Sociology 210807 203547 1

A-Level Sociology
Revision notes 2020/2021
All copyright and publishing rights are owned by S-cool. First created in 2000 and updated in 2013, 2015 & 2020
Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Family Ideology................................................................................................................................... 12
Origins of State Education ................................................................................................................. 22
The Role of Religion ........................................................................................................................... 34
Poverty ................................................................................................................................................. 40
Introduction to Deviance ................................................................................................................... 44
Political Power ..................................................................................................................................... 51
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Introduction
This Revision Summary applies to all of the Theory topics...
Basic Concepts in Science and Theory
Can You?
Explain positivism, realism and interpretivism.
Explain the Determinism/Free Will argument.
Explain the Nature/Nurture problem.
Give a brief description of System theory and Action theory.
Give an account of alternatives to the traditional theory/method relationship.
Give an account of the traditional view of scientific procedure and the sequencing of research.
Explain why the traditional account is flawed.
Explain falsification.
Explain Kuhn's concepts of paradigm, normal and revolutionary science.
Give an account of Merton's idea of the scientific ethos, and its faults.
List problems that would face any sociologist wishing to use traditional scientific methods.
Explain how science has itself moved on from certainties to probabilities.
Methods
Can You?
 Reliability.
 Validity.
 Representative.
 Imposition.
Participant Observation
Can You?
List the major advantages of P.O. as a research method.
List the major disadvantages of the method.
Describe the advantages and disadvantages of both overt and covert P.O.
Explain why P.O. is viewed by some sociologists as 'unscientific'.
Experiments
Can You?
Explain the 'Method of Difference'.
Correctly use the terms: control, dependent/independent variable, Hawthorne effect.
Explain why it is difficult/unethical to experiment on humans.
Explain the logic of the 'field/what if experiment'.
Give examples of experiments in the social sciences.
Sampling
Can You?
Explain the terms, sampling frame, sample, and representative.
List and explain the various types of sampling.
Describe the sources of error in sampling.
Values
Can You?
Explain what is meant by value-freedom.
Explain why value freedom is valued.
Explain why value-freedom is impossible to attain but worth attempting.
Give examples of sociologists who support the concept of value-freedom and of those who reject it.
Distinguish between bias, prejudice and point of view.
Key terms:
Ontology The nature of Reality.
Epistemology What is knowledge, objective fact, and subjective opinion.
Positivism The method of science.
Empiricism Knowledge gained by direct sense experience.
Determinism The idea that our behaviour is 'caused' by some external force.
The belief that all human actions are purposive and need interpreting, 'facts do not
Interpretivism
speak for themselves'.
Postmodern After the modern period.
Objectivity Knowledge uncontaminated by values.
Value Freedom The idea that facts should not be contaminated by values.
Reliability Could anybody, using the same method, come up with the same results?
Validity Does the research measure what it claims to measure?
Representativeness Is the situation typical? If so, generalisations are possible.
Imposition Any selection of information or interpretation made by a researcher.
Operationalisation Defining concepts so that they can be measured.
Sponsor A person who helps obtain entry to a group and who furthers data gathering.
Observer fatigue Tiredness resulting from pretence, particularly in covert observation.
Covert research The subjects of the research are unaware that research is being conducted.
Overt research The subjects know about the research.
Control To control the variables.
Dependent variable The factor being acted upon.
Independent variable The active (change causing) factor.
Replication The possibility of research being repeated with the same result.
Representative The basis for generalisation.
Population A list of all those who could be included in a survey.
Sample frame A list of all those from among which the sample will be selected.
Sample Those actually selected for investigation.
A sample technique where everybody in the sample has an equal chance of
Random sample
selection.
Systematic random Any number is chosen at random (n) then every nth person in a sample frame is
sample selected.
A sample that takes note of and mirrors significant differences in the sample
Stratified sample
population, for example, gender, age, ethnicity.
As above but without the possibility of non-response, and with the respondents
Quota sample
actually chosen by the fieldworker.
Snowball sample A sample that grows in number via personal relationships.
Non-representative A sample that deliberately does not select a representative group of subjects for
sample research.
Key names:
'The Social Construction of Reality'. Society creates individuals and individuals

