological perspective. For example,
interpretivist sociologists look to gain an insight into the lives of individuals and uncover
the meanings and motivations behind their actions. To do so, they rely upon primary
qualitative methods to that are high in validity, such as unstructured interviews and
observations. These allow them to gain in-depth information on specific issues. Whilst this
type of data may be provided by secondary sources, researchers using primary methods
are able to ask follow-up questions if something is not clear or take the research into
different directions than they had initially thought if something of interest occurs. For
example, using primary methods such as observations and group interviews, Paul Willis
was able to uncover the motivations of ‘the lads’ in his study as wanting to enjoy their last
days at school before going to the world of work, rather than assuming that they were
anti-school if he had relied upon secondary sources such as school reports. As a result, he
was able to gain an insight into the true motivations for their behaviours, and challenge
existing ideas about pupils being passive puppets.
A second reason sociologists may prefer to use primary research methods when
investigating sociological issues is to ensure greater validity of their findings. Many
secondary sources are designed for uses other than sociological research, and so do not
always reflect the interests of the sociologists studying them. For example, official statistics
on poverty and deprivation were seen by Townsend in his research as not reflecting the
true nature of poverty in the UK. As a result, Townsend designed his own deprivation
index that looked at relative deprivation and used primary research methods in order to
collate the data from a number of towns and cities. Secondary sources, like official
statistics can be subject to manipulation for political purposes and so will not reflect the
true nature of the issues sociologists look to investigate and therefore, the use of primary
methods will provide them with more valid data, based upon the definitions that the
sociologist uses in their research.
2. Outline and explain two explanations why sociology should be used to inform
social policy. [10]
One explanation offered for why sociology should inform social policy is put forward by
Bauman. He suggested that sociology was ideally placed to investigate social issues and
for this information to be fed back to government who could formulate policies to
address these issues. Bauman focused on the usefulness of sociology in investigating
poverty and welfare, and these ideas were expanded upon by Anthony Giddens, who
assisted New Labour in drawing up their manifesto in the late 1990s. Giddens, as an
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advisor to New labour, was successful in implementing sociological ideas into social policy
and this enabled the development of ‘third-way’ politics, merging social security for those
most in need, with neo-liberal economic policy to provide economic development. This
illustrates the usefulness of sociology in informing social policy, as policies such as Sure
Start, EMA and educational reforms were introduced on the back of sociological research.
A second explanation for why sociology should be used to inform sociology is put
forward by positivists. Early positivists such as Comte and Durkheim, saw the scientific
study of society as a way in which social issues could be tackled. They proposed that
through examining ‘social facts’ in an objective manner, that solutions could be found for
many of the social issues of the day. Whilst later positivists distanced themselves from
these ideas, the use of quantitative data and objective measures of issues such as poverty,
has been undertaken by sociologists on behalf of governments. For example, Townsend
examined the scale of poverty in the UK, devising his own scale of relative deprivation
which is still used in some quarters. Furthermore, sociologists are often asked to collate
and review data in order to report to government on what should be done to address
social issues, for example the Black Report. Furthermore, sociologists are used indirectly
by governments through compiling data for the office of national statistics and other
research centres. This echoes the ideas of early positivists in using sociology to investigate
wide-ranging social issues such as inequality and poverty.
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#2022Sociologychallenge Day 5 Education
1. Outline and explain two ways in which educational policies have attempted to
reinforce social solidarity [4]
One way in which educational policies have looked to reinforce social solidarity is through
the introduction of British Values into schools. The values of democracy, rule of law,
respect and tolerance and individual liberty look to reinforce social solidarity by
demonstrating to pupils that they are part of a wider society and encourage social
cohesion by giving pupils guidelines for how to act within that society.
A second way in which educational policies have looked to reinforce social solidarity is
through changes to the history curriculum in 2015. As identified by Durkheim, history is
uniquely placed to enable pupils to understand the bonds that bring people together and
these changes enforced the teaching of at the history of Britain, what Michael Gove called
an ‘island story’ or Britain through the ages.
2. Outline and explain three ways in which governments have tried to tackle
inequality in educational achievement [6]
One way governments have used educational policy to try and tackle inequality is through
adopting policies which gave schools additional funding for pupils from disadvantaged
backgrounds. Policies such as Pupil Premium addressed the material disadvantages that
some pupils face by giving school additional resources for books, laptops and other
educational resources so that disadvantaged pupils would have access to them.
A second way that governments have tried to tackle inequality in educational

