Download Sociology - The Thomas Hardye School

Sociology Holiday Homework
Sociology!! A wise and exciting choice of subject to study……Firstly, given
that you are new to the subject, Sociology studies everyday life. Sociologists aim to raise
Welcome to
questions about social life and our world today – about how people live and why people live as they do and
issues about how we live.
Sociology is concerned with peoples, groups, cultures, societies and their patterns,
variations and problems. It aims to understand and explain human actions. It employs a wide range of
interesting research methods such as interviews, questionnaires and observations to investigate and
answer crucial questions about society and social life. It tries to link past, present and future. It is about
the experiences we have, living our lives with other people in contemporary society.
At AS you will study the topics of Family and Households and Education – both things that you have
experienced and know about – think though: this should be a big advantage – but why might it also be a
disadvantage to your learning?
You will also the study the Research Methods and how sociologists find out things and how certain they
can feel about their knowledge.
So to start you off……………………..do these in any order you like.
1 Do some research!!
Investigate: talk to someone of a different generation – parents or grandparents or both – about how they
feel the family has changed – how were things different in the past to what things are like now? Why do
they think these changes have happened? What are the positive and the negative effects of these
changes?? What do they think might happen to the family in the future? Write about what they have said
and compare it to what you think. What have you found out??
If you prefer……. do exactly the same but for education rather than the family….or if you can and want
to…………….do both.
2 Do a Print Media Search
Look at some newspapers and find out what they report about family and education. Cut out some
examples. Are the reports positive or negative or neutral? What viewpoint is the writer taking?
3 Do some Internet Research
~~Have a look at some of these and use them for the activities below:
Websites: sociologyguide.com; sociology.org.uk; s-cool; sociosite.net; Socioweb; statistics.gov.uk;
ons.gov.uk; britsoc.co.uk; sociologyonline.co.uk;
A Find the names of 5 famous sociologists and write a little about each one
B Write down the meanings of 10 important sociological words
C Put these into Google – what comes up?
Sociology family
Sociology education
Think: Why might Google give us a distorted view of the world?
D Find some statistics about how the family has changed over the years. Try to save/print it and write
about the changes the statistics show.
E Try to find some more interesting websites to use – write them down.
4 Find out about and listen to if you can BBC Radio 4 (yes it does exist)
Thinking Allowed, Law in Action, All in the Mind.
5 Watch, analyse and think sociologically………..
Watch a popular television programme a sit com or soap. What does it tell you about family and/or
education? How does it represent gender, age, ethnicity? Write about it briefly. (Why are ‘soaps’ called
soaps?)
6 Now think about these:
Watch some news programmes on TV. Thinking about family and education – do you think these are
presented in positive or negative ways in news stories on TV? Give some examples.
7 Read and think about the section headed ‘Family Diversity’
8 What do you think……………………..?? Write a little about each of these.
~~I start to overhear an interesting conversation so I……..
~~Someone says something – I think they are wrong but I’m not certain, so I…
~~What’s the problem in answering this?
Which town has the most pubs of any in the UK?
~~Are people today less healthy than in the past? How could you find out?
~~Are people today happier than in the past? How could you find out?
~~Are most people honest most of the time? Why is your answer important?
~~Why did sociologist Kate Fox spend a year banging into people in different parts of the world?
~~Why do women live longer than men on average?
~~Are men and women becoming more equal – or is this the wrong question???
~~Are images and appearances more important than reality?
~~Are celebs important? Are they real?
~~What’s the world record distance for throwing a paper airplane? Guess – then look it up. How accurate
were you? Any thoughts on your judgement?
~~Do you think:
Most students conform to most of the school rules most of the time? How could we find out???
Have a good holiday as well and return enthusiastically ready to learn and
contribute!!
Family Diversity
Family diversity means that there are many different types of family in society today not just nuclear,
cereal packet families. Sociologists describe different forms of the family, some of the main ones are:
Nuclear family - this family consists of:
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Parents
Children
Extended family - this family usually consists of:
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•
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Grandparents
Parents
Children
Reconstituted - this type of family is more commonly known as a:
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Step family
Single parent – this family consists of:
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One parent (usually female)
Children
Sociologists also sometimes talk about ‘the cereal packet family’ - a certain type of nuclear - this refers
to the image most people hold of the family. It is also the picture of the family that the media tends to
present, especially in adverts.
The cereal packet family comprises of:
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Parents
Children
The woman is a housewife and full time mother and the man is the 'breadwinner' i.e. he is the one who has
to go to work to earn money.
Matriarchal means a female dominated family. Patriarchal means a family that is male-dominated.
It would appear from the evidence presented that there is no one typical family type in Britain. Most
sociologists believe that family types are becoming increasingly diverse.
Things to think about
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Is the cereal packet family an accurate picture of the ‘typical’ modern family?
The roles of men and women in the home today – are they like the cereal packet view?
How might these types relate to your own family?
Why are there different types of family?