Berger and Luckmann
create society.
Giddens Structuration, same idea as above.
Popper Falsification
Kuhn 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions' (1962).
Merton The Scientific ethos.
John Stuart Mill The method of difference.
Elton Mayo The Hawthorne effect.
W. Whyte 'Street Corner Society' (1955).
Parker 'View from the Boys' (1974).
Gold 'Rules in Sociological Field Observation' (1958): Proposed a four-fold classification.
Rosenthall and Jacobson

Pygmalion in the Classroom.
(1964)
S. Milgram (1965) The electric shock experiments.
Rosenham Being sane in insane places.
Garfinkel 'What if' experiments.
Popper Objectivity obtained at the collective, not the individual, level.
'Neutrality and Commitment in Sociology' argues that: a value free sociology is

Gomm
impossible.
Gouldner, in Anti-
'The Myth of Value Free Sociology' (1973).
Minotaur
10
Becker 'Whose Side are we On?' Argues that Sociology should side with the disadvantaged.
Oakley (1974) Sociology reduces women to a side issue from the start.
'Bias against Business' suggests that many Sociology textbooks ignore the central
Marsland
features of capitalist economies.
"By their work, all students of man and society assume and imply moral and
C.W. Mills (1970)
political decisions".
11
Family Ideology
This Revision Summary applies to all of the Family topics...
Ideology
Can You?
Describe the main ideas people have concerning what families 'ought' to be like.
Explain why it is that people have these ideas.
Explain the main sources of support for these ideas
Describe 'conventional' and 'de-regulated' families.
Diversity
Can You?
Outline the way in which Action Theory and Post-modernism explain diversity.
List and describe the main types of diversity identified.
Explain the causes of diversity.
Explain the argument for continuity.
Functionalism
Can You?
Give a basic outline of the functionalist perspective on 'the' family.
List and demonstrate understanding of the assumptions made by functionalism concerning the family.
Explain why the assumptions are open to criticism.
History
Can You?
Explain the contributions made to research into the history of contemporary western families by:
 Laslett.
 Anderson.
 Harris.
12
Give an account of the main findings and arguments concerning alleged changes in family structures brought
about by the Industrial Revolution.
Give an account of why functionalist accounts appear flawed.
Conjugal relationships
Can You?
Identify the central issues concerning the nature/nurture debate as it applies to gender roles.
Identify the traditional approach to gender roles as outlined by Parsons, and give an account of the evidence
provided by Parsons.
Understand the basis and background to the symmetrical family debate.
Understand the criticisms made of the symmetry argument.
Evaluate the implications of empirical studies of male and female domestic roles.
Divorce and Violence
Can You?
Identify recent trends in divorce statistics.
Identify and give an account of the possible causes of the increase in divorce.
Explain what divorce statistics cannot tell us about contemporary marriages.
Key terms:
Patriarchy A system legitimates male domination.
Nature (naturalism) Naturally occurring, a part of the natural world.
Domestic Ideology The ideology that legitimates female domesticity.
13
Viewing the family in terms of fairly predictable features from formation to
Life cycle
dissolution.
Life course Looking at relationships formed by an individual in the course of their life.
Reconstituted family Families where at least one of the adults has a child from a previous relationship.
Single parent family Families headed by only one parent.
Same sex families Families headed by adults of the same sex.
Nuclear family A family consisting of two generations (parents and children).
A family consisting of either three generations (vertical extended) or two

Extended family
generations plus other kin such as uncles or cousins (horizontal extended).
Essential/non-essential Those tasks which need to be performed by families and those tasks formerly
functions performed by families but now undertaken by other institutions.
14
A nuclear family that has no ties of dependence and reciprocation beyond itself
Isolated nuclear family
other than by choice.
The idea that there is some sort of special fit between nuclear families and an
'Fit'
industrialized society.
Geographic mobility Movement by people from one physical location to another.
Social mobility Movement by people from one level of the class hierarchy to another.
Achieved status A status that is 'earned' by the person occupying it.
Ascribed status A status that is 'given' for example, daughter.
Instrumental role Concerned with the material needs of the family - associated with the male role.
Concerned with the emotional and social needs of family members - associated with
Affective role
the female role.
15
Segregated roles The man and woman have separate and distinct family roles and social lives.
Joint roles The man and woman share the tasks required by family life.
Symmetrical Each side mirrors the other; applied to male and female roles in some families.
Dual career family A family where both the male and female have careers.
Legal Aid and Advice Act

