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Socialisation and Culture

7 dot points across 7 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What is the role of education in society, what explains differences in achievement by class, gender and ethnicity, and how do sociologists interpret the experience of schooling?

Education (Component 1, Section C option): the role and functions of education; differential educational achievement by social class, gender and ethnicity (home and school factors); processes within schools (labelling, the hidden curriculum, subcultures); educational policy; and perspectives on education (functionalist, Marxist, feminist, interactionist, New Right).
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on education: the role and functions of education, differential achievement by social class, gender and ethnicity through home and school factors, in-school processes such as labelling, the hidden curriculum and pupil subcultures, education policy, and functionalist, Marxist, feminist, interactionist and New Right perspectives.
15 min answer →

How and why have family forms, relationships and households in England and Wales changed, and how do sociological perspectives explain the family?

Families and households (Component 1, Section B option): family forms and family diversity in England and Wales; demographic change (marriage, divorce, cohabitation, fertility, life expectancy, singlehood); relationships, roles and power within families; childhood; and perspectives on the family (functionalist, Marxist, feminist, postmodernist, New Right).
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on families and households: family forms and diversity in England and Wales, demographic change in marriage, divorce, cohabitation, fertility and life expectancy, the domestic division of labour and power, the social construction of childhood, and functionalist, Marxist, feminist, postmodernist and New Right perspectives.
15 min answer →

Who controls the media, how are social groups represented, what effects do the media have on audiences, and how has new media changed society?

Mass media (Component 1, Section C option): ownership and control of the media; the selection and presentation of news (agenda setting, gatekeeping, moral panics); representations of class, gender, ethnicity and age; media effects and models of the audience; new media and the digital age; and perspectives on the media.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on the mass media: ownership and control, the social construction of the news through agenda setting, gatekeeping and moral panics, representations of class, gender, ethnicity and age, models of media effects and the audience, the rise of new and digital media, and pluralist, Marxist, feminist and postmodernist perspectives.
14 min answer →

Does religion support or challenge social order, why do religious organisations and movements form, who is religious, and is society becoming secular?

Religion (Component 1, Section C option): the role and functions of religion (conservative force versus force for change); types of religious organisation (church, sect, denomination, cult, new religious and new age movements); religiosity by social group (class, gender, ethnicity, age); the secularisation debate; and perspectives on religion.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on religion: the role and functions of religion as a conservative force or a force for social change, types of religious organisation (church, sect, denomination, cult and new religious movements), patterns of religiosity by class, gender, ethnicity and age, the secularisation debate, and functionalist, Marxist, feminist and other perspectives.
14 min answer →

How do culture, socialisation and the agencies of social control shape who we become, and how do sociologists explain the acquisition of identity?

Key concepts and processes of cultural transmission (Component 1, Section A): culture, norms, values, roles and status; the nature versus nurture debate; primary and secondary socialisation; agencies of socialisation and social control; and the acquisition of identity by class, gender, ethnicity, age and nationality.
The compulsory Section A content of WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1: culture, norms, values, roles and status; the nature versus nurture debate; primary and secondary socialisation; the agencies of socialisation and social control (family, education, peers, media, religion, work); and how identity is acquired by class, gender, ethnicity, age and nationality.
14 min answer →

What are the main sociological perspectives, and how do functionalism, Marxism, feminism, interactionism, postmodernism and the New Right each explain society?

The main sociological perspectives applied across all components: functionalism (consensus, value consensus), Marxism (class conflict, ideology), feminism (patriarchy, its strands), interactionism (meanings, labelling), postmodernism (diversity, choice) and the New Right; structure versus action and consensus versus conflict.
The core sociological perspectives required across every component of WJEC A-Level Sociology: functionalism and value consensus, Marxism and class conflict, feminism and its strands (liberal, Marxist, radical), interactionism and labelling, postmodernism and the New Right, plus the underlying structure versus action and consensus versus conflict debates.
14 min answer →

What is youth as a social construction, why do youth subcultures form, and how do sociologists explain young people's deviance, leisure and resistance?

Youth cultures (Component 1, Section B option): youth as a social construction; the emergence of youth and youth subcultures; spectacular and other subcultures; class, gender and ethnic dimensions of youth culture; youth, deviance and the media (moral panics); and perspectives on youth subcultures.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on youth cultures: youth as a social construction, the emergence of youth subcultures, spectacular subcultures and the class, gender and ethnic dimensions of youth culture, the link between youth, deviance and the media through moral panics, and functionalist, Marxist, subcultural and postmodernist perspectives on youth.
14 min answer →