England Β· OCRSyllabus
Sociology syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the England Sociologysyllabus, with a focused answer for each one. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions, and links to related dot points. Written by Claude Opus 4.8, Anthropic's latest AI.
Debates in contemporary society (Component 3, Section B)
Module overview β- How do functionalist and subcultural theories explain crime, and why do they see deviance as rooted in society's structure?Component 3 Section B: functionalist explanations of crime (Durkheim's anomie and the functions of crime, Merton's strain theory) and subcultural explanations (Cohen's status frustration, Cloward and Ohlin's differential opportunity).15 min answer β
- How have globalisation and the media reshaped crime, from transnational and green crime to moral panics and surveillance?Component 3 Section B: globalisation and crime (transnational organised crime, green crime, state crime), the media and crime (representation, moral panics and deviancy amplification), and surveillance and punishment (Foucault).15 min answer β
- How do interactionist labelling theory and Marxist criminology explain crime as a product of social reaction and class power?Component 3 Section B: interactionist labelling theory (Becker, Lemert, Cicourel, the deviancy amplification spiral) and Marxist and critical criminology, including the selective enforcement of law and the crimes of the powerful.15 min answer β
- How is crime measured, and why do official statistics fail to capture the true extent of crime?Component 3 Section B: defining crime and deviance, and the measurement of crime through official statistics, victim surveys and self-report studies, including the dark figure of crime and the social construction of crime statistics.14 min answer β
- How do right and left realism explain crime, and how do sociologists account for the gender patterns in offending?Component 3 Section B: right realism (rational choice, broken windows) and left realism (relative deprivation, marginalisation, subculture), control theory (Hirschi), and feminist and gender explanations of crime (Heidensohn, Carlen, Adler).15 min answer β
Families and relationships (Component 1, Section B)
Module overview β- How have changes in birth rates, death rates, life expectancy and migration reshaped families and households?Component 1 Section B: demographic change and its impact on family life, including changes in the birth rate, death rate, life expectancy, the ageing population and migration, and their effects on family structure.14 min answer β
- How diverse have families become, and why have patterns of marriage, cohabitation and divorce changed in contemporary society?Component 1 Section B: family diversity and changing patterns of family life, including the decline of marriage, the rise of cohabitation, divorce, lone-parent and reconstituted families, and the postmodern view of family choice.15 min answer β
- What functions does the family perform in contemporary society, and do sociological perspectives agree about whether those functions are positive?Component 1 Section B: the functions of the family in contemporary society, including the functionalist, Marxist, feminist and New Right perspectives on what the family does and whom it benefits.15 min answer β
- How is power distributed within families, and is childhood a natural stage or a social construction that is changing?Component 1 Section B: power, decision-making and domestic violence within families, and the social construction of childhood, including historical change and contemporary debates about the position of children.15 min answer β
- Has the domestic division of labour between partners become more equal, or do women still carry a dual or triple burden?Component 1 Section B: conjugal roles and the domestic division of labour, including the march of progress view of the symmetrical family, feminist critiques, and the concepts of the dual burden and triple shift.15 min answer β
Debates in contemporary society (Component 3, Section A)
Module overview β- What is globalisation, and how do hyperglobalist, pessimist and transformationalist theories explain it?Component 3 Section A: the concept of globalisation in its economic, cultural and political dimensions, and the competing theoretical positions of hyperglobalists (optimists), pessimists (sceptics) and transformationalists.15 min answer β
- Is global culture leading to homogenisation, or does it produce hybridity and glocalisation?Component 3 Section A: the impact of globalisation on culture and identity, including cultural homogenisation and Americanisation, McDonaldisation, cultural imperialism, and the alternative of cultural hybridity and glocalisation.14 min answer β
- How has digital technology transformed surveillance, and what does this mean for power, privacy and freedom?Component 3 Section A: surveillance and the digital social world, including Foucault's disciplinary power and the panopticon, the surveillance society, big data, and surveillance capitalism.14 min answer β
- Does the digital world reproduce inequality through a digital divide, and how is identity constructed online?Component 3 Section A: the digital divide and digital inequality, and the construction of identity online, including the presentation of self, online community and the postmodern view of consumption and hyperreality.14 min answer β
- How has the digital revolution changed communication and social life, and do optimists or pessimists better describe its effects?Component 3 Section A: the digital revolution and new media, including the shift to digital and social media, the network society, and the optimistic and pessimistic views of the digital social world.15 min answer β
Researching and understanding social inequalities (Component 2)
Module overview β- What can observation and experiments tell sociologists, and what are their practical, ethical and theoretical problems?Component 2: observation (participant and non-participant, overt and covert) and experiments (laboratory, field, comparative and natural), their practical, ethical and theoretical strengths and limitations, and concepts including the Hawthorne effect and going native.15 min answer β
- How do positivism and interpretivism shape the methods sociologists choose, and how does the research process unfold?Component 2: the philosophical foundations of sociological research, including positivism and interpretivism, primary and secondary data, quantitative and qualitative data, and the stages of the research process.15 min answer β