(1949)
Divorce Reform Act

Irretrievable breakdown.
(1969)
Domestic Violence and

Applied in the County Courts and permitted courts to issue non-molestation and
Matrimonial Proceedings
exclusion injunctions.
Act (1976)
Domestic Proceedings
Extends above powers to magistrates courts. However provisions only apply to
and Magistrates Act
married women.
(1978)
16
Made it the responsibility of local authorities to re-house certain categories of
people-mainly families - providing they had not intentionally made themselves
Housing Act (1977)
homeless. Act explicitly stated that women who had left a violent man should not be
seen as having intentionally made themselves homeless and should be re-housed.
Stigma Spoiled identity.
Key names:
R. and R.N. Rapoport Dual Career Families (1971).
R. Chester The rise of the neo-conventional family (1985).
P. Willmott Urban kinship past and present (1988).
Parsons The essential functions of the family.
Bales Experimental work with Parsons on instrumental and Affective roles.
17
Zelditch Cross-cultural data used by Parsons.
Kessler and Mackenna

Family types ignored by Parson's idealized family.
(1978)
Bowlby (1965) Theory of maternal deprivation.
Rutter (1972) Chief caretaker need not be mother, need not be female.
Laslett Statistical work on family size since the 16th century.
Anderson Study of Preston based on 1851 census figures.
The idea that inheritance systems could be implicated in early development of

Harris
industrialisation.
Willmott and Young Extended families in East London in the 1950's.
18
Bott 'The Family and Social Networks' (1957). Coined terms segregated and joint.
Willmott and Young 'The Symmetrical Family' (1973).
Rosser and Harris

Growth of more companionate marriage.
(1965)
Goldthorpe and
'The Affluent Worker' (1967).
Lockwood
Rapoport et al 'Dual Career Families Re-examined' (1976).
J. Bernard 'The Wife's Marriage' (1972).
M. Maynard 'Contemporary Housework and The Houseworker Role' (1985).
Edgell 'Middle Class Couples' (1980).
19
J. Pahl 'Money and Marriage' (1989).
F. Divine (1992) Re-visiting the affluent worker town of Luton.
A. Oakley 'The Sociology of Housework' (1974).
Fletcher (1966) Increase in divorce a consequence of higher expectations of marriage.
Wilson (1966) Increased in divorce because of Secularisation.
Gibson (1994) Financial state of marriage is a good predictor of divorce.
Dobash and Dobash

'Violence Against Wives'.
(1980)
Hanmer (1983) A study of community violence to women.
Abbott and Wallace 'Note the main trigger for violence is the male perception that a partner is failing in
20
(1990) her duties.
Faulk (1974) Argued men convicted of abuse were mentally ill.
Looked at 45 societies and showed that 75% of them permitted husbands to be

Schlegel (1972)
aggressive towards their wives.
21
Origins of State Education
This Revision Summary applies to all the Education topics...
History
Can You?
Explain how State education in Britain originated in the desire of one class to control another.
Outline the main practices involved in such control.
Structural Theories of Schooling
Can You?
Give an outline of the Functionalist and Marxist approaches to the role Education.
Offer criticisms of these approaches.
Explain the concept 'the hidden curriculum'.
Outline Bowles and Gintis explanation of the correspondence principle.
Social Inequalities and Schooling: Class
Can You?
Identify, describe and give examples of, the various attempts to explain class differences in educational
attainment.
In particular, can you explain the main findings and supposed causes of educational failure.
Social Inequalities and Schooling: Ethnicity
Can You?
Give an account of the varying explanations of ethnic differences in educational attainment.
Demonstrate an understanding of the development of differing policy approaches towards ethnic minority pupils.
Social Inequalities and Schooling: Gender
Current Issues
Can You?
Describe the main principles of market driven education.
22
Outline how these principles have been introduced into State education.
Key terms:
Cultural deprivation The belief that the culture of some groups within a population is debased.
Differentiated A curriculum that provides different types and level of course for different groups of
curriculum learners.
Education designed to promote certain beliefs and behaviours as superior and

