OxfordAQA A-Level Sociology (9690): Gender, Age and the Experience of Family Life — Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions; examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. As 9690 is a newly launched qualification (first teaching September 2026), use these alongside OxfordAQA’s own specimen papers and mark schemes.

Related: Introducing Sociology study guide

These questions cover specification section 3.1.1.4 Gender, age and the experience of family life in OxfordAQA International AS/A level Sociology (9690), Unit 1 Section A (Families). The specification lists: “traditional” male and female roles, including the female expressive role (emotional support and the triple shift) and the male instrumental or breadwinner role; changes to these roles and reasons; the division of domestic labour and gender differences in power and decision-making; violence against women and children; the status and roles of children in different societies and over time, and child-centredness; adult children, including boomerang families; and older people, including grandparent roles. Tariffs (2, 2, 4, 4, 8 and 20) mirror the 40-mark Section A pattern used on the course’s other Marlbridge practice pages. The specification asks students to use examples from their own society or one they know in some extended answers.

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Questions

1. Define what is meant by the expressive role. [2]

2. Outline what is meant by a boomerang family. [2]

3. Identify and briefly explain two reasons why conjugal roles may have changed. [4]

4. Identify and briefly explain two ways in which the status of children differs between societies. [4]

5. Explain two ways in which power and decision-making may be unequal within families. [8]

6. Using examples from a society you know, evaluate the view that men and women now share domestic labour equally. [20]

Extra practice

7. Outline two roles that grandparents may play in families. [4]

8. Explain what is meant by child-centredness, and give one criticism of the view that families have become child-centred. [4]

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Mark schemes

1. [2] The role, associated by Parsons with women, of providing emotional warmth, care and support to family members and socialising children (2). Partial: “caring role” (1).

2. [2] A family in which adult children return to live in the parental home after a period of independence, for example after university or because of housing costs or unemployment (2).

3. [4] Two reasons, 2 marks each (1 identify, 1 explain):

• Women’s employment — more women in paid work bargain for more sharing at home.
• Feminist ideas and laws on equality change expectations.
• Decline of manual industry — the male breadwinner role weakens.
• Smaller families and technology reduce domestic workload and allow more flexibility.
• Changing attitudes among younger couples towards fatherhood.

4. [4] Two ways, 2 marks each:

• Work — in some societies children contribute paid or unpaid labour; in others they are excluded from work by law and seen as dependent.
• Education — length of compulsory schooling varies, affecting how long childhood lasts.
• Rights and protection — legal rights and child-protection laws differ.
• Age of marriage and adulthood — transition to adult roles comes earlier in some societies.
• Change over time — Philippe Ariès argued “childhood” as a separate stage developed in Europe from the 17th century onwards.

5. [8] Two ways, 4 marks each (identify, explain, develop with evidence, apply):

• Decision-making — Stephen Edgell’s study of middle-class couples (1980) found husbands made the major, important decisions (moving house, finance) while wives made minor everyday ones.
• Money management — Jan Pahl’s research (Money and Marriage, 1989) found that control of money was often unequal, with men more likely to control or have access to more of the family’s money, even where incomes were pooled.
• Violence — violence against women and children is a form of power; R. Emerson Dobash and Russell Dobash’s Violence Against Wives (1979) linked it to patriarchal authority.
• Economic dependence — a non-earning partner has less bargaining power.

6. [20] Levels: 17–20 a detailed, analytical answer, using a range of evidence and examples from a named society, with sustained evaluation and a justified conclusion; 13–16 good knowledge with some evaluation; 9–12 reasonable knowledge, limited evaluation; 5–8 basic, mainly descriptive; 1–4 fragments.

For the view:

• More women in paid work and dual-earner households.
• “New man” and involved fatherhood; younger couples express egalitarian attitudes.
• Technology and smaller families reduce the domestic workload.
• Postmodern and individualisation arguments: relationships are negotiated rather than fixed (Carol Smart’s work on personal life).
• Judith Stacey (Brave New Families, 1990) found women creating more equal “divorce-extended” families.

Against the view:

• Ann Oakley (The Sociology of Housework, 1974) found little evidence of shared housework.
• Women’s triple shift — paid work, domestic labour and emotional work — and men “helping” rather than sharing responsibility.
• Parsons’ instrumental–expressive division still shapes expectations in many societies.
• Engels (The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, 1884) linked women’s subordination in the family to private property — a reminder that inequality is structural.
• Göran Therborn’s comparative work shows patriarchal family systems remain strong in many regions of the world.
• Cultural and class differences: equality varies greatly between societies and groups.

Application: reward specific examples from a named society — for example time-use evidence, laws on parental leave, or cultural expectations of women’s roles.

Conclusion: reward a supported judgement, for example that attitudes have moved further than practice.

7. [4] Two roles, 2 marks each: childcare while parents work; financial support; passing on culture, language and religion; advice and emotional support; in some societies, authority as head of the household; or being cared for when dependent.

8. [4] Child-centredness: family life organised around children’s needs, with more time, money and emotional investment in each child (2). Criticism (2): conflict views argue adults still closely control children’s time, space and bodies; or child-centredness varies by class and society, and many children worldwide still work or face poverty.

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Frequently asked questions

Which sociologists does 3.1.1 suggest? The specification says students would benefit from studying Engels, Oakley, Parsons, Smart, Stacey and Therborn; other relevant sociologists are also credited.

Do I need examples from my own society? The specification requires examples from students’ own society or one they know in selected extended answers, so practise naming them in question 6.

What is the triple shift? The combination of paid work, domestic labour and emotional work that many women carry; the specification names it as part of the female expressive role.

Related pages: Introducing Sociology study guide | OxfordAQA A-level Sociology practice questions