O Level Sociology: What Are the Different Types of Families? — Practice Questions (Cambridge 2251)

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs — examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board.

Related: Family, education and crime revision notes

These questions practise key question 4.1 of Cambridge O Level Sociology (2251), What are the different types of families? They follow the six-part (a)–(f) structure the syllabus describes for each Paper 2 question, with extra short questions at the end.

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Questions

(a) Define the terms:

• (i) modified extended family [2]
• (ii) empty shell marriage [2]

(b) Give two examples of alternatives to the family. [2]

(c) Explain three strengths of the extended family. [6]

(d) Explain three ways family life may vary between social classes. [6]

(e) Discuss New Right views of family diversity. [8]

(f) Evaluate the view that the nuclear family is still the most common family type. [14]

Extra practice

(g) Distinguish between monogamy and serial monogamy. [4]

(h) Explain two limitations of lone-parent families. [4]

(i) Explain two ways ethnicity may affect family structure. [4]

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Answers and mark guidance

(a)(i) [2] A family in which relatives live in separate households, often at a distance, but keep in regular contact and give each other support (2). “Relatives living apart” alone: 1.

(a)(ii) [2] A marriage in which the couple stay together legally and outwardly, but love and emotional closeness have gone; they may stay for children, money or reputation (2).

(b) [2] Any two: single-person households; shared households; friends as family.

(c) [6] Three strengths, 2 marks each:

• Shared childcare — grandparents and relatives help raise children while parents work.
• Economic support — pooled incomes and shared housing reduce costs.
• Care for the elderly and sick within the family.
• Passing on traditions — language, religion and customs across generations.
• Emotional support from a wider network.

(d) [6] Three ways, 2 marks each:

• Resources — middle-class families can afford larger homes, private education and leisure.
• Geographical mobility — middle-class careers may require moving away from kin, producing more nuclear or modified extended families.
• Kin support — working-class families may rely more on local relatives for childcare and help.
• Parenting styles and expectations about education may differ.
• Age of marriage and childbirth may differ with length of education.

(e) [8] Levels: 7–8 clear, developed, applied; 4–6 some development; 1–3 basic.

• The New Right sees the married two-parent nuclear family as the ideal, providing stable socialisation and clear gender roles.
• Lone-parent families, especially those without fathers, are blamed for poor discipline and under-achievement; Charles Murray linked them to an underclass.
• Diversity and rising divorce are seen as signs of moral decline; welfare is said to encourage lone parenthood.
• Evaluation: critics argue the problems of lone-parent families are mainly caused by poverty, not family structure; the view ignores abuse within some nuclear families.

(f) [14] Levels: 11–14 balanced, developed, evaluated with conclusion; 7–10 developed but less balanced; 4–6 limited; 1–3 basic.

For the view:

• Many households at any time contain a couple and their children.
• Chester (1985): most people experience a nuclear family at some point in their lives — the “neo-conventional” family.
• Nuclear-family ideals remain strong in media and religion.
• Urbanisation and geographical mobility favour smaller households.

Against the view:

• Rising numbers of lone-parent, reconstituted and single-person households in many societies.
• In much of South Asia and Africa, extended and joint families remain common.
• The Rapoports (1982) showed organisational, cultural and class diversity.
• Postmodernists (Stacey, 1990) argue there is no longer one dominant type.
• Beanpole families are increasing as life expectancy rises.

Conclusion: the nuclear family remains important, but whether it is “most common” depends on the society and on whether we count households at one moment or families across a lifetime.

(g) [4] Monogamy is marriage to one person at a time (2); serial monogamy is having a sequence of monogamous marriages, one after another, following divorce or death (2).

(h) [4] Two limitations, 2 marks each: higher risk of poverty because there is one income; the parent may struggle to combine work and childcare; social stigma in some societies; children may have less contact with one parent.

(i) [4] Two ways, 2 marks each: some ethnic groups maintain extended or joint families because of cultural values about duty to elders; migrant families may rely on kin networks for support in a new country; religious beliefs may shape marriage type and family size; some groups have higher rates of lone parenthood for historical and economic reasons.

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Frequently asked questions

Do I need sociologists’ names for 4.1? Not always, but references such as the Rapoports, Chester or Stacey strengthen (e) and (f) answers.

Can I write about polygamous families? The syllabus says such family types may be taught where appropriate but are not assessed; you may use them to support an answer where relevant.

What earns the conclusion mark in (f)? A judgement that answers the question directly and is supported by the arguments you have made.

Related pages: O Level types of family and changing family life guide | O Level family, education and crime practice questions