Moral education
others as inferior.
Individualistic
Individuals are encouraged to compete against each other for academic status.
competition
A theory that proposes that societies are held together by agreement over basic
Consensus Theory
values and beliefs.
A theory that proposes that societies are best characterized by conflict between
Conflict Theory
different groups within a society.
The idea that the social relations of the school are mirrored in the social relations of
Correspondence Theory
the workplace.
23
Cultural capital A store of the sort of culture that enables educational and social advancement.
Habitus A term that describes the cultural capital of the middle classes.
The idea that what counts as worthwhile knowledge is but a selection from the
Selective tradition
knowledge available.
Meritocracy I.Q. + effort.
A reference to the quantitative research tradition in studies of education and social

Political arithmetic
mobility.
Nature/nurture debate Explanations based in heredity or environment.
I.Q. Intelligence quotient (a measure of intelligence).
Sub-culture The culture of a distinct group within a societal culture.
24
Tripartite system The division of secondary education into 3 types under the 1944 Education Act.
Comprehensive An inclusive educational system. All pupils are taught within the same institution.
Butler Act The 1944 Education Act.
The examination used to determine what type of secondary education a pupil

11+
should receive.
Self-fulfilling prophecy A belief that becomes true because it is believed to be true.
Material deprivation Deprivation caused by a lack of financial resources.
Restricted and elaborate

Bernstein's description of two distinct speech codes.
codes
Resistance A group refusal to accept dominant definitions of reality.
25
Racialised Stereotypical views of an ethnic group's characteristics that serve to identify them.
Assimilation The idea that immigrants could become like the host population.
Multi-culturalism Acceptance and celebration of cultural difference.
Antiracist Direct confrontation of racist belief/practice.
Colour racism Viewing ethnic diversity only in terms of black and white.
Newsom Report (1963) Marriage still seen as the vocation of girls.
Sexual division of labour Traditionally the division of tasks into masculine and feminine.
GIST A government initiative; girls into science and technology.
26
Kentucky fried education Bland homogenized education, the same everywhere.
Parental choice Parents can decide to which school they send their children.
Baker (1988 Act) The act that brought in the national curriculum.
Established core curriculum subjects, laid out curriculum guidelines, introduced

National Curriculum
standard attainment tests at key stages.
Schools were allowed to opt out of Local Education authority control and become
Opt out
grant maintained via central government funding.
Established by the 1988 Education Act to act as centres of excellence for vocational
City Technology Colleges
teaching.
The geographical area around a school from where it draws the majority of its
Catchment area
students.
Parentocracy A situation where parents choose schools.
27
Credentialism The pursuit of educational certificates.
League tables The rank ordering of schools by exam results.
Key names:
The idea that schools perform particular functions for society. Primarily
Parsons
socialization and selection'.
Durkheim The division of labour (specialization).
Bowles and Gintis 'Schooling in Capitalist America' (1976).
Davis and Moore 'Some principles of Stratification (1948).
P. Saunders 'Social Class and Stratification' (A British Bell curve? - 1996).
Althusser Ideological State Apparatus.
28
R. Williams The selective tradition.
Bourdieu Cultural Capital, Habitus.
Binet The creator of the I.Q. test.
Eysenck and Jensen 1960's proposed idea of ethnic differences in I.Q.
Murray and Herrnstein 1990's idea that intelligence is genetic.
Douglas 'The Home and the School' (1964).
Bernstein Language codes; elaborate and restricted.
Lynch and O'Neil Poverty causes poor school performance.
Aggleton Middle class resistance to schooling. 'Rebels without a Cause?' (1987).
29
D. Hargreaves 'Social Relations in a Secondary School' (1967).
Lacey 'Hightown Grammar' (1970).
Ball 'Beachside Comprehensive' (1981).
P. Willis 'Learning to Labour' (1976).
Wright (1988 and 1992) Racialisation, conflict in schools.
Gilborn (1990) Penalisation of black students via teacher stereotypes.
Eggleston (1986) Black students placed in streams below their ability.
Resistance by black students to educational institutions, but not to education

Mac an Ghaill (1988)
itself.
30
Sewell (1997) Students positive about educations but rejected the schooling process.
Fuller (1983) Females able to cope with schooling but found it racist.
Defends teachers argues they are not racist, but discriminate against bad
Foster (1996)
behaviour.
Cole (1992) Racist stereotyping in textbooks.
Flew (1986) Inequality of educational outcome is a result of differences in culture.
Minorities should confine their cultural forms to their leisure time if it impedes
Scrutiny (1986)
their schooling.
Bernstein and Murray 'The Bell Curve' (1994).
Pearce (1986) Multiculturalism 'undermines' the British way of life.
31
Hill gate group Right wing group interested in influencing the content of the school curriculum.
Gilroy (1990) and Manhood

