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Component 1: Socialisation and Culture (Section A)

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

What is culture, and how do norms, values and beliefs hold a society together?

Component 1 Section A: the concept of culture, including norms, values, beliefs, customs and roles; types of culture such as subculture, high and popular culture, mass culture, folk culture and global culture; and the idea that culture is socially constructed and transmitted.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Component 1 Section A guide to culture. Covers the building blocks (norms, values, beliefs, customs, roles and status), the types of culture (subculture, high, popular, mass, folk and global), cultural diversity and the idea that culture is socially constructed and learned.
14 min answer →

Is human behaviour shaped by nature or by nurture, and what do feral children tell us?

Component 1 Section A: the nature versus nurture debate, including biological and sociobiological arguments, the sociological emphasis on socialisation, evidence from feral and isolated children, and the implications for the social construction of human behaviour.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Component 1 Section A guide to the nature versus nurture debate. Covers biological and sociobiological arguments, the sociological case for nurture and socialisation, the evidence of feral and isolated children, the interactionist middle position, and the implications for the social construction of behaviour, with the exam skills the paper rewards.
14 min answer →

How does society make people conform, and what is the difference between formal and informal social control?

Component 1 Section A: social control and conformity, including formal and informal social control, positive and negative sanctions, agencies of social control, and functionalist, Marxist and interactionist explanations of how order is maintained.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Component 1 Section A guide to social control. Covers formal and informal social control, positive and negative sanctions, the agencies of social control, the link between socialisation and conformity, and functionalist, Marxist and interactionist explanations of social order, with the theorists and exam skills the paper rewards.
14 min answer →

How do people learn their culture, and which agencies carry out socialisation?

Component 1 Section A: the process of socialisation, including primary and secondary socialisation; the agencies of socialisation (family, education, peer group, media, religion and the workplace); and functionalist, Marxist and interactionist views of how socialisation transmits culture.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Component 1 Section A guide to socialisation. Covers primary and secondary socialisation, the agencies (family, education, peer group, media, religion and the workplace), the processes (imitation, role models, sanctions), and functionalist, Marxist and feminist views of how culture is transmitted.
14 min answer →

How is identity formed, and how do class, gender, ethnicity, nationality and age shape who we are?

Component 1 Section A: the acquisition of identity, including the sources of identity (class, gender, ethnicity, nationality, age, sexuality and disability); the difference between personal and social identity; and modernist and postmodernist views of whether identity is fixed or chosen.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Component 1 Section A guide to identity. Covers the sources of identity (class, gender, ethnicity, nationality, age, sexuality and disability), personal versus social identity, the social construction of identity, and modernist versus postmodernist views of whether identity is fixed or freely chosen, with the theorists and exam skills the paper rewards.
15 min answer →