achievement is through the creation of comprehensive schools. This aimed to tackle the
disparity between grammar schools and secondary moderns by bringing all students
together under the same roof with the same access to teaching, subjects and self-esteem.
A final way in which governments have looked to tackle inequality in educational

achievement is through EMA. EMA was a means-tested allowance that encouraged pupils
from disadvantaged backgrounds to continue in education beyond the then compulsory
school-leaving age of 16, in order to give them more opportunities to succeed.
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#2022Sociologychallenge Day 5 Education
Item A
According to functionalists, the purpose of education is to prepare pupils for their
future roles in society. This can be achieved through teaching of specific skills or
through transmitting norms and values.
3. Applying material from item A, analyse two ways in which education prepares
pupils for their future roles in society [10]
One way in which education prepares pupils for their future roles in society is through
‘transmitting norms and values’ (Item A). While functionalists would argue that this is done
for the benefit of pupils, socialising them into the value consensus of society, both Marxist
and feminists would argue that it socialises pupils into the dominant norms and values of
society, and prepares them for future exploitation. Marxists will argue that this is done
through promoting values of capitalism, such as hard work and individualism, which leads
to pupils rejecting other commitments, such as solidarity with their peers, in order to
achieve higher status for themselves. Feminists on the other hand would suggest that the
norms and values that are transmitted by education, prepares female pupils for a life of
subordination in a patriarchal society. This is achieved through sifting girls into lower value
expressive subjects and reinforcing the idea that females should be passive and
subservient. Both Marxists and feminist argue that the transmission of these norms and
values sets up pupils for their future roles, as being subservient to the ruling class and
men respectively.
A second way in which education prepares pupils for their future roles is by teaching them
‘specific skills’ (Item A). Durkheim argued that one of the main functions of the education
system was to teach pupils the specialist skills required for the complex division of labour
in modern society. As such, schools focus on providing pupils with skills for employment,
either through academic routes, such as A levels – with students learning information that
will enable them to go onto university and more specialised study – or through vocational
qualifications. These are aimed to enable pupils to gain experience in working in a specific
sector, such as carpentry, vehicle repair or health and social care. This leads to them
having the skills in order to perform their roles adequately and this enables the smooth
running of society. However, critics, such as Bowles and Gintis would suggest that instead
of learning specialist skills, pupils are only prepared for the ‘long shadow of work’ through
what they called the correspondence principle. However, this also prepares pupils for their
future roles, albeit by teaching them concepts such as hierarchy, fragmentation of
information and alienation, and is a less positive approach that that suggested by
Durkheim.
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#2022Sociologychallenge Day 4 Ethnicity and Education
1. Outline and explain two ways that education can be seen to be ‘ethnocentric’ [4]
One way in which education can be seen to be ethnocentric is through the organisation
of school calendars. Most school calendars are organised based upon Christian holidays
and so pupils from non-Christian religions will miss time in education to celebrate their
own religious and cultural festivals.
A second way in which education can be seen as ethnocentric is through the organisation
of the curriculum. Subjects such as history are focused on events and people that are
revered by the white middle-class and as a result do not reflect the wider diversity of
ethnic groups in the education system.
2. Outline and explain three ways in which out of school factors impact on the
achievement of different ethnic groups [6]
One way in which out of school factors impacts of the achievement of different ethnic
groups is through parental cultural capital. Indian pupils achieve higher as their parents
have higher amounts of residual cultural capital which means they are more able to ‘play
the system’ and get their children into better performing schools.
A second way in which out of school factors impacts on the achievement of different
ethnic groups is through parental involvement. Chinese pupils before better than their
peers in assessments as their parents invest more time into education as children’s
education is seen as a family project and reflects upon parents.
A final way in which out of school factors reflects on the achievement of different ethnic
groups is through material factors. Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black-Caribbean families
are over-represented in measures of deprivation and this impacts on their ability to afford
additional resources, such as private tuition and laptops and this has a negative impact on
their children in comparison to other ethnic groups.
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#2022Sociologychallenge Day 4 Ethnicity and Education
Item A
There are broad trends in educational achievement across ethnic groups. Some
sociologists suggest that the reason for these differences is due to the interactions that
pupils have with their teachers and their peers. Others suggest that differences in
achievement are down to the organisation of the education system itself.
3. Applying material from item A, analyse two ways in which in-school factors
influence ethnic differences in experience of education. [10]
One way in which in-school factors influences the experiences ethnic differences in the
experience of education is through ‘organisation of the education system’ (Item A).
Sociologists, such as Ball, have suggested that the organisation of the curriculum is based
upon ‘little Englandism’ as subjects such as history and literature are focused on the
accomplishments of the white upper class. This acts to alienate pupils from non-white
ethnic groups as they do not see themselves represented in a positive light throughout
the curriculum. This can lead to pupils becoming demotivated or assuming that their
cultural background is not worthy of academic study. Evidence for the existence of an
ethnocentric curriculum can be drawn from reforms to the history curriculum under then
education secretary Michael Gove, who suggested that there was a need for pupils to
learn of the ‘island story’ of British achievements.
A second way in which in-school factors influence ethnic experiences of education is