Colour racism.
(1989)
Scrutiny (1989) Suggests sexual division of labour has a biological basis.
Shaw (1977) Prospect of marriage works against career planning.
Sharpe (1976) Girl's ambitions are depressed.
Connell (1986) The impact of feminism has raised girls' career ambitions.
Girls link school subject choice to local labour market but also accept the
Riddell (1992)
prospect of domestic responsibilities.
Bisseret (1979) Importance of historical forces acting on girls.
32
Girls and boys tend to choose subjects that are traditionally associated with their
Arnot (1991)
sex.
Barber (1994) Boys have developed less positive attitudes to education.
Hargreaves (1989) Kentucky Fried Education.
Black Report (1987) Made recommendations taken up by the 1988 Education Reform Act.
Education Reform Act

Introduction of National Curriculum, opting Out, City Technology Colleges.
(1988)
OFSTED Produced by the 1992 Act. Concerned with standards and efficiency in schools.
David (1993) Coined the term 'parentocracy'.
33
The Role of Religion
This Revision Summary applies to all of the Religion topics...
The Role of Religion
Can You?
Explain the possible relationships between religion and society in terms of cause and effect.
Explain the argument that religion inhibits change.
Explain the argument that religion fosters change.
Give a balanced account of the two arguments above.
Secularisation
Can You?
Give an account of, and evaluate, the debate as to whether Secularisation is, or is not, occurring in contemporary
western societies.
Explain the terminological difficulties involved in the Secularisation debate. In particular, the terms Religion and
Secularisation.
Following from the above. Explain the difficulties of operationalisation of research and thus of measurement of
Secularisation.
Key terms:
Collective The collective sentiments or ideas that give the social group or society its unity and
conscience uniqueness.
The distinction between people (profane) and society (sacred). The idea that when
Sacred/profane
people worship the sacred they worship society.
Salvation Panic Not knowing if you are among the 'saved'.
34
Universe of
Religion provides the true and objective way of seeing the world.
meaning
In an effort to explain mysterious or awesome things and give then meaning, humans
Cosmology
place them in a category that Berger calls a cosmology.
The justice of god. In western societies the theodicy has to reconcile apparently
Theodicy contradictory beliefs, the belief in a benevolent and omnipotent god with the existence of
a world full of evil and suffering.
Rationality The rejection of all claims to knowledge other than the scientific.
The Institutional
Focuses on the church, church attendance, etc.
approach
The Societal
The role and impact of religion on society and the individual.
approach
Disengagement The detaching of religion from wider society - its loss of wealth, prestige and power.
35
Religious pluralism The co-existence of many faiths and varieties of faith in one society.
Transformation The argument that religious belief has become transformed into Secular guides for action.
Religious values have become generalised because social values are grounded in Christian
Generalisation
principles.
De-sacralisation The idea that the sacred has little or no place in contemporary western society.
Key names:
Durkheim The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1924).
Weber The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, (first published in English, 1930).
Marx Religion as 'opium' a conservative force.
Lenin Religion as 'spiritual gin'.
Maduro (1982) 'Relative autonomy' of religion.
36
Thompson (1986) The 'it depends' approach.
Huxley (1965) Religion and science incompatible.
The Social Construction of Reality. Claim that a Sociology of knowledge is impossible

