Social Policy – Core study guide
Social Policy – Core study guide
Theory & Methods
Learning outcomes
To be able to apply prior knowledge of this Social policies to a developed understanding
To be able to evaluate the impact of social policy using a range of sociological perspectives
Links to the specification
The relationship between sociology and social policy.
, Social Policy – Core study guide
Introduction
The final topic of the module is fairly straight forward however it should not be underestimated. The chief examiner
knows that students tend to struggle with social policy so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they decide to spring it on you
this summer. To be fair, there isn’t much content here that is new or that difficult – the challenge is being able to
apply your knowledge of policy and theory together to construct an effective answer.
Review of Social policies
A good place to start is to think of as many social policies that you can think of – the more the better!
In the table below are some examples of policy that were covered throughout year 12, ensure that you know the
details of each policy as you may need to explain them in detail. Remember, below are just a few examples of the
policies that were covered in year 12, there are more that you could use.
Education policy Family policy
Education Reform Act (1988) Abortion Act (1967)
New Vocationalism (1979-1997) The Divorce Reform Act (1969)
Academies (2001) The Equal Pay Act (1975)
Tuition fees (2003) Marital rape became illegal (1991)
Specialist schools The Children’s Act (2004)
Increasing privatisation of education The Marriage (same-sex couples) Act (2013)
Compensatory education such as EMA etc The Living wage (2016)
If you cannot explain the details of the above policies, it may be a good idea to review your notes from year 12
before moving on.
Factors that affect a sociologist’s influence over social policy
Peter Worsley states that social policy is designed by governments to tackle social problems. Worsley believes that
the aim of governments is to illustrate their ability to solve these issues through evidence based decision making. By
Social problem, Worsley is referring to a process or occurrence that causes harm to society. This is where the
‘Modern positivists’ come in which we discussed in the value freedom topic within this module. It may be a good
idea to then go into the debate of whether this research can be seen as value free to question their validity to add
some substance to your knowledge and evaluation. However, Modern positivists are not the only ones who conduct
research to try and help governments to solve social problems, other sociologists may try to help governments
although whether or not their research is influential can depend on a number of factors;
1. Electoral popularity – are the ideas of the sociologist going to be popular with the public? Remember, a
politician’s main goal is to be re-elected and will therefore try to avoid implementing unpopular policies as
much as possible.
2. Ideological and policy preference of government – This is a good place to review your understanding of left
and Right wing politics. It could be argued that the current government hold fairly right wing views, if the
sociologist in question comes from a left wing perspective, it may not have much impact.
3. Interest groups – These are people that the government listen to more than any other and will not want to
upset. An example would be trade unions for the Labour party or Big businesses for the Conservatives.
Social Policy – Core study guide
Theory & Methods
Learning outcomes
To be able to apply prior knowledge of this Social policies to a developed understanding
To be able to evaluate the impact of social policy using a range of sociological perspectives
Links to the specification
The relationship between sociology and social policy.
, Social Policy – Core study guide
Introduction
The final topic of the module is fairly straight forward however it should not be underestimated. The chief examiner
knows that students tend to struggle with social policy so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they decide to spring it on you
this summer. To be fair, there isn’t much content here that is new or that difficult – the challenge is being able to
apply your knowledge of policy and theory together to construct an effective answer.
Review of Social policies
A good place to start is to think of as many social policies that you can think of – the more the better!
In the table below are some examples of policy that were covered throughout year 12, ensure that you know the
details of each policy as you may need to explain them in detail. Remember, below are just a few examples of the
policies that were covered in year 12, there are more that you could use.
Education policy Family policy
Education Reform Act (1988) Abortion Act (1967)
New Vocationalism (1979-1997) The Divorce Reform Act (1969)
Academies (2001) The Equal Pay Act (1975)
Tuition fees (2003) Marital rape became illegal (1991)
Specialist schools The Children’s Act (2004)
Increasing privatisation of education The Marriage (same-sex couples) Act (2013)
Compensatory education such as EMA etc The Living wage (2016)
If you cannot explain the details of the above policies, it may be a good idea to review your notes from year 12
before moving on.
Factors that affect a sociologist’s influence over social policy
Peter Worsley states that social policy is designed by governments to tackle social problems. Worsley believes that
the aim of governments is to illustrate their ability to solve these issues through evidence based decision making. By
Social problem, Worsley is referring to a process or occurrence that causes harm to society. This is where the
‘Modern positivists’ come in which we discussed in the value freedom topic within this module. It may be a good
idea to then go into the debate of whether this research can be seen as value free to question their validity to add
some substance to your knowledge and evaluation. However, Modern positivists are not the only ones who conduct
research to try and help governments to solve social problems, other sociologists may try to help governments
although whether or not their research is influential can depend on a number of factors;
1. Electoral popularity – are the ideas of the sociologist going to be popular with the public? Remember, a
politician’s main goal is to be re-elected and will therefore try to avoid implementing unpopular policies as
much as possible.
2. Ideological and policy preference of government – This is a good place to review your understanding of left
and Right wing politics. It could be argued that the current government hold fairly right wing views, if the
sociologist in question comes from a left wing perspective, it may not have much impact.
3. Interest groups – These are people that the government listen to more than any other and will not want to
upset. An example would be trade unions for the Labour party or Big businesses for the Conservatives.
