AQA GCSE Sociology key terms

Positions considered particularly important to the survival and effective operation of society.

Belief in a literal interpretation of religious texts or scriptures.

Post-16 education below degree level, including courses in sixth forms and further education colleges; it is also available to adults.

A media owner or professional who influences what material is published or broadcast and how it is presented.

Socially constructed differences between men and women, including ideas about masculinity and femininity, rather than differences based on biological sex.

The study of differences in crime rates and explanations of offending between genders.

Carlen’s term for the promise that women will receive psychological and material rewards from a male breadwinner in return for love and domestic labour.

The association of school subjects with particular genders, such as treating physics as masculine or languages as feminine.

Behaviour and responsibilities that society expects of someone because of their gender.

Social expectations about how people should behave because of their gender.

The process through which people learn the gender roles and expectations of their society.

The extent to which findings from a study can be applied beyond the people who were studied.

A conclusion extended beyond the particular people or situations examined in research.

An invisible barrier that prevents women from reaching senior positions in employment despite having relevant abilities or qualifications.

The growing interconnection of countries through trade, communication, technology, migration and culture.

Physical, psychological or social damage caused by research, such as injury, distress or damage to relationships.

The norms, values and expectations learnt through the organisation and everyday routines of schooling rather than through formally taught subjects.

A ranked structure in which people at higher levels have authority over those below them.

Higher-level education, including undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses at universities and colleges.

Marx’s approach to explaining historical change through the organisation of economic production and conflicts between groups with different relationships to it.

Education provided outside school, usually organised by parents and sometimes supported by tutors.

Education provided away from school, for example when illness prevents attendance or parents choose education at home.

Prejudice, hostility or discrimination towards people because they are, or are perceived to be, gay or lesbian.

One person living alone, or a group of people living at the same address and sharing facilities; members need not be related.

A testable statement that research evidence may support or refute.

Presenting something as better or more harmonious than it is, while overlooking its problems.

How someone sees themselves and how others see them, shaped by factors such as gender, ethnicity, religion and social class.