Download AS Sociology: Transition Activities Task 1: Education Unit: Key terms

AS Sociology: Transition Activities
It is very important that you come prepared for studying A-level Sociology- it is a big
step-up from GCSE, and a massive challenge if you have never studied Sociology
before.
WARNING- Failure to complete this task may result in students being asked to leave
the course in September.
Task 1: Education Unit: Key terms Glossary
This document can also be found on Holly Lodge‟s OpenHive, under Library,
Sociology then Year 12 Learning.
Research the Sociology: Education Unit key terms in the list below using the internet,
making sure you are reading the definitions, and not just copying them. Type, or
handwrite, each definition into the box next to the key term. This will become your
glossary.
Task 2: Halsey‟s argument on the importance of the Nuclear family
Below is an argument written by a sociologist about why the traditional nuclear
family (a mother, father and children) is better than any other type (e.g. singleparent families, extended families). It argues that because the traditional family is
weakening, we are seeing problems in society.
Attempt the questions below. Your teacher is looking at your understanding of the
writing, and the quality of your written answers when answering the questions. Below
the article is a potential structure for your answer to Q3.
Q1) Why is the traditional family breaking down according to the author?
Q2) What is the impact of a non-traditional family life on children?
Q3) Do some research into this area- look at statistics into types of families, and look
at other arguments from other sociologists in this area. TASK:Complete an extended
piece of writing, saying whether or not you agree with what the author is saying.
The following websites may be useful:
http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/barrycomp/bhs/alevel_support.htm
http://sixthsense.osfc.ac.uk/sociology/research/family_diversity.asp
www.sociology.org.uk
TRANSITION Task 1: Education Unit: Key terms glossary
Beanpole family
Birth rates
Bourgeoise
Childhood
Child bearing age
Cohabitation
Contraception
Culture
Divorce
Domestic violence
Ethnicity
Femininity
Feminism
Fertility rates
Functionalism
Government policy
Household
Identity
Lone parent family
Masculinity
Marketisation
Marriage
Mass media
Nuclear family
Objectivity
Patriarchy
Polygamy
Primary Socialisation
Qualitative
Quantitative
Reconstituted family
Secondary
Socialisation
Singletons
Symmetrical family
Underclass
TRANSITION Task 2: Halsey‟s argument on the importance of the Nuclear
Family
Whatever the character of society or state, polity or economy, religion or
culture, parents cannot escape responsibility for the quality of their
children as citizens.
No one can deny that divorce, separation, birth outside marriage and oneparent families as well as cohabitation and extra-marital sexual
intercourse have increased rapidly. Many applaud these freedoms. But what
should be universally acknowledged is that the children of parents who do
not follow the traditional norm (i.e. taking on personal, active, and long
term responsibility for the social upbringing of the children they
generate) are thereby disadvantaged in many major aspects of chances of
living a successful life. On the evidence available such children tend to
die earlier, to have more illness, to do less well at school, to exist at
a lower level of nutrition, comfort and to have less friends. They suffer
more unemployment, are more prone to deviance and crime, and finally to
repeat the cycle of unstable parenting from which they themselves have
suffered.
The traditional family system is a coherent strategy for the ordering of
relations in such a way as to equip children for their own eventual adult
responsibilities- and it is breaking down because of the increase in other
types of family structure.
From A H Halsey, Introduction to N Dennis and G Erdos, Families Without
Fatherhood (lEA Health and Welfare Unit, 1992),
pp. xii-xiii
(slightly adapted)
The following structure may be useful:
TASK: How far do you, and Sociologists, agree with the views expressed by A.H.
Halsey on the importance of the nuclear family?
INTRO- “According to A.H. Halsey‟s 1992 article, „Families without Fatherhood‟, the
traditional family is breaking down because…..”
This, according to Halsey, leads to disadvantages in later life for children produced
from these families, such as…..”
MAIN BODY: “However, not everyone agrees with Halsey‟s viewpoint. There is some
evidence to suggest that…..”
“The following research backs my argument up, saying…..”
CONCLUSION: “Overall, having studied the evidence, I believe that…..”