SOCIOLOGY: SOCIALISATION, IDENTITY AND METHODS OF RESEARCH

1) What is meant by the term values? [2] [Oct/November 2018 P21]

2) What is meant by the term social roles? [2] [May/June 2020 P22]

3) What is meant by the term norms? [2] [May/June 2020 P23]

4) What is meant by the term social problems? [2] [May/June 2021 P24]

5) Describe two examples of sanctions that encourage people to follow the norms of society. [4]
[May/June 2019 P22]

6) Describe two informal social sanctions. [4] [May/June 2021 P11]

7) Describe two formal social sanctions. [4] [October/November 2022 P12]

8) Describe two social roles associated with young people. [4] [May/June 2021 P13]

9) Describe two examples of social norms. [4] [May/June 2022 P12]

10) Explain why norms may vary between different social groups. [8] [October/November 2018 P21]

11) Explain the difference between high culture and popular culture. [8] [May/June 2019 P23]

12) Explain why values may vary between social groups. [8] [May/June 2020 P23]

13) Explain why norms may vary between different social groups. [8] [October/November 2018 P21]

14) Explain the difference between high culture and popular culture. [8] [May/June 2019 P23]

15) Explain why values may vary between social groups. [8] [May/June 2020 P23]

16) 'Sociologists have exaggerated the extent to which people conform to social norms and expectations
in modern industrial societies'. Explain and assess this view. [25] [May/June 2020 P21]
17) Describe two ways in which society may shape how people behave. [4] [May/June 2020 P23]

18) Explain why sociologists argue that human behavior is influenced by nature rather than nurture. [8]
[May/June 2020 P22]
19) 'Socialization is the most important factor in explaining human behavior '. Explain and assess this
view. [25] [May/June 2019 P23]

20) Evaluate the view that human behavior is shaped entirely by the process of socialization. [26]
[May/June 2021 P12]

21) Evaluate the view that nature is more important than nature is more important than nature in
shaping human behaviour. [26] [October / November 2021 P11]

22) Evaluate the view that socialization is the most significant factor in shaping human behaviour. [26]
[February/March 2022 P12]

23) Evaluate the view that media is the most important influence on identity today. [26] [May/June 2022
P13] and [October/November 2022 P11]

24) 'Education is the most important agent of socialization in shaping identity'. Using sociological
material, give one argument against this view. [6] [February/March 2021 P12]

25) 'The media is the most influence in shaping an individual's identity'. Using sociological material, give
one argument against this view. [6] [October / November 2021 P11]

26) 'The family is the main influence on gender identity'. Using sociological material, give one argument
against this view. [6] [May/June 2022 P12]

27) 'Religion is the most important factor shaping ethnic identity.' Using sociological material, give one
argument against this view. [6] [May/June 2022 P13]

28) 'The peer group is the most influential agent of socialization in shaping gender identity. ' Using
sociological material, give one argument against this view. [6] [October/November 2022 P12]

29) 'Education is the most important agent of socialization in shaping identity'. Explain this view. [10]
[February/March 2021 P12]

30) 'The media is the most influence in shaping an individual's identity'. Explain this view. [10] [October /
November 2021 P11]
31) What is meant by the term globalization? [2] [May/June 2019 P23]

32) What is meant by the term social policy? [2] [October/November 2020 P21]

Social policy refers to the actions that are taken by the government to maintain and improve the
welfare of its citizens. One mark for a partial answer such as such as ‘schemes to help people’ or
‘government planning about society’.

33) Describe two ways that the peer group contributes to the formation of gender identity. [4]
[October/November 2018 P21]

34) Describe two characteristics of working-class identity. [4] [May/June 2019 P23]

Collective values, stress on community. • Working in manual occupations – attitudes to the

workplace, linked to urban close-knit communities. • Emphasis placed on kinship, extended family
networks. • Attitudes towards education – instant gratification, fatalism, ascribed status. • ‘Us and
them’ – experience of workplace, manual labour and the collective nature of work. • Solidarity –
trade union membership and political affiliation. • Greater gender segregation in family and
leisure. • The ‘new’ working class – privatised / home-centred, instrumental.

