OxfordAQA A Level Sociology: Introducing Sociology — Revision Notes

Condensed for the final weeks. For the full explanation, use the Introducing Sociology study guide.

Unit 1 is assessed in two sections: Section A Families (40 of the unit’s 60 marks) and Section B Research methods (20 marks). Section A carries two thirds of the unit — prioritise it accordingly.

Section A: Families (3.1.1)

Family types and marriage (3.1.1.1). Extended families (vertically across generations, or horizontally across one generation), nuclear families, single-parent families; non-family arrangements — communes, living alone, foster care/children’s homes. Therborn’s typology compares family patterns across world regions. Patriarchal vs matriarchal structures; arranged marriage, love marriage, monogamy.

Perspectives on families (3.1.1.2).

Perspective	Key claim
Functionalist	The nuclear family performs functions that “fit” modern industrial society
Marxist (Engels)	The family is an agent of social control serving capitalism
Feminist (Oakley)	Families shape different, unequal positions for men and women

Social change and changing families (3.1.1.3). Demographic drivers: family size, birth/death rates, infant/child mortality, migration, an ageing population — plus industrialisation and urbanisation. Newer diversity types: pivot/sandwich-generation, reconstituted/blended, living-apart-together, child-free couples, beanpole families. Individualisation describes more freely chosen arrangements, while Smart’s concept of personal life stresses that these choices stay embedded in relationships, alongside diasporas/transnational families, friends as family, and companion animals treated as family.

Gender, age and family life (3.1.1.4). Male “breadwinner”/instrumental role vs female expressive role, including the triple shift (paid work, domestic work, emotional work). Division of domestic labour; gendered power and decision-making; violence against women and children; child status and “child centredness”; “boomerang” families; roles of older people.

Named sociologists for this unit: Engels, Oakley, Parsons, Smart, Stacey, Therborn — never discuss a perspective on the family without naming one.

Section B: Research methods and theory (3.1.3)

Positivism wants objective, quantitative, reliable data and causal patterns. Interpretivism wants verstehen — understanding meanings — and prefers qualitative, valid data.

Concept	Meaning
Reliability	Repeating gives the same result
Validity	Gives a true picture
Representativeness	Sample reflects the population

Quantitative methods are high in reliability and low in validity; qualitative the reverse. That trade-off answers most methods questions.

Method	Strength	Weakness
Questionnaire	Cheap, large, reliable	Low response, low validity
Structured interview	Comparable	Interviewer effect
Unstructured interview	Valid, detailed	Slow, unreliable
Participant observation	Very valid	Hawthorne effect, going native, ethical issues
Official statistics	Cheap, large-scale	Socially constructed by the state

Evaluate with PET — Practical, Ethical, Theoretical — and within the theoretical, RVR: reliability, validity, representativeness. Always evaluate for the specific research topic, not in the abstract.

Triangulation combines methods so each offsets the other’s weaknesses.

Worked example. Assess the usefulness of participant observation for studying a criminal gang.

STRENGTHS   high validity - behaviour observed in its natural setting
            access to a group that would refuse a questionnaire
            reveals meanings members attach to their own actions

WEAKNESSES  not reliable - cannot be replicated
            small, unrepresentative sample
            researcher may 'go native', losing objectivity
            covert work raises consent and safety issues

The conclusion should turn on purpose: for understanding meaning it is the strongest method available; for measuring prevalence it is the wrong tool.

Remember 3.1.3 resurfaces in Unit 2 (Exploring Sociology) as a single extended-response question, not new content — a worked Families example from Section A above doubles as evidence for a Unit 2 methods answer.

Exam traps

• Naming no sociologists when discussing a family perspective — Engels, Oakley, Parsons, Smart, Stacey and Therborn are all directly assessable.
• Treating family diversity as purely modern, rather than explaining it through demographic and social change.
• Confusing reliability with validity.
• Evaluating a method in the abstract rather than against a specific research aim.
• One-sided answers — both sides plus a judgement are required.
• Under-revising Section A relative to Section B — Families is twice the marks.

Self-test

1. Name the three family perspectives covered in 3.1.1.2 and their named sociologists.
2. Give three demographic factors behind family change, and two newer family diversity types.
3. What is the triple shift, and which sociologist developed the concept of personal life?
4. Distinguish reliability from validity, and say which methods favour each.
5. Give one strength and one weakness of participant observation for studying a criminal gang.

Answers: 1. Functionalist (fit with modern industrial society), Marxist (Engels — family as an agent of social control serving capitalism), Feminist (Oakley — families shape unequal positions for men and women). 2. Any three of: family size, birth/death rates, infant/child mortality, migration, an ageing population, industrialisation, urbanisation; diversity types include pivot/sandwich-generation, reconstituted/blended, living-apart-together, child-free couples, beanpole families. 3. Paid work, domestic work and emotional work combined; Smart (personal life). 4. Reliability is getting the same result on repetition, favoured by quantitative methods; validity is giving a true picture, favoured by qualitative methods. 5. Strength: high validity, since behaviour is observed in its natural setting and the method gives access to a group that would refuse a questionnaire. Weakness: it is not reliable, since it cannot be replicated, and the researcher may ‘go native’, losing objectivity.