Sociology

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ks4 sociology

link to specification

Links to prior learning (to be made explicit and tested)

  • N/A

Core declarative knowledge: What should students know?

  • What is Sociology?
  • Key concepts in Sociology – norms, values, culture
  • Social Structures and Stratification
  • Social Processes
  • Social Issues
  • The ideas of Marx and Marxism
  • The ideas of Durkheim and functionalism
  • The feminist perspective
  • Interactionism and Weber
  • The New Right and sociology
  • Sex and gender in Sociology
  • Race and ethnicity in Sociology

Core procedural knowledge: What should students be able to do?

  • Define the key concepts of sociology
  • Explain how society can be stratified
  • Explain how socialisation occurs and the agents of socialisation
  • Explain social issues and the role of media amplification
  • Outline Marx’s contribution to sociology and explain the Marxist sociological perspective
  • Outline Durkheim’s contribution to sociology and explain the functionalist perspective
  • Explain the feminist perspective on sociology
  • Explain concepts such as labelling Outline the New Right perspective and define concepts such as welfare dependency
  • Explain the difference between sex and gender in sociology
  • Explain the difference between race and ethnicity in sociology

Links to prior learning (to be made explicit and tested)

  • N/A

Core declarative knowledge: What should students know?

  • Sociological Research Methods
  • Qualitative vs quantitative methods
  • Primary and secondary data
  • Pilot studies and the scientific method
  • Practical problems
  • Ethical problems
  • Sampling
  • Observations
  • Social surveys
  • Qualitative interviews
  • Longitudinal studies
  • Official statistics
  • Ethnography
  • Research project
  • Revision

Core procedural knowledge: What should students be able to do?

  • Describe a range of sociological research methods
  • Explain the strengths and weaknesses of a range of sociological research methods
  • Explain when to use differing sociological research methods
  • Explain a range of sampling methods and their strengths and weaknesses
  • Identify the research methods used in a variety of case studies

Links to prior learning (to be made explicit and tested)

  • Key terms and ideas of functionalism from M1

Core declarative knowledge: What should students know?

  • What is a family?
  • Types of family
  • Alternatives to the family
  • Family diversity
  • Reasons for family diversity
  • The conventional Nuclear Family
  • Functionalist views of the family

Core procedural knowledge: What should students be able to do?

  • Describe the differing types of family
  • Explain the differences between types of family
  • Explain the reasons for family diversity as identified by the Rapoports
  • Explain why the nuclear family is still relevant
  • Explain what is meant by a cereal packet family
  • Explain how changes in society have affected the nuclear family
  • Analyse the roles of the family and the ‘warm bath’ theory of Talcott Parsons

Links to prior learning (to be made explicit and tested)

  • Key terms and ideas of Marxism/ Feminism from M1
  • Exam skills – answering 3 and 4 mark questions, 12 mark essay questions

Core declarative knowledge: What should students know?

  • Feminist and Marxist views of the family
  • Roles and relationships within the family
  • Changing nature of the family
  • The symmetrical family
  • Divorce
  • Theories of divorce

Core procedural knowledge: What should students be able to do?

  • Outline Marxist and feminist criticisms of the family, and critiques of these views
  • Explain the traditional roles within the family and theoretical views of these
  • Define the terms dual burden and triple shift
  • Outline the history of the family since the pre-Industrial period
  • Explain the causes of change in relationship between children and parents
  • Explain reasons for the growth in the symmetrical family
  • Explain reasons for the rise in divorce
  • Outline theoretical views of divorce

Links to prior learning (to be made explicit and tested)

  • Recap theories of functionalism, Marxism, Feminism
  • Exam questions 3, 4 mark questions, analysing source material, 12 mark questions

Core declarative knowledge: What should students know?

  • Functions of education
  • Education and capital – Marxist views of the education system
  • Types of schools Private v State
  • Alternatives to school – de-schooling, home schooling

Core procedural knowledge: What should students be able to do?

  • Describe the functionalist view of education and evaluate its accuracy
  • Outline Marxist criticisms of the education system
  • Describe a range of types of schools in the UK and their key features
  • Compare state and private schools and the strengths and weaknesses of each
  • Describe the key features of alternatives to school

Links to prior learning (to be made explicit and tested)

  • Recap theories of functionalism, Marxism, Feminism
  • Exam questions 3, 4 mark questions, analysing source material, 12 mark question

Core declarative knowledge: What should students know?

  • Educational success – external factors
  • Educational success – internal factors
  • Class and education
  • Gender and education
  • Ethnicity and education
  • Education policy

Core procedural knowledge: What should students be able to do?

  • Explain a range of factors that can affect educational achievement outside school
  • Explain a range of factors that can affect educational achievement inside school
  • Analyse the links between social class and educational achievement, both internal and external to school
  • Analyse the links between gender and educational achievement, both internal and external to school
  • Analyse the links between ethnicity and educational achievement, both internal and external to school
  • Describe major changes to educational policy since the early 20th century and their impact

Links to prior learning (to be made explicit and tested)

  • N/A

Core declarative knowledge: What should students know?