35) Describe two characteristics of upper-class culture. [4] [February/March 2021 P12]

36) Describe two types of femininity. [4] [October / November 2021 P12]

37) Describe two examples of social identities. [4] [May/June 2022 P12]

class;  gender;  age;  ethnicity;  religion;  subcultures;  any other appropriate identity.

38) Describe two examples of globalisation. [4] [May/June 2022 P13]

39) 'Male identity is changing'. Using sociological material, give one argument against this view. [6]
[May/June 2021 P11]
40) 'Ethnic identity is changing, with new hybrid identities emerging'. Using sociological material, give
one argument against this view. [6] [May/June 2021 P12]

41) 'The family is the most important influence on social class identity'. Using sociological material, give
one argument against this view. [6] [May/June 2021 P13]

42) 'Cultural deprivation is the main reason that individuals act in deviant ways.' Using sociological
material, give one argument against this view. [6] [October / November 2021 P12]

43) 'The existence of subcultures best explains deviant behaviour'. Using sociological material, give one
argument against this view. [6] [February/March 2022 P12]

44) 'Under-socialization is the main cause of deviance'. Using sociological material, give one argument
against this view. [6] [May/June 2022 P12]

45) 'Socialization controls the way people behave.' Using sociological material, give one argument
against this view. [6] [October/ November 2022 P11]

46) 'Male identity is changing'. Explain this view. [10] [May/June 2021 P11]

47) 'Ethnic identity is changing, with new hybrid identities emerging'. Explain this view. [10] [May/June
2021 P12]

Hybrid: an identity from the mix of two or more identities. • Ethnic identity is becoming harder to
identify i.e. the traditional markers of ethnicity (traditions, language, diet, dress, religion etc) that
give cultural groups a sense of identity are breaking down. • Globalisation, diaspora and inter-
ethnic relationships as factors driving this change. • New/hybrid forms emerging – the option to
adopt multiple identities depending on the social context e.g. ‘Brasian’, ‘white mask’, code
switching etc (Johal, Butler, Hall) • Music, clothing, language and diet as cultural elements that are
subject to a ‘pick and mix’ approach. White youth are also subject to this. • Concept of hybridity as
a counterpoint to the simplistic idea of ‘caught between two cultures’ – fusion not confusion •
Potential links to supporting theory e.g. postmodernism and the idea of a media saturated and
consumer choice
48) 'The family is the most important influence on social class identity'. Explain this view. [10] [May/June
2021 P13]

49) 'Cultural deprivation is the main reason that individuals act in deviant ways.' Explain this view. [10]
[October / November 2021 P12]

50) 'The existence of subcultures best explains deviant behaviour'. Explain this view. [10]
[February/March 2022 P12]

51) 'The family is the main influence on gender identity'. Explain this view. [10] [May/June 2022 P12]

52) 'Under-socialization is the main cause of deviance'. Explain this view. [10] [May/June 2022 P12]

53) 'Religion is the most important factor shaping ethnic identity. 'Explain this view. [10] [May/June 2022
P13]

54) 'Socialization controls the way people behave.' Explain this view. [10] [October/ November 2022 P11]

55) 'The peer group is the most influential agent of socialization in shaping gender identity. ' Explain this
view. [10] October/November 2022 P12]

56) Assess the view that socialization within the family is the main factor shaping gender identity. [11]
[October/November 2018 P21]

57) Assess the postmodernist view that identities are no longer clear and fixed. [11] [May/June 2019
P23]

Arguments for:
• Evidence that in modern societies individuals have greater opportunities to create their social
identities.
 • Evidence to support this contention from gender, ethnic, class and age identity.
• The impact of globalisation and consumer culture promoting choice.
• Evidence of Decentring, blurred identities, fragmentation, identity consumers, hybridity.
• Arguments may be linked to the changing impact of the agents of socialisation.
• An awareness of the difference between structuralist and interactionist views.