Berger and Luckmann
without a sociology of religion, and vice versa.
Wilson (1966) Religion in a Secular Society.
'How Religious are We?' Points out how, except for the occasional ancient ceremony,
Wilson (1977)
such as a coronation, the church has ceased to preside over national life.
Luckmann (1967) The Invisible Religion.
Lyon (1985) The incompatibility of rational or 'scientific'.
Shiner (1967) Six different versions of secularization used by sociologists in empirical work.
37
Glasner (1977) The Sociology of Secularisation. Three levels of analysis.
Bruce (1992) The processes of cultural defence and cultural transmission.
Berger, Berger and 'The Homeless Mind'. The idea of the Secularisation of consciousness - the
Kellner interpretation of the world without reference to religion.
Decline in attendance. According to Bruce the high point for British Churches was
Bruce (1995)
between 1860 and 1910.
Bradley, Religious Argues that religious programmes are watched or listened to by nearly 60% of the
Revival (1987) population.
Stark and Bainbridge Secularisation is a self-limiting process because it always generates religious revival.
'Protestant. Catholic, Jew'. Claims that the church in the USA has become obsessed
Hersberg (1955)
with secular concerns.
38
'New Religious Consciousness and the Crisis in Modernity'. Religion is now an activity
Bellah (l976)
indulged in at the individual level.
39
Poverty
This Revision Summary applies to all of the Poverty, Wealth and Welfare topics...
Definitions/Causes
Can You?
Outline and explain competing definitions of poverty.
Explain who are 'the poor'.
Explain conflicting approaches that explain why the poor are poor.
Be able to illustrate all of the above by reference to both historical and contemporary research.
Welfare
Can You?
Describe and outline the main features of competing philosophies of welfare state and social policy.
Key terms:
Absolute poverty Having only what is required for physical health.
Measured in terms of judgments by members of a particular society of what is

Relative poverty
considered a reasonable and acceptable standard of living.
Consumption
Property that we have for personal use-clothes, cars, family homes.
property
Productive property Makes money, it is capital and includes factories, farms, stocks and shares.
40
The flow of money. Based on market reward for skills. The ownership of intellectual
Income
capital or skills.
Wealth The store of capital. Obtained via inheritance or accumulation via high salaries.
Social Democracy A society with the strong supporting the weak through state intervention via taxation.
New Right The belief that the state should not be used to bring about any social objectives.
Welfare pluralism The provision of welfare from various sources, not just the state.
Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto 1848, referred to the Lumpenproletariat
Lumpenproletariat
as 'the dangerous class'.
1988 Social Security Withdrew benefit from most people under 18, reintroduced idea that poverty was the
Act result of idleness.
Key names:
Booth, Life and Labour in

East London.
41
Rowntree's early studies
of York, 1899, 1936,
1950.
Townsend and Abel

The Poor and the Poorest. Poverty caused by low income.
Smith (1965)
Townsend Poverty in the United Kingdom (1979). Poverty resulted in a deprived lifestyle.
Has sympathy with Townsend's view of poverty but criticises his deprivation index
Piachaud (1981)
as rather arbitrary in its choice of indicators of poverty.
Mack and Lansley (1985) 'Breadline Britain'. Public perception poverty line.
Westergaard and Ressler Argue that class inequalities generated by the capitalist system are the fundamental
(1975) reason for the persistence of poverty.
Peter Townsend et al
The feminisation of poverty.
(1987)
The Acheson Report
42
Oscar Lewis The Culture of Poverty Thesis, 1965.
Wilson (1987) A structural account of poverty.
Has argued that Britain has an underclass of poor people whose structural location
Field (1989)
is markedly different from others on low income.
Rutter and Madge

Over half of all forms of disadvantage arise anew each generation.
(1976)
"The poor are just the same people as the rest of our population, with the same
Bradshaw and Holmes
culture and aspirations but with simply too little money to be able to share in the
(1989)
activities and possessions of everyday life with the rest of the population."
43
Introduction to Deviance
This Revision Summary applies to all the Deviance topics...
Introduction
Can You?
Give a basic definition of deviance and provide evidence of both positive and negative forms of deviance.
Explain the basic insights into the nature of deviance provided by Durkheim.
Explain how Merton accounted for deviant behaviour.
Explain how sociological accounts of deviance differ from those of other disciplines.
Ecological Theory
Can You?
Explain the biological analogy.
Explain Social disorganisation.
Understand ecological theory as a precursor of sub-cultural theory.
Sub-Cultural Theory
Can You?
Explain the concepts Cultural Transmission and Differential Association.
Explain the research of Albert Cohen, Cloward and Ohlin and Miller.
Explain Marxist Sub-Cultural Theory.
Explain Matza's concepts of subterranean values and drift.
Labelling Theory
Can You?
Explain how Labelling Theory differs from the traditional accounts of deviance.
Illustrate/give examples of the main concepts used by labelling theorists.
Explain why suicide is such an important topic in Sociology.
Outline the main features of Durkheim's theory of suicide and the principle supporting and critical studies.
44
Outline the main findings of the interpretive and 'micro-social' studies of suicide focussing on aspects of the
suicidal act.
Corporate Crime
Can You?
Explain what corporate crime is.
Explain what white collar crime is.
Give examples of corporate crime.
Key terms:
Deviance Behaviour that does not follow the norms or expectations of a particular group.
Norms A guide to action. Norms instruct us how to behave in specific situations.
Moral community The concept of a community united morally.
Society of Saints Durkheim's imaginary society in which nobody is conventionally deviant.
Rewards or punishments (consequences) used to encourage or discourage different

