Key Studies

• What does Plachaud argue?

  Large differences in inherited wealth, education and access to jobs are causes of inequality
• What perspective are Davis and Moore?

  Functionalists
• What do Davis and Moore argue?

  All societies have social inequality so stratification is universal and inevitable. Some roles in society are functionally more important to society and require people with exceptional talent, skills and abilities to fill them. These roles are very difficult and require sacrifices e.g. costly education so they must rank highly in status and salary to attract the right people. Society is meritocratic and the most talented would and should achieve the highest status and rewards
• What are the evaluations of Davis and Moore?

  Many jobs that are vital to society have relatively low pay e.g. nurses or status e.g. refuse collectors so a group's status may be linked to how much power they have rather than their functional importance, Tumin argued functional importance is hard to establish, elites will attempt to preserve their power and privileges and place limits on the search of personnel, education itself does not justify a lifetime of far greater material rewards, the systems of social stratification encourage hostility suspicion and distrust amongst different groups
• What studies support Goldthorpe?

  Crompton argued that social mobility is in decline partly due to changes in work e.g. decline in manual jobs, Scott found that class matters more than education when considering mobility
• What did Goldthorpe's study find?


  Goldthorpe's study on social mobility in the 1970s found that a working class child's chances are 1/4 of those of a child from the professional class. Although working class children did end up in middle class occupations they were much less likely to do so. Evidence suggests that social mobility fell towards the end of the 20th century. Children born in the 1950s were more likely to move into higher social classes than children born into similar families in the 1970s. Goldthorpe used structured interviews with affluent manual workers in Luton.
• What perspective was Devine?

  Critical perspective. She revisited Luton 2 decades after Goldthorpe after they had been through a recession. She used unstructured interviews with 62 Luton residents and compared her findings with Goldthorpe's study
• What did Devine find vs Goldthorpe for moving for work?

  Goldthorpe argued workers were geographically mobile and moved to get better jobs to improve living standards, they had an instrumental attitude to paid work and it was a means to an end and they did not see work as a way of making friends or gaining job satisfaction. Devine disagreed and found that many of these moves were people who were forced to escape unemployment so they were not purely instrumental in their motives
• What did Devine find vs Goldthorpe for family?

  Goldthorpe saw affluent workers as similar to the traditional working class as they drew friends from working class neighbours and kin. However their relationships had become similar to middle class relationships e.g. privatised and home-centred. Devine disagreed and found workers did not have purely privatised lifestyles as many had joined kin and friends in Luton: they helped each other move and offered support e.g. babysitting
• What did Devine find vs Goldthorpe on individualism?

  Goldthorpe argued workers had more individualistic social and political attitudes e.g. supported trade unions but for their own gain so instrumental collectivism. These affluent workers were not motivated by working class solidarity and the idea of sticking together. Devine disagreed as many interviews showed evidence of solidarity
• What was Devine's conclusion?

  Working class lifestyles, norms and values had not changed as much as Goldthorpe's study suggested
• Which sociologists saw children as 'little adults?

  Aries studied medieval paintings and found children were seen as little adults after the age of 5 e.g. wearing the same clothes. Some sociologists argue age is a social construct
• What is the study about ethnicity and paid employment?

  Li and colleagues examined different ethnic groups in 2004/2005 in relation to employment and found Indian and Chinese minority ethnic groups had the same chances of getting professional/managerial positions as their white peers. However men of black Caribbean backgrounds had 'much worse' chances and were paid less. In 2015, 11.5% of black women were unemployed compared to 4.5% of white women
• What was Marx's ideas on stratification?

  The bourgeoise owned the means of production whilst the proletariat did not own any property and were forced to sell their labour to the bourgeoise in order to survive. Other classes included the lumpenproletariat and the petty bourgeoise. The bourgeoise aimed for increasing profits whilst the proletariat sought higher wages which led to class conflict. Due to economic power the bourgeoise held political power. Their position was justified by ruling class ideology which led to false class consciousness
• What are the interests of the different social classes?

  The interests of the bourgeoise were to maintain their wealth and status by exploiting the proletariat and the interests of the proletariat were to survive in a capitalist system where they are alienated by a lack of control over the products of their work and from their interests
• Is Marxism still relevant today?

  Marxists argue that Marx's approach is still relevant globally in the 21st century. Scambler argues that we are now in an era of financial capitalism and a tiny minority ( less than 1% ) has true wealth and power. He argues that this class has increased its influence over the powerful elite who head the government and together these powerful elite make up a ruling oligarchy who are barely accountable to us. The Occupy Movement oppose the global power of the riches 1%
• What are Weber's 3 sources of power?

  Traditional- based on established customs and inherited status e.g. the King, Rational legal- based on the acceptance of shared impersonal rules e.g. police, Charismatic devotion- a leader who has exceptional qualities e.g. a religious leader or Donald Trump
• What was Weber's view on stratification?

  Classes were formed in the marketplace e.g. the labour market as one class hired labour and the other class sold their labour. Like Marx he saw class as based on the distribution of economic resources e.g. wealth. However he also stressed the importance of non-economic factors e.g. status and power in shaping patterns of stratification and determining life chances. He distinguished between class and status and argued each of the classes had different levels of status, wealth and power
• How did Weber define class?

  He defined class as a group of people who have similar access to life chances e.g. chances of being successful in life. He identified 4 classes: property owners e.g. people who own businesses, professionals e.g. white collar workers, petty bourgeoise e.g. people who own small businesses, the working class e.g. people who work for the property owners.
• What is the difference between Weber and Marx?

  Marx focused solely on class divisions and argued other inequalities such as status arose from class divisions whereas Weber saw class and status as 2 separate aspects of stratification. He argued a person's status may differ from their class e.g. someone could win the lottery and be wealthy but lack status
• What do Butler and Watt say?