through interactions with ‘teachers and peers’ (Item A). The development of different
subcultures based upon ethnicity has been studied by various sociologists, with Archer
studying Pakistani and Bangladeshi boys who developed Afro-American subcultural
identities in response to who they perceived as teacher racism. Furthermore, Shain found
that Asian girls adopted a range of different subcultural responses to teachers, with the
development of ‘gang girls’ who perceived education as racist and ‘rebels’ who adopted
more western values in opposition to gender inequality in their home communities. In
both of these pieces of research, pupils turned to peers as a reaction to negative
interactions with teachers, developing an alternative identity which was a result of their
experience in education. This can be further supported by Fuller’s research that suggested
Black-African girls turned to peers for support as a response to teachers racialised
expectations.
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#2022Sociologychallenge Day 3 Gender and Education
1. Outline and explain two ways that home factors influence gender differences in
achievement [4]
One way in which home factors influence gender differences in achievement is through
gender socialisation. Girls are socialised into being more passive, which helps them to
conform to teachers’ ideas of being the ‘ideal pupil’ which means teachers will view them
positively and help them to achieve.
A second way in which home factors influence gender differences in achievement is

through literacy skills. Children are more likely to be read to by their mothers, which
means that boys often associate literacy with the feminine domain and reject it, whilst girls
embrace it as part of their identity. This places them at an advantage when studying
subjects with high levels of literacy and they achieve higher grades than boys.
2. Outline and explain three ways three ways education helps to shape gender
identity [6]
One way education helps shape gender identity is through subject choices. Science
subjects are seen as being part of the male domain and this is reinforced through
textbooks and more male teachers in science subjects. This confirms to boys that scientific
ability is part of their gender identity.
A second way in which education shapes gender identity is through teacher’s expectations
of girl’s behaviour. Girls are expected to be passive and submissive, and teachers will be
more likely to discipline girls for boisterous behaviour than boys – which reinforces
expectations for girls to be passive.
A final way in which education shapes gender identity is through uniform. Boys are
expected to conform to masculine clothing such as trousers and shirts, while girls are
expected to wear skirts and blouses. This reinforces expectations about how boys and
girls should look in wider society.
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#2022Sociologychallenge Day 3 Gender and Education
Item A
In recent years, girls have been outperforming their male peers at all stages of the
education system. This has been explained by sociologists as being due to changes in
the way children are taught and assessed, as well as increased presence of women in
educational roles.
3. Applying material from item A, analyse two ways in which in-school factors impact
on gender differences in educational achievement. [10]
One way in which in-school factors impact on gender differences in achievement is

through the ‘increased presence of women in educational roles’ (Item A). This serves two
different functions, as more female teachers leads girls to see more educated role models
and this increases their aspirations to work harder, achieve higher and go on to emulate
their teachers. Secondly, with more females in education, boys have less male role models
that are educated to be inspired by. As a consequence, boys look to other areas of
society, such as sports and music for role models and perceive education to be a feminine
domain. As a result, they are less motivated to achieve in academic subjects and more
focused on goals in other walks of life, such as sport. However, critics would suggest that
the gender of a role model is of less importance than the message that they put across.
A second way in which in-school factors might impact on gender differences in

