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Component 3: Power and Stratification (Section A)

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How are age and disability sources of inequality, and how do they intersect with class, gender and ethnicity?

Component 3 Section A: age as a form of differentiation (inequalities affecting the young and the old, ageism) and disability as a form of differentiation (the social model of disability, discrimination and life chances), and the intersection of all forms of inequality.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Power and Stratification guide to age and disability. Covers age inequality affecting the young and the old and ageism, disability as inequality (the medical versus social model, discrimination and life chances), and the way class, gender, ethnicity, age and disability intersect to shape life chances.
14 min answer →

How is social class defined and measured, and does class still shape life chances?

Component 3 Section A: social class as a form of differentiation, including how class is defined and measured, the debate over the changing class structure (the underclass, the death of class), and the impact of class on life chances.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Power and Stratification guide to social class. Covers how class is defined and measured (occupational scales, the NS-SEC), the debate over the changing class structure (embourgeoisement, the underclass, the death of class), and the continuing impact of class on life chances such as health, education and income.
14 min answer →

How are gender and ethnicity sources of inequality, and how do the perspectives explain them?

Component 3 Section A: gender as a form of differentiation (the gender pay gap, the glass ceiling, feminist explanations of patriarchy) and ethnicity as a form of differentiation (ethnic inequalities in work, income and housing, and explanations of racism).
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Power and Stratification guide to gender and ethnic inequality. Covers the gender pay gap, the glass ceiling and vertical and horizontal segregation, feminist explanations of patriarchy, ethnic inequalities in employment, income and housing, and the structural and cultural explanations of racism and disadvantage.
15 min answer →

What are the patterns of wealth, income and poverty, and how is inequality measured and explained?

Component 3 Section A: patterns and trends in social inequality, including the distribution of wealth and income, the measurement and definition of poverty, social mobility, and explanations of why inequality and poverty persist.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Power and Stratification guide to patterns of inequality. Covers the distribution of wealth and income, absolute and relative poverty and how it is measured, social mobility, the cycle of deprivation versus structural and cultural explanations, and why inequality and poverty persist.
15 min answer →

How do the major perspectives explain social stratification and inequality?

Component 3 Section A: theories of stratification, including functionalist (Davis and Moore), Marxist (class and exploitation), Weberian (class, status and party) and feminist and postmodernist views of social differentiation and inequality.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Power and Stratification guide to theories of stratification. Covers the functionalist view (Davis and Moore on role allocation), the Marxist view (class, exploitation and polarisation), the Weberian view (class, status and party), and feminist and postmodernist accounts of social differentiation and inequality.
15 min answer →