  They explain increases in poverty and inequality by arguing when poverty grows among some groups, others become richer which results in greater inequality. They identify several factors that explain the increase in poverty and inequality: an increase in the proportion of workless households, an increase in the pay gap between low skilled and high skilled workers, changes in taxation e.g. reductions in rate of income tax benefit people who are more well-off, demographic changes which result in an increase in groups with low incomes e.g. pensioners
• What was Townsend's research method?

  A large scale questionnaire survey over one year in the late 1960s. He collected data on 2052 households and 6098 individuals. The national questionnaire covered household resources and standard of living. He was a social democrat
• What were Townsend's findings?

  Townsend created a deprivation index to measure relative deprivation. He calculated almost 23% of the population were in poverty which was much higher than the state standard of poverty which was 6.1% and the relative income standard of poverty which was 9%. He also identified particular groups of people who were at risk which included elderly people who had worked in unskilled manual jobs and children in lone parent families or with a parent in an unskilled manual job
• What was Townsend critical of?

  The state standard of poverty on which official statistics are based. The state standard of poverty is based on individual entitlement to claim benefits as he believed this to be arbitrarily determined by the government of the day. He preferred to use relative deprivation as a measure as he believed that individuals, families and groups fall into relative poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions that are widely available in the society in which they live
• What are the criticisms of Townsend's deprivation index?

  Critics question some of the 12 items in Townsend's index e.g. a cooked breakfast or Sunday joint and how they were selected, not eating meat regularly might be linked to vegetarianism or religious beliefs rather than deprivation. If the index is inadequate this means the statistics based on it are invalid
• What is the general functionalist view of stratification?

  Believe it is positive + serves an important function as it is necessary for the effective role allocation in society. Argue each social class performs a different role in society which is necessary in order for society to function. Stratification is linked to the promise of rewards so people are motivated to work hard + move up the social hierarchy + gain access to more resources and privileges which motivates others to do the same ensuring society functions effectively
• What do Davis and Moore argue?

  Functionally important roles, desirable rewards, functionally necessary
• What do Davis and Moore mean by functionally important roles?

  Social stratification is a universal necessity as functionally more important roles require more education, training and skill and so need to be more highly rewarded in terms of income, prestige and power so that people have an incentive to work harder and longer.
• What do Davis and Moore mean by desirable rewards?

  Stratification is necessary to ensure people with the necessary skills and qualifications are in the positions where they can best contribute to society and so desirable rewards are needed to motivate them to gain these qualifications.
• What do Davis and Moore mean by stratification is functionally necessary?

  Stratification is functionally necessary to have a sufficient number of people to fill important positions, if everyone were to have the same opportunities and rewards not enough people would be motivated to acquire the necessary qualifications to fill important positions, leading to a shortage of people with the necessary skills and qualifications to keep society running smoothly.
• What is the functionalist view of life chances?

  They argue that social inequality is necessary for the functioning of society and that different individuals and groups are allocated different roles based on their abilities and qualifications.
• What is the Marxist perspective on life chances?

  Society is divided into two classes: the capitalist class who own the means of production and the working class who sell their labour for wages. The capitalist class exploits the working class leading to a concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the capitalists which results in the working class having fewer opportunities and resources leading to poorer life chances. Life chances therefore reflect the unequal distribution of resources due to capitalism.
• What is the feminist perspective on life chances?

  Society is patriarchal and that men hold more power and privilege than women. Women are discriminated against in various aspects of life including education, employment and politics, leading to fewer opportunities and resources, and therefore, fewer life chances.

  They also argue that traditional gender roles and stereotypes contribute to the lack of opportunities and resources for women. Consequently, they feel men have more life chances than women.
• What is the functionalist perspective on social class?

  Diff classes perform diff functions + these functions are essential for the smooth running of society. The UC with their wealth + education are able to perform the most important + complex tasks e.g. running businesses + gov. The MC with their education + professional skills are able to perform important tasks e.g. managing + teaching. The WC with their physical labour are able to perform the manual tasks that keep society running. This division of labour is natural + efficient + is essential for the stability + continuity of society.
• What is the Marxist view on social class?

  Class divisions are not a neutral or natural aspect of society but the result of class struggle. The ruling class uses class divisions to maintain its power and privilege by ensuring that the most important jobs and positions of power are filled by people who are loyal to the ruling class and will maintain the status quo. The working class is exploited by the ruling class and that this exploitation is what causes poverty and inequality
• What is the feminist view on social class?

  Class divisions are gendered and perpetuate patriarchal structures.

  They point out that women are disproportionately represented in lower-paying jobs and that they are more likely to be in poverty than men. Traditional gender roles and societal expectations that women should be responsible for domestic work and child-rearing, and men for paid work, reinforces the gender pay gap, and the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions.
• What perspective is Murray?


  New Right
• What did Murray find?

  He examined US governments’ social policy + welfare programmes that aimed to help the poor +reduce poverty. Argued the policies actually produced poverty + encouraged more people to become dependent on welfare benefits e.g. + encouraged a hard core of unemployed young people to have no interest in finding jobs, working hard + taking responsibility.​ ​
• Why are the underclass dangerous?

  The underclass was associated with poor African American + Hispanic people, it's growing + poses a threat to the well being of society bc its members are responsible for the increase in the crime rates + they are a burden to the taxpayer
• What are Murray's 3 measures of the underclass?


  Murray visited the UK and identified an underclass here. Four years later, he argued that the situation was getting worse. He argued the UK’s underclass is growing rapidly. He focused on the behaviour of the ‘undeserving poor’ and examined three measures of the underclass:​Rising crime rates​, An increase in the number of illegitimate or extra marital births​, Drop out from the labour force among working-age men​