achievement is through ‘changes in the way children are taught and assessed’. (Item A)
This refers to changes to the curriculum following the introduction of the Education
Reform Act in 1988, which introduced GCSEs and coursework, as well as the National
Curriculum. Mitsos and Browne found that the introduction of coursework had increased
the achievement of girls as this better suited their skill set of being more conscientious
about their work. In comparison, boys were thought to do better in high-stakes tests,
which explains why girls started to achieve better grades with the introduction of
coursework as an element of the final grade. However, despite changes to the curriculum
in 2015, which removed coursework from many subjects, girls’ achievement remains
higher than boys, although the introduction of linear exams has slightly improved boys’
achievement.
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#2022Sociologychallenge Day 2 Social Class - Education
1. Outline and explain two ways that in-school processes impact on social class
differences in achievement [4]
One way in which in-school processes impact on social-class differences in educational

achievement is through teacher expectations. Becker found that teachers are more likely
to have higher expectations of middle-class pupils as they were more likely to possess
attributes that teachers thought were those of the ‘ideal pupil’ and so would push them
harder to achieve higher grades.
A second way in which in-school processes impact on social-class differences in

educational achievement is through the design of the curriculum. As the curriculum is
designed by the middle-class, it reflects their interests of what is important information,
and as such, middle-class pupils with similar interests are placed at an advantage over the
interests of working-class students, enabling them to achieve higher.
2. Outline and explain three ways social class identity can be shaped by in-school
process in education [6]
One way in which social-class identity can be shaped by in-school processes is through
setting and streaming. This process leads to working-class boys becoming polarised as
they are placed in lower sets and streams and developing anti-school subcultures, which
in turn lead them to reject educational success as part of their social-class identity.
A second way in which social class identity can be shaped by in-school processes is
through the curriculum. As the curriculum is based upon the habitus of the middle-class,
these pupils will perceive education as being part of their identity and look to progress
further in education.
A final way in which social class identity can be shaped by in-school processes is through
the rejection of working-class tastes. Archer found that working-class pupils felt rejected
by education because of the clothing they wore by teachers and middle-class pupils.
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#2022Sociologychallenge Day 2 Social Class - Education
Item A
Some sociologists claim that a pupil’s home background will influence their educational
achievement. Parental attitudes, leisure activities and exposure to cultural knowledge all
play a part in pupil’s achievement, as does family income.
3. Applying material from item A, analyse two ways in home factors may provide
middle-class pupils with an advantage in educational settings [10]
One way home factors may provide middle-class pupils with an advantage in educational
settings is through their ‘leisure activities’ (Item A). Middle-class pupils will be more likely
to attend events that are seen as ‘high culture’, such as theatre trips and visits to
museums. Furthermore, reading and television habits will have a positive influence on
their education. Sullivan found that pupils who watch documentaries and read serious
fiction are more likely to have higher educational achievement than those who do not.
This places middle-class pupils at an advantage in educational settings, as it will provide
them with cultural knowledge of content that is introduced in classrooms and a familiarity
with the material. In contrast, their working-class peers may not have had access to these
experiences and have less familiarity with material presented.
A second way in which home factors may provide middle-class pupils at an advantage in
educational settings is through ‘family income’. Middle-class pupils will be able to access a
greater range of resources than their working-class peers due to their parent’s financial
capital. This could mean that their parents are able to move into the catchment areas of
high performing schools or even pay for their children to attend an independent or
private school that statistically achieve higher results. Furthermore, middle-class pupils will
benefit from being able to access additional educational resources, such as books, laptops
and even private tuition that will put them at an advantage over their working-class peers
in educational settings, who may not be able to access these resources.
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Item C
Streaming involves teachers differentiating between pupils on the basis of their perceived
ability, placing pupils whom they believe to be of similar overall ability in the same
teaching group. This may result in working-class pupils and those from certain ethnic
minorities being placed in lower streams. Lower-stream pupils may lose self-esteem, give
up trying and even join an anti-school subculture. By contrast, higher-stream pupils may
identify strongly with the school’s values and goals.
One way of studying streaming is to use unstructured interviews. These are often
effective in exploring interviewees’ personal feelings about sensitive subjects. However,
for a variety of reasons, some pupils and teachers may refuse to participate in an
unstructured interview.
Applying material from Item C and your knowledge of research methods, evaluate the
strengths and limitations of using unstructured interviews to investigate streaming.
Unstructured interviews are a method that are preferred by interpretivist sociologists as

