AQA GCSE Sociology key terms

Bowles and Gintis’s argument that the belief that everyone succeeds through ability and effort disguises unequal opportunities and makes class inequality appear deserved.

A government-set framework specifying subjects taught in primary and secondary schools and the standards pupils should reach, in the schools to which it applies. In England, academies and private schools do not have to follow it.

A sovereign state associated with a shared sense of national identity.

A penalty or expression of disapproval in response to behaviour that breaks a group’s rules or expectations.

A political view that stresses preserving traditional values within society's norms and values.

A political approach favouring free-market capitalism, fewer government restrictions on business and reduced government spending.

A man who rejects traditional masculine expectations and actively shares domestic work and childcare.

A sociological and political perspective that emphasises self-reliance, individual responsibility and traditional values, and argues that welfare provision can encourage dependency.

A loosely organised movement seeking social change, often around issues such as the environment, animal rights or gay rights.

A judgement by media professionals about what is newsworthy, influencing which stories are selected and given prominence.

The criteria used by journalists and editors to decide which events are worth reporting.

A less serious criminal offence heard in a magistrates’ court rather than the Crown Court.

Numerical information produced by organisations outside government, such as charities, banks and market research organisations.

Observation in which the researcher watches without joining the group's activities.

A sampling approach in which members of the population do not have known chances of selection.

An expectation or rule about how people should behave in a particular social situation.

A family consisting of a couple and their dependent children.

A research method involving watching and recording behaviour.

A change in people’s behaviour caused by their awareness that they are being studied.

The concentration of different social groups in different types of jobs; in Walby's account, women are concentrated in low-paid, low-status employment.

Quantitative crime data compiled by official bodies, including police-recorded figures collected by the Home Office and official survey estimates.

Numerical information produced by government bodies or other official organisations.

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, which inspects schools and other education and children's services in England.

Control of a country or organisation by a small group of powerful people, usually pursuing their own interests.

A question allowing respondents to answer in their own words.

A society in which movement between positions in the social hierarchy is possible.

Differences in family structures and in how families organise roles, responsibilities and domestic labour.