Download AS Sociology: September 2016 Please read the information below

AS Sociology: September 2016
Please read the information below you will need to complete the
following tasks in full and hand them in to your teacher in your first
lesson
1. Write definitions to the terms in bold
2. Complete the table
3. Research the issues and answer the questions about family
What is sociology?
The simplest definition of sociology is that it is the study of human societies. It
stresses the interdependence of different parts of societies and attempts to go
beyond the description of specific events by establishing generalisations. For
example we all know that there are hundreds of different occupations but
rather than trying to classify them all some sociologists have argued that
groups of people who do much the same type of job and earn roughly the
same amounts of money may be generalised as making up distinct ‘social
classes’.
Sociology is based on a critical awareness of social life. Nothing is taken for
granted and everything is open to question. This awareness challenges every
day explanations and understanding asking why people think and behave in
the way they do and digging deep to find hidden motives, causes and
consequences.
Sociology offers alternatives to commonsense every day explanations of
behaviour which can tend to be simplistic, uninformed judgements which
often reflect a degree of personal prejudice.
Sociology is about:
• Challenging common sense or everyday views
• Looking deeper for more complex reasons for social behaviour
• Using impartial, sociological accounts to study society
1. Read the information in the table below and label each column either
‘common sense’ or ‘sociological view’
2. Try to add some appropriate comments in the empty boxes
Explanation
of:
………………………………………………….… ……………………………………….……...
Poverty
People are poor because they
don’t want to work, they come
from problem families or are
unable to budget properly.
People are poor because of
inequality in social class. Poorer
people have less power and
suffer low wages.
Suicide
Suicide is committed by people
A person is more or less likely to
who are unstable or chronically
commit suicide according to
depressed. These illnesses are just their age, gender and ethnicity.
as likely to affect anyone.
Women’s
role
Women have a maternal instinct
which is satisfied by having
children. Staying at home with the
children allows them to bond
naturally with their mother.
Childhood
Childhood is a natural phase of
physical and emotional
immaturity, when there is a great
need for parental care.
Love and
marriage
It is natural that men and women
want to live together and raise
their own children, when they fall
in love.
Women often stay at home and
care for their children as they
are limited in the employment
sector. Mothers who work may
do so out of financial necessity.
Developing a sociological outlook:
Learning to think sociologically – looking, in other words, at the broader view –
means cultivating an imagination. The sociological imagination requires us to:
‘think ourselves away from the familiar routines of our daily lives in order to
look at them in a fresh way’.
Consider the social institution of the family. What could we find to say, from a
sociological point of view, about family?
Research sociological views on the family and use the information to help
you answer the questions below:
1. Role of the family
What role /function does the family play for individuals? What does the
family provide for people?
What role doe the family fulfil for society? What would happen if there
were no such things as families?
2. Single parent families
What percentage of children live in single parent families in the UK
today?
What criticisms are made about single parent families?
Are these criticisms justified?
3. Changes to modern family
Besides the growth of single parent families, identify 3 or 4 changes to
families/family life that have taken place over the last 50 years or so
4. References:
Write a list of where your information about family came from – the
sources that you’ve used.