they provide the researcher with the opportunity to gain valuable in-depth information
about a person’s experiences or opinions on a topic. Unstructured interviews do not consist
of a strict interview schedule, rather they are one or two thematic questions, that allow the
researcher to respond to the interviewee and probe deeper than other, more structured
methods, giving the researcher insight into their experience or ‘verstehen’. As such they are
useful for investigating a wide range of sensitive topics.
One strength of using unstructured interviews to investigate setting and streaming would be
gaining an insight into how being placed into sets and streams influences the pupil’s
perception of themselves. As many students, particularly those in the lower sets and
streams, will have been judged to be less academically intelligent than their peers it would
be useful for the researcher to be able to probe deeply and ask these students how it
impacted on their attitudes towards school, their work ethic and their self-esteem. This
would require the interviewer to build up a rapport with those being interviewed, a
considerable strength of unstructured interviews. A problem with using this method would
be that many of the students in the lower sets and streams would be from a working class
or Afro-Caribbean background and being interviewed by an authority figure, such as a
middle-class researcher may result in less information being given due to status differences.
Labov found this in his research, where young black males were less likely to elaborate on
their responses to a white researcher.
A further problem with the use of unstructured interviews would be how the researcher
would gain access to potential interviewees. Access could be limited by a gate-keeper,
either a head teacher or the student’s parents. In the case of a potentially damaging topic,
such as setting or streaming (particularly if students had been labelled negatively on
ethnicity, class or gender) the head-teacher may refuse permission to interview the students
as it might impact negatively on the school. Similarly, working class parents might be more
105
reluctant to give access to the interviewer as they may have suffered negative experiences
of school or believe that the interviewer is an agent of the school. However, the ability of
the interviewer to develop a rapport with these parents or students could enable them to
explain the purposes of the interview and convince access to be granted so that the
student’s voice can be heard.
Even if the researcher were to gain access through a gatekeeper, there are further
limitations to using unstructured interviews about setting and streaming, particularly with
teachers. It can be assumed that teachers would be of a similar status to the researcher and
a teacher’s ability to impression manage could influence the validity of the interview in a
number of ways. Teachers would be less likely to disclose that students had been placed
into lower sets based on physical or social characteristics because of the potential
implications for their career. Furthermore, given the similar status with the interviewer,
teachers are more likely to respond in a socially desirable manner, thus further influencing
the validity of the interview.
Another limitation of using unstructured interviews to investigate setting and streaming
would be that if consent was given, the gatekeeper may select students that would speak
positively about the policy of setting and streaming. Children from pro-school subcultures,
usually middle class would not only extol the virtues of the school but would see the
absence of lower ability students in their classes as a positive thing. However, a skilled
interviewer, utilising the flexibility of an unstructured interview may be able to probe a little
deeper with these students and find out why they were placed in the top sets and streams,
through asking a range of questions about their test scores, attitudes towards teachers and
social backgrounds.
A further strength of using unstructured interviews to investigate setting and streaming
would be the ability of the researcher to show empathy and direct the conversation in a way
that avoids any psychological harm, which would be particularly useful given the potentially
sensitive nature of dealing with students who had been labelled as less gifted from an early
age. The researchers’ interpersonal skills would enable students from lower sets and
streams to expand upon their experiences in a safe environment away from their peers and
teachers. However, the interviewer could be accused of leading the students into giving
responses that suit the purpose of his research, such as stating that anti-school attitudes
had stemmed from the way they were treated by teachers.
In conclusion there are many positives to using an unstructured interview to investigate the
topic of setting and streaming. The flexibility of the questioning and the potential for the
interviewer to be able to probe deeper by using open questions and following them up
could provide, rich, qualitative data on what is a complex topic. However, much of the
success of unstructured interviews, particularly for topics that are viewed negatively, such
as setting and streaming in reliant upon the skills of the individual interviewer, not only to
gain access to the students and teachers in the first place, but also to be able to elicit
responses from students who may or may not understand the real reasons they have been
put into these sets and streams.

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Produced courtesy @kateFlat Youtube: The Teacher Sociology

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