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EnglandSociologyQuick questions
Families and relationships (Component 1, Section B)
Quick questions on Family diversity and changing patterns - OCR A-Level Sociology Families and relationships
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is theorising diversity?Show answer
The Rapoports identify five types of diversity: organisational (different divisions of labour), cultural (differences by ethnicity and religion), class (differences in resources and norms), life-course (the stage a family is at) and cohort (the generation, shaped by the period). Postmodernists go further: Stacey argues the family is now fluid and chosen, describing divorce-extended families built around former partners, while Giddens and Beck describe a negotiated, individualised family based on choice rather than tradition.
What are new household types?Show answer
The growth of lone-parent families (most headed by women), reconstituted (step) families and same-sex families shows the range of modern households. The beanpole family, tall and thin with several generations but few siblings, reflects demographic change: lower fertility and longer life expectancy. Chester counters that most people still live in a nuclear family at some point and that the neo-conventional dual-earner nuclear family remains the norm.
What is q1?Show answer
Outline two reasons for the rise in the divorce rate. [4 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Outline and explain two reasons why family diversity has increased. [12 marks]
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