  • The social construction of concepts of crime and deviance and explanations of crime and deviance.
  • The work of Merton on the causes of crime from a functionalist perspective and Becker from an interactionist perspective.
  • Formal and informal methods of social control.
  • The work of Heidensohn on female conformity in male dominated patriarchal societies.
  • Factors affecting criminal and deviant behaviour and ways in which criminal and deviant behaviour have generated public debate.
  • The work of Albert Cohen on delinquent subcultures and Carlen on women, crime and poverty.
  • The usefulness of the main sources of data on crime, the collection of official data on crime, patterns and trends in crime figures and the ‘dark figure’.

Core procedural knowledge: What should students be able to do?

  • Identify, describe and explain various sociological explanations of crime and deviance including anomie, labelling, structural theories, subcultural theories and interactionist theory
  • Explain the social construction of concepts of crime and deviance
  • Describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on the social construction of crime and deviance (interactionist, functionalist, feminist and Marxist)
  • Describe the key ideas of Merton on the causes of crime
  • Describe the key ideas of Becker on the causes of crime.
  • Identify, describe and explain formal and informal methods of social control including unwritten rules and sanctions
  • Describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on social control (interactionist, functionalist, feminist and Marxist)
  • Describe the key ideas of Heidensohn on female conformity.
  • Identify, describe and explain factors affecting criminal and deviant behaviour including social class, gender, ethnicity and age
  • Identify and describe various public debates over criminal and deviant behaviour including concerns over violent crime, sentencing, the treatment of young offenders, the prison system and media coverage of crime
  • Describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on factors affecting criminal and deviant behaviour (interactionist, functionalist, feminist and Marxist)
  • Describe the key ideas of Albert Cohen on delinquent subcultures
  • Describe the key ideas of Carlen on women, crime and poverty. Identify and describe the main sources of data on crime
  • Describe the pattern and trends in crime figures using relevant statistical data
  • Explain the ‘dark figure’ of crime (unreported and unrecorded crime)
  • Describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on the use of data on crime (functionalist, feminist and Marxist).

Links to prior learning (to be made explicit and tested)

  • What is functionalism?
  • What is feminism?
  • What is Marxism?
  • Societal expectations of women.
  • The use of statistics in Sociology.
  • Exam questions 3, 4 mark questions, analysing source material, 12 mark questions

Core declarative knowledge: What should students know?

  • Different views of the functionalist theory of social stratification.
  • The work of Davis and Moore on social stratification from a functionalist perspective.
  • Different views of socio-economic class.
  • The work of Marx and Weber on socio-economic class.
  • Different views on factors affecting life chances.
  • The work of Devine revisiting the idea of the affluent worker.
  • Different interpretations of poverty as a social issue.
  • The work of Townsend on relative deprivation and Murray on the underclass.
  • Different forms of power and authority.
  • The work of Weber on power and authority.
  • Describe and explain different views on factors affecting power relationships.
  • The work of Walby on patriarchy.

Core procedural knowledge: What should students be able to do?

  • Describe and explain the functionalist theory of stratification (effective role allocation and performance linked to the promise of rewards)
  • Describe the key ideas of Davis and Moore
  • Describe, compare and contrast alternative perspectives on functionalist theory (feminist and Marxist).
  • Identify, describe and explain socio-economic class divisions in society
  • Describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on socio-economic class (functionalist, feminist and Marxist)
  • Describe the key ideas of Marx on socio-economic class
  • Describe the key ideas of Weber on socio-economic class.
  • Identify, describe and explain factors affecting life chances including social class, gender, race and ethnicity, sexuality, age, disability, religion and belief
  • Describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on life chances (functionalist, feminist and Marxist)
  • Describe the key ideas of Devine on the idea of the affluent worker.
  • Identify, describe and explain different interpretations of poverty as a social issue including, the culture of poverty, material deprivation, the way in which governments have attempted to alleviate poverty and unemployment, the impact of globalisation
  • Describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on poverty (functionalist, feminist and Marxist)
  • Describe the key ideas of Townsend on relative deprivation
  • Describe the key ideas of Murray on the underclass including links to New Right theories.
  • Identify, describe and explain different forms of power and authority including traditional, charismatic, rational-legal, formal and informal sources of power
  • Describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on power and authority (functionalist, feminist and Marxist)
  • Describe the key ideas of Weber on power and authority. Identify, describe and explain different factors affecting power relationships including social class, gender, sexuality, race, age, disability, religion and beliefs
  • Describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on power relationships (functionalist, feminist and Marxist)
  • Describe the key ideas of Walby on patriarchy.

Modules 3-6: Revision