OCR A-Level Sociology sociological theory overview quiz quiz

Marxism

Functionalism

Interactionism

Postmodernism

Direct rule by physical force, coercion and the threat of state violence

A type of social fact that exists outside and constrains the individual

The ruling class's ideological leadership that wins consent

The way individuals manage the presentation of self in everyday encounters

The repressive state apparatuses

Manifest social functions

Postmodern metanarratives

Ideological state apparatuses

The meanings people give to interaction and their agency

Large-scale social structures that shape and constrain behaviour

The economic base of society and the relations of production

Patriarchy and the structural oppression of women

Radical feminism

Liberal feminism

Marxist feminism

Difference feminism

A general distrust of the mass media and the messages it spreads

A rigorous scientific method for testing sociological hypotheses

The loss of belief in the big stories that once explained everything

A type of social control exercised by powerful institutions over people

A society that has finally abolished class and all forms of inequality

A fully postmodern society in which all metanarratives have collapsed

A society without any structure, in which only individual agency matters

A society facing new, manufactured risks such as climate change

Structure and agency shape each other

Only social structure matters, and individuals have no real agency

Only individual agency matters, and structures have no influence at all

Society is purely postmodern and can no longer be explained by theory

Values should never enter research at any stage, from choosing a topic to reporting findings

Values guide the choice of topic, but the researcher should be objective in data collection and analysis

All sociological research is purely value-free and completely uncontaminated by the researcher's beliefs

The researcher's own values should be allowed to determine what the final findings of a study are

Sociology is always completely value-free and neutral in every study it carries out

Researchers should always consciously choose to support the powerful and the authorities

Researchers inevitably take a side and should consider taking the side of the underdog

The values of the researcher are entirely irrelevant to the way research is conducted