GCSE Sociology (AQA)

33 free revision lessons in 5 units. Open the course or go straight to a lesson.

Studying Society & Research Methods

The sociological approach, classical thinkers, the four key perspectives, and the research methods used to investigate the social world.

1. What Is Sociology? The Sociological Approach
2. Classical Sociologists: Durkheim, Marx and Weber
3. The Four Sociological Perspectives
4. Research Design, Sampling and Types of Data
5. Research Methods: Questionnaires, Interviews and Observation
6. Practical and Ethical Issues in Research

The Sociology of Families

Functions of families, family diversity, conjugal roles, divorce and competing perspectives on what families do and how they have changed.

1. Functions of Families
2. Family Forms and Family Diversity
3. Conjugal Role Relationships
4. Changing Relationships Within Families
5. Criticisms of Families
6. Divorce: Patterns, Causes and Consequences
7. Researching Families

The Sociology of Education

The role and functions of education, the link to capitalism, factors affecting achievement, processes within schools, and how sociologists research education.

1. Roles and Functions of Education
2. Types of School and Alternative Provision
3. Education and Capitalism: Bowles and Gintis
4. Factors Affecting Educational Achievement
5. Processes Within Schools
6. Researching Education

The Sociology of Crime and Deviance

How crime and deviance are socially constructed, methods of social control, factors behind criminal behaviour, and what crime data does and does not show.

1. The Social Construction of Crime and Deviance
2. Functionalist and Subcultural Theories: Merton
3. Interactionist Theory of Crime: Becker and Labelling
4. Social Control: Formal and Informal
5. Factors Affecting Criminal Behaviour
6. Public Debates About Crime
7. Data on Crime and the Dark Figure

The Sociology of Social Stratification

Functionalist theory of stratification, socio-economic class, life chances, poverty as a social issue, and the forms of power and authority that shape relationships.

1. Functionalist Theory of Stratification
2. Socio-Economic Class: Marx and Weber
3. Life Chances
4. Poverty as a Social Issue: Townsend and Murray
5. Power and Authority: Weber
6. Power Relationships: Walby on Patriarchy
7. Researching Stratification, Crime and Inequality

How to revise Sociology

• Retrieval Practice
• Spaced Repetition
• Interleaving
• Dual Coding
• Elaborative Interrogation
• Knowledge Organisers
• Timed Practice

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