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    Theory Revision Notes for A Level Sociology
    Theory Revision Notes for A Level Sociology
    Theory Revision Notes for A Level Sociology
    Ebook46 pages29 minutes

    Theory Revision Notes for A Level Sociology

    By Karl Thompson

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    About this ebook

    These revision notes have been designed to cover the theory aspect of the AQA's sociology A-Level syllabus, the new 2015 Specification onward. The content should also be suitable for other exam boards.

    Contents:
    Topic 0 - Sociological theories – an overview
    Topic 1 – Positivism and Interpretivism
    Topic 2 – Is sociology a science?
    Topic 3 – Functionalism
    Topic 4 – Marxism
    Topic 5 – Feminism
    Topic 6 – Social Action theory
    Topic 7 – Modernity, Postmodernity and Late Modernity
    Topic 8 – Sociology and social policy
    Topic 9 – Can sociology be value free?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKarl Thompson
    Release dateJan 25, 2017
    ISBN9781370034635
    Theory Revision Notes for A Level Sociology
    Author

    Karl Thompson

    I'm developing a Buddhist inspired critique of Western society and values. I know this has been done before, but this is personal. Most of the material on here will be focussed on this. Anyone who finds any of my writings helpful, that's fantastic. Besides sociologising I like to meditate, do Tai Chi, nurture plants on my allotment and local area, and to run/ bike and swim. I'm also working on spending more time cleaning and putting things away immediately after I've used them. That's pretty much me really, except for the occassional session on the real ale.

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      Book preview

      Theory Revision Notes for A Level Sociology - Karl Thompson

      Theory Revision Notes for A-Level Sociology

      By Karl Thompson

      Copyright 2017 Karl Thompson

      Smashwords Edition

      License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      This brief set of revision notes has been designed to help students revise for the Theory and Methods section of the AQA A Level syllabus. They should also be sufficient to get students through the OCR and Welsh boards specifications, they’re all pretty similar.

      Table of Contents

      Topic 0 - Sociological theories – an overview

      Topic 1 – Positivism and Interpretivism

      Topic 2 – Is sociology a science?

      Topic 3 – Functionalism

      Topic 4 – Marxism

      Topic 5 – Feminism

      Topic 6 – Social Action theory

      Topic 7 – Modernity, Postmodernity and Late Modernity

      Topic 8 – Sociology and social policy

      Topic 9 – Can sociology be value free?

      Theory Topic 0 – An Overview of Sociological Theories

      Topic 1 - Positivism and Interpretivism

      Positivist approaches to social research are quantitative, ‘scientific’, objective.

      Durkheim’s suicide is an example of a positivist study.

      Interpretivists criticise Positivist’s reliance on statistics (they are socially constructed).

      Interpretivist approaches to social research = qualitative, empathetic, micro.

      Key example = Douglas’ study of the multiple meanings of suicide.

      Positivists criticise Interpretivist research because it’s too subjective, not authoritative.

      Topic 2 - Is Sociology a science?

      Key features of the scientific method = the experiment, objectivity, cause and effect relationships, making predictions.

      Positivism = a scientific approach applied to society – Durkheim’s suicide as an example.

      Interpretivist criticisms of the scientific method applied to society – humans are conscious actors, they cannot be understood using detached, quantitative methods.

      Criticisms of the ‘objectivity’ of science and the scientific method - Kuhn’s paradigm critique is especially important.

      Realism – we can still usefully study society as an open

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