Arguments against:
• Evidence of traditional identities persisting.
• Socialisation largely still traditional in respect of most identities.
• The ability to create / choose linked to inequality.
• Identity ‘freedoms’ less common in some parts of the world.
• Theoretical critiques e.g. Marxist or feminist.

58) Assess the view that socialization is a one-way process. [11] [May/June 2020 P22]

59) Assess the functionalist explanation of social order. [11] [May/June 2020 P23]

60) 'Value consensus is the basis of social order in modern industrial societies '. Explain and assess this
view. [25] [May/June 2018 P22]

61) Explain and assess the Marxist view that order is maintained through ideology. [25] [Oct/Nov 2020
P22]

Arguments for the view: • Monopoly of power leads to dominant ideas that reflect ‘rich and
powerful’ interests. • Social order is linked to economic factors (determinism) • Role of ideology,
hegemony and coercion in securing social order (Althusser) • Social world characterised by conflict

Arguments against the view: • Functionalist (consensus) rejection of this analysis – Marxists
overestimate conflict; values and interests are mainly common • The distinction between organic
and mechanical solidarity • Interactionist rejection – rejects the over-socialised model of human
behaviour implicit in the Marxist approach • Feminist rejection – conflict, ideology and coercion
based on gender not class.

62) 'There is more value consensus in society than conflict theorists recognize'. Explain and assess this
view. [25] [May/June 2020 P22]
63) 'Only the rich and powerful benefit from the existence of social order.' Explain and assess this view.
[25] [May/June 2019 P22]

64) 'All members of society benefit from the existence of social order'. Explain and assess this view. [25]
[October/November 2019 P21]

65) 'Explain and assess the view that human behavior is determined by structural forces. [25] [May/June
2018 P23]

66) 'Structuralist theories offer the level understanding of the relationship between the individual and
the society. Explain and assess this view. [25] [February/ March 2019 P22]

67) 'Both structuralist and interactionist theories fail to adequately explain the relationship between the
individual and the society.' Explain and assess this view. [25] [May/June 2019 P22]

68) 'Interactionist accounts of the relationship between the individual and society have more strengths
than limitations'. Explain and assess this view. [25] [October/November 2019 P22]

69) Explain and assess the view that an individual's identity is shaped by social forces beyond their
control. [25] [May/June 2020 P22]

70) 'Interactionists offer the best explanation of the relationship between the individual and the society
'. Explain and assess this view. [25] [Oct/Nov 2020 P22]

71) 'Human behavior is more complex and varied than the functionalist theory suggests'. Explain and
assess this view. [25] [October/November 2018 P22] and [October/November 2018 P22]

72) 'Explain and assess the post-modernist view that class divisions have little influence in shaping social
identifies today. [25] [May/June 2018 P23]
73) 'Modernist sociological theories are no longer useful in understanding the way in which societies
work'. Explain and assess this postmodernist view. [25] [May/June 2019 P21] social order for sure

74) Evaluate the view that an individual identity is largely shaped by the social class. [26] [October /
November 2021 P12]

75) 'Gender has little influence on social identities today'. Explain and assess this view. [25]
[October/November 2019 P21]

76) 'The functionalist theory of socialization is too deterministic'. Explain and assess this view. [25]
[October/November 2020 P21]

77) Evaluate the view that gender identity is changing. [26] [February/March 2021 P12]

78) Evaluate cultural explanations of deviance. [26] [May/June 2021 P11]

79) Evaluate the view that age is the main influence on a person's identity. [26] [May/June 2022 P12]

80) Evaluate the view that the extent to which social identities are changing has been exaggerated. [26]
[October/November 2022 P12]