Sanction
forms of behaviour.
Durkheim's term for a person considered deviant in their own time, but later
Functional Rebel considered to have advanced our behaviour and understanding by their actions, for
example, Socrates.
45
Skewed Deviant Durkheim's term for a deviant produced by an unfair and unequal society.
Anomie A state of normlessness (not knowing what the norms are).
Influenced by the Evolutionary Theory - the idea of a struggle for space and the best
Biological analogy
habitat.
Moral regions The idea that behaviours are, or are not tolerated in different parts of a city.
A once prosperous central area of cities, now fallen into decay, multiple occupation
Zone of Transition
and high rates of crime.
A decrease in the influence of the existing social rules of behaviour upon individual
Social disorganisation
members of the group.
Cultural transmission The transmission of norms from one generation to the next.
Differential association
Deviance results from 'an excess of definitions favourable to violation of law over
46
definitions unfavourable to violations of law.'
Status frustration The denial of legitimate opportunities to obtain status.
Illegitimate
The opportunities a person had to commit deviant acts.
opportunity structure
Hegemony The imposition of ruling class ideas on the rest of society.
Subterranean values Desires usually controlled by socialisation and fear of retribution.
Stigma A spoiled identity.
Fantasy crime wave The generation of a false impression as to the extent of a criminal activity.
The emergence of a perceived threat to social order from what is seen as undesirable
Moral panic
behaviour.
47
Folk devil A person who is seen to represent, in their person, a societal threat.
One who is prepared to defend or attack any particular moral position in which they
Moral entrepreneur
have an interest.
Key names:
Durkheim Analysis of the nature and positive functions of deviance.
Merton A typology of responses to cultural goals and institutional means.
Robert Park Urban studies carried out at University of Chicago 1914-1940.
Ernest Burgess The idea that cities could be divided into zones that had distinct characteristics.
Sutherland Concept of differential association.
Clifford Shaw 'The Jackroller'. An example of cultural transmission.
Albert Cohen 'Delinquent Boys'. The Culture of the Gang.
48
Cloward and Ohlin Illegitimate opportunity Structure.
Miller Lower Class Culture as a Generating Milieu of Gang Delinquency.
Taylor, Walton and Young The New Criminology.
David Matza Delinquency as ordinary behaviour.
Aggleton 'Rebels Without a Cause?' (1987). A study of Middle Class deviant behaviour.
S.Cohen Creator of 'moral panic' author of Folk Devils and Moral Panics.
Becker 'Outsiders'. Most prominent of the labelling theorists.
Pearce (1976) 'Crimes of the Powerful'.
49
Chambliss (1978) 'On the take: From petty crooks to Presidents'.
Box 'Recession Crime and Punishment' (1987).
50
Political Power
Power
Can You?
Describe and explain the problems involved in describing and measuring power.
Describe and evaluate the main approaches to describing the distribution of power in Britain.
Voting
Can You?
Give an account of the 'Traditional' approach to voting behaviour, and the social, cultural and political situation
that prevailed at the time this account was the dominant explanation of voting behaviour.
Give an account of studies into, and explanations for, deviant voters.
Explain why new explanations became necessary, with reference to the social, cultural and political changes
occurring in Britain.
Explain what these new explanations are and identify the main concepts now used to explain patterns of voting
behaviour.
Key terms:
Power The ability to command obedience.
Authority Power becomes authority when it is recognised as legitimate.
Pluralism A theory that argues power is dispersed throughout a society.
Elitism A theory that argues that power is concentrated in a limited number of groups.
51
Non-decision
The power to prevent decisions being made.
making
Zero sum The belief that amounts of power remain constant.
Variable sum The belief that the amount of power held by a system can increase or decrease.
A major weakening of the association between people's occupational class positions and their
Class de-alignment
political alignments.
Partisan de- A significant reduction in the fit between people's choice of party and their views on political
alignment issues.
Electoral volatility People changing party from one election to another.
Sectoral cleavage Political divide based on public/private sectors.
When the links between a particular party and its 'normal' supporters becomes weaker.
Dealigning
52
elections
Re-aligning
A change in the identifications that voters have with a particular party.
elections
Key names:
Weber Defined authority.
C. Mills 'The Power Elite' (1956).
Bachrach and Baratz (1962) Non-decision making.
S. Lukes 'Power: The Radical View' (1974).
R. Dahl 'Who Governs?' (1951) and 'Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy' (1982).
Poulantzas 'The Capitalist State' (1976).
Milliband 'The State in Capitalist Society' (1969).
53
Budge (1983) The 'fragmented elite'.
Lindblom Capital is the dominant group in all advanced liberal democracies.
Finer Trade unions are the dominant veto group.
Brittan (1983) Pressure group politics has overloaded government.
'Political Change in Britain', challenged the idea of an informed

