Specification Sociologists Statistics Content summaries PPQs
the relationship of the family to the social
structure and social change, with particular
reference to the economy and to state policies
changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation,
separation, divorce, childbearing and the life
course, including the sociology of personal life,
and the diversity of contemporary family and
household structures
gender roles, domestic labour and power
relationships within the family in contemporary
society
the nature of childhood, and changes in the
status of children in the family and society
demographic trends in the United Kingdom since
1900: birth rates, death rates, family size, life
expectancy, ageing population, and migration
and globalisation.
the role and functions of the education system,
including its relationship to the economy and to
class structure
differential educational achievement of social
groups by social class, gender and ethnicity in
contemporary society
relationships and processes within schools, with
particular reference to teacher/pupil
relationships, pupil identities and subcultures,
the hidden curriculum, and the organisation of
teaching and learning
the significance of educational policies, including
policies of selection, marketisation and
privatisation, and policies to achieve greater
equality of opportunity or outcome, for an
understanding of the structure, role, impact and
experience of and access to education; the
impact of globalisation on educational policy.
quantitative and qualitative methods of
research; research design
sources of data, including questionnaires,
interviews, participant and non-participant
observation, experiments, documents and
official statistics
the distinction between primary and secondary
data, and between quantitative and qualitative
data
the relationship between positivism,
interpretivism and sociological methods; the
nature of ‘social facts’
the theoretical, practical and ethical
considerations influencing choice of topic, choice
of method(s) and the conduct of research
consensus, conflict, structural and social action
theories
the concepts of modernity and post-modernity in
relation to sociological theory
the nature of science and the extent to which
the relationship of the family to the social
structure and social change, with particular
reference to the economy and to state policies
changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation,
separation, divorce, childbearing and the life
course, including the sociology of personal life,
and the diversity of contemporary family and
household structures
gender roles, domestic labour and power
relationships within the family in contemporary
society
the nature of childhood, and changes in the
status of children in the family and society
demographic trends in the United Kingdom since
1900: birth rates, death rates, family size, life
expectancy, ageing population, and migration
and globalisation.
the role and functions of the education system,
including its relationship to the economy and to
class structure
differential educational achievement of social
groups by social class, gender and ethnicity in
contemporary society
relationships and processes within schools, with
particular reference to teacher/pupil
relationships, pupil identities and subcultures,
the hidden curriculum, and the organisation of
teaching and learning
the significance of educational policies, including
policies of selection, marketisation and
privatisation, and policies to achieve greater
equality of opportunity or outcome, for an
understanding of the structure, role, impact and
experience of and access to education; the
impact of globalisation on educational policy.
quantitative and qualitative methods of
research; research design
sources of data, including questionnaires,
interviews, participant and non-participant
observation, experiments, documents and
official statistics
the distinction between primary and secondary
data, and between quantitative and qualitative
data
the relationship between positivism,
interpretivism and sociological methods; the
nature of ‘social facts’
the theoretical, practical and ethical
considerations influencing choice of topic, choice
of method(s) and the conduct of research
consensus, conflict, structural and social action
theories
the concepts of modernity and post-modernity in
relation to sociological theory
the nature of science and the extent to which
