Download Teaching notes: Using this issue

Volume 24, Number 2, November 2014
Teaching notes
Using this issue
Joan Garrod
This document briefly describes the resources provided as SociologyReviewExtras for this
issue, and then provides suggestions on how some of the articles in this issue could be used
to further your knowledge and understanding of sociology.
The online resources for this issue include a worksheet from Julian Salisbury based on his article
about Durkheim’s views on crime in society, and an exercise to brush up your knowledge of some
important issues in the sociology of education. There is also a research exercise on stratification and
poverty, and a PowerPoint presentation that looks at the concept of childhood. Finally, there are some
weblinks to useful articles covering various topics within the sociology specifications.
Suggestions for using the articles in this issue are given below.
Does sociology need statistics? (p. 2)
For students and teachers
Read the article carefully. Then, either with the article in front of you or (even better) just from your
own understanding of the content, write brief answers to the following questions:
1. State briefly what it means to say that statistics are ‘socially produced’.
2. Give two reasons why collecting information on ‘whole populations’ is seldom done.
3. Briefly explain the difference between a sample and a target population.
4. Briefly explain what is meant by a ‘random sample’.
5. Why is a sample in which members select themselves ‘especially problematic’?
6. Briefly explain why it is important to be aware of ‘regression to the mean’ when looking at
results.
7. Thinking about divorce as an example, explain briefly why knowledge of the divorce rate in a
society might be more useful than knowing the number of divorces that took place.
8. What is the difference between ‘causation’ and ‘correlation’?
9. From your study of sociology, give three examples in which the use of statistics has been (or
could be) useful to sociologists.
When you have completed these tasks, compare and discuss your answers with one or more
classmates.
Fatherless families (p. 6)
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For students
This article is very helpful in introducing another family form in contemporary Britain, that headed by
‘single mothers by choice’. Throughout the article, Sophie Zadeh discusses a number of important
issues for the sociology of the family, and these should prove helpful for revision of this important
topic.
When discussing families headed by a lone mother, in an essay or exam question, the ability to
distinguish between women who are lone parents because of divorce, separation or widowhood and
those who have chosen to ‘go it alone’ will show good evidence of both knowledge and, appropriately
used, analysis — particularly if you can explain that the mothers in the research had not rejected the
desirability of the heterosexual two-parent family.
It is worth making a brief summary of the main points of this research for when you are revising this
topic for an exam.
Functionalist views of crime (p. 12)
For students and teachers
The most helpful way to use this article is to do the worksheet provided by the author as a separate
online resource, but before you do that, here is a simple exercise that should also help you:

Read the article through so that you get a sense of the material.

Next take each of the subheadings in turn and, either on your own or (perhaps more helpfully)
with a classmate, reread each section and then try to summarise the main points in a few
sentences. If you are doing this with a classmate, you could each take a section in turn.
When you have also completed the worksheet, you should have a very good understanding of
Durkheim’s views — and a useful sheet for revision.
Mapping social class in Britain (p. 20)
For students and teachers
The topic of ‘social class’ is a very important one in sociology, and it is essential that students know
the various ways in which the concept both can be and has been defined and measured. Also
important is the need for students to be able to show good evaluation, and here Colin Mills offers a
very robust critique of the Great British Class Survey (GBCS).
Obviously, in order to offer a critique of something you should be able to explain what it is, so it is very
important that you are able to discuss what the GBCS actually is (the Signposts at the start of the
article and Colin Mills’ own suggestions will direct you to the appropriate places). In order to be able to
use this article as a critique, the best approach is to make a summary of the main points (since in an
exam you are obviously limited by time). One way of doing this is to focus on the issues and problems
raised by Colin Mills under the following headings:

the reason for carrying out the survey in the first place (its purpose)

the degree to which it was representative — and why Mills clearly thinks that it was not

the actual questions — how useful these were in linking to Bourdieu’s views on different types
of capital
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
links to the final GBCS social classes and other social characteristics (Mills gives some
examples of what links might have been useful)
It is also very useful to read this article in conjunction with that by John MacInnes to consider issues of
sampling.
‘They did well, but not “Asian well”’: ethnicity and
aspiration (p. 30)
For students
There are two common errors made by many students when writing exam answers to questions on
issues of ethnicity and education. One is to assume that pupils from minority ethnic groups do less
well in education than indigenous white British students, and the other is to treat minority ethnic
groups as though they were all the same (often the two errors go together). This article provides you
with important information to avoid both these errors.
First, note the evidence of both the high parental aspirations experienced by many of the respondents,
and also the successes that had been achieved within their family and community. Second, note the
differences that emerge — both between different ethnic groups and also between males and females.
Although the research was based on a small sample, knowledge of the findings will allow you to
present a nuanced and informed discussion on links between ethnicity and achievement.
Joan Garrod is a managing editor of SOCIOLOGY REVIEW.
This resource is part of SOCIOLOGY REVIEW , a magazine written for A-level students by subject experts.
To subscribe to the full magazine go to www.hoddereducation.co.uk/sociologyreview
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