Butler and Stokes (1963)
electorate.
"Class is the basis of British party politics; all else is embellishment

Pulzer (1967)
and detail."
Dunleavy (1983) New cleavages in British politics.
Crewe et al (1977) Issue changes.
54
Himmelweit (1985) The consumer model of voting.
Harrap 'Voting and the electorate' (1988) the Party Identification Model.
Marshall et al (1988) 'Social Class in Modern Britain' the continuing importance of class.
British Election Study (Evans and Norris (eds)

1999)
55
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A-Level Sociology

Revision notes 2020/2021

Basic Concepts in Science and Theory

Explain positivism, realism and interpretivism.

Explain the Determinism/Free Will argument.

Explain the Nature/Nurture problem.

Give a brief description of System theory and Action theory.

Give an account of alternatives to the traditional theory/method relationship.

Explain why the traditional account is flawed.

Explain Kuhn's concepts of paradigm, normal and revolutionary science.

Explain how science has itself moved on from certainties to probabilities.

List the major disadvantages of the method.

Explain why P.O. is viewed by some sociologists as 'unscientific'.

Explain the 'Method of Difference'.

Correctly use the terms: control, dependent/independent variable, Hawthorne effect.

Explain why it is difficult/unethical to experiment on humans.

Explain the logic of the 'field/what if experiment'.

Give examples of experiments in the social sciences.

Explain the terms, sampling frame, sample, and representative.

List and explain the various types of sampling.

Describe the sources of error in sampling.

Explain what is meant by value-freedom.

Explain why value freedom is valued.

Explain why value-freedom is impossible to attain but worth attempting.

Distinguish between bias, prejudice and point of view.

Epistemology What is knowledge, objective fact, and subjective opinion.

Positivism The method of science.

Empiricism Knowledge gained by direct sense experience.

Postmodern After the modern period.

Objectivity Knowledge uncontaminated by values.

Validity Does the research measure what it claims to measure?

Representativeness Is the situation typical? If so, generalisations are possible.

Imposition Any selection of information or interpretation made by a researcher.

Operationalisation Defining concepts so that they can be measured.

Observer fatigue Tiredness resulting from pretence, particularly in covert observation.

Control To control the variables.

Dependent variable The factor being acted upon.

Independent variable The active (change causing) factor.

Representative The basis for generalisation.

Population A list of all those who could be included in a survey.

Sample Those actually selected for investigation.

Snowball sample A sample that grows in number via personal relationships.

'The Social Construction of Reality'. Society creates individuals and individuals

Kuhn 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions' (1962).

Merton The Scientific ethos.

John Stuart Mill The method of difference.

Elton Mayo The Hawthorne effect.

W. Whyte 'Street Corner Society' (1955).

Parker 'View from the Boys' (1974).

Rosenthall and Jacobson

S. Milgram (1965) The electric shock experiments.

Rosenham Being sane in insane places.

Garfinkel 'What if' experiments.

Popper Objectivity obtained at the collective, not the individual, level.

'Neutrality and Commitment in Sociology' argues that: a value free sociology is

Explain why it is that people have these ideas.

Explain the main sources of support for these ideas

Describe 'conventional' and 'de-regulated' families.

List and describe the main types of diversity identified.