AQA Sociology:Paper 1

Subdecks (6)

Cards (636)

  • Functionalists focus on the positive functions of education
  • Creating social solidarity:
    • School makes individuals feel like they are part of something bigger
    • Subjects like history and English give a shared sense of identity
    • School prepares individuals for cooperating with others in wider society
  • Teaching specialist skills for work:
    • In an advanced industrial economy, a complex Division of Labour is required
    • School teaches diverse skills necessary for different professions
    • Vocational education provides specific skills for particular professions
  • Teaching core values:
    • Education acts as the central socializing agency in modern society
    • School takes over from primary socialization to adapt children to societal norms
    • Children are judged by universalistic standards in school and wider society
  • Role Allocation and meritocracy:
    • Education allocates individuals to suitable jobs based on talents
    • Examinations and qualifications ensure the most talented are allocated to important occupations
    • Meritocracy ensures equality of opportunity and fair chance for success
  • Positive evaluations of the Functionalist view on education:
    • School performs positive functions for most pupils most of the time
    • Link between education and economic growth
    • Low exclusion and truancy rates
    • Schools foster solidarity and offer diverse vocational courses
  • Criticisms of the Functionalist View of Education:
    • Education system not fully meritocratic
    • Functionalist view is ideological and reflects the views of the powerful
    • Modern education systems focus more on individual development
    • Ignores negative aspects of school like bullying and exclusion
  • Contemporary Evidence to Evaluate Functionalism (2022 update):
    • Government plans to make 90% of pupils sit GCSEs from the Ebacc suite of subjects by 2025
    • Shift towards a more similar educational experience for students
    • Potential exclusion of poorer students from creative subjects
    • Requirement to teach British Values in schools emerged from the PREVENT agenda
    • Teaching British Values may not promote value consensus effectively
  • The EU Referendum in 2015 split the UK population down the middle, with approximately half voting to stay in the EU and half voting to leave
  • This was the only time the UK Population had the chance to vote directly on a specific social policy
  • The split in the nation suggests there is no meaningful value consensus on how Britain should relate to the wider world
  • Graduate Labour Market Statistics in 2021 show that 86.7% of graduates were employed compared to 67.2% of non-graduates
  • Graduates were three times as likely to be in 'highly skilled' jobs compared to non-graduates
  • Around 25% of graduates end up in lower skilled jobs, indicating the system isn't fully effective
  • Apprenticeship data from 2021-22 shows approximately 750,000 people were doing apprenticeships, with main sectors being health and social care and business administration
  • The majority of apprentices are under 25, suggesting apprenticeships work alongside traditional further and higher education institutions for role allocation
  • A Level Sociology exam
  • Sociologists use a range of quantitative and qualitative, primary and secondary social research methods to collect data about society
  • Main types of research methods include:
    • Social surveys (questionnaires and structured interviews)
    • Experiments (Lab and Field)
    • Unstructured interviews
    • Participant Observation
    • Secondary qualitative data
    • Official Statistics
  • Research Methods Top Ten Key Concepts:
    • Includes simple explanations of terms such as validity, reliability, representativeness, Positivism and Interpretivism
  • An Introduction to Research Methods:
    • Basics of different types of research method
    • Factors influencing choice of research methods
    • Distinction between Positivism and Interpretivism
  • Factors Effecting Choice of Research Topic in Sociology:
    • Theoretical, ethical, and practical factors affecting the choice of research methods
  • Factors Effecting Choice of Research Method in Sociology:
    • Theoretical, practical and ethical factors
    • The nature of the topic affecting the choice of research method
  • Positivism and Interpretivism:
    • Positivists prefer quantitative methods
    • Interpretivists prefer qualitative methods
  • Stages of Social Research:
    • Research design, operationalising concepts, sampling, pilot studies, data collection and data analysis
  • Primary Quantitative Research Methods:
    • Social Surveys:
    • Advantages and disadvantages
    • Preferred by positivists
    • Good for simple topics
    • Structured Interviews:
    • Different contexts and stages
    • Strengths, limitations, and criticisms
  • Primary Qualitative Research Methods:
    • Favored by Interpretivists
    • Allow respondents to speak for themselves
    • Risk of researcher's subjective views interfering with results
    • Participant Observation:
    • Overt and Covert
    • Strengths and limitations of covert participant observation
    • Recent examples of sociological studies using participant observation
  • Secondary Research Methods:
    • Official Statistics:
    • General strengths and limitations
    • Examples include crime statistics, school league tables, and education statistics
  • Univariate Analysis in Quantitative Social Research involves looking at one variable at a time
  • Strengths and limitations of bar charts, pie charts, and box plots are covered in this post
  • Secondary Qualitative Data Analysis in Sociology includes private and public documents
  • Public documents are written or visual documents produced with an audience in mind, such as government reports and newspapers
  • Private documents refer to personal documents like diaries and letters not intended to be seen by their authors
  • Content Analysis of the Media in Social Research covers formal content (quantitative) analysis and semiology
  • Personal documents like diaries and letters are discussed in detail regarding their strengths and limitations as sources of data
  • Autobiographies in social research are popular with the British public, but their usefulness as data sources for social researchers is questioned
  • Sociology, Science, and Value Freedom is part of A2 Theory and Methods
  • Methods in Context includes Research Methods Applied to Education
  • Field Experiments applied to Education are discussed, focusing on whether Chinese Teaching Methods are the best
  • Participant Observation in Education focuses on the work of Paul Willis and Mac An Ghail