- How do sociologists select samples, judge the quality of their data, and conduct research ethically?Component 2: sampling techniques and the sampling frame, the key concepts of validity, reliability, representativeness, generalisability and operationalisation, triangulation, and the ethical principles governing sociological research.14 min answer β
- How useful are official statistics and documents as sources for studying social inequality, and what are their limitations?Component 2: secondary sources of data, including official statistics (hard and soft) and documents (personal, public and historical), content analysis, and the practical, ethical and theoretical strengths and limitations of secondary data.14 min answer β
- What are the strengths and limitations of questionnaires and interviews for researching social inequality?Component 2: self-report methods including questionnaires (closed and open) and interviews (structured, unstructured, semi-structured and group), their practical, ethical and theoretical strengths and limitations, and the interviewer effect.15 min answer β
Researching and understanding social inequalities (Component 2)
Module overview β- How do the young and the old experience inequality, and how do sociological perspectives explain age-based disadvantage?Component 2: age inequality, including the disadvantages faced by the young and the old in work, income and status, ageism, and the functionalist, Marxist, Weberian and interactionist explanations of age-based inequality.14 min answer β
- How and why do ethnic inequalities persist, and to what extent are they the result of discrimination?Component 2: ethnic inequality, including patterns in employment, income and the criminal justice system, the concept of institutional racism, and the theoretical explanations (functionalist, Marxist, Weberian and intersectional) of ethnic disadvantage.15 min answer β
- How and why do gender inequalities persist in work, pay and power, and are they declining?Component 2: gender inequality, including the gender pay gap, the glass ceiling, vertical and horizontal segregation, the dual labour market, and the feminist explanations (liberal, radical, Marxist and difference) of women's life chances.15 min answer β
- How significant is social class as a source of inequality, and is class still the main division in contemporary society?Component 2: social class inequality, including patterns in income, wealth and life chances, the concepts of embourgeoisement, proletarianisation, the underclass and the precariat, and debates about the continuing significance of class.15 min answer β
- How do sociological theories explain social stratification, and do they see inequality as necessary, exploitative or fragmenting?Component 2: theories of social stratification and inequality, including the functionalist, Marxist, Weberian, New Right and postmodernist perspectives on why societies are unequal.15 min answer β
Socialisation, culture and identity (Component 1)
Module overview β- What do sociologists mean by culture and identity, and how are the norms and values of a society transmitted and contested?Component 1 Section A: the concepts of culture, norms, values, roles and status, the different types of culture (high, popular, folk, mass, global, consumer and subculture), and the relationship between culture and identity.14 min answer β
- How is conformity to a society's norms maintained through formal and informal social control and through sanctions?Component 1 Section A: the concept of social control, the distinction between formal and informal agencies of social control, and the role of positive and negative sanctions in securing conformity.13 min answer β
- How do the agencies of socialisation transmit a society's culture, and how do primary and secondary socialisation differ?Component 1 Section A: the process of socialisation, the distinction between primary and secondary socialisation, and the role of the agencies of socialisation (family, education, peer group, media, religion and the workplace) in transmitting culture.14 min answer β
- How is identity socially constructed, and how do class, gender, ethnicity, age, sexuality and disability shape who we are?Component 1 Section A: the social construction of identity, the distinction between personal and social identity, and the sources of identity (social class, gender, ethnicity, age, sexuality, disability and nationality), including hybridity and the postmodern view of fluid identity.15 min answer β
- Is human behaviour the product of nature or nurture, and what does the evidence on feral children tell sociologists about socialisation?Component 1 Section A: the nature versus nurture debate, the sociological emphasis on nurture and socialisation, and the implications of cases of feral and isolated children for understanding the development of human behaviour.13 min answer β
Sociological theory (synoptic across H580)
Module overview β- How do feminism and interactionism challenge the structural theories, through gender and through the meanings of everyday interaction?Synoptic: the feminist theories (liberal, radical, Marxist and difference or intersectional) and the interactionist or social action perspective (Mead, Goffman, Becker), and how each challenges structural consensus and conflict theory.15 min answer β
- How do functionalism and Marxism, the two great structural theories, explain how society works and why it is unequal?Synoptic: the structural consensus theory of functionalism (Durkheim, Parsons, Merton) and the structural conflict theory of Marxism (Marx, Gramsci, Althusser), and the debate between consensus and conflict views of society.15 min answer β
- Have we moved from modern to postmodern society, and can the old grand theories still explain a fragmented, globalised world?Synoptic: the debate between modernity and postmodernity, including postmodernist theory (Lyotard, Baudrillard) and theories of late or liquid modernity (Giddens, Beck, Bauman), and the implications for sociology.15 min answer β
- Are people shaped by social structure or free agents, and can sociology be a value-free science?Synoptic: the structure versus agency debate, the question of whether sociology can be scientific and value-free (Weber, Gouldner, Becker), and the relationship between sociology, values